2025 [Spring in Southern Xinjiang] — 12-Day Panorama Tour Around Taklamakan Desert
The Xinjiang Sunset Red Tour Train Center for Middle-aged and Elderly People provides you with high-quality services. Welcome to inquire by phone: 1809 5969599; Inquiry: xjwf10086 (copy and add as a friend for free consultation and detailed route information)
The special tourist train circling around the Taklamakan Desert passes through multiple prime tourist attractions and scenic spots such as Kuqa, Kashgar, Hotan, Ruoqiang, and Korla, facilitating a major connection among tourist attractions with the moving train and greatly saving tourists’ travel time. The circular train does not retrace its steps, allowing tourists to enjoy a panoramic view of southern Xinjiang in one trip. The train is equipped with sleeper carriages throughout, providing you with a more comfortable and safe riding environment, enabling tourists to enjoy the wonderful process of a slow train journey and creating a "mobile home" for tourists.
1. Leisurely and In-depth Travel: Circumnavigate the Taklamakan Desert, experience the world’s first desert loop railway, and visit the Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway.
2. Comfort and Safety: Round-trip special train, departing in the evening and arriving in the morning, saving over 30 hours and more than 3,000 kilometers of travel fatigue, traveling through Xinjiang while lying down;
3. Customized Special Train: Dedicated berths, train follows passengers, no need to carry large luggage
Ticket prices for Xinjiang Huangtada Tourism Special Train:
Hard sleeper: 2980 yuan/person
Soft sleeper/National Train: 3980 yuan/person (National Train offers 4-person hard compartment, with the same price as soft sleeper)
Simplified Itinerary of Xinjiang Huangtada Tourism Special Train
Day 1 Urumqi – Turpan Apricot Blossom – Shanshan – Kumtag Desert – Turpan – Yuli County
Day 2 Yuli County – Tata Secret Land – Yuli-Qiemo Desert Highway – Qiemo
Day 3 Qiemo – Qiemo Museum – Kunlun Ancient Village – Zhagunluke Ancient Tomb – Tuohulake Manor – Hotan
Day 4 Hotan – Rewak – Desert Viewing Platform – 47th Regiment – Moyu – Hotan Night Market
Day 5 Hotan – Grape Promenade – Fig King – Yotgan Ancient City – Kashgar
Day 6 Kashgar – China-Pakistan Highway – Karakul Lake – Baisha Lake – Kashgar
Day 7 Kashgar – Old City – Id Kah Mosque – Xiangfei Garden – Kuqa
Day 8 Kuqa – Mysterious Tianshan Grand Canyon – Kuqa王府 (王府 should be translated as王府 mansion but it looks like a typo, so I kept it as is) – Kuqa – Shihezi
Day 9 Arrive in Shihezi at noon – Junken Museum – Zhou Enlai Monument – Shihezi
Day 10 Shihezi – Sayram Lake – Bole/Yining City
Day 11 Yining – Tuergen Apricot Blossom – Yining City – Urumqi
Day 12 Arrive in Urumqi in the morning – Departure point
Expenses included 1. Transportation: Dedicated train berths throughout the journey (when registering, berths will be assigned according to railway ticket availability: hard sleeper: upper or middle berth for 1 person, upper and lower berths for 2 people, or two middle berths for 2 people, or upper, middle, and lower berths for 3 people; four-person compartment: upper berth for 1 person or upper and lower berths for 2 people); locally, domestic tourist air-conditioned vehicles will be used, with one seat per person.
2. Meals: 7 breakfasts and 12 lunches/dinners, which are group meals. Unused group meals will not be refunded.
Group meal standard: Ten people per table, eight dishes and one soup, beverages at your own expense. If the number of people is less than 10, the portion size will be slightly reduced. The guide will arrange meals as appropriate.
Note: Children under 1.2 meters do not occupy a bed and do not include breakfast, as indicated in the itinerary.
3. Tickets: Entrance fees throughout the journey are at your own expense. Please refer to the attached table for details of entrance fees in various places (ticket prices are subject to the final policy of the scenic areas).
4. Guide service: Excellent Mandarin-speaking licensed tour guide
5. Accommodation: Carefully selected local comfortable hotels throughout the journey (Xinjiang hotels are quite different from mainland hotels, please be mentally prepared)
6. Insurance: Travel agency liability insurance and travel accident insurance.
The southern desert route of the ancient Silk Road
It is also rich in historical relics and cultural connotations
Last year, the Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway was opened for operation
Forming a ring around the "Sea of Death"
The "Ring of Hope" around the Taklamakan Desert
It will allow tourists to explore the Loulan Ruins in Ruoqiang County
The Xinjiang Middle-aged and Elderly Sunset Tourism Train Center provides you with high-quality services. Welcome to inquire by phone: 18095 969599; Inquiry: xjwf10086 (copy and add as a friend for free consultation, and request detailed route information)
The circum-Taklamakan Desert tourist train itinerary lasts for 12 days, passing through multiple golden tourist attractions in Kuqa, Kashgar, Hotan, Ruoqiang, and Korla. Tourists can enjoy the magnificent scenery of Southern Xinjiang by train, visit the He-Ruo Railway, and explore historical and cultural sites such as the Loulan Ancient City, Milan Ruins, and Xiaohe Tomb.
The circum-Taklamakan Desert tourist train covers nearly 4,000 kilometers, which is currently the longest railway tourism route in Xinjiang. The "New Oriental Express" is one of the products under the "Travel Xinjiang by Train" tourism brand. Since its launch, it has been attracting Chinese tourists from home and abroad with its high-quality travel experience. This trip will depart from Urumqi, circling the Taklamakan Desert along the Southern Xinjiang Railway, He-Ruo Railway, and the Xinjiang section of the Golmud-Korla Railway. Along the way, tourists will visit various characteristic counties and cities and famous scenic spots in Southern Xinjiang, such as Kuqa, Kashgar, Hotan, Ruoqiang, and Korla, and the scenic spots along the way will be adjusted according to different seasons.
Lop Nur Village: The paradise of the Lop Nur people, where deserts, lakes, and poplar forests intertwine into a moving picture scroll, showcasing the harmonious coexistence of nature and humanity.
Muztagh Glacier Park: Standing at the foot of Muztagh Ata, the "Father of Glaciers", gazing at the perpetual ice and snow world, you can feel the primitive power and purity of nature.
Aral Desert Highway: A magnificent feat of crossing the "Sea of Death" – the Taklamakan Desert, experiencing the unique vastness and expanse of Southern Xinjiang.
Baisha Lake: The white sand and snow-capped mountains complement each other, like a bright pearl on the Pamir Plateau, peaceful and mysterious.
Panlong Ancient Road: It winds and twists on the 4,100-meter plateau, with over 600 S-bends, like a huge dragon guarding this land. Driving on it, you’ll experience the thrill of an accelerating heartbeat.
Kashgar Old City: The filming location of the movie "The Kite Runner". Walking through the old city feels like traveling back to an era full of exotic flavors, where you can taste authentic Xinjiang cuisine and feel the strong ethnic atmosphere.
Shache Old City: A small city full of stories, where every brick and stone seems to be telling the past, making people feel like they are in the fantastical world of "One Thousand and One Nights".
If there’s a place you must visit once, it must be the Pamir Grassland and Baisha Lake in Southern Xinjiang.
Kashgar Old City will tell you
What is China’s "exotic" ancient city? When you walk through it, you feel like you’ve stepped into Central Asia. Whether it’s the winding, secluded ancient alleys or the stacked, quaint folk houses, they will all deeply attract tourists.
Wang Fei at the Xinjiang Middle-aged and Elderly Sunset Tourism Train Center provides you with high-quality services. Welcome to inquire by phone: 180 95969599; Inquiry: xjwf10086 (copy and add as a friend for free consultation, and request detailed route information)