Northwest China Grand Loop: Azure Lakes, Magic Dunes & Ancient Marvels | Travel Routes

About Your Trip

Take a memorable 6-days trip around the windy plateaus and ever-transforming landscape in northwest China. Your route will pass through dazzling blue of Qinghai Lake, sparkling mirror Salt Lakes, spiritual Mogao Caves, colorful mountains and vast grasslands. Observe sharp contrasts between high-level lakes, stunning black mountains, multi-colored ethnic bazaars and Gobi silent emptiness.

You begin your day in the city of Xining which is the entrance to Qinghai, and you get to meet your travel mates and go in a private car. Watch the sun coming out, ride across the vast expanse of the salt lakes of Qaidam Basin, and enjoy the marvelous views of the Danxia landscape that dyes the horizon with its hues. Stop along your way in oasis city of Dunhuang and gaze upon the wonders of Buddhist art and tour about the sands of Crescentile Lake and the Singing Dunes. You conveniently stay in centrally-regarded hotels so that you can be ready to undertake adventures of the next day.

Planned to suit the needs of those, who are travel oriented and are in search of the picturesque diversity and cultural dimensions and the beauty of the nature without any hassles, the trip gives you the chance of delighting yourself with the yak milk yogurt, night market walk, and the unforgettable moments in the vicinity of the wilderness, which lies in the blanket of western China.

Tour Highlights

Marvel at endless blue-green waters of Qinghai Lake’s vast expanse

Capture snap romantic moments at Chaka and Qarhan Salt Lakes

Revel in enigmatic Buddhist paintings at ancient Mogao Caves of Dunhuang

Go to desert thrills at Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Lake

Photograph the sunset over Zhangye’s Rainbow Mountains’ multi-colored strata

Picture of distant Black Mountain rising above the Gobi steppes

Drive Through Flowering Rapeseed Fields and Qilian Grassland

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1

Xining – Qinghai Lake – Chaka Town

Leave Xining in the morning and travel the scenic road along China’s largest saltwater lake, the Qinghai Lake. Photo stop by the lakeside to appreciate the deep blue of the lake, observe groups of migratory birds, and take in the mountain air. Scenic trav

Day 2

Chaka Town – Chaka Salt Lake – Qarhan Salt Lake – Dachaidan

After breakfast, drive out of town to the surreal Chaka Salt Lake. Play along the wooden boardwalks miles above the glassy salt pans, famous of blinding reflections. With the help of drive, proceed in the afternoon through the vast and surreal Qarhan Salt

Day 3

Dachaidan – Emerald Lake – Black Mountain – Akesai Film Set – Dunhuang

Begin with a visit to gleaming Emerald Lake, a treasure of emerald green in white salt flats. Travel to the unvisited plains to the Black Mountain (Heidushan), a stark volcanic dome rising steeply from the flat plains. Stop briefly at Akesai’s Boruo Zhuan

Day 4

Dunhuang – Mogao Caves – Mingsha Mountain & Crescent Lake – Dunhuang

Morning sightseeing of the world-known Mogao Caves also known as the Thousand Buddha Grottoes. Watch a video presentation before you enter as many as eight exquisitely decorated grottos. At the end of the afternoon, ride through desert in the Mingsha Moun

Day 5

Dunhuang – Jiayuguan Pass – Zhangye Danxia Landform – Zhangye

Head north along the Gobi to Jiayuguan western end of Great Wall make a stop and capture some photos. Enter Zhangye Rainbow Mountains Scenic Area in the late afternoon. Take full advantage of the ideal soft lighting of the late afternoon to roam through i

Day 6

Zhangye – Qilian Grasslands – Menyuan Canola Fields – Xining

Take a road trip through the picturesque Qilian Mountains along the Xining-Zhangye highway, visiting as you go broad yaks pastures as well as sheep pastures. Each year, in most cases in July, fields of Menyuan are covered with yellow canola flowers stretc