Itinerary

Day 1

London/Beijing

Begin your unique holiday by making your own way to London Heathrow for an overnight flight to Beijing with Air China.

Day 2

Beijing

On arrival in Beijing transfer to the 3*Red Wall Hotel for an overnight stay.   Welcome dinner.  D

Day 3

Yinchuan

Fly to Yinchuan on the frontier with Inner Mongolia.  Visit the huge Nanguan Mosque and the 1,500-year old Haibao Pagoda, and climb to the top for panoramic views. Stay overnight at the 4* Rainbow Bridge Hotel.  B/L/D

Day 4

Yinchuan Overnight Train 

Drive out to the Helanshan Rock Carvings. Also see the Royal Tombs of the Western Xia dynasty. Take the overnight train to Baotou in 4-berth soft-sleeper compartments.   B/L/D

Day 5

Baotou

On arrival in the heart of Inner Mongolia, breakfast at your hotel, the 4*Baotou Tianwaitian Hotel, then drive out to the mausoleum of Genghis Khan. Marvel at the immense sand dunes at Resonant Sand Gorge, part of the Gobi Desert and try sand-sliding or camel-riding. B/L/D

Day 6

Hohhot  

Visit the only intact Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Inner Mongolia, Wudang Zhao. Drive to Hohhot, calling at the vast Meidai Zhou Monastery, part temple, part palace and part fortress. Stay two nights at the 3*Hohhot Hotel.  B/L/D

Day 7

Hohhot 

See two factories today. Mengniu Dairy is surrounded by rich grasslands and is one of China’s largest producers of milk products, and also Mengliang National Commodities factory. Visit the tomb of one of the four most beautiful women of ancient China.   B/L/D

Day 8

Grassland

Head into the Xilamuren grasslands, enjoy a hearty lunch, meet a nomadic herdsman and his family, and watch their skills at horse-riding, archery and wrestling. Tonight stay in a Mongolian yurt and watch a traditional toast ceremony, with singing and dancing around a bonfire.  B/L/D

Day 9

Hohhot

Return to Hohhot, visiting the Inner Mongolian Museum with its exhibits of minority tribes’ costumes and culture, as well as exciting dinosaur fossils. See the Five Pagoda Temple, Dazhao Temple or the Silver Buddha Temple, and wander through the quaint old quarter.  B/L/D

Day 10

Datong 

A morning train journey to Datong, there admire the five enthroned and gilded Buddhas in Huayuan Temple that also houses the museum and the glorious Nine Dragon Screen, a wall of colourfully glazed tiles 600 years old. Stay two nights at the 4*Datong Hotel.  B/L/D

Day 11

Datong

View the spectacularly-located Hanging Temple, hewn from caves 150ft up the sacred Heng Shan mountain, and where Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism are all celebrated. Continue to the Wooden Temple at Yingxian, 1,000 years old and built entirely without nails.  B/L/D

Day 12

Beijing

Visit Yungang where hundreds of caves are filled with 50,000 Buddhist statues created in the 5th and 6th centuries and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Take the train to Beijing to stay overnight at the 3*Red Wall Hotel. B/L

Day 13

Beijing

Fly from Beijing to London Heathrow with Air China. B