Lost Cities of Chinese Turkestan: Silk Road Ruins of Desert Cathay

Duration: 14 and 21-day tours
Months offered: Year round
Costs: From $3,000

China's northwest, today encompassed by Xinjiang and Gansu provinces, is crossed by a huge section of the ancient Silk Road. The many cities that grew up along this section of the Silk Road became thriving centers of eclectic culture. All religions of the world were represented, Buddhism being the most pervasive. Buddhist monasteries were literally carved from the cliffs near many cities. The walls and ceilings of these Buddhist cloisters became the canvas for generation after generation of monk/artists depicting exquisite scenes of Buddhist history, cosmology and daily life in these desert oasises. Our tour of some of the more outstanding sites takes us along the footsteps of turn of the century explorers Sven Hedin, Aural Stein, and Paul Pelliot. These men stumbled on forgotten, half buried cites and cave monasteries containing priceless murals, texts and statues. We will visit sites such as Dun Huang, Turfan, Kucha, Karchin as well as lesser known, and recently discovered sites near Kashgar and Khotan. This trip is a must for those interested in the art of Central Asia.