There‘s no other way than by crossing through some part of the dessert to come to TianShan - and a short while later you‘ll feel like you‘re in Switzerland. The air is clear, the lake beautiful, a quite large waterfall rushes down the mountain, glaciers on the background shine bright white in the sun. You’ll be over 3.000m high, if you choose to walk up the final stretch of the mountain. And from up there you’ll overlook the Heavenly Lake and watch fast stretches of desert in the background. Yes, it‘s China-typically „guided“ (there‘re walkways and stairs showing you the paths you‘re supposed to go), and yes, it is a popular destination for Chinese tourists, but it indeed is a very beautiful area.

It‘s a fascinating place, far off any beaten track, and the tour really takes you to places where you wouldn’t go by yourself, and later wouldn’t even know what you‘ve missed. The vastness of the area is amazing, the thought that people with camels arrived there to trade and rest and then continue onwards even more. Past fields of grapes and melons to ancient original mummies and grottos at one of the world‘s lowest points. Great guide (and yes, fluent English!), lots of room for individual schedule-requests.

the trip was perfectly organized you have seen amazing places it was one time life experience staff very helpful Sunny thank you for your support and cooperation

The walled ancient city of Kashgar has been rebuilt with roads paved and reproduction of century old mud brick houses. The style and architecture is different from anywhere in China or central Asia. Unlike other cities in Xinjiang China, there is no over presence of police with machine guns and long baton, but security cameras are everywhere. No cars inside the walled except the garbage collection trucks and goods delivery vans, both electric. Plenty of nice restaurants serving Uyghur cuisine and local brewed beer. Singing and dancing everywhere as July is the peak tourist month. There are many day trips from Kashgar to the nearby tourist sites in the desert or a 2 days side trip to the Tajik village of Tashkurgan in the Pamir Plateau near the Pakistani border. Kashgar is a must for the Silk Road visit.

It was absolutely an awesome trip. The service provided by Ben was amazing and he spent months trying to coordinate the trip with me.

Turpan is a very unique place to visit which places filled with historical events such as Karez on how they build the irrigation system till now still using it. Excitement at Shanshan desert which have a good experience. We also tasted their local breakfast in one of the county. Overall worth a visit.

We had a great time travelling from Urumqi and Kashgar China to Lanzhou. We skipped Xian as we have been there before a couple of times. One should include Xian if doing the Silk road trip! The transportation, hotels, suggested restaurants were all arranged by silkroadtrips.com. We were fortunate to have Ben Yan as our tour guide. He had sense of humor, awesome, and knowledgeable. We customized our private tour and we were able to cover all the must dos and visit places. I would highly recommend this company.

To travel the Silk Roads was one of our dreams and we finally did it in the 2017 Spring. The three-week trip was organized by Silk Road Trips and gave us everything we had hoped for: the fascinating landscapes of the Xinjiang and Gansu provinces, the artistic wonders (paintings and sculptures) of early Buddhist settlements, architectural marvels and the colourful local bazaars. Our guide, Bin Yan (Ben), spoke perfect English, and had both broad cultural and practical knowledge as well as a great sense of humor and a warm personality. We had such a wonderful time that we decided to take another three-week tour with Silk Road Trips in April-May 2018, this time from North to South, from Datong to Guilin). And this other trip offered us other wonderful discoveries in terms of landscapes and cultures. We were mostly in the mountains, among ethnic minorities (Dong, Miao, Gejia, Han), who have retained their wooden houses and colourful costumes. And we went down the river Li among the mountains crowned with floating mist like in a Chinese painting. We were so inspired that we took a lesson in Chinese painting! In conclusion, we can wholeheartedly recommend Silk Road Trips for its flawless organisation. Besides being an ideal guide, Ben is a very resourceful person. Even when unforeseen problems arose (cancellation of all flights in the province by the Chinese military without any advanced notice, medical emergency), Ben found the perfect solutions. Last but not least, he is very good company, cheerful, well read, offering an overview of present China as well as of its past. Thanks to him, we had two marvelous trips. Christine Klein-Lataud and Michel Klein (Toronto)

I cannot fault the logistics of this trip, thanks to Bin's attention to detail. His constant good humour and easy-going nature were a big part of the group's enjoyment of the trip. While we were fortunate enough to have the expertise of an art historian to help us better appreciate the way Buddhism gradually spread from India into China, Bin supplied us with invaluable local information that enabled us to appreciate the local culture and customs that are prevalent in China today. The memories of this trip will last forever and I can't recommend Bin's company highly enough!

To follow the Silk Road is the stuff of dreams and if you are lucky -as I was- to have Bin as a guide, then it is the stuff of legends! Bin is amazing: Cool, informed, perfect English, gadget crazy ("What's the weather going to be like in Turpan, BIn?" to satisfy these kind of questions Bin juggles his two smart phones and answers crisply and without missing a beat). He also goes out of his way to take care of you whether you need a doctor or translation at the pharmacy. His planning for this out of the ordinary trip is spotless. Considering that there are overnight trains, minivans and flights involved over 2-3 weeks, it must be very hard to organise but with Bin at the helm everything goes as as smoothly as silk! Don't miss the opportunity of a lifetime. I want to do it again! Dunghuan, Turpan, Kashgar...names that roll off the tongue like honey but you need someone like Bin to plan it for you. He knows every nook and cranny of the Silk Road and he is so much FUN!!! Thank you Bin for the trip of a lifetime...

China had never been on my radar for travel, until a friend invited me to join the adventure she had planned. She put together a three week journey, that reached many places in this vast country. Fortunately, we had a guide, Bin, who helped us experience the history and beauty of his native country. We climbed the Great Wall (my initial reason for the visit), experienced the vast array of Terracotta Warriors, explored the magical Mogao caves near Dunhuang, rode camels in the desert, and met the Uyghurs who live in an autonomous area of China. We happened to be in Bejing when Mao Tse Tung was viewable to the public - quite interesting to see him so life-like!! Bin satisfied our taste buds by selecting a wide array of delicious foods, prepared to the highest standards of cuisine at each opportunity. Our travels took us to various regions by bus, train, airplane as we encountered local people - friendly and accommodating. They obviously hadn't seen many Americans, as they all seemed to want a photograph with us. The memories we brought back with us will bring smiles to our faces for many years. And our wonderful, kind new friend - Bin!!

This truly was the trip of a lifetime for me, traveling along China's Silk Road. The highlight was several days spent visiting the Mogao Cave Temples of Dunhuang which my parents had explored in 1948. This personal connection made our travel adventure a pilgrimage for our group of 8 friends and family members in 2013 under the superb guidance of Bin Yan. Bin is knowledgeable, experienced, attentive and personable. I would definitely plan another trip guided by him. He was a wonderful guide with whom we all enjoyed traveling. I wholeheartedly recommend this trip and Bin without hesitation.