4 Days Best of Ningxia Tour with Tengger Desert Adventure

Full Itinerary Day by day

Day 1 Yinchuan Arrival

Welcome to Yinchuan, the capital city as well as the transportation hub of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. You will be greeted by our tour guide at Yinchuan airport/train station after your arrival, then be transferred to check in to you hotel in downtown. The rest time is free to explore this exotic northwestern city.

Free time idea: 1) go to watch the night view of Drum Tower; 2) stroll around Huaiyuan Night Market.

Day 2 Yinchuan Day Tour (B, L)

After breakfast, meet your tour guide to start today’s exploration of Ancient Xixia Kingdom, Helan Mountain Nomadic Rock Painting and Winery Experience.

The first place to visit is the Western Xia Imperial Tombs which is located about 30km from Yinchuan downtown. Being built from the 11th century to the 13th century, it is one of the largest existing imperial cemeteries with the most complete ground sites in China. There are 9 emperors' tombs and more than 200 tombs of princes and nobles. Each imperial mausoleum is an independent building group that sits north to south and is a vertical rectangle, and its scale is comparable to that of the Ming Tombs in Beijing but with completely different style like Egyptian Pyramid.

After the Western Xia culture exploration, you will take an interesting visit to Yuanshi Chateau who produces one of the best wines in the region of Helan Mountain. Thanking to the special environment and weather, the grape growing there is high in sugar content and moderate in acidity, which ensure the high quality of wines production. During your chateau visit, you will be treated to try several kinds of wines (depending on your package). The architecture of Yuanshi Chateau is also very impressive and environment-friendly with a classic Chinese garden style. Please enjoy your time!

After the winery experience, move to next site - Rock Paintings of Helan Mountain which recorded the living scenes of ancient human beings 3,000 to 10,000 years ago in northwestern China, such as grazing, hunting, sacrificial ceremony, war, dancing, etc. It is an important treasure house for the study of the culture and history of mankind in ancient time.

After all the visits and activities, drive back to Yinchuan downtown.

Day 3 Tengger Desert Day Adventure (B)

Today you are going to enjoy an exciting and interesting adventure in Tengger Desert. En route, make a stop to visit the ruin sites of Sanguankou Great Wall which was built in Ming Dynasty to prevent invasion from Mongol.

Different from many other deserts which are known as the “lifeless zones”, Tengger Desert not only has endless rolling sand dunes, but also boasts many “wonders of life” especially over 420 lakes, of which some lakes are as beautiful as glowing gems. To offer you the best experience, we will provide you a private desert SUV with an experienced driver to explore the most recommended route: Swan Lake - Emerald Lake - Wulan Lake – Camel Lake - Hailiuqi Lake – Guitar Lake - Desert Highway which is beautiful but also less-crowded. Swan Lake is clean, and shapes like a slice. It is surrounded by sand dunes, oasis and yurts of local Mongolian. Wild swans, ducks and many other birds migrate to Swan Lake during March~April and September~October. Emerald Lake is also known as the Lake of Dragon’s Eye. It is small but unique in shape. Wulan Lake is the most unique lake among all lakes in Tengger Desert. Looking from the air, the lake is like a human heart with many connecting red pieces. Locals call it as “the heart of the Earth”. Camel Lake looks like a walking camel with pink skin. The lake is pink because of the minerals in the water changing colors as the change of sun lights and temperatures. Unlike the Camel Lake, the color of Hailiuqi Lake is orange-yellow. Its surface looks like fish’s scales.

After visiting the Guitar Lake at the edge area of Tengger Desert, enjoy a scenic drive on the Desert Dream Highway, then transfer back to Yinchuan.

Tengger Desert travel tips

1) The best time to visit it is spring, summer and autumn, especially from April to June and September and October;

2) What to wear and pack? You are advised to wear outdoor windproof, sandproof, and quick-drying clothes, bring sunblock items like sunglasses (goggles), sunhat, sunscreen, headscarves, masks, to reduce skin exposure, and remember to cover your neck. In the morning and evening, wear a light warm coat, or down jacket and take off at noon. Wear high-top climbing shoes or desert boots when crossing the desert on foot A pair of sandproof shoe covers is also helpful. You should also bring covers to protect your phone and camera from sands.

3) What and where to eat? There are some Chinese restaurants around the lakes, but their facilities and meals are quite basic. You’d better bring some snacks and drinks on your own.

Day 4 Yinchuan Half-day Tour & Departure (B, L)

Today you will have a half-day tour before your departing flight/train.

You will visit Ningxia Museum first which has collected over 40,000 historical relics including 159 National First-class Cultural relics and more than 4,000 important relics of National Third-class or above. Among all the collections, The Hu Whirling Dance Stone-carved Tomb Gate, the Gilt Bronze Bull, and the Lishi Zhiwen Stone Carving are listed as National Treasures.

After the museum visit, drive about 38km (about 45mins) to next attraction - Shuidonggou Ruins (The Valley of Water Caves) which is the earliest Paleolithic cultural site excavated in China. It is known as "the birthplace of China's prehistoric archaeology" and "the historical witness of cultural exchanges between China and the West". It was found in 1923 by French paleontologists Teilhard de Chardin and E. Licent. Through excavation, a large number of stone tools and animal fossils were unearthed. From the exhibitions, you can imagine what is living of ancient humans like in 40,000 years ago. In addition to the ancient sites, in Shuidonggou, you can also see the most complete ancient military defense base in China which includes the Ming Dynasty Great Wall, beacon towers, castles, soldiers hiding caves, etc., as well as beautiful Danxia landform scenery.

After the visit, you will be transferred to catch your departing flight/train. Your Yinchuan trip ends.

The quotation for this trip is from Request Per Person

1. This price is for one person, based on a group of 2 adults sharing one standard double-bed room in a 4-star hotel and traveling with our private tour in low seasons.
2. This price is subject to change according to your traveling season, group size, hotel class, change of activities in your itinerary and possible fluctuation of currency exchange rate. If you want a lower price, you can get more people to join you, or use economy class hotels.
3. This price is only valid to March 31, 2025.
4. Reference exchange rate of USD 1=RMB 7.00. The final quote is based on current exchange rate. It may change according to the currency fluctuation, while the RMB quotation will be remained the same.

How Our Teams Serve you at China Discovery

"Highest Standards of Quality and Honesty" is the core value of each specialized team at China Discovery.

Eveyone in our company is working hard for only one goal, which is to ensure the highest level of service, luxury, and attention to detail from the minute you begin planning your trip, to the day you return home.

1-on-1 Travel Consultant

Our travel consultants are professional, experienced and responsible, helping you from the very beginning to the end of your China trip!

After sending us an inquiry, one of our travel consultants will get back to you within 0.5~23.5 hrs. In the next few days, he/she will be working closely with you to formulate a customized tour plan, as well as providing professional suggestions based on your travel interests, time, and budget.

Beside, he/she will keep in contact with you during your entire tour in China, continually checking if everything is going well as planned.

We're working at Chengdu Bamboo International Tours, local based in Chengdu.

Local Tour Guides

Our local guide in every destination is not only very friendly, enthusiastic but also very informative and knowledgeable.

Once you arrive in the destination, the patient and punctual guides will pick you up and take you to get under skin of the city at your own pace. By in-depth discovery and explanation, they’ll show you more about the history, culture, customs and authentic local life. Throughout the journey, they're not only expert guides who take care of all the details but also fellow travelers who are dedicated to help you explore in comfort and style.

Our guides are passionate about what they do, and it shows all the way!

Local Drivers & Vehicle

Using our private transfer service makes you comfortable, relaxed and worry free all the way!

Our private service includes licensed drivers with many years’ driving experience and air-conditioned, non-smoking, clean and well-maintained cars/vans. Drivers are local, polite, friendly and helpful, taking you to your tourist sites, hotels, airport/train stations in safety. All kinds of vehicle are offered, and yours depends on the size of your group. Usually, we offer sedan cars, SUVs, business vans (MPV) and different types of buses, all with extra space for your luggage.

Our private transfer service guarantees you the highest comfort!

Comfortable & Homelike Hotels

In each destination, you’ll enjoy a comfortable stay in a great location!

The hotels we choose are based on star rating, great locations, well-equipped facilities, cozy bed, high quality service and guests’ feedbacks. Choices are a lot ranging from luxury 5 star, comfortable 4 star to budget 3 star. You could decide where to stay to best suit for your budget and likes. Generally, the hotels have both Western and Chinese breakfast with a wide choices.

If you have already got an ideal hotel, please feel free to tell our travel consultants and they'll book the hotel for you.

Have good sleep in our well-selected hotels in all the destinations of China.

Meals & Dining

We can satisfy all the dietary requirements no matter you want Chinese local food, western food, vegetarian food or muslin food.

The restaurants we will take you for lunch or dinner are all designated tourist restaurants approved by local tourist administration bureau. They have very good sanitary conditions and the food is prepared fresh and clean.

There will be some meals excluded in your itinerary as you like, and your private guide will be delighted to give you some suggestions and take you to the local restaurants to taste like Beijing Roast Duck, Xian Dumpling Dinner, Sichuan Hotpot, etc., if you are interested in local food tasting.

All the dining options will satisfy your stomach!

Check What our delighted customers are saying about our services

Hi Rita,

The best experience ever!!!! I fell in love.

I received your lovely card and cute gifts, thank you so much.

Done it! As always it’s my pleasure to hire your company services, see you in the next adventure.

Emmy

Emmy‚ Mexico, December 15, 2024

Hi Rita,

Please kindly see the feedback below.

We are a family of 7. This private tour package definitely met our expectations! Both tour guides (Chengdu- MAY & Chongqing-DAVID) provided us a very good service, both friendly and very flexible despite the change in our tour schedules. They were also very responsible and ensured our safety, meals and transports were well taken care of, especially since we have elderly and kids in our group. Both tour guides are very fluent in English too so it is very convenient for some of the non-chinese speakers in our group.

We will look for the same tour agent again in our next trip to China!

Best Regards,

Victoria

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Victoria‚ Singapore, December 14, 2024

Hi Shirley,

Thanks for the tour, and the itinerary that you planned for us was very comprehensive and detailed. We enjoyed it very much. The tour guide was also very friendly and experienced. He followed your itinerary closely and brought us to all the sites and explained in detail. He also recommended and brought us to enjoy some of the local cuisines during lunch.

Overall, we are impressed by the excellent service, reliability and quality that yourself, the tour guide and the driver has provided us. We would like to visit China again and we will not hesitate to engage your services again. Thank you!

Regards

Chun How

Chun How‚ Singapore, December 14, 2024

Hi Shirley,

I'm writing to provide some feedback on our recent Xian and Beijing trip that you put together for us.

We travel a lot, in the past year to Japan, New Zealand, China, Turkey, Africa, China, and finally this Xian/Beijing trip. I bring this up to highlight that we deal with a lot of travel professionals. You are easily the best travel professional we have dealt with through all of those trips. My wife, who happens to be Chinese asked me to make sure to keep your contact information for future China trips, with the intention of replacing the China based agent her brother usually uses for our trips.

Please let your manager know that we would probably not have used your company if not for you. Bamboo Travel is new to us and in a foreign country, so we had doubts as to what to expect. Your service was excellent from start to finish which really gave us confidence in your company. We had a little bit of an unusual itinerary and some constraints related to our other China travel prior to this tour. You were able to work through all of our issues with fast responses to our questions.

You also went what I would say was above and beyond expectations. The final example of that is a friend in the US was shipping some things to our hotel in Beijing for me to bring home to her. I contacted you to confirm the hotel name before they shipped the items, expecting I would then have to figure out the shipping details. Your reply not only confirmed the hotel, but you provided the shipping info in both English and Chinese, which saved me the hassle of trying to figure which address to use. Not a huge thing, but it's those small things that add up to a big difference in customer experience.

Thanks again for everything!

Xian:

Our guide was Waldner and we liked him from the start. We were just coming off another tour with another company which had maybe the best tour leader we've ever had. Even though we were always comparing Waldner measured up well. He was great at explaining the history of places we visited as well as answering our cultural questions. The restaurants/food were very good. He and the driver also modified the itinerary somewhat to optimize the driving based on our arrival and departure times and locations. We liked the hotel in Xian. The car (van) was very comfortable. Waldner also helped arrange tickets for a night show for us.

Beijing:

Pickup was great; even though we got in late the guide that picked us up was there and actually met us at the track. Cindy was our guide and we really liked her also. She is very knowledgeable and willing to answer (a lot of) questions. This was my 3rd time in Beijing and it was amazing what a difference having a good guide made. Cindy and the driver also modified the itinerary to optimize the driving. She also helped us book tickets to two shows, one of which was not on your list of optional items (Lao She tea house). Cindy was concerned about us ordering a cab so she stayed at the show to make sure we got back to our hotel ok. The restaurants/food were very good. The hotel was good but not great; for example we had hot water issues every day, and when I went to pick up a package that was shipped to me they just left me to dig through a pretty large pile of packages all addressed in Chinese.

To wrap up, I would rate the overall experience of looking for a trip, picking a company, and traveling 9.5 out of 10. Shirley, your service was 10 out of 10.

See you next trip!

Terry

Terry ‚ USA, December 11, 2024

Dear Rita,

Feedback.

The trip organised by Rita Jiang to Beijing and Xian was very well planned and enjoyable, showing the best of Chinese history, culture, heritage, and enormous progress.

Your 2 guides, Linda Chua and Beryl are very good. Linda went out of her way to take us to Peking Opera at night. The kids were tired, so we did not go to Summer palace and Heavenly temple, and did not go to Xian Pagoda. It was our choice, so its ok. (I have been to all)

The 2 bus drivers were excellent, very careful, disciplined and good temperament and helpful. I could not give a tip to Beryl at Xian station, as I had to rush into toilet inside, and did not know she could not enter the train Station.

The pace was good, but the last day of train from Xian, to hotel (plus late dinner scrabbling in Beijing), then early next morning to airport was too Hectic. However, it was because we had to return on 8.12.24. we wish we could stay longer in Xian, and elsewhere. We could probably have gone to Xian by train, then fly back to Beijing by plane, but one way tickets could cost much more.

Anyway, thank you very much for all your fine arrangements. We all enjoyed the short trip.

For the kids, the major highlights were the Great Wall, Terracotta warriors, Acrobatic show. They will treasure. I will plan more trips for them to China.

Best wishes and warm regards,

Richard

Richard‚ Singapore, December 11, 2024

Check What our customers are saying about us on Tripadvisor.com

excellent assistance, helpfulness and courtesy. My contact 'was Shirley, prepared friendly and punctual. Highly recommended...

Luciano P

"Travel consultant Mr Wonder Wang was so helpful and he planned our trip to Xi’an and Beijing so well. Mr Waldner is an amazing guide. His knowledge and enthusiasm made our tour very memorable..." read more »

Reviewed on December 13, 2024

Luciano P

"excellent assistance, helpfulness and courtesy. My contact 'was Shirley, prepared friendly and punctual. Highly recommended..." read more »

Reviewed on December 13, 2024