The Silk Road as the spine
China's luxury train network is drawn across the country's deepest cultural lines, and the Silk Road is the longest of them. The Silk Road Express strings together the great oasis cities: Xi'an, where the Tang capital keeps its walls and its terracotta army; the cave temples of Dunhuang; Turpan, the green hollow in the desert; and Kashgar, whose old town still trades like a caravan terminus. Five routes run the corridor between Xi'an and Kashgar.
Cultures you meet along the line
The trains pass through more than scenery. In Xinjiang, Uyghur and Kazakh towns keep their own music, food and market life. The Beautiful Sky Road travels through Tibetan monastery towns on the plateau. The Hulunbuir Express crosses the Mongolian grasslands of the north-east. In the south-west, the White Cloud Express Yunnan line calls at Naxi towns on the way to the Tibetan edge, and the Colorful Guizhou train reaches the Miao and Dong villages of the karst hills.
On board: guides, talks and tea
A team of local guides rides each journey and briefs the day ahead: the dynasty behind a ruin, the festival coming up in the next village, the meaning of the pattern on a woman's apron. Evening talks happen in the observation car or the dining car after dinner, and tea ceremonies and artisan demonstrations are arranged along the way.
Walking the old city
The curated stops are chosen for what you can walk into. Bazaars, monastery courtyards, village lanes and temple halls are visited on foot, led by a guide who knows the door that is usually closed. This is the part of the journey travellers remember ten years later.
Come for the culture
Tell us which period of Chinese history or which culture you want to meet, and we will match you to a journey.