The operator's 2027 plan gives this routing nine departures on the flagship: June 2, June 16, June 30, July 14, July 28 and August 11 in summer, then August 30, September 13 and September 27 into autumn. Official 2027 fares are RMB 62,999 (Imperial Gold Diamond) and 68,999 (Supreme Gold Diamond) in summer, rising to 66,999 and 72,999 in autumn. That four-thousand-yuan autumn step buys light, not roads: late September is when Kanas and Hemu turn, and when the poplars of the south begin to colour. (The four-thousand-yuan step between spring and summer fares is different again: it buys the Duku Highway, which the spring departures skip entirely.)
The Platinum Gold Diamond set, the value configuration of the third generation with the same en-suite cabin standard, runs the same routing on its summer and autumn fourteen-day sailings. All fourteen Purple-Gold sailings remain open; on the Platinum set, six of the fourteen-day dates are already sold out per the operator's October chart. Meal counts on this routing are the operator's own: 13 breakfasts and 24 lunches and dinners, with five-diamond hotels in Urumqi, Yining, Nalati and Kashgar and scenic-area stays inside Kanas, Hemu and Bayanbulak.
Sequence as published in the operator's 2027 sales plan. The tour director may adjust the order of visits for weather or road conditions without dropping listed sights; train times use 2026 reference schedules until the 2027 railway calendar is published.
| Day | Route & highlights | Overnight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arrive Urumqi; airport pickup, Grand Bazaar if time permits; hotel welcome dinner | Urumqi hotel |
| 2 | Heavenly Lake (boat cruise, about 4 hours) → board the train to Beitun | On board |
| 3 | Rainbow Beach (Wucaitan) → into the Kanas scenic area | Kanas |
| 4 | Kanas morning → Hemu Village (Tuva log cabins, Hemu river bridges) | Hemu |
| 5 | Hemu → the Ahe Highway (new Altay scenic road) → Altay → board the train at Jinghe South | On board |
| 6 | Sayram Lake (the "last tear of the Atlantic") → Six-Star Street, Yining | Yining |
| 7 | Nalati Grasslands (about 5 hours in the air-grassland) | Nalati |
| 8 | Bayanbulak Grassland — Swan Lake and the Nine-Curve-and-Eighteen-Bend river | Bayanbulak |
| 9 | The Duku Highway southern section → Tianshan Grand Canyon, Kuqa → board the train to Kashgar | On board |
| 10 | White Sand Lake on the Karakoram highway → Tashkurgan (Stone City, Golden Grassland) | Tashkurgan |
| 11 | Tajik family visit → Karakul Lake under Muztagh Ata → back to Kashgar | Kashgar |
| 12 | Kashgar old town (east and west zones), Id Kah Mosque, Gaotai residences → board the train to Turpan | On board |
| 13 | Karez wells → Flaming Mountain → Jiaohe ancient city → coach to Urumqi; farewell dinner | Urumqi hotel |
| 14 | Departure transfer | — |
Days 8 and 9 are the reason this loop exists. Day 8 sleeps at Bayanbulak, the high grassland whose Swan Lake and Nine-Curve-and-Eighteen-Bend river are the most photographed hours of the trip; Day 9 puts you on the Duku Highway's southern section, the 561-kilometre road carved across the Tianshan between 1974 and 1983, from the grassland down through the Tianshan Grand Canyon to Kuqa. No other fourteen-day rail product puts both in one week.
The other half of the promise is Days 10 to 12: the Karakoram highway to Karakul Lake under Muztagh Ata, a Tajik family visit, Tashkurgan's Stone City, and a full day inside Kashgar's old town. A note for overseas travellers on the Pamir days: Tashkurgan sits in a border-management area. The electronic border permit is arranged by the operator as part of the tour; travellers cannot apply for it online themselves, and a clear passport scan is needed at booking.
The Duku Highway is open to mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan travel documents. The Bayanbulak section alone is not open to holders of foreign passports; where an itinerary includes that section, foreign-passport guests travel a substitute routing arranged by the operator. On this loop that touches Day 8's Bayanbulak grassland excursion and the highway crossing of Day 9; guests on foreign passports are routed around it, the northern highlights are fully open, and the operator confirms the exact substitute shape in writing per departure. Travellers on Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan documents follow the itinerary as published.
Formation and cabin figures are checked against the published references below. Last reviewed .
