{"id":17010,"date":"2018-06-26T09:36:36","date_gmt":"2018-06-26T09:36:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thinkerten.com\/wordpress\/?p=17010"},"modified":"2018-12-04T05:49:39","modified_gmt":"2018-12-04T05:49:39","slug":"silk-road-china-what-to-expect-prepration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thinkerten.com\/wordpress\/2018\/06\/silk-road-china-what-to-expect-prepration\/","title":{"rendered":"Silk Road China – What to expect & prepare for this Amazing Race!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ancient Silk Road<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Silk Road went along the northern borders of China, India and Persia and ended up in Eastern Europe. The Silk Road that I explored in June was Silk Road China which include two important provinces of China – Gansu & Xinjiang. The tour that I joined was with Chan Brothers, departing from Singapore to Lanzhou and transit in Beijing. The route that we covered is from east to west, starting point from Lanzhou Gansu and move to Xinjiang.<\/p>\n

Why called Silk Road?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The international trade route is named “Silk Road” because Silk was one of the important items traded. In fact, silk cost more than gold in ancient time as the West love silk fabric so much and only the rich and the Royal could afford to wear such elegant fabric.<\/p>\n

Who should travel Silk Road?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Silk Road tour is for someone who is very interested in culture and history. You will see many splendid cultural bridge liking the cultures of China, Central Asia, India, Persia, Arabia, Turkey, Greece and Italy. Silk Road is a bridge for the West and East to meet and where all the cultural exchange happen.\u00a0 One need to be physically strong as there are many walking, climbing & many hours of traveling in the bus.\u00a0 You also need to catch the bullet train from Gansu Liuyuan to Xinjiang Turpan.\u00a0 There are many rush hour for you to experience!<\/p>\n

Cities in Silk Road route with Chan Brothers<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Ancient Silk Road begins at Xian (Chang’an) then by way of the Hexi Corridor and it reaches Dunhuang, where it divides into three, the Southern Route, Central Route and Northern Route where three routes spread all over to Xinjiang and extend as far as Pakistan, India and Rome. However, my recent trip to Silk Road China with Chan Brothers’ tour started at Lanzhou Gansu, proceed to Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan, Jiayuguan, Dunhuang then Xinjiang. The total duration is 14 days. We spend 5 days in Gansu Province and 9 days in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The 9 days in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region include cities, Turpan, Urumqi, Fuyun, Jiadengyu, Kanas, Burqin and Karamay, you can consider this as an in-depth Xinjiang tour.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Expectation & Preparation for Silk Road China<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Here are all the things you need to know before traveling to Silk Road China, what to expect and preparation, including food, weather, toilets facilities, hotel, transport and tour guides.<\/p>\n

1. Airport & Custom Clearance in Beijing<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Our original plan was flying from Singapore to Lanzhou and transit in Beijing.\u00a0 However we missed our Lanzhou flight.\u00a0 Reason being our transit time was too short and not enough for 30 of us to clear custom in Beijing within 2 hour.\u00a0 China immigration recently has new rules to store all foreigners’ 10 fingerprints and photographing upon entry. There are few steps to store our fingerprints, first put your both thumbs to scan, then the rest of 8 fingers. After the fingerprint san, officer will ask you to aim your eyes at the camera and take photos of you. These steps take roughly about 5-10 mins to clear for each person.\u00a0 Sometimes the fingerprints scan cannot go through easily.<\/p>\n

We were told to go to the toilet in the plane, before landing in Beijing which we all did but we still missed our flight by 10 mins.\u00a0 I think we need minimum at least 3-4 hours for custom clearance, 2 hours is certainly not likely to make it.<\/p>\n

\"Silk<\/a><\/p>\n

Step 1 – Catch the Airport Bus<\/strong><\/p>\n

=> Upon arrival, you will need to catch the airport bus which bring you to the airport terminal.\u00a0 You may want to hurry and catch the first available bus in case you are rushing for another plane.\u00a0 Else the next bus will not move until all passengers are full.<\/p>\n

\"Silk<\/a><\/p>\n

Step 2 – Queue to clear custom<\/strong><\/p>\n

=>After clearing Beijing custom, that is to scan your 10 fingers and take photograph of your face.<\/p>\n

\"Silk<\/a><\/p>\n

Step 3 – Catch train to claim luggage<\/strong><\/p>\n

After you have clear custom, go to catch the airport train to claim your all luggage.<\/p>\n

Step 4 – Claim luggage from the Belt<\/strong><\/p>\n

Check which number of belt your luggage will be, information from the arrival TV screen in airport then immediately go claim all your luggage.<\/p>\n

Step 5 – Go to Domestic Airport to check in<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bring all your claimed luggage and walk to domestic terminal and check in at the domestic counter together with all your luggage to Lanzhou.<\/p>\n

Things to note :\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n