NOMADS, TRADERS AND CONQUERORS BY PRIVATE JET ITINERARY

DAY-BY-DAY ITINERARY

Day 1
Depart independently on commercial flights to China. Cross the International Date Line and arrive in Shanghai the next day.

Days 2 and 3
Walk along the city’s waterfront, The Bund, where Gothic, Baroque, and Renaissance edifices house consulates, banks, and other sterling businesses. Visit the Shanghai Museum, enjoy lunch at the Jade Buddha Temple, and wander the Yu Yuan Gardens and Bazaar.

Days 4 and 5
Visit Gyeongju, where shaman rulers of the great Shilla Kingdom called home. Discover many golden treasures in the enormous Shilla Tombs, explore the Gyeongju National Museum, and visit the famous Bulguk-sa Buddhist Temple.

Day 6
Historic home of the legendary Manchus, who ruled China in the 17th century, Harbin is a fascinating city distinguished by a mix of Russian, Chinese, and Korean cultures. Stroll along the cobble-stoned Zhongyang Street and marvel at the lovely onion-domed St. Sofia Cathedral, for a glimpse into what is known as “the St. Petersburg of the East.” Visit the Siberian Tiger Park, where more than twenty of these great cats thrive.

Day 7
Founded by the Cossack explorer Erofei Khabarov in 1858, Khabarovsk became a major stop on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Explore the city’s beloved Plaza, and visit the Assumption Cathedral, the Arts Museum, and the Central Food Market, a colorful and popular gathering place.

Days 8 and 9
Fly to Irkutsk, the cultural epicenter of Siberia. Enjoy a hydrofoil ride around Lake Baikal, and visit the regional History Museum, the Baikal Ecology Museum and Aquarium, and the 18th-century Church of the Holy Cross. Discover the distinctive local houses, considered exemplars of traditional Siberian architecture, and meet the colorful Buryat and nomadic Evenk peoples.

Day 10
Visit the center of Russian Buddhism at Ivolginsk Datsan, a beautifully set Tibetan Buddhist monastery, where the Dalai Lama has visited five times. Explore reconstructed Kazakh, Cossack, and Evenki settlements at the Ethnographic Museum.

Days 10 and 11
Fly to the legendary land of Genghis Khan. Venture into the countryside to meet with a nomadic family in a traditional ger home. Observe monks chanting at the Gandan Monastery, and visit the Museum of Natural History, featuring a dinosaur skeleton and eggs recovered from the Gobi Desert.

Day 12
Fly to Mongolia’s Gobi Desert for a comfortable ger-style camp experience in an unforgettable setting. Nearby, at the Flaming Cliffs, go dinosaur fossil hunting with an expert guide. Then marvel at the ancient petroglyphs by our camp, and ride Bactrian camels into the sand dunes.

Days 13 and 14
At the heart of the Eurasian Steppe lies Kazakstan, where nomadic horseback pastoralists have thrived for thousands of years. Visit Almaty, which was a popular place of exile for Russian Tsarist-era dissidents, most notably Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Explore the Archaeology Museum and the Kazak Musical Instruments Museum, and unwind at the Arasan Baths, a fascinating community center.

Days 15 and 16
Visit the fabled lands where, for centuries, camel caravans skirted the dry menace of the Taklimakan Desert and made a brisk trade in silk, ivory, gems, and precious metals. Visit Turfan, a green oasis amid a spectacularly arid setting. Study the incredible brickwork of the Emin Minaret, and visit Buddhist Cave Monasteries, vineyards, and a bazaar, where the Uighurs offer their fine wares.

Days 17, 18 and 19
Admire the Famen Temple’s 13-tiered pagoda, the long-hidden treasures of the Tang Dynasty, and one of very few surviving relics of the Lord Buddha. Then visit the life-sized funerary army of Emperor Qin’s Tomb.

Day 20
Depart China on individual commercial flights, or extend your stay.