Shangri-La Express Train

China’s ancient Silk Road spans 3 vast provinces, stretching from the city of Xian in Shaanxi province through to the westerly terminus at Kashgar in Xinjiang province, close to the border of Kyrgyzstan. With such a vast range of terrain and topography, there are significant climatic changes as you follow this hallowed trading route across China. Xian’s continental climate makes it pleasant year-round, with more rain during the summer months, mirrored by the cities of Lanzhou, Jiayuguan and Dunhuang in Gansu province. It is only as you cross into the more rugged, arid terrain of Xinjiang that the variations in temperature become more apparent. Summers are scorching and winters are bone-chillingly cold, with snow on the mountains and huge temperature variations from morning to night. May is a spectacular time to traverse the Silk Road, as the snow begins to melt and the meadows spring to life with lush green pasture and wild flowers. Autumn is similarly pleasant, with less extreme temperatures and whilst the summers are very hot, the oasis towns across the desert region are bountiful with flowers and fruits and the humidity is low in the westerly reaches of the Silk Road.