Day 1
Arrive in Tsedang
After arriving at the airport. Meet the local guide, and then drive to Tsedang. The rest day is free for some well-deserved rest.Your 5 Day Cultural Tibet Tour begins.
For this most mystery and paradoxical land in China, you must hold more expectations than any other cities. Choosing Tsedang as your first stop of Tibet is wise. Because the altitude of Tsedang is lower than that of Lhasa, which will benefit your acclimation. After arrival at the airport, the terrain you could see as you approach your hotel is pretty special. Mountainous, but stark, any growth on these slopes has camouflaged colors of those grey or greens. Some distant peaks are snow capped and the odd turquoise lake is visible. Beautiful, but it looks to be such a hard land to live in. For the rest of day, please do not hurry to do any sightseeing at once. Instead of, you had better have a half-day rest to adjust yourselves to the altitude sickness for tomorrow's trip.
Day 2
Tsedang
Have a one-day trip around Tsedang including Samye Monastery, Trandruk Monastery and Yombulagang Palace.
Built in the 8th century, Samye Monastery was the first Buddhist monastery to be founded in Tibet. It is also notable as the site of the "Great Debate" (792-794) between the Indian Mahayanists and Chinese Zen Buddhists. Samye is famous for its sacred mandala design: the central temple symbolizes the legendary Mount Meru, center of the universe. It is a popular pilgrimage destination for Tibetan Buddhists, some of whom travel on foot for weeks to reach it.
Yumbu Lakang, reputed as the first palace in Tibet history, is also the oldest extant building in Tibet. Lying 12 kilometers southwest of Tsetang Town of Lhoka Prefecture in Southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, it sits atop a small hill east of the Yarlong River and faces west. The palace can be divided into front and back parts. The front part is a three-storey building, while the back part is a castle like tall building. Enshrined in the shrine are the statues of Thiesung Sangjie Buddha King Niechi, King Srontsan Gampo and the Tobu Kings after them. The legend goes that the "mysterious object" was on the roof of the castle, so Buddhists regard this area as the sacred-land.
Trandruk was built during the reign of Songtsan Gampo, and later extensionswere designed by Juequjian of it. It’s said Princess Wencheng stayed and practised Buddhism here at one time and left some relics. Trandruk later converted to Gelugpa and experienced large-scale reconstruction and later it belonged to Gelupa (one of the Sects of Tibetan Buddhism).
Day 3
Tsedang - 
- Lhasa
In the morning, driving to Lhasa (165km) will take about three hours. As the capital of Tibet, Lhasa is located in the valley of the Lhasa River, the main branch of the Yarlungzangbo River; Lhasa is an ancient historical and cultural city with a history over 1,300 years. In the Tibetan language, this name means holy land. Due to the sufficient sunshine, the city is also known as the Sunshine City.
Drepung Monastery, the largest and richest of the 3 major Yellow Sect monasteries in Lhasa. It is one of the largest monasteries in the world. As the most powerful of the Gelukpa monasteries, Drepung has seven colleges and houses over 10,000 monks. It owns many splendid murals, elaborate statues and other valuable treasures. A giant golden statue of Buddha "Jiangba Tongzhenma" sits near the precious conch shell.
Besides, Tibet Museum will present you those vivid pictures of Tibet’s unique history and culture.The museum building is a pioneering institution in the history of Tibet. Designed by a Han Chinese architect from Sichuan province, the complex is a wonderful combination of Chinese and Tibetan architectural styles.
Day 4
Lhasa
A trip to Lhasa would be incomplete without a visit to Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple and Barkhor Street.
Religion is such an important element of Tibetan life that it’s hardly surprising most of the attractions are monasteries, temples and palaces. The awe-inspiring Potala Palace perched high above much of Lhasa, is definitely your good choice. The palace is a complex of political and religious function, which consists of the Red Palace, the White Palace and some attached buildings. The Red Palace contains various chapels and mausoleums for previous Dalai Lamas. The White Palace contains the living quarters of successive Dalai Lamas and their tutors. The offices of the old Tibetan government and their assembly halls are also located here. The Potala is full of elaborate artwork and frescos that tell many stories. They portray religious subjects as well as the customs and traditions of Tibet. Although you need to climb up, it will be richly rewarded for your efforts. Words may fail you to convey the scope of gold, pearls, carvings, gems, incense, monks, rooms, stairs that are in this incredible place. It is a pity that there are no photos allowed in the palace. However, you would take photos by your eyes and embed them into your minds forever.
The local Tibetan lunch is very different from the previous cities, but you will find its specialist and enjoy it. In fact, the most popular cuisine in Tibet now is Sichuan Cuisine. Moreover, there are also western-style restaurants in Lhasa. You are delighted to eat what Tibetan eats in Tibet.
Then you will visit the Jokhang Temple in the afternoon. According to Legend the Jokhang Temple was built on the former site of a lake. However, every time a temple was built, it would collapse later. Confused by this phenomenon, Princess Bhrikuti turned to Wen Cheng, the Princess of Tang Dynasty, for help. Being a well-educated woman, Wen Cheng told the Princess that the geography of Tibet was very much like a hag, with the lake at the heart. In order to build the temple, Wen Cheng advised they must demolish the hag by filling and leveling the lake using 1,000 sheep to carry soil from a mountain far away. When the temple was done, it was called Ra-Sa-Vphrul-Snang (’ra’ meaning sheep and ’sa’ meaning earth in Tibetan) to commemorate those sheep. It was built by craftsmen from Tibet, China and Nepal and thus features different architectural styles. The three-level roof of the Jokhang offers splendid views of the Bhakhor Streets across to the Potala Palace. The golden roofs are superbly crafted with many birds, beasts, bells and other intricate figures. The Tibetan people are absolutely beautiful - very warm, friendly and welcoming. There are so many impressions and interesting and bizarre things happened every day in Lhasa.
Then you will spend a whole afternoon exploring Barkhor Street. The markets in Lhasa are on a scale quite unlike anything else you have seen. You can buy anything Tibet-related, from sacks of incense, chunks of yak butter to monk outfits. When walking along the Barkhor Street, you need to follow the clockwise direction. You see many Tibetan pilgrims in town taking part in the various koras (pilgrimage circuits): the Nangkor, Barkor, Lingkor and Potala. Maybe there are even others associated with various monasteries. They are devout Buddhists who perform these koras as a part of their lives and a means of gathering merit. They are from different parts of Tibet but still have a distinctive look - heavy, colorful clothes, dark-haired, hair plaited and braided with beads. They travel in family groups with a prayer wheel in constant motion. Among these various koras you see many prostrating themselves, some doing this repeatedly on the spot and others prostrating every 3 paces until they have circumambulated the route.
Day 5
Depart from lhasa
The time before transfer to the airport is free on your own arrangement. Bid Lhasa a fond farewell as board the flight to your next destination.Your 5 Day Cultural Tibet Tour comes to the end.
Tibet is not a relaxing holiday destination where you should be ready to travel for forgetting the home comforts and be prepared to rough it somewhat. However if temples, religion and ancient culture are your things, you will find Tibet is just the place for you after these days visit. Now, it is time to say goodbye. Choosing train to leave is also a very good idea. Different from the train running into Tibet, the ticket of leaving is much easier to access, besides, the train will run through Qinghai Province in the daytime, which is opposite from the into-Tibet train and will enable you to explore the soul-stunning landscape of Qinghai out of the window.
