Day 1
Arrive in Beijing
Arrive in Beijing, your gateway city of this tour. Be met at the airport and transferred to your hotel. Free at leisure for the rest of the day.
Beijing has a long history. According to archeological findings 5,000 years ago, Peking Man lived in Zhoukoudian for a very long time. From the warring states period (473 - 221 BC), Beijing was the capital of Yan State and was called Ji. In the Liao Dynasty, it was called Nanjing. In 1153, it was changed to Zhongdu, becoming the capital of the Jin Dynasty. In 1283, Beijing, the capital of the Yuan Dynasty, was called Beiping. From 1421, it was known as Jingshi. In 1911, during the Republic Era, the capital was called Beijing, then Nanjing became the capital of China briefly in 1928, and Beijng reverted to the name Beiping. From 1949, Beijing was set in its current position with its current name as national capital.
Day 2
Beijing
Depart from hotel in the morning to visit Tiananmen Square, the largest urban square and Forbidden City, the largest and most complete ancient imperial palace in the world. Then visit Temple of Heaven in the afternoon. A Peking Opera show after dinner is recommended for your night show, which is exclusive in our quotation. Feel free to contact our travel advisor about the details and cost.
Tiananmen Square: Tiananmen (Gate of Heavenly Peace) was the main entrance to the Forbidden City during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Built in 1417, it was first named the Cheng Tian men, meaning that emperors obeyed the order of Heaven in ruling the country. Destroyed by fire twice, it was rebuilt in 1651 during the Qing Dynasty and renamed Tiananmen. It is also honored as the "Gate of the Nation." As one of the largest city squares in the world, Tiananmen Square occupies an area of 440, 000 square meters--spacious enough to accommodate half a million people. Many annual and special celebrations and assemblies are held here. On October 1st, 1949, Chairman Mao Ze dong declared the founding of the People’s Republic of China on the Tiananmen Rostrum, thus opening a new chapter in the history of China. In the new period of reforms and opening, Tiananmen, with its long history and rich culture, attracts people from all over the world.
Forbidden City: The Forbidden City also named the Palace Museum, shares the honor of being one of five world-famous palaces with the Palace of Versailles in France, Buckingham Palace in England, and the White House in the U.S. and the Kremlin in Russia. The palace, the most magnificent and splendid palace complex in China, was listed as a World Cultural Heritage Building in 1987. It was built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and the construction of this group of buildings took fourteen years from 1406 to 1420. In the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), it was the imperial palace where twenty-four emperors ascended the throne and exercised their strong power to the nation.
Temple of Heaven: At the Temple of Heaven Emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368-1911) worshiped Heaven and prayed for good harvests. The northern part of the outer surrounding wall is semi-circular; the southern part is square; this forms a pattern symbolic of the ancient belief that Heaven was round and the earth square. The double surrounding wall separates the temple into the inner and outer temples with the main structures in the inner one, covering 273 hectares.
Day 3
Beijing
In the morning drive 75km to visit the Great Wall(Badaling Section) first and Ming Tombs (Changling Tomb), the once lavish burial chambers of 13 emperors of the Ming Dynasty. Roasted Peking Duck is recommended for your dinner, which is exclusive in our quotation. Feel free to contact our travel advisor about the details and cost.
The Badaling Great Wall: The Great Wall at Badaling is the best representative section of the Great Wall. It is more than 7 meters high and 5 meters wide. It was the strategic point of Juyongguan Pass in ancient times. Many other fortresses and beacon towers were constructed at the strategic points. This section of the Great Wall has drawn great attention from the Chinese government since the foundation of P.R. China. It was designated a major historical site under state protection in 1961. The Great Wall was listed "a World Cultural Heritage" by the UNESCO in 1987. The Great Wall at Badaling is preserved as a historical monument and has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world.
The Ming Tombs: Located at the foot of the Tianshou Mountain in Changping District, Beijing, the Ming Mausoleums, occupying an area of 120 square kilometers, is well preserved and have the biggest number of emperors buried in the world.
Day 4
Beijing - 
- Lhasa
Visit Beijing Hutong, then be transferred to the airport for the flight to Lhasa. Arrive at Lhasa, be met at Gongar airport and transferred to the hotel to catch up with some good rest and acclimation.
Beijing Hutong is made up of lanes or alleys formed by lines of pre-modern siheyuan, four-sided compounds with houses around a courtyard.Low-rise "old Beijing" is a striking contrast to the apartment blocks of "new Beijing".Beijing road classification was once as follows: 36-foot-wide road was called a standard street, a 18-foot-wide one was a small street and a 9-foot-wide lane was named a Hutong. In fact, the Beijing Hutong are unclassifiable by the traditional standard, ranging from 40 centimeters to 10 feet in width. The longest Hutong has more than 20 turns. It is easy to get lost in the maze of winding lanes that is the Hutong, with the gray-tiled houses and deep alleys crossing each other, all identical in appearance, with many blind Hutongs or cul-de-sacs.
Lhasa is the capital city of Tibet Autonomous Region and has long been the center of politics, economy, culture and religion in Tibet. Lhasa is the important religious and historical legacy city. What really knocks you out here is the full scale impact on your senses of the breathtaking beauty, unique landscape and the holy atmosphere of this religious center.
Day 5
Lhasa
Have a whole day trip in Lhasa City of Tibet Museum, local Tibetan family visiting and Sera Monastery after lunch.
The Tibet Museum is located in the southeast corner of Norbu Lingka, Lhasa city. It covers an area of 23,508 square meters (5.8 acres) including the exhibition area of 10,451 square meters (2.6 acres). The museum is equipped with modern facilities to ensure quality service for visitors and safety and efficient administration of the museum itself. Here exhibits are introduced in Japanese, English, Tibetan, and Chinese, in order to accommodate visitors from all over the world. The Sera Monastery at the foot of Tatipu Hill is located in the northern suburb of Lhasa City. It is one of three famous monasteries in Lhasa along with the Drepung Monastery and the Ganden Monastery.
A visit to local Tibetan family: get a wide knowledge of real life and custom of local tibetans, and have chances to taste buttered tea.
The Sera Monastery is dedicated to the Gelugpa or Yellow Hat Sect, a branch of Tibetan Buddhism, founded by Tsong Khapa. Jamchen Chojey, one of Tsong Khapa’s disciples built the monastery in 1419 during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The monastery was named Sera which mean wild rose in the Tibetan language, because the hill behind it was covered with wild roses in bloom when the monastery was built. The monastery is magnificent and covers an area of 114,946 square meters (28 acres). Its main buildings are the Coqen Hall, Zhacang (college) and Kamcun (dormitory). Scriptures written in gold powder, fine statues, scent cloth and unparalleled murals can be found in these halls. Colorful debates on Buddhist doctrines are held here and these employ a style distinctive from those at Lhasa’s other famous monasteries.
Day 6
Lhasa
A trip to Lhasa would be incomplete without a visit to Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple and Barkhor Street.
Lhasa means "sacred land" in Tibetan, and Potala Palace, the architectural wonder in the center of Lhasa, is the symbol of that sacred land. When the thirty-third King of Tibet, Soongtsan Gampo, was married in 641 to Princess Wen Cheng of the Tang Dynasty, he had 999 houses built on Hongshan Hill for his bride, as well as the red building at the top of the hill. The Buddhists later named it Potala Palace, meaning the sacred land of Buddhism.
Jokhang Temple is the spiritual center of Tibet. Everyday pilgrims from every corner of Tibet trek a long distance to the temple. Some of them even progress prostrate by body length to the threshold of the temple. Pilgrims fuel myriad of flickering butter lamps with yak butter, or honor their deities with white scarves (Kha-btags or Hada) while murmuring sacred mantras to show their pieties to the Buddha.
For tourists, Barkhor Street is a magical place showing the original outlook of Lhasa. The street was paved by hand-polished stone boards. Though it is not broad, it accommodates thousands of tourists every day. Varied shops stand on both sides of the street and thousands of floating stands are on every corner. Most of them offer the prayer wheels, long-sleeve ’chuba’ (the Tibetan people’s traditional clothes), Tibetan knives and some religious articles for sale. Furthermore, some shops sell ’Thangka’ (the Tibetan scroll painting), which is a unique art of Tibet with the themes of religion, history, literature, science and customs. Surprisingly, there are some articles from India and Nepal in this street as well
Day 7
Lhasa - - Chengdu
Visit Drepung Monastery. Then be transferred to the airport for the short flight to Chengdu, the city with locals knowinglaid back attitudes and how to enjoy life. Upon arrival, be transferred to the hotel for a good rest.
Drepung monastery was founded in 1416 by a disciple of Tsong Khapa, Yangjiangque jie. It lies in west of Lhasa under Mt. Gambo Utse, clustered round by the black mountain, its white grand buildings shining under the sunlight. Built in 1416, it is considered as one of the largest monasteries in the six principle monasteries of Gelu Sect in China. Drepung Monastery used to be the living palace of Dalai Lamas before the reconstruction of Potala palace(after the 5th Dalai Lamas was bestowed by Qing emperor Qianlong).
Chengdu, located in southwest China, is the capital of Sichuan province. More than four thousand years ago, the prehistorically Bronze Age culture of Jinsha established itself in this region. The fertile Chengdu Plain, on which Chengdu is located, is called Tianfuzhi guo in Chinese, which literally means "the country of heaven", or "the Land of Abundance".
Day 8
Chengdu
Depart from hotel in the morning to have a whole-day trip of Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding and Sanxingdui Museum in the suburb of Chengdu. Optional Hot Pot in Sichuan Style and Sichuan Opera are are recommended for your dinner and night show, which are exclusive in our quotation. Feel free to contact our travel advisor about the details and cost.
Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding and Research Center or simply Chengdu Panda Base, is a non-profit research and breeding facility for giant pandas and other rare animals. It is located in Chengdu, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China. Chengdu Panda Base was founded in 1987. It started with 6 giant pandas that were rescued from the wild. By 2007, it has had 110 panda births, and the captive panda population has grown to 62. Its stated goal is to "be a world-class research facility, conservation education center, and international educational tourism destination."
The Sanxingdui Museum is near an archaeological site that dates to the Neolithic, Shang and Zhou periods. In 1988 this site was declared a National Key Cultural Relics Protected Unit, due to its scope, the wealth of its contents, and the rarity and precious nature of its excavated objects.
Day 9
Chengdu - - Shanghai
Spend the morning by visiting Thatched Cottage of Du Fu and Wuhou Temple. Then be transferred to the airport to board the domestic flight to Shanghai.
Du Fu, a very famous poet, lived in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Just as its name implies, the Thatched Cottage of Du Fu was his home more than a thousand years ago. Du Fu was born in Gongyi City, Henan Province in 712. In 746, he took the official examination in Changan (now known as Xian) and continued to live there for more than ten years after the failure. But, in order to get away from the An-Shi Rebellion breaking out in 758, Du Fu fled to Chengdu in 759. With the help of friends, the thatched cottage was built in 760 beside the Flower Bathing Brook on the western outskirts of Chengdu. During his four years there, Du Fu composed more than 240 poems that are considered to be precious national treasures.
Wuhou Temple is much associated with the kingdom of Shu. It is the place to commemorate Zhu Geliang, Prime Minister of the kingdom. Wuhou was a top official title conferred upon Zhu Geliang after his death. It is unfortunate that no historical documents have recorded the time of its establishment. However, Du Fu, a top Tang Dynasty poet wrote a poem of two lines say as below: "Where would I find the Prime Minister’s shrine? Somewhere outside Jinguan, in a dense cypress glade."
Day 10
Shanghai
After breakfast you will have a whole-day trip of Jade Buddha Temple, Yuyuan Garden, Oriental Pearl TV Tower and the Bund, Shanghai's famed waterfront promenade. Traditional Dim-sum Banquet and Acrobatics are recommended for your optional dinner and night entertainment which are exclusive in our quotation. Feel free to contact our travel advisor about the details and cost.
Situated in the northwest near the intersection of Anyuan Lu and Jiangning Lu, Jade Buddha Temple is an active one, attracting large numbers of visitors, both local and overseas Chinese tourists. It is one of Shanghai’s few Buddhist temples. Jade Buddha Temple was built between 1911 and 1918, housing 70 resident monks. Its exterior is easily identifiable by its bright saffron walls. Inside, the centerpiece is a two-meter-high white jade sitting Buddha encrusted with jewels. It is said the statue weighs 1,000kg. The sitting Buddha was installed in the temple when it was brought by monks from Burma to Zhejiang Province in 1882. A smaller reclining Buddha lies on a redwood bed.
The Yu Garden: The garden is a virtual maze of caves, gardens, rockeries, paths, bridges, and buildings. Even though many people have had a hand in rebuilding the garden over the centuries, it is seamlessly blended. Every corner you turn has a new surprise, and a total different view. It is often the situation that a person has come across a single area from three different places, and don’t realize he kept coming to the same place. It was ingeniously built and shows the amazing architectural style of Ming and Qing Dynasty. There are also hundreds of precious stele carvings which are done by famous artists in the past. There are six main tourist sections in Yu Garden. Each section has its own special sights.
The Oriental Pearl TV Tower is located in Pudong Park in Lujiazui, Shanghai. The tower, surrounded by the Yangpu Bridge in the northeast and the Nanpu Bridge in the southwest, creates a picture of ’twin dragons playing with pearls’. The entire scene is a photographic jewel that excites the imagination and attracts thousands of visitors year-round. This 468 meters high (1,536 feet) tower is the world’s third tallest TV and radio tower surpassed in height only by towers in Toronto, Canada and Moscow, Russia. However, even more alluring than its height is the tower’s unique architectural design that makes the Oriental Pearl TV Tower one of the most attractive places anywhere. The base of the tower is supported by three seven-meter wide slanting stanchions. Surrounding the eleven steel spheres that are ’strung’ vertically through the center of the tower are three nine-meter wide columns. There are three large spheres including the top sphere, known as the space module. Then there are five smaller spheres and three decorative spheres on the tower base. The entire structure rests on rich green grassland and gives the appearance of pearls shining on a jade plate.
Located along the Huangpu River, the Bund shows off Shanghai’s outstanding foreign buildings, most of which were erected before 1937. To the Europeans, the Bund was Shanghai’s answer to Wall Street. In the 1930s, the string of buildings hosted the city’s financial and commercial centers, and the world’s greatest banks and trading empires established a base here. The Bund was derived from the Anglo-Indian term that literally means a muddy embankment. At the beginning of the 19th century, the area was a mere shallow waterfront covered with reeds.
Day 11
Depart from Shanghai
Free on your own activities until the transfer to the airport. Take a flight to your home.
We are sure that you enjoy Chinese splendid culture and unique scenery and you can be our best ambassadors to share that experience with your friends and neighbors. We sincerely hope to see you take a tour to China and Tibet again with your friends.
