Beijing (3 nights) air Chengdu (1 night) air Lhasa (3 nights) air Xian (2 nights) air Shanghai (2 nights)
Day 1 Arrival / Beijing Upon arrival at Beijing airport, you will be met by our English speaking tour guide and transferred to hotel. Leisure on your own for the rest of the day.
Day 2 (B, L)
Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, Temple of Heaven.
TianAnMen Square, the symbolical heart of China and gathering place for the masses. It is the biggest public square in the world, which can hold one million people. Having a free walk there, imagining the great historic events of the 20th century took place there. You will also see legendary landmarks including the Great Hall of the People and the towering 125 foot granite obelisk, Monument to the Peoples Heroes, honoring those who died in revolution.
Walking across the Golden River Bridge, enter the Forbidden City, the inner sanctum and palace where for centuries Chinese emperors ruled their world. It has 9000-room maze of courtyards, places, and ceremonial halls, where 24 emperors used to live. Forbidden City was indeed a forbidden place, where commoners were kept out for nearly 500 years in the past. Tour the palace and imagine the mystery, intrigue and incredible power that reigned here.
Temple of Heaven was built in the 15th century, a sacred site for ancient Beijing, where the emperor and his 1000 member entourage would retreat twice a year for religious ritual. Surrounded by enormous grounds designed in accordance with fengshshui, the Temple complex consists of the Celebrated Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, a unique wooden and blue-tiled structure built without a nail. It is considered the supreme achievement of traditional Chinese architecture.
Day 3 (B, L, D) Beijing Great Wall Tour, Ming Tomb, watch Peking Opera in the evening.
The Great Wall of China is the longest structure ever built. It is about 4,000 miles long, and it was built entirely by hand. About 1, 200 - 1, 500 miles of the Great Wall were built during the reign of Emperor Shi Huangdi (Qin Dynasty). The Great Wall crosses northern China from the east coast to the central part of China.
Visit the fabled Ming Tombs, the resting places of thirteen emperors and their splendid treasures, passing down the Spirit Way, a road lined with statues of dignitaries, as well as huge elephants, lions, camels and horses, you will encounter the marble tombs of the Ming Dynasty emperors. Visit one of the spectacular tombs- Dingling featuring an underground palace.
Peking Opera or Beijing Opera is a synthesis of stylized action, singing, dialogue and mime, acrobatic fighting and dancing to represent a story or depict different characters and their feelings of gladness, anger, sorrow, happiness, surprise, fear and sadness.
Day 4 (B, L ) Beijing / Chengdu Summer Palace, Lhama Temple, transfer to Chengdu CA1407 (15:35/18:00)
The Summer Palace is the largest and best-preserved royal garden in China with a history of over 800 years. With its cool features - water, gardens and hills, it was the palace of choice for vacationing emperors and Dowager Empresses. It was badly damaged by Anglo-French troops during the Second Opium War (1860) and its restoration became a pet project of Empress Dowager Cixi, the last of the Qing dynasty rulers.
Lhama Temple (Yonghegong or also known as lama temple) is a renowned lama temple of the Yellow Hat Sect of Lamaism, is situated in the northeast part of Beijing city. Lama Temple, or Yanghegong, has a long and varied history. It was originally built in 1694 and originally used as official residence for court eunuchs of the Ming dynasty.
Day 5 (B, L ) Chengdu / Lhasa Transfer to airport for flight to Lhasa (09h15/11h35), be met & transferred to your hotel. Free at leisure to acclimatize yourself to the high latituder.
Lhasa, a palace for the Dalai Lama at the very beginning and later served as the whole governmental administration. It is the heart and soul of Tibet and an object of devout pilgrimage, is still a city of wonders. "Lhasa" in Tibetan means "the land of gods" and is the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region. More informations of Lhasa...
Day 6 (B, L ) Lhasa Full day trip to Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple and Barkhore Street.
The Potala Palace is a landmark of Lhasa and Lama Buddism. It is a 13 storey and 1000 rooms' palace and once winter residence of the Dalai Lama. The construction of the present structure began during the reign of the fifth Dalai Lama in 1645 and took more than 50 years to complete.
The Jokhang Temple is the spiritual centre of Tibet - a destination for millions of Tibetan pilgrims. The oldest part of the temple dates back to the 7th century AD - being one of the two temples built by King Songsten Gampo to house the statues of the Buddha that his two foreign wives brought to Tibet from China and Nepal.
The Barkhor Street is Lhasa's inner pilgrim circuit shaped roughly like an octagon that runs around the Jokhang. The circuit is lined with markets, shops, stalls and street vendors providing every conceivable item a Tibetan could need. The best place to start the circuit is right outside the Jokhang in a clockwise direction.
Day 7 (B, L ) Lhasa Full day trip to Drepong Monastery, Sera Monastery, Norbulingka, and the Carpet Factory.
The Drepong Monastery: a cluster of white buildings resembling a riceheap, against the backdrop of Mount Gyenbuwndze. Founded in 1416, Drepong is the biggest and richest monastery in Tibet that was divided into four Tantric colleges - that specialised in different branches of knowledge.
The Sera Monastery lies on the northern edge of Lhasa at the base of Tatipu Hill. 'Sera' means 'merciful hail' denoting its rivalry with the 'Rice Heap' (Drepong) since hail destroys rice. Sera was smaller than Drepong with about 7,000 monks but was very rich and comparable in power.
The Norbulingka Park: Norbulingka means "Jeweled Garden". It was constructed as a summer palace for the Dalai Lama at the very beginning and later served as the whole governmental administration.
The Carpet Factory: The highland of Tibet is the actual home of the oriental carpets. By visiting Carpet Factory you will have a general idea of how carpets are produced.
Day 8 (B, L) Lhasa / Chengdu / Xian Transfer to airport for flight LHASA / CHENGDU (10h30/12h10), shift to flight CHENGDU / XIAN (15h10/16h10), be met & transferred to your hotel.
Day 9 (B, L,) Xian Visit Terracotta Warriors, Big Wild Goose Pagoda and Bell Tower.
Today will be your highlights in Xian. The Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses are the most significant archeological excavations of the20th century. It has been regarded as THE 8TH WONDER OF THE WORLD! Over 2,200 years ago, the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang in search of immortality, ordered the construction of a vast army of 8,000 life-sized Terra Cotta warriors and buried with him to protect his empire after his early death. They were discovered accidentally in 1974 by farmers digging a well. For history lovers, the sight is truly breathtaking.
Visit the Bell Tower which is the most well-preserved and best-known one among many ancient cities of China. The Bell Tower was originally built in the Yingxiang Temple in 1384, at the intersection of West Street and Guangji Street. Then in 1582, it was moved to its present pivotal position, in the very heart of the city at the junction of four main streets extending to the east, south, west and north, for rebuilding and later restorations. With magnificent carved beams and painted rafters, this classical building is truly elegant.
Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Situated at south of the Xian city,as one of the main constructions in the famous Buddhist temple-Da-Ci-En Temple, the pagoda is one of the most distinctive and outstanding landmarks for Xian City.
Day 10 (B, L ) Xian / Shanghai Transfer to Shanghai by air. Visit Yu Garden, Old Town Bazaar, Museum. Watch Shanghai Acrobat at night.
Visit the Shanghai Museum.As a museum of ancient Chinese art, Shanghai Museum possesses a collection of 120,000 precious works of art. Its rich and high-quality collection of ancient Chinese bronze, ceramics, painting and calligraphy is specially celebrated in the world. The present Shanghai Museum has eleven galleries and three special temporary exhibition halls.
Yu Garden. This delightfully restored labyrinth of tiny specialty shops, tea and snack houses centered around a Ming - dynasty mandarin Suzhou-style garden is a fascinating spot to people-watch over a pot of tea, to shop for unique souvenirs and to get a feel for Old Shanghai. It is well worth a meander through the Yu Garden, which has many scenic courtyards decorated with baroque rockery, pools and flora, all connected by corridors and passageways.
Day 11 (B, L, ) Shanghai Jade Buddha Temple, the Bund, Oriental Pearl TV Tower.
Visit the Bund. Have a stroll along the waterfront to experience the smells, sights and sounds of the old "Wall Street" in Shanghai. Banks, trading houses, residences, hotels and clubs all had a view of bustling Huangpu River traffic as they shared in the city's rising and falling fortunes. Then walking along the famous shopping street-Nanjing Road. It is said that shopping in Shanghai is the most varied and rewarding in China
Oriental Pearl TV Tower. With its 468 meters high (1,536 feet), the tower is the third tallest TV and radio tower in the world as well as the tallest structure in Asia. It is the best place to have a birds-eye- view of Shanghai City. With its unique and amazing design, it has become the new landmark of Shanghai and a big magnet for tourists. The viewing area is half-way up and offers a splendid unparalleled view of the Bund, the emerging new modern Shangha. The view of Shanghai from this height fills you with wonder at the beauty that surrounds you.
Day 12 (B ) Shanghai / Depart Free time in the morning, you will be transferred to airport to catch the flight to Home.
Service end. More photos of our packages, click here.
Hotel accommodation inclusive in the above package:
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