Forbidden City, Beijing

Day 01Arrival in Beijing

Our guide will meet you outside the baggage claim area at Beijing Airport and take you to your hotel. The rest of the day is free for you to explore Beijing on your own.

Tips: If you have the habit of reading newspaper at home, you do not need to worry about it here in Beijing. "China Daily" is the most famous English newspaper in China and you can get it at almost every book stall. "Time Out Beijing", "City Weekend" and "That's Beijing" are nice English magazines that you may choose if you would like to know the local news.

Day 02Beijing

Visit the Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven. For dinner, Beijing Duck Dinner will be served at a famous restaurant followed by a lively performance of the Peking Opera at the Liyuan Theatre.(B+L+D)

Tips: Beijing Roast Duck is a favorite of visitors to Beijing. It is known worldwide as the most delicious and representative food in Beijing. After the duck is roasted, the chef will slice the skin and meat right in front of you. Thin pancakes, spring onions and sweet sauce should always be enjoyed with the duck. The local custom is to roll the spring onions, the crisp skin and the tender meat coated with sweet sauce into the pancake. The waiter will typically provide a tutorial for you if have problems rolling!
Descriptions:
Forbidden City - You will start your Forbidden City tour from Wumen (the Meridian Gate). It's also called Five-Phoenix Tower, Wufeng Lou in Chinese, as it looks like a phoenix with five pavilion buildings up there. Behind the gate, there appear the Inner Golden Water Bridges, made of white marbles.

Peking Opera performance, Beijing

Day 03Beijing

In the morning, the tour will visit the Badaling Great Wall. Lunch will be provided at a popular local sichun restaurant. In the afternoon, the tour will take you to the Sacred Way and the Ming Tomb. On the way back to your hotel, the car will pass the Bird's Nest (Olympic National Stadium). The stadium will be viewed from a distance so that you will truly appreciate the magnificent structure. (B+L, D is included for luxury series)

Differences 
Luxury Series: If you select the luxury tour, dinner is included this night.  An a la carte dinner will be provided for your enjoyment at a famous  Cantonese cuisine restaurant in the Wangfujing area. 
Standard Series: Those visitors selecting the standard series are encouraged to ask the local guide or the concierge at the hotel for a dinner recommendation.  You can find both Chinese and western style restaurants here.
 
Tips: Seeing that you are ready to climb up the Great Wall, of course, a pair of comfortable shoes is really needed. Because of the steep inclines on the Great Wall, please do not wear the high-heel shoes. Otherwise, you will probably feel fatigued very quickly. For ladies who are afraid of being exposed under the sun, you can carry an umbrella which could protect you from strong sunshine. You are suggested to anoint yourself with sun-block lotion and wear sunglasses to abstain from ultraviolet radiation. Before your climbing, our guide will provide you with the bottled water, do remember to take it. A good supply of water is necessary to avoid dehydration. What's more, you may take some snacks such as candies, chocolates or biscuits for energy makeup.

Day 04Beijing - Lhasa

Take a morning flight to Lhasa Gonggar Airport where the altitude is 3,650 meters above sea level. Then transfer to Testang and check in at the hotel where dinner will be served.(B+D)

Tips: For the foreign travelers to Tibet, the Tibet Travel Permit is required. The travel permit is checked and issued by the Tibet Tourism Bureau (TTB). When boarding the flight to Lhasa, you need to show your permit. As the permit can only be issued two weeks prior to your entry to Tibet, please make sure you consider this time limitation when planning your trip.

Descriptions:
Tibet - Different from many other places in China, in Tibet, people mainly live on meat, barley and dairy products. In pastoral areas, vegetables are not easy to get. Beef and mutton are high-calorie foods which can help Tibetan people keep out the cold. When you come to this snow land, remember to taste the meat. The unique flavor will leave you a deep impression.

Ferry boat to the Samye Monastery, Tsetang

Day 05Tsetang - Lhasa

Take a ferry on the Yarlong Tsangpo River to visit the Samye Monastery. Transfer to Lhasa and check in at the 4-star Four Points by Sheraton Lhasa hotel (Address: No. 5, Section 1 Lin Kuo East, Lhasa, 850000). Dinner will be served at your hotel.(B+L+D)

Tips: Tourists visiting the Samye Monastery must take a wooden boat across the Yarlong Tsangpo River to get there. It is not a luxury cruise, but rather a kind of very local transportation. The boats only hold twenty to thirty people at a time. When you arrive at the dock, you may need to wait for a few minutes. Many local Tibetans as well as other tourists use these boats as a menas of transportation. Don't be surprised if you see the cattle on the boat -it is very normal. The trip will take you about 40 minutes. The boat will dock on the opposite river bank, where there are many motor trucks available for transferring people to the Samye Monastery. The roads are not very bumby,  so you may feel like you are receiving a "massage" while driving on this road. It is indeed a Tibet trip. 
 
Descriptions: 
Samye Monastery - Samye means unimaginable in Tibetan. Built in the 8th century, it was the first Buddhist monastery built in Tibet. The layout represents the ideal universe as described in the sutra. It is the pilgrimage shrine as well as a popular tourist attraction. Groups of pilgrims come here each year to pray for a prosperous future.

Day 06Lhasa

Visit the Tibet Museum and the Carpet Factory. After having a western-style lunch, go head to visit the Sera Monastery and the Norbulingka Park. An a la carte dinner will be arranged for you at a great local Sichuan cuisine restaurant.(B+L+D)

Descriptions: 
Tibet Museum - The precious cultural relics kept in the Tibet Museum certainly dazzle visitors' eyes. The facsimile of the famous painting Bu Nian Tu delicately depicts the scene when the Emperor Taizong meeting Tibetan envoys, which reflects the deep companionship between the Han and Tibetan People.

Sera Monastery - The Sera Monastery was built along the hillsides. It was constructed on a large scale. The major buildings are Je Zhacang, Me Zhacang, Coqen Hall and Kamcuns. The appearance of the buildings is painted in the same color. All the houses in the mausoleum are stone and wooden structure. The upper part of the white wall is decorated with purple-black Beima Grass, endowed it with strong Tibetan flavor.
 
Norbulingka Park - a park outside of Lhasa which functioned as the summer dwelling palace for the potential successors of the Dalai Lamas during the rule of the 7th Dalai Lama. The park features chapels, pavilions, gardens, fountains and a lake.
 

Our clients in front of the Potala Palace, Lhasa

Day 07Lhasa

Visit the magnificent Potala Palace. After a western-style lunch, visit the Jokhang Temple, the thriving bazaar of the Barkhor Street and the Tibetan Traditional Medicine Hospital. Dinner will be served at your hotel.(B+L+D)

Descriptions: 
Potala Palace - The Potala Palace, a well-known site in Lhasa City, has witnessed the friendship of Tibetan and Han People in history. Over 1300 years ago in Tang Dynasty, the Princess Wencheng left the prosperous capital Chang'an City, passed through many trials, finally came to the snow-covered Plateau and married the King Songtsen Gampo, which marked an epoch of the friendly relationship between Tang and Tibet. Today the palace still keeps a large amount of cultural heritage which have witnessed how China gradually formed into a unitary multinational state.
 
Jokhang Temple - Jokhang Temple has been the destination for Buddhist pilgrimage for centuries. The statue of Sakyamuni at 12 years old was brought to Tibet by Princess Wencheng of Tang Dynasty and it resides at the temple today. It is as significant as Potala Palace in the minds of Tibetan people.
 
Barkhor Street - as the oldest street, it has witnessed and endured the ups and downs of Lhasa. Barkhor Street encircles the Jokhang Temple like a guardian. It is a hub of religion, trade, culture and finance and is packed with throngs of people from the day to the night. The shops and stalls on both sides offer a wide variety of goods including Tangka, daily necessities, hada, accessories as well as some fashionable Indian and Nepalese style decorations.
 

Day 08Lhasa - Shangri-La

Visit a Tibetan family on the way to the airport. Take a flight to Shangri-La and check into your hotel.(B+L)

Descriptions:
Tibetan Family Visit - A visit to a real Tibetan family will give you a chance to witness at first hand the local lifestyle. The hospital hosts will welcome you with the local buttered tea and wine and then show you around their houses. They will be glad to introduce their family and Tibetan customs to you and you can raise your own questions. You will find that even in one country, the manners and customs of the different ethnic groups vary greatly!

Lijiang Old Town

Day 09Shangri-La

Visit the Bita Lake and the Shudu Lake. On the way back, the tour will stop at the Songzanlin Monastery.(B+L)

Descriptions: 
Songzanlin Monastery - Songzanlin Monastery is the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Yunnan. It was originally built in 1679 and constructed in traditional Tibetan style, it is known as the miniature Potala Palace. The Gedong festival is hosted here every Nov 29th in the lunar calendar.

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B-- Breakfast     L-- Lunch     D-- Dinner