Tibet Odyssey

Welcome to China. Our guide will meet you at the airport exit upon your arrival in Beijing. The guide will hold a banner with our company's logo and your name on. You can find him or her very easily. Then transfer you to the 4-star Novotel Beijing Xinqiao (Addr: No. 1 Cong Wen Men  Xi Avenue) and the rest of the time is free for you to recover from the long flight journey. You may also go out for shopping or browse the city to get a basic idea of the country on your own.

Before the trip start, the guide will gather the whole group and give you a pre-tour introductory talk at the hotel. Now you are getting to know each other and we wish you have a wonderful trip together. In the morning, drive to visit the world's largest city center square - Tiananmen Square and the majestic Forbidden City where used to be the palace for 24 emperors in Ming and Qing Dynasties. In the afternoon, you will visit the Jingshan Park which is located on the north side of the Forbidden City. Climbing up to the Wanchun Pavilion, the highest point on the north-south axis of the city, you may have a full view of the Forbidden City and also the surrounding buildings. Then followed is the visit to Beihai Park. Beihai Park is the most ancient and complete Imperial Garden of the country. It looks grandiose and graceful and attracts people with its gorgeous gardens and dignified temples. In the evening, enjoy the quintessence of Chinese culture - Peking Opera (Addr: #175 Yongan Road, Xuanwu District). You might not understand it deeply, but should not miss it due to its importance for Chinese people. (B+L)

The Great Wall is a unique project which you can see in China only. It was built to defend attackers from nomadic tribe. Today, you will visit the Juyongguan Great Wall which is located 60km away from the downtown. It is an important pass on the Great Wall due to its strategic terrain. The wondrous Great Wall as well as its amazing surrounding scenery will add great points for your memorable journey. Then visit Ming Tomb in the afternoon. In Changping County of the city, there is a group of tombs where buried 13 emperors of Ming Dynasty. The one we will visit is the Chang Tomb. It is the largest, earliest and the best preserved tomb among those 13 tombs. Chang Tomb is a multi-burial mausoleum for the third emperor of Ming Dynasty - Emperor Zhuli and his empress. After you finish the visit, we will transfer you back to the hotel for a good rest. (B+L)

After a bumper breakfast at the hotel, you will be driven to visit the largest Imperial Garden - Summer Palace in the morning. With limpid lake, lush vegetation, elegant pavilions and solemn temples, one will be intoxicated in these beautiful scenery and spectacular constructions. A highlight that needs to be specially mentioned is the Long Corridor in the Summer Palace. With 728 meters long, it has more than 14,000 paintings along the corridor which has been deemed to be the longest gallery in the world. After an a la carte lunch served at a famous local restaurant, you will visit Chinese national treasure - pandas at Beijing Zoo.  Then visiting the 798 Art District which is also named the Dashanzi Art District. Developed from an electronic factory, it gathered many artists which gradually formed to be an art district composed by painting gallery, arts centre, Design Company, restaurants and bars etc. Then take a flight to Xian and transfer to the Northern Avenue in the city center and check in at the 4-star Ramada Xi'an Bell Tower for a two-night stay. (B+L)

Xian is an ancient city with precious historical and cultural heritage. In the morning, start the excursion by visiting the Banpo Museum which is the first prehistorical site in China. It would be a unique experience to appreciate the matriarchal commune culture at Banpo Museum. The remains of houses, cellars, cemetery and articles for daily use and production vividly show you the life of our ancestor during matriarchal commune 6000 years ago. Later, you will proceed to visit the majestic Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum. It is the funerary pits for Emperor Qin Shi Huang where you can see thousands of terracotta figures with different faces and the weapons, chariots and steeds they use. With formidable battle array, it was referred to be the largest underground military museum in the world. Lunch is served at an elegant local restaurant in a la carte style. After lunch, pay a visit to the Forest of Stone Steles Museum, Bell Tower and Drum Tower in the afternoon. The Forest of Stone Steles Museum has a large collection of inscriptions, epigraph and stonecuttings of past dynasties. And the Bell Tower and Drum Tower in Xian is the largest of this kind in China. (B+L)

Head for Lhasa by flight after breakfast at the hotel. It takes about three hours on the flight. Upon arrival, our local guide will welcome you warmly at the airport and transfer to the Four Points by Sheraton we booked for you. With the high altitude of 3,650 meters above sea level, Lhasa is a bright pearl on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It always looks mysterious to visitors due to its strong religious atmosphere and poor accessibility. Now, let's reveal her veil and explore on this sacred land. (B)

The Norbulingka Park is the summer palace for Dalai Lama. When hot summer comes, Dalai would come here for leisure and also dealing with official affairs and doing religious activities at the same time. The park has great characteristic to take advantage of nature landscape and woods, and then gradually combined artificial work when building. It also absorbed art technique of Han people to build pavilions, rockeries, ponds, flowers and plants, but still has strong atmosphere of Tibetan gardens. After visiting the Norbulingka Park, you will have lunch at a local restaurant and have a short rest. Then visit the Drepung Monastery in the afternoon. Drepung Monastery is the largest Tibetan Buddhist temple which once had more than ten thousand monks. Covering an area of two hundred thousand square meters, it looks magnificent and grandiose, just like a beautiful mountain city. (B+L)

Today, you will visit the landmark building on the snowy plateau - the Potala Palace. It is one of the precious culture heritages in the world. The palace was originally built by King Songtsen Gampo for his wife of Princess Wencheng of Tang Dynasty. And then since the year of 1648, it has become the palace of Dalai Lama for residence, handling political and religious activities. The visiting time at the Potala Palace is limited within one hour in order to protect its precious heritage. Then, you will have time to walk along the most bustling business street - Barkhor Street at leisure. On both sides of the street are handicraft shops and booths where you can buy some souvenirs like copper Buddha in small size, Tibetan hat, prayer beads, thangka paintings, handkerchief etc. After that, move on to visit the Ramochi Temple which is the place for Gyuto of Gelug Sect in Shamanism to practice. (B+L)

Visit the Tibetan Hospital as the conclusion of the Lhasa travel. You will get a short lecture from the doctor of the hospital for characteristic of Tibetan medical science. Then take flight to modern Shanghai and transfer to the 4-star Holiday Inn Downtown (Addr: No. 585 Heng Feng Road) for rest. (B+L)

Today, start by visiting the most famous and bustling commercial street - Nanjing Road. It has same reputation with Fifth Avenue in New York, Champs Elysees in Paris and Oxford street in London. With the overall length of 5.5 km, the Nanjing Road is a window open to the outside world, and it is also the shopping paradise for domestic and overseas people. The Bund is definitely a must-see place. It starts at Yan'an Eastern Road from south and reaches Baidu bridge on Suzhou lake in north, totally lasts for 1.5 km. Facing Huangpu River on the east side, you may overlook the landmark buildings like Oriental TV Tower, Jin Mao Tower and Shanghai World Financial Center. On the west side of the Bund is the financial center and foreign trade agencies in old Shanghai. There are 52 classical buildings in different styles such as Gothic, Romanesque, Baroque and Western and Chinese style, which is also crowned as “Display of International Buildings”. After lunch, you will visit the Shanghai City Planning Exhibition Center and the Jade Buddha Temple in the afternoon. With the theme of City, Human, Environment and Development, Shanghai City Planning Exhibition Center concentrated the urban planning and construction of Shanghai in history, nowadays and future, especially the development plan for next 20 years. The Jade Buddha Temple is located in the prosperous downtown area, but it keeps very quiet in a noisy neighbourhood. You may have a very pleasant and flexible time at this famous Buddhist temple. After the whole day visit, we will transfer you back to your hotel and then our service ends here. (B+L)

Breakfast is served at the hotel. Please check out the hotel before 12:00 and transfer to the airport for your homeward flight on your own. If you depart late at the day, you may store your luggage at the hotel and explore the city by yourselves. Then get your luggage back before your departure. You may also contact your travel consultants for private tour in other cities or any other extra services if you would like to extend your stay. (B)