9 Days Chiang Mai Kunming Xining Lhasa Chengdu Tour by Train

Taking international flight from Chiang Mai International Airport to Kunming Changshui International Airport. Upon your arrival in the Kunming Airport, your local tour guide will escort you to your reserved hotel in Kunming. The rest of the day is at leisure. (The direct international flight from Chiang Mai to Kunming suggests to be booked by yourself.)

Stay overnight in Kunming.

In the morning, drive 86 km to the Stone Forest. There is a local saying: It is a waste of time not to visit the Stone Forest while visiting Kunming. The quintessential karst landscape makes every tourist lost in wonder. After lunch, drive back to Kunming and visit the Golden Temple. And then, take a leisurely stroll along the Green Lake, a charming area of teahouses and small boutiques selling handicrafts and beautiful local paintings. After, visit the Flower and Bird Market in the downtown.

Stay overnight in Kunming.

Take the morning flight from Kunming to Xining. Upon your arrival in Xining, the guide will transfer you to your hotel. The rest of the time is at leisure. You can have a good rest or walk around in the city.

Stay overnight in Xining.

In the early morning, drive about 2.5 hours from Xining to Qinghai Lake, China's largest inland salt water lake. The ellipse-shaped lake looks like a huge poplar leaf sitting on the alpine prairie. Scenery in Qinghai Lake varies according to seasons. Summer and autumn have the most comfortable weather conditions and the lake's scenery is most beautiful during these seasons. The most charming and attractive place in Qinghai Lake is the Bird Island. It situates on the western shore of the Lake. Cruising for about 30 minutes is a popular way to appreciate the lake. On the way to this charming lake, you can get a view of Riyue Mountain.

In the afternoon, drive back to Xining. Then, transfer to railway station for your overnight train to Lhasa.

Stay overnight in the train.

Today, you will enjoy the most beautiful scenery of Qinghai-Tibet Railway, spectacular land of snows, boundless desert, vast grassland, and grand snow-capped mountains, beautiful lakes that will continually appear and strongly attract your heart. Upon your arrival in Lhasa, your tour guide will hold a welcome sign with your name on it to greet you at the exit of the train station and escort you from the train station to your reserved hotel in Lhasa. The rest of the day is for you to get acclimatized to the altitude of Lhasa.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

Today's tour will first bring you to the Potala Palace which is the winter palace of the Dalai lama. It was put to use since the 7th Century by the 33rd great king of Tibet. The most valuable collections of Potala Palace are the gilded burial stupas of former Dalai Lamas and meditation Cave of the 33rd great king of Tibet.

Then after lunch, tourists head to Jokhang Temple which was founded by the 33rd great king of Tibet in the 7th century. Inside you can see the statue of Buddha Sakyamuni at the age of twelve. Outside, you can see pilgrims making prostrating in front of Jokhang Temple. Around the temple is Barkhor Street, where you can do kora (a religious circle of a building or mountain) with pilgrims and locals, and explore the old market.Besides, we can taste Tibetan tea with locals in tea house.

Optional:
With time permitting, you may go with tour guide to visit Tibetan handicraft art or Tibetan Traditional Medicine center. You can upgrade your service to enjoy Tibetan Culture Show in the evening (fr. 60USD).

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

In the morning,you are going to visit Drepung Monastery which is one of the “great three” Gelug monasteries of Tibet, founded in 1416 by Jamyang choge, one of the Tsongkhapa’s main disciples. You can visit the biggest monastery kitchen inside the monastery and enjoy Buddhist Sculpture Carving workshop near Drepung.

In the afternoon, you will visit Sera Monastery which is another one of the “great three” Gelug monasteries of Tibet. The hot attraction is the monks debate at around 3 - 5 in the afternoon. In addition, you can tour the Tibetan religious scripture printing house. Inside the monastery, you can see three sand Mandalas and colorful Rock Painting of Buddha.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

The guide will transfer you to the airport for your onward flight to Chengdu. After around 2 hours’ flying, you will land in Chengdu. After our clients arrive in Chengdu Airport, the guide will be greeting you and later get you transferred to your hotel. In the afternoon, tourists will tour Wide and Narrow Alley in downtown Chengdu. The lively and vibrant alley showcases the old life style and houses of Chengdu. You can enjoy the tea and tasty local snacks and buy interesting souvenirs as you tour this pedestrianized area.

Stay overnight in Chengdu.

Chengdu is the major overland gateway to Tibet and home to giant pandas. In the morning, we will drive about half an hour to Chengdu Panda Breeding and Research Center, where you will catch pandas' feeding time, they are at their most active, both Adults and Babies. There's a wealth of information and a panda museum in this 230-hectare park 10 km (6 miles) north of Chengdu. It takes about 2.5 hours to visit this site.

In the afternoon, we will move back to downtown Chengdu to visit Jin Li Street, a vivid replica of the old commercial street of Qin, Han, and Three Kingdom dynasties. You can take a leisurely stroll along the street and buy some souvenirs. After that, we can tour the famous Wuhou Shrine, where tourists can learn more of the celebrated warriors of Three Kingdoms and much more Chinese poetry and calligraphy, etc. can also be seen.

Later, the guide will transfer you to the airport for your onward flight to Chiang Mai. There is one direct flight leaving daily from Chengdu to Chiang Mai and the overall travel time is around 3 hours. Hope you have a nice trip home and look forward to traveling with you again! (The direct international flight from Chengdu to Chiang Mai suggests to be booked by yourself.)