11 Days Beijing Lhasa Xian Train Tour

When international flight lands in Beijing, please take a taxi by yourself to our reserved hotel or by agreement the transfer will be arranged for you. The rest of the day, you may have a good rest or explore around on your own.

Stay overnight in Beijing.

After breakfast, your guide will lead you to visit the majestic Mutianyu Great Wall. You will be taken on a group tour to the Great Wall, the most famous symbol of China and one of the world’s most remarkable architectural wonders. This section was first built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD).

Stay overnight in Beijing.

Today, you will head to visit the magnificent Forbidden City which used to be the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties with a history of around 600 years. Then, you will move to the Imperial Ancestral Temple (also Taimiao of Beijing). Lying to the east of the imperial palace, the Forbidden City, the Imperial Ancestral Temple was a place where Chinese emperors stored their ancestors' tablets and worshipped them during festivals and ceremonies.

After that, you will visit Beihai Park. It is one of the oldest, largest and best-preserved ancient imperial gardens in China. With over 1,000 years' history, the park is not only a classic combination of the grandiosity of the northern gardens and the refinement of the southern gardens in China, but also a perfect integration of magnificent imperial palaces and solemn religious constructions.

Stay overnight in Beijing.

Hutong, which refers to traditional courtyard residence in narrow alleys in Beijing, is a great place where international tourists can learn the folk culture and old quarters of Beijing city. In the morning, tourists can are recommended to explore Nanluoguxiang yourself, one of the most famous Hutongs in Beijing.

With bustling main street, you will find a variety of cafes, kiosks selling different kinds of food and beverages and souvenir shops. A great way to tour Hutong is to enjoy the ride on a traditional rickshaw and rickshaw riders, most of whom can speak basic English, will take you to cover all the historical significance.

In the afternoon, tourists are free to do some shopping in Beijing and get prepared for the train to Lhasa in the evening.

After the tour, you will be drop off at the train station to board the train to Lhasa. The train departs from Beijing West Railway Station in the evening. It takes about 1 hour to check in as the train takes about 1000 passengers. Please be sure to arrive at the train station for 1 hour and a half before the train departure. Your Tibet Travel Permit will need to be checked when you check in.

Stay overnight on the train.

It is quite a long journey that will take about 40 hours to Lhasa. You will first pass through two important provincial capital cities in northwest China, Lanzhou, and Xining. Xining is known as the beginning of Qinghai-Tibet Railway. Travelling along the rail line, you could see the scenery of the countryside and city in northwest China.

Stay overnight on the train.

You will witness the most beautiful scenery of Qinghai-Tibet Railway, spectacular land of snow, boundless desert, vast grassland, and grand ice mountains, beautiful lakes that will continually appear and strongly attract your heart.

You will arrive in Lhasa in the noon. Your tour guide will hold a board with your name at the exit of the train station to welcome you. Transfer to the reserved hotel by a private car.

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 and help you board the plane bound for Xian. After around 3 hours’ flight, you will land in Xian. The local guide will meet you and escort you to your hotels. And the rest of the day is for you to have a rest.

Stay overnight in Xian.

The day tour in Xian is impressive too. The Emperor’s Terracotta Army is also one of the eight wonders in the world. These terracotta warriors and horses are the size of a real army, and were buried alongside the Emperor in a vast underground palace.

In the archeological site of Banpo Village, built more than 6,000 year ago, you will see how the resident matriarchal tribe used to survive in the Neolithic age.

Stay overnight in Xian.

The guide will transfer you to the airport or train station and help you get on board.