15 Days Beijing Xian Lhasa Namtso Chongqing 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.

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.

The Great Wall tour proves that China was one of the strongest countries in its history. Stretching thousands of kilometers, the Great Wall protected the ancient Chinese against the invasion of the enemy from its north side for more than 1000 years; the Great Wall was listed as one of the world's eight wonders. Mutianyu Great Wall featured “graceful”, enjoy the best quality among all Wall sections, 80km north-east of Beijing with 22 ancient watchtowers, about one every kilometer. (Cable car is optional if you do not want to walk)

After the tour, you will drop off at the Beijing West Train Station to board the high-speed train to Xi’an. The Beijing-Xi’an high-speed train takes only 4 to 6 hours, offering you a comfortable and fast transfer from Beijing to Xi’an. Upon arrival, you can take a taxi from the railway station to the reserved hotel in the downtown.

Stay overnight in Xi’an.

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.

In the early morning, you will board the famous sky train to Lhasa in Xian train station. To start the wonderful journey of experience the highest train ride in the world. The train journey will take you about 30 hours.

Stay overnight on the train.

A full day window sightseeing along Qinghai-Tibet Railway, you will see land of snows, desert, immense grassland, ice-mountain, beautiful lakes which will strongly go to your heart.

Then you will arrive in Lhasa in the afternoon. You will be warmly welcome to Tibet by saying Tashi Delek at the train station by our professional guide and transferred to reserved hotel in Lhasa. Then have a good rest to acclimatize the high altitude for the rest of the day.

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.

In the morning, drive from Lhasa to Lake Namtso, one of the four holy lakes of Tibet and also the highest saline lake in the world. On the way, you can see snow-capped Nyenchen Thanglha Mountain Ranges and lots of nomads and their tent with grazing yak and sheep densely-populated on the flourishing grassland (in summer). Besides, you can enjoy the view of the Sky-Road Railway with snow mountain background; while standing at the famous Lagenla Pass(5190m), you can view the stunning vista of holy Namtso Lake.

Then we can enjoy our time doing a leisurely trek around Tashi Dor Island and along the lakeshore. Drive back to Damxung. (For environment protection, the Lakeshore guesthouses were close by the government.)

Stay overnight in Damxung.

After breakfast, we will first visit Chimelong Nunnery (Phyirmil Lung Nunnery). Roam over the peaceful small nunnery and get an idea of different Buddhist studies in Tibet, you may also spot a sky burial site (Tibet funeral site) in the distance.

Then, we can go to Tsurphu Monastery, the seat of the Karmapa branch of the Kagyupa order of Tibetan Buddhism. Here, you can learn more about the ‘Black Hats’, The Karma Kagyupa school of Tibetan Buddhism. In the summertime (June to September), we can also go for a ‘Linka outing’ (Tibetan-style picnic) in the small village at the foot of the hill of Tsurphu Monastery.

Finally, we will drive back to Lhasa.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

Today’s Cultural Tips: Sky burial is a funeral practice commonly seen in Tibet. The corpse will be disposed of and later devoured by vultures. In Tibetan Buddhism, sky burial is believed to represent their wishes to go to heaven. Only family members of the dead can attend the funeral.

The guide will transfer you to the airport for your onward flight to Chongqing. After around 2 hours’ flying, you will land in Chongqing. Upon arrival in Chongqing Airport, our guide will be meeting you and get you transferred to your hotel in Chongqing. The rest of the day is at leisure.

Recommended places for sightseeing and dinner:
a. Visit Jiefangbei Square, the “Times Square” in Chongqing;
b. Taste well-renown hot pot in Jiefangbei Pedestrian Street;
c. Enjoy the stunning night view of Yangzi and Jialing rivers from E’ling Park;

Stay overnight in Chongqing.

In the morning, we will visit Three Gorge Museum, where tourists can learn the historical facts of Chongqing before Three Gorge Dam is built. You can also enjoy the statues, ceramics, Buddhist art and bronze relics rescued from the rising waters of the dammed Yangtze River. Besides, you can see many historical photographs which give you an interesting insight into the small minorities inhabited in and around Chongqing in the past, etc.

After Lunch, the whole tour group is about to tour one of the must-see attractions in Chongqing, i.e. Ciqi Kou. The ancient town gives you a glimpse of the traditional cobbled streets and the distinct courtyard and lifestyle in hilly Chongqing. Some of the well-preserved shrines and temples are worth a visit. Though being a bit touristy, Ciqi Kou is packed with intriguing souvenir shops and tasty food stalls and home-run hostels. Do walk to the end and enjoy the river bank and ferry boats there.

In the evening, we will stop by Hongya Cave. With gorgeous neon lights sparkling around the Hongya Cave and Qiansimen Jialing River Bridge, you can taste hot pot and local snacks while enjoy the stunning night view of Jialing River Bridge and the commercial boats below, which is why Chongqing is named as “Small Hongkong”. You may also join the crowds to watch the live performance of street artists.

Stay overnight in Chongqing.

Located approximately 108km away from downtown of Chongqing, Dazu Rock Carving is on the world heritage list as one of the eight most brilliant grottoes in the world. The massive and gigantic Buddhist sculptures date back to 7 AD and bear the influence of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. You can learn the story of Buddha and different schools of traditional Chinese philosophical thinking and closely explore the sleeping Buddha, etc.

After the day tour is done, we will head to Wulong County

Stay overnight in Wulong.

Wulong Karst Geology Park is one of the most stunning natural heritages around Chongqing. The Karst topography is biggest features of this enormous geology park. We will visit Three Natural Bridges, a series of incredible limestone bridges in Xiannv town, namely Tianlong Bridge, Qinglong Bridge and Heilong Bridge. The incredible limestone bridegs and gigantic sinkhole make Three Natural Bridge the famous setting in renown Chinese director’s movie “Curse of the Golden Flower” and the Hollywood blockbuster “Transformers 4: Age of Extinction”.

After the tour, we will drive back to the downtown of Chongqing (around 3 hours’ drive) and have a good rest.

Stay overnight in Chongqing.

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