15 Days London Beijing Xian Lhasa Yichang Tour with Yangtze River Cruise

There are three direct flights leaving daily from London to Beijing and the overall travel time is around 11 hours. Please pack your luggage well and get to the airport on the day of flying. (The direct international flight from London to Beijing suggests to be booked by yourself.)

Stay overnight on the plane.

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 Xian. The Beijing-Xian high-speed train takes only 4 to 6 hours, offering you a comfortable and fast transfer from Beijing to Xian. Upon arrival, you can take a taxi from the railway station to the reserved hotel in the downtown.

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.

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.

You will fly to Chongqing where the Yangtze Cruise Tour start. Your tour guide will escort you to Lhasa airport and see you off.

Airport to Pier transfer with tour guide is included, your Chongqing tour guide will escort you to board the cruise and help you check out. You will have a chance to go through the Chongqing City from the airport to the pier, which is biggest city built by the Yangtze River. The cruise sail at about 21:00 in the evening.

Overnight in the Cruise.

Today is your first day of Yangtze River Cruise Tour. You will visit Fengdu Ghost City (off cruise tour, optional) at about 09:00. Having nearly two thousand years' history, the Fengdu Ghost City combines the cultures of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism with the mystique of ghosts. Tourist can see the Chinese Ghose culture and characters in here.

Then enjoy a Shibaozhai Shore Excursion at about 16:00. Shibao Zhai Village is a tower with 12 floors. It is one of several high wooden buildings in China nowadays. It is the typical and symbolic buildings characterizing of China’s southern folk architectural techniques.

Stay overnight in the cruise.

The second day of Yangtze River Cruise Tour begins with the White Emperor City (off cruise tour, optional) at 07:30. It is situated at the entrance of Qutang Gorge, north of the Yangtze River. It was known as White Emperor City which dates from the Western Han dynasty, approximately 2000 years ago, when the king of Shu, Liubei, called himself the White Emperor.

Then you will sail through Qutang Gorge at 10:45, Wu Gorge at 12:45, and have a shore excursion to Goddess Stream at 15:15.

Stay overnight in cruise.

Today is the last day of your cruise journey, and you will visit Three Gorge Dam at 08:15. The world record smashing Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest dam and hydroelectric power station, you will have chance to witness the tropic man-made wonder.

The Cruise Tour ends at Yichang at 12:45. Yichang tour guide will pick up you from pier tourist station and escort you to the airport. Then you can fly to Shanghai. After around 2 hours’ flying, you will land in Shanghai and be picked up by the local guide. Then the guide will take you to the reserved hotel. The rest of the day is for you to have a good rest.

Stay overnight in Shanghai.

Today we are about to visit some of the highlights of highlights of Shanghai Tour. Starting with fascinating Shanghai Museum, the magnificent 4-story building houses an incredible collection of bronzes, sculptures, ceramics, coins, paintings, calligraphy, costumes and other exhibits in different dynasties. It’s the perfect place for fans of Chinese history and art.

Next comes the Yu Garden. Built in the 16th century during the Ming Dynasty, the Yu Garden used to be the private residence of a senior Government administrator in the Ming Dynasty. For passionate photographer, never miss the chance to photograph Old Street of Yu Garden.

In the evening, we will visit the most iconic building of Shanghai, i.e. Oriental Pearl TV Tower. You can enjoy the amazing panorama of the skyline of Shanghai at night. And as you stroll along the Bund, you will get amazed at the spectacular Huangpu River and dazzling light from buildings of Pudong.

Stay overnight in Shanghai.

For the last day, the guide will transfer you to the airport and help you get on board.There are four direct flights leaving daily from Shanghai to London and the overall travel time is around 13 hours. Hope you have a nice trip home and look forward to traveling with you again! (The direct international flight from Shanghai to London suggests to be booked by yourself.)