11 Days China Golden Triangle & Lhasa Tour

Day 1Arrive in Beijing

Welcome to Beijing! Our private English-speaking tour guide & driver will pick you up in time at Beijing airport and transfer you to your hotel in downtown Beijing. A paper board with the sign of YangtzeTour.com and your name will be held high by the guide at exit of the airport. The rest of day is free at your own leisure.

Day 2Beijing ( B, L )

After breakfast, our tour guide will pick you up at your hotel and drive to visit Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City in the morning. Tiananmen Square is the largest city square in the world and of great historical significance, where you could see the symbol of China – the ancient majestic Tiananmen Tower. Nearby the Square is the Forbidden City, which is the largest and best-preserved ancient imperial palaces group with 500 years history in the world.

After lunch at a Chinese-style restaurant, you will be transferred to visit Temple of Heaven, which is the largest ancient imperial worship architecture group in the world where the ancient Emperors held the grand sacrificial and prayed for peace and harvest. After today’s sightseeing, transferred back to your hotel.

After dinner, you are arranged to see the Kung Fu Show at Red Theatre or Liyuan Theatre. The show is great and breathtaking.

Day 3Beijing ( B, L, D )

After breakfast at your hotel, our tour guide will pick you up at your hotel and drive to visit Ming Tombs and its Sacred Way. Ming Tomes is the imperial mausoleum of the Ming Dynasty, where 13 emperors and their wives were buried. As the major road to the Ming Tomb, the Sacred Way was believed to be the route leading to heaven in ancient times.

After a Chinese lunch, head to Mutianyu Great Wall; less crowed with the most spectacular views. The wall is the most beautiful section of the all five sections of the Great Wall in Beijing. The day’s sightseeing will come to an end after taking pictures at the Bird’s Nest and Water Cube.

In the evening, you are arranged to have a Peking Roast Duck dinner in a Beijing featured Restaurant. Then transferred back to your hotel.

Day 4Beijing – Xian ( B )

After breakfast, you will be transferred to visit Summer Palace, which is the largest and most beautiful Chinese imperial garden. It is regarded as a museum of gardens in China. In the Summer Palace, there are many pavilions, vividly painted corridors, temples, among lakes and surrounded by hills.

In the afternoon, our tour guide will escort you to the airport and take flight to Xian. In Xian airport, our English-speaking tour guide & driver will meat you and transfer to the hotel in downtown Xian.

Day 5Xian ( B, L, D )

After breakfast at your hotel, our guide will pick you up and drive to the Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses, which is your lifetime viewing of extraordinary 2200-year-old history. These 6000 life-size painted Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses individually sculpted from real life models and arranged in battle formation and they have been protecting the mausoleum of the first emperor in Chinese history – emperor Qinshihuang.

After lunch at a local restaurant, you will be transferred to visit Xian Ancient City Wall, which is a symbol of great significance of the famous historic cultural city of Xian. Then head to visit Big Wild Goose Pagoda, which is a symbol of the old Xian and a well-preserved ancient building and a holy place for Buddhists. Tonight, you will feast your eye on the famous Tang Dynasty Music and Dance Show after you enjoy the local Dumpling Dinner.

Day 6Xian – Lhasa ( B )

After breakfast at the hotel, you will be transferred to visit the Great Mosque, which is the biggest and most preserved complete Chinese existent mosque. It is a good place to get a glimpse of Muslim’s life.

In the afternoon, our tour guide will escort you to take a flight to Lhasa. In Chongqing airport, our English-speaking tour guide & driver will pick you up and transfer to your hotel in Lhasa. After checking in, it is recommended that you have a good rest at the hotel to acclimatize yourself to the high altitude of 3,650 meters above sea level.

Tips:
1. To adapt to the high altitude, you should have a good rest at the hotel once you arrive, no running or intense activity, no smoking or alcohol.
 2. Please eat more vegetable, fruits, meat and eggs and drink sufficient water before leaving for sightseeing.

Day 7Lhasa ( B, L )

After breakfast, our local tour guide & driver will pick you up and drive to visit the splendid Potala Palace, which originated from 7th century and is the former home of the Dalai Lama. It has a vast, awe-inspiring maze of corridors and stairs leading through countless rooms of richly decorated statues, tombs, murals and antiques. A number of Buddha statues, red-robed lamas and devoted pilgrims also make it a must-visit.

In the afternoon, you will visit the age-old Jokhang Temple, as the spiritual center of Tibet, which will deeply impress you by its magnificence and sincere pilgrims. Then head to Barkhor street, which is regarded as the crowded central Market in ancient section of Lhasa, and where you can buy various Tibetan or other minorities’ souvenirs for your family and friends.

Tips:
1. In order to protect this world-famous cultural heritage, the visiting time to Potala Palace is limited on 1 hour.
2. Due to the popularity of Potala Palace and restriction on visitor numbers, perhaps it has difficulty on booking entrance tickets, so the visit may shift to the next day.

Day 8Lhasa ( B, L )

After breakfast at the hotel, you will be transferred to the Norbulinka Park, which is meaning “Treasure Park” in Tibetan and is known as “the Summer Palace of Tibet”. It is the largest man-made garden with the most beautiful scenery and historical relics in Tibet.

Then head to Drepung Monastery, which lies in west of Lhasa under Mt. Gambo Utse, clustered round by the black mountain, its white grand buildings shining under the sunlight.

Then pay a visit to Sera Monastery, which is one of the three main monasteries in Lhasa. It is famous because “Daily Scriptures Debating” activity takes place from 3:30pm to 5pm in a garden next to the assembly hall. Then transferred back to your hotel.

Tips:
1. When you are in monastery or a museum, please do not smoke, consume alcohol or make unnecessary noise; do not touch, walk over or sit on any religious texts, objects or prayer flags.
2. Due to the dry weather, please pack some drinking water and some food.

Day 9Lhasa – Shanghai ( B )

Today our private tour guide & driver will be ready and waiting for you at the hotel. And then you will be escorted Tibet airport for your flight to Shanghai. In Shanghai airport, our local tour guide & driver will meat you and transfer you to the hotel in the downtown Shanghai.

Day 10Shanghai ( B, L )

After breakfast, our tour guide will pick you up and drive to visit Yuyuan Garden. Yuyuan is the famous classical garden in Shanghai, built in 1577. The pavilions, halls, rockeries, ponds and cloisters all have unique characteristics. 

After lunch at a nice local restaurant with the authentic Chinese food, you will take one hour cruising on Huangpu River. Then you visit the west side of the river that has many skyscrapers and the Bund that has many outstanding foreign buildings of the early 20th century. Then back to your hotel.

Day 11Depart from Shanghai ( B )

After breakfast at your hotel, you will drive to Pudong New District – Lujiazui, where there the futuristic, avant-garde building: Oriental Pearl Tower, Jinmao Building, Bank of China Tower, etc. You will have time to take the 88-storey Observation Deck of Jinmao Tower where you will have a spectacular view of the whole city.

In the afternoon, your private guide and driver will escort you to the airport in Shanghai for departure on your own. Your pleasant China trip ends.