16 day China Tibet Train Travel

Day 1

Place & Transport: Entrance City to Beijing, Flight No. TBA
Today's Activities: Airport to Hotel Transfer (Beijing)
Detailed Itinerary: You'll be met on arrival in Beijing. On the way to the Guangzhou Hotel, your guide will explain tomorrow's arrangements. Spend the rest of the day exploring the nearby streets, or resting and catching up on your jetlag. Beijing is a city of amazing contrasts – an ancient capital with some incredible historical sites, and a bustling modern metropolis getting ready to host the 2008 Olympics.

Day 2

Place & Transport: Beijing
Today's Activities: Temple of Heaven, The Tian'anmen Square, The Forbidden City, Kungfu Show
Meals: Breakfast, Chinese Lunch, Chinese Dinner
Detailed Itinerary: Early risers can join the locals at Taiji practice, and enjoy watching as they sing to each other. After breakfast our guide will brief the group before you head out for Tian'anmen Square, the world's largest public square, which is closely linked to Mao Zedong, and the Forbidden City, from which the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties governed for over 500 years. Later you'll visit the Temple of Heaven, where the Emperors prayed for good harvests and rain, or gave thanks for the harvest. Enjoy a spectacular Chinese kung fu performance this evening.

Day 3

Place & Transport: Beijing
Today's Activities: Great Wall, Mutianyu
Meals: Breakfast, Chinese Lunch, Chinese Dinner
Detailed Itinerary: Leave town at 8am for the drive (about three hours) to the Mutianyu Section of The Great Wall, which stretches for over 6000 km, and was originally built to protect China from the barbarians. You can walk and climb at your own pace, or enjoy spectacular views from the cable car(extra pay for the cable car). Dinner tonight is at Wangfujing Roast Duck Restaurant,where you'll eat the some of the best 'Peking Duck' in Beijing.

Day 4

Place & Transport: Beijing to Xian, Flight No. TBA
Today's Activities: Hotel to airport Transfer (Beijing), Airport to Hotel Transfer (Xian), Hutong, Xi'an City Wall
Meals: Breakfast, Chinese Lunch
Detailed Itinerary: Your last stop in Beijing is a trip through the Hutongs by rickshaw. This maze of narrow alleyways winding around the Forbidden City is fast disappearing, and you'll get a precious glimpse into their distinctive culture as you zigzag through them, drop into a primary school and a flea market, and have lunch with a local family featuring delicious Chinese dumplings. Those who are interested can learn how to make this traditional Chinese food. Later you will be transferred to the airport in time for your flight to Xi'an, where local guide will meet our group at flight arrivals, and take you to the Bell Tower Hotel, and, for the energetic, a half-hour's hike along the Ancient City Wall. (Bikes can be rented for around 20 yuan/hour).

Day 5

Place & Transport: Xian
Today's Activities: Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses(include golf carts), Bell Tower, Huaqing Hot Spring(inludes Chiang Kai Chek Quaters), Evening Show at Tang Yuegong
Meals: Breakfast, Chinese Lunch
Detailed Itinerary: Spend today visiting some marvelous historical sites in and around this most ancient of cities, which was the national capital for over 1,000 years, and the starting point of the Silk Road. Despite a lot of modern development Xi'an remains a charming city, and you'll enjoy visiting the Bell Tower, Big Wild Goose Pagoda, Then out to see the incredible Terra cotta Warriors. This evening there's an option to go to the colorful Tang Dynasty Show at Tang Yuegong, which features songs and dances from the Tang period.

Day 6

Place & Transport: Xian to Xining, Hainan Airlines HU7808 Dep 3:50PM - Arr 4:50PM
Today's Activities: Hotel to airport Transfer (Xian), Airport to Hotel Transfer (Xining), Shaanxi Historical Museum
Meals: Breakfast, Chinese Lunch
Detailed Itinerary: After your breakfast in the hotel, you will have chance to find more about this city beneath the surface by visiting Shaanxi historical museum. Here houses the Zhou bronzes and Tang Porcelain and many other treasures which delight these capital city. Lunch will be arranged at local restaurant. Then you will be transferred to the airport in time for your flight to Xining. On arrival, our local guide will meet you and transfer you to the hotel. Free at leisure to explore this capital city on your own.

Day 7

Place & Transport: Xining to Golmud, Train No. N917 Dep 8:28PM - Arr 9:50PM
Today's Activities: Hotel to Train station Transfer (Xining), Qinghai Lake, Cruise on Qinghai Lake, Bird Island
Meals: Breakfast, Chinese Lunch
Detailed Itinerary: A day visit to Qinghai Lake, China's largest inland salt water lake at 3200 meters above sea level. We will also have a cruise there to photograph its heart-beating beauty. Later, our group will drive westwards to visit the Bird Island, a paradise for varieties of birds. In the late afternoon, we will be back to the city and have dinner before taking the Xining-Lhasa Train which will stop over at Golmud the next morning.

Day 8

Place & Transport: Golmud to Lhasa
Detailed Itinerary: This morning, the tourist train will stop for a while at Golmud, the second largest city in Qinghai Provice. There are nine sightseeing platforms designed on the Golmud-Lhasa section to give passengers the opportunity to view the plateau landscape. There are Yuzhong Peak, Mt.Kunlun,Chuma'er River, Tuotuo River, Mt.Danggula, Amdo Cuona Lake, Nakchu, Dangxiong, and Yambajan. Each one allows 30-50 minutes to take photos and view the beautiful scenery. You will arrive in Lhasa at 22:30. On arrival, our guide will welcome you at the railway station and transfer you to the hotel.

Day 9

Place & Transport: Lhasa
Today's Activities: The Potala Palace, The Jokhang Temple, Barkhor Street
Meals: Breakfast, Chinese Lunch
Detailed Itinerary: Spend today visiting some marvelous historical sites in this mysterious city. Your first stop will be The Potala Palace which is the greatest monumental structure in Tibet. Later, a visit to the most celebrated temple, The Jokhang Temple and the afternoon, enjoy some leisure time in Barkhor Street for shopping and to look at some of the local crafts.

Day 10

Place & Transport: Lhasa
Today's Activities: Sera Monastery, Norbulingka, Drepung Monastery, The Carpet Factory
Meals: Breakfast, Chinese Lunch
Detailed Itinerary: Today's highlights will include visiting the Carpet Factory, Norbulingka, Trupeng Monastery, Sera Monastery. These important monasteries were constructed as a summer palaces for the Dalai Lama and later served the whole governmental administration. The Carpet factory is very interesting as it gives a insight into the manufacture of the famous Tibetan Carpet. We suggest cycling in the city or between the attractions to experience Tibetan life.

Day 11

Place & Transport: Lhasa to Shigatse
Today's Activities: Yomdrok Lake, Tashilunpo Monastery
Meals: Breakfast, Chinese Lunch
Detailed Itinerary: After breakfast in the hotel, our group will drive to take a look at Yomdrok Lake and Kalais Kora Glacier, a holy beautiful place that everybody looking forward to.After having lunch in the city, we will go and visit Tashilhunpo Monastery which is painted in red and white and the buildings in the monastery stand closely together in terraced rows, offering a great view of the surrounding country side.

Day 12

Place & Transport: Shigatse to Gyantze to Lhasa
Today's Activities: The Palgor Chorten
Meals: Breakfast, Chinese Lunch
Detailed Itinerary: Today, we will drive to Gyangtse by taking a detour back to Lhasa and our stop will be Palgor Chorten Monastery, which has nine stories with 77 rooms and contains many wall frescoes telling stories about the history of the monastery.

Day 13

Place & Transport: Lhasa to Shanghai, China Eastern Airline MU2336 Dep 3:50PM - Arr 10:10PM
Today's Activities: Airport to Hotel Transfer (Shanghai)
Meals: Breakfast
Detailed Itinerary: we will say farewell to this mysterious land and take direct flight to Shanghai. On arrival, the local guide will meet our group at the flight arrival and take us to the Hotel.

Day 14

Place & Transport: Shanghai
Today's Activities: Oriental Pearl TV Tower, Yuyuan Garden, The Bund, Nanjing Road, Shanghai Museum
Meals: Breakfast, Chinese Lunch
Detailed Itinerary: Today you visit the lovely old Yuyuan Garden, the Shanghai Museum, which has rivals the Shaanxi Museum in Xi'an and is well worth a visit, and the famous Oriental TV Tower (also known as the Pearl Tower, for its distinctive shape). The second-highest platform provides wonderful views over Shanghai and the Huang Pu River, and those with a good head for heights can choose to buy a ticket to continue on to the very top. Later, have a relaxing stroll at the Bund to view myriad of European-styled buildings that face the Huangpu River, and the shopping street, Nanjing Road.

Day 15

Place & Transport: Shanghai
Today's Activities: Zhujiajiao, Zhujiajiao river cruise
Meals: Breakfast, Chinese Lunch
Detailed Itinerary: We will drive to an ancient water town called Zhujiajiao. It is a fan-shaped old town with hundreds of years of history around the shore of vast Dingshan Lake.Thousands of architectures of Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty stand by the lakes and 36 stone bridges retain the ancient style. We will also take a cruise there. Drive back to the city in the late afternoon. Free for you to shop for the rest of the time.

Day 16

Place & Transport: Shanghai to Departure City, Flight No. TBA
Today's Activities: Hotel to airport Transfer (Shanghai)
Meals: Breakfast
Detailed Itinerary: Today, we will say farewell to Shanghai and our group members. Each of you will be transferred to the airport in time for your flight to your next destination.
Service End.