| Day 1 Beijing (D)
Arrive in Beijing, the capital and cultural center of China, where virtually every boulevard and building exudes an air of importance. Transfer on arrival to your plush hotel.
 Day 2 Beijing (B L D)
Enjoy a full-day tour of the sights that make Beijing a spectacular destination: the sprawling Forbidden City, home to 24 Ming and Qing emperors and now a repository of precious art and antiques; the Temple of Heaven, famous for its elegance and symmetry; and the Summer Palace, an oasis of tea gardens, pavilions, painted corridors, and shimmering Kunming Lake with Empress Dowager's eccentric marble ship.
Day 3 Beijing (B L D)
One of the world's most awe-inspiring sights, the Great Wall snakes along nearly 4000 miles of impossibly steep hills and harsh, rugged plains. Today's excursion will give you ample time to explore it in leisure and marvel at the manpower that went into building the world's longest structure entirely by hand. Continue to the Ming Tombs, the graveyard of 13 emperors, before returning to Beijing for an imperial-style Peking Duck dinner.
Day 4 Beijing / Xi'an (B L D)
Wing on to Xi'an, a vital center of history, culture and archaeology.
Day 5 Xi'an (B L D)
It is impossible to overstate Xi'an's importance in China's history. Here began the fabled Silk Road, here a string of dynasties made their capital, here a Neolithic culture built a village 6000 years ago, and here lies a highlight of your trip: the excavation site of 8000 terra cotta soldiers, buried around the tomb of Emperor Qin, builder of the Great Wall and other massive endeavors. Round out your tour with stops at the old City gate, Provincial Museum, Big Wild Goose Pagoda.
Day 6 Xi'an / Lhasa (B L D)
Morning flight to Lhasa, city of sun on the roof of the world, then bus to Tsedang. Check in at Tsedang Hotel. Leisure to adjust yourself to being on the world's highest Plateau, about 12,000 ft.
Day 7 Lhasa (B L D)
Sightseeing includes Yumbu La Kang, specially built for the first Tibetan King in a castle style with a history of two Thousand years, Thadrunk Temple, the Tombs of early Tibetan Tubo Kings, and Samye Monastery.
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Day 8 Lhasa (B L D)
Morning bus back to Lhasa, and check in at Lhasa Hotel. In the afternoon, visit the spectacular ensembles of religious architectures, the Potala Palace-former living quarters of Dalai Lama, is a massive 1000-room-structure towering over this mountain city.
Day 9 Lhasa (B L D)
Visit the Tibet's holiest shrine Jokhang Temple, which contains Buddhism's most sacred treasures and where pilgrims come to prostrate themselves before this old golden Buddha. Visit the Bharkor Bazaar which is a real treasure hunting for shopping lovers. Next spot is Norbulingka - the former summer palace of Dalai Lama.
Day 10 Lhasa (B L D)
Motor coach to Dangxiong. Visit Tibetan school and their family. You will also enjoy spectacular experience in the high plateau grassland.
Day 11 Lhasa / Kunming (B L D)
Fly to Chengdu, where you tour the Temple Zhu Guo Liang. Wing on to Kunming, famed from days of World War II, and check in to the hotel.
Day 12 Kunming (B L D)
A rare experience today as you take a full day excursion to legendary Stone Forest, where you marvel at the enthralling labyrinth of jagged limestone crags.
Day 13 Kunming / Lijiang (B L D)
Morning flight to Lijiang, home to Naxi People, a small (250,000) minority group with a richly textured culture. Visit Long Quan village, the Old Town of Lijiang which is regarded as the "oriental Venice," Yufeng Temple, Mural of Baisha Naxi Village and Black Dragon Pool Park with Museum of Dongba Culture.
Day 14 Lijing / Guilin (B L D)
After breakfast, return to Kunming and take a city tour, including a visit to the Museum at Yunnan Minority College. Then board your flight to scenic Guilin, at heart of a mystical Karst landscape. This afternoon enjoy an orientation tour of the city, and a visit to Reed Flute Cave.
Day 15 Guilin (B L D)
Few could fail to be enraptured by the beauty of the Li River, with its delicate karsts formations, beautiful rural scenery, and lush green hillsides with bizarre rock formations and caves. Centuries of poets and artists have immortalized the very scenes you'll savor on a full-day air-conditioned cruise along this unique and tranquil waterway.
Day 16 Guilin (B)
With new insights and found memories of China, you embark on your homebound journey aboard your select airline. |
