14 Days Huangshan Chengdu and Tibet Tour

Arrive in Tunxi by flight, train or public bus. Our guide and driver will meet you and escort you to the hotel. Since you'll have to carry everything yourself up Huangshan unless you hire a porter, it is advisable that you leave your big luggage in the hotel in downtown and bring only a small handbag or backpack with you up mountain.

After breakfast, we will drive for around one and half hours to reach the foothill of Mt. Huangshan - the world cultural and natural heritage site and the world geopark. We will ascend the mountain by Yungu Cable Car (eastern steps). You will find yourself surrounded by the breathtaking scenery right after getting off the cabin. You have a chance to visit the Beginning-to-believe Peak, Writing-brush Peak, Lion Peak, Flying-over Rock, and Bright Summit which is the second highest peak with an elvation of 1860 meters above sea level. Stay overnight on the top of the mountain.

If weather permits, we will get up early in order to get a better place to watch the brilliant sunrise. After breakfast, we will start our hike in the Grand Canyon, which is supposed to be the highlight of Huangshan tour. Since we will move to another hotel, we need to check out and take our handbags with us. It will take us around 6 hours to do the whole loop and our guide will prepare the lunch boxes for you. The Grand Canyon is a quiet, newly developed area where we can have an intimate contact with the mountain. The scenery keeps changing constantly while we are hiking in the canyon. Most of the spots are still unnamed. So you can name them based on your understanding. Most of the stairs were built in the air, sticking out from the cliff. Some steps are so steep that we have to hold the breath and crawl up and down. You'd better prepare enough memory cards and battery to take as many pictures as you can. Stay overnight on the top.

After breakfast, we will continue our hiking towards western side of the mountain known for its steepness. We will pass by the Turtle Peak, the One-hundred Ladders, the Lotus Peak (1,864m, the highest peak in Eastern China), the Greeting Pine, and the Celestial Capital Peak before descending mountain by Yuping Cable Car around noon. After lunch, we drive for one hour to reach Shexian (She County), one of the historical towns in China, to visit Tangyue Memorial Arches and Bao's Family Garden. The seven arches and two ancestral halls surely will bring us back to the time of several hundred years ago. Drive back to downtown and visit the old part of the city, Tunxi Ancient Street. Stay overnight in downtown.

Drive for around one hour to Yixian (Yi County) to visit Hongcun Village, also a world cultural heritage site where the Oscar-awarded movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was filmed. The whole village is composed of more than one hundred old houses of the Ming and Qing dynasties surrounded by a bubbling brook. You will feel like strolling in a natural scroll when visiting the village, for each house is decorated by delicate and exquisite brick, wood and stone carvings which represent the top level of local art of carving. Then you will be escorted to the airport to take the flight FM9265 (1650-1915) to Chengdu. Upon your arrival, you will be warmly welcomed by our guide in Chengdu and transferred to the hotel. Chengdu, the homeland of Panda, reputed as the Land of Abundance, is a peaceful and prosperous city. Stay overnight in Chengdu.

In the early morning drive eastwards for around 40 minutes to visit the Giant Panda Breeding & Research Base, with tens of giant pandas living in this semi-natural environment. And you may have a chance to observe baby panda and red panda as well. Later, we will drive back to downtown to visit Qingyang Gong Temple, which is, in fact, the oldest Taoist temple in Chengdu, surviving numerous calamities throughout its history. It also holds the honor as one of the most important Taoist temples in China. Afterwards, we will be strolling around Jinli Ancient Street where a variety of typical local foods are available. You can surely try some of them if you like. Stay overnight in Chengdu.

In the morning, you will be transferred to the airport for flight to Lhasa. Upon your arrival, our local guide and driver will be meeting you and drive to your hotel in Lhasa. For the rest time of the day, you will be free in the hotel to rest in order to adapt the climate of highland. Lhasa is the capital city of Tibet Autonomous Region and has long history been the center of politics, economy, culture and religion in Tibet. Lhasa means "holy land" in Tibetan language. Stay overnight in Lhasa.

In the morning, we drive to visit the Potala Palace which was originally constructed in 637 by Songtsen Gampo, the first king of the united Tibet. Later, it was expanded and served as the winter residence of the Dalai Lamas as well as the religious-political nexus of traditional Tibet. The crowds of pilgrims, innumerable magnificent murals, Buddhist statues, scriptures and rare treasures altogether create a dense religious and art atmosphere that impresses every visitor. In the afternoon, we will visit Jokhang monastery, the center of the Tibetan Buddhism and the sacred land of Buddhist followers where thousands of pilgrims come for worship every day. The temple, built in 647, is the earliest wood-and-masonry structure still existing in Tibet. Walk on the Barkhor street surrounding Jokhang, a big free market with its prolific stalls selling the local specialties. Stay overnight in the same hotel.

After breakfast, we will drive to the suburb of Lhasa to visit Drepung monastery, the sacred land of Gelug Sect, which was established in 1416. And it is used to be the residence of the second, third and fourth Dalai Lama. We continue to visit Sera monastery which was set up in 1419 and has always been an important Buddhist seminary. As rose are planted everywhere in the monastery, it is also called "the court of wild rose". Today there are still 200 lamas living there. In the following, we'll visit Norbulinka, the Summer Palace of previous Dalai Lamas. Stay overnight in the same hotel.

In the morning, drive to Tsetang and another 40km westwards to visit Samye. Located in the north of Yarlung Tsangpo River and hold in the arms of mountains, it is the oldest monastery of Tibet (8th century). The stele hanging on the entrance to the main temple shows that king Trisong Detsen proclaimed Buddhism to be the state religion in 779. The monastery complex consists of several buildings and the arrangement reflects the Buddhist conception of the structure of the universe. Meru, the world mountain in the center of the universe, is represented in the building of great hall, around which there are 4 halls representing the 4 continents swimming in the world sea.
In the afternoon we make a trip in the Yarlung valley to visit the Yumbulakhang, a castle built in the 7th and 8th centuries during the time of the first Tibetan king. The original fortress is now converted into a chapel; in the ground floor there is a shrine in honor of the early kings. The steps up are steep but it is worthy because on the top of the hill you can overlook the valley and the surrounding mountain.

Today we will drive to Gyantse along the Kyichu River. On the Kamba La (4,796 m), we have a chance to enjoy the fantastic view of the holy lake Yamdrok (4,441 m), one of the three holy lakes in Tibet and the largest habitat of waterfowls in south Tibet. On one of the peninsulas of the spear-shaped lake, lies the holy Mt. Donang Sangwari (5,340m). And the two snow peaks, Nojin Gangzang (7,191m) and Jangzang Lhomo, rise in the distance. The lake and the Yarlung Tsangpo are separated by a mountain and the shortest distance between them is only 6 kilometers. The 800m-high difference contributes a rich water resource to this region. Many Tibetans believe that the life of Tibet will no longer continue when the lake dries up.
In the afternoon, visit Pelkor Monastery as well as the splendid Kumbum Stupa (100-Thousand-Buddha Pagoda) nearby. Both of them were built in the 15th century situated in the northwestern edge of Gyantse. This typical Tibetan Buddhist monastery is the only one large building complex in Tibet that old monastery and stupas are completely preserved and characterized as a monument. It is recorded that 14,000 kilograms of copper was used to make the 8-meter-high sitting statue of Sakyamuni Buddha housed in the grand hall of the temple. The 8-storey stupa, which is 42m in height and 62m in diameter, contains a total of 76 chapels with wonderful murals revered by art scholars around the world. Later, we will drive for about 90 kilometers to Shigatse (3,880m), the traditional capital of the Tsang and the second largest city with 40,000 inhabitants in Tibet. Stay overnight in Shigatse.

In the morning visit Tashilunpo monastery of Gelug Sect, the seat of the Panchen Lama built in 1447 and one of the six grand monasteries in Tibet. The monastery houses a giant statue of the Maitreya Buddha, the biggest gilded statue of Maitreya (Buddha of the future) in China, and a tomb of the 4th Panchen Lama containing masses of jewels and gold. In Tibet Buddhism, Panchen Lama is just the reincarnation of Maitreya Buddha. Today 600 monks are still living in the monastery. And then take a strolling around the local market. Drive back to Lhasa in the afternoon. Stay overnight in Lhasa.

In the morning, we will drive to the railway station to take the train to Xining. The 23-hour journey gives us an excellent chance to experience the sky-train on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, know as the Roof of the World. Stay overnight on train with soft-sleeper.

Arrive in Xining and meet with local guide. We will visit the Great Mosque in downtown of Xining. It is one of the four largest mosques in northwest China and is the largest and most important mosque in the Qinghai Province. Locally, it is known as the Dongguan Masjid, or the East Gate Mosque, due to its eastern location in the city alongside the Muslim Hui neighborhood. According to an inscription added to the mosque during a major reconstruction in 1914, the mosque was first built during the Ming Dynasty under Emperor Hongwu (1368-1398). However, it is known that the mosque was destroyed and rebuilt entirely as recently as in the late nineteenth century and was enlarged in 1946. After lunch, drive to airport for the flight to either Beijing or Shanghai.