15 Days China Tour of Beijing Xian Lhasa Yangtze River Cruise Shanghai

Detailed Itinerary

• Day 1. Arrival at Beijing.  
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  Reach Beijing airport or railway station. Your private guide will wait at the exit and escort you to hotel for check in.
  Free for the remainder of the day.
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• Day 2. Beijing: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Olympic Park.  
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  English speaking guide and private vehicle will pick you up from hotel at 08:30am.
  Take a stroll on the largest downtown square in the world, Tiananmen Square. The square has witnessed the founding of the new China.
  Then visit Forbidden City. This world's largest palace complex was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties(1368-1911).
• Proceed to Summer Palace after lunch. Combining lakes, gardens and ancient structures, Summer Palace is the best-preserved and largest royal garden existing in China.
  Admire the most outstanding architectures in Olympic Park, Bird's Nest and Water Cube. Have an outside view of these two venues.
  Transfer you back to the hotel after the tour.
•   Breakfast, Lunch,
• Day 3. Beijing: Ming Tombs, Badaling Great Wall.  
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  English speaking guide and private vehicle will pick you up from hotel at 08:30am.
  Visit Ming Tombs in the morning. With a history of over 600 years, Ming Tombs is the final resting place of 13 emperors of Ming Dynasty(1368-1644).
  Discover the largest and the first built tomb, Changling. It is the tomb of the third Ming Emperor Zhu Di and his wife.
• Head to the famous Badaling Great Wall in the afternoon. Badaling is the best preserved and most popular section of the Great Wall of China. It is close Beijing city and featured with magnificent architectures and breathtaking nature scenery.
  Transfer you back to the hotel after the tour.
•   Breakfast, Lunch,
• Day 4. Beijing Hutong, Temple of Heaven, flight to Xian.   Arrive in Xian and hotel check-in.  
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  English speaking guide and private vehicle will pick you up from hotel at 08:30am.
  Visit Beijing Hutongs by rickshaws. Beijing Hutongs are narrow lanes surrounded by traditional courtyard residences. They have a history of over 700 years and represent the traditional culture and way of life of old Beijingers.
  Continue to Temple of Heaven, the largest sacrificial building complex in the world. The temple was the place where emperors came to perform worship to the God of Heaven and pray for good harvests.
• After lunch, drive you to airport to take flight for Xian.
  
  Local guide will pick you up from Xian airport and escort you to check in the hotel.
•   Breakfast, Lunch, , ,
• Day 5. Xian: Terracotta Warriors and Horses, Stele Forest Museum, Ancient City Wall, Dumpling Dinner and Tang Dynasty Show.  
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  English speaking guide and private vehicle will pick you up from hotel at 08:30am.
  Drive about 1 hour to visit Terracotta Warriors and Horses. Be honored as the Eighth Wonder in the World, Terracotta Warriors and Horses is a part of the Mausoleum of the Emperor Qin Shihuang(259-210BC). Over 8,000 life-size warriors, horses and chariots are arranged in battle formations.
• After lunch, proceed to Stele Forest Museum. It is composed of three parts: Confucian Temple, Stele Forest and Stone Sculpture Art Galleries. More than 11,000 cultural relics are housed in the museum including stone inscriptions, epigraphs and Buddhist statues.
  Move on to Ancient City Wall, one of the most important landmarks of Xian. It was built over 600 years ago as an important military defensive system to fortify the city.
• Have delicious Dumpling for dinner. With different tastes, appearances and cooking techniques, dumpling dinner become an unmissable authentic dainty for travelers to Xian.
  Enjoy Tang Dynasty Show after dinner. Tang Dynasty Show presents the essence of music and dance art of the Tang Dynasty over a thousand years ago.
  Transfer you back to the hotel after the tour.
•   Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• Day 6. Xian: Shaanxi History Museum, Big Wild Goose Pagoda, Banpo Musuem.  
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  English speaking guide and private vehicle will pick you up from hotel at 08:30am.
  First proceed to Shaanxi History Museum. Over 1,700,000 cultural relics are displayed in this comprehensive museum to show the history and culture of Shaanxi province and ancient China.
  Then visit Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Originally built in 652 of Tang Dynasty, the pagoda is functioned to collect Buddhist materials that were taken from India by the hierarch Xuanzang.
• Go on to Banpo Musuem . The museum was built on the site of Banpo Village Ruins. It is the first prehistoric museum in China. Banpo Museum showcases a matriarchal society based on farming and displays the culture and social life of the Neolithic Matriarchal community of Yangshao about 6000 years ago.
  Transfer you back to the hotel after the tour.
•   Breakfast, Lunch,
• Day 7. Xian flight to Lhasa.  Arrive in Lhasa, Nietang Buddha.  
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  Pick you up from hotel and transfer to airport. Take flight to Lhasa.
  
  
• Local guide will meet you at Lhasa airport.
  View the Nietang Buddha on the way to your hotel. Nietang Buddha is the biggest stone statue engraved on a cliff in Tibet and the first attraction to welcome visitors to Lhasa.
  Check in the hotel and have a good rest.
•   Breakfast, , , ,
• Day 8. Lhasa: Potala Palace, Sera Monastery, Norbulingka Park.  
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  English speaking guide and private vehicle will pick you up from hotel at 09:00am.
  Visit the landmark of Lhasa, Potala Palace. With a history of over 1,300 years, Potala Palace is the highest ancient palace in the world, integrating palace, castle and monastery.
  Then drive to Sera Monastery. As one of the three largest monasteries in Lhasa, Sera Monastery houses many vivid Buddhist statues such as Maitreya, Bodhisattvas and keeps a lot of fine murals.
• Move on to Norbulingka Park, is the largest and finest garden in Tibet. Norbulingka Park was served as a summer palace for the Dalai Lama where they handled political affairs and practiced religious activities.
  Transfer you back to the hotel after the tour.
•   Breakfast, Lunch,
• Day 9. Lhasa: Drepung Monastery, Jokhang Temple, Barkhor Street.  
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  English speaking guide and private vehicle will pick you up from hotel at 09:00am.
  Drive to Drepung Monastery. The monastery is the most important monastery of Gelugpa in Tibetan Buddhism. It houses many rare cultural relics.
• Proceed to the ultimate pilgrimage destination of Tibetan Buddhists, Jokhang Temple. It was first built in 647 A.D. to house sacred image of the Buddha, which the king's Nepalese wife brought with her as a dowry.
  Continue to the thriving bazaar of the Barkhor Street. Tibetan culture, economy, religion and arts assemble here.
  Transfer you back to the hotel after the tour.
•   Breakfast, Lunch,
• Day 10. Take flight to Chongqing.   Arrive in Chongqing, Chongqing Zoo(Panda House). Board the cruise ship.  
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  Pick you up from hotel and transfer to airport. Take flight to Chongqing.
  
  
• Local guide will meet you at Chongqing airport and escort you to Chongqing Zoo. You may take a closer look of lovely pandas in the Panda House. Chongqing Zoo is the home to over 230 species of animals.
  Transfer you to cruise port and board the ship.
•   Breakfast, , , ,
• Day 11. Yangtze River Cruise Ship.  
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• In the afternoon, go ashore to visit Fengdu Ghost City, where the Chinese believe the soul of the dead goes.
• In the evening, you will be the guests at the captain's cocktail party.
•   Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• Day 12. Yangtze River Cruise Ship.  
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  Cruise through the famous Three Gorges: Qutang Gorge, Wu Gorge and Xiling Gorge. Enjoy the lofty peaks and historical sites.
  Take an excursion to Shennong Stream, another tributary of the Yangtze River. You may find the plank roads and ancient hanging coffins.
•   Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• Day 13. Yangtze River Cruise Ship, flight to Shanghai.  Arrive in Shanghai and hotel check-in.  
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  Disembark at Maoping Port in the morning and take shore excursion to Three Gorges Dam. Admire this world's largest hydroelectric dam.
  You local guide will meet you at the tourist center in Yichang and escort you to airport. Take flight to Shanghai.
  
  
• Local guide will pick you up from Shanghai airport and escort you to check in the hotel.
•   Breakfast, , , ,
• Day 14. Shanghai: Yu Garden, Jade Buddha Temple, Nanjing Road, Oriental Pearl TV Tower, the Bund.  
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  English speaking guide and private vehicle will pick you up from hotel at 08:30am.
  Start your Shanghai trip with Yu Garden. This well-restored Suzhou-style garden is one of the best gardens in southern China. It perfectly combines pavilions, halls, bridges, towers, ponds and rockeries.
  Go on to Jade Buddha Temple, a Buddhist temple with the architecture style of Song Dynasty(960-1279). The temple houses many ancient Buddhist sculptures, rare paintings and Buddhist scriptures.
  Take a stroll on Nanjing Road. Nanjing Road is the most prosperous shopping street in Shanghai and one of the top ten pedestrian streets in China.
• After lunch, proceed to Oriental Pearl TV Tower. This 468-meter-high tower is the most recognizable landmark of Shanghai. It has four major sightseeing observatories at different heights.
  Wander on the Bund. The Bund is a famous waterfront along the Huangpu River. It is famed as "Exhibition of International Buildings" because of 52 various buildings in different architectural styles, such as Gothic, Baroque, Romanesque and the Renaissance.
  Transfer you back to the hotel after the tour.
•   Breakfast, Lunch,
• Day 15. Departure.  
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  Your private guide will pick you up from hotel and escort you to airport.
•   Breakfast, ,