13 Days Beijing Chengdu Tibet Train Tour

Welcome to Beijing! Your guide will greet you at Beijing Airport holding your name sign. Transfer to your hotel in downtown Beijing. Enjoy yourself in the rest of the day to recover from your longtime international flight or explore the city on your own.

Stay overnight in Beijing

In the morning, we will set out to see the mysterious Forbidden City which is the world's largest imperial palace complex. Since it was built in Ming Dynasty, The Forbidden City was home for 24 emperors (from 1420 to 1911 AD). It's said to have 9,999½ forbidden imperial chambers. After that, you are moving to Tian'anmen Square with a great cultural significance which has been the site of several key events in Chinese history. Later, you can take a rickshaw going through a maze of Hutongs to explore old Beijing neighborhoods, discover the courtyard house of traditional Chinese characters.

Stay overnight in Beijing

You will have many interesting things to do today. In the morning, you are suggested to do Morning Exercises at the Temple of Heaven, which was founded in the early 15th century. Known as the Imperial Sacrificial Altar, Temple of Heaven always attracts numerous tourists. To avoid crowds and enjoy local people's morning exercises, we are going to this place in the morning. After visiting Temple of Heaven, we'll drive 2.5 hours to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall, where you can go through the watchtowers and enjoy breathtaking views as it snakes across the hills and mountains.

Stay overnight in Beijing

Transfer to Beijing Airport to take the flight to Chengdu.

Our local guide will wait for you at the airport by holding your name sign. You will be picked up and then transferred to the hotel in Chengdu city.

In the evening, you can enjoy the Culture Show at a teahouse theatre. Here you can not only enjoy bowled tea and snacks but also watch Sichuan opera, fire-breathing, face changing, hand shadow show, traditional acrobatics such as rolling lights, etc.

Stay overnight in Chengdu

We’ll pick you up at your hotel in Chengdu and then drive to visit the Panda Research Base in the northern suburb of Chengdu this morning. The Chengdu Panda Base was founded in 1987. It started with 6 giant pandas that were rescued from the wild. Through 2007, it has had 110 panda births, and its panda population has grown to 62. It is a huge, beautifully landscaped park.

After lunch, drive to Leshan city to see the famous Giant Buddha which is a statue of Maitreya in sitting posture. It is 71 meters (about 233 feet) high and has 8.3-meter-long (about 27 feet) fingers. The 9-meter-wide (about 30 feet) instep is big enough for one hundred people to sit on and the 24-meter-wide (about 79 feet) shoulder is large enough to be a basketball playground. (Optional: ferry boat ride at Leshan Giant Buddha, about USD 10/person). We’ll continue to go to the foot of Mt. Emei in the late afternoon. 

Stay overnight in Emei

Today, you will spend the whole day exploring Mount Emei. In the early morning, you will take the shuttle bus in the Scenic Spot to Leidongpin, then hike to Jieyin Palace to take the cable car up to Golden Summit which is the mountain's main peak at 3,077 meters above sea level, seems to almost touching the sky. At Golden Summit, the highest peak of the mountain, you will be amazed by the awe-inspiring view of the Huazhang Temple and enjoy the magnificent view of the clouds, mountains, and forests. Then take the sightseeing bus down to Wannian Temple, you’ll experience the beautiful scenery by walking from Wannian Temple, Qingyin Pavilion and Moneky Zone to WuxianGang.

Later, you will go down the mountain by the eco bus and then drive back to Chengdu. We will send you back to your hotel in Chengdu.

Stay overnight in Chengdu

Wenshu Monastery was founded in the Sui Dynasty and is a famous Buddhist temple in western Sichuan. There are many precious cultural relics and tens of thousands of Buddhist scriptures and documents in the courtyard. Unlike other tourist places in Chengdu with a large number of tourists, this old monastery reserves quietness, adding a sense of history.

In the afternoon, you will visit a nostalgic place - Kuan Zhai Lane. It shows the courtyard culture of old Chengdu. Most of these courtyards are occupied by stylish bars and restaurants. Tourists and youths stay in the alleys and spend the whole afternoon leisurely, feeling the stop of time.

In the evening, your tour guide will escort you to Chengdu West Railway Station, where you will board the Chengdu-Lhasa train.

Stay overnight on the train

Today, you will spend the whole day on the train and enjoy the fantastic view of the Qinghai Tibet Railway. Along the way, you will see snow-capped mountains, Ho Xil, vast grassland, Qinghai Lake, etc., and get charmed by the spectacular natural scenery. Chengdu Lhasa train will pass by five provinces in China, namely, Sichuan, Shanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, and Tibet. So you will see the different landscapes and the terrain on the train.

Stay overnight on the train

Our local Tibetan guide will wait for you at Lhasa railway station by holding your name sign. You will be greeted with a warm Tashi Delek (a kind of blessing), and be presented with a white Hada (traditional Tibetan ceremonial by giving you a white scarf). Then transfer to the hotel in Lhasa city. On your first arrival day in Lhasa (3,650m), it's essential to have a good rest to avoid Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS, also known as altitude sickness). Remember to drink lots of water, eat lighter and have high carbohydrate food which will be helpful to you to adapt to the high altitude better.

Stay overnight in Lhasa

In the morning, we will visit Norbulingka, which is a typical Tibetan-style royal garden, the summer resort of the Dalai Lama. There are a lot of towering trees, exotic flowers and plants in the garden, as well as many collections of cultural relics, Buddha statues, pagodas, thangkas, murals, etc. They are all very precious treasures.

In the afternoon, you are heading to Drepung Monastery, which means Monastery of Rice Heap in the Tibetan language. The entire monastery is large in scale and the white buildings cluster and cover the hillsides. Drepung monastery is the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery, also the highest-ranking monastery in the Gelug Sect.

Stay overnight in Lhasa

In the morning, your guide will meet you at the hotel and first take you to visit the famous Potala Palace, the cardinal landmark of Tibet and the masterpiece of Tibetan architecture. It was first built by the 33rd King - Songtsen Gangpo in the 7th century and rebuilt later by the 5th Dalai Lama in the 17th century. Now it's a museum and world heritage site. 

In the afternoon, you will go to visit Jokhang Temple in the center of the Lhasa old town. Jokhang Temple is the most sacred temple in Tibet and it is always bustling with earnest local pilgrims since the early days. After that, you will take a walk around the Barkhor Street - one of the most devotional circuits as well as a crowded central market of Lhasa. Barkhor Street is a very ancient round street surrounding the Jokhang Temple and the locals are always proud of it. As a symbol of Lhasa, it‘s also a must-see place for visitors.

Stay overnight in Lhasa

Today you are going to see Namtso Lake, one of the three most holy lakes in Tibet. It's also the highest lake in the world and the third-largest salt lake in China. The name of Namtso means “lake from heaven” in the Tibetan language. And the gorgeous landscape is really like heaven. You will be totally intoxicated in it. After that, we will go back to Lhasa by passing through Yampachen (4,300m) and Tsuphu Monastery (4,300m).

Stay overnight in Lhasa

Your tour ends today. Our guide and driver will collect you from your hotel to transfer to Lhasa Airport/Railway Station for your next destination.