Start in: Guangzhou
End in: Beijing
Special Experience: Savor the famous Chuan food, get very close to the cute Giant Panda and pay a visit to a Tibetan family
Chengdu and Lhasa Impression Tour
Day-by-Day Itinerary
Day 1 Guangzhou / Chengdu
Accommodations: Yinhe Dynasty Hotel 
Meals: D
Special Dinner: Chuan Food
Transfer via: China domestic flight on our arrangement
Today you will take the flight from Guangzhou to Chengdu. Upon arrival at Chengdu, you will be met and transferred to the hotel for a rest before a delicious dinner of Sichuan food at a local restaurant.
- Chuan Food: Sichuan Cuisine, known more commonly in the West as Szechuan Cuisine, is one of the most famous Chinese cuisines in the world. Prepared with a wide variety of ingredients and characterized by its spicy and pungent flavors, Sichuan cuisine emphasizes the use of chili and peppercorn. It can be said that one who doesn't experience Sichuan food has never reached China. Savor the flavor of Sichuan, and it is becoming hotter and hotter!
Accommodations: Wanghu Hotel
Meals: B,L
Sightseeing: Wolong Nature Reserve
In the morning, drive about 4 hours to Wolong Nature Reserve -the home of the Giant Pandas. After checking in the hotel and lunch, visit the Giant Panda Museum and Giant Panda Garden, where you can get very close to the cute animals and get better understanding of the Giant Panda.
- Wolong Nature Reserve: a national nature reserve for protecting the Giant Panda, Golden monkey, Dove tree and high mountain ecosystem, it is also a research centre of pandas with about 100 wild giant pandas living in the Reserve.
Accommodations: Yinhe Dynasty Hotel
Meals: B,L
Sightseeing: Dujiangyan Irrigation System,Du Fu's Thatched Roof Cottage,Marquis Wu Shrine
After breakfast, return to Chengdu. Along the way, you will have an excursion to Dujiangyan Irrigation System. In the afternoon, you will visit Du Fu's Thatched Roof Cottage and then Marquis Wu Shrine in the city of Chengdu.
- Dujiangyan Irrigation System: one of China's earliest irrigation systems and an unique ecological water-conservancy project without dam, completed more than 2,000 years ago by Li Bing and his son. This project has been used to irrigate the vast Chengdu Plain and guard against floods, making this area the most fertile land in China.
- Du Fu's Thatched Roof Cottage: located on the side of the Flower Washing Brook in the western suburbs of Chengdu. It is the former residence of the celebrated Tang dynasty poet, Du Fu (712-770AD) who was born in Henan province. At the age of 20 he left his home to travel within China. He used to be an official for 10 years in Chang'an (present Xian), the capital of the Tang dynasty, and was captured by rebels after an uprising. He then fled to Chengdu where he built this humble cottage and stayed for about four years.
- Marquis Wu Shrine: built by Li Xiong in the Western Jin Dynasty (265-316AD) in memory of Zhuge Liang, prime minister of Shu Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280AD). Zhuge Liang (181-234AD) was not only a great statesman and military strategist but also the hero of the novel Sanguo Yanyi (the Romance of the Three Kingdoms).
Accommodations: Tibet Hotel
Meals: B,L
Sightseeing: Lhasa
Transfer via: China domestic flight on our arrangement
Free in the day until our local guide escorts you to the airport for your onward flight to your next destination--Lhasa. Upon your arrival at Gonggar airport, you will be met by your local guide and transferred to the hotel in Lhasa city (2-hour drive). You will view the Stone Giant Buddha engraved in the mountain face en route. After checking in the hotel, rest in the afternoon to get adapted to the high altitude.
- Lhasa: the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region with an elevation of 3650 meters (12,000 feet) above the sea level, is nicknamed Sunlight City. It is the highest city in the world. This ancient sprawling city, settled 1,300 years ago, is the region's political, economic and cultural center as well as a sacred place of Tibetan Buddhism.
Accommodations: Tibet Hotel
Meals: B,L
Sightseeing: Potala Palace,Jokhang Temple,Barkhor Street
Your sightseeing today will include the Lhasa's cardinal landmark -- Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple and flourishing Barkhor Street.
- Potala Palace: the symbol of Lhasa, perched upon Marpo Ri Hill, 130 meters above the Lhasa Valley, it is the greatest monumental structure in Tibet and one of the most famous architectural works of the world. The construction was started in 641 AD and it was rebuilt by the Fifth Dalai Lama in three years, while the Thirteenth Dalai Lama extended and repaired it into what it is now. As the religious and political centre of old Tibet and the winter residence of Dalai Lamas, the palace witnessed the life of the Dalai Lamas and the important political and religious activities in the past centuries. The Potala Palace also houses great amounts of rare cultural relics including the gold hand-written Buddhist scriptures, valuable gifts from the Chinese emperors and a lot of priceless antiques.
- Jokhang Temple: located in the center of the old section of Lhasa, built in 647 AD by Songtsen Gampo and his two foreign wives, and later extended by successive rulers. It has now become a gigantic architectural complex and it is the spiritual center of Tibet.
- Barkhor Street: a circular street around the Jokhang Temple in the center of the old section of Lhasa, it is the oldest street in a very traditional style in Tibet, where you can enjoy bargaining with the local Tibetan vendors for the handicrafts which are rarely seen elsewhere in the world. Barkhor Street is one of the most important religious paths along which pilgrims walk around Jokhang Temple while turning prayer wheels in their hands. They have been doing this for countless centuries. Buddhist pilgrims walk or progress by body-lengths in a clockwise direction. This walk can continue all day and well into the night.
Accommodations: Tibet Hotel
Meals: B,L
Sightseeing: Norbulingka Park,Sera Monastery,Tibetan Family
The whole day tour will first bring you to the Norbulingka Park, and then the Sera Monastery. Pay a visit to a Tibetan Family.
- Norbulingka Park: Norbulingka means "Jeweled Garden", built in 1751 AD as a summer palace for the Dalai Lama where they handled political affairs and practiced religious activities. It is now a large-scale palace complex and garden in Tibetan style covering an area of 40 hectares. The whole complex 370 rooms of different sizes and lawns shaded by green trees and enclosed by various flowers. Before 1959, commoners had no access to this park. Nowadays, on festivals and holidays, the local people in their colorful costumes come here with food and tents to sing and dance overnight.
- Sera Monastery: Sera means "Wild Rose Garden" in Tibetan because lush wild rose woods once grew around it. The monastery is one of the three largest monasteries in Tibet. Located at the northern outskirts of Lhasa, it was built in 1419 AD by Jamchen Choje (or Sakyayeshe), one of the eight disciples of Tsong Khapa who was the founder of the Gelugpa Sect. The Sera Monastery houses three colleges built in the 15th and 16th centuries, and it is famous for the "Buddhism Scriptures Debating".
- Tibetan Family: where you will be greeted and warmly welcomed by common Tibetan people in their traditional way and entertained with their typical food.
Meals: B
Transfer via: China domestic flight on our arrangement
Free in the day until our local guide escorts you to the airport for your onward flight to your next destination--Beijing.
China domestic flights as specified in the itinerary 
Accommodations for 6 nights, including
6 nights at four star or higher hotels
12 meals, including 6 full breakfasts, 5 lunches and 1 dinners
(including Chuan Food)
Round-trip transfers---between airports, hotels and scenic spots in each city by private air-conditioned motor coaches with experienced drivers
A local English-speaking guide in each city
Entrance fees to scenic spots listed in the itinerary
Luggage transfers between airports and hotels
China Life Tourist Accident/Casualty insurance
Government taxes and service charges except tips for tour guides and drivers
Georges and I had an amazing time in China...thanks to you and all of the guides and drivers working for your company.
We will definitely recommend your company to friends looking to go to China in the future.
Best of luck with the upcoming Olympics!
- David,USA
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