CC-36 Beijing-Datong-Taiyuan-Pingyao-Xi??an-Chengdu-Lhasa-Shangri-la-Lijiang-Dali-Kunming-Shanghai (23D22N)

 
Day 1 Arriving at Beijing airport, meet the local guide and transfer you to your hotel. This afternoon we will visit the favorite haunt of the Empress Dowager, the Summer Palace. Walking in this veritable museum of classical Chinese garden architecture, where the royal family could relax away from the formal ceremony of the court, is a pleasant experience. There are a number of pavilions as well as the Long Corridor, now a popular place for people to spend the day.
( D )  Overnight in Beijing
Day 2 Today we will visit some of the contrasting sights of Beijing, our capital city. Our first stop will be at Tiananmen Square, the largest public square in the world. Dominating the north side of the square is the massive red Tiananmen Gate through which we will pass into the fabled Forbidden City and another age, where we will see the home of the members of the royal family and their court during China Ming and Qing Dynasties. After lunch we will visit the imposing Temple of Heaven where the Emperor came each year to intercede with the Gods for a good and plentiful harvest.
( B/L/D )  Overnight in Beijing
Day 3 Today we will visit the Great Wall where you will have the opportunity to not only see one of the most impressive sections of the Great Wall of China but also take a walk along it. After lunch you will travel some 50 km northwest of Beijing to the Sacred Way with its fabulous stone animals. The way leads to the Ming Tombs in the shadow of Longevity Mountain. A visit to the Underground Palace of Dingling will allow you to see imperial coffins, burial artifacts and treasures. In the evening take soft sleeper train to Datong.
( B/L/D )  Overnight on the train
Day 4 Arrive in Datong in the morning and transfer to the hotel. Visit the Yungang Grottoes, which are ancient Buddhist grottoes near the city of Datong in the Chinese province of Shanxi. It is one of the three most famous ancient sculptural sites of China. The others are Longmen and Mogao. The site is located about 16 km south-west of the city, in the valley of the Shi Li river at the base of the Wuzhou Shan mountains. The grottoes were mainly constructed in the period between 460-525 AD during the Northern Wei dynasty. They are an outstanding example of the Chinese stone carvings from the 5th and 6th centuries. All together the site is composed of 252 grottoes with more than 51,000 Buddha statues and statuettes. In 2001, the Yungang Grottoes were made Aunesco World Heritage Site. Visit the Huayan Monastery, which is located on Daxi Street on the south western side of Datong City, Shanxi Province. There are two separate sections to the monastery, the upper one referred to as the Grand Hall housing five large Ming Dynasty Buddhas, and the lower section referred to as the Sutra Temple containing a library of some 18,000 volumes of Buddhist writings. Built during the Liao Dynasty (907 - 1125), the Huayan Monastery is the largest and best preserved monastery of the Liao Dynasty in existence in China. This monastery was built according to the Huayan Sutra Sect of the Huayan School and is unique in that it faces east instead of south. In the afternoon visit Shanhua Monastery, is located in central Datong within the old city walls. It was first constructed during the Tang dynasty (618-907AD) though most of the present wooden building dates back to the 12th century. The temple houses some intricately carved Jin dynasty (265-420AD) statues and has a screen wall decorated with dragons. and the Nine Dragons Screen, built over 600 years ago, is presently the oldest and largest glazed screen in China today. It is three times larger than that in Beihai Park, Beijing City.
( B/L/D )  Overnight in Datong
Day 5  After breakfast visit Sakyamuni Wooden Pagoda at Fogong Temple in Yingxian County, the Wooden Pagoda in Yingxian County is the earliest and the highest pagoda among the extant wooden-structure pagodas in China. The Fogong Temple in Yingxian County was originally a very big temple built in the Liao Dynasty (916-1135), and underwent reconstruction several times. The extant archway, bell and drum towers, the shrine of Sakyamuni Buddha were all rebuilt in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), only the wooden pagoda was the original building of the Liao Dynasty. The wooden pagoda was built in the second year (1056) of the Qingning reign of the Liao Dynasty. The layout of the pagoda has an octagonal plane, and is 67.13 meters tall. The pagoda was built on the 4-meter-high and two-layer stone platform base. In the evening take soft sleeper train Taiyuan.
( B/L/D )  Overnight on the train
Day 6  Arrive in Taiyuan, meet the local guide and transfer to the hotel. After break in the hotel. Visit Jinci Temple, which is located 25 kilometers to the southeast of downtown Taiyuan City, Jinci Temple is a combination of historical cultural relics and beautiful landscapes. The welcoming boughs of a multitude of ancient trees provide an eye-catching entrance to the temple. Beyond this, the numerous halls, cabinets, pavilions and bridges are guaranteed to keep any visitor enthralled. Jinci Temple is world-famous because it is an ancient ancestral temple, something which is rare in China. Visit Shuanglin Temple, it is more than 1500 years old, the temple is famous for more than 2,000 valuable painted sculptures, representing Ming and Qing Dynasties' best. They are famous as a "treasure reserve of the oriental painted sculptures.
( B/L/D )  Overnight in Taiyuan
Day 7 After breakfast visit the Ancient City Wall, which is in the middle of Shanxi Province, this is the best-preserved of the four ancient towns in China. Inside the intact Ming Dynasty city wall this traditional town, whose buildings date from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, is exceptionally well-preserved, and just as it was centuries ago. The Rishengchang Draft Bank it was established in 1823. It was the biggest draft bank at that time and had been famous for "Hui Tong Tian Xia"(Business Connecting The Whole World). The Mingqing Street, is the downtown thoroughfare and reserved quite well of the styles in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In the evening take soft sleeper train to Xi'an.
( B/L/D )  Overnight on the train
Day 8  In the morning arrive in Xi'an, meet the local guide and transfer to the hotel. After break in the hotel visit the ancient Xi'an City Wall (14th century) one of the most important city walls in China. Then take a visit to the Terracotta Warriors Museum. The thousands of life size soldiers and horses were created to guard the tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi, the first Emperor to unite China under his firm rule. The royal tomb itself has yet to be opened but the rank upon rank of Warriors is a sight that is unrivalled anywhere in the world. Afterwards, we will transfer to your hotel.
( B/L/D )  Overnight in Xi'an
Day 9 To start your day before breakfast, you will have a unique chance to experience the mysterious and ancient art of Tai Chi Chuan, a 300-year old traditional Chinese martial art, also known as shadow boxing. After breakfast in the hotel, today we will visit Forest of Stone Steles Museum. The museum housed in the Temple of Confucius has the largest collection of its kind in China with a collection of over 3,000 inscribed stones steles. Next comes the Great Mosque built in 742 during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The traditional Chinese style architecture makes this mosque quite a unique one from its Arab counterparts. For the last visit of the afternoon we will go to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. The square, seven-storey pagoda was built in 652 AD and is a fine example of Tang Dynasty Buddhist architecture.
( B/L/D )  Overnight in Xi'an
Day 10  In the morning take flight to Chengdu, meet the local guide and visit Mt. Emei, which rises 3,099 meters above sea level in Emei County, 160 kilometers southwest of Chengdu. Its charming scenery has won it the name of "Emei, the Greatest Beauty under Heaven." It takes three hours of train ride to reach Mount Emei from Chengdu. Regular tourist bus and public bus services also make the trip from Chengdu easy and convenient. The Hongzhushan Hotel at the foot of the mountain is beautifully located and well-equipped with tourist services. Visit Baoguo Temple at the foot of Mount Emei, was built between 1573 and 1619 during the Ming Dynasty. The pagoda dates back to the Ming Dynasty.
( B/L/D )  Overnight in Chengdu
Day 11 In the morning drive to visit Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, located in the northern suburb of Chengdu on Futou Hill. It is 10 km from downtown Chengdu, and can be reached by the Panda Road. Giant pandas at the Chengdu Research Base live in large naturalistic habitats, which help the visitor to understand how these animals live in the wild . It is an excellent recreational area and a highlight of any visit to Chengdu.
( B/L/D )  Overnight in Chengdu
Day 12  In the morning take flight to Lhasa, meet the local and transfer to the hotel. In the afternoon visit Jokhang Temple, home of the most precious of the Buddha images in the region. Brought from Chang'an (what is now Xi'an ) by the Tang Princess Wen Cheng when she married Tibetan King Songsten Gampo, the Sakyamuni Buddha is truly magnificent. Then walk through the colorful bazaar on Barkhor Street known as the Pilgrims'ay prior to visiting a carpet factory where you can marvel at the skill of the carpet weavers and admire the Buddhist designs.
( B/L/D )  Overnight in Lhasa
Day 13  After breakfast visit Potala Palace, Tibet's best-known landmark. In the afternoon visit Drepung Monastery and Sera Monastery. Drepung was once the largest and wealthiest and a Yellow Hat monastery where the Dalai Lamas were trained. Sera was a strong rival for importance and had three Tantric Colleges, famous for their Bon tradition of teaching.
( B/L/D )  Overnight in Lhasa
Day 14  In the morning take flight to Shangri-la, meet the local guide and visit Dongzhulin Monastery, 105 km away from Zhongdian. Dong Zhu Lin Monastery was first built in 1667, the 6th year during the reign of Emperor Kang Xi of Qing Dynasty. It was where the Monlam Festival of the Prayer for the Emperor's birthday was held. The main hall in the center is a four-story wood and earth structure, surrounded by 82 tall trees. The hall on the 1st floor is for reciting Buddhist scriptures, where enshrines the statues of Tsongkhapa, founder of the Ge-lug-pa sect, together with Damarenqen, one of Tsongkhapa's disciples, and Khedrub Je, the 1st Panchen Lama, and other Buddhist statues of Sakyamuni, and Guanyin, a Bodhisattva. The monastery also enshrines a 6.8 meter high, gilded bronze, statue of seated Buddha of Qiangba (Maitreya), and a 10.5 meter tall statue of Sakyamuni, gifts from the Sera Monastery in Lhasa. The monastery also collects an 8.5 meter long, 5.2 meter wide image of Buddha, which is sunned once a year when the Monlam Festival of Prayer is held. Beside that take photo for the wonder of upper Yangtze River --- The first bend of Golden Sand River ( the upper reach of Yangtze ). Visit Zhongdian local market, strolling in the Zhongdian Old Town and have dinner in the old town. In the evening go to the central square in the old town to enjoy local people nightly dance.
( B/L/D )  Overnight in Shangri-la
Day 15  After breakfast visit Songzanlin Tibetan Buddhism monastery, which is 5 km from the seat of Shangri-la County. Construction began in 1679 and was completed in 1681. It is said that the Fifth Dalai Lama chose the site of the monastery through divination and named it "Gedan Songzanlin Monastery". In 1724, during the reign of Emperor Yongzheng in the Qing Dynasty, the monastery was renamed the "Guihua Monastery". During its time of greatest prosperity, there were more than 3,000 monks in the temple, now there are still 700 monks inside. Have dinner in the typical Tibetan restaurant named Nanka Mingdian In the evening visit and enjoy the performance and milk tea given by Tibetan people. Then drive to Lijiang, visit Tiger Leaping Gorge on the way, which is believed to be the deepest gorge in the world. From the top of the gorge you look down the steeply angled ( 70-90 degrees ) mountain sides to the rushing Golden Sands ( Jingsha ) River with its 18 frothing rapids more than 200 meters (about 700 feet) below.
( B/L/D )  Overnight in Lijiang
Day 16  After breakfast visit Baisha Naxi Village and Baisha Ancient Mural. Baisha (White Sand) is located in the north of Lijiang. It is named this because of the large amount of white sand on the earth's surface there. According to history Baisha is the earliest place for the settlement of Naxi nationality after they entered Lijiang basin. The present murals are all kept in Dabaoji Palace and Liuli Temple in Baisha. All of the 55 murals were masterpieces in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The biggest one is stored in Dabaoji Palace. In total, there are 100 vivid figures visible in it. Their facial expressions are vivid enough to show their happiness, anger, sadness and joys. All of the Baisha murals are about religion. However their uniqueness comes from the fact that they are the combination of Buddhism, Taoism and Lamaism, which is a very rare phenomenon. In the afternoon visit Black Dragon Pool, somewhat idiosyncratically known as Black Dragon Pool, the Jade Spring Park to the north of Lijiang derives its name from the waters which sparkle like jade and are as clear as spring water. The entire park is green with grass and shaded by swaying willow trees. Under the Shuocui Bridge, a waterfall creates a constant roar as it cascades downstream. Visit Lijiang Old Town, which is one of the best-preserved ancient towns of the minority ethnic people of China. Lijiang old town belongs to the World Culture Heritage of UNESCO.
( B/L/D )  Overnight in Lijiang
Day 17  After breakfast drive to Dali. In the afternoon visit old Three Pagodas, which known as the Chongsheng Santa and situated on top of the ruins of Chongsheng Monastery, the Three Pagodas lie one kilometer northwest of Dali and located on the slope of Mount Cangshan. In the aftrnoon you could take a pleasant stroll in Dali Old Town which was the capital city of Nanzhao Kingdom 1000 years ago.
( B/L/D )  Overnight in Dali
Day 18  After breakfast visit Xizhou morning market , Bai village Zhouchen Village, then drive to Kunming, meet the local guide and transfer to the hotel.
( B/L/D )  Overnight in Kunming
Day 19 After breakfast visit Stone Forest, a typical Karst formation, which covers an area of more than three hundred square kilometers. Scientific research has shown that what is now the Stone Forest was 270 million years ago an immense expanse of water with a vast stretch of limestone sediment formed over the years on the seafloor. As a result of the crustal movement, the seabed rose gradually and a large piece of land thus came into being. Exposed to rains and winds, eroded by the elements, the strange-looking limestone ranges were shaped by time. About 200 million years ago numerous stone peaks, pillars, and stalagmites rose abruptly from the ground and towered into the sky, extending now as far as the eye can see, looking like a vast forest of stone, hence the name "the Stone Forest".
( B/L/D )  Overnight in Kunming
Day 20 After breakfast visit Western Hills. Western Hills which 15 km west of Kunming City. The Dragon Gate in the Western Hills is close to the west shore of the Dianchi Lake. It consists of the Sanqing Temple Complex and the Dragon Gate Grotto Complex. The buildings of the Sanqing Taoist Temple are arranged in nine tiers: They are the Lingguan Hall, the Chunyang Pavilion,the Sanqing Hall, the Yuhuang Temple, the Taiqing Palace, the Zhenwu Hall, the Luzu Temple, the Qisheng Temple, Lingxiao Pavilion, the Laojun Pavilion and the Taiji Palace. The Dragon Gate Grotto Complex, on the other hand, includes Lanhaichu, the Ciyun Cave, the Yunhua Cave and the Datian Pavilion. Visit the Bamboo Temple where you can see "the sculpture treasure of Orient" - 500 colorful clay Buddhas. In the afternoon take flight to Shanghai, meet the local guide and transfer to the hotel.
( B/L/D )  Overnight in Shanghai
Day 21 Visit Yuyuan Garden, laid out in the 16th century by a Ming official, this small (2 hectares) garden is a delight of pools, pavilions and rock gardens. Strolling through the bazaar surrounding the garden, you will find lines of stores that sell traditional Chinese arts and crafts. Jade Buddha Temple is a Buddhist temple in Shanghai China. As with most modern Chinese Buddhist temples, the current temple draws from both the Pure Land and Zen traditions of Mahayana Buddhism. It was founded in 1882 with two jade Buddha imported to Shanghai from Burma by sea. These were a sitting Buddha (1.95 meters tall, 3 tons), and a smaller reclining Buddha representing Buddha's death. The temple now also contains a much larger reclining Jade Buddha, donated from Singapore, and visitors may mistake this larger sculpture for the original, smaller piece. Visit the Bund, one of the most famous thoroughfares in China and here you will see a collection of buildings dating from the 1930's displaying their western influence and fulfilling the role of the commercial heart of Shanghai. And visit the Jade Buddha Temple, which is a good place to go whether you are a Buddhist or not, the peaceful and transcendent atmosphere adds a kind of richness to our busy modern society. Leaving the ancient for the modern you visit the Pudong New Area is a triangular area adjacent to the city proper. Before 1990, it was farmland and rice paddies. Here you'll find the biggest of everything: the tallest TV tower in Asia, the largest department store on the continent, and the tallest building in the world. The modern architectural wonders, the Yangpu and Nanpu Bridges, connect Pudong to Puxi, the city proper. The new Shanghai international airport was open in 1999, and the Shanghai Stock Exchange moves to its new building in Pudong in 1998.
( B/L/D )  Overnight in Shanghai
Day 22  Take the soft seat train T710 ( 0900/0945) from Shanghai to Suzhou. Visit the Humble Administrator's Garden, the Garden of the Master of the Net, cruise on the ancient canal and visit the famous Suzhou silk factory.
( B/L/D )  Overnight in Suzhou
Day 23  In the morning drive back to Shanghai. In the afternoon take for leaving.  (B)




























Quotation 

Peak Season ( Apr. – Nov. )

Slack Season ( Dec. – Mar. )

 

 ( USD p/p )

Budget

Standard

Luxury

Budget

Standard

Luxury

 

2 – 5 pax

4998

5218

5713 

4808

5028

 5523 

 

6 – 9 pax

3881 

4102

4597 

 3692 

3912

4407

 

Single Room Supplement

908 

1101

1550

 812 

 1011 

1465

 

10 pax up

 3461 

3626

4121

  3270 

 3435

 3930 

 

Single Room Supplement

750

900 

1350 

660

 810

 1266 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INCLUDED IN THE TOUR PRICE
* 4 domestic flights in the economic class with tax ( Xi'an/Chengdu/Lhasa/Shangri-la, Kunming/Shanghai )
* 3 soft sleeper train ( Beijing/Datong/Taiyuan/Xi'an ), ( four pax in one carriage )
* One soft seat train from Shanghai to Suzhou 
* 3* hotel ( budget ), 4* hotel ( standard ) or 5* hotel ( luxury ), twin-bed room with private shower and WC
* English speaking local guide
* Daily meals ( exclude the special flavor food )
* Admission charges where applicable as shown in the tour description
* Transportation in the program
* Service charges for baggage handling between hotel and airport
* Domestic travel insurance
NOT INCLUDED IN THE TOUR PRICE

* International flights and tax
* Personal consumption
* Visa fee
* Tips for guide, driver and porter

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