Scroll down to bottom for departure dates, prices and hotel list.

Day 1/Wed: Departing Home City
The journey begins with our transpacific flight departing the west coast in early afternoon. Cross the International Date Line.

Day 2/Thu: Arrival in Beijing
Meet our guide upon arrival in late afternoon and transfer to the hotel. The balance of the day is at leisure.

Day 3/Fri: Beijing
Beijing is China's capital. It is also the country's second largest city after Shanghai with a population of 22 million (2011). Beijing is renowned for its opulent palaces, temples, and huge stone walls and gates, treasures that make it the most popular destination city in China among both domestic and international visitors.

You will have the opportunity to get to know your fellow travellers before going out for sightseeing. Our schedule today includes Tian'anmen Square, the Forbidden City, Jingshan Park, and an old hutong - alleyway flanked with traditional residential courtyards. Welcome dinner is delicious Beijing roast duck feast. (B/L/D)

Day 4/Sat: Beijing
Enjoy a full-day excursion to the legendary Great Wall at Mutianyu, 75km northeast of the city. Zigzagging over 6,000 kilometres from east to west along the undulating mountains, the Great Wall, said to be visible from the moon, was built to hold off tribal invaders from the north. Construction of the earliest sections of the Wall started in the 7th century B.C. A major renovation started with the founding of the Ming Dynasty in 1368 and took 200 years to complete. The wall we see today in Beijing is almost exactly the result of this effort. (B/L)

Day 5/Sun: Beijing - Chengdu
Morning sightseeing at Temple of Heaven. Built for emperors to worship Heaven, the Temple of Heaven is China's largest existing complex of ancient sacrificial buildings occupying an area of 273 hectares and three times the area of the Forbidden City. Late afternoon flight to Chengdu after a tour of the Summer Palace. (B/L/D)

Day 6/Mon: Chengdu
Tour of the Giant Panda Breeding Centre is followed by a visit to the museum built on the archaeological site of Sanxingdui Culture (Bronze Age). First chanced upon by a farmer in 1929, Sanxingdui, 40km west of Chengdu, continued to surprise the archaeological community in the decades to come. In 1986, two major sacrificial pits were discovered and the breakthrough aroused widespread academic attention from around the world. The Sanxingdui finds are exciting, but they remain enigmatic. So far no written records of this 5,000-year-old civilization have been found. (B/L)

Day 7/Tue: Chengdu - Lhasa
Morning schedule includes Wang Jiang Lou Park and a typical local tea house. Wangjianglou means "river-overlooking tower" and the park is so named because of the ancient pagoda-shaped wooden tower onsite. The beautiful little park dotted with verdant bamboo groves has long been a favourite spot among locals for morning exercise. People in Sichuan enjoy going to tea houses, their equivalent of pubs or neighbourhood coffee shops found in the West, where people, especially retirees, exchange gossips and play chess among other things. We board noon flight for Lhasa and upon arrival spend the rest of the day relaxing and getting acclimatized to the high altitudes. (B/L)

Day 8/Wed: Lhasa
Situated in a wide, mountain-fringed valley on the north bank of the Kyichu River, Lhasa (elevation 3700m) is a rapidly expanding city with a population of over 540,000. An important settlement for well over a thousand years, Lhasa was originally called Rasa, but was renamed by King Songtsen Gampo in the seventh century when he moved his capital here from the Yarlung Valley. Following the collapse of the Yarlung dynasty two centuries later, power dispersed among local chieftains and the city lost its pre-eminence. It was not until the seventeenth century, with the installation of the Fifth Dalai Lama as ruler by the Mongolian emperor, Gushri Khan, that Lhasa once again became the seat of government.

This morning we visit the Dalai Lama’s Potala Palace. Afternoon sightseeing at Jokhang Temple, one of the oldest Buddhist buildings in Tibet and a remarkable combination of Tibetan, Indian, Nepalese and Han Chinese architectural styles. No visit to Jokhang Temple is complete without checking out the Barkor Street bazaar outside the temple. (B/L)

Day 9/Thu: Lhasa
Morning visit to the Dalai Lama's summer residence Norbulinka. This afternoon we tour grand Sera Monastery, where lively debates held Monday to Saturday from 3 to 5 pm between resident monks often draw a large audience. (B/L)

Day 10/Fri: Lhasa - Gyantse - Shigatse
Following breakfast, we drive along the Southern Route to Gyantse (265km). Highlights of the scenic drive include Kambaba Pass (4700 metres/15416 feet above sea level) and the holy lake Yamdrok Yumtso. Every summer throngs of Tibetan pilgrims come to the lake to pray for blessings by the lake fairy. Afternoon sightseeing in Gyantse takes in the Fortress of Gyantse Dzong and Pelkhor Choede. We continue on to Shigatse (90km) in late afternoon arriving at the second largest city in Tibet around dinnertime. (B/L/D)

Day 11/Sat: Shigatse - Lhasa
This morning we visit Tashilunpo Monastery, the religious and administrative headquarters of the Panchen Lama - paramount leader of the Yellow Sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Return to Lhasa via better paved Northern Route (295km). Vast pastureland, barren mountain slopes, snow-capped peaks, blue skies, white clouds, scanty population, and ubiquitous prayer flags - these images combine to conjure a sense of solitude and mystery. (B/L)

Day 12/Sun: Lhasa - Shanghai
Spend the morning relaxing or exploring the ancient Tibetan capital on your own. We fly to Shanghai in mid-afternoon transiting through Chengdu or Chonging due to lack of direct flight. The two long flights and the distance between the city and airport at both ends will leave you little time for sightseeing. It is also likely that we may have to leave Lhasa in the morning depending on flight availability. (B/L)

Day 13/Mon: Shanghai
Our sightseeing in Shanghai begins with a stroll on the Bund - a waterfront promenade famous for its landmark neoclassical buildings of European style, followed by Shanghai Museum and Yu Garden. Evening entertainment is an exciting acrobatic show. (B/L/D)

Day 14/Tue: Shanghai - Home City
Spend the morning packing and relaxing. Transfer to the airport to board return flight departing in the afternoon. Cross the International Date Line and arrive home the same day. (B)

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Hotel list
City	No. of Nights	Hotel	Star Rating
Beijing	3	Crowne Plaza U-Town or Sheraton Dongcheng
Chengdu	2	Jinjiang Hotel
Lhasa	4	Four Points by Sheraton
Xigaze (Shigatse)	1	Jiumuyamei International Hotel	- best available
Shanghai	2	Sheraton Shanghai Hongkou

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