Holy Tibet

11 Days Private Tour of Holy Tibet - Beijing - Lhasa - Xian - Shanghai

Tour Type: Private Tour, any parts of the itinerary can be customized
Guide & Driver: English-speaking guide, experienced driver with an air-conditioned vehicle

Highlights:
Must-see sights in China - Mutianyu Great Wall, Forbidden City, Terracotta Army.
Follow us on a Buddhist pilgrimage to Tibet & visit the sacred Potala Palace.
Have a leisurely walk or an exciting bicycle ride on the time-honored City Wall.
Cruise on Huangpu River to take in the spectacular skyline of Shanghai.

Prices with 4 Stars Hotels

2-3 travelers
US Dollar $ 3609 US Dollar $ 3191

4-5 travelers
US Dollar $ 3249 US Dollar $ 2883

Prices with 5 Stars Hotels

2-3 travelers
US Dollar $ 4169 US Dollar $ 3604

4-5 travelers
US Dollar $ 3849 US Dollar $ 3305 Prices are per person on twin sharing.
The prices in red reflect 12% discount.
If you are a group of 6 people or more, we will offer a more favorable price by your group size.

Day 1

Itinerary

Day 1 Arrival in Beijing

Day 1 Arrival in Beijing
Upon your landing today, our excellent English-speaking guide will be waiting for you outside the arrival hall of the airport. After greeting you warmly, he or she will transfer you to the hotel in downtown area by a comfortable private car. For the remaining time of the day, we intend to leave it for you, so you can have a good rest and restore energy from the long journey.

Accommodation: Beijing New World Centre Tongpai Hotel 4 Stars Hotel

This trip can be customized to meet your individual needs!

Accommodation: Crowne Plaza Beijing Chaoyang U-Town 5 Stars Hotel

Day 2

Beijing

Your private China tour will officially start today. After breakfast, the guide will come to pick you up and go to visit Tian’anmen Square, the largest central city square in the world as big as 62 football fields. It is here that the founding ceremony of People's Republic of China was held on October 1, 1949. Tian'anmen Tower in the north of the square is a symbol of China. After visiting the square, the guide will lead you to walk through the Tower to reach today’s second stop, Forbidden City. We will book the entry tickets in advance, so as to save you time from waiting in the long queue.

Forbidden City is an imperial palace complex of the Ming and the Qing dynasties (1368 - 1911 AD) and also a large museum. It tells people about the changes of the royal courts for about 600 years. Having the guided visit towards the Inner Court where the royal family lived, you may notice the archaeological site west to Gate of Thriving Imperial Clan. Surprisingly, it has been proven to be a part of the imperial palace in Yuan Dynasty (1271 - 1368 AD), which had been mysteriously lost over 650 years ago. Now, we can catch a glimpse of the lost palace so many years later.

★ Tasty A La Carte Welcome Lunch with Peking Duck At noon, we will offer an a la carte welcome lunch (valued at CNY150.00 per person and included in our price). For you to sample authentic Chinese delicacies, we have carefully chosen a restaurant popular among locals, rather than a noisy eatery targeting at tourists. Peaking Duck is one of their most popular dishes. If needed, the guide will help you with ordering.

Then, continue to explore the Summer Palace, a fantastic royal garden with scenic landscape and magnificent architecture. Most ancient constructions are located on the Longevity Hill, among which Hall of Dispelling Clouds is the most eye-catching and spectacular. The Empress Dowager Cixi of the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911) used to celebrate her birthday here every year.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, A la carte welcome lunch

Day 3Tour

Beijing

This morning the guide will escort you to travel out of downtown to visit the famous Great Wall of China. The Great Wall, with a total length of 21,196 kilometers (13,170 miles), is one of the greatest manmade miracles in the world. Like a huge dragon, it winds up and down across mountains, grasslands, deserts and plains, stretching from east to west in northern China. The Great Wall at Mutianyu we will visit today is one of the best-preserved sections, and dotted with dense beacon towers.

★ Privilege of Our Guests
Our Mutianyu Great Wall tour includes cable car rides for both ways, saving you a lot of time and energy. It will directly send you to the most scenic part up there.

Lunch is not included but the guide will give you some recommendations. On returning way to the downtown after lunch, stop over at Bird's Nest to appreciate its unique appearance by roadside. Then, keep driving to Shichahai, where we will arrange a Hutong tour for you to experience old Beijinger’s life by taking a special rickshaw ride through the various Hutong alleys. We will also arrange a family visit there. After talking with the host and having a look at the traditional folk yard, you will have a better understanding of the folk manners and customs of the ancient city.

► Dinner Suggestion (at your own expense):
If you have a sweet tooth, after your hutong tour, try Sugared Fried Dough at Black Kiln Factory Eatery around Drum Tower. Established 35 years ago, this brand was the earliest to sell this local snack. First it was open only during the morning to sell breakfast and it’s after its name spread far and wide that it began to open all day long. Sugared Fried Dough is their signature snack, made by wrapping freshly fried dough with brown sugar, whose sweetness is enhanced by a crispy texture. Big sweet tooth would prefer sugar added to both sides of the dough, while the smaller would like sugar for only one side. Besides, steamed beef buns are also welcomed here. After your culinary exploration, perhaps continue to stroll around the hutong area.
Average cost per person: CNY 20 / USD 3 Address: No. 7-9, Di'anmen Outer Street, Xicheng District

Meals: Western buffet breakfast

Day 4

Beijing to Lhasa by Flight

This day will begin from the Temple of Heaven, a delicate ancient architecture complex where the emperors of Ming and Qing dynasties offered sacrifices to the God of Heaven. Nowadays, it is also used as a park by locals to do exercises and have fun. Then, it’s time to say goodbye to the capital city and fly to your onward destination – Lhasa in Tibet.

★ Privilege of Our Guests
We will apply for the Tibet Travel Permit for you in advance, to ensure that you enter Tibet without any obstacles.

Upon landing, you will be greeted by our local guide at the airport on time. In addition to a brief introduction of the city, the guide will also give you some useful tips on obviating high altitude reaction on the way to the hotel by a private car. Later what you need to do is to have a good rest in the room to adapt yourself to the environment. It’s not advised to go out for sightseeing on the first day of arrival.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast

Accommodation: Tangka Hotel 4 Stars Hotel

This trip can be customized to meet your individual needs!

Accommodation: Shangri-La Hotel 5 Stars Hotel

Day 5

Lhasa

Being reputed as 'City of Sunlight', the 1,300-year-old Lhasa has long been the political, economic, cultural and religious center of Tibet, so rich in historical relics. Today, the guide will firstly accompany you to visit the Norbulingka, the once summer resort for Dalai Lamas initially built in 18th century. It is the largest garden in Tibet with many traditional Tibetan style architectures. It is also the most beautiful of its kind surrounded by various trees and flowers, which is rarely seen in Tibetan Plateau, the roof of the world. Then, move on to Tibet Museum, which well interprets the peculiar Tibetan culture and history via plenty of collections, including various artifacts, Buddha figures, handwritten ancient books, artistic Thangka paintings, and ethnic handicrafts.

★ Watch Monks Debating over Buddhist Doctrines in Sera Monastery After having lunch at a fancy restaurant, you will be guided to the Sera Monastery, one of the greatest monasteries for Gelug Sect of Tibetan Buddhism. The biggest draw of this monastery is monks debating over Buddhist doctrines, which is going on from 15:00-17:00 every day except Sundays. They, either standing or sitting on the ground, clap theirs hands to urge the other side to answer the question as soon as possible, or turn the Buddha beads to get the power from the Buddha to defeat the opponent. The debating is fierce, helping monks learn more about Buddhism.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Lunch

Day 6

Lhasa

Another exciting day will start with a visit to the Potala Palace. It is world-famed for its unique layout, civil engineering, metal smelting, painting, sculptures and so on. It is a wonder indeed that the palace has stood for millennium but been preserved well. Every year in the eighth and ninth months of the Tibetan calendar, the local workers hang down from the roof and spray a special paint on the wall of Potala Palace. This paint is mixed with milk, honey, rock sugar, white granulated sugar, brown sugar, saffron and more materials. In addition, white lime is added to keep insects away, making the Potala Palace have a great corrosion resistance. On the hill, the wall of Potala Palace on the bottom is 5 meters (about 197 inches) thick, placed with melted iron. The upper walls become thinner and thinner, but the thinnest thickness reaches 1 meter (39.4 inches). The upper walls were not filled with iron, instead of a special straw in Tibet. The compacted neat straws gave the walls a wonderful toughness. Thanks to all these, you can see in person the Potala Palace standing firmly.

Travel Tip: Potala Palace is built on a hillside with many stairs. It is advised you wear a pair of comfortable hiking shoes and slow down to prevent altitude sickness.

After lunch, the guide will escort you to Jokhang Temple. This temple is the spiritual center of Tibetans because the rare statue of the 12-year-old Sakyamuni is worshipped inside. Around the Jokhang Temple, is the ancient Barkhor Street where many traditional Tibetan style buildings are well preserved. It also abounds in souvenirs full of Tibetan characteristics.

The last stop of the day will be a Nunnery, the only nunnery in Lhasa. Every day from 08:00 to 18:00, the nuns chant and learn Buddhism. Followers often give alms and ask the nuns to chant per their requests for themselves or their families.

► Dinner Suggestion (at your own expense):
Want to get a taste of what Lhasa is about? Out of the Nunnery, walk 350 meters (about 383 yards) to Barkhor Street and visit the restaurant Xunshi - Tibetan Seasonal Food. It offers dishes all made of seasonal ingredients from local farms, such as pine mushrooms, Chinese caterpillar fungus, yellow morels… Each season provides you with different mixes. The restaurant features local cuisine blended with Sichuan flavors and serves set meals, so you don’t need to rack your brain over matching which ingredients with which. The taste is overall lightly-flavored. Average cost per person: CNY 60 / USD 8 Address: No.12, East Barkhor Street, Chengguan District

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Lunch

Welcome to Habibi Tour

7th. Day

Lhasa to Xi’an by Flight

Your guided sightseeing in Tibet will come to an end here. According to the fight schedule, the guide will offer you a private transfer to the airport and assist you to board the onward flight to Xi’an. Upon landing, our local guide will meet you at the airport and then transfer you to the hotel.

During the rest of the day, we recommend you to have a rest in the hotel room to recover from high altitude sickness. If you feel all right, you can stroll around nearby on your own.

Meals: Western style breakfast

Accommodation:Holiday Inn Xian Big Goose Pagoda

This trip can be customized to meet your individual needs!

Accommodation: Crowne Plaza Xi'an

Day 11

Departure from Shanghai

Departure from Shanghai
At the agreed time, the guide and driver will transfer you to the airport and see you off. Hope our dedicated services ensure you a memorable, interesting and enjoyable private vacation!

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, A la carte lunch