10 Days Chengdu Lhasa Yamdrok Xian Train Tour

Upon your arrival in Chengdu, you will be escorted to the hotels. In the afternoon, tourists will tour Wide and Narrow Alley in downtown Chengdu. The lively and vibrant alley showcases the old life style and houses of Chengdu. You can enjoy the tea and tasty local snacks and buy interesting souvenirs as you tour this pedestrianized area.

Stay overnight in Chengdu.

Chengdu is the major overland gateway to Tibet and home to giant pandas. In the morning, we will drive about half an hour to Chengdu Panda Breeding and Research Center, where you will catch pandas' feeding time, they are at their most active, both Adults and Babies. There's a wealth of information and a panda museum in this 230-hectare park 10 km (6 miles) north of Chengdu. It takes about 2.5 hours to visit this site.

In the afternoon, we will move back to downtown Chengdu to visit Jin Li Street, a vivid replica of the old commercial street of Qin, Han, and Three Kingdom dynasties. You can take a leisurely stroll along the street and buy some souvenirs. After that, we can tour the famous Wuhou Shrine, where tourists can learn more of the celebrated warriors of Three Kingdoms and much more Chinese poetry and calligraphy, etc. can also be seen.

Board the train in the evening to Lhasa. The Tibet Railway offers a stunning alpine scenery full of snow caped mountains, lakes, vast plateau plains littered with nomads, yaks, Tibetan antelope and many other wild life elements. Tibet Railway is the world’s highest Railway. The 1,956 kilometers rail line expands a vast highland area with an average altitude of 4,300 meters above sea level, the highest being 5,068 meters.

Stay overnight in the train.

• Closely see the cute giant pandas at Chengdu Panda Base.
• Jinli Street

Today the train will move on Qinghai Tibet Plateau, You will pass by Yuzhufeng, which is the main peak of Kunlun Mountain, World Natural Heritage Kekexili Naturel Preserve, Tuotuo River-the resource of Yangtze River, Naqu Grassland and Cuona Lake.

Stay overnight in the train.

When you arrive in Lhasa in the morning, your guide will greet you and take you to your hotel. Tourists may view the Yarlung Tsangpo River/ Bhamaputra River (the longest and largest river in Tibet) and Lhasa river on their way to Lhasa.

After arriving in Lhasa, you can take a rest and get acclimatized to high altitude. If you feel to go out, then you can go to the Potala Square, where you will enjoy the fountain with different colors and get amazing photos of the Potala and around.

Insider Tips:
For the new-comers of Tibet, to get acclimatized to the high altitude in Tibet. Having a good sleep in your hotel is a good option. Don not rush to visit attractions inside Lhasa city.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

• Qinghai-Tibet railway
• Tour guide will meet you at Lhasa Railway Station.

Today's tour will first bring you to the Potala Palace which is the winter palace of the Dalai lama. It was put to use since the 7th Century by the 33rd great king of Tibet. The most valuable collections of Potala Palace are the gilded burial stupas of former Dalai Lamas and meditation Cave of the 33rd great king of Tibet.

Then after lunch, tourists head to Jokhang Temple which was founded by the 33rd great king of Tibet in the 7th century. Inside you can see the statue of Buddha Sakyamuni at the age of twelve. Outside, you can see pilgrims making prostrating in front of Jokhang Temple. Around the temple is Barkhor Street, where you can do kora (a religious circle of a building or mountain) with pilgrims and locals, and explore the old market. Besides, we can taste Tibetan tea with locals in tea house.

Optional:
With time permitting, you may go with tour guide to visit Tibetan handicraft art or Tibetan Traditional Medicine center. You can upgrade your service to enjoy Tibetan Culture Show in the evening (fr. 60USD)

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

• Potala Palace
• Johkang Temple

In the morning, you are going to visit Drepung Monastery which is one of the “great three” Gelug monasteries of Tibet, founded in 1416 by Jamyang choge, one of the Tsongkhapa’s main disciples. You can visit the biggest monastery kitchen inside the monastery and enjoy Buddhist Sculpture Carving workshop near Drepung.

In the afternoon, you will visit Sera Monastery which is another one of the “great three” Gelug monasteries of Tibet. The hot attraction is the monks debate at around 3 - 5 in the afternoon. In addition, you can tour the Tibetan religious scripture printing house. Inside the monastery, you can see three sand Mandalas and colorful Rock Painting of Buddha.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

• Drepung Monastery was one of the “three greet” Gelug monasteries of Tibet.
• Monk debate in Sera monastery

Today, we have to drive from Lhasa to Yamdrok Lake. On the way, the group will pass over the Gampala pass (4790 m),and tourists will have a glimpse of Yamdrok-tso Lake (4400m) .The Lake is surrounded by many snow-capped mountain and in the distance you have spectacular views of Holy Mount Nyenchen Khangsar (7191m), the highest mountain near Lhasa.

Then we will drive downhill to the lake and enjoy the free walk at the lake shore before heading back to Lhasa.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

• Enjoy the stunning view of turquoise Yamdrok Lake
• Enjoy the fascinating scenery of the holy Yamdrok Lake

The guide will transfer you to the airport and help you board the plane bound for Xian. After around 3 hours’ flight, you will land in Xian. The local guide will meet you and escort you to your hotels. And the rest of the day is for you to have a rest.

Stay overnight in Xian.

The day tour in Xian is impressive too. The Emperor’s Terracotta Army is also one of the eight wonders in the world. These terracotta warriors and horses are the size of a real army, and were buried alongside the Emperor in a vast underground palace.

In the archeological site of Banpo Village, built more than 6,000 year ago, you will see how the resident matriarchal tribe used to survive in the Neolithic age.

Stay overnight in Xian.

• Life-size Terracotta Warriors modeled after real ancient soldiers
• Banpo Site in Xi'an

The guide will transfer you to the airport or train station and help you get on board.