18 Days China Dream Tour

Wish you a good journey to China, and our guide will meet you outside the customs of Beijing Airport after you clear the customs, and then transfer you to check in the hotel. The rest of the day is flexible for your will, have a rest or take a walk near the hotel. Today you will stay at the hotel in Beijing.

After breakfast at hotel, you will visit the Tiananmen Square to start your Beijing tour. It is the heart and soul of Beijing and ranks as the biggest square in the world. You will stroll leisurely around the large square, experiencing its ancient history and modern vigour. Then walk north to the Forbidden City. As the largest and best-preserved imperial palace in China, it vividly indulges us with a whole impression of the royal life. And also you can appreciate lots of national treasures in Treasure House of the Forbidden City. 

After lunch, drive to Chinese featured royal park - Summer Palace, which boasts of typical Chinese architecture and splendid landscapes. After appreciating the ancient building you can also take a leisurely stroll on the willow-shaded paths and arched bridges that encircle the Kunming lake. You will marvel at the beautiful scenery along your way.  Tonight you will have a sound sleep in the featured hotel.

Today's Activities

Today you will experience the old and modern Beijing. Later after having breakfast, drive to visit the wonderful Mutianyu Great Wall, which has a storied history of over 1400 years, and is considered the most beautiful section of the Great Wall. You will take a cable car to view this vital section of the China Great Wall.

Then move on to the most famous tomb of Ming Tombs - Changling, it is the largest in scale and is completely preserved, inhumed the fourth emperor of Ming Dynasty. Also you will visit the Sacred Road of the tombs, which was originally built to lead to the Changling mausoleum. 

After the visit, drive back to downtown Beijing. En route, you will stop by the Bird's Nest (Olympic National Stadium) and Water Cube (National Aquatics). You can view the unique constructions and take some photos. 

Today's Activities

On this day we mainly visit downtown attractions of Beijing. After breakfast at hotel, drive to visit the Temple of Heaven, where the Emperor of the Ming and Qing dynasties would worship heaven and pray for good harvests. Nowadays, it serves as a park. You can see local people doing morning exercises and practicing Taichi. 

Later explore Beijing Hutong where you will learn more about the life and culture of ordinary Beijing people. You can go across the alleys by rickshaw (not included in the package) to appreciate the featured archetecture and enjoy the air of local life. Also, you will have a visit to a local family to have contact with local people, and learn to make dumplings. This is really a distinctive experience!

After lunch drive to Beijing Airport to take the flight for your next destination - Kunming. After arrival at Kunming, transfer to local hotel for check-in. You can stroll around the featured night market to taste local snack food and enjoy ethnic handicrafts.

After your breakfast, transferred to Kunming airport to catch the morning flight to Dali. Be met at Dali airport and drive to Chongsheng Monastery to visit the Three Pagodas, which is one of the three curiosities of Chinese ancient architecture. Each pagoda has splendid Buddhist scriptures, Buddha and many other cultural relics. Then you will explore around Dali Old Town. The magnificent towers, elegant streets, small and exquisite courtyards, colorful flowers blooming in profusion will give you a feeling of antiquity, serenity and elegance. Afterwards, you will have chance to climb up on the Ancient Wall Gate.

In the morning you will visit the morning market in Xizhou, which is country marketplace for local Bai minority. It is an ideal destination for you to experience a different way of life. Afterwards, you will visit Bai Ethnic House. Most of the houses are made of marble in unique style to express Bai Ethnic people's depth of their wisdom and culture. After lunch, drive to Lijiang. You re free to explore around Lijiang Old Town. It has numerous streams and brooks crisscrossing the houses. Everytime you walk on the paddle-paved road, a stream is running beside you. Tonight you will have a sound sleep at the featured hotel in Lijiang.

After breakfast, we will drive you to the spectacular Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, which is the largest snow mountain in the Northern Hemisphere.

You will catch a cable car  to the summit of the Yak Meadow, one of 13 peaks of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. The landscape rises and falls on the meadow. In spring and summer, you can find yaks with black and white skin wandering in grass and all kinds of flowers. In autumn and winter, you will wonder at the sharp contrast between the mild edge of the meadow and the peaks of the snow mountain. The view is unforgettable. Looking down at Ganhaizi and continuous mountains, you will find that the snow mountain is so close to you. Cool wind gently blows on your face. All the things here are so beautiful and peaceful.

Then carry on to Jade Water Village where you can visit the famed explorer Joseph Rock's former residence. Located at the base of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Jade Water Village is a tranquil reminder of a former time.

In the morning drive to Shangri-la. On the way, you will visit the deepest gorge in the world - Tiger Leaping Gorge. Its magnificent scenery will be among the best of your whole trip. What's more, you can admire the fascinating meadow scenery along the way.

In the morning you will take 2 hours to visit the fascinating Napahai Lake, the largest grassland in Zhongdian. Napahai is in fact a seasonal lake. When summer comes, snow on the adjacent mountains melts and flows down into about ten rivers forming a vast lake. You will appreciate a grand area of peaceful lake surrounded by snow mountains. In the dry season, Napahai becomes a boundless green grassland where you will find flocks of yaks, horses and sheep. Also you have chance to see the precious black-necked cranes, of which only 6,000 remain in the world. During the dry season, this grassland is an ideal place for horse-back trekking. You can hire a horse from local people with a reasonable fare.

After lunch visit the ancient Songzanlin Monastery, which is the largest and most important Tibetan Buddhist monastery in southwest China. In the main hall you will appreciate a series of precious Buddhism-related objects like scriptures written on palm leaves, the Shakyamuni statues, etc. Standing on the roof of the temple, you will amaze at the magnificent landscape of front meadow and the town. The blue sky is so close to you as if you can reach it with your hand. Downhill along the hill slop, you will find smaller temples and monk's residences where about 700 monks live. If you want to deeply experience the Buddhists' life, you can join in the morning class or evening class. You will have a peacefull mind and remain in deep thought.

On the way back, explore a local village and be a guest in a Tibetan family with a taste of Tibetan specialities such as yak butter tea, yogurt & Tibetan barley. Tonight you will stay at the hotel in Zhongdian.

In the morning, transfer to airport and fly to Lhasa. Upon your arrival at Lhasa, our Tibetan local guide and driver will pick you up at Gonggar Airport, then transfer you to downtown hotel. The rest of the day is free for you to adapt yourself to the high altitude of 3,658 meters above sea level.

Start taking anti-AMS medicines a week before your trip. When you arrived at the hotel, please be not so curious to walk much around the hotel, and all you need is a good rest in your room for necessary acclimatization, otherwise you may easily get mountain sickness. Besides, try to aviod catching a cold. And a first aid kit including aspirin, antibiotics and AMS medication is highly recommended.

It believes that this day must leave a lifetime memory for your whole life. In the morning, you will visit the splendid Potala Palace, which originated from 7th century and once homed to Dalai Lamas. The Jokhang Temple, we head to later, as the spiritual center of Tibet, will deeply impressed you by its magnificence and sincere pilgrims. Barkhor street, hugging the jokhang temple, is regarded as the crowded central Market in ancient section of Lhasa, and at where you can buy various Tibetan or other minorities' souvenirs for your family and friends.

1. Due to the popularity of Potala Palace and restriction on visitor numbers, perhaps it has difficulty on booking entrance tickets, so the visit of Potala Palace may shift to another day. But don't worry, we will make appropriate changes accordingly. 
2. For the protection of this world-famous cultural heritage, the visiting time for Potala Palace is limited in 1 hour.

This day you can visit Carpet Factory, which produces traditional Tibetan rugs that are exported worldwide. You will hve knowledge about the process of rug weaving by old style vertical loom.

The next visit is Norbulingka, meaning "Treasure Park" in Tibetan, is situated in the western suburb of Lhasa City. It is the biggest man-made garden in Tibet, and of great cultural value.

Later that day, drive to Sera Monastery, the second monastery in Tibet. Distinctively its famous debating activities are holding around 3-4pm regularly every Friday.

1. It is a good idea to pack some food, snacks, and drinking water along your trip. 
2. When you are in a monastery or a museum, please do not smoke, consume alcohol or make unnecessary noise; neither, do not touch, walk over or sit on any religious texts, objects or prayer flags.

After breakfast, transfer to airport to catch the flight for your next destination - Xi’an. Upon your arrival at Xi'an, our local guide and driver will pick you up at Airport, then transfer you to downtown hotel for rest.

After breakfast at the hotel, prepare yourself for one of the top attractions in this tour - the fantastic Terracotta Warriors Museum. With just 1- hour drive, the grand ancient army troupes apear in front of you. Thousands of Terracotta Soldiers stand solemnly in the grand excavation site for your inspection. You will spend 2 hours in exploring the mystery of these ancient army troupes and also the legend of the First Qin Emperor (Qin Shihuang) in the Mausoleum. After the visit, you will have lunch at the Friendship Restaurant inside the Scenic Area. Then drive back to Xi'an downtown and begin your afternoon trip for the Ancient City Wall and Big Wild Goose Pagoda.

Then head for the square of Big Wild Goose Pagoda, which is a Buddhist pagoda with 7 stories standing 64.5m (211.61ft) high. You can stroll leisurely on the square, enjoying the quiet and mysterious atmosphere.  Tonight you will stay at the hotel in Xian.

After Breakfast, visit the Shanxi History Museum which is a huge modern museum with Tang Dynasty architectural style, housing a marvelous collection of over 300,000 items. After meandering among this treasure strove, you will known more about the Chinese History.

Then turn to the Bell Tower, which is the center of the old town. Dating back to 1384 A.D., the Bell Tower is a representative Ming Dynasty architecture with gorgeous building style. Ascending the tower, you may see a big bell from which the tower got its name, and you can also hold the city overview into your eyes in all directions. You may also watch an Imitated Chime Bells Performance if you are lucky enought.

After  visual feast of Terracotta Warriors, you will have a leisure time in Ancient City Wall (Circumvallation). With 12 meters high and 15 meters width, the ancient wall is the best preserved of this kind in China. You can climb up on top of it, enjoying the wonderful city view. Also you can hire a bike to ride along the City Wall which is an optional but wonderful choice (the price not included in this package).

Then you will be escorted to Xi'an Airport for your departure for the next destination - Shanghai. Upon arrival your tour guide will welcome you at the Airport and escort you to the hotel for check-in. Tonight you will stay at the hotel in Shanghai.

After breakfast you’ll launch the whole day tour from the old town to the brand-new area of Shanghai. You start with the over- 400-year-old Yuyuan Garden to appreciate the elegant pavilions, villa, lotus pond and bridges, especially the Mid-Lake Pavilion. Then move to the neighboring Yuyuan Market to explore how elaborate and cute the traditional Chinese handicrafts and art works are.

Finishing the historic part of Shanghai, you will steer to the new landmark Oriental Pearl Tower. Then you’ll be elevated to the top of Oriental Pearl Tower. At the height of 468 m (1,535 feet) you’ll enjoy a bird's eye view of this vibrant city.

Strolling along this 1,599-meter-long Nanjing Road is much like being immersed in seas of garment, shoes, jewelry, accessory, snack and souvenir. The pedestrian street leads you to The Bund. Here you can embrace the best cityscape, feast on the rich architectural fashions (Gothic, Baroque, Rome, Renaissance, Classic and Mixed Eastern and Western style, etc.) 

At night, we recommend Shanghai Acrobatic show as your add-on activity. As one of the oldest performing arts in China, the acrobatics displayed on stage include a number of feats focusing on flexibility, strength, endurance and sheer will-power. Cheer up your bravos!

This is the last day of your tour. In the morning go to visit the Jade Buddha Temple. In this ancient temple your knowledge of the historic facet of Shanghai will be richened. You can appreciate the two gorgeous white jade Buddhist statues in the temple.

Then drive to Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center, where you will have a better understanding of Shanghai's yesterday, today and tomorrow. Apart from professional exhibits and various interactive display means, there is the highlight 360 Degree Experience Hall that you can't miss. 

After lunch your tour guide will take you to airport for your flight to next destination. We believe you will love China and keep forever memories about China in your whole life.