10 Days Beijing Xian Lhasa Memory Tour by Train

Welcome to the capital city of China! Upon arriving at the airport/train station, you will be met by your local tour guide, and then drive to your downtown hotel in Beijing City. After the hotel check-in, you are free to take a rest or explore around on your own.

China has more than 4000 years’ history of Imperial Social System, while Beijing is the best place in China to experience the magnificent history and culture of ancient China. Today your guide will pick you up in the hotel after your breakfast, then start the wonderful ancient China culture and history tour!

You will firstly get to the world's largest plaza – Tian’anmen Square. The grandiose Tian’anmen Gate was the place where the chairman Mao announced the establishment of the People’s Republic of China to the world. Passing through Tiananmen Gate, you will enter the splendid Forbidden City, the previous home to 24 emperors of Ming and Qing Dynasties for 600 years. Magnificent architectures, intricate ornaments and touching legends make it a must-see of China. In the afternoon, head to visit the stunning and exquisite Summer Palace, and be amazed at the vast ensemble of lakes, gardens, temples, and palaces, together as a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. While in Qing Dynasty, it was the personal summer retreat for the royal families. It is made up of front hill, back hill and Kunming Lake. You will see splendid halls and pavilions in the front hill, while in the back hill, you will enjoy quiet and natural beauty.

After the sightseeing, you will be taken back to your hotel for rest.

Optional Recommended Night Activity:
1 watch an exciting Chinese Kungfu Show at Red Theatre which usually starts at 7:30 pm;
2 enjoy a famous Beijing Opera Show at Liyuan Theater between 19:30-21:00.

Hiking the Great Wall is one-in-a-lifetime thing to do for most travelers. Today, you are going to accomplish the Great Wall dream. You will be escorted about 70km from the downtown Beijing to the world-famous Mutianyu Great Wall which has fewer tourists compared with Badaling Great Wall. At the same time, it is the best Great Wall section to view the delicately beautiful scenery while appreciating the grandness of the Walls. After arriving at the ticket office, you will take a cable car to the walls of Mutianyu, and then hike about 2 hours on the Great Wall.

After the Mutianyu Great Wall hiking, you will drive back to the city. On route, take a sidetrip to the solemn Ming Tombs of ancient emperors in Ming Dynasty. Wander along the Sacred Road, a tranquil royal path featured with statues of divine animals and officials; also take an adventure to the mysterious Underground Palace. Before getting to your hotel, you will also make a stop at the Beijing Olympic Village to take some pictures of the world-famed "Bird’s Nest" and the "Water Cube" from the outside.

Optional Recommended Activity: enjoy a dinner of authentic Peking Roasted Duck at Quanjude Restaurant.

After breakfast, you'll go to marvel at one of the greatest masterpiece in Chiense architecture history - the Temple of Heaven, where the ancient emperors used to preside at various rituals for a national good harvest in ancient times. Today, the outer area of the Temple of Heaven is a public park for locals to gather to play Taichi, fly kites, chatting… while the inner area is the historical site for tourists to learn about the ancient Chinese history and culture. Later move on to visit the most famous Hutongs which are some old alleys with traditional architecture originated from Yuan Dynasty (CD 1271~1368. Today, there are still many local Beijingers living in these old quarters, while in the Qing Dynasty (CD 1636~1912), there were even some noble royal families resided here. You can wander leisurely around these narrow alleys to experience the original features of people’s living in old time, or take a relaxing rickshaw through. Lunch will be arranged at a local family who lives in Hutong.

After the lunch, you will have some free time until be taken to catch a high speed train to Xian. Our local guide will be waiting for you in train station and escorting you to your hotel in Xian. The rest of day is free for you to explore the ancient city on your own.

After breakfast, drive about 1.5 hours to witness the magnificent man-mad wonder - the Terracotta Warriors and Horses, which were interred to protect Qin Shi Huang (the first Emperor of China) in his afterlife. Over 8,000 life-sized terracotta warriors and horses with different looks and numerous bronze weapons compose a large-scale army system to reappear the majestic momentum of the Qin Army 2,000 years ago.

In the afternoon, drive back to Xian city to visit the Ancient City Wall, the largest and best-preserved ancient city wall in China. Built in Ming Dynasty as a military defense, the wall’s top is wider than its height to allow the army drill. Stroll on the top of the ancient wall and observe the modern Xian, emerge yourself in the charm of this ancient capital. Your next place is to go is the nearby Muslim Quarter, a place to satisfy your stomach with various delicious local foods and snacks. It is also a wonderful place for a leisure walking around.

Optional Recommended Activity:
1 biking for a while on the Ancient Great Wall;
2 enjoy a wonderful performance of Tang Palace Dancing Show (usually from 8pm to 9pm).

Today you are going to take a train to the holy city Lhasa from Xi'an. Currently there are two trains travelers can take to Lhasa from Xi'an - Z165 and Z265. Every day, the Train Z164 leaves from Shanghai Railway Station at 20:10pm and gets to Xi'an Railway Station at 11:14, and makes a stop around 10 minutes. While the train Z264 departs from Guangzhou Railway Station, reach Xi'an Railway Station at 09:37am of next day, and make a stop around 8 minutes. Geographically speaking, train ride from Xi'an to Lhasa is much shorter than some other long-distance train trip from Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing. It takes only about 31 hours. Passengers only need to spend a night on the train, but don’t have to miss the highlighting Qinghai Tibet Railway. From Xian, you have to pass only 4 midway stations (Lanzhou, Xining, Golumd and Ngachu) before final arrival at Lhasa Railway Station.

The Qinghai Tibet Railway is known as “Heaven Road”, originated from Xining, passing through Golmud, Kunlun Mountains Pass and Tuotuohe Town (origin of Yangtze River), crossing the Tanggula Mountain Pass and Changtang Grassland, and getting to the holy city Lhasa. It has created 9 incredible world records - the HIGHEST railway in the world, the LONGEST plateau railway in the world, the LONGEST plateau railway crossing frozen earth in the world, the HIGHEST railway station in the world, the HIGHEST tunnel built on permafrost, the LONGEST plateau tunnel built on permafrost, the HIGHEST railway construction base, the LONGEST railway bridge, the Max Speed the of plateau railway.

During your train journey to Lhasa, You will have chance to enjoy the unique charming scenery along the railway, such as the ysterious Kunlun Mountains, wild Hohxil Nature Reserve, the “Elf of Qinghai Tibet Plateau” - Tibetan Antilope, the Origin of Yangtze River, dominating Tanggula Mountains, blue Diamond - Tsonag Lake, the Largest Pasture in Tibet - Changtang Grassland, etc.

You will arrive at Lhasa Railway Station in the late afternoo, and then be picked up by our local tour guide and driven to your hotel in the downtown. Have a good rest.

High Altitude Acclimation Tips:
1 go for some leisure walking to acclimate the high altitude but avoid strenuous activity after arrival;
2 you'd better not have bath, in case of catching a cold; 3) drink more water, and have some fruit; 4) have a good rest.

Today we will start off with the fantastic Potala Palace, which historically served as the winter home of the Dalai Lama. It was first used in the 7th century by the 33rd king of Tibet. The most valuable collections in the Potala Palace are the gilded burial stupas of the former Dalai Lamas and the meditation cave of the 33rd great king of Tibet.

After lunch, we will move on to the Jokhang Temple, which was also founded in the 7th century by the 33rd great king of Tibet to promote the Buddhist religion. Inside you can see the statue of the Buddha Sakyamuni as he was at the age of twelve – this is perhaps the most venerated object in Tibetan Buddhism. Around the temple is Barkhor Street where you can perform the “Kora” (a religious circuit around a sacred building or mountain) with pilgrims and locals. The Barkhor market is also a great place to pick up locally made handicrafts and souvenirs.

Tips for Visiting Potala Palace
1. The number of visitors to the palace is strictly limited to 2,300 per day. Visitors can only visit during the time specified on the admission ticket.
2. Admission tickets to visit the Potala Palace are sold out almost every day, so it is strongly recommended to book your tickets several days in advance.
3. There are many steps at the Potala Palace, so it’s best to take it slowly to avoid possible altitude discomfort.
4. Visitors should respect the rules while visiting. Do not wear hats, wear revealing clothes or step on thresholds as these actions violate local customs.
5. Photography and the taking of videos are forbidden inside the Potala Palace.
6. A security search will take place at the entrance to the palace. Explosives, flammables, knives, lighters and

This morning we will visit the Drepung Monastery – one of the great three Gelug monasteries of Tibet. Founded in 1416 by Jamyang Choge, on Tosngkhapa’s main disciples, the Drepung Monastery is home of Ganden Palace, which formerly served as the Dalai Lama’s palace before later moving on to the Potala Palace.

In the afternoon we will move on to see another of the great three of the Gelug monasteries in Tibet – the Sera Monastery. Founded in 1419 by another main disciple of Tsongkhapa, Jamchen Chojey, the main attraction of this monastery is the lively scene of the monks debating Buddhist scriptures in the courtyard behind the monastery in the afternoon.

Today is free for you until your tour guide transfer you to the airport in time for your flight or drop you off at Lhasa train station.

Tips of Today:
1. please pack your luggage carefully, especially for small things like camera charger, power adaptor, mobile phone, phone charger, wallet and towel;
2. If your flight is arranged in the afternoon, please make sure you check out the hotel before 12pm.