Chengdu & Lhasa World Culture Heritage Tour

This is a world culture heritage tour, covering many cultural tourist sites, like Leshan Giant Buddha, Mt. Emei, Chengdu Panda Breeding and Research Center, Potala Palace, Jokang Temple, Drepung Monastery, Sera Monastery and Tashilunpo monastery, as well as natural beauty Yamdro-tso lake and Qinghai-Tibet Railway. It starts from the hometown of Giant Panda, and then takes you to Lhasa via the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. If you read the simple-sketched map of Chengdu you may find it looks like a roughly-knitted net for which there are many ring roads inside the city, very interesting. Chengdu is also the home of lovely giant pandas and the city of cotton-rose hibiscus.

Day 01: Kathmandu, 1360m
You arrive in Katmandu and are transferred to the hotel. A pre-trek briefing will be scheduled to discuss the trekking program and co-ordinate any last-minute arrangements.

Day 02: Kathmandu Sightseeing
Today we explore Katmandu on an organized sightseeing tour. This will include a visit to the Bodhnath Stupa, one of the biggest Buddhist shrines in the world. We also visit Pashupatinath, located on the banks of the holy Bagmati River and home to the most famous Hindu temple in the country. Here we will see Hindu holy men (saddhus) and pilgrims performing ritual bathing, and occasionally, funeral pyres burning on the Ghats.
The early afternoon will be free to relax in the hotel garden or visit Thamel for last minute shopping. You will be supplied with your trek departure information in the afternoon.

Day 03: Document apply for Tibet permit and Tibet visa

Day04 Arrive in Chengdu by air
Upon arrival at Chengdu airport, your tour guide will meet you at the airport and escort you to your hotel in Chdengdu. The rest of the day is at leisure. Overnight in Chengdu

Day 05: Drive from Chengdu to Leshan Giant Buddha and overnight at the foot of Mt. Emei
In the morning, drive about 2 hours from Chengdu to Leshan to have an overlook at the famous Giant Buddha by boat. The grand Buddha carved out of the cliffs at the confluence of the Dadu, Minjiang and Qingyi Rivers. You will take a sightseeing cruise to the center of the river and face the huge stone Buddha.
In the afternoon, drive from Leshan to Mt. Emei to visit Baoguo Temple at the foot of Mt. Emei, known as one of the four sacred Buddhism mountains in China and added to UNESCO’s Natural and Cultural Heritage List in 1996. Baoguo Temple is the largest temple on the mountain. Later, you can enjoy a hotspring bath at the foot of Mt. Emei. There are many hotsprings near the Baoguo Temple, such as Hongzhu Hotspring Clubhouse, Lingxiu Hot Niton-spring, Yoga Hot Spring of Mt. Emei Hotel, etc. Overnight at the foot of Mt. Emei

Day 06: Visit Mt. Emei and drive back to Chengdu
In the morning, visit the famous Mount Emei. Many ancient temples are scattered in the deep mountain, also the nature here is beautiful, dense forest, naughty monkeys, clean rivers and something else beyond your expectation! With an elevation of over 3,000 meters above sea level, Golden Summit is the highlight of Mount Emei and an important attraction integrating the temples and scenic sites together.

After breakfast, move on to the entrance to Mt. Emei and take bus and cable car to the Golden Summit. Standing on the Golden Summit, you are truly among the clouds, as clouds can be seen above and below you. You might have the good fortune to see Cloud Sea even Buddha light if it is a nice day. After having an eyeful of the spectacular view at the Golden Summit, take the cable car down and the bus back to Wannian parking lot which is located halfway up Mt. Emei. Take another cable car to visit Wannian temple where you can have a simple lunch. Then walk along the scenic mountain path for around two hours to another parking lot to take a bus out of the Mt. Emei Scenic Area. Drive back to your hotel in Chengdu. Overnight in Chengdu

Day 07: Visit Chengdu Panda Breeding and board overnight train to Lhasa
In morning, drive for about half an hour to Chengdu Panda Breeding and Research Center, the home to giant pandas, 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.
Then, the whole afternoon can be the free time for you.

In the evening, you will be transferred to Chengdu train station for the overnight train to Lhasa. The train departs from Chengdu North Railway Station. It takes about 1 hour to check in as the train takes about 1000 passengers. Please be sure to arrive in train station 1 hour and a half before the train departure. Train T22 from Chengdu to Lhasa departs at 20:59, your Tibet Permit will need to be checked when you check in. Overnight in the train

Day 08: On the train
Today, you will spend the whole day on the train to Lhasa. It is quite a long journey of taking a train from Chengdu to Lhasa. It will take 44 hours, two days and two nights in the Train. On the first day you will pass through two important provincial capital cities in northwest China, Lanzhou and Xining. Xining is known as the beginning of Qinghai-Tibet Railway. Travelling along the rail line, you could see the scenery of countryside and cities in northwest China. The last stop for today is Xining, where you will arrive at about 17:00. Overnight in the train

Day 09: Enjoy beautiful scenery along Qinghai-Tibet Railway, arrive in Lhasa and transfer to hotel
Today, you will enjoy the most beautiful scenery of Qinghai-Tibet Railway, spectacular land of snows, boundless desert, vast grassland, grand ice mountains, beautiful lakes that will continually appear and strongly attract your heart. You will arrive in Lhasa at about 16:00. Your tour guide will hold a board with your name on it to welcome you at the exit of the train station and escort you from the train station to your reserved hotel in Lhasa. Overnight in Lhasa

Day 10: Lhasa sightseeing – Potala Palace/Tibet Museum/Jokhang Temple/Barkhor Street
In morning, go to visit the famous Potala palace and explore the grandest of this myriad chapels, you will experience its audience halls, the jeweled and Golden burial chortens (stupa Tombs) of past Dalai Lamas, and tremendous number of Buddhist frescoes, thangkas, combinations of mandala, etc. Tibet Museum is an important window to introduce the glorious culture of Tibet, as a free Museum in Lhasa, you should not miss it.

In afternoon, pay a visit to the holist temple in Tibet, the Johkang Temple, built during Songtsen Gonpo’s reign by princess Wencheng of Tang Dynasty, 647 A.D, and its famous Barkor Kora, where you can buy or appreciate traditional Tibetan artifacts, religious implements, antiques, books, Tibetan music instrument, Thangkas, and tradition tibetan clothes etc. You will have a chance to get close to appreciate how the artists draw Thangkas at the Thakangka workroom at Barkor. Overnight in Lhasa

Day 11: Lhasa Sightseeing – Drepung Monastery/Sera Monastery
Today, you will visit two important monasteries in Lhasa, the Drepung and the Sera. Drepung monastery is situated at the foothill of a mountain and was founded by Jamyang Choeje in 1416. It was once home of 10000 monks and Ganden podrang in Drepung is famous for it was the government centre during the fifth dalai lama and later moved to the famous potala palace during the fifth dalai lama. After having lunch, continue to visit the Sera Monastery, which was founded in 1419 by Tsongkapa’s disciple Jamchen Choeje. The most attractive is its Buddhist Scriptures debating held in the courtyard mostly around 6:00 – 7:30 in afternoon. Overnight in Lhasa

Day 12: Lhasa-Yamdrotso Lake-Gyangtse-Shigatse
Passing by the green farmland of Nyangchu Valley, Yamdro-tso Lake, Karo-la Glacier roadside at 4960m, we move westwards to the second biggest city of Tibet, Shigatse, the area spiritually hosted by Pamchan Lama. The most important attraction for today is Yamdro-tso Lake and Kubum monastery in Gyantse. Yamdro-tso Lake is shaped like coiling scorpion with deep blue in colour and Kubum monastery has a 35m-high chorten (stupa) with its white layers trimmed with decorative stripes and its crown-like golden dome. Overnight in Shigatse

Day 13: Shigatse to Lhasa
Before spending about 4 hours to drive back to Lhasa from Shigatse, we will visit the largest Monastery in west Tibet, the Tashilunpo monastery, as the last but famous historic sites for your Tibet tour. Tashilunpo monastery is one of the the six great Gelukpa institutions and was founded in 1447 by a disciple of Tsongkapa, containing the world’s largest gilded copper image (26m high) of future god Jampa. Drive along the Friend-ship Highway back to Lhasa. Overnight in Lhasa

Day 14: Depart Lhasa to Kathmandu or destination
The driver will take you to the airport or train station, end the service.