12 Days Beijing Lhasa Guangzhou Flight Tour with Namtso Lake

Welcome to Beijing! Upon your arrival in Beijing, your driver will pick you up and take you to your hotel in Beijing in a private car. Then you could have a rest in your hotel or walk around on your own.

Stay overnight in Beijing.

No tour of China would be complete without a visit to the Great Wall, the largest man-made structure on the planet. After breakfast, you will visit Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. Stretching 2,250 meters long and including 22 watchtowers, Mutianyu Great Wall is the longest, fully restored Great Wall section open to tourists.

Stay overnight in Beijing.

Your guided tour starts with a visit to the famous Forbidden City, which used to be the imperial palace from around 1420 to 1912 and now houses the Palace Museum. Then, you will move to the Imperial Ancestral Temple, or Taimiao of Beijing where sacrificial ceremonies were held on the most important festival occasions in honor of the imperial family's ancestors during both the Ming and Qing Dynasties. After that, you will visit Beihai Park, one of the oldest, largest and best-preserved ancient imperial gardens in China. The structures and scenes in the Beihai Park are described as masterpieces of gardening technique that reflects the style and the superb architectural skill and richness of traditional Chinese garden art.

Stay overnight in Beijing.

In the morning, you can explore Nanluoguxiang yourself. Built in the Yuan Dynasty and neighboring many typical narrow streets known as hutong, Nanluoguxiang has become a popular tourist destination with coffee shops, souvenir shops, and some old siheyuan associated with famous historic and literary figures. In the afternoon, you can do some shopping if you like and prepare for the flight to Lhasa in the next morning.

Stay overnight in Beijing.

When you arrive in Lhasa, your tour guide will hold a board with your name on it at the exit to welcome you. A private car will take you to the reserved hotel. You may view the Yarlung Tsangpo River/Bhamaputra River (the longest and largest river in Tibet) and Lhasa River on the way from airport to Lhasa. Then, you can take a good rest at hotel to acclimatize to Tibetan plateau environment.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

Today, you’ll pay a visit to the famous Potala Palace, the world culture heritage and the winter palace of Dalai Lama. You can explore its audience halls, the jeweled and golden burial chortens (stupa tombs) of past Dalai Lamas, meditation cave of the 33rd Great King of Tibet, and tremendous number of Buddhist frescoes, thangkas, combinations of mandala, etc.

Then you will head to the holiest temple in Tibet, the Jokhang Temple, built during Songtsen Ganpo's reign by Princess Wencheng of Tang dynasty, 647 A.D. Here you can observe sincere pilgrims making prostration in front of Jokhang Temple. While entering inside the temple, you can see the statue of Buddha Sakyamuni at the age of twelve. On the top of Jokhang Temple, you can enjoy the panorama of old Lhasa City and great vista of Potala Palace.

Then you can do the kora with pilgrims and locals by circling the Barkhor Street around the temple, buy some souvenirs, and taste sweet tea and local snacks in local tea house. Later, you can explore farm products like yak butter in Tromzikhang, the famous farm produce market.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

Today, you will visit two important monasteries in Lhasa, the Drepung and the Sera. Drepung Monastery, the largest monastery in Tibet, was founded by Jamyang Choeje in 1416 and used to be home to more than 10,000 monks. Hiking along the mountain steps, you can see Buddhist painting on the rock face. During Shoton Festival, locals and pilgrims swarm to Drepung Monastery to celebrate the gigantic Thangka Buddha unveiling ceremony on the Gambo Utse Mountain. Then you will stop by the nearby carpet factory to appreciate the Tibetan artisans make traditional carpets with great skills.

After having lunch, you will visit Sera Monastery, which was founded in 1419 by Tsongkapa's disciple Jamchen Choeje. The most interesting thing is to see monks debating in the courtyard at around 3-5 in the afternoon. By yelling at each other, slapping hands and rolling mala, two monks make a pair to debate on philosophical issues. You can also appreciate the delicately-made Mandala, sanding paintings, and massive Buddhist scriptures inside Sera Monastery.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

Take the car ride in the morning to Lake Namtso (4718m), one of the three holy lakes in Tibet as well as the world’s highest saline lake. On the way, you can see Nyenchen Tangula Mountain Range, enchanting villages around Lhasa Valley, and lots of nomads with yaks and sheep grazing in the flourishing grassland (in summer). In addition, you can appreciate the view of Qinghai-Tibet Railway with snow mountain background. Driving over Lagenla Pass (5190m), you can far view Namtso Lake shinning under the sun.

Then you can take a leisurely trek around Tashi Island and enjoy the stunning Namtso Lake against the snow-capped Mt. Nyenchen Thanglha. Finally, you will head to Damxung or Yampachen and spend the night there. The lower altitude at Damxung and Yampachen shall bring you a sound sleep.

Stay overnight in Dumxung or Yampachen.

The trip back to Lhasa is relaxing both to body and soul. You will make a stopover at Yampachen, where the famous mineral-rich Yampachen Hot Spring will remove your tiredness and get your refreshed. Having enjoyed the joyful time at the outdoor hot spring, you again hit the road to Lhasa. The final leg of the road trip takes you to visit Chimelong Nunnery (Phyirmil Lung Nunnery) and you may have a far view of a sky burial site nearby.

Stay overnight in Lhasa.

Cultural Tips: Tibetan Buddhists believe that the corpse is nothing but a discarded shell, and offering their bodies to vultures is an offering of generosity back to the earth that gave them life. The master of the sky burial ceremony will perform rituals over the body, summon vultures by burning incense and tsampa, and dispose of the body into pieces. Sky burial is a private and sacred matter, it is not recommended to go to sky burial sites or take pictures.

It takes about 6 hours to fly from Lhasa to Guangzhou. Upon your arrival in Guangzhou, you will be greeted by your guide and be transfer to your hotel for a good rest.

After dinner, you will head to Canton Tower to enjoy the spectacular night view of Guangzhou City. As the second highest tower in the world, Canton Tower features the world’s highest bubble tram, the longest spiral staircase, and jaw-dropping Sky Drop.

Stay overnight in Guangzhou.

Chimelong Safari Park is a perfect place for family with kids. You can watch a variety of animals like flamingos, swans, elephants, and giraffes. You can also take the trolley ride through the open enclosures.

You will spend a night being enchanted by the world-class Chimelong International Circus in Guangzhou. This 90-minute show is a mixture of The House of Dancing Water and the typical animal circus. The acts take place on and off stage and over the audience.

Stay overnight in Guangzhou.

You guide will pick you up from your hotel, drop you off at airport or railway station in Guangzhou, and help you to get on board.