Welcome to China. Upon arrival, our local guide will take you to your downtown hotel. The rest of the day is on your own to explore the city.

Today you will visit the Tiananmen Square which is considered as the largest square of the world. Subsequently, you visit the Forbidden City, the most complete imperial palace in China. And later you will also pay a visit to the Temple of Heaven. Temple of Heaven was built in the year 1420 and symbolized the meaning that the emperor can contact with the sky through it. Tonight, enjoy a Peking Duck Dinner in a famous restaurant.
In the evening you will enjoy Beijing's famous Peking Opera at the Liyuan Theatre, the biggest and most famous traditional Peking Opera theatre in China. Peking opera is not just a singing drama, but is an ancient ingenious and colorful combination of elements from many sources: traditional music, poetry, singing, recitation, dancing, acrobatics, and traditional martial arts.
--Tiananmen Square:

Located at the center of Beijing City is Tiananmen Square, where you can visit Tiananmen Tower, Monument to the People's Heroes, Great Hall of the People, Mao Zedong Memorial Hall and see the national flag raising ceremony. Thousands of people come to the Square every day. It is the must place to visit in Beijing City.
The Tiananmen Square on the north to south axis is at the center of Beijing city. It's the largest square in the world, encompassing an area of 14 hectares, and measuring 865 meters north to south, and 500 and 370 meters east to west on the northern and southern ends respectively.
--Forbidden City:
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost five hundred years, it served as the home of emperors and their households, as well as the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government.

--Temple of Heaven:

Set in the southern section of Beijing, the Temple of Heaven is the centre of imperial ritual ceremony for Ming and Qing Dynasties. First built in the 18th year of Emperor Yongle of Ming Dynasty, and renovated during the rein of Emperor Qianlong, the Temple of Heaven is a masterpiece of ancient architecture.
The complex covers an area of 2.73 million square metres, stretching in the east-west axis 1,700 metres and in the south-north axis 1,600. Only a small portion of the premises is taken by halls and altars, leaving most of the space for vegetation. The dark green foliage decorates the compound, painting it in noble tinges.

Today you will have a visit to the majestic Great Wall (Badaling section) and Sacred Road, which is a path lined with stone statues of animals, mystical beasts and officials who will serve the emperor in the afterlife. 
On your way back from the Great Wall, you will drive around the main Olympic venues for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the National Stadium (Bird's Nest) where the Opening and Closing Ceremonies will be held, and the National Aquatics Center nicknamed "the Water Cube" for its unique design. Feel free to take some beautiful picture of these stadiums.

Today you will start the day with a trip to the Summer Palace, which has a history of over 800 years. All the man-made hills, halls, pavilions and temples, including Kunming Lake and Longevity Hill, blend together harmoniously in spite of their individual styles.
After lunch, you will also pay a visit to the Lama Temple. It is a typical Tibetan Monastery in Beijing and reveals various architectural styles from Han, Mongolia, Manchuria and Tibet, and the impressive 60-foot Maitreya Buddha, carved form a single sandalwood tree.
After visiting Lama Temple, you will make a beeline for the airport to take a flight to Xian and transfer to the downtown hotel. The rest tme will be free in Xian City.

On this day, you will visit the incredible Terracotta Warriors that have been guarding China's first emperor for more than 2,000 years. After lunch, you will take a trip to visit Xian's Ancient City Walls, the best preserved ancient city walls in the world, and the Bell Tower.
Complete the day with a savory dumpling dinner and the Tang Dynasty show both located at Shaanxi Grand Opera Theatre.
--the Terra Cotta Warriors:
The Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses are the most significant archeological excavations of the 20th century. Work is ongoing at this site, which is around 1.5 kilometers east of Emperor Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum, Lintong County, Shaanxi Province. It is a sight not to be missed by any visitor to China.
Upon ascending the throne at the age of 13 (in 246 BC), Qin Shi Huang, later the first Emperor of all China, had begun to work for his mausoleum. It took 11 years to finish. It is speculated that many buried treasures and sacrificial objects had accompanied the emperor in his after life. A group of peasants uncovered some pottery while digging for a well nearby the royal tomb in 1974. It caught the attention of archeologists immediately. They came to Xian in droves to study and to extend the digs. They had established beyond doubt that these artifacts were associated with the Qin Dynasty (211-206 BC).

In the morning, you will depart for a flight to Lhasa and transfer to the hotel. Then take a rest in order to acclimatize to the high altitude in preparation for the next few days tour.
--Lhasa City:
Lhasa, the capital of China's Tibet Autonomous Region, has a history of more than 1,300 years. It is the political, economic, cultural and transportation center of the region. With a population of 400,000, Lhasa covers an area of 30,000 square km, in which the downtown covers 544 square km and holds a population of 140,000. Tibetan ethnic group makes up 87 percent of the total population; the rest consists of Han, Hui and other ethnic groups.
Located at the center of the Tibet Plateau and the bottom of a small basin surrounded by mountains, Lhasa has an elevation of 3,650 meters. The altitude results in the low atmosphere pressure and less oxygen contents in air. However, the wet summer makes the air pressure comparatively high, and is the best season for visitors.

--the Potala Palace:
--Jokhang Temple:
--Nobulingka Palace:
The Potala Palace in Lhasa.

It will take you about 1.5 hours to drive up to Kambala Pass[4794m high] from Lhasa, you will have a glimpse of Yamdrok Lake there, which is one of the three holy lakes in Tibet.  Then drive about 1.5 hours and arrive at the foot of Naiqinkangsang Snow Mountain. It is one of the holy mountains of Tibet. If you look up to the Snow Mountain you'll see the beautiful "flag cloud"(the creature of the wind and the snow) floating and shining in the air. 
20 minutes’ drive later, Karo-la Glacier will be in your eyes. It has a good fame of “Ice Queen” on the roof of the world. It is about 5,600 meters north of the main peak of Karo-la Mountain. You’ll have a long-distance of this masterpiece of nature. You’ll arrive at a valley and see Manlha Water Control Project from a distance later on. It is located in Gyantse County. It consists of a dam, flood water discharge tunnels and a power station. The power station' s installed capacity reaches 20,000 kilowatts. The project will provide irrigation for more than 43,000 hectares of farmland. After lunch in Gyantse, drive to Pala Manor. Pala Manor is the best-preserved manor in Tibet. 
It’s about ten minutes’ driving from Gyantse downtown. It will show you the lifestyle of the previous wealth owers’ family. The Pala Manor we see today still has 57 houses on an estate of 5000 square metres. The maze of rooms is richly decorated with exquisitely carved beams and painted rafters. You can feel how extremely luxurious life they had then. However, by contrast to the luxury of the lairds, the whips, ankle-irons and punishment cells that were used for controlling and persecuting the poor slaves and their low, narrow, wet and dark rooms will deeply astound you forever. 
Drive to Shigatse in the late afternoon.

Visit Tashilunpo Monastery, represents the Tibetan super architecture art in the last Tibetan spirit, attracts thousands of tourists and Buddhists to worship and travel every year. It is the traditional seat of successive Panchen Lamas, the second highest ranking tulku lineage in the Gelugpa Tibetan Buddhist hierarchy, after the Dalai Lama. It is located on a hill in the center of the city, the full name in Tibetan of the monastery means "all fortune and happiness gathered here" or "heap of glory". 

Take a flight to Shangri-La and transfer to the hotel. 
Visit the Ganden Sumtseling Monastery, the largest Tibetan monastery in Yunnan. And afterwards we'll visit the Old Town of Shangri La and the Giant Prayer Wheel on the top of the Guishan Hill.
--Shangri-La is the "Eden in dream". Since it first appeared in British novelist James Hilton’s Lost Horizon in the 1939, it has been associated with the mystique of a place which could not possibly exist here on Earth. In Tibetan, Shangri-La means the "sun and moon in heart", an ideal home only found in heaven. There the lofty and continuous snowy mountains, endless grasslands, steep and grand gorges, azure lakes and the bucolic villages always leave a deep impression on visitors. 
Located at point where Tibet, Sichuan and Yunnan all meet, Shangri-La County is administered by Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. In the past, Shangri-La was called Zhongdian or "Jiantang" in Tibetan. In ancient times, it together with Batang (in Tibet) and Litang (in Sichuan) was the fiefdom of the three sons of a Tibetan King. In 2002, Zhongdian changed its name to Shangri-La.

From Shangri-La, we'll drive about 100KM to the Tiger Leaping Gorge, the deepest gorge in the world. With 34 rapids of the Yangtze River, it is called the Jinsha in this area because we can find gold in the river. Afternoon, we'll head for Shangri-La, the former Zhongdian. Upon arrival in Shangri La, we will have entered the Tibetan cultural area and a landscape of barley fields and yaks scattered in the valleys. 
After lunch continue the driving 50KM more to visit the First Bend on the Yangtze River with imposing gorge scenery, and the Iron Chain Bridge in the Stone Drum town. The town of Stone Drum got its name from a large, cylindrical, marble tablet shaped like a drum.The scenery is magnificent as the road running through the Lijiang valley which is filled with wheat fields and drying haystacks.
Drive 60KM more to Lijiang. Explore Lijiang Old Town at night.

We'll visit Ganhaizi Meadow, Baishui River; visit the Yak Meadow(3700M) in the Yulong Snow Mountain by chairlift. The Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is the second highest mountain in Yunnan Province,about 5596 meters high, which is a holy mountain or Naxi ethnic people.Access to the Yak Meadow by a chairlift,walk about 500 meters to the Lamaist Monastery,and walk around the meadow to see the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.
In the afternoon, we'll stroll through Baisha Village, which is an enchanting traditional Yunnan village,Visit the Baisha Mural about 600 years old; After Baisha,we’ll head for the scenic Black Dragon Pool and the Dongba Museum to explore the rich Naxi minority culture.

--Black Dragon Pool:
--Dongba Culture Museum:
--Shuhe Ancient Town:
--Lion Hil and Wangu Pagoda:
--Mu Palace

--Zhoucheng Village:
--Bai's Tie-dye Workshop:
--Xizhou Ancient Town:
--Dali Ancient Town

--Dali Ancient Town:
--Erhai Lake cruise:
--Dali Ancient City Wall:
--Foreigner Street:
--Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Monastery:

--the Stone Forest:
--the Flowers and Birds Market:
--Green Lake

Take the morning flight to Chongqing.
We will visit Chongqing which is well known as the Mountain City. Visit the Goose Neck Park, Ciqikou Old Town and Panda Room in Chongqing Zoo. We will visit Chongqing which is well known as the Mountain City. Visit the Goose Neck Park, Ciqikou Old Town and Panda Room in Chongqing Zoo. After dinner, drive to the dock for the Yangtze River Cruise and Check in at the deluxe German-made cruise ship to stay overnight.
- Goose Neck Park: Very popular with the locals who come here to enjoy the gardens, play Mahjohngg, make music or just relax. Nice views over the river and Chongqing, there are also a number of interesting buildings and former Embassies in the grounds, plus an enormous long painting of the Yangtze.
- Ciqikou Old Town: This lively old area has been partly restored, and remains an authentic and busy community. The old wooden houses and narrow streets furthest from the river are mostly unimproved, closer to the river there are craft and souvenir shops, teahouses and music, and lots of local food and snacks. The locals certainly love their food – this is a good chance to try some.
- Panda Room in Chongqing Zoo: Here you can see Giant pandas, Lesser pandas, Golden hair monkeys, South China Tigers and some other national protected animals.

Today's shore excursion is to Shibaozhai, famous for its 12-story wooden pagoda built against a sheer cliff on the river bank over some 400 years ago. Depending on local river conditions, alternate shore excursion to Wanzhou may occur.
 
--Fengdu is where the devil lives, according to Chinese legend. They say that spirits go to heaven, and evil goes to Fengdu. The town is overlooked by Ming Shan Hill, home of Tianzi, the King of the Dead. The whole place has an eerie feel to it with deserted streets, tower blocks, empty shops and banks. The only people here are those who make a living from visiting cruise boats.
-- Shibaozhai architecture consists of three parts: the gate, the pagoda and the temple on the top. A nine story red wooden pagoda with upturned eaves 50m high, dates back to the Qing Dynasty. Stairs to the top give a magnificent view over the river.

This morning you will cruise through the first two of the famous Three Gorges. Qutang Gorge, the shortest but the most dramatic gorge and Wu Gorge, known for its sheer cliffs and twelve peaks. Your excursion will include boarding a smaller vessel up the Danning River to view the sceneries of the Small Gorges. If weather permits, a sampan ride will take you into the tranquil tributary. Subject to river condition, alternate excursion to Shennong Stream may occur, also with its spectacular views of the Small Gorges. Your cruise continues and passes through the last and longest gorge, Xiling Gorge. Then sail through the double-lane five stages of the Three Gorges ship locks.

This morning, your cruise arrives Yang Jia Wang where you will enjoy a shore excursion at the Three Gorges Dam site, the largest hydroelectric project in the world. Continue onto Yichang where you disembark. Transfer to the airport for your flight to Shanghai - "Paris of the Orient". Afternoon sightseeing features the bustling shopping street Nanjing Road, and The Bund, famous promenade along the Huangpu River. 

In the morning, you visit the Yu Yuan garden, a former private garden, called work of art, designs with different styles of the traditional Chinese horticulture art. After lunch continue to visit the Jade Buddha Temple, which is renowned for a 2m-tall Buddha carved from a single piece of white jade, brought to China by a Burmese monk in 1822. Then you will stroll along Shanghai Xin Tian Di, which has become an urban tourist attraction that holds the historical and cultural legacies of the city.
In the evening you will enjoy a wonderful Acrobatic Show, one of China's oldest performing arts, acrobatics have absorbed features of opera dance and martial art, making it a truly unique art form.

Today you will start the day with a trip to visit the Shanghai Museum, which is a veritable treasure house of ancient Chinese art and houses 120,000 precious relics. Afterward, you will also pay a visit to Oriental Pearl TV Tower. The tower becomes Shanghai's new landmark and a big magnet for tourists with its unique design composed of balls and columns. 
In the late afternoon, you will visit the picturesque Bund. Extending for 1.5 km on the shore of the Huangpu River, the Bund is a symbol of China’s prosperous future and Shanghai’s international past. Then you will stroll along the Nanjing Road, which is considered as one of the World's Seven Great Roads in the 1930s and always mentioned in travel guides as a must see of China tour.

The morning is at your leisure before boarding your flight back home.
Service ends.