Winter Lhasa | Tibet Lhasa 5-Day 4-Night Winter Birdwatching Tour

Tashi Delek! Welcome to the City of Sunlight - Lhasa. Upon arrival, our driver will meet you at the airport or train station exit and transfer you to your hotel in Lhasa's urban area for check-in and rest. For the remaining time, you can rest well at the hotel and let your body gradually adapt to the high-altitude environment. Arrival Suggestions By plane: Lhasa Gonggar Airport is Tibet's main gateway airport, with direct flights to and from Chengdu (most popular), Chongqing, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xining, Kunming, Shangri-La, and other cities. In addition, it has the only international direct flight route with Kathmandu, Nepal. By train: Taking the Qinghai-Tibet Railway to Tibet is also a very popular choice. You can take the train to Tibet from Xining (the starting point of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, 21h), Chengdu (36.5h), Chongqing (35.5h), Beijing (40.5h), Shanghai (47h), Guangzhou (52.5h), Xi'an (31h), Lanzhou (24.5h), and other cities. Warm tips: Do not do strenuous exercise on the day of arrival in Lhasa, and do not take a shower that night to prevent catching a cold. Do not drink alcohol. Drink plenty of water and eat fruit, and avoid overeating. Rest more. You may bring American ginseng lozenges, Rhodiola, Gao Yuan An, or other health supplements to relieve altitude sickness. Follow the guide's arrangements, try not to go out for activities, and maintaining a calm mindset and adequate rest is the best way to prevent altitude sickness. If you feel unwell, go to the hospital promptly for treatment.

After breakfast, go to visit the world's highest ancient palace-fortress architectural complex - Potala Palace. [Potala Palace] is located on Maburi Hill in the northwest of downtown Lhasa. It is a magnificent building integrating palace, fortress, and monastery, and is also the largest and most complete ancient palace-fortress complex in Tibet. The Potala Palace is built against the mountain, with 13 stories in total, 117.19 meters high, and more than 400 meters long from east to west. You will climb up along its long stairs, overlooking Lhasa as you walk and taking in the grandeur of the city. While taking photos and resting, you will then enter the Potala Palace and explore this mysterious ancient palace for which very few images are shown online. After visiting the Potala Palace, come to [Zongjiao Lukang Park] at the foot of the mountain. This is the best place to admire the rear view of the Potala Palace. The park has beautiful scenery and a lovely lake called Dragon King Pool. When winter comes, migratory birds from various places gather on the frozen lake surface, playing, foraging, or spreading their wings and soaring. You can bathe in the warm sun and stroll along the lakeshore to enjoy this peaceful winter scene. Afterward, go to visit the holy site in the hearts of Tibetan Buddhist believers - Jokhang Temple. [Jokhang Temple] was first built in 647 AD and has a history of 1,350 years. It is the most splendid surviving Tubo-period building in Tibet, with 5 golden roofs and 108 Buddhist halls. Here, you can see the world-rare life-size statue of Shakyamuni at age 12 and devout pilgrims worshipping in front of Jokhang Temple. Finally, you can stroll through [Barkhor Street]. This is not only the route for the local kora ritual, but also a very lively ancient commercial street. You can encounter local people wearing Tibetan robes and devout pilgrims, stroll through the alleys and browse handicraft shops, or find a sweet tea house and learn from Tibetan friends their tranquility and contentment. If you are interested, you can also experience a Tibetan costume photo shoot (at your own expense), put on beautiful Tibetan clothing, and capture a beautiful "Tibetan" memory of your own. Enjoy a delicious Tibetan dinner in the evening.

After breakfast, travel by car for about 12 km (35 minutes) to visit [Drepung Monastery], one of the six great monasteries of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The monastery is built layer by layer along the mountain terrain and is grand in scale. Its buildings with white walls and red eaves look especially peaceful and serene in the sunlight. After entering the monastery, you can visit important buildings such as the Tsokchen Assembly Hall, Ganden Podrang, and the four dratsangs in turn to learn about Tibetan Buddhist culture. You can also go to the debate courtyard to watch monks debate Buddhist teachings (around 14:00), or stroll within the monastery to seek inner peace. In the afternoon, travel by car for about 30 km (50 minutes) to visit [Sera Monastery], one of the six main monasteries of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The monastery is solemn and sacred. Here you can watch Tibet's famous Buddhist debate activity. The debate usually starts at 15:00 (except Sundays). During the debate, the lamas in the courtyard engage in fierce debate, and you can truly feel the faith and power of Tibetan Buddhism. Afterward, go near Sera Monastery to visit a local Tibetan family. You can talk with them, learn about their daily lifestyle, visit Tibetan-style residential architecture, and taste local foods such as butter tea. After that, return to the hotel to rest and relieve the fatigue of the journey.

After breakfast, drive about 65 km (about 1 to 1.5 hours) accompanied by beautiful scenery all the way to Linzhou County, a famous winter bird-watching destination in Tibet. [Linzhou County] is known as the hometown of the black-necked crane. Every year from September to October, a large number of black-necked cranes fly here to overwinter, and then fly away from April to May the following year. In addition, many waterfowl such as spot-billed ducks, ruddy shelducks, bar-headed geese, Eurasian teals, mallards and common mergansers also inhabit here. Your Lhasa bird-watching tour will mainly stay at Hutoushan Reservoir in Qiangga Township, one of the best places to observe black-necked cranes. You can see flocks of black-necked cranes either circling in the air, playing and foraging in the water, or strolling leisurely on the grassland. If you are lucky, you can also see the spectacular "bird dance" scene with distant mountains and blue sky as the background. In addition, if time permits, you can also go to another bird-watching destination in Kazi Township - Kazi Reservoir. With a quiet environment and a great variety of birds, it is one of the excellent places to observe the natural life of birds. Bird-watching Tips 1. It is recommended to arrive in Linzhou County before 9 a.m. to see more active flocks of black-necked cranes. 2. It is recommended to wear clothes in gray, black, green and other colors that are more in harmony with the natural environment, to avoid disturbing the birds. 3. When observing and photographing birds, please keep quiet and maintain an appropriate distance. Do not feed or disturb the birds. After the bird-watching tour, in the afternoon you will drive about 70 km (about 1.5 to 2 hours) to visit [Ganden Monastery], one of the three great monasteries of Lhasa. It is also the mother monastery of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The successive Ganden Tripas, heads of the Gelug school, resided in this monastery. The entire monastery is built against the mountain, with layers of buildings overlapping. As you approach along the winding road, a vast magnificent complex of red, white and yellow buildings comes into view. Inside the monastery, you can explore the Tsokchen Assembly Hall, the Tsongkhapa Residence Hall, the colleges and so on, see solemn Buddha statues, precious Tibetan scriptures and robes and other cultural relics, and, with the guide's explanation, gain an in-depth understanding of Tibetan Buddhist culture. In addition, on the 25th day of the 10th month of the Tibetan calendar every year, Ganden Monastery also holds a grand Butter Lamp Festival, lighting butter lamps to commemorate Master Tsongkhapa, founder of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. After the visit, return to your hotel in downtown Lhasa for rest.

Today, this wonderful 5-day Lhasa winter birdwatching tour in Tibet will come to an end. Our driver will transfer you to Lhasa Airport or train station in advance according to the agreed time for your next destination. If you wish to extend this trip and explore more destinations in Tibet, such as Shigatse Everest, Nyingchi, Yamdrok Lake, Namtso, and other places, you can also contact our customer service to arrange it for you. We look forward to welcoming you again someday in the future.