Classic Combined Tour | 13 Days 12 Nights Group Tour of Beijing + Xi'an + Chengdu + Lhasa + Shanghai

Welcome to China's capital, Beijing. Our driver will greet you at the airport/train station exit and take you to a hotel in downtown Beijing to check in and rest. After that, you can enjoy free time, either resting at the hotel to ease jet lag or exploring the surrounding area. Suggested ways to arrive 1. By plane: Beijing has two airports, Beijing Daxing International Airport and Beijing Capital International Airport. Both airports have numerous international and domestic routes. You can fly to Beijing from countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, and Cambodia, and also from most cities in China, such as Hong Kong, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Xi'an, Guilin, Hangzhou, Kunming, and Wuhan. 2. By train: Beijing's rail transit is extremely developed. You can take a high-speed train to Beijing from cities such as Xi'an, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, and Harbin.

After breakfast, you will visit the world-famous Tian'anmen Square. The 【Tian'anmen Square】 is located on Beijing's central axis and is the largest city-center square in the world. It holds an important place in Chinese history and has witnessed countless major historical events. Here you can see the towering and solemn Tian'anmen Gate Tower and learn about China's long-standing culture. Afterward, cross the square and visit the Beijing Palace Museum. The 【Forbidden City】, also known as the Purple Forbidden City, is located at the center of Beijing's central axis. It was the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties and is the world's largest and best-preserved complex of wooden palace architecture. Here you can visit the important palaces in sequence along the central axis, admiring the splendid and exquisite ancient palace architecture while following the guide's commentary to further understand the historical stories of the Forbidden City. Afterward, you can also go to the nearby 【Jingshan Park】 (about a 15-minute walk) to overlook the panoramic view of the Forbidden City and the magnificent scenery of Beijing. In the afternoon, you will drive to visit the famous imperial garden, the Summer Palace. The 【Summer Palace】 is a large and well-preserved imperial garden in China and one of China's four great gardens. It is known as a museum of imperial gardens, with beautiful scenery inside, and its pavilions, towers, lakes, bridges, and other views are a feast for the eyes. Tip: The Beijing Palace Museum is closed on Mondays, and the visiting order will be adjusted according to actual circumstances.

After breakfast, you will drive 73 kilometers (about 1.5-2 hours) to visit the Mutianyu Great Wall, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The Mutianyu Great Wall is the longest and best-restored section of the Chinese Great Wall, with the reputation of "Mutianyu stands out among the Ten-Thousand-Li Great Wall." You can first take a cable car to Watchtower No. 14, then hike westward, enjoying the magnificent mountain scenery and the winding, majestic Great Wall along the way, and finally reach the highest point at Watchtower No. 20 to complete the Great Wall tour. After touring the Great Wall, return to downtown Beijing and, on the way, view the exterior of the Bird's Nest (Beijing National Stadium) and the Water Cube (Beijing National Aquatics Center) and take photos with them. Then return to the hotel and have a good rest.

Today our driver will take you to Beijing Railway Station to take a high-speed train to Xi'an. The journey takes about 4.5 to 5.5 hours, and along the way you can glimpse the scenery of Chinese towns, mountains, and forests. After arriving at Xi'an Railway Station, our driver will greet you at the station exit and begin the following itinerary with you. First, you will visit Xi'an's famous cultural landmark, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. [The Big Wild Goose Pagoda] is located within Daci'en Temple and is the earliest and largest existing square pavilion-style brick pagoda of the Tang Dynasty, with seven stories and a height of about 64 meters. Here you can admire the ancient architectural style, view the scriptures and Buddha statues that Master Xuanzang brought back from Tianzhu, and also climb this thousand-year-old pagoda to look out over the city scenery of Xi'an. Afterwards, you will visit Xi'an's famous food and culture street, [Muslim Quarter], to experience the local atmosphere while tasting local specialty snacks such as roujiamo and Biangbiang noodles.

After breakfast, you will drive about 40 kilometers (1 hour) to visit the Terracotta Army, one of the "Eighth Wonders of the World." The 【Terracotta Army Museum】 is a site museum built on the original location of the terracotta pits and is also China's largest ancient military museum. Under the vivid commentary of a professional guide, you will visit Pits No. 1, 2, and 3 in sequence, learning about the historical background of the Terracotta Army, its craftsmanship, and the little-known stories behind these thousand-year-old clay figures buried in the long river of history. In the afternoon, you will visit the historic Xi'an Ancient City Wall. The 【Xi'an Ancient City Wall】 was first built in the Ming Dynasty, also known as the Xi'an Ming City Wall, and is one of the largest and best-preserved ancient city walls in China. You can climb onto the wall, walk on the historic blue bricks, and feel the charm of the ancient city wall, or take a bicycle tour to enjoy the superb scenery formed by the ancient city wall and the modern cityscape together. In addition, near the Xi'an Ancient City Wall, you can also visit the amazing Bell Tower and Drum Tower. The Bell Tower and Drum Tower were first built during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, about 600 years ago. The two buildings echo each other from afar and are magnificent. When night falls, the lights of the Bell Tower and Drum Tower illuminate together, creating a spectacular scene.

This morning, after breakfast at the hotel, our driver will, according to your ticket time, take you to the railway station in advance to catch the high-speed train to Chengdu (about 3-4 hours). Welcome to Chengdu. Our driver will greet you at the railway station exit and escort you to a downtown Chengdu hotel for check-in. You can arrange the remaining time freely. If you are tired, you can rest at the hotel to recharge; if it is still early, you can also stroll around the neighborhood.

After breakfast, you will drive about 17 kilometers to visit the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in the northern suburbs of Chengdu, to see China's adorable national treasure, the giant panda, and learn about their habits and conservation. [Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding], or Chengdu Panda Base for short, keeps more than 100 giant pandas and is the base with the largest number of captive giant pandas in the world. Here you can see giant pandas of different ages playing, eating, climbing hills, climbing trees, and sleeping in the park, and you can also follow your guide to visit the Panda Museum to learn more stories about pandas. In addition, if you visit in autumn, you may have the chance to see adorable giant panda cubs in the Moon Nursery and Sun Nursery. In the afternoon, you will drive about 50 kilometers (1 hour) to visit the Sanxingdui Museum, known as "sleeping for three thousand years, awakening to astonish the world." [Sanxingdui] was unearthed in 1929 and is the largest, longest-lasting, and culturally richest ancient state site discovered so far in southwestern China. Here you will see the majestic bronze standing figure, the exquisitely beautiful bronze sacred tree, the gold mask as thin as a cicada's wing, the gold staff with intricate patterns... and follow your guide's steps to travel through the dust of history, explore the ancient Shu civilization, and unlock the mysterious stories behind these artifacts. After the visit, return to downtown Chengdu and stroll through Jinli Ancient Street. [Jinli] is Chengdu's oldest and liveliest bustling commercial street, with a long history dating back to the Qin and Han dynasties. Here you can explore and taste traditional Chengdu snacks, watch interesting folk performances, and admire the beauty of traditional Chinese ancient architecture. Plan B: Chengdu Panda Base + Chengdu Museum + Kuanzhai Alley + People's Park Note: During peak season, the Sanxingdui Museum is very crowded during holidays, and tickets are hard to get. If tickets are sold out, your itinerary will be adjusted to Plan B, sightseeing in downtown Chengdu. The itinerary changes are as follows: In the afternoon, you will visit [Chengdu Museum], the largest comprehensive city museum in southwestern China. This is an excellent place to learn about Chengdu's history, culture, and art. The museum has a rich collection of more than 200,000 items, covering precious artifacts from the Neolithic Age to the Republic of China period, such as bronzes, gold and silver wares, pictorial bricks, stone carvings, ceramics, calligraphy and paintings, and furniture. Among them, the humorous Eastern Han drumming and rapping pottery figurine, the mysterious Sanxingdui bronze human-face mask, the exquisite lacquered meridian figurine, and the finely crafted openwork gilt sachet are the museum's treasures and are worth careful viewing. In addition, the intangible cultural heritage in Chengdu Museum, such as shadow puppetry, puppet shows, Sichuan opera, Sichuan cuisine, and teahouse culture, is very impressive, allowing you to experience up close the charm of Chengdu's splendid history and culture and unique folk customs. Afterwards, you will visit [Kuanzhai Alley], praised as one of the "Ten Most Beautiful Streets in Sichuan." This is the only remaining ancient street of the Qing Dynasty in Chengdu, preserving the authentic old Chengdu style. It is a great place to experience the genuine leisurely, slow life of Chengdu. Strolling through it, you can admire exquisite ancient architecture, taste authentic old Chengdu foods (dandan noodles, spicy rabbit head, skewers, etc.), and take excellent travel photos. Next, continue to [People's Park], praised as one of the "Most Beautiful Parks in Chengdu," to experience Chengdu's leisurely culture up close and the slow-paced life of local people. Here, in a century-old teahouse, you can order a cup of fragrant covered-bowl tea and sit on bamboo chairs chatting leisurely with a few friends. You can also experience intangible cultural heritage ear cleaning (at your own expense), enjoying the "little comfort" that sends a tingling sensation straight to your head, or watch the exciting local mahjong games and visit the famous matchmaking corner. If you are lucky, you may also encounter locals dancing in the square, practicing tai chi, or playing traditional Chinese instruments.

After breakfast, you will have some free time in Chengdu until the driver takes you to the airport to catch your flight to Lhasa. After arriving in Lhasa, our driver will greet you at the airport exit. As you have just arrived on the plateau, what you need most is to slow down and relax. We will take you to the hotel for a full rest so your body can gradually adapt to the plateau atmosphere. Tashi Delek!! Warm tips: On the day you arrive in Lhasa, do not do strenuous exercise, and do not take a shower that night to avoid catching a cold. Do not drink alcohol. Drink more water and eat fruit, and do not overeat. Rest more. You may bring American ginseng lozenges or health supplements such as rhodiola and Gao Yuan An to help relieve altitude sickness. Follow the guide's arrangements, try not to go out for activities, and maintaining a calm mindset and sufficient rest is the best way to prevent altitude sickness. If you feel unwell, go to the hospital promptly for treatment.

This morning, you will visit the Tibetan Culture Experience Center to experience traditional Tibetan handicrafts. While learning how the refreshing Tibetan incense is made, you can also participate in making it by hand, which is entirely different from buying Tibetan incense. A teacher will also teach you how to write your name in Tibetan script and do woodblock printing. The Tibetan incense you make by hand and the printed text can both be taken home as souvenirs of this trip to Tibet. In the afternoon, you will visit Sera Monastery, one of the six major monasteries of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. Sera Monastery, together with Drepung Monastery and Ganden Monastery, is known as one of the three great monasteries of Lhasa. It preserves tens of thousands of Vajra Buddha statues, among which the most famous statue, the Hayagriva Vajra statue, is located in the protector deity hall of the Gyi Dratsang. In addition, Sera Monastery has another major feature, namely the debate activities of the monks in the monastery. In the center of the debate courtyard, monks are debating knowledge; some use forceful clapping to urge the other side to answer, while others pull Buddhist prayer beads to rely on their power to defeat the opponent. Standing in the debate courtyard, you are immersed in the lively sounds. Although you cannot understand their Zen meaning, you can truly feel the faith and power of Tibetan Buddhism. The debate usually starts at 15:00 in the afternoon. On Sundays, or when the monastery temporarily holds Dharma assemblies or receives specific individuals, the debate activities may be canceled. Please understand!

After breakfast, visit the Potala Palace, the world's highest ancient palace-fortress architectural complex. [The Potala Palace] is located on Maburiri Hill in the northwestern part of Lhasa's urban area. It is a magnificent structure integrating palace, fortress, and monastery, and is also the largest and most complete ancient palace-fortress complex in Tibet. The Potala Palace was 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 the long stairs of the Potala Palace step by step, overlooking Lhasa as you go and taking in the grandeur of the city. While taking photos and resting, you will then enter the Potala Palace to explore this mysterious and ancient palace for which very few images are shown online. Then visit the Jokhang Temple, the holy site in the hearts of Tibetan Buddhist believers. [The 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 five golden roofs and 108 Buddha halls. Here you can see the world's rare life-size statue of Shakyamuni at age 12 and devout pilgrims worshipping in front of the Jokhang Temple. After leaving the Jokhang Temple, you can walk clockwise around the Jokhang Temple as its center, imagining yourself as a Tibetan doing a kora, or go shopping in the handicraft market on [Barkhor Street], or simply stroll slowly along the streets, feeling the warmth of the City of Sunlight, or find a sweet tea house and learn from Tibetan friends the art of tranquility and contentment.

After breakfast, we will take you to Lhasa Gonggar Airport to fly to Shanghai. After arriving in Shanghai, our driver will greet you at the airport exit and take you to a downtown Shanghai hotel to check in. You can arrange the remaining time freely. If you are tired, you can rest at the hotel and recharge; if it is still early, you can also take a stroll nearby.

After breakfast, you will head to the Lujiazui business district in Pudong, Shanghai, to visit the tallest building in Shanghai and even in China - [Shanghai Tower]. Here, you will take the world's fastest sightseeing elevator (73.8 km/h) directly to the "Top of Shanghai Observatory" on the 118th floor, 546 meters above the ground, and enjoy a magnificent 360° panoramic view of Shanghai's skyline and the city, overlooking the famous buildings around. If you are interested, you can also send a special blessing from above the clouds to your family and friends at the world's highest post office - the Top of Shanghai Air Post Office. Afterwards, visit the [Shanghai Museum East], admire various exquisite precious cultural relics, and gain an in-depth understanding of China's long and profound history and culture. There are many cultural relics on display in the Shanghai Museum East, and especially worth seeing are the famous treasures of the museum: • Da Ke Ding: This bronze vessel from about 3,000 years ago is majestic and solemn in appearance and is an outstanding representative of China's Western Zhou bronze culture. • Shang Yang Fang Sheng: As a relic of Shang Yang's reforms, it is not only a physical standard of weights and measures in the Qin Dynasty, but also carries the ultimate code of the rise of the Qin economy. • Zi Zhong Jiang Pan: This bronze water basin vessel from the Spring and Autumn period is carved with more than 30 lifelike aquatic animals. When clear water flows into the basin, these animals all rotate 360°, which is endlessly fascinating and showcases the superb craftsmanship of the ancients. Afterwards, head to [Yu Garden], known as the "Crown of Famous Gardens in the Southeast", to enjoy the scenery of classical Jiangnan gardens in China. Yu Garden was first built in the 38th year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty (1559 AD), with a history of more than 460 years. It was originally a private garden built by Pan Yunduan, the Ming Dynasty provincial administration commissioner of Sichuan, for his father to spend his later years in comfort. Strolling along the winding paths of Yu Garden, you can appreciate China's exquisite garden layout, beautiful classical architecture, and superb brick carvings, stone carvings, clay sculptures, and wood carvings. The Yu Garden Bazaar near Yu Garden is a very lively district where you can taste the most authentic Shanghai cuisine or browse various traditional Chinese handicraft shops. Afterwards, you can walk along [Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street], known as "China's No. 1 Commercial Street", to the Bund, about 2 kilometers in total. Along the way, you can appreciate Shanghai's architectural style of the 1930s and 1940s, and also browse various century-old brand stores. [The Bund] is located on the west bank of the Huangpu River and is one of Shanghai's landmark attractions, known as the "Exhibition of World Architecture". It brings together 52 exotic buildings of different styles, such as the Shanghai Club, Peace Hotel, HSBC Building, and more. Stepping into it feels like entering the golden age of the former Oriental Wall Street. Standing by the river, you can also look into the distance at landmark buildings such as Shanghai Tower, Oriental Pearl Tower, Jin Mao Tower, and Shanghai World Financial Center. Tips: 1) Yu Garden is closed on Mondays, and the visit will be changed to Shanghai City God Temple; 2) Shanghai Museum East is closed on Tuesdays, and priority will be given to arranging the People's Square branch. If the People's Square branch cannot be booked, other downtown attractions will be arranged as a replacement.

After breakfast, this wonderful in-depth exploration of China will come to an end. Our driver will take you to the airport or train station for your next destination. If you wish to extend this trip and explore more destinations in China, such as Xinjiang, Yunnan, Guilin, Zhangjiajie, etc., you can also contact our customer service to arrange it for you.