12 Days Tibet & Panda Tours in China

Day 1

Today's Activities: Arrive in Beijing, Airport-hotel transfer

Day 2

Today's Activities: Beijing
Tiananmen Square (50 minutes):

As the largest square all over the world, Tiananmen Square was also a remarkable place of several key events in the history of China, esp, in Chinese modern history, giving the Square more cultural significance. Near the Square, there are governments buildings, Forbidden City, Heavenly Gate, museums and mausoleum.

The Forbidden City, situated at the heart of Beijing City, is most prosperous between 1420 and 1911 during Chinese feudal society, as it is home to 24 emperors. It is precious wealth to China as well as the whole world for the great halls, gates and squares along with the intricate networks of side courtyards, gardens, halls and quarters. As for tour, it is not a single point, Wangfujing Street, Tiananmen Square and Shijingshan Park are not far away.

Summer Palace, one of the premier attractions in Beijing and also a well-known tourist attraction all over the world, is among the largest and the best preserved Chinese imperial gardens. It is pleasant to take a ferry boat to spend ten or more minutes cruising on the Kunming Lake. 

Day 3

Today's Activities: Beijing
Badaling Great Wall (2 hours):

As the first section of the Great Wall opened to the public, Badaling Great Wall is also the most well-known one among all the sections of the Great Wall in Beijing, which is about 75 km NW of Beijing. There you can appreciate wonderful views: magnificent ancient battlements and watchtowers. Transportations there are quite convenient.

Ding Mausoleum, the mausoleum of Emperor Zhu Yijun, the 13th emperor of Ming Dynasty and his empresses. It is about 27-meter deep, featured by the Stone Bridge, Soul Tower, Baocheng and the stone-made Underground Palace.

Beijing Roast Duck is not unfamiliar for quite a number of foreign friends, it is accredited as one of the most delicious food in Beijing. Among various flavors of Beijing roast duck, those in Quanjude are particularly famous. As a time-honored restaurant with their own special technique and flavor in making roast ducks, Quanjude can provide you most outstanding quality and unforgettable flavor. The largest restaurant of Quanjude is at Gate of Peace, you can go there for a visit and feast your eyes and stomach.

Beijing Opera is a kind of art mixing dance, music, opera, literature together, displaying a complete view of the local art and folklore, as a must-see in Beijing now.

Day 4

Today's Activities: Beijing to Chengdu, Flight to Chengdu
Wangjiang Tower Park (1 hour):

Standing on the south back of Jinjiang River, Chengdu, Wangjiang Tower is built dedicating to Xue Tao, who was an official prostitute and poet in the late 8th century. At present, the tower in the park are all ranked among the three most well-known cultural relics in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.

Jinli Old Street has been fully restored in a traditional style of Sichuan. Neon lights will make the old street more attractive when the sunset comes. You can taste local snacks, buy traditional Chinese goods and souvenirs and enjoy local arts and crafts. You can also have a rest in Starbucks.

Day 5

Today's Activities: Chengdu
Panda Breeding and Research Center (2.5 hours):

With an area of 230 hectares, Chengdu Panda Breeding and Research Center is situated about 10 kilometers in the north of the urban area of Chengdu. As the habitat of panda, the center is the perfect place to watch lovely pandas rest, play and feed.

Sanxingdui Museum is a museum built to display bone ware from sacrificial pits between 16th century and 11th century B.C. Cultural relics excavated including thousands of pieces of worthy relics, like pottery ware, bronze ware and jade ware.

Day 6

Today's Activities: Chengdu to Lhasa, Flight to Lhasa

Day 7

Today's Activities: Lhasa
Potala Palace (1 hour):

Situated on Mountain Maburi (Red Mountain) in Lhasa of Tibet, the Potala Palace is an ancient Tibetan palace complex with a height of 110 meters. The whole traditional Tibetan style building consists of the White Palace in the east which Dalai Lama lives in and the Red Palace in the middle containing the Dalai Lama Stupa Temple and the Buddha Temple.

Located in central Lhasa in Tibet and surrounded by Barkhor Street, Lhasa Jokhang Temple is the ultimate pilgrimage destination for Tibetan Pilgrims. With an area of 25,100 square meters, Jokhang Temple is filled with palmers and tourists. Compared with Potala Palace, the Jokhang Temple is smaller while more manageable. The temple itself is a 4-storey and golden-roofed temple.

Situated in the heart of Lhasa encircling the Jokhang Temple, the Barkhor Street is definitly the right place to watch the palmers gathering from different parts of Tibet, doing prostration every 9 steps, or circling deasil around Jokhang Temple, joining the tourists to shop for local products at the colorful stalls, or having a relax in a coffe shop or tea housing to enjoy the show of every passerby, or expacting a date by sitting down against the lover wall?

Day 8

Today's Activities: Lhasa
Norbulingka (2.5 hours):

Situated in the western suburb of Lhasa city of Tibet, Norbulingka it the biggest man-made garden in Tibet Autonomous Region. The garden covers an area of 360,000 square meters, with 374 rooms inside. The area used to be wasteland with wild animals, weeds and scrub which the Seventh Dalai Lama liked and often visited, thus, the Qing Magistrate had a palace built. Later, Kelsang Potrang was built by order ot the Severnth Dalai Lama. Now, it is a park opened to the public.

Situated in the southeast corner of Norbulingka of Lhasa of Tibet, the Tibet Museum is a wonderful combination of Chinese and Tibetan architectural styles. The museum is divided into two catalogues.The first catalogue includes two exhibition halls on the first floor, showing the splendid history of Tibet and its abundant natural resources, the other catalogue is on the second floor with five small exhibitions halls displaying the Tibetan religion, folk custom, treasures, and arts and crafts with a rich collection of prehistoric cultural relics including Buddha statues in different postures, imperial jade seals, gold albums, gifts granted by emperors, colorful tangkas, and various printed Sanskrit and Tibetan scriptures.

Situated in the northern suburb of Lhasa of Tibet, the Sera Monastery is a traditional Tibetan temple complex of Great Assembly Hall, three colleges and four structures. Some say the "Sera" means wild rose in Tibetan and the monastery was surrounded by wild roses, hence the name. The Sera Monastery was constructed in 1419 by Jamchen Chojey of Sakya Yeshe of Zel Gungtang(1355-1435), a disciple of Tsongkhapa.

Day 9

Today's Activities: Lhasa to Shanghai, Flight to Shanghai

Day 10

Today's Activities: Shanghai
Shanghai Museum (2 hours):

Shanghai Museum, situated in the People's Square of Huangpu District, constructed in 1,952, is a museum featured by its ancient Chinese art collections. The original site of the museum was in the Former Shanghai Racecourse club house, moved to the Former Zhonghui Building in 1,600, and at last to People's Square.

The area of the Bund centres on a section of Zhongshan Road (East-1 Zhongshan Road) within the former Shanghai International Settlement, which runs along the western bank of the Huangpu River, facing Pudong, in the eastern part of Huangpu District. Usually, the Bund refers to the buildings and wharves on this section of the road, as well as some adjacent areas. There are 26 buildings in diverse architectural styles, such as Baroque, Gothic, Classicism, Romanesque and the Renaissance etc. It is one of the most famous tourist destinations in Shanghai.

Located at the tip of Lujiazui in the Pudong district, by the side of Huangpu River, opposite of the Bund, the Oriental Pearl Tower was the tallest structure in China from 1994-2007, when it was surpassed by the Shanghai World Financial Center. It is the world's third tallest Tv Tower with a height of 468 meters only after towers in Toronto of Canada and Moscow of Russia.

Shanghai Nanjing Road--the busiest pedestrian streets in China, includes two sections: Nanjing Road West and Nanjing Road East, beginning in the east at the Bund and ending at the junction of Yan'an West Street and Jing'an Temple in the west.

The Huangpu River is the longest river passing through the whole city of Shanghai and divides Shanghai into two parts, the pudong district in the east and Puxi district in the west. On its western shore, the colonial landmarks of the Bund serve as a reminder of Shanghai's 19 century struggle to reclaim a waterfront from the bogs of this river. On the eastern shore, the steel and glass skyscrapers of the Pudong New Area point to a burgeoning financial empire of the future.

Day 11

Today's Activities: Shanghai
Yuyuan Garden (1.5 hours):

Situated in the Anren Street of the center of the Old Shanghai city next to the Chenghuangmiao(Town God's Temple) area of Shanghai, the Yuyuan Garden is considered one of the most lavish and finest Chinese gardens in the region. With an area of about 20,000 square meers, Yuyuan Garden was built in 1,577 by a government officer named Pan Yunduan for his parents. tourists could access the Yuyuan Garden from the nearby Yuyuan Garden station on the Shanghai Metro Line 10.

The Jade Buddha Temple was founded in 1882 with two jade Buddha statues imported to Shanghai from Burma by a monk named Huigen in 1,882. These were a siting Buddha (1.95 meters tall and 3tonnes), and a smaller reclining Buddha representing Buddha's death. The temple now also contains a much larger reclining Buddha made of marble, donated  from Singapore.

Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall, occupying an area of about 0.4 hectare at a height of 142 feet, stands on Renmin Square (which is also called People Square). In 2,000, it officially opened to the public.

Shanghai People Square, located in Huangpu District, Shanghai, encompasses an area of about 140,000 sq. meters, consists the People's Park, an open square and some particular constructions. At present, it has turned into one of the most well-known landmarks of Shanghai.

Shanghai Xin Tian Di, standing south of Huaihai Zhong Road at the heart of Shanghai, is an integrated recreational site for eating, shopping and entertaining. There are reconstituted Shikumen ("stone gate") houses in traditional style ranked along narrow alleys, they are shopping malls, book stores houses, cafes and restaurants. What's more, there are also westernized indoor and outdoor seatings in most of the cafes and restaurants.

Day 12

Today's Activities: Depart Shanghai, Hotel-airport transfer