12 Days Beijing Lhasa Highlights Tour with Mt.Everest Camping by Round-trip Flight

Summary

Day 1 Arrive in Beijing
Day 2 Beijing: Mutianyu Great Wall, Ming Tombs, Beijing National Olmpic Stadium 
Day 3 Beijing: Tian'an men Square, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven
Day 4 Beijing: Beihai Park,Hutong, Summer Palace, Wangfujing Food Street
Day 5 Beijing--Lhasa by flight
Day 6 Lhasa: Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple, Barkhor Street
Day 7 Lhasa: Drepung Monastery, Sera Monastery
Day 8 Lhasa--Namtso Lake: Namtso Lake
Day 9 Shigatse/Everest Base Camp/ via Lhatese, Shegar
Day 10 Shigatse to Lhasa
Day 11 Lhasa to Beijing by Flight
Day 12 Departure Beijing

Day 1

Welcome to China! Upon arrival in Beijing, our local Beijing tour guide will pick you up at the exit of Beijing airport, you will find a welcome signage "China Private Tour". You will be escorted to your hotel directly, and the rest of the day is for you to recover your jetlag.

Day 2

In the morning, our guide will pick you up at your hotel lobby. You will be transferred to Mutianyu Great Wall (around 1 hour for one way).

Mutianyu Great Wall: There is an old saying "If you haven't climbed the Great Wall, you haven't seen China." Many of your friends who visited China before might have told you this. It is indeed an experience of life. As one of the best-preserved parts of the Great Wall, Mutianyu section of Great Wall used to serve as the northern barrier defending the capital and the imperial tombs. It's known for its beautiful surroundings - dense woods and rich pastures changing colors with the seasons of a year. 

Mutianyu Great Wall

After lunch, you'll visit Ming Tombs. The Ming Tombs lie in Changping County, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) northwest from the urban area of Beijing. It is actually a tomb cluster of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), including thirteen emperor's mausoleums, seven tombs for concubines and one grave for eunuchs.  

Ming Tombs

After that, drive you back to Beijing downtown, on the way back to your hotel, you will visit the Beijing Olympic Green Park, constructed for the 2008 Summer Olympics from outside. The design of Bird's Nest was awarded to a submission from the Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron in April 2003 after a bidding process that included 13 final submissions. And the "Water Cube" ( National Aquatics Center),  is one of the best venues of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, built with donations from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan compatriot and overseas Chinese. It was chosen through public appraisals as one of “China ten big new architecture views” by The U.S. magazine "Business Weekly". 

Water Cube

After dinner, you will be taken back to your hotel.

Day 3

In the morning, you will be picked up at your hotel lobby.

Firstly, you will pay a visit to Tian'an men Square. It is the largest city plaza in the world. Tian'an men Square is the geographical center of Beijing City. It is the largest city square in the world, occupying an area of 440,000 square meters (about 109 acres), and able to accommodate 1000000 people at one time. Tian'an men Gate on the northern square was the site where the Chairman Mao announced the establishment of the People's Republic of China.

Tian'an men Square

Next to Forbidden City. The Forbidden City, also named the Palace Museum, shares the honor of being one of five world-famous palaces with the Palace of Versailles in France, Buckingham Palace in England, the White House in the U.S. and the Kremlin in Russia. The incomparable palace occupies an area of 720,000 square meters (177.9 acres) and has approximately 8,700 rooms. A high red wall with a total length of 3,400 meters (3,718 yards) encases the palace. 

Forbidden City

In the afternoon, our tour guide will take you to Temple of Heaven. The Temple of Heaven was constructed in 1420 during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and was enlarged during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It is the grandest cult architecture complex in the world and a masterpiece of the Chinese people created in ancient times. It covers 2,700,000 square meters (667 acres). Emperors of the two dynasties used to worship the heaven and pray for rich harvests, as the feudal emperors thought they were the son of the heaven. 

Temple of Heaven

You will be taken back to your hotel after dinner.

Day 4

Today you will visit Beihai Park. In Beihai Park, you can appreciate the beautiful White Pagoda and the Nine-Dragon Screen. From here you will take a Rickshaw to Gulou area for a Hutong Tour, which covers the attractions that include the Drum Tower, courtyard neighborhoods.

Beihai Park

Continue your tour to Nanluoguxiang Hutong Area. It's one of the best preserved historical areas in downtown Beijing, is famous for its hutong and siheyuan courtyards. Recently the popularity of Nanluoguxiang has increased noticeably with tourist numbers on the rise after 2008 Olympic Games. You will do a short walk along the authentic Beijing Hutong, in where will give you a deep impression of the local residents'life.

Nanluoguxiang Hutong Area

Then drive to Summer Palace. The Summer Palace in Beijing integrates numerous traditional halls and pavilions into the Imperial Garden conceived by the Qing emperor Qianlong between 1750 and 1764 as the Garden of Clear Ripples. Using Kunming Lake, the former reservoir of the Yuan dynasty’s capital and Longevity Hill as the basic framework, the Summer Palace combined political and administrative, residential, spiritual, and recreational functions within a landscape of lakes and mountains, in accordance with the Chinese philosophy of balancing the works of man with nature.

Summer Palace

At last, you'll visit Wangfujing Food Street. A dazzling array of snacks from all corners of China can be found in this Beijing night market. The majority of diners here are foreign, and the cost is not low. However, for a comfortable and relaxing meal, Xin Dong An Restaurant comes highly recommended. After Donghuamen Night Market was closed, Wangfujing Snack Street has become the most popular one which attracts more and more tourists every year.

After dinner, you will be taken back to your hotel.

Day 5

Free on your own until our driver pick you up at your hotel and transfer you to Beijing Capital Airport for the flight to Lhasa. Upon on your arrival, our Lhasa local tour guide will pick you up at the exit of airport with a welcome sign "China Private Tour". And drive you to your hotel directly.

(The best way acclimatize to the increased elevation, to prevent altitude sickness is rest in the hotel and minimizing any physical exertion for the first-time traveller.)

Day 6

In the morning, our local guide will pick you up at your hotel lobby. Today you will visit Lhasa’s cardinal landmark Potala Palace, the highest palace in the world. It well worths visiting for its artistic value, historic purposes, and cultural awareness, has been regarded as the No. 1 must-see attraction in Tibet. It is one of the world culture heritages. You can explore its audience halls, the jeweled and Golden burial chortens (stupa Tombs) of past Dalai Lamas, and tremendous number of Buddhist frescoes, Thangkas, combinations of mandala, etc.

Potala Palace

You will have lunch at a local Chinese reataurant that serves authentic Tibetan food.

In the afternoon, you'll head to the holiest temple in Tibet, the Jokhang Temple, built during Songtsen Gampo'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 holiest statue of Buddha. 

Jokhang Temple

Then, walk along the famous street in Lhasa-Barkhor Street, where you can do the kora with pilgrims and locals. And then we’ll go to explore the old market and you may have chance to see the traditional jewelry trading between people from different part of Tibet.

Finally, you’ll taste Tibetan butter tea with the locals in the tea house and enjoy a welcome dinner at night. Drive you back to your hotel.

Day 7

Today, you'll have chance to visit Drepung Monastery and Sera Monastery. Our guide will take you to visit these two prestigious Gelugpa monasteries in Lhasa. Founded by Jamyang Choeje in 1416, Drepung Monastery is the largest monastery in Tibet. Situated at the foot of Gambo Utse Mountain, Drepung was once home to more than 10000 monks. Here you can see the biggest monastery kitchen inside and then pay a visit to the Buddhist Sculpture Carving near Drepung.

Drepung Monastery

After lunch, you’ll continue to visit the Sera Monastery, which was founded in 1419 by Tsongkapa's disciple Jamchen Choeje. The highlight is the monk debate held in the courtyard at around 3-5 in the afternoon. Besides, you can also see the colorful Rock Painting of Buddha and the three sand Mandalas and then visit the Tibetan scripture printing house.

Sera Monastery

After dinner, drive you to your hotel.

Day 8

In the morning, our guide and driver will pick you up from your hotel and drive to Namtso Lake. Nyenchen Thanglha snow mountain ranges appear in front of you all the way. In summer (May to August), the sheepherders and their family move to grassland and set up their tents, you could see green grassland, groups of sheep and yaks, nomad tents by the road.

Namtso Lake is the Heavenly lake which is one of the three holy lakes of Tibet and also the highest salt lake. You can do a very relaxing trekking around the lake side and Tashi Island.

Namsto Lake

Spending a night at lake shore is fantastic. The night sky is so clean that you could see all the stars twinkling on the sky, which are so close to you as if you could stretch your hands to pick them. Namtso lake is actually the lake in the sky, and it is about 5000m high lies on the highest plateau in the world.

You will stay overnight at Lake Shore Tent Guest House tonight.

Day 9

Today, we’ll leave Shigatse after getting your Alien’s travel permit, and then drive to Lhatse. It is a small town where you can take lunch. After that, you will drive to Shegar and if the weather is clear enough then on the way down to shegar you will view the Mt. Everest in the distance.

After 4 to 6 hours, you will arrive at Rongbuk monastery but on the way, you will pass one of the highest passes in Tibet (pang la pass height 5050m) from that’s pass you will view the whole five highest peaks in the world.

After dinner, drive you to your hotel.

Day 10

In the mirning, you will pay a visit to the largest monastery in west Tibet, the Tashilumpo Monastery, formally listed as a key national cultural protection site. Built in 1447 by a disciple of Tsongkapa, Tashilunpo monastery has the world's largest copper-gilded image (26ms high) of future god, Jampa. 

Tashilumpo Monastery

Enjoy your lunch at a local restaurant, after that, drive along the Friend-ship Highway back to Lhasa.

After dinner, you will be taken back to your hotel in Lhasa.

Day 11

Free on your own until our driver pick you up from your hotel and transfer you to the airport for your flight to Beijing. Upon on your arrival, our Beijing local tour guide and driver will pick you up at the exit of the airport with a welcome signage "China Private Tour". You will be escorted to your hotel directly. The rest of the day is free on your own.

Day 12

Free on your own until our driver pick you up at your hotel and transfer you to the airport. And your 12 Days Beijing Lhasa Highlights Tour with Mt.Everest Camping by Round-trip Flight come to the ends. Wish you have a pleasant trip!

Price Per Person in US Dollars

Price Includes 1. All  transfer and city transportation 2. Air-conditioned car or van 3. Hotels specified in the itinerary, all based     on two persons sharing one standard room; 4. Meals specified in the itinerary: Western     breakfast in hotels, Chinese lunch and     dinner in local restaurants 5. Sightseeing: All arrangements mentioned     in the itinerary will be covered 6. Admission Fee: All first admission/entrance fee     s in the itinerary 6. Tour guide: Conducted by a professional     tour guide

Price Excludes 1. International air-tickets 2. Airport departure tax. 3. International or domestic air tickets which     are not listed in the itinerary. 4. Insurance coverage of personal loss, illness     or damages incurred during your trip 5. Tips to the tour guide and driver 6. Meals not specified in the itinerary. 7. Personal expenses: phone bills, laundry,     optional tours, postage, excess baggage     charge, entertainment fees out of the     itinerary. 8. Single Room Supplement.