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This escorted, ALL-INCLUSIVE tour is distinguished by a train - a very adventurous train. You'll travel across the "Rooftop of the World" and onward to Tibet aboard the world's highest railroad. Within, you'll speed along in comfort, yet outside your window will pass some of the most remarkable scenery: high desert desolation framed by a magnificent backdrop of snow-capped mountains - some of the highest in the world! Because you're traveling across a broad plateau at elevations exceeding 16,000 feet your railcar's air is enriched with added oxygen - the only railroad in the world to provide this amenity!
This trip includes a visit to the Kumbum Monastery in Xining - the capital city of Qinghai Province. You'll also view Qinghai Lake - the largest in China. It's here, in Qinghai Province, where the waters of two of China's mightiest, most revered rivers - the Yangtze and the Yellow - begin their journey, nourishing the nation as they travel to the sea. For many visitors, Qinghai Province best represents authentic, nomadic Tibetan culture.
Because your train's destination is Tibet, you'll have days to explore the mountain monasteries, spin the prayer wheels, follow the sacred circuits tread by orange-robed monks, shop in the colorful markets and sample the unique food and culture of this fascinating region. Plus, your journey includes the highlights of Beijing, the Terracotta Warriors, and the Giant Pandas, too.
To see dates and rates for this tour -Click Here-
To see day-by-day trip details for this tour -Click Here-
When comparing prices, please keep in mind...
Let’s Travel China Tours are All-Inclusive! |
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Trip Length:
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11 Nights/12Days |
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| Begins
in:
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Beijing |
| Ends in:
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Shanghai |
| Departures:
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2010
Aug 22
Sep 19
Oct 24 |
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Highlights:
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Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu,
Suzhou, Tongli, Xian,
Lhasa, Tibet Train
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| Trip prices:
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From $4710 per person |
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| Beijing | 2 Nights | Orientation, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, Temple of Heaven, Hutong neighborhood, Peking Duck Dinner & Orientation, Peking Opera | Xian | 1
Night | Terracotta Warriors, Xian City Wall, Lacquer Furniture Factory, Dumpling Dinner | Xining | 1
Night | Kumbum Monastery (Ta'er Temple), Ethnic Tu home | Overnight on Train | 1
Night | Train to Tibet, Tibetan Plateau scenery | Lhasa | 4
Nights | Jokhang Temple, The Barkhor, Potala Palace, Sera Monastery, Yamdrok Lake, Tibetan home | Chengdu | 1
Night | Giant Panda Breeding Research Center, Chengdu Teahouse | Shanghai | 1
Night | Bund & Pudong districts, Farewell Dinner, Shanghai Maglev train |
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Travelers
never think that they are the foreigners.
~Mason Cooley
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Travel: |
Arrive Beijing
Motorcoach to hotel |
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Cities:
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Beijing |
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Highlights:
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Arrival in Beijing
Beijing Duck Dinner & Orientation |
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Overnight:
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Beijing Marriott City Wall |
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Meals:
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Beijing Duck Dinner |
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- Welcome to China! Following your flight arrival in Beijing you'll transfer to your hotel.
- The remainder of the day is at your leisure. Your flight arrival time may afford time for lunch (not included in your tour price). Your hotel offers an excellent restaurant serving Chinese and Western-style cuisine. If you'd prefer to dine away from your hotel your Tour Escort can offer alternate dining options.
- You may choose to relax at the hotel but if your arrival schedule permits you may also opt for some local sightseeing or shopping before dinner. Be sure to check first with your Tour Manager.
- A special evening is planned: a delicious Peking Duck Dinner! This meal will also afford you more time to get to know your fellow travelers as well as provide a brief Orientation of your tour. During dinner your Tour Manager will host a brief tour Orientation and provide an overview of Day 2’s planned activities. Should your flight arrival schedule prevent you from attending tonight’s Orientation, your Tour Manager will be sure to contact you regarding Day 2’s planned activities.
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Tibet
Train trivia:
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| ...Did
you know?
Operating
at altitudes up to 16,000 feet, the new Qinghai- Tibet railway:
Enriches breathing air by pumping oxygen into each rail car
Uses pressure cookers to cook the rice for the dining car restaurant
Travels for much of its length on bridges built atop permafrost
Cools track supports where they touch ground to ensure a frozen
track bed
Installed ultra-violet filters on window glass to reduce the sun’s
glare.
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Travel: |
Beijing |
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Cities:
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Beijing |
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Highlights:
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Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, Temple of Heaven, Hutong neighborhood, Peking Opera |
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Overnight:
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Beijing Marriott City Wall |
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Meals:
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Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner |
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- Tiananmen Square is your first stop on this first day. The square is the prime venue for both state-sponsored and unstaged events. It is vast – the largest such square in the world. From here you'll proceed to the Forbidden City.
- You'll have ample time to tour the 170-acre Forbidden City complex but still, you'll only be able to see a fraction of the site's nearly 9,000 rooms. The Forbidden City is a UNESCO World Heritage Site - one of the many featured on Let's Travel China tours.
- Not a single nail was used in the construction of The Temple of Heaven, one of the most beautiful temples in China. Here, emperors came to pray to ancestors for guidance and to the heavens for favorable weather and bountiful harvests. The temple park is busy with local retirees playing board games and playing traditional musical intstruments; kids flying kites, adults performing Tai Chi, Kung Fu and twirling flags.
- No visit in Beijing is complete without a pedicab tour through one of Beijing's quaint Hutong neighborhoods. Here, canals, alleyways and narrow streets provide a rare glimpse of a Beijing scene missed by most tourists. Your tour may include a visit with a family at a traditional, "courtyard-style" quadrangle home or perhaps drop in on a nursery or pre-school.
- Following dinner you'll be treated to an evening at the opera - the Peking Opera!
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Chinese
Firsts:
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Wheelbarrow,
papermaking, “India” ink, moveable-type printing, compass,
ship rudder, gunpowder, cannon & fireworks, gun, decimal system,
crossbow, cast iron, iron plow, porcelain, silk, umbrellas, kites,
stirrup, harness, spaghetti, hand-held fan, seismometer, abacus,
cargo ship, high-fired stoneware, brandy, whiskey, chess, and fish-farming!
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Travel: |
Fly to Xian |
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Cities:
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Beijing
Xian |
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Highlights:
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Terracotta Warriors
Dumpling Dinner
Night Markets |
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Overnight:
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Howard Johnson Ginwa Plaza |
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Meals:
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Breakfast, Lunch and "Dumpling Dinner" |
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- This morning you'll fly westward from Beijing to Xian, provincial capital of Shaanxi. Following your arrival, you'll stop in at a popular Xian restaurant for lunch.
- One of your most magical memories of China may well occur this afternoon with
your tour of the Terracotta Warriors. An entire subterranean Army stands ready to defend the tomb of China's first emperor – Qin Shi Huangdi. Discovered in 1974, the site ranks with King Tut's tomb as one of the 20th century's greatest archeological finds.
- Many historians maintain that the Tang Dynasty (AD 618 – 907) represented a "Golden Age" of Chinese civilization. It was - and remains - one of the tastiest, too. A traditional Dumpling Dinner is offered this evening.
- Following dinner you'll have ample time to explore the night markets and take in the beautiful evening views of Xian's massive city wall.
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Terracotta
Warriors:
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Known
for their creative reproductions (everything from "antique"
Ming Dynasty vases to Madonna CDs, enterprising Chinese have even
arranged illegal "knock-off" exhibitions of their own
Terracotta Warriors. Unauthorized reproductions - sometimes excellent,
sometimes shoddy - have cropped up at "exhibitions" in
China, without any reference to the word "replica." Local
authorities are doing their best to crack down on these fraudulent
exhibitions.
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Travel: |
Fly to Xining |
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Cities:
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Xian
Xining |
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Highlights:
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Xian City Wall
Shaanxi History Museum
Lacquer Furniture Factory |
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Overnight:
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Yinlong Hotel |
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Meals:
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Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner |
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- Built in 1992, the Shaanxi History Museum is a treasury of provincial and Chinese history. Thousands of relics dating from prehistoric times on through the Qing Dynasty (China's last dynastic chapter) fill the world-class museum.
- One of Xian's notable attractions is its City Wall, still intact along its entire 9-mile rectangle around its former imperial palace. Over a span of some 4,000 years Xian has been the capital to 11 dynasties. Should you choose, bicycles are available for rent allowing you to travel along the top of the wall's perimeter for the finest views of this historic city.
- Following a stop at an interesting Lacquer Furniture Factory and showroom, you'll transfer to the airport for your westward flight to Xining.
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Athens. Rome. Xian.
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Most historians are in agreement that by 500 B.C., Athens had achieved the distinction as the world's most prosperous city. Five hundred years later, Rome had eclipsed Athens for the title. Yet, by 500 A.D., while Rome was being sacked by Vandals, Xian stood at its peak of power and influence - the wealthiest city in all the world.
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Travel: |
Overnight Train to Tibet |
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Cities:
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Xining |
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Highlights:
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Kumbum Monastery (Ta'er Temple)
Tu ethnic minority visit
Train to Tibet! |
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Overnight:
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Overnight on train |
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Meals:
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Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner |
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- You'll have the morning to sleep in and relax at your hotel before starting the day's activities.
- A visit to the Kumbum Monastery (Ta'er Temple) follows today's lunch. Considered one of the finest merges of Han and Tibetan architectural styles, the monastery claims over 9,000 interconnect rooms: lofty temples, hallways and spacious courtyards. The monastery's famous "butter sculptures," the "barbolas" (embossed embroidery), and the mural frescoes are truly unique.
- Later in the day you'll also pay a visit with the Tu - one of China's 55 ethnic groups. Numbering less than 200,000, the Tu speak a unique language and their traditional clothes feature distinctive embroidery and high collars.
- In the late evening, following dinner, you'll travel to the Xining train station where you'll board your Qinghai - Tibet Train. This unique, 25-hour journey will carry you across the "roof of the world." Due to the high elevations (portions of your ride include travel at altitudes hovering around 16,000 feet) your railcar's air is enriched with additional oxygen - a unique amenity of this fascinating rail journey.
- Though cabin availabilities may vary, sleeping accommodations aboard the train generally include semi-private, quad-occupancy cabins. Restroom facilities are provided within each car.
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Train to Tibet:
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"I had a terrific, truly wonderful time in China and Tibet. Let's Travel China made the experience a productive and painless one for me and all other travelers. Every day I was pleasantly reminded how our guides and other agents from your company not only informed us, but cleared away obstacles at airports and facilitated access at otherwise busy tourist venues. You guys are great!."
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-G. Chialtas. Let's Travel China Tour Participant
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Travel: |
Qinghai-Tibet Train |
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Cities:
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Lhasa |
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Highlights:
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Train to Tibet
Scenic views of Kunlun Mountains and Tibetan Plateau |
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Overnight:
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Jardin Secret Hotel (or similar) |
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Meals:
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Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner avaliable for purchase aboard the train |
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- From the windows of your train you'll see the majestic, snow-capped peaks of the Kunlun Mountains. Outside those windows lies some of the world's harshest environments: high, arid, salty plateaus with sparse vegetation. Yet the views are spectacular!
- You'll travel across miles and miles of Northern Tibet Grass, through the Kekexili Nature Preserve - home to just 16 mammal species and 30 bird species. All are acclimated to the dry, cold, high-altitude climate. Here roam snow leopards, yaks, Tibet antelope, and wild donkeys; golden eagles soar above.
- Today's journey carries you over the Tanggula Pass - traveling along the world's highest passenger railway tracks (elevation - 16,649 ft. or 5072m).
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner are available for purchase aboard your train as you travel southwest to Lhasa. Following your late evening arrival in Lhasa, you'll transfer directly to your hotel.
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Qinghai - Tibet Train:
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“… more than 960 km, or over 80% of the railway, is built at an altitude of more than 4,000 m, making it the world's highest railway. There are 675 bridges on the line totalling 159.88 km, over half the length of the railway is laid on permafrost..”
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-Source: Wikipedia–
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Cities:
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Lhasa |
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Highlights:
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Sera Monastery |
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Overnight:
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Jardin Secret Hotel (or similar) |
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Meals:
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Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner |
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- Tibet is a huge province that includes vast deserts sparsely populated by nomadic peoples. But its foothill region, framed by the magnificent Himalayas, is where you'll find the most scenic, most exotic attractions.
- Due to Lhasa's elevation (around 12,000 feet), the morning's yours to settle in, relax and acclimate to the altitude.
- In the afternoon your tour of Lhasa will begin with a visit to the Sera Monastery and its open-air "debating courtyard." Here, Tibetan monks interpret Buddhist teachings, their positions often punctuated with highly-ritualized, often loud gestures, such as hand clapping and foot stomping.
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More Lhasa?
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Would you like to learn more about Lhasa
and its attractions?
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| Click
here to read more... |
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Cities:
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Lhasa |
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Highlights:
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Potala Palace
Jokhang Temple
Barkhor Area |
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Overnight:
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Jardin Secret Hotel (or similar) |
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Meals:
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Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner |
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- Today you'll visit Tibet's most recognizable attraction: Potala Palace. It's a magnificent, hill-top structure of a thousand rooms. Once the residence of the Dalai Lama, Potala Palace is now a museum, though still used for important religious ceremonies and high-profile political events.
- The 1,300-year-old Jokhang Temple is Tibet's holiest shrine. For centuries it was the spiritual retreat for the Dalai Lamas. It's here, outside the walls of this temple, where pilgrims spin prayer wheels as they perform one of three Tibetan koras, or sacred circuits.
- The Barkhor is essentially a crowded and colorful neighborhood of shops, hawkers, teahouses and market stalls catering to visitors and devout Buddhists who perform their ritual clockwise kora around the Jokhang Temple (see above).
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Jokhang
Temple:
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“…the
Jokhang, thick with the smell of yak butter and the murmur of mantras
and bustling with awed pilgrims, is an unrivaled Tibetan experience.”
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-Lonely Planet –
Tibet. 2004
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Cities:
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Lhasa |
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Highlights:
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Yamdrok Lake
Tibetan home visit |
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Overnight:
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Jardin Secret Hotel (or similar) |
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Meals:
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Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner |
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- Today after breakfast you'll take a 2-hour scenic drive to Yamdrok Lake. Tibetan Buddhists include this pristine body of water as one of Tibet's four sacred lakes. Fed by streams running from the surrounding snow-capped, treeless mountains , Yamdrok Lake is the destination of Buddhist pilgrims; prayer flags flap in the wind above the lake.
- Weather permitting, a picnic lunch is planned for today - the perfect way to take in the serene and silent beauty of the region.
- On route back to Lhasa, you'll visit an authentic Tibetan home. The lower level typically houses the family's livestock. The next level up provides a kitchen, living and prayer areas; sleeping rooms adjoin or are located above the living areas. House exteriors are often white-washed; doorways and interiors are brightly decorated.
- This evening will be your final overnight in Tibet. Tomorrow you depart for Chengdu, in China's Sichuan Province.
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Trip of a Lifetime!
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"We had a wonderful time...things could not have gone more smoothly. The guides were great and the hotels were top rate. This was a trip of a lifetime for us."
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- The Kaeli family. Let's Travel China Tour Participants
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Travel: |
Fly to Chengdu |
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Cities:
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Lhasa
Chengdu |
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Highlights:
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Free Morning
"Hot-Pot" Dinner
Sichuan Opera (optional) |
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Overnight:
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Tibet Hotel, Chengdu |
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Meals:
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Breakfast and "Hot Pot" Dinner |
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- Your morning is free for optional activities: shopping, touring or simply relaxing and enjoying the mountain views.
- A late-afternoon flight from Lhasa to Chengdu is scheduled.
- Your dinner tonight features the Sichuan-style "Hot-Pot" cuisine - a savory balance of sweet, sour and spicy - delivering a distinctive numbing sensation!
- Following dinner you'll have the evening option of taking in a Sichuan Opera performance at one of Chengdu's fine teahouses.
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On Destinations...
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"One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things."
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- Henry Miller
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Travel: |
Fly to Shanghai |
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Cities:
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Chengdu
Shanghai |
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Highlights:
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Giant Panda Breeding and Research Ctr.
Bund & Pudong district
Farewell Dinner |
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Overnight:
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Hotel Pullman Shanghai Skyway |
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Meals:
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Breakfast, Lunch and Farewell Dinner |
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- It was in Chengdu where the world's first paper currency was printed, but today the city is most famous for its Giant Panda Breeding Research Center, located just a few miles from town. There's no doubt that this will be yet another highlight of your tour because you'll not only see Pandas, you may even see Baby Pandas! This is not just a zoo, as offered on some tours, but an actual habitat and breeding center for this endangered species (and the just-as-cute Red Pandas live here, too). Your morning visit coincides with feeding time - the best time to see the Pandas as it's when they're most active.
- In the early afternoon you'll fly east to Shanghai, China's commercial dynamo. There's time to tour the city's Western-style Bund neighborhood and time for some shopping, too. Shanghai was a minor county seat until the British arrived in the mid-19th century, lured by the potential wealth of untapped trade markets. Across the river soars Pudong, the skyscraper, neon-lit skyline of postcard fame.
- A special evening is planned for tonight: a delicious Farewell Dinner!
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| ...add on Suzhou! |
| Suzhou and its gorgeous gardens remains one of China's must-sees. |
| Click
here to read more... |
| Would you like to add on Suzhou to your tour? Call a Tour Specialist
for details. |
| 661-272-3767 |
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Travel: |
Departure from Shanghai |
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Cities:
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Shanghai |
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Highlights:
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Shanghai Maglev Train transfer
Farewells! |
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Overnight:
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N/A |
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Meals:
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Breakfast |
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- Depending on your flight plans, you may have time for some last-minute shopping in nearby shops and markets. Your Tour Escort can offer money-saving suggestions.
- If your return flight schedule permits, today you'll "fly" to Shanghai's international airport aboard the world's fastest commercial train: the Shanghai Maglev! Speeding at up to 430 kph (almost 270 mph) it'll make easy work of your airport transfer!
Shanghai is hosting the World Expo 2010 from May thorugh October (May 1 - Oct. 31, 2010). It is a scheduled World Expo in the tradition of international fairs and expositions. The theme of the exposition will be "Better City – Better Life" and signifies Shanghai's new status in the 21st century as a major economic and cultural center. We will offer packages that include extended stays in Shanghai as well as admission tickets to the Expo. |
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Shanghai Maglev:
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"The doors shut, and the train accelerates like a skyscraper elevator, silently, smoothly, and rapidly, and by the time the last car leaves the station you already seem to be going 50 miles per hour. Four minutes of gravity-simulator-style acceleration later...you reach the peak speed of 270 miles per hour for the tiny 20-mile run."
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- Henry Blodget - Slate.
March 21, 2005
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| Single Supplement:
Add $1090 to above prices
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3rd Guest (age 9 to 12) Land + Air:
70% of Land Only price, plus applicable Air cost
3rd Guest (age 9 to 12) Land Only: 70% of Land Only price
3rd Guest (age 12+) Land + Air:
85% of Land Only price, plus applicable Air cost
3rd Guest (age 12+) Land Only: 85% of Land Only price
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*Land + Air: Land + Air prices include all tour features as noted below in “All-Inclusive Pricing” as well as Roundtrip International Air Travel from Los Angeles (or selected departure city, where applicable and available) to/from China. In all cases prices are subject to change without notice due to airline seat availability.
*Land Only: Land Only prices include all tour features as noted below in “All-Inclusive Pricing.” Please note that Land Only prices include all travel within China as noted in the tour’s Trip Itinerary.
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All prices listed above are quoted in
USD, per person, and based on double occupancy. Single Supplement prices are shown above.
Prices are subject to change without notice and are capacity controlled.
"ALL-INCLUSIVE Pricing" includes: Tour Gratuities for guide services (Tour Manager, City Guides, Drivers, and Baggage Handling); Accommodations; Meals as noted in Trip Details; Admission fees to attractions as noted in Trip Details; Air, Train & Motorcoach travel within China as noted in Trip Details; Airport Transfers in Beijing on arrival and Shanghai on departure (provided transfers dates coincide with tour “Departs On” or “Returns On” dates or if transfer dates coincide with pre-tour or post-tour hotel extension purchased through Let’s Travel China); Tour Guide services; Air Taxes and Fees.
Not Included: Above prices do not include Excess Baggage Fees; Travel Passports or Visas; Expenses of a personal nature; Airport Transfers in Beijing and Shanghai which do not coincide with tour “Departs On” or “Returns On” dates or pre-tour or post-tour hotel extensions purchased through Let’s Travel China. Airport Transfers not otherwise included are available for purchase at $40.00 per person per transfer.
Terms & Conditions: Click here to view
standard Terms & Conditions.
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