Day 1 Arrive Beijing （D）Upon arrival in Beijing, you are met at the airport by professional English speaking guide and transferred to hotel by private transport. The rest of the day is at your leisure to recover from jet legs.

Summer Palace: Much-loved summer retreat of the Imperial families of China, the lovely landscaped gardens, halls, pavilions and corridors are set around the lake and rivers in natural harmony. You spend a few hours here. Renovations (complete in 2010) mean that an individual section or building may be closed at any one time, but this is a huge site. Wear good walking shoes and protection from the weather.

Beijing Hutong Tour: A maze of historic alleyways and old single storey traditional courtyard houses, now fast disappearing. Dotted around the hutong are the Drum and Bell Towers, Kindergarten, Tea Houses, and local people's houses.

Meals: (B) Buffet breakfast (L) local Chinese restaurant (D)
Overnight at Beijing Qianmen Jianguo Hotel or similar.

Day 2 Beijing (B/L/D)
Highlights: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven

The Forbidden City: The Imperial Palace, home to 24 Emperors between 1420 and 1911. Great squares, halls and gates contrast with the intricate networks of side halls, gardens, courtyards and quarters for those who lived in this 'city within a city'. The exhibitions, both permanent and temporary, are also absolutely fascinating. Expect to spend at least 2-3 hours, wear good walking shoes and protection from the weather.

The Tian'anmen Square: The world's largest city square and enduring symbol of China's national pride, surrounded by many imposing buildings including the Heavenly Gate (entry to the Forbidden City), Museums, government buildings and Chairman Mao's Mausoleum.

Temple of Heaven: One of the most famous sites in Beijing, this is Ming architecture at its best: beautiful, controlled, and highly symbolic. The surrounding gardens are full of interesting activity, particularly weekend mornings. Wear good walking shoes and protection from the weather.

Meals: (B) Buffet breakfast (L) local Chinese restaurant (D) Enjoy the famous Peking Roasted Duck dinner. Then we will go to watch an entertaining Acrobat show.  

Day 3 Beijing (B/L/D)
Highlights: the Great Wall, the Ming Tombs and the Sacred Way

Sacred Way (Ming Tombs): Is an attractive tree-lined walk which leads to the Ming Tombs, this is bordered by 12 sets each of animal and human statues, and includes the attractive Great Red Gate, housing a stele on the back of a tortoise, and marble memorial archway.

Great Wall, Mutianyu: This less-crowded section of the Great Wall is a pleasant drive 90km NE of Beijing. A cable car can take you to (avoiding a very steep climb), where you can walk along the wall, through the watch towers and enjoy superb views as it snakes across the hills and mountains. You can return by cable car, walk down or walk along the wall for about an hour. Wear good walking shoes and protection from the weather.

Meals: (B) Buffet breakfast (L) local Chinese restaurant (D) Dinner

Day 4 Beijing/Lhasa (B/L/D) transfer to the airport for flight to Lhasa. On landing in Lhasa you will be transferred to the finest hotel in the city. To ensure that you will have a good appetite to adapt to the high altitude of the region, we arrange an a la carte dinner at a one of the best local Sichuan restaurant.

Meals: (B) Buffet breakfast (L) local Chinese restaurant (D) Sichuan restaurant

Day 5: Lhasa(B/L/D) Today you will visit the vast and magnificent Potala Palace. After a western-style lunch, visit the Sera Monastery and a typical Tibetan family. Tonight while having dinner, you will be entertained with an unforgettable Tibetan dance and fashion show performed by a small group of Tibetan people.

Potala Palace:  Originally built by King Songtsen Gampo in the seventh century, Potala Palace is located on the Red Hill of Lhasa, Tibet. Destroyed by lightning and war, Potala Palace had been rebuilt by the Fifth Dalai Lama in 1645. Since then, Potala Palace has become the seat of Dalai Lamas and also the political center of Tibet.

Sera Monastery:  The monastery is magnificent and covers an area of 114,946 square meters (28 acres). Its main buildings are the Coqen Hall, Zhacang (college) and Kamcun (dormitory). Scriptures written in gold powder, fine statues, scent cloth and unparalleled murals can be found in these halls. Colorful debates on Buddhist doctrines are held here and these employ a style distinctive from those at Lhasa's other famous monasteries.

Meals: (B) Buffet breakfast (L) local Chinese restaurant (D) Dinner

Day 6 Lhasa(B/L/D) Continuing your tour, you will visit the Jokhang Temple and the Barkhor Street, where you will meet many pilgrims in procession prostrating along the street. Then you will visit the Tibetan Traditional Medicine Hospital. After having a western-style lunch, you will pay a visit to the Norbulingka Park, which is the Summer Place of Dalai Lamas. Dinner of this evening will be served at your hotel.

Jokhang Temple: The Jokhang Temple was built on the former site of a lake. According to the legend, the lake site was chosen after many failed attempts to build a temple in the region. Prior to this, every time a temple was built, it would collapse. Confused by this phenomenon, Princess Bhrikuti turned to Wen Cheng for help. Being a learned woman, Wen Cheng told the Princess that the geography of Tibet was very much like a hag, with the lake at the heart. In order to build the temple, Wen Cheng advised they must demolish the hag by filling and leveling the lake using 1,000 sheep to carry soil from a mountain far away. When the temple was done, it was called Ra-Sa-Vphrul-Snang ('ra' meaning sheep and 'sa' meaning earth in Tibetan) to commemorate those sheep.

Whether the legend is true or not, this temple brought Buddhism into Tibet and became an inseparable part of Tibetan history and culture. The city of Ra-Sa grew around the temple and over time, become known as Lhasa, a holy land.

Barkhor: For tourists, Barkhor Street is a magical place showing the original outlook of Lhasa. The street was paved by hand-polished stone boards. Though it is not broad, it accommodates thousands of tourists every day. Varied shops stand on both sides of the street and thousands of floating stands are on every corner. Most of them offer the prayer wheels, long-sleeve 'chuba' (the Tibetan people's traditional clothes), Tibetan knives and some religious articles for sale. Furthermore, some shops sell 'Thangka' (the Tibetan scroll painting), which is a unique art of Tibet with the themes of religion, history, literature, science and customs. Surprisingly, there are some articles from India and Nepal in this street as well.

Meals: (B) Buffet breakfast (L) local Chinese restaurant (D) Dinner

Day 7 Lhasa/Shanghai (B/L/D) Fly to Shanghai via Chengdu. You will connect the flight at Chengdu airport by yourselves. Pick you up at Shanghai airport and transfer to the hotel.

Day 8: Shanghai(B/L/D) Qibao Old Town, the Shanghai Museum, the Yuyuan Garden and the Bund.

Highlights: the "Bund" , Nanjing Road and Shanghai Old Town,  Jade Buddha Temple, Yu Garden, Shanghai Museum and Oriental Pearl Tower.

The Bund: This spot in the city is home to a myriad of European-styled buildings that face the Huangpu River. Home to chic restaurants and shopping opportunities, the Bund is a must-see site when visiting Shanghai. Architectural styles include gothic, baroque, Romanesque, and renaissance. Being the most imposing spectacle in Shanghai, the Bund has been seen as the embodiment of Shanghai for a long time.

Nanjing Road: Shanghai's main shopping street, known as "the No.1 commercial street of China", also one of the most prosperous streets in Asia. Like a lying dragon shining day and night, stretching from the Bund east towards Hongqiao, with People's Square in the middle. - Narrow streets and alleys, traditional Chinese stores, restaurants selling delicious dumplings, this is the original pre war Shanghai. It is also called Chinatown or Nanshi.

Shanghai Museum: The biggest museum in China, with a collection of over 120,000 pieces of Chinese art & cultural relics. The museum is especially famous for its treasures of bronzes, ceramics, paintings, and calligraphy.- In 1882, an old temple was built to keep two jade Buddha statues that had been brought from Burma by a monk named Huigen. The temple was destroyed during the revolution that overthrew the Qing Dynasty. Fortunately the jade Buddha statues were saved and a new temple was built on the present site in 1928. It was named the Jade Buddha Temple.

Yuyuan Garden: A traditional Chinese park decorated by beautiful pavilions, miniature lakes, bridges and rock formations. Yuyuan Garden is not only a famous classical garden in South China, but also a major historic and cultural site under state protection. - Shanghai Museum: The biggest museum in China, with a collection of over 120,000 pieces of Chinese art & cultural relics. The museum is especially famous for its treasures of bronzes, ceramics, paintings, and calligraphy.

Oriental Pearl TV Tower: Standing by the Huangpu River with 468 meters high, Oriental Pearl TV Tower is the highest TV Tower in Asia (up to the last floor to see Shanghai scenery).It is a new landmark of Shanghai in 21st century.

Meals: (B) Buffet breakfast (L) local Chinese restaurant (D) Dinner
Options: Acrobatic Show
Overnight at Shanghai Hengsheng Peninsula International or similar.

Day 9 Shanghai/Departure (B) Buffet breakfast at hotel. Transfer to the airport for flight onward.