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• Escorted Small Groups
• Private / Tailor-made Packages

A Simple Joy of Life ... Shangri-La & Tibet

Tour Itinerery

Day 1: UK - Shanghai

Our adventure begins as we board our non-stop China Eastern Airline at London Heathrow to Shanghai. (Regional departure available - please ask for details).
* Optional pre-tour Beijing & Xian available

Day 2: Shanghai

Morning arrival in Shanghai. Relax and freshen up in your hotel before embarking on a city orientation tour including the Jade Buddha Temple, the historic Bund, and the Old French Concession.
Accommodation: Rendezvous Hotel

Day 3: Shanghai - Kunming

After taking a morning flight to Kunming, we will first stop for a bite of lunch at 1915, a restaurant famed for being the place where plans were made to reinstate an emperor back on the throne of China. Later this afternoon we will take our first forage into Yunnan's rich and beautiful countryside to visit the Dragon's Gate.
Accommodation: 5* Kai Wah Plaza Hotel

Day 4: Kunming

Today we journey through an immense collection of ancient limestone stalagmite like peaks which mother nature has patiently been eroding away for the last 200 million years and whose battered features have been given such evocative names such as "Piece of thread Sky" and "Sword Peak". This is China's famous Stone Forest, home of the Sani minority.

Day 5: Kunming - Dali

After a leisurely breakfast we will take the short flight to Dali where on the way into the city we will stop to take pictures of Dali's landmark Three Pagodas. Having enjoyed lunch at a local restaurant, we find ourselves gently cruising the green jade waters of Erhai Lake. Our destination is Guanyin Zhonghe Pavillion, a place of heavenly solitude.
Accommodation: 4* Dali Landscape Hotel

Day 6: Dali

This morning a short coach ride through this rich fertile land will set the scenario for today. A scenic cable car ride up to a viewing terrace high up in the Cangshan Mountain gives you a bird's eye view as you gaze down at Lake Erhai's green jade waters.
We have left your afternoon free so that you can wander amidst cobbled lanes of this beautiful and ancient walled city at your own pace.

Day 7: Dali

After a relaxed breakfast we will depart on our next adventure. Our first stop is the morning market at the ancient Bai village of Xizhou. This is true rural China where local farmers come each morning to sell there wares and socialize with their neighbours. Afterwards we will visit a courtyard home. These dwellings are some of these finest examples of 17th & 18th century Bai architecture and are now world heritage listed.
After another relaxing journey through gorgeous countryside we will arrive in Lijiang, jewel of Yunnan province, whose timeless heart has also been recognized as a World Cultural Heritage Site. Here lies Black Dragon Pond, a place abundant with lush fragrant trees. Dinner tonight will be in one of our favourite restaurants.
Accommodation: 4* Lijiang Grand Hotel

Day 8: Lijiang

Another exciting day is in prospect as we head towards Jade Dragon Snowy Mountain, the journey is full of intense interest and as we board the chair lift from Yak Meadow the scenery is spell binding. To enhance this feeling a step further we arrange a sumptuous BBQ lunch of Yak meat & Roasted Suckling Pig taken in one of the tented hostelries with a spectacular view.
Back to Lijiang, you will have a leisurely afternoon enabling you to wander around this heritage city at your own pace.

Day 9: Lijiang - Shangri-La

Driving through Yunnan's lush countryside is always fascinating. En-route will stop to admire the "First Bend of Yangtze", and after taking lunch by the river, the spectacular "Tiger Leaping Gorge" whose crashing tumbling water roars through one of the deepest gorges in the world.
Later we arrive in the picturesque setting believed to be the inspiration of the mythical Shangri-La described in James Hilton's novel "The Lost Horizon", where you will have the evening to relax after this tiring but memorable day.
Accommodation: 4* Shangri-La Gyal Thang Dzong Hotel

Day 10: Lhasa

This morning we will take an early flight to Lhasa, a focal point for millions of devout Buddhist pilgrimages. After lunch at a restaurant in the heart of Lhasa's old town you will have the rest of the afternoon to relax and acclimatize to your new environment on the top of the world!
Accommodation: 5* Lhasa Brahamaputra

Day 11: Lhasa

Divine, mystical and incredibly intimate - the Jokhang Temple is the spiritual center of Tibet. As we probe into holiest of sanctums we will find the most precious object in Tibet, the original gold stature of Sakyamuni-the Buddha of compassion and founder of the Buddhist faith.
Outside once more we will spend a little time on the sacred Barkhor Pilgrim Circuit where a continual clockwise stream of pilgrims walk, crawl or lay continually prostrate as they slowly make their way to the temple.
Just north of Lhasa, lies the Sera Monastery. During the afternoon this is where we will find the noble art of "Scriptures Debating" as monks prepare for their monastic exams by staging mock debates whilst either sitting cross-legged under the trees, or moving from group to group emphasizing their points by vigerously claping their hands. A somewhat surreal spectacle and one not to be missed.....

Day 12: Lhasa

This morning we will explore the winter residence of the Dalai Lamas at Potala Palace. After a bite of lunch we will lighten our step and visit the Norbulingka, or Jeweled Park - with mixture of fragrant flowers, grasses and trees it was a place of relaxation & meditation and some of the traditional architecture of their individual palace homes hides some surprisingly modern facilities. Not to be missed is a splendid mural depicting Tibetan history from its foundation to the present day.

Day 13: Lhasa - Gyantse

This morning journey takes us away from sprawling Lhasa and into an extraordinary high plateau landscape. Beauteous to behold, with a clarity that is almost infinite and with a quality of light that is any photographers' dream. This morning takes us to the Kam Bala La Pass at a staggering height of 1563ft. From here we get a panoramic view of the icy blue green waters of Yamdrok Lake before dopping down to follow it's shores as it leads us to Gyantse and our well deserved lunch stop.
Once home to wealthy merchant family, and now the best preserved Noble's house in Tibet, Pala Manor has many hidden delights. This afternoon we will visit many of its original rooms that have been lovely restored with period materials and furniture so that we can gain a real insight into how a noble Tibetan family lived in the early 1900's.
Accommodation: 3* Gyantse Hotel

Day 14: Shigatse

Today takes us first to the incredibly crisp zig zag architecture of the Kumbum Stupa, the spectacular centre piece of the Palkhor Chode Monastery. Looking more like a legendary lost city of the Incas, the golden roofed Tashilunpo Monastery glitters in the high plateau sunlight. This most revered and influential monastery, located at the foot of Drolmari Mountain, dates back to 1477. With about 800 lama monks still residing behind its walls, it is perhaps even more renowned for containing the world's most precious statues of Maitreya (the Future Buddha).
Accommodation: 3* Shigatse Hotel

Day 15: Shigatse - Lhasa

This morning, before heading back towards Lhasa, we will visit the Kumbum Monastery which stands on the very place Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelukpa sect, was born in 1357. To explain just how significant a figure he is even today, two of his disciples from this region went on to become famous in the Buddhist world, one becoming Dalai Lama, the other the Panchen Lama, both living Buddhas. Even the present Dalai Lama, now in exile in India, studied and lived here. On a somewhat lighter note as we as containing a total of around 20,000 religious paintings and embroideries within its walls, it is also famous for its numerous yak butter sculptures....

No trip would ever be complete to a new country or culture if you didn't really get to know people. This afternoon and evening will give you an excellent opportunity to explore what local village life is really like. Tibetan culture is based on openness, generosity and a simple joy of life rarely seen in today's modern materialist world. After strolling around the grassy tracks between simple yet aesthetically pleasing house with their brightly painted entrances we will sit down to a relaxing traditionally cooked meal with a local family.

Day 16: Lhasa - Shanghai

Our late morning flight takes us to Shanghai. The rest of the day is at your leisure giving you the opportunity to further explore the city or perhaps indulge yourself in some serious shopping. As always your tour manager will be on hand to assist you.

Day 17: Shanghai - UK

Today bid a fond farewell to China as we board our return flight home. Arrival is scheduled for the same afternoon.

For those of you who would like to extend your holiday, we offer various optional extension choices to Beijing, Sanya, Hong Kong, and etc. - please ask for details.

Tour Price includes:

• Escorted holiday with English speaking guides (plus Tour Manager throughout for size above 12)
• Return international flight with China Eastern
• 15 nights hotel accommodation as listed above
• Daily breakfast and most lunches & dinners - 15 breakfast, 15 lunch/refreshment, 8 dinner
• Tour programs as mentioned including entrance fee
• Domestic flights and land transportation
• Airport taxes and service charges
• Tibet travel permit

Tour Price exclude:

• Chinese visa fee (£40 inc. embassy fee)
• Travel insurance
• Gratuities to tour manager/guide

Extension Options

Dates	Price (per person)	Availability
September 19	£2,380	Booked out
October 9	£2,380	Good	Book