14 days' tour from xining to chengdu with Jyekundo horse race festival

Xining – Jyekundo – Derge – Palyul - Ganzi – Luhuo - Tagong - Rilong – Wolong – Chengdu

to be private tour

D01 (July 22): Xining to Mardo                                     B/L/D            Mardo Government Guesthouse
Leave Xining city around 730AM after breakfasts, drive directly to Mardoo, set up tripods to shoot pretty pictures at Mardo Yellow River bridge- the first bridge over Yellow River

D02 (July 23): Mardo to Jyekundo (Yushu city)            B/L/D            Yushu Xibeiniu Hotel
Drive around 7 hours to reach Jyekundo (Yushu); on the way, drive over the Bayanka-Lha mountain pass (5249M)
yushu is the political and economic center to Yushu prefecture. Before going into Yushu town, visit Gyanha Mani stone piles

At Jyekundo, Yushu Xibeiniu Hotel,               TEL: 0976-8824399;                ADD: JieguTown, Yushu

D03 (July 24): Yushu sightseeing (Jykundo)                B/L/D            Yushu Xibeiniu Hotel
Sightseeing in and around Jyekundo. Visit Dangkha monastery and Litang monastery at Litang village

D04 (July 25): Yushu horse racing festival                   B/L/D            Yushu Xibeiniu Hotel
Join the festival celebration and participate in the local activities.

D05 (July 26): Yushu horse racing festival                   B/L/D            Yushu Xibeiniu Hotel
In the morning, go and still join the festival and celebrating activities.
In the afternoon, festival sightseeing and visit Temple to Princess Wencheng.

D06 (July 27): Yushu to Seashuel to Dzochen monastery  B/L/D                          Camping
Leaving Yushu early morning, visit Seashuel monastry before arriving in Seashuel townShiqu.
Then go on driving toward Manigange. Before arriving in Manigange, you go and visit Dzochen monastery and Dzochen Five sciences Academy of Buddhism Study.

D07 (July 28): Dzochen monastery to Manigange to Derge         B/L/D    Derge Cholha hotel
Drive over Cholha mountains to get to Derge, Derge is said to be the home of Khambha people and the birth palce of King Gesar, the legendary hero of Kham people. At Manigange, visit Xinlu lake (4040M), close to the lake is the base camp for climbing Cholha mountain
At Derge, visit the famous Derge printing house and Gengqing monastery; these two visits are close to each other, no more than 5 minutes walk between.

D08 (July 29): Derge to Baiyu                               B/L/D            Baiyu hotel or camping
Today, you can leave Derge early, because the most pretty time for photo taking on this highland is in the morning and in the late afternoon; in that time period, you can avoid strong sunshine and hot weather.
On the way to Baiyu, you go and visit Katoc monastry (Gatuo Si) at Hepo village and Barbang monastery (Ba Bang Si). In July, the road to these two monasteries will be very hard.
When you get to Baiyu, if time allowed, you can go and visit Baiyu monastery for photo taking
Baiyu town is built along the river, the view is marvelous. On your way down to Baiyu from Derge, you will be driving along the famous JinshajiangRiver, the upper reach of yangtse river.

D09 (July 30): Baiyu to Ganzi                               B/L/D            Ganzi Khamba Hotel
In the morning, you go out for photo taking, the driver can send you to place where you like to take pictures. Then you drive to Ganzi. On your way to Ganzi, you will drive over grand rocky mountains and see beautiful small lakes scattered on the highland. Upon your arrival in Ganzi, you will be sent to pay a visit to Ganzi monastry and take photos at Ganzi monastery, which overlooks the city. Between your hotel and the monastery are huge stretched villages and house built by old style.

D10 (July 31): Ganzi to Daofu to Tagong                     B/L/D                                 Camping
Leaving Ganzi in the morning, on the way to Tagong, you pass by Luhuo and Daofu, there is a monastery at Luhuo town, but it will take about 1 hour to reach it; at Daofu, you can see white pagodas in the countryside.
Tagong is a very interesting and pretty place, where you can visit Tagong monastery (Sakyapa order) and watch snow capped mountains and shining Tajin temple.

D11 (Aug. 01): Tagong to Rilong town                  B/L/D            4* Siguniangshan Hotel
Drive to Rilong, on the way, you can pay a visit to Local tower-style buildings at Danba.
In the sunset time, we go to Guozhuangpin for picture shooting; Guozhuangpin is the best place for see the 4 peaks of Mt.Siguniangs

4* Siguniang Intl. Hotel;            TEL: 0837-2791999;                 ADD: RilongTown, Xiaojin county

D12 (Aug. 02): Rilong                                           B/L/D            4* Siguniangshan Hotel
Today, you go and visit Shuangqiaogou valley or select to visit Haizigou valley.

D13 (Aug. 03): Rilong to Wolong to Chengdu             B/L/D            4* Amaral hotel or 4* Tibet hotel
After taking photos, you drive to Wolong, where you have the lunch and visit the panda feeding center;
Wolong is the biggest panda feeding and research center in the wild in China
After Wolong, there is another 160 kilometers drive; Between Wolong and Chengdu downtown city is Dujiangyan, where a water project is famous through the world for its history and its lasting function on irrigating farmland since its construction in 250 B.C.; till this year, it has been over 2250 years old. You can decide to visit this water project or not.
In late afternoon, you get to Chengdu, check into the booked hotel. Then you are free to arrange your time or ask for other service in the rest of the day. Generally, we will get to Chengdu downtown area around 1600PM
We arrange you local famous foods and local snacks.

4* Amara Hotel;                 TEL: 028-86922233;                 ADD: 2, Taisheng Bei Rd, Chengdu, Sichuan
WEB: http://www.amarahotels.com

D14 (Aug. 04): Chengdu to Beijing or Shanghai   B    
Today you fly to Shanghai or Beijing in the morning, you can connect your flight at Shanghai or Beijing in late afternoon or at night.

Tour price is: USD1750.00 per person (excluding China domestic flights and international flights)