Upon arrival Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, also considered the cultural hub of Southwest China. Met and transferred to your hotel. The rest of the day remains free to recover jetlag.

This morning you visit the Panda Breeding Centre and get up close and personal with the cuddly creatures. This afternoon you can experience the relaxing life by visiting a local teahouse. You might see people chatting, playing cards and Mah-jong. This evening you can enjoy the Changing Mask show.

This morning you board your flight to Lhasa. Upon arrival in Gongar Airport, the highest airport in the world, you are met and driven 100km to the city of Lhasa, capital of Tibet. The rest of the day is at leisure and get ready to explore the roof of the world.

Today you visit Sera Monastery, one of the three largest monasteries in Tibet, enshrined in the monastery are over 10,000 golden copper Buddhist statues, the holy prayer scripture written in cinnabar, and other treasures. Next you visit to the Tibet Museum, the largest cultural facility in this ethnic autonomous region with a huge collection of art treasures. Later this afternoon, you visit Norbulingka, the summer palace for the Dalai Lama.

Today you visit Potala Palace, the winter palace of the Dalai Lama since the 7th century. It symbolises Tibetan Buddhism and its central role in the traditional administration in Tibet. Next is a visit to the Jokhang Temple, which is an exceptional Buddhist religious complex. It is the spiritual centre of Tibet. The temple is a combination of Han, Tibetan and Nepalese architectural techniques. Then onto Barkhor Street, which is an old and traditional shopping street in the centre of Lhasa. It is also a place where Tibetan culture, economy, religion and arts assemble and a place to which a visit must be paid.

Today you drive 360 km from Lhasa via the beautiful turquoise Yamdrok Lake to Gyangtse. Here you can view some of the beautiful scenery along the way. You stay overnight in Gyangtse.

You visit Kunbum Stupa & Pelkor Chode Monastery. Drive 90 km to Shigatse. This afternoon you take a tour to The Tashilunpo Monastery, residence of Panchan Lamas.

While driving back to Lhasa along the Bramaputra River, you visit a Tibetan family on the way.

This afternoon you are transferred to train station and board your train for Beijing. Overnight on the train in a four sharing compartment (soft sleeper). You can buy your meals in the dining car. ABOVE THE CLOUDS, A MODERN MIRACLE • The Railway runs 1970km from Lhasa to Xi Ning, the first even railway in Tibet. • It is the highest railway line in the world, reaching 5072m at its highest point on the Tibetan plateau. • The Railway work began in 2001, 7 tunnels and 286 bridges have been created along the line. The longest tunnel is 3km and the longest bridge spans almost 12km. • The Railway is a modern-day miracle, a train that zigzags through perilous mountains and some of the world’s most forbidding terrain to climb more than 4km above the sea level. • Its 1260km of track crosses nearly 643km of permanently frozen earth which experts had deemed impossible to traverse by rail. Now a dream comes true!

On the train.

Arrive into Beijing at 8am, met and transferred to your hotel. The rest of the day remains free.

Today is at leisure. You are transferred to the airport for the flight bound to Australia.

Arrive in Australia in the morning.