There are four overland routes to Lhasa China tour deals from the four cardinal directions. Two will not be discussed here:

from the South, from India, via Nepal
from the north-west, from Kashgar in Xinjiang
For more on those, and on the routes below, see the Tibet article and the Tibetan journeys itinerary.

What we will describe here are routes from central China:

by rail, using the new Qinghai-Tibet railway, the world's highest railway line, with oxygen pump into the cabin
by road from the north, starting at Golmud, Qinghai
by road from the east, from Kunming, Yunnan or from Chengdu, Sichuan (The Tibet Tea Road) — see more out-of-the-way places
overland to Zhongdian, then fly to Lhasa — see a lot without blowing the budget
by land or air from Kathmandu (Nepal)

For any route, you need travel permits for each area you visit. The Chinese government restricts access to Tibet; in theory, you can only get a permit as part of an organized tour group. In practice, some tour operators will take your money, get you the permit, and be happy if you go off on your own. Also, some local police stations will happily issue permits for their area, sometimes cheaper than the tour operators. For details, see the Tibet article. Some travelers have gone without the permits, some have gotten away with it, but this no longer possible or advised. If you are caught you will be detained, fined and sent back at your own expense. Still you can go there as a single traveller, but only "organized".

For any route, you need to consider the risks of altitude sickness. Lhasa is at 3660 meters (12,000 feet). Most of the passes and some inhabited plateau areas are over 5000 meters (16,500 feet).

By rail

The Qinghai-Tibet Tibet Tours railway connects Golmud and Lhasa. Golmud is in Qinghai, a Chinese province north of Tibet, also located on the Tibetan plateau, with a large part of the population ethnically Tibetan and with historical links to the region.

This is the highest railway on earth, running at over 5000 meters above sea level in many places. The carriages are specially designed to help passengers avoid altitude sickness. Contrary to popular belief, the carriages are not pressurized. It is possible to open the train windows en-route and the train stops at many high altitude stations with no pressurization/de-pressurization before the train doors open. The air is oxygen-enriched by outlets in the carriages. If that is not enough, you can plug a nasal catheter into an outlet for a more concentrated dose. Few passengers require these, but they are available if you do.

The train has different classes of travel — soft sleeper (4 berths in one compartment), hard sleeper (6 berths in one compartment) and hard seat (standard railway seating). In each carriage information about the journey is displayed on scrolling LED displays. This contains much information in Chinese and in English. It is possible to find out the current speed, time and date, altitude and next station information.

Each carriage has an attendant who is responsible for the boarding of that carriage and the passengers within it. There is also a restaurant car serving food and drink and frequent trolley services for food and other essentials throughout the train. Every train also carries a doctor and nurse.

One noticeable problem with the sleeper carriages is that there are only two toilets (one Western and one Chinese) in each carriage. These are not only very busy but also get very dirty as the journey progresses. You are advised also to take your own toilet paper. In addition to this there is barely enough room for luggage. Passengers often have to sleep with their suitcases on their beds if they are too large to fit under the beds or in the over-corridor area linked to each compartment.

The railway connects via Golmud to the main Chinese rail system. You can get tickets all the way to Lhasa from major Chinese cities — at least Beijing, ShanghaiShopping in China, Chongqing and Guangzhou, perhaps others. It's worth noting that on the Chongqing route, at least 24 hours of the 48 hour journey are spent traveling north to join the main Beijing to Golmud line.

Line speeds average around 100 to 120 km/h, certainly from Golmud to Lhasa, making the journey interesting but also laborious.

On arrival at Lhasa you should have your tickets ready for inspection at the barriers. Also watch out for the taxi drivers who insist on charging a fixed rate per vehicle (despite number of occupants) of Y100 for the journey into Lhasa center. They can also become quite irate if you do not use their car! Its best to try and get 4 people together to split the cost (Y25 each) - but its still a rip off as standard fares in Lhasa start at Y5 and then Y1.8 per km. The journey to a central Lhasa hotel should cost no more than Y20. You could also reach Golmud via routes described in Silk Road and Along the Yellow river.

By road from Xining

It is also possible to reach Lhasa by road from Golmud, either by bus or hitchhiking. Combined with a train to Golmud, this is probably the cheapest route from central China into Tibet, and the one with the fewest hassles about permits. The journey takes about 30 hours.

You could also reach Golmud via routes described in Silk Road and Along the Yellow river Yangtze River tour.

Qinghai-Tibet Road II: Xining, Qinghai - Yushu - Nangqen - Riwoq, Tibet - Dengqen - Baqen - Nagqu - - Lhasa

The so-called "Tang-Bo Ancient Road" is an alternative of Qinghai-Tibet Road from Golmud to Lhasa. During China's Tang Dynasty, Princess Wencheng took this road to marry Songts?n Gampo, the thirty-third king of the Yarlung Dynasty of Tibet

By road from Kathmandu

he overland from Kathmandu to Lhasa or from Lhasa to Kathmandu is probably the best known overland itinerary. The road distance of roughly 1000 km is full of stunning views from the subtropical climate of the southside of the Himalayas to passing Everest and other 8000 m peaks. Altitude sickness is a real issue , since you sleep higher than Lhasa from the very first night until arriving in Lhasa. En route are many important cultural and religious sites and monasteries.

The Sacred Way is the seven kilometers spirit path outside the Imperial Changling Mausoleum affordable China tours. On both sides of the path are 18 pairs of marble life-size figures lined up in exact opposite position. Three of these figures are human statues and six are animal figures. These are lions, xie zhi (a mythical beast with a mane and horn on its head), camels, elephants, horses, and Qilin (an imaginary divine animal with a scaly body, a deer’s hooves, a cow’s tail, and has horn on its head). All stone figures are carved in 4’s. Two of each animal are in kneeling position and two are in standing which signify various meaning. They served as the guardians of the imperial tombs all day and night.

Leading to the imperial tombs China shopping is a slightly curved path which showed four military officials’ statues, four civil officials and four meritorious officials. The zigzag path was designed to fool the evil spirit. At the end of the spirit path is a marble archway built during the 19th year of Jia Jing supremacy in 1540. It is twenty-nine meters wide, supported by six marble pillars and has five arches. The massive pedestals are decorated with carved dragons and clouds. On top of each pedestal is a stone animal.

There are thirteen imperial tombs of the Ming Dynasty scattered on the forty square kilometers in Changping District. The first tomb was built in 1409 during the reign of Emperor Yong Le for himself. The site at the foot of Tianshuo Mountain was auspicious for imperial burial as approved by his diviners. They found it scenic and peaceful, a perfect spot for a resting place China tour videos. Other tombs are from Emperor Ren Zong (Zhu Gaozhi) of Xianling, Emperor Xuan Zong (Zhu Zhanji) of Jingling, Emperor Ying Zong (Zhu Qizhen) of Yuling, Emperor Xian Zong (Zhu Jianshen) of Maoling, Emperor Xiao Zong (Zhu Youtang) of Tailing, Emperor Wu Zong (Zhu Houzhao) of Kangling, Emperor Shi Zong (Zhu Houzong) of Yongling, Emperor Mu Zong (Zhu Zaihou) of Zhaoling, Emperor Shen Zong (Zhu Yijun) of Dingling, Emperor Guang Zong (Zhu Changluo) of Qingling, Emperor Xi Zong (Zhu Youjiao) of Deling and the last tomb was built in 1644 for the Siling Emperor Zong (Zhu Youjian).

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Baosheng Temple is situated in Luzhi Town, Wu County, Jiangsu Province affordable China tours and was built in the Southern Dynasties. In accordance with The History of Fuli of Wuxian County, the temple was first built in the second year (503) of the Tianjian reign in the Liang Dynasty (502-557) and was a large-scale temple. But according to The History of Suzhou Governmental Office, it was first built in the Dazhong reign (847-860) of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and rebuilt in the sixth year (1073) of the Xining reign of the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Zhao Mengfu, a famous chirographer of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), wrote a couplet for the temple, which is still on the pillars of the temple: "Among Buddhist buildings, the temple in Fuli was No. 1 in the Liang Dynasty; among the Buddha statues, the arhat statues are No. 1 in southern China". The extant buildings in the temple mainly include the Temple Gate, the Heavenly King Hall and the Great Hall, etc.

the Baosheng Temple was constructed in the 2nd year of the Tianjian Reign China Educational tours period of the Liang Dynasty (503). The temple holds nine clay sculptures of arhats made by Yang Huizhi, a famous sculptor of the Tang Dynasty. These well-preserved clay sculptures are gems of ancient Chinese art and precious sculpture works of art in the world. The Baosheng Temple is in the first group of the top-class key historical monuments, under state protection approved by the State Council. The "Duck Fighting Pond", "Lesser Rainbow Bridge', and ''Clear Wind Pavilion" are historical remains left by Lu Guimeng, a famed poet and writer of the later Tang Dynasty. The memorial hall of Ye Shengtao, a renowned modern educator and writer, is also situated in the temple.


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Confucius Six Arts City in Qufu last minute China travel deals is a large cultural tourism city, based on “the Six Arts” (rites, music, archery, charioteering, reading and writing, and arithmetic), which was what Confucius taught and advocated then, with the aim of expanding excellent Chinese traditional culture. The city was combined with both knowledge and interest by using the modern technological construction. There are eight sights in it: “the large copper carving of “Confucius’ traveling in various states” reproduced the scene that Confucius brought his disciples like Yan Hui back high-spiritedly. “ Courtesy Hall”, covering an area of 2500 square meters, is a large-scale microform sight made up of military forces, chariots, characters and halls, which reproduced the scene that King Zhou ascended the throne and reviewed troops, very vivid and grand. “Book Hall”, with very tall gingkos in it, is of primitive simplicity and elegance. Inside, you can see the vivid scene that 72 wisdoms perseveringly studied in Apricot Altar after Confucius set it, very inspiring. “Charioteering Hall” has archaized oxcart from which you can follow Confucius’ footprint to see the ups and downs of various states in Spring and Autumn Period while experiencing Confucius’ frustration and hardships during the traveling in various states for 14 years. “Music Hall” is very refined, where you can listen to various musics and enjoy colorful dancing of the time, very romantic. Besides, there are also excitive “Rediating Hall” and mysterious “Number Hall”, where you can get enlightened from the sages and appreciate the profoundness of Confucius’ thought. In this way, not only can you draw the cream of traditional culture Educational tours in China, but you can experience exquisiteness of modern art.

Tips:

The best visiting time here is from the beginning of April to the end of November, when there are some activities which visitors are easy to participate China Photo Tour.
You can take a jinrick-shaw or archaized carriage to come here, since they are very distinctive in Qufu and not expensive as well. If you take a taxi, it costs 5 yuan for the first two kilometers. 
The price for the through ticket of Confucius’ Native Place is 60 yuan per person.
Recommended Time for Visiting: 2 hours

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Located on the western side of Hanzhong Lu, Mochou Lake, Nanjing is counted among the top rated Nanjing Tourist Attractions affordable China tours. Mochou Lake in Nanjing is one of the most popular locales of sightseeing in Nanjing. The lake occupies an area of about 116 acres. Mochou Lake, Nanjing was once a part of the Yangtze River. Gradually, a lake was formed as the course of the river changed later.

According to one legend, the name of the lake came from a young woman of beauty and virtue named Mochou.who lived during the Northern and Southern Dynasty (386-589). She married a man from the Lu family in Jinling (now known as Nanjing City) and had a baby. They lived a happy life until one day Lu was recruited to the army. Because there had been no news of him since he had left, she missed her husband dearly day and night. Finally, it is said that Mochou turned into a lake, with the hope of flowing to her husband's side. In memory of the young woman's undying devotion to her husband, the lake was aptly named Mochou Lake Student tours to Chinaby the local people.

In 1929, the lake was renamed Mochou Lake Park and was expanded and rebuilt in 1953 with additional trees and flowers.

A visitor is first greeted by an ornamental pond and fountains, as well as a rock display. Walking ahead, you will encounter the well-known Shengqi Pavilion, which is a two-storey structure of primitive simplicity. On the first floor, paintings and calligraphies of famous artists can be found. On the second floor, there is a picture of two men playing I-go, one is Emperor Taizu named Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and the other man is one of his subjects, General Xu Da. Legend has it that Zhu Yuanzhang used to play I-go with Xu Da, who was a master-hand in Chinese draught. However, Xu Da always lost the game intentionally so as not to offend the Emperor. Eventually, Zhu saw through this ruse and ordered him to play to the best of his ability. The next time they played, Xu Da won the game. At the same time, this intelligent subject pleased the Emperor by posting the pieces of the characters 'wan sui', which meant long life. In delight, the Emperor bestowed the Shengqi ('winning the game') Pavilion as well as Mochou Lake to Xu Da.

To the north of the Shengqi Pavilion China Photography Tours is the former residence of Mochou, Yujin Hall (yujin means white cardamom).The hall is divided by a water lily pond into two parts. In the middle of the pond stands a white marble statue of Mochou with a sorrowful expression. To the east and west of the pond are pavilions surrounded by cloisters for lily viewing.

Behind the pavilion is Mochou Lake. The lake is full of lotus roots that present an eye-catching sight when the water lilies are in blossom. In the center of the lake is an island that is accessible to tourists by boat. Water fowls usually inhabit the island all year-round.

Since 1991, the park has hosted dragon boat races on the lake every year, a display of Chinese culture and great pageantry. In April, a boat ride on the lake can help the tourists appreciate the flowering blossoms from nearby crabapple trees while drinking in the beautiful scenery of the lake.

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On the west side of Dragon Pavilion Park affordable China travel packages sits the Stele Forest of Hanyuan, covering an area of nearly 7 hectares, and with more than 3,500 steles. The inscriptions here mainly consist of famous calligraphers' works as well as poems, paintings and seals. And it is a sound combination of the traditional art of inscriptions and gardening.

According to the content and object of inscription, the steles are kept in different corridors, namely; the main stele corridor, modern inscription corridor, the Song Dynasty corridor, the corridor of emperors and famous ministers in Feudal China, the Inscription Corridor of Paintings, Seals corridor, Pen-calligraphy corridor, the Inscription Corridor of the Minorities' Characters China Educational tours, the Inscription Corridor of the mid-aged, the stele corridor of international friendship, etc.

Now, the stele forest has preserved more than 2,600 inscriptions, and becomes the leading stele collection base in China along with the stele forest in Xi'an and Qufu.


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The Xuan'gu Temple lies on the Xuan'gu Mountain affordable China travel packages, which is more than sixty-six meters high. To the left rests the Mingyu Spring dug in the Sui Dynasty. The spring water tastes cool and sweet all the year round; besides, drinking the water can relieve pain and fatigue. In front of the temple there is a place called Taihangmen. An enormous stone under the deep valley of Taihangmen is carved with regular scripts in Chinese calligraphy. Each Chinese character on the scripts is as big as one square kilometer.

Over one of the gigantic stones on the Xuan'gu Mountain stands the Taiping Cliff, where there are more than 1,300 statues of Buddha, the biggest of which stands as tall as 2.5 meters, while the shortest is only 9 centimeters in height. In addition, there are 1,251 statues of Buddha in the One-thousand-Buddha Cave China Photo Tour and each of them has a definite name. They are valuable materials for researches into Chinese Buddhism and art.

Pagoda forest is located at a terrace to the west of the Yunyuan River Yangtze River tour, which lies to the east of the Qingjing Palace. There are three square-shaped sealed pagodas of 4-6 meters, built in Tang Style successively in Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Parts of the stone pillar established in Song Dynasty in 1030 AD and eight tablets are also found in some of the historical sites which are preserved till today.

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The village is situated in the middle part of the Qingfeng Mountain affordable China travel packages, 5km from East Wenxian County of Jiaozuo. Originally, it was called Changyang village, but later changed its name because a Zezhou native (in Shanxi Province) called Chen Bu moved and lived here generation after generation, so almost all the people in the village are his descendents. That is why the village is renamed after his surname. Also, it is named as "gou", meaning ditch, because there is a deep ditch extending from the south to the north in the village.

Chen Bu, who was good at martial arts and the Chinese boxing, set up martial organization in the village. Inheriting the old custom of boxing practicing in the Chens', the ninth generation in the Chens' ---Chen Wangting invented a new Chinese boxing named Taijiquan according to his ancestors' boxing passed down and his knowledge about Taoist breathing exercises as well as main channels of human body in Chinese medicine. The boxing is named so because it is in fact a combination of yin and yang (two opposing principles in nature in Chinese thought). Later, the fourteenth generation, Chen Changxing spread Taijiquan around. He had many disciples, of which Yang Luchan in Yongnian, Hebei, is the most well-known. Since then, the Chens' shadow-boxing has developed into several schools, among which the Yang, Wu and Suns are the major ones.

As an essential part of Chinese martial arts, shadow-boxing has gained special popularity since 1980s. It has been designated as a special tourist item by the National Tourism Bureau and become one of the key products in top 10 China tour packages Henan tourism development.

As a kind of exercise beneficial for body-building and health as well as a type of martial arts and a game in sports competition, it is welcome by both the elder and the young as one of the national treasures in Chinese traditional culture. For hundreds of years, more and more people have been practicing it, promoting it as a Taiji Culture combined with vigor and gentleness. Nowadays, it has spread over China and even to other countries in the world. Moreover, it has also been listed as an important game in all kinds of national or international martial arts competition. As the birthplace of Taijiquan, Jiaozuo has successfully held several Annual Taijiquan meetings. Therefore, it is not only a kind of body-exercise and boxing but a valuable treasure in history, sports, tourism and spiritual field of Jiaozuo.

Once entering the Chenjiagou Village, you step into a sacred place of Taiji Culture. Here lies the memorial hall in memory of generations of Taiji masters, the well-known Chenjiagou Martial Arts Museum and the legendary site which is said to be where the famous master---Yang Luchan had once ever learnt how to practice shadow-boxing from his master Chen Changxing. In front of the memorial hall, there is a bronze statue of Chen Wangting, who is the inventor of Taijiquan, also some tablets, on which introductions of those Taiji masters are written, have been erected by those Taiji fans in China and abroad to show respect to them.

The Chenjiagou Martial Arts Museum travel to China provides enough information about the Taiji masters over all these years. On the walls of the hall in the museum, there are exhibition boards for the introductions of different masters, especially the nineteenth generation in the Chens'----- Chen Xiaowang, who is notable for his unrivalled martial arts practicing and has won many championships in the National Taijiquan Competitions. Almost parallel to him are Chen Zhenglei, vice superintendent of Henan Martial Arts Museum as well as the National Top Ten Martial Arts Masters, Wang Xi'an and Zhu Tiancai, all of whom are quite well-known for their unique skills with many disciples all round the world.

Over several hundred years ever since its invention in the 17th century, shadow-boxing has developed into the most popular sports. In 1992, Wanxian County was recognized as the Hometown of Martial Arts by the state. Every year, a large number of Taiji fans come here either to learn practicing it or to go sightseeing. Thus Chenjiagou Village is also considered to be a sacred place of Taijiquan. Ever since 1992, the Annual Taiji meetings has been successful held in Wenxian five times, with more than 17,000 people from over 70 Taiji organizations in more than 30 different countries participating in it. Especially in 2000, when the meeting site was moved to Jiaozuo City, the number of people who took part in it reached the peak, bringing the popularization of this global pith to a climax. At present, it is estimated that there are over 80 million people in the world practicing shadow-boxing and more than 1,000 concerning organizations have been set up. And in Chenjiagou Village, it is said that over 80% people are able to practice Taiji. Amazingly, even very little kids can practice some movements of Taiji when playing games. That is why a popular saying is spread here till now, "Once drinking the water in Chenjiagou Village, you will know how to practice one or two movements of shadow-boxing.''

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She Huo

"She Huo" is a kind of traditional folk collective recreation activity last minute China travel deals, as it originated in the Tang period, previously known as “She Hu” that adopted the meaning to overcome evil, pray for the best, and harvest bountiful, safe for people and livestock. As well it was once the ancient ritual performance. Opera facial expression has preserved several ancient fable images, and the the composition of “She Huo” facial expression was exaggeratedly portrayed the five sense organs aimed to express a lot the person’s inner heart world prominently. Such kind of art emphasizes on the color-comparison, open-minded. The art can be traced back to ancient Nuo dance, and the Tang Dynasty in lieu of face, but retain many ancient myths images. Sketches, coloring, pay attention brow, eyes, mouth decoration, as it is based on the character and appearance features, exaggeration to describe the way the site facial features and skin color, then highlight the performance figures of various inner essence, emphasizing color contrast feelings and uninhibited, with a strong symbolic nature. Shaanxi community “She Huo” mask, a monkey with its lustrous color, feel Honesty style, Briefly peculiar art form has demonstrated the profound traditional Chinese opera.

Bellyband

Bellyband is a traditional body costume shaped like the front of the vest with a cloth belt best tours of China above the neck and the two sides are in a belt around waist. It is of practical value to avoid stomach caught cold. Adults wear inside clothes while children in hot days wear outside. Different patterns that broidered on are of various symbolic meanings. Most of which related good meanings as couple conjugal love, harvest and prosperous offsprings etc. They are really attached a lot on Chinese traditional culture.

Qinqiang

As famous as Beijing Opera, Qinqiang is the most typical local opera in Shaanxi province. Not as a kind of traditional opera as what we thought to be, but more like a sort of larruping opera of local yodeling. Such type of singing was derived from the fields and countryside surrounding Xian that could be traced back to the time when locals used to shout to each other across the fields developed a song system bit by bit aimed to convey messages.

Among locals it is a kind of entertainment especially for elderly residents in Xian Xian tour packages where parks and riverbanks are their wonderful choices to practice; while for professionals, the performances are put on at the Chang’an Grand Theatre usually.

Qinqiang mask is based on the drama figures, now it has formed into a set of standardized art performance techniques which indicate a lot the figure’s characteristics through colors, such as red stands for loyalty, pink for wicked etc. It is not only a delicate artwork but also important data on researching Qinqiang and local features China guide.

The Erqi (February 7th) Square located at the central downtown area of Zhengzhou City, is the most prosperous commercial area of Henan Province affordable China tours. Surrounded by the largest emporiums, shopping malls, supermarkets and bookstores of the province as well as hundreds of medium-scale shops and restaurants, the Erqi Square has become a site of must-go for shopping. The Erqi Memorial Tower (The February 7th Memorial Tower) was built in the center of the square to commemorate the great strike in 1923 that was launched by Jinghan (Beijing-Wuhan) Railway workers. The tower was built in armored concrete structure with a height of 63 meters and 14 floors, 3 bottom floors as the base. Eaves on each floor are archaized with rising tips and the roofs are covered with tiles of green glaze, all in the traditional Chinese style. There are six clocks around the belfry with a diameter of 2.7 meters which give the correct time at each o’clock by playing a melodious tune which can be heard several miles away. The ichnography of the tower is made of two pentagons connecting each other from the east to the west top China tours. Looking in the west or the east, the tower is single. However, it is a twin-tower if looks from the south or the north. Inside the tower stands a hanging ladder on one side and show rooms on the other. Standing on the top floor, visitors will enjoy an overview of the city. The twin-towers are even more gorgeous at nights with colorful lights shining both from inside and outside.

The Erqi Memorial Tower, now named the Erqi Memorial, has 10 floors in the body of the tower and one underground, displaying the cause, the process and the result of the Jinghan (Beijing to Wuhan) Railway Workers’ Strike with materials, pictures and texts.The Erqi Memorial is also the place of various art shows and revolution exhibitions for educational purposes. Erqi Memorial Tower is now one of the marking buildings of Zhengzhou, the capital city of Henan.

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