DAY-BY-DAY ITINERARY:

Day 1 • Depart San Francisco for Beijing
Fly transpacific aboard United Airlines.

CHINA

Day 2 • Arrive Beijing
Upon arrival, you are met and escorted to the hotel.
The Peninsula Beijing Hotel

Day 3 • Beijing

Today's tour visits Tiananmen Square and the Imperial Palace's Forbidden City, including living quarters, museum and jewelry sections. Afternoon, tour the Summer Palace with a boat ride on Lake Kunming (weather permitting).
MEALS: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 4 • Beijing

Today, walk the ancient ramparts of the astonishing Great Wall. After lunch, visit a cloisonné factory. Later, stroll along the Sacred Way to the Ming Tombs and Chang Ling Exhibition Hall.
MEALS: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 5 • Beijing/Chengdu

Fly to Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province. After lunch, see adorable pandas at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, and then visit Yulin Market and the shops on Qintai Road. Tonight, attend an entertaining Sichuan Opera with its traditional face-changing performance.
Sheraton Chengdu Lido Hotel
MEALS: Breakfast, Lunch

TIBET

Day 6 • Chengdu/Lhasa/Tsedang

This morning, your Tibet adventure begins as you fly to Lhasa, where you are greeted at the airport with a traditional Tibetan welcome ceremony.* Continue by motor coach to Tsedang. The rest of the day is free to adjust to the altitude of one of the world's highest plateaus—about 12,000 ft. above sea level.
Tsedang Hotel
MEALS: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
*Welcome ceremony with 10 or more passengers.

Day 7 • Tsedang

This morning, ferry across the Yaluzangbu River, the highest river in the world, to visit the Samye Monastery. Built in 761, the monastery combines Tibetan, Chinese and Indian architectural styles. In the afternoon, visit Yumbulagang, said to be the oldest structure in Tibet, and 9th century Dratang Monastery.
MEALS: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 8 • Tsedang/Yamdrok Lake/Gyantse

Today drive to Gyantse, a town southwest of Lhasa and an important regional center in the 15th century. En route, visit scenic Yamdrok Lake, one of the four holy lakes of Tibet.
Gyantse Hotel
MEALS: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 9 • Gyantse/Shigatse

In Gyantse, tour Pelkor Chode Monastery and the Kumbum, a stupa comprised of hundreds of chapels said to hold 100,000 Buddha images. Drive to Shigatse where you visit Tashilumpo Monastery, built in 1447.
Shigatse Hotel
MEALS: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 10 • Shigatse/Lhasa

Today's drive takes you to Lhasa, where you arrive in the late afternoon.
Lhasa Hotel
MEALS: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 11 • Lhasa

An extraordinary day of sightseeing shows the spectacular architecture at the world-famous Potala Palace. Former home of the Dalai Lama, its massive 1000-room structure towers over this mountain city. Then visit famous Barkhor Market, where you can shop for rare Tibetan items. See one of Tibet's holiest shrines, revered 7th century Jokhang Temple, with its statue of the Sakyamuni Buddha, lavishly enthroned in gold.
MEALS: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 12 • Lhasa

You will not soon forget Norbulingkha (Precious Stone Garden), the summer palace built by the seventh Dalai Lama in the 18th century. Then tour Drepung Monastery, rising in tiers on the mountainside, once home to more than 10,000 Lamas. This evening, enjoy a memorable Tibetan dinner and show where you will be welcomed with a traditional Yak Dance.*
MEALS: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
*Welcome Yak Dance if 10 or more passengers.

Day 13 • Lhasa/Chengdu/Shanghai

Early this morning, bid farewell to the mountains of Tibet as you fly to Chengdu and then continue on to Shanghai.
Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel
MEALS: Breakfast

Day 14 • Shanghai

See the highlights of Shanghai on a full day tour: the rich collections of the Shanghai Museum, Yu Garden, a carpet factory, see a performance at the Children's Palace, The Bund's colonial-style architecture and shop at Nanjing or Huai Hai Road.
MEALS: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 15 • Depart Shanghai for San Francisco

Fly homeward aboard United Airlines.
MEALS: Breakfast

CULTURAL HIGHLIGHTS:
BEIJING: 3 Nights The Peninsula Beijing Hotel
Tiananmen Square • Forbidden City's Imperial Palace with living quarters, museum and jewelry sections • Summer Palace with Lake Kunming cruise • Great Wall • Cloisonné factory • Sacred Way to Ming Tombs • Chang Ling Exhibition Hall

CHENGDU: 1 Night Shangri-La Hotel
Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding • Yulin Market • Sichuan Opera

TSEDANG: 2 Nights Tsedang Hotel
Ferry to Samye Monastery • Yumbulagang • Dratang Monastery

GYANTSE: 1 Night Gyantse Hotel
Yamdrok Lake • Pelkor Chode Monastery • Kumbum

SHIGATSE: 1 Night Shigatse Hotel
Tashilumpo Monastery

LHASA: 3 Nights Lhasa Hotel
Potala Palace • Barkhor Market • Jokhang Temple • Norbulingkha • Drepung Monastery

SHANGHAI: 2 Nights Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel
Shanghai Museum • Yu Garden • Carpet factory • Children's Palace performance • Nanjing or Huai Hai Road shops • The Bund

ALL INCLUSIVE FEATURES:
• Round-trip transpacific air transportation
• United Mileage Plus® members earn: frequent flyer credit with the purchase of each air/land tour package
• All intra-China air/land transportation
• Escorted by a professional Tour Manager
• 13 nights in deluxe and superior first class hotels
• 13 breakfasts, 11 lunches, 7 dinners
• Round-trip transfers between airport and hotel, baggage handling, hotel taxes and service charges
• Sightseeing, cultural activities and performances as noted
• $100,000 Automatic Flight Insurance for transpacific air ticketed by PDTours
• USTOA $1 Million Travelers Assistance Program

MONDAY DEPARTURES; MONDAY ARRIVALS ON UNITED AIRLINES: