12 Days Three Provinces Cross Tour (Sichuan, Gansu & Qinghai Provinces)

Upon your arrival at Chengdu airport, our guide would pick you up and transferred you to 4* Buddha Zen Hotel. Then we would meet you again at 06:00pm and transferred you to have hotpot as welcome dinner.

Morning drive around 40 mins to Giant Panda Reserve Center. We suggest you to go early in the morning to avoid the crowds, and also see the panda's at their most active. Spend around 2-3 hours there. Then drive back to Chengdu city, having lunch and then we drive you to the airport. Take flight to Jiuzhaigou Valley. Upon your arrival, be picked up and transferred to 4* Jiu Zhai Atour Light Hotel.

Today, we suggest you to get up early at around 06:00am and arrive at the entrance gate of the scenic spot at around 07:00am. (Our hotel has around 5 mins driving distance to the ticket office). The reason is to avoid the tourist hordes. Comparing with the normal tourists following route which from Rize Valley to Nuorilang Waterfall. We strongly suggest you to get off the shuttle bus from Jing Lake (Mirror Lake) and walk to Rize Valley which in the opposite visiting route of normal tourists. (18km in total, around 4 hours walking). This unusual route gives you a great chance to appreciate the view quietly. You would walk along the wooden trail and appreciate bounty of lakes, rivers, rapids, shoals, waterfalls, cascading tiers. The colors of the lakes are azure, cobalt, sapphire, cyan or emerald and they are stunning beautiful. It's called the heaven of photographer as well.

After visiting Rize Valley, you would take the shuttle bus to Nuorilang Waterfall where the tourist center located to have lunch. Lunch is on your own arrangement. After lunch, continue to visit the last attraction, Chang Lake (Long Lake). Then you can choose to walk back to the office ticket or take the shuttle bus. If taking shuttle bus, there is only 20 mins. If your physical strength is permitted, it would request another 3.5 hours hiking distance. As 99% the clients would choose to take the shuttle bus back to ticket office, there is less people walking on this distance, so you can appreciate the view quietly again by yourselves.

Overnight stay at 4* Jiu Zhai Atour Light Hotel.

Remark: We suggest you to prepare hotel's lunch box before entering the scenic spot but not have lunch inside as the taste and environment are both not good and only one place you can have lunch, no option. Crowded with domestic tourists and environment is far beyond expectation.

Today, we still need to get up early at around 0600am, check out and depart hotel at around 0700am, we would arrive Huanglong Scenic Valley before 0900am. We would suggest you to take the cable car up to the top, then walk all the way down. You would see the most amazing geologic formations with hundreds of pools that are formed in the same process that stalagmites are formed in caves- there is nowhere else like it on earth! Huanglong Scenic Valley is above 3300m high, so it would be more difficult than trekking on Jiuzhaigou Valley. And it is also much colder because of the high altitude. You would spend 3 hours there and then we would drive 2.5 hours to Ruoergai County after lunch. Overnight stay at 4* Tanggute Hotel.

Today, we suggest you to get up at 06:00am, check out and depart from hotel at 06:30am. After 1 hour driving, we would arrive Flower Lake which is the largest plateau marshland in the world. The name comes from the shape of the lake, not because it holds an abundance of blooming flowers , that's one of the big misconception of flower lake. We come to visit Flower Lake, the main reason is to appreciate the lake reflect off the sky color and link with each other without remarkable boundary. You would spend 2-3 hours spending inside the scenic spot. And we would have the lunch nearby. Then we drive 2 hours and 15 mins to Zhagana. Zhagana means''Rock Box'' in Tibetan language.  Lush, verdant Tibetan villages filled inside the space between mountains. Glacial landforms, pines, cypress trees and grassland are around the villages. And the villages are all surrounded by large rocky mountain. The average altitude of Zhagana is 3200m. Today you would stay at the Tashi Guesthouse inside Zhagana. You could walk around the village by following our guide in the afternoon. You would have a special experience by staying inside this Tibetan village.

Get up early and follow your guide to do around 1 hour hiking, you would see the cloud and mist floating around the mountains, a quiet and peaceful landscape! Then we back to your guesthouse, have breakfast, check out and then we drive to Xiahe County directly. On the way we would pass Luqu County and lunch would be served there. Through around 5 hours driving, we would arrive Xiahe County between 4-5pm. Overnight stay at Tianzhu International Hotel. Enjoy the leisure time in Xiahe on your own arrangement.

Morning pick up at 08:30am and drive you 5 mins to visit Labrang Monastery. It is one of the most authentic and working monasteries you can visit in the Tibetan areas.  The monastery houses many ornate temples filled with colorful decoration and religious iconography. They offer free tours by a monk at certain times of the day and it is really enjoyable. Hundreds of prayer wheels grace the exterior, the chanting and excitement of thousands of monks going about their daily routines was picturesque and fascinating. Our guide would also bring you to the opposite site of the ticket office, by climbing a certain distance, you would be have a panoramic view of the whole monastery's architecture. We would drive you back to hotel at around 11:30am, check out and then go and have lunch. After lunch, drive around 3 hours to Tongren County. We would spend around 1 hour in visiting Wutun Monastery. If you're interested in Tibetan art, Wutun Monastery is the best one you should not miss. Wutun Temple is the one that collects the most typical and largest quantity of Regong artistic works. After visiting the lower Wutun Monastery, we would drive you to the Tongren County and overnight stay at 4* Hongfengde Hotel.

In the morning, we drive to follow the steps of the local devotees to turn the prayer wheels and feel this sacred belief. Climb up Kalachakra Stupa to have a panoramic view of Guomar Monastery. We'll venture to the top pavilion to visit the statue of Kalachakra and the collections of surrounding sutras. Then we drive 2 hours towards Henan Mongolian Autonomous County to the South via Maixiu National Forest Park, this the only Mongolian place in Qinghai province, Hequ Horse, Brown necked and tailed Ouhla sheep, and the Asian best pasture are the highlights of it. Continue driving to the north west to reach to Zeku. Overnight stay at 4* Hongfengde Hotel.

To get up and breath the fresh air from the grassland mixed with the fragrance of earth to awake your sleepy mind. Today we will drive toward Xining, the capital city of Qinghai province via Hori town and Guide. Starting from the hotel after breakfast to drive directly to the township of Hori, climb to the top of the mountain, overlooking the Tibetan Buddhism Nyingma Sect (Mongolian lamaism) Temple with long history, Mani Stone is a wall with 3 meters high, 2.5 meters thick, 200 meters long, the total length of 300 meters, built with engraved with the size of the text block. It is a rare cultural landscape and known as the "wonder of stone writing"．Then we continue to drive along the way to Guomaying town for lunch, after lunch we would drive you to take the view of the plateau green organic ecological planting base of highland barley. After viewing the yellow earth mountains and clean yellow river at Guide and continue driving to Xining by express way before dinner time. Upon your arrival, we would check in and overnight stay at 4* Xining Mansion Hotel.

Meet with you at the hotel at 09:00am, drive 1.5 hours from Xining hotel to Ledu County and visit Gautama Monastery which also named Qutan Temple (1.5 hours sightseeing duration). This monastery is anarchitecture in Tibetan Buddhism style. From design to construction practices , it is a typical Ming Dynasty style thus it was also known as the"little Imperial Palace". Then we drive 1.5 hours to have lunch at Ledu County. Spend around 45 mins for having lunch, then we drive you 1 hour to visit Hongshuiquan Mosque (1.5 hours sightseeing duration). The Mosque with 600 year old, it's wooden mosque created by craftsman from different nationalities, you will easily find this Muslim architecture is a miracle of world which is complicated but well mixed art. Then back to Xining city at around 6:00pm. Overnight stay in Xining Mansion again.

Transfer to the airport or railway station for departure.