China Expeditions

Northeast Tibet, Imperial China

The Tibetan spiritual homeland of Xiahe, and the Ming Dynasty Great Wall in the Inner Mongolia district of the Yellow River, the cradle of China’s civilization, are brought together in this fascinating tour.

In a secluded valley in far northeastern Tibet’s old Amdo region — a region which is now mainly Qinghai Province — is the Labrang Monastery.

A huge annexe to the fascinating town of Xiahe it is the most important Tibetan Buddhist spiritual site outside Lhasa and is the focus of our pilgrimage to Amdo in a tour that embraces the Tibetans, the Muslims in nearby Linxia, and explores the remnants of imperial China’s wall-building along the border of Inner Mongolia and Shanxi Province.

The day after a flight from Beijing to Gansu Province’s capital Lanzhou we meander through the predominantly Muslim town of Linxia and then Xiahe, and return to Lanzhou enroute to the Inner Mongolia capital, Hohot. Some distance south of the capital is the junction of the Ming Dynasty’s inner- and outer-Great Wall and it is here that we trek and explore the Wall, forts and underground communities in this remote district.

Several of Shanxi Province’s and Beijing’s best-known cultural sites are visited in the closing days of this hybrid “Tibet and Imperial China” tour.

ITINERARY:

• DAY 1 Fly to Lanzhou
• DAY 2 Bus to Xiahe
• DAY 3 Xiahe, Labrang Monastery
• DAY 4 Xiahe
• DAY 5 To Linxia, Lanzhou
• DAY 6 Train to Hohot
• DAY 7 To Inner Mongolia Great Wall
• DAY 8 Start trek at the Great Wall
• DAY 9-11 Trek at the Great Wall
• DAY 12 Bus to Datong
• DAY 13 Tour of Datong, Yungang Buddha Grottos, train to Beijing
• DAY 14 Tour of Beijing
• DAY 15 Tour concludes