Today arrive in Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu Province, an important pivot of the Silk Road in history. The Yellow river flows through Lanzhou from west to east.

Overnight at 4*Legend Hotel

Drive to Xiahe. On the way make an excursion to grottos of 1000 Buddhas' temple in Bingling. The grottos of the monastery are firstly built in 420 AD. Statues and murals here are older than those in Mogao Grottos of Dunhuang. Late in the afternoon arrive in Xiahe, which is 2,900 meters above the sea level and almost exclusively inhabited by Tibetans.

238 km
4 hours 51 minutes
Overnight at 3*Labrang Civil Aviation Hotel

Breakfast

In the morning visit Labrang monastery, the most important religious centre on the northeast border of the Tibetan region. The monastery created in 1710, as one of the six grand monasteries in Tibetan area, has served for centuries there to connect the Tibetan and Mongolian Lamaism. In the afternoon visit Longwu monastery of Gelugpa, which was initially constructed in Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) as a monastery of Sakya-sect and Wutun village. It is the center of Tibetan Rebgong-Art, which is a successful mixture of religion and folk art. In the afternoon drive to Tongren.

104 km
2 hours 9 minutes
Overnight at 3*Shengyu Tianlun Hotel

Breakfast

Drive to Machen, the capital of Golok Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. On the way visit the Ragya Monastery (Lajia Si) of Gelugpa sect by the Yellow River (Huang He).

359 km
7 hours 57 minutes
Overnight at 3*Jin Feng International Hotel

Breakfast

Transfer to Huashixia, a village with beautiful white rock cliff on which grows dense green vegetations. On the way go to the base camp of holy mountain Amnye Machen, where you enjoy a nice view to the majestic main peak if the weather is good. Keep drive to Madoi, a small city in the upper reaches of the Yellow river. The Yellow river is the second longest river in China with a length of 5,464 km. It is just in Madoi county that the Yellow river takes its original course.

261 km
3 hours 59 minutes
Overnight at Yundankangsai Hotel

Breakfast

Cross the first bridge of Ma Chu (the Yellow River, Huang He), drive to Yushu (Jyekundo). On the way visit the Xiewu Monastery of Sakya-sect. And go to Saibadan, which is famous for its folkway, religion and culture exhibition. There are nearly 10,000 items of specimens of rare animals on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, folk custom goods of Khampa Tibetan and various religious relics in it.

325 km
4 hours 55 minutes
Overnight at 4*Gesar Palace Hotel

Breakfast

Here in Yushu region are many monasteries of different school, such as Sakya, Gelukpa, Nyingmapa, Gagyuepa. In the morning visit the Dongkar monastery of Gagyuepa. In the morning visit Dongkar monastery of Gagyuepa-sect. Then visit the most enormous Mani Wall of the world – Jiana Mani Wall. The last lama from Jiegu Monastery named WenBaoJianGong had spent his twilight years in Xinzhai Village north of Yushu, where he had the huge mani wall built. By 1955, there are already 250 million mani stones were heaped on each other. In 1958 he entered Nirvana. Besides, it is worthwhile to visit monastery of Wencheng princess. In the legend the princess of Tang Dynasty once stayed in this monastery for a month.

Overnight at 4*Gesar Palace Hotel

Breakfast

The Yushu Horse Racing Festival takes place on July 25 every year. We will participate in the opening ceremony and enjoy the shows of traditional Tibetan costume, rich programs of singing and dancing celebrations, and above all, enjoy the majesty of nomad horse racing contest and, of course, enjoy the acrobatic stunts on horsebacks. The Yushu Horse Racing Festival is a joyous combination to appreciate and experience the Tibetan cultures.

Overnight at 4*Gesar Palace Hotel

Breakfast

In the morning take part in the Horse Racing Festival in Yushu. In the afternoon drive back to Madoi.

325 km
4 hours 55 minutes
Overnight at Yundankangsai Hotel

Breakfast

Drive via beautiful Donggei Tsona Lake and Chaka Salt Lake to Koko Nor Lake (Qinghai Hu). Walking by the Koko Nor Lake, the biggest salty lake in China. Located in the northeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and surrounded by Qilianshan Mountains, 3600m to 5000m high, Koko Nor Lake (Qinghai Hu) lies 3260 m above sea level with a surface of 4456 sq km and is the largest inland lake and the largest saltwater lake in China. "Koko Nor" is Mongolian that means "blue lake". Around the "Blue Pearl on the Highlands" are enchanting landscapes, such as snow-capped mountains, numerous rivers and endless steppes. The scenery at Koko Nor Lake is very fascinating. The most fascinating things are the lunar-like landscape shapes and colors. In July and August, colorful rape plantations bloom on the shores of it.

520.6 km
7 hours 28 minutes
Overnight at 2*Qinghaihu Hotel

Breakfast

After the breakfast drive to Kumbum monastery (Ta'er Si) of Gelukpa, which was built in 1560 in Huangzhong county and also one of the six grand monasteries in Tibet. Both Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Lamaistic "yellow hat sect" and the 14th Dalai lama were born here. As Kumbum-monastery has always been playing an important role to connect the Mongolian with the Lamaism, today many Mongolian come to this place for worship. Afterwards drive to Xining, the capital of Qinghai province. This city is mainly inhabited with Tibetan but also a home of Uygur, Kazak and Hui minorities. Then Transfer to the airport, journey ends.

268 km
4 hours 32 minutes

Breakfast