9:30am- Meet your guide, just after baggage claim inside the airport arrivals terminal (or in your hotel in Xining)

9:45am - Depart Xining, drive 2.5 hours to Rebkong, a small Tibetan town at 2,700 meters

12:00 noon - Arrive for lunch in Rebkong

1:30pm- In the afternoon explore Rebkong Longwu Monastery, one of Qinghai’s largest and most influential monasteries with over 800 monks. 

4:30pm- Sample some yak yoghurt and check into your hotel in Rebkong

6:30pm - Authentic Tibetan dinner at a nearby restaurant

8:30pm- Sleep in a hotel in Rebkong

8:00am - Eat breakfast at hotel in Rebkong

9:00am -Spend the morning exploring the Thangka paintings of Wutun village- famous for some of Tibet’s most outstanding Buddhist art.

11:30am - Lunch in Rebkong

12:30pm - Depart Rebkong to drive to Labrang at 2,900 meters

3:30pm- 2 hour Thangka painting workshop with Tenzin Dolma, a professional Thangka artist who speaks fluent English. Learn about Tenzin’s passion for art as well as her unique art school that teaches painting to underprivileged youth.

5:30pm - Check into hotel in Labrang, rest

6:30pm  - Eat Tibetan style dinner then walk around Tibetan district for souvenirs

8:30pm - Settle in hotel in Labrang

8:00am - Eat breakfast in hotel in Labrang

9:00am -Early morning walk to Labrang Thangka wall to see Tibetan pilgrims prostrating around the monastery

9:30am - Tour Labrang Monastery, the most influential Gelugpa monastery outside of the Lhasa region

12:30pm - Lunch in Labrang

2:00pm- Set off from Labrang to drive to Langmusi at 3,200 meters

4:30pm - Arrive in hotel in Langmusi, check in, rest.

6:00pm - Authentic Tibetan dinner in town

8:30am - Eat breakfast in hotel in Langmusi

9:0am - Depart on horse trek to the grasslands

12:30pm - Eat lunch in a Tibetan tent

1:30pm- 1 hour hike back down to town

3:30pm - Return to Langmusi town and transfer to Langmusi Tibetan nomad tent stay. Nomad activities in the afternoon

5:30 pm - Eat with Tibetan nomads

7:00pm - Nomad tent stay in the grasslands

8:00am - Eat breakfast in tent stay, experience nomad activities in the morning: milking yaks, making butter, herding sheep

9:30am - Depart nomad tent stay to hike above the Langmusi Monastery for an excellent view of the town. Hike to 4,000 meters

12:30pm - Eat a picnic lunch on top of the mountain

6:30pm - Return to Langmusi town to hotel to clean up and rest

7:30pm - Dinner and rest

8:30pm - Sleep in hotel in Langmusi

8:00am - Eat breakfast in tent stay, experience nomad activities in the morning: milking yaks, making butter, herding sheep

9:30am - Depart nomad tent stay to hike above the Langmusi Monastery for an excellent view of the town. Hike to 4,000 meters

12:30pm - Eat a picnic lunch on top of the mountain

6:30pm - Return to Langmusi town to hotel to clean up and rest

7:30pm - Dinner and rest

8:30pm - Sleep in hotel in Langmusi

8:00am - Eat breakfast in hotel in Zoige

9:00am - Drive 160km from Zoige to Songpan

12:30pm - Lunch in Songpan.  Songpan, known in Tibetan as Zungchu, is a mid-sized town lying at an elevation of 2,860 meters in northern Sichuan’s highlands. Songpan is Sichuan’s gateway to the marvelous Jiuzhaigou Nature Reserve and its astounding blue pools and “stepped” waterfalls.

1:30pm- Check into hotel in Songpan

2:00pm- Spend the afternoon exploring Old Town Songpan and the Songpan city wall.  Possible afternoon horse ride.

6:00pm - Dinner in Songpan

8:00pm - Rest and sleep in hotel in Songpan

9:00am- Meet in lobby of hotel after breakfast

9:30am - Depart hotel  to drive 145km to Jiuzhaigou Nature Reserve

1:00pm- Lunch near Jiuzhaigou

2:00pm - Photograph snowy peaks near Jiuzhaigou Nature Reserve

5:30pm- Dinner near the park entrance

8:00pm- Sleep in a hotel right at the entrance of Jiuzhaigou Nature Reserve

8:30am - Eat breakfast in hotel

9:00am - Spend the day at Jiuzhaigou Nature Reserve. The Jiuzhaigou Nature Reserve is one of the most beautiful corners of the Tibetan Plateau. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is filled with amazing lakes, multi-tiered waterfalls and stunning snow-capped peaks. Jiuzhaigou is known in Tibetan as Zitsa Degu གཟི་རྩ་སྡེ་དགུ་. The Chinese name is translated as “9 Village Valley” and gets that name from the 9 Tibetan villages found along the main valley inside the park.

12:30pm - Lunch inside the national park

6:30pm - Dinner near Jiuazhaigou park

8:00pm - Sleep in a hotel near the park entrance

8:00am - Wake up, breakfast in the hotel

8:30am- Drive 420km from Jiuazhaigou Nature Reserve to Chengdu.

This about a 8-9 hour drive as we descend off the high Tibetan Plateau and say goodbye to the grasslands and enter the capital city of Sichuan Province. Chengdu is known for the giant pandas and having some of the best (and spiciest) food across all of China.

6:00pm Check into hotel in Chengdu

7:00pm - Closing dinner in Chengdu and final debrief.

8:30pm - Rest in hotel in Chengdu

8:30am - Eat breakfast in hotel in Chengdu

9:30am- Check out of hotel.

10:00am -Depart for Chengdu airport or train station.