Magnificent China and Tibet
In February 2010, Sierra Club leader Brad Carlson and I (for Grand Asian Journeys) scouted China and Tibet to inspect hotels and sites for a Sierra Club Outings trip in 2011 and for future Grand Asian Journeys adventures. We both loved China - it was the first time for both of us - and are always happy to go to Tibet (we've both been there several times). We are happy to announce that Grand Asian Journeys is expanding our China offerings for 2011 and that Sierra Club Outings is offering a trip combining China and Tibet in October 2011.
Our journey began in Beijing. We visited Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City and Ming Tombs. The highlight of my Beijing visit was the four hour hike from Jinshanling to Simatai on the Great Wall. While the majority of the wall is in good shape, there are sections that desperately need renovation. The guide told me that this was the least busy of the three sections open to visitors which I greatly appreciated. Back in Beijing, our operator put together a wonderful Peking Duck dinner. Usually I frown at the idea of eating a duck but this was different - you've got to try it to believe how good it tasted! While the topic is Chinese cuisine, the next night we walked down the food lane in Beijing. If you are into weird food, this is your alley: bugs, snakes, scorpions, silk-worms, sheep private parts...
From Beijing we took the forty-eight hour train to Lhasa. This high-altitude (the highest in the world), high speed train is truly an engineering feat. As we made our way into the high Tibetan-plateau, we passed by several Tibetan villages. The soft sleeper consisted of four beds, two on each side with one above the other, in a small compartment. While definitely recommended, this ride should NOT be taken if you don't like the smell of cigarette smoke. The Chinese love to smoke and regularly ignore the "No Smoking" sign.
It had just snowed when we got to Lhasa and the surrounding hills wore white patches. Every March, Tibet witnesses demonstrations during the anniversary of the 1959 uprising. There was heavy security presence with both the army and police doing their rounds at the Barkhor Square. We were two of the very few foreigners in Lhasa and we actually didn't see a single outsider during our stay in Tibet.
From Lhasa, we flew into Chengdu. The highlight of the Chengdu visit was the Bifenxia panda reserve. There were several spacious enclosures with baby pandas, middle-aged pandas and older pandas. The clumsy babies were definitely a treat to watch. On the final night in Chengdu, we and our guide went out for a hot pot dinner. And the dinner was SPICY HOT! Dinner was followed by the famous face-changing show.
Grand Asian Journeys has designed a similar program which includes historical Xian where you visit the Terra Cotta Warriors. Check out the program on our website:
http://grandasianjourneys.com/destinations/trip/18/magnificent_china_and_tibet/china
Visit our website at www.grandasianjourneys.com or call 888-586-7750 for more information.