Being a capital of 13 dynasties, Xi’an has so much to offer. Today’s attractions are the best of the best. From your hotel, your local guide directs you to the site where local farmers drilling a series of wells in search of water found excavations of Qin Terror-cotta Army Museum by accident in 1974. It has been regarded as the '8th Wonder of the World.' It was created to guard Emperor Qin Shihuang's tomb that's to protect him in his afterlife in the mind of ancient Chinese. Three excavation pits have been opened to the public with a fourth underway. During his visit to China, US former President Clinton came to visit the dig. The fine troops, horses and carriages in battle formation are ancient art treasure and complete illustration of the history of Qin Dynasty.

Then set forth to Banpo Neolithic Village Museum located east Xi'an. It is one of the most important sites of the Neolithic culture that existed 6,000-7,000 years ago. Archeologists have uncovered a residential area, a pottery workshop and a cemetery in an area that covers some 50,000 square meters of ancient ruins.

This evening you could choose Jiaozi Banquet which covers over 10 kinds of Jiaozi in China as your dinner. The shapes of Jiaozi various from one to another, such as rabbit, duck, shrimp, peanuts and so on. Or you can enjoy Tang Dynasty Show with Dinner that was made for emperors only in ancient China. You'll enjoy the sumptuous dinner while watching a fabulous dancing and singing performance of Tang Dynasty. This is not only a performance of Chinese traditional dancing and singing but also a recurrence of Chinese ancient society and culture.

Tibet, the roof of the world, remained unknown to the world until the beginning of the 20th century. Located on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, this land is encompassed by some of the world's highest mountains, several rushing rivers and many crystal lakes. With an average height of 4,000 meters above the sea-level, Tibet covers a massive 1,220,000 square kilometers, which is about 13% of the whole China. Located in the valley of the Lhasa River, Lhasa is the capital city of Tibet. In Tibetan language, the city's name means holy land. Due to the sufficient sunshine, it is regarded as the sunshine city.

For this most mystery and paradoxical land in China, you must hold more expectations than any other cities. After arrival at the airport, the terrain you could see as you approach your hotel is pretty special. Mountainous, but stark, any growth on these slopes has camouflaged colors of those gray or greens. Some distant peaks are snow capped and the odd turquoise lake is visible. Beautiful, but it looks to be such a hard land to live in. For the rest of day, please do not hurry to do any sightseeing at once. Instead of, taking a half-day rest to adjust yourselves to the altitude sickness for tomorrow's trip.

Religion is such an important element of Tibetan life that it's hardly surprising most of the attractions are monasteries, temples and palaces. The awe-inspiring Potala Palace perched high above much of Lhasa, is definitely your good choice. The palace is a complex of political and religious function, which consists of the Red Palace, the White Palace and some attached buildings. The Red Palace contains various chapels and mausoleums for previous Dalai Lamas. The White Palace contains the living quarters of successive Dalai Lamas and their tutors. The offices of the old Tibetan government and their assembly halls are also located here. The Potala is full of elaborate artwork and frescos that tell many stories. They portray religious subjects as well as the customs and traditions of Tibet . Although you need to climb up, it will be richly rewarded for your efforts. Words may fail you to convey the scope of gold, pearls, carvings, gems, incense, monks, rooms, stairs that are in this incredible place. It is a pity that there are no photos allowed in the palace. However you would take photos by your eyes and embed them into your minds forever.

The local Tibetan lunch is very different from the previous cities, but you will find its specialist and enjoy it. In fact, the most popular cuisine in Tibet now is Sichuan Cuisine. Moreover there are also western-style restaurants in Lhasa. You will be delighted to eat what Tibetan eats in Tibet. Then you will visit the Jokhang Temple in the afternoon. According to Legend the Jokhang Temple was built on the former site of a lake. However, every time a temple was built, it would collapse later. Confused by this phenomenon, Princess Bhrikuti turned to Wen Cheng, the Princess of Tang Dynasty, for help. Being a well-educated woman, Wen Cheng told the Princess that the geography of Tibet was very much like a hag, with the lake at the heart. In order to build the temple, Wen Cheng advised they must demolish the hag by filling and leveling the lake using 1,000 sheep to carry soil from a mountain far away. When the temple was done, it was called Ra-Sa-Vphrul-Snang ('ra' meaning sheep and 'sa' meaning earth in Tibetan) to commemorate those sheep. It was built by craftsmen from Tibet , China and Nepal and thus features different architectural styles. The three-level roof of the Jokhang offers splendid views of the Bhakhor Streets across to the Potala Palace. The golden roofs are superbly crafted with many birds, beasts, bells and other intricate figures. The Tibetan people are absolutely beautiful - very warm, friendly and welcoming. There are so many impressions and interesting and bizarre things happened every day in Lhasa .

Then you will spend a whole afternoon exploring Barkhor Street. The markets in Lhasa are on a scale quite unlike anything else you have seen. You can buy anything Tibet-related, from sacks of incense, chunks of yak butter to monk outfits. When walking along the Barkhor Street , you need to follow the clockwise direction. You see many Tibetan pilgrims in town taking part in the various koras (pilgrimage circuits): the Nangkor, Barkor, Lingkor and Potala. Maybe there are even others associated with various monasteries. They are devout Buddhists who perform these koras as a part of their lives and a means of gathering merit. They are from different parts of Tibet but still have a distinctive look - heavy, colorful clothes, dark-haired, hair plaited and braided with beads. They travel in family groups with a prayer-wheel in constant motion. Among these various koras you see many prostrating themselves, some doing this repeatedly on the spot and others prostrating every 3 paces until they have circumambulated the route.

For the in-depth insight of this land and people, the morning will be spent to visit the Tibet Museum and Tibetan family. Tibet Museum has a rich collection od cultural relics, such as the objects of the prehistoric culture, hand copied classics in Tibetan language, colorful Tangkas, various musical instruments, handicrafts with distinctive ethnic characteristics, and pottery wares in unique style.

In the afternoon, Sera Monastery will be a good choice as well. Sera means ‘Hailstone' in Tibetan, and legend tells that it hailed during the foundation of this famous monastery. The Sera Monastery is the last of the three principal Yellow Sect monasteries built in Lhasa . It is destined to be one of the most enjoyable afternoons of the whole trip. The setting itself is very beautiful and there are many cobbled alleyways, temples and colleges on a hill. One chapel will be strike you in particular: it houses only statues and paintings of Dark Goddesses with devouring humans. A solitary monk sits inside the chapel, banging a big drum and sounding a gong. The highlight will be watching a monks debating inside the shady courtyard behind the main temple. Every day, hundreds of red-robed monks assemble in small groups and practice their debating skills. It is a highly entertaining spectacle, during which they strike poses not dissimilar to hip hop rappers. They are clap, turn, and finger point, whoop, holler, and throw their prayer beads about. In most cases, one monk sits on the floor, while another one stands, and between them, they argue about Buddhist rituals - immensely enjoying their debates. As tourists you are allowed to walk around the edge and observe the very dynamic and animated monks asking and answering questions like ‘why', ‘what came first the chicken or the egg' and ‘who is your favorite Buddha'. The spectacle is just so fun-filled and high energy. It's a bit like a Sicilian market place, or a football match, increasing in volume all the time, and some of the monks are really good showmen, sometimes mischievously involving you in their debates, as if trying to get you onto their side.

Tibet is not a relaxing holiday destination where you should be ready to travel for forgetting the home comforts and be prepared to rough it somewhat. However if temples, religion and ancient culture are your things, you will find Tibet is just the place for you. Now, it is time to say goodbye.

Chengdu is a very cultural city and has a lot of interesting and fascinating sights to offer, in the city and also in its surrounding areas. Known as the land of abundance, Chengdu boasts plentiful products, a pleasant climate, a large number of scenic spots and historical sites, excellent traditional handicrafts well known both at home and aboard, unique folk customs and picturesque rural scenery, making tourists enjoy themselves so much as to forget to go home.

Firstly visit Du Fu Thatched Cottage, which is a beautiful garden and museum to honor Du Fu, one of the greatest Chinese poets of all times. Even though you do not have a clue who Du Fu was and you couldn’t read the poems since all are only in Chinese, you have a great time there. You stroll through the huge garden area and find many awesome and picturesque places.Then you continue your trip to Wuhou Temple, which is another very beautiful spot. It also has a great garden and it is very graceful as well. It is special because it is a temple of honoring of an Emperor and his Minister. In Chinese history, there is strict grading between Emperor and minister, who are not supposed to set together. Moreover you find a nice tea house in the temple and have a cup of tea to relaxing and watching the locals chatting, playing MaJiang and Chinese poker. The Sichuan tea houses really have a very unique atmosphere. You see many old people, who seem to spend the whole day there, some Western tourists, Chinese families and even sometimes young people meeting up with friends. It is always very nice and interesting to watch the people having a good time and enjoying themselves. Bamboo is the main food for lovely giant panda and Chengdu is a place where you find lot kinds of bamboo. The best example is your next destination-Wangjiang Park.

The big draw of Chengdu is delicious Sichuan Cuisine and local snacks. Fortunately, you will have a chance to taste Hot Pot in Sichuan Style at night. Sichuan is famous for its spicy food, and one of its delicacies is the hot pot. It's where you have a pot of spicy broth boiling in front of you and you choose which ever food to cook. The Sichuan hot pot is a bubbling cauldron of extremely hot oil and water. Dip all kinds of food into the pot including meats, vegetables and tofu. It's a very social meal. People sit around to enjoy it and make a long evening out of it. As the saying goes, 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do', your trip of Chengdu is completed with eating the traditional spicy hot pot. After dinner, an optional Sichuan Opera is waiting for you. The opera is staged in a tea house so during the show you could enjoy tea and peanuts. There are the music, opera (scene from the book Romance of the Three Kingdoms), some solo music, a bit of comedy, acrobatics, shadow puppets, and the face changing and fire spitting. It is nice to see the colorful costumes, hear the unfamiliar sounds of the music, and watch the amazing act of shadow play. The part with the mask changers is really cool. They change their masks so fast that you could hardly be sure that it really did change! They obviously are masters of 'sleight of hand'.

What you could not miss in Chengdu is the world famous Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding which is located about six miles out of Chengdu City. This huge institution replicates the natural habitat of the giant panda and is dedicated to preserving and increasing their population so they will not become extinct. You are able to get real close-up to some pandas and photograph them as well as the so-called lesser red pandas which really look and act like raccoons. One of the biggest attractions is the panda breeding center where you can watch the baby pandas through glass in their playpens. You are not allowed to photograph the baby pandas, as the flash can hurt their eyes. Another highlight is the video you watch about the reserve and panda reproduction and learn how a panda gives birth to a baby cub. The baby just slides out and at the first time mothers don't know what it is, so it is common for them to accidentally kill the baby as they swat it around if the researchers can not help out in time. In all, it is nice to see all in the panda breeding center.

The guide will lead you to your next destination, Sanxingdui Museum, a modern theme museum which is 40 kilometers to the north of Chengdu. Quite different from the central culture of China, the ones showed at Sanxingdui Museum are precious cultural of mankind in south-west China existed between 2,800 to 800 BC. The museum houses some of ancient remains excavated near the present Guanghan City. Clues to this large and thriving culture were discovered by a farmer in 1929.

After a short flight, Chongqing is before your eyes. The City is located in the southeast of the Sichuan Basin, where the Yangtze and Jialing rivers meet. Known as a city in the mountains, Chongqing is surrounded by waters on three sides, and by the mountains on four sides. It has moist climate with many cloudy days and less frost and snow.

Tonight you don't stay in hotel and wait for the next morning boarding. Instead of, you could be on board before 9:00 pm. The ship TCT recommended is luxurious 5-star ship of Victoria Cruises. The cruiser looks quite new and clean. All the stuffs are waiting along two sides to welcome you with sweet smile and fluent English. The standard two-bed sharing cabin is about 21 squarer meters with private balcony and bathroom. A good cabin is very vital for your cruise.

You depart from Chongqing at 9 o’clock in the morning. Sumptuous Western and Chinese buffet are offered as breakfast.

The 6300 kilometer-long Yangtze River is China's longest river and the third longest in the world. It originates in Qinghai Province and cuts its way through Tibet. It passes 7 other provinces before pulling itself into the East Sea just the north of Shanghai. Between the towns of Fengjie (Sichuan) and Yichang (Hubei) lie three gorges regarded as some of the best scenic attractions in China. With the completion of Three Gorges Dam in 2009, the water levels will rise to a level of 175m above the sea level. It will create a 600 kilometers long reservoir extending from the dam site all the way to Chongqing. Markers along the route indicate that there is only around 20m of rise to go now. The building of this huge dam is for the purpose of flood control, hydroelectricity, navigation and irrigation. Although about 1.5 million people in the process as well as countless historical and cultural sites will be placed, it is lucky that all historical and cultural cites will be reserved by rebuilding to a higher position above the required level.

Today you stop for an exploration of Shibaozhai, which represents one of the gems of Chinese architecture along the Yangtze River. From afar, the protruding 220-meter pagoda abuts against the north bank appears to resemble a jade seal. In Chinese myths, it is said that the creation of the pavilion is attributed to the goddess Nvwa, who caused a rockslide while she was redecorating the sky after a fierce battle between two warring dukes. A red pavilion abuts against one side of this rock. Its tall yellow entrance gate is decorated with lions and dragons.The pavilion itself is really impressive, clinging to the side of a sheer cliff face, as well as spread across the top of the hill. It takes a bit of time to get to the top, and there are some stunning views of Yangtze River when you get there. After return to the boat in the afternoon, you could enjoy your afternoon tea and share tales of today’s adventure with fellow travelers.

Or Fengdu, which is known as the 'Ghost City', remains hundreds of statues of ghosts and devils in a depiction of the afterlife. Or Wanzhou is famous as the 'Gateway to Eastern Sichuan'.

This morning you could get up early to see the sunrise of Yangtze River and the first gorge- Qutang Gorge, the shortest, narrowest and the most dramatic one of the three gorges. It is quite early so that it isn't actually daylight, so we could mainly see the silhouette in the half light. It is still impressive with sloping green surfaces, ridges and valleys running down to the water. The gorges rise straight out of the water on either side of you, dwarfing the boat. Lucky enough, as you progress through the light improved, you will have a good look of it. Two mountains, Mt. Chijia Shan and Mt. Baiyan Shan, guard the entrance to this gorge like giant castle doors. Moreover, you can take a practice of Taiji offered by crew on deck.

Today you have so many highlights to share with you. After the first two gorges you will stop at Mt.Wushan and then change to a smaller boat for the visit of Lesser Three Gorges. This is definitely the favorite part of the journey and the most impressive scenery. They are the 'Dragon Gate Gorge', 'Misty Gorge' and 'Emerald Gorge'. These gorges are far sheerer. They are incredible, majestic, humbling and wonderful to behold. If chances are, you will spot a few monkeys in the trees on both sides and also a few women singing and some guys playing something that sounds a bit like the bagpipes.

A few hours later you see the second gorge -Wu Gorge, known for its beauty, forest covered mountains and sheer cliff. The middle gorge is best known for twelve unique peaks. Often hidden in swirls of mist, six lines the north side of the river and six staggered peaks stand to the south. The cliff faces rise up almost 1,000m on either side of the boat. You could stand on the deck for minutes to enjoy this pretty breathtaking scenery. Last but not the least. The third gorge- Xiling Gorge is the longest and the deepest gorge with dangerous rapids like Xietan, Qintan and Kongling, collectively known as the Three Rapids of Xiling.

Then it is time to pass through the locks of Three Gorge Dam that is the climax despite of the nature sightseeing. You could really feel the might of the dam. Since the water level after the dam is much lower than before the dam, the boats have to pass through 5 sections of locks step by step to reduce the height. By closing and opening the locks, the water goes down and the boats are floating and going down with the water. The 5 sections are about 1.5 km long and it takes you about 3.5 hours to pass. Among you, there are some other boats that pass together and this is another reason that it takes a long time. The passage is at night. With all the ship and the surrounding illuminated it is very beautiful scenery to watch and you could not go to sleep until you pass the last lock. After all, not every day do you sail through locks.

Today you get off the boat to see the great Three Gorges Dam. Scheduled for completion in 2009, the Three Gorges Dam was the vision of Dr. Sun Yet Sen and will subdue the floodwaters of Yangtze while providing hydroelectric power to the people. It is no doubt that the highlight of the cruise is not only nature made (the Three Gorges) but also man made (the Dam). The dam is so enormous and impressive. It is the largest water conservancy project ever undertaken on this planet.

Return to your boat and have a nice lunch, it is really the time for you to say goodbye and thanks to Anna and her crews. You will take a flight from Yichang airport to Guangzhou. Located in the northern part of the Pearl River Delta, Guangzhou is known as the 'City of Flowers'. In Guangzhou, historical sites and modern amusement facilities form a delightful contrast. Folk customs and local operas are colorful. All these constitute a brilliant and wonderful picture scroll.

Guangzhou boasts one of the largest and most developed cities in China. You will Visit Dr. Sun Yetsen's Memorial Hall, a memorial building built in 1931 with the funds raised by the Guangzhou people and overseas Chinese in memory of Sun Yat-sen. Then you will not miss the Temple of Family Chen, the Ancestral Temple of the Chen Family, built between 1890 and 1894 during the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, is the largest, best preserved, and best decorated ancient architecture existing in Guangdong province. Then Temple of the Six Banyan Trees is also worthwhile. Moreover, the Shamian Street where you find the dozens of former international embassies will show you the history of this city.