Viking River Cruises

Roof of the World

Itinerary Overview

Explore Tibet on this exotic 13-night adventure including Beijing, Xian, Shanghai and a 3-night Yangtze River cruise. You’ll discover the many faces of China, from her imperial treasures in Beijing and Xian, to bustling Shanghai and the unique beauty of the Yangtze’s gorges. But with this journey, you’ll also experience the “Roof of the World,” Lhasa, Tibet, nestled at the foot of Mt. Everest. You’ll visit Jokhang Temple, considered the holiest of Buddhism; Potala Palace, former home of the Dalai Lamas, and much more. Truly, this is an adventurer’s journey-of-a-lifetime.

What's Included

• 3-night Yangtze River Cruise with balcony cabin onboard deluxe Viking Century Sky
• 5-star hotel accommodations: 3 nights Beijing, 1 night Xian, 1 night Chengdu, 3 nights Lhasa (4-star/best in city), 2 nights Shanghai
• 19 tours with private English-speaking guides: Beijing/Tiananmen Square/Forbidden City/Summer Palace/ Great Wall/Sacred Way of the Ming Tombs/Hutongs & Silk Carpet Workshop; Xian/Terra Cotta Army; Lhasa/Jokhang Temple/Barkhor Market/Tibetan Museum/Potala Palace/Sera Monastery; Fendu/Snow Jade Cave; Lesser Three Gorges; Three Gorges Dam; Shanghai/Bund/Children’s Palace
• 37 meals: 13 breakfasts, 12 lunches & 12 dinners with select meals at local restaurants
• Welcome Cocktail & Farewell Dinner
• Cultural Highlights: Peking Opera; Peking Duck Dinner; Tang Dynasty dinner show; Tibetan family visit & tea; Chinese acrobatic performance
• Fully escorted from airport arrival to departure
• All intra-China flights & appropriate hotel/airport/ship transfers
• All port charges included

Ship

Detailed Itinerary

Beijing dates back more than 1,000 years before Christ, and was a grand imperial capital from the tenth century A.D. until it became the capital of the new communist nation in 1949. In the center of the city you will find Tiananmen Square, the world’s largest public square with the capacity to accommodate more than one million people. Opposite the square, step into the Forbidden City with its acres of elegant palaces, pavilions, courtyards and gardens.



Just outside Beijing lies the magnificent Summer Palace, a 700-acre garden and complex of buildings that was used by the Imperial Court to escape the summer heat of Beijing.



Also outside the city lies the sacred burial grounds the Ming emperors chose as their final resting place. Walk along the Sacred Way, a long avenue lined with massive sculptures of elephants, lions and camels leading to the tombs.



In the nearby Badaling Hills is one of the most impressive and best-preserved sections of the fabled Great Wall of China. See breathtaking views of the Chinese countryside as you walk along the wall.

Xian - Hotel check-in; Tang Dynasty dinner show

Xian reached its peak during the Tang Dynasty rule when it was the capital of the Middle Kingdom. During this time, the city’s position as the geographical beginning of China’s fabled Silk Road established it as one of the world’s biggest and richest cities. From 618 to 907, the Tang Dynasty presided over one of China’s most glorious cultural periods, spreading its influence throughout Asia and into Europe and Africa.



While in Xian, visit China’s greatest archaeological treasure, the Qin Mausoleum. More than 2,000 years ago, the Emperor Qin Shi Huang was buried along with more than 6,000 life-sized terra cotta warriors, archers and infantrymen, together with their horses and chariots. In the early 1970s, farmers digging a well accidentally uncovered some of these soldiers. Walkways provide a bird’s-eye view of the stunning sight of an entire army molded in incredible detail (each man and horse with his own distinct personality).

Chengdu - Hotel check in

Chengdu boasts over 2300 years of history and was built in 316 BC during the late Warring State Period as the Dujiangyan dam and irrigation system was put in place and was considered a cornerstone of Chinese society. Chengdu is renowned for its fertile land and agricultural wealth earning its nickname "Storehouse of Heaven." The Jinjiang river flows through the city filled with high-rise buildings and local shops elegantly covered with richly-grown green trees, and well-assorted flowers. Have a taste of the local wine and tea or simply try the lands spiciest Sichuan dishes, or simply rummage through their vast product offerings from Shu embroidery pieces to bamboo-woven porcelain-ware and lacquer-ware.

Lhasa - Hotel check-in; Tibetan family visit & tea

Lhasa, the "City of the Sun," is the economic, spiritual and cultural center of Tibet, a remote mountain theocracy based on the mystical tenets of Lamaism. The remoteness of Tibet has always meant that strangers are welcome guests, and the people’s gentle spirituality infuses any visit with simple ceremony and gracious greeting. The maze of streets lined with stalls at the Barkhor Market in the old section of Lhasa bustles with activity, and at the 1,300-year-old Jokhang Temple, you are likely to see Buddhist pilgrims making reverent clockwise circuits on their hands and knees in reverence to one of Tibet’s most sacred sites. At the Tibetan Museum, learn about the history of this region set at the top of the world. The extraordinary 13-story Potala Palace, winter palace of the revered Dalai Lama since the seventh century, boasts more than 1,000 rooms, including the Red Palace (where the Dalai Lama once lived) and 10,000 chapels. Don't miss the Sera Monastery, an active temple welcoming many pilgrims, and has three colleges for monks in training.

Chongqing - Board your ship

Perched on steep hills at the confluence of the Yangtze and its major tributary, the Jialing River, Chongqing is the gateway for Yangtze River cruises. This proud mountain city was the capital of China during World War II when the American Volunteer Air Group, the "Flying Tigers," was based here. Visit the Stilwell Museum dedicated to "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell, commander of American forces in China, Burma and India during World War II. Today, Chongqing is China’s most important inland industrial city in China, and is particularly lively at night with its neon-lit Liberation Monument.

Called the "City of Ghosts" because of its temples filled with statues of demons, Fengdu boasts a population of 740,000 and features 70 temples, the oldest dating to the Tang dynasty, many climbing the Mingshan Hill above the city.

Sandouping village is the site of the monumental Three Gorges Dam project, the most ambitious engineering project of its kind. Here you will learn about the immense construction project and its effects on the people and landscapes of China. This hydroelectric project is planned for completion in 2009 when the river will rise to a final 575 feet above sea level, displacing 1.25 million people, submerging 13 cities, 140 towns and 1,352 villages and flooding the narrow gorges of the Yangtze’s tributaries, creating a lake behind the dam and smoothing out the shoals and rapids in the river. China’s new dam promises to yield the equivalent power of 15 nuclear plants as well as control the centuries-old problem of devastating Yangtze floods. While the dam has changed certain aspects of this experience, the gorges remain an impressive natural phenomenon.

Leave your ship; Three Gorges Dam tour; Fly to Shanghai

Shanghai - Hotel check-in; Free time

The largest city in China and one of the world’s most important ports began as a tiny fishing village 5,000 years ago. Today, it is a modern metropolis, its skyline cluttered with twinkling skyscrapers. Travel along the famous Bund, the city’s elegant riverfront promenade containing many of Shanghai’s banks and trading houses, and tour Old Shanghai. The old section of Shanghai retains the narrow lanes, bustling street markets, sights and scents of times past. The renowned Shanghai Museum contains a wonderful collection of ancient Chinese art. Visit a silk carpet factory and the Shanghai Children’s Palace, housed in a grand, early 20th century building once known as the Marble House. Viking River Cruises passengers will be treated to a performance by China’s famous acrobats.

Cost of This Itinerary

The least expensive cabin costs:

$260 per person per night in low season and

$368 pp pn in high season

The most expensive stateroom costs:

$275 per person per night in low season and

$383 pp pn in high season