Destinations on the program: Kunming – Lijiang – Shuhe – Tacheng – Cizhong – Meili – Benzilan – Shangri La – Lhasa – Gyantsé – Shigatsé – Lhasa – Xining – Linxia – Hezuo – Xiahe – Tongren – Xunhua – Xining – Xian – Pingyao – Beijing
Our trip was organized with the assistance of China Roads.
When preparing our trip program, we requested that the following specific features be taken into account:
-precautions to take regarding the stay at altitude. We are in fact 74 and 80 years old respectively.
-the main objective for us is to learn about the Tibetan world, its society, its culture and Buddhism, which we had a first glimpse of during a previous stay in Shangri-La.
-this is our first discovery of ancient China, in X’ian, Pingayo, and Beijing.
The trip went perfectly and we were completely satisfied. It awakened in us a desire for deeper exploration that we will satisfy by reading the accounts of the first Western explorers, by Alexandra David-Néel, not forgetting texts on the contemporary history of Tibet and China.
We draw the following assessment from our experience:
1-Taking into account our physical limitations
The organization of the tour took into account the need to respect the gradual rise in altitude. This is how we carried out the stages of Kunming (2000m)-Lijiang (2500m)-Shangri-La (3200m) from where we radiated towards the passes at 4000m, Lhasa (3600m) with extensions towards the monasteries at 4500m and 5000m and finally, the train to the roof of the world, with a pass at 5200m. We generally avoided making significant efforts or walks, and we did not, at any time, experience altitude sickness.
2-Program flow
2.1-transport
For the road trips, we benefited from a vehicle with a driver, a nearly new 4×4, in good working condition, very well maintained and very clean. The drivers were all punctual, available and resourceful.
The trains were modern, the sleeping compartments adequately comfortable. The Roof of the World train, from Lhasa to Lanzhou, allowed us to admire, at low speed, the splendors of the Tibetan plateau and mountains. It was an unforgettable experience.
2.2-discovery of the country
Our main interest was in learning about the people and their culture, with a particular focus on the Tibetan world. Our complete ignorance of the Chinese and Tibetan languages made us completely dependent on our guides’ ability to help us discover and understand what we were seeing. Hence the particular importance we attached to them.
-in Yunnan, Philippe Lu, whom we already knew from our previous visit, a perfect French speaker, open-minded and cultured, explained to us very well the rich culture of the Naxi and Bai minorities. Likewise, the history of Tibet Kham, its temples and monasteries, its population. He allowed us to acquire the first benchmarks for the knowledge of Buddhism.
-in Autonomous Tibet, in Lhasa, instead of the English-speaking Tibetan guide scheduled in the program, we had Nathalie Xie Sanling, a young Chinese guide sent by the Kunming municipality to Lhasa for a mission to train Tibetan guides. Perfectly fluent in French, competent and very active, she managed to show us the main temples and monasteries of Autonomous Tibet listed on our administrative authorization to enter the province. In addition, she showed us the beauties of Tibetan craftsmanship, especially thangkas. Thanks to the Tibetan driver, who honored us with a visit to his family home, we were able to get a glimpse of the life of a “middle-class” Tibetan family. Overall, it seemed to us that Nathalie’s reading of Tibetan realities, rational and synthetic, reflected a point of view outside the Tibetan world, that is to say, a Chinese point of view. In the next phase of Qinghai province, we will have a vision from a slightly different point of view with our Tibetan guide.
-in Tibet Amdo (Qinghai), our guide was a Tibetan, Pema Gyaltso, an English speaker who spoke Italian and a little French. It seemed to us that with his help, we were able to gain a somewhat deeper and more authentic understanding of Tibetan rural society, which is reeling from modernization. We were given the opportunity to have lunch with a farmer-herder family in the Amdo steppe, who were kind enough to help us out in an area where we could not find any restaurant or rural lodging. The tsampa prepared by our guide was much appreciated, and we were able to discover the life that Tibetan peasants have led since time immemorial. The visit to the temples, notably a Bon temple far from any tourist circuit, was particularly interesting. In contrast, Kun Bum, which we visited in the company of a crowd of Chinese tourists, disappointed us a little.
-For X’ian, Pingayo and Beijing, we had competent and very professional guides, whom we were not able to get to know very well due to the brevity of our stay in each of the stages. In X’ian we particularly appreciated the museum of the excavation site of the tomb of Emperor Jingdi. Although it is barely mentioned in the tourist guides, we believe that it bears comparison with the museum of the Terracotta Army of Qin Shi Huangdi.
3-Conclusion
We are very satisfied with the travel organization by China Roads. Anne, our correspondent and advisor, perfectly advised, followed us and accompanied us throughout the tour. We particularly appreciated the agency’s responsiveness in resolving a minor incident: the train that had brought us back from Lhasa arrived in Lanzhou on October 25 at 4 p.m. When we left the station, we found no one to greet us. We decided to wait in the middle of the square in front of the station exit. What we didn’t know was that the driver and the guide were stuck with the car in the city’s traffic jam, and they estimated themselves to be 30 minutes late for the meeting time with us. They alerted the Lanzhou agency’s correspondent who called Anne in France. She tried to call us on our cell phone, but was unable to reach us because our phone was unfortunately packed in a suitcase. Lanzhou then decided to call the station police, who immediately started looking for us. We were surprised, after twenty minutes of waiting, to be approached by a young police officer who, smartphone translator in hand, filled us in. He then invited us to sit in the station’s VIP waiting room, and shortly afterward led us to the car and the guide.