3 Days Xining Short Stay Tour including Qinghai Lake Request

Full Itinerary Day by day

Day 1 Xining Arrival

Welcome to Xining (altitude: 2,261 m), the capital city of Qinghai Province in northwestern China. Upon arriving at Xining Caojiabao Airport (or Xining Railway Station), your tour guide will meet you and escort you to your hotel in the downtown by a private vehicle. After checking in, the rest of today is on your own to acclimate to the elevation and explore this historical city of China.

Arrival Ideas: You can take a flight to Xining from Beijing (about 2hrs), Shanghai (about 3hrs), Xian (about 1.5hrs), Chengdu (about 2hrs), Guangzhou (about 3.5hrs), Dunhuang (about 1.5hrs), etc., or get to Xining by high speed bullet train from Xian (about 4hrs), Lanzhou (about 1.5hrs), Zhangye (about 2hrs), Jiayuguan (about 3~3.5hrs) and other connected cities in China.

Nightlife idea: go to enjoy a great dinner and stunning night view of Xining city on Pearl of Puning which is a 188 meters tall TV & Sightseeing tower alike Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai.

Day 2 Xining - Qinghai Lake (B, L)

After breakfast, drive around 150 km (2.5 hours) to see the picturesque Qinghai Lake from Xining via Huangyuan, Riyue Mountain, etc. You won't feel bored along the driving since the fascinating scenery of green grassland, blue sky, white clouds and clustered herds unfold like a photo gallery. As the largest inland lake, as well as the largest salt water lake in China, Qinghai Lake (3200 m) stretches 105 km in length, 63 km in width and occupies a water area of over 4,500 square kilometers. It was elected as the Most Beautiful Lake in China by China’s National Geographic, attracting thousands of photographers to take photos every year.

You will spend a wonderful time appreciating the beauty of Qinghai Lake in Erlangjian Scenic Area - the essence of the whole scenic area of Qinghai Lake. It shapes like a long and narrow sword inserting into the lake. Walking on the plank road, you will be delivered a far-reaching panorama of the sea-like lake. Due to the different salt content of different parts of the lake, the water presents different colors in the refraction of sunlight. More than the lake view, the scenic surrounding - endless grassland and rapeseed flower lands, soft sand beaches as well as flocks of grazing sheep, horses and yaks also make you enjoy yourself to the fullest. On a clear day, you will feast your eyes on a charming vista of the snow-capped mountains in the distance as well as the huge sand dunes of Sand Island on the far shore. At the same time, Qinghai Lake is a sacred Tibetan Buddhist site. There are many devoted Buddhist coming from afar to worship to Qinghai Lake each year.

Optional Qinghai Lake Cruise: Taking a cruise allows you to admire Qinghai Lake from a different perspective. There are two kinds of cruises available in Erlangjian Scenic Area: High Speed Cruise and catamaran. The former offers a 25 minutes’ single trip from Erlangjian Wharf to Erlangjian Peninsula at the cost of CNY140. The latter offers a 50 minutes’ round trip at the cost of CNY180. This price doesn't include your personal expense on the ship, such as drinking, food, etc. This cruise is only available during the period from May to October.

After sightseeing, drive about 10 minutes to Viewing-deck in Nanshan Mountain for a panoramic view of Qinghai Lake. The beautiful shoreline is seen clearly and the water takes on bluer color. Then, drive back to Xining for accommodation.

Warm Tips: 1) It is available to visit Qinghai Lake all the year around, but May to October is the best time because of the most comfortable weather. If you want to savor the sea of rape flowers, remember to visit in July and August. 2) The sunlight is very strong in Qinghai Lake, and it is necessary to bring hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, etc. to protect your skin from sun burn especially in summer. 3) Few people get serious high altitude sickness in Qinghai Lake, but it is important to be wary of high altitude sickness if it's your first time to enter the high plateau. Avoiding strenuous exercise and drinking more water will be helpful.

Day 3 Xining Departure ( B,L )

After breakfast, drive about 28 km (40 minutes) to visit the famous Kumbum Monastery (Ta'er Monastery). The monastery is a sacred Tibetan Buddhist temple most known as “one of the six greatest Gelug monasteries”. It is said to be the birthplace of Tsongkhapa - the founder of the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism (Yellow Hat Sect) and constructed based on a memorial pagoda about him.

Inside this large temple complex, you can appreciate mixed Tibetan and traditional Chinese style architectures that are harmoniously laid, and feature in bright colors and complicated decorations. There are rich collections of Buddhist sculptures, precious Sutras and cultural relics treasured inside. The highlights are the Eight Pagodas of Buddha Shakyamuni, grandiose Grand Golden Tiled Hall, artistic Dhammapala Hall enshrining Buddhist masters’ statues. Yak Butter Sculpture of Buddha, Mural and Barbola are the noted “Three Arts” you can admire remarkable arts, aesthetics and religious culture. (You may watch a Buddhist scripture debating or witness a grand Buddhist festival by luck.)

Next, drive 37 km (about 50 minutes) to visit the Tibetan Medicine & Tibet Culture Museum. It is a theme museum highlighting the profound Tibetan medicine and folk culture. Through visits of different exhibition halls, you can look many ancient surgical instruments, medical books, specially processed specimens and calculation methods of astronomical calendar. It’s an interesting and rewarding journey to catch a glimpse of the mysterious traditional medical system and diverse Tibetan culture. Don’t miss the Guinness World recorded 618-meter-long gallery displaying over 700 exquisite Thangka paintings.

After lunch, transfer to Dongguan Mosque, the largest mosque in Qinghai. The mosque is a sacred sanctuary for Muslims, one of the four greatest mosques in Northwest China and the highest-level institute of Islamic study. Originally built in the early Ming Dynasty, it is a large building group occupying 13,602 square meters which combines traditional Chinese architectural art and Islamic features. The Worship Hall can accommodate 3,000 Muslims at one time. The pale mint-green exterior is very pretty and chic. You may see lots of Muslim disciples worshiping and attending Muslim event here.

Lastly, your tour guide will escort you to catch your flight or train to next destinations. Tour ends.

The quotation for this trip is from Request Per Person

1. This price is for one person, based on a group of 2 adults sharing one standard double-bed room in 4-star hotel and traveling with our private tour in low seasons.
2. This price is subject to change according your traveling season, group size, hotel class, change of activities in your itinerary and possible fluctuation of currency exchange rate. If you want a lower price, you can get more people to join you, or use economy class hotels.
3. This price is only valid to March 31, 2026.
4. Reference exchange rate of USD 1=RMB 7.00. The final quote is based on current exchange rate. It may change according to the currency fluctuation, while the RMB quotation will be remained the same.

How Our Teams Serve you at China Discovery

"Highest Standards of Quality and Honesty" is the core value of each specialized team at China Discovery.

Eveyone in our company is working hard for only one goal, which is to ensure the highest level of service, luxury, and attention to detail from the minute you begin planning your trip, to the day you return home.

1-on-1 Travel Consultant

Our travel consultants are professional, experienced and responsible, helping you from the very beginning to the end of your China trip!

After sending us an inquiry, one of our travel consultants will get back to you within 0.5~23.5 hrs. In the next few days, he/she will be working closely with you to formulate a customized tour plan, as well as providing professional suggestions based on your travel interests, time, and budget.

Beside, he/she will keep in contact with you during your entire tour in China, continually checking if everything is going well as planned.

We're working at Chengdu Bamboo International Tours, local based in Chengdu.

Local Tour Guides

Our local guide in every destination is not only very friendly, enthusiastic but also very informative and knowledgeable.

Once you arrive in the destination, the patient and punctual guides will pick you up and take you to get under skin of the city at your own pace. By in-depth discovery and explanation, they’ll show you more about the history, culture, customs and authentic local life. Throughout the journey, they're not only expert guides who take care of all the details but also fellow travelers who are dedicated to help you explore in comfort and style.

Our guides are passionate about what they do, and it shows all the way!

Local Drivers & Vehicle

Using our private transfer service makes you comfortable, relaxed and worry free all the way!

Our private service includes licensed drivers with many years’ driving experience and air-conditioned, non-smoking, clean and well-maintained cars/vans. Drivers are local, polite, friendly and helpful, taking you to your tourist sites, hotels, airport/train stations in safety. All kinds of vehicle are offered, and yours depends on the size of your group. Usually, we offer sedan cars, SUVs, business vans (MPV) and different types of buses, all with extra space for your luggage.

Our private transfer service guarantees you the highest comfort!

Comfortable & Homelike Hotels

In each destination, you’ll enjoy a comfortable stay in a great location!

The hotels we choose are based on star rating, great locations, well-equipped facilities, cozy bed, high quality service and guests’ feedbacks. Choices are a lot ranging from luxury 5 star, comfortable 4 star to budget 3 star. You could decide where to stay to best suit for your budget and likes. Generally, the hotels have both Western and Chinese breakfast with a wide choices.

If you have already got an ideal hotel, please feel free to tell our travel consultants and they'll book the hotel for you.

Have good sleep in our well-selected hotels in all the destinations of China.

Meals & Dining

We can satisfy all the dietary requirements no matter you want Chinese local food, western food, vegetarian food or muslin food.

The restaurants we will take you for lunch or dinner are all designated tourist restaurants approved by local tourist administration bureau. They have very good sanitary conditions and the food is prepared fresh and clean.

There will be some meals excluded in your itinerary as you like, and your private guide will be delighted to give you some suggestions and take you to the local restaurants to taste like Beijing Roast Duck, Xian Dumpling Dinner, Sichuan Hotpot, etc., if you are interested in local food tasting.

All the dining options will satisfy your stomach!

Check What our delighted customers are saying about our services

Hi Wonder,

All is good! Only my father get tired very easily, so today we skip a little bit of the programma and got back to the hotel a little bit earlier. But overall everything is good!

The tour was also good, we saw everything we wanted to see… and everything went by smoothly. Only the distance is the problem… everything is so far away.

1 week is a good choice for us, because at the end of the trip, my father and aunt had enough of the travelling. And I even thought to go to Kashgar… maybe we do it next time only Xinjiang. My father couldn’t go to some places in Zhangye, so he wait at the entrance with the tour guide while my aunt and me were wandering around.

Vanessa

Vanessa‚ Netherlands, June 13, 2025

Hi Tammy,

Now safely back in London after a wonderful time in China.

We thoroughly enjoyed the Victoria Jenna cruise and although we did not upgrade our cabin, as it was perfectly fine, we did upgrade the dining option as it meant we could have our own table for two in the upper dining room (rather than sharing a large table for 10 people in the large dining room) plus the food choice was larger and wine was included with lunch and dinner. Highly recommend that option.

Xi’an was terrific and we really enjoyed everything you organized and our guide Jenny was great and so knowledgeable.

Over the long weekend in between we also travelled with our daughter to Hangzhou and then on to Suzhou both very interesting and pretty.

As you know we upgraded the train to Xi’an to first class which I think was well worth doing as the train back from Yichang was comfortable but very busy and noisy for Western people, and also many people were making their own pot noodles etc so my recommendation would be to travel first class on trains (rather than flying) because you see so much of the country and the stations are well organized and trains very comfortable with lots of space and no hanging around it airports.

Thank you for all your help Tammy, excellent work and I will certainly contact you again when we return (we have a two year visa) so will return so we can visit Guilin and that area.

Take care and thanks again.

Maggie

Maggie ‚ Britain, June 13, 2025

Dear Wonder:

Evolution feedback as below,

1. Very quick, impressive, Wonder took care of every detail, any doubt any concern responding in a very proper, clear a positive way.

2. Everything was perfect, well coordinated, all the guides were on time, very nice people all, service was outstanding, all reservations were made perfectly. Wonder did a perfect job.

3. I am currently recommending Chengdu Bamboo International Tours to every person I know.

4. General opinion: perfect, great service, impressive the clearness of the information, quick response and open to explore alternatives and to mofify the original tour proposed.

Hector

Hector‚ Mexico, June 12, 2025

Dear Mrs. Yang,

We are overwhelmed about the team here, your support in the backoffice and the great scenes on the tour. Unfortunately the tour ends already tomorrow morning but we will enjoy it up to the last minute.

Again, thank you for organizing.

best regards

Bernd

Bernd‚ Germany, June 12, 2025

Rita,

We enjoyed our trip and especially the studio apartment in Chongqing.

1. Tour arrangements were good and not too tiring.

2. Yes, I definitely can recommend to my friends.

3. No further suggestion for CQ tour - 2 days for CQ attractions and 1 day at Dazu Rocks are sufficient.

Thanks

Peter

Peter‚ Malaysia, June 10, 2025

Check What our customers are saying about us on Tripadvisor.com

We are one of the few China travel agencies who have kept active and received lots of feedbacks and reviews during pandemic years!

Richard

"This is my 3rd group trip with China Discovery planned by Jack Li. A wonderful itinerary of 19days/18days from Guilin, to Guizhou and Hunan..." read more »

Reviewed on April 30, 2025

13Kripy

"We contacted this tour group based on Trip Advisor reviews. We were not disappointed. We organised a private custom tour for the two of us with a guide to best use the time that we had at each destination..." read more »

Reviewed on June 15, 2025