Tibetan New Year Celebration in Qinghai on 31st Jan. 2025

Qinghai is located in the northwest of China, bordering with Gansu, Xinjiang and Sichuan. Qinghai is famous for Qinghai Lake and gets the name after it, but it has a lot hidden gems to explore. Located mostly on the Tibetan Plateau, the province has long been a melting pot for a number of ethnic groups including the Han, Tibetans, Hui, Tu, Mongols and Salars. Outside of the provincial capital - Xining, most of Qinghai remains underdeveloped but show us the beauty in many ways!

Tibetan New Year, also known as Losar is a festival in Tibetan Buddhism. The holiday is celebrated on various dates depending on location tradition. The dates for Tibetan New Year in Qinghai are same as Chinese Lunar New Year dates. Losar is celebrated for 15 days, with the main celebrations start from the 5th day.

The annual "sunning of the Buddha" is one of the most important ceremonies. Lamas carry the thangka scroll out of the scripture hall to a nearby hill, followed by devout Buddhists. Many people touch the thangka with their foreheads to pray for good luck.
In the monasteries there are also some religious festivals called Cham dance. Cham dance is a lively masked and costumed dance associated with some schools of Tibetan Buddhism. This dance is accompanied by number of monks with special religious music played by some other monks using traditional Tibetan musical instruments.

This kind of festival will be held in the almost every bigger monastery on the Tibetan plateau and specially those monasteries in the provinces of Western Sichuan, Southern Gansu and Southeastern Qinghai. During these festivals, thousands of local pilgrims will get together with their most beautiful traditional clothes, and in hands with a lot of offerings to the buddhas for the new year. It happens only once a year.

In this festive trip we are away from the crowd, combining the hiking and culture exploration together. You will learn the Tibetan culture, enjoy the beautiful natural views, visit monasteries in different sizes, appreciate the Tibetan Buddhist Thangka art and get to experience the local festival on the plateau. Of course you have chance to taste the local food!

Trip Specifics
Dates: 31st Jan. to 4th Feb. 2025
Duration: Six days' trip
Land Cost: 4,800 RMB (double occupancy, pay extra 1,150 RMB for single room supplement)
Includes: All local land transfers; meals where indicated on the program; bottled water; trip leader and local hiking guide and driver cost; entry tickets or fees to attractions sites and activities mentioned on the program; 5 nights accommodation
Level: Easy - Moderate
Routing: Shanghai - Xining - Guide - Xunhua - Tongren - Xining - Shanghai
Participants: 8-12 pax
Registration Deadline: 19th Jan. 2025
Detailed Itinerary
D1 (D)
08:20 - Make your way to Pudong airport and take flight to Xining via flight FM 9271. (or land it before 12:30)
12:25 - Arrive in Xining and meet our local guide at airport exit.
13:30 - Grab your lunch at airport and transfer 40 mins to the Xining city to start your journey.
15:00 - Visit Xining Dongguang Grand Mosque which is one of the four biggest and oldest mosques in western China with a history of over 600 years. Then wander around the night market.
After dinner drive to check in your hotel.
Overnight at a local 4-star hotel
Average Altitude: 2,200m
D2 (BLD)
08:00 - Wake up and have breakfast
09:00 - Drive about 40 mins to Kumbum Monastery (Ta'er Si in Chinese). Kumbum Monastery is one of the important and historic places in Qinghai and has hundreds of monks.
12:00 - Drive one hour to Guide County for lunch.
14:00 - Drive 1.5 hrs to Kanbula National Park which is a beautiful forest park featuring with unique Danxia landform. In the park, we will visit Achong Namzong nunnery which is the biggest nunnery in the area and one of the most important Tibetan Buddhist meditation heritage for thousand years.
18:00 - Drive 1.5 hrs to Xunhua County to check in your hotel.
Overnight at a local 4-star hotel
Average Altitude: 2,200m ~ 1,900m
D3 (BLD)
08:00 - Wake up and have breakfast
09:30 - Drive to 10th Panchen lama’s home (30mins). Panchen lama is the second highest spirit leader of Tibet and then we visit Qinghai‘s biggest stupa.
11:30 - Visit a local family for the New year and then walk around the village
12:30 - Drive to Tongren for lunch or lunch on the way via Gangtsa Nomad area
14:00 - Drive to Wutong Monastery to join the sunning of the Buddha ceremony for the New Year!
18:00 - Drive back to Tongren to check in hotel.
Overnight at a local 4-star hotel
Average Altitude: 2,500m ~ 1,900m
D4 (BLD)
08:00 - Wake up and have breakfast
09:00 - Drive about 20 mins to Wutong Tibetan Village and visit a local art family and learn how to paint Thangka.
11:30 - Drive back to city for lunch
13:00 - Drive back to Rebgong Sang Shong Monastery to witness Buhhda worshipping ceremony for Losar

16:00 - Drive to another Tibetan Village and hike a little bit there
18:00 - Drive back to Tongren
Overnight at a local 4-star hotel
Average Altitude: 2,500m
D5 (BLD)
08:00 - Wake up and have breakfast
09:00 - Drive one hour to Gangtsa Nomad Area to do a hiking on grassland for 2 hrs .
12:30 - Drive to the city for lunch
14:00 - Drive back to Rebgong Sang Shong Monastery to enjoy another ceremony Cham Dance for Losar
18:00 - Drive back to Tongren
Overnight at a local 4-star hotel
Average Altitude: 2,500m
D6 (B)
08:00 - Wake up and have breakfast
09:00 - Drive about 2.5 hrs to Xining airport. Buy your lunch at airport
13:10 - 16:05 Take flight from Xining airport back to Shanghai Pudong via FM 9272 (or later flight)
Program ends.
Please Note: Our guide might make some changes on the itinerary to make sure you will see the best views and have better festive experience according to actual situation. This cost excludes the flight tix, tips to guide and driver and your personnel expense. You can book by yourself or we can help book for you for free.

Please check https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/HuWnN_OqwYtc-CRESdmP0Q for detailed itinerary and signup contact.