China Highlights 10 days / 9 nights

Shanghai / Beijing / Xian / Guilin

Day 01: Arrival Shanghai

Day 02: Morning Shanghai city tour

Featuring the Bund, , Shanghai Arts and Crafts Exhibition, Yu Yuan Garden, Jade Buddha Temple and the Shanghai Musuem . Evening visit to the Shanghai Acrobatic Show .

(Optional 3 days /2 nights side trip to the ancient gardens of Suzhou & the West Lake in Hangzhou )

Day 03: Shanghai to Beijing

Early morning transfer to the airport for flight to Beijing (alternative day or night train )

Afternoon visit the Hutongs by rickshaw

Day 04: A full day tour to the Great Wall and Ming Tombs.

Visit the massive Great Wall, 90 km north of Beijing. After lunch at a local restaurant stop at the Ming Tombs, burial place for 13 emperors of the Ming Dynasty, approached through the Sacred Way and Avenue of the Animals. (We can organise the visit to either Badaling or the less touristy Mutianyu)

Day 05: A full day tour of the Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven.

Visit the Forbidden City, Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Located on the edge of Tiananmen an men Square, the Forbidden City is surrounded by a moat and 10 metre high walls. Inside are huge marble staircases and parade grounds, quiet gardens and some 9,999 individual rooms. The Palace contains many of Chinas’ most priceless antiques and treasures. 

Evening enjoy a Beijing Opera performance

Day 06: A half day tour to The Summer Palace / Flight to Xian .

Visit the beautiful Summer Palace nestling beside Kun Ming, rebuilt by the Empress Dowager in the 19th century. The Palace is a huge complex of ornately decorated buildings, pavilions and covered walkways overlooking the lake.

Afternoon transfer to the airport for flight to Xian. Time permitting , visit the bustling Muslim Quarter and the ald ancient walls. (alternative overnight express train from Beijing to Xian)

Day 07: Full day Xian tour.
Qin Mausoleum, Banpo Museum and Huaqing Hot Springs and the Big Wild Goose Pagoda . Visit the amazing terracota warriors, horses and chariots guarding the entrance to the 2000 year old Qin Mausoleum and the Banpo Museum built around the site of a 5000 year old neolithic village. Finally visit the Huaqing Hot Springs, once a retreat for the Imperial Court -

(3 days / 2 nights extension to Chengdu to visit the pandas)

Day 08 - Xian to Guilin

Early morning transfer to the airport for flight to Guilin. Arrive for 2 nights. Afternoon visit Elephant Trunk Hill and Reed Flute Cave - beautifully illuminated to emphasize the beauty of the rock formations.

Day 09: Full Day River Li Cruise tour.
Travel first by flat bottomed launch along the Li Jiang as it meanders between the inspirational limestone peaks. Disembark at Yangshou, a quaint town of tiny streets, little shops and stalls selling handicrafts and local wares before returning to Guilin by coach.

(optional overnight at Yangshuo and/ or Yangtze Cruise extension)

Day 10:  Departure

Evening transfer to the airport for departure flight

(Alternative extension to Hong Kong or maybe a relaxing couple of nights on the beach at Sanya )

Yangtze Cruise 4 days/3 nights

Chongqing to Yichang or vv

Day 1 - Embark your luxury cruise vessel early evening .

Day 2 - Today , enjoy a fascinating shore excursion to Shibaozhai - one of the architectural gems along the banks of the Yangtze

Day 3 - This morning , enter the most beautiful stretch of the Yangtze , passing through the limestone peaks of Qutang Gorge before reaching Wu Gorge , with its dramatic slopes of 1000 metre high cliffs of which a feature are the twelve peaks of Wushan. Disembark your cruiser for a journey up the Lesser Three Gorges . In the evening , pass through the famous five-stage ship lock .

Day 4 - After breakfast , a shore excursion will take you to visit the Three Gorges Dam . Cruise ends in Yichang . .

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