How to book a tour
From west highland to east coastline
Tour code: beijing 037
Duration: 22 days
Route: Beijing, Taiyuan, Pingyao, Xi'an, Luoyang, Chengdu, Lhasa, Huangshan, Shanghai, Suzhou
Attractions: Tian'anmen Square, the Great Wall, the Double-Pagoda Temple, the Jin Ancestral Temple, the Rishengchang Draft Bank, etc
Itinerary:
Day 1
Arrive / Beijing
Transfer via: flight by your own arrangement
Arrive at Beijing. Be met & transferred to your hotel. Free at leisure for the rest of the day.
Day 2 (B, L, )
Beijing
Full day trip to the Tian'anmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace. Enjoy the Peking Opera Show in the evening.
TianAnMen Square, the symbolical heart of China and gathering place for the masses. It is the biggest public square in the world, which can hold one million people. Having a free walk there, imagining the great historic events of the 20th century took place there. You will also see legendary landmarks including the Great Hall of the People and the towering 125 foot granite obelisk, Monument to the Peoples Heroes, honoring those who died in revolution.
Walking across the Golden River Bridge, enter the Forbidden City, the inner sanctum and palace where for centuries Chinese emperors ruled their world. It has 9000-room maze of courtyards, places, and ceremonial halls, where 24 emperors used to live. Forbidden City was indeed a forbidden place, where commoners were kept out for nearly 500 years in the past. Tour the palace and imagine the mystery, intrigue and incredible power that reigned here.
Temple of Heaven was built in the 15th century, a sacred site for ancient Beijing, where the emperor and his 1000 member entourage would retreat twice a year for religious ritual. Surrounded by enormous grounds designed in accordance with fengshshui, the Temple complex consists of the Celebrated Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, a unique wooden and blue-tiled structure built without a nail. It is considered the supreme achievement of traditional Chinese architecture.
The Summer Palace is the largest and best-preserved royal garden in China with a history of over 800 years. With its cool features - water, gardens and hills, it was the palace of choice for vacationing emperors and Dowager Empresses. It was badly damaged by Anglo-French troops during the Second Opium War (1860) and its restoration became a pet project of Empress Dowager Cixi, the last of the Qing dynasty rulers.
Day 3 (B, L, D )
Beijing
Full day trip to the Great Wall, Ming Tomb and Sacred road. Enjoy a famous Peking Duck Banquet for dinner.
The Great Wall of China is the longest structure ever built. It is about 4,000 miles long, and it was built entirely by hand. About 1, 200 - 1, 500 miles of the Great Wall were built during the reign of Emperor Shi Huangdi (Qin Dynasty). The Great Wall crosses northern China from the east coast to the central part of China.
Visit the fabled Ming Tombs, the resting places of thirteen emperors and their splendid treasures, passing down the Spirit Way, a road lined with statues of dignitaries, as well as huge elephants, lions, camels and horses, you will encounter the marble tombs of the Ming Dynasty emperors. Visit one of the spectacular tombs- Dingling featuring an underground palace.
Day 4 (B, L, )
beijing/ Taiyuan
Transfer via: K717(21:50/07:00)-Train by our arrangement
Visit Hutongs by rickshaw. Take overnight train to Taiyuan.
Hutongs: The old narrow paths where common people lived. All the Hutongs crisscross with each other, dotted with the Kindergarten, the Bell Tower, the Drum Tower, the Tea House, and the lake, House of Gong Infant and local people's houses among them.
Day 5 (B, L, )
Taiyuan
Arrive at Taiyuan. Be met & transferred to your hotel. Have city tours to the Double-Pagoda Temple, the Chunyang Palace.
The Double-Pagoda Temple: It was originally called Yongzuo Temple, built in the 36th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1608). The two pagodas in the temple are considered the symbol of Taiyuan city.
The Tianlongshan Grottoes: Cliff carvings that began in the 6th century and continued over the next 400 years.
The Chunyang Palace: It was built to commemorate the Taoist priest Lu Chunyang of the Tang dynasty. Now it forms part of the Shanxi Museum.
Day 6 (B, L, )
Taiyuan / Pingyao
Full day trip to the Jin Ancestral Temple, the Qiao's Grand Courtyard, the Shuanglin Temple. Arrive at Pingyao ancient town and check in your hotel.
The Jin Ancestral Temple: It was originally started in the Northern Wei Dynasty (386 - 532 AD) to commemorate the memory of Shu Yu (Zhou Wu), the founder of the state of Jin.
The Qiao's Grand Courtyard: With the area of 8724 square meters, the courtyard was the house of the richest family Qiao in Qing Dynasty in China. Though 2 centuries have been passed, it still keeps its original splendor in architectural style.
The Shuanglin Temple: Standing for more than 1500 years, the temple is famous for more than 2,000 painted sculptures of precious value, representing Ming and Qing Dynasties' best. They are reputed as a "treasure reserve of the oriental painted sculptures".
Pingyao ancient town: In the middle of Shanxi Province, it is the best-preserved among the four ancient towns in China. It is the assembly place of folk houses in north China.
Day 7 (B, L, )
Pingyao / Xian
Transfer via: 2535(19:33/06:56)- train by our arrangement
Visit the Ancient City Wall, the Rishengchang Draft Bank, the Mingqing Street. Take evening train to Xian.
The Ancient City Wall: The 6.4km-long wall was constructed in the third year of Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty (1370A.D.). It is one of the best-preserved ancient city walls in China.
The Rishengchang Draft Bank: It was established in 1823. It was the biggest draft bank at that time and had been famous for "Hui Tong Tian Xia" (Business Connecting The Whole World).
The Mingqing Street: It is the downtown thoroughfare and reserved quite well of the styles in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Day 8 (B, L, )
Xi'an
Upon arrival Xian, be met & transferred to your hotel. Visit the Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses, the Bell Tower and the Wild Goose Pagoda. Enjoy the Tang Dynasty show in the evening.
The Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses: The greatest archaeological findings of the century: the army of terra-cotta warriors and the bronze chariots entombed in vast underground vaults at emperor Qin's tomb.
The Bell Tower: The emblem of Xian city.
The Wild Goose Pagoda: The pagoda where widely renowned Master Xuanzang (Monk Tripitaka) stored his classics brought from India.
The Tang Dynasty show: The show that presents the palace dances and sings in the Tang Dynasty when Xian was the capital.
Day 9 (B, L, )
Xi'an / Luoyang
Transfer via: K118(13:51/19:43)- by our arrangement
Have city tours to the Provincial Museum and the Ancient City Wall. Take the afternoon train to Luoyang. Upon arrival Luoyang, be met & transferred to your hotel.
- The Provincial Museum: One of the main museums in China which holds numerous unearthed cultural relics of China.
- The Ancient City Wall: An extension of the old Tang Dynasty structure boasting the most complete city wall that survives through Chinese long history.
Day 10 (B, L, )
Luoyang
Visit the White Horse Temple & Longmen Grottoes.
-White Horse Temple: The first Buddhist Temple in China.
-Longmen Grottoes: More than 100,000 images and statues of Buddha and his disciples were carved into the cliff walls on the banks of the Yi River, 16km south of the city in 494 AD.
Day 11 (B, L, )
Luoyang / Chengdu
Transfer via: flight by our arrangement
Upon arrival Chengdu, be met & drive to Mt. Emei and visit Baoguo Temple. Arrive at Chengdu, be met & transferred to Mt. Emei(160km).
Mt.Emei is one of the most famous mountains for Buddhism in China. It has many tmples and beautiful scenery.
Day 12 (B, L, )
Leshan / Chengdu
Half a day tour to see monkeys and the Myriad Years Monastery in the Mt. Emei. Be transferred to visit Leshan Buddha Statue with Cruise.Be transferred back to Chengdu late in the afternoon.
Myriad Years Monastery (Wannian Temple) is the most famous temple on Mt. Emei and it enjoyes high reputation in Buddhism.
Leshan Buddha is the largest Buddha in the world, about 71 meters high. It started to be carved in 713 A.D and finished 90 years later.
Day 13 (B, L, )
Chengdu / Lhasa
Transfer via: flight by our arrangement
Transfer to airport for flight to Lhasa (09h15/11h35), be met & transferred to your hotel. Free at leisure to acclimatize yourself to the high latituder.
Lhasa, a palace for the Dalai Lama at the very beginning and later served as the whole governmental administration. It is the heart and soul of Tibet and an object of devout pilgrimage, is still a city of wonders. "Lhasa" in Tibetan means "the land of gods" and is the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region. More informations of Lhasa...
Day 14 (B, L, )
Lhasa
Full day trip to Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple and Barkhore Street.
The Potala Palace is a landmark of Lhasa and Lama Buddism. It is a 13 storey and 1000 rooms' palace and once winter residence of the Dalai Lama. The construction of the present structure began during the reign of the fifth Dalai Lama in 1645 and took more than 50 years to complete.
The Jokhang Temple is the spiritual centre of Tibet - a destination for millions of Tibetan pilgrims. The oldest part of the temple dates back to the 7th century AD - being one of the two temples built by King Songsten Gampo to house the statues of the Buddha that his two foreign wives brought to Tibet from China and Nepal.
The Barkhor Street is Lhasa's inner pilgrim circuit shaped roughly like an octagon that runs around the Jokhang. The circuit is lined with markets, shops, stalls and street vendors providing every conceivable item a Tibetan could need. The best place to start the circuit is right outside the Jokhang in a clockwise direction.
Day 15 (B, L, )
Lhasa
Full day trip to Drepong Monastery, Sera Monastery, Norbulingka, and visit a Tibetan family.
The Drepong Monastery: a cluster of white buildings resembling a riceheap, against the backdrop of Mount Gyenbuwndze. Founded in 1416, Drepong is the biggest and richest monastery in Tibet that was divided into four Tantric colleges - that specialised in different branches of knowledge.
The Sera Monastery lies on the northern edge of Lhasa at the base of Tatipu Hill. 'Sera' means 'merciful hail' denoting its rivalry with the 'Rice Heap' (Drepong) since hail destroys rice. Sera was smaller than Drepong with about 7,000 monks but was very rich and comparable in power.
Monks in Buddism temple in Lhasa,Tibet(Click to see details)The Norbulingka Park: Norbulingka means "Jeweled Garden". It was constructed as a summer palace for the Dalai Lama at the very beginning and later served as the whole governmental administration.
The Tibetan Family visit: Common Tibetan people welcome you to their homes, greet you in their traditional way and entertain you with their typical food.
Day 16 (B, L, )
Lhasa / Chengdu
Transfer via: flight by our arrangement
Free at leisure until to be transferred to the airport for flight to Chengdu. Tour to the Panda Base.
In the Panda Base,people can get approached to the pandas and take closely look of the cute animals.
Day 17 (B, L, )
Chengdu / shanghai/Huangshan
Transfer via: flight by our arrangement
Take the flight to Shanghai, then connect the next flight to Huangshan. Arrive at Huangshan, be met & transferred to the hotel with your private guide & vehicle. Free at leisure for the rest of day.
Day 18(B, L, )
Huangshan
Take cable car to the top of Mt. Huangshan, tour to Jade valley and other peaks; Stay overnight on top of the mountain.
Mt. Huangshan: known as "the loveliest mountain in China", famous for its magnificent scenery made up of many granite peaks and rocks emerging out of clouds.
Day 19 (B, L, )
Huangshan / Shanghai
Transfer via: flight by our arrangement
Take cable car down from the Mt. Huangshan. Visit Shexian for the unique Paifang architectures, the Ancient Street (laojie) & visit Ink Stone Factory. Be transferred to the airport for the flight to Shanghai. Arrive at Shanghai. Be met & have city tours to the bund, Nanjing Road.
Shexian Paifang: Paifang, is an archway usually made of fine wood or stone,as memorial and decoration. Shexian county is famous as the "the Town of Paifang" and has thousands of arches scattered around. It is the best place to explore the social culture in China's feudal society.
Ancient Street: Located in the center of the Huangshan City, the Ancient Street was built 700 years ago in the Song dynasty. Its total length is about 1.5 km and the sides of the street are laid with slab stones. There are hundreds of old but well preserved shops, evoking a bygone era in buildings
The Bund: the former foreign settlement, ranged along with imposing buildings of the colonial period. Nanjing Road nearby is the busiest shopping street in Shanghai.
Day 20 (B, L, )
Shanghai
Visit Oriental Pearl Tower,Shanghai Museum & Yu Yuan Garden. Enjoy Shangcheng Acrobatic Show in the evening.
Shanghai Museum: The biggest museum in China, with a collection of over 120,000 pieces of Chinese art & cultural relics. The museum is especially famous for its treasures of bronzes, ceramics, paintings, and calligraphy.
Yu Garden: It is characteristic of the architectural style of the Ming Dynasty and it used to be a private garden with 400 years' history. Infront of the garden, there is a market called Yu Market.
Day 21 (B, L, )
Shanghai / suzhou/Shanghai
Drive to Suzhou. Have a cruise on the Grand Canal, then visit the Pan Gate, Lingering Garden, The No.1 Silk Factory & Tiger Hill. Enjoy the Garden Show in the evening.
Grand Canal: The Grand Canal ranks alongside the Great Wall of China as the country's greatest engineering achievement and it is the longest man-made waterway in world.Cruising on the Canal,you can see the local people's life.
Pan Gate: Pan Gate is an ancient city gate with land and water entrances. One gate with land and water entrances was quite typical in ancient China. Pan Gate is the only one left.
Lingering Garden: Shouzhou is famouse for its the Gardens. Lingering Garden is an elaborate succession of small gardens. Linging in the garden you would marver this unique architecture art.
The No.1 Silk Factory: Suzhou is also famous for its silk production. In the factory you can see how the silk is processed from the silk worm to the final woven cloth.
Garden Show: You can engjoy the traditional Chinese darmars, folk instruments performance and so on in the Garden.
Day 22 (B, )
Shanghai / Somewhere
Transfer via: flight by your own arrangement
Today you will be transferred to the airport for the flight to sweet home.