This 13-day tour offers a captivating journey through China’s city culture. Starting in Beijing, you’ll explore iconic sites like Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. The adventure continues to Xi’an, where the Terracotta Warriors await. Chengdu introduces you to adorable pandas and teahouse culture. In Nanjing, discover the Ming Xiaoling Tomb and the ancient city wall. Suzhou charms with its classical gardens, and Shanghai’s modern skyline awaits your admiration. Each destination unfolds a unique facet of China’s rich heritage, providing an unforgettable travel experience.
Trip Type: Custom-Made Travel
Trip Price: customize trip, if you are interested in this tour, please contact us for a specific price. (email: [email protected])
Travel Date: Available year-round from January 1st to December 31st
Tour Summary
Arrival - Beijing
Transfer via: Flight , arranged on your own
Accommodation:
Upon arrival in Beijing, get warmly welcomed by your guide and proceed with an easy transfer to your downtown hotel. Check in and have the rest of the day at leisure.
Meals: Breakfast, A la carte lunch
Accommodation:
In the morning, the guide will pick you up at the hotel lobby to start the exploration of this historical city. You will first visit the iconic Tiananmen Square, which is within the top ten largest city squares in the world. Passing through Tiananmen Gate, you will enter the splendid Forbidden City, which always amazes visitors from all over the world with imposing pavilions, elegant ornaments, and lively historic stories. Afterward, ascend Jingshan Park to be rewarded with a panoramic view of the golden rooftops of the Forbidden City.
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--Tiananmen Square: It is one of the largest city squares in the world and the spiritual heart of China, where the national flag is raised exactly at sunrise every day.
--The Forbidden City (Closed on Monday): It is located in the center of Beijing, used to be the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties with a history of around 600 years, it is the grandest integral palace complex still remaining in China.
--Jingshan Park: Originally an imperial garden, It is now a beautiful public park and the highest point of the center of Beijing. There are 5 pavilions on the artificial hill (also known as Coal Hill) and about 400 steps going up. It is the best place to view the whole complex of Forbidden City and old quarters of Beijing on the top of the hill. The last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen, committed suicide by hanging himself here in 1644.
Meals: Breakfast, A la carte lunch
Accommodation:
Start the tour today from the Temple of Heaven, where the emperors of feudal Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368-1912) offered sacrifices to Heaven and prayed for good harvests. Here, read its rigorous layout, peculiar structure, and profound cultural background and encounter the locals enjoying their leisure time.
Then, drive about two hours out of Beijing and focus the rest of the day on the Great Wall. Take a cable car ascending and hike up further to see the winding defenses disappearing into the distance with majestic mountains.
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--The Temple of Heaven: It is the place which was visited yearly by the emperors who performed intricate rituals to insure a good harvest for the whole nation at ancient times.
--Mutianyu Cable Car (round way): Round-way cable car of Mutianyu Great Wall included. Chair-lift and Toboggan are also available. If you want to change to any of them, please inform the local guide before he or she purchases the tickets for round-trip cable car for you. Please pay the extra charge in cash to the local guide.
--Great Wall (Mutianyu Section): The most famous symbol of China and one of the world's most remarkable architectural wonders, it was built over 2,000 years ago and stretching about 6,700 km.
Transfer via: High speed G train (Duration: about 4.5-6 hours), First Class Seat,
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation:
After breakfast, get to the railway station for a high-speed train to Xi'an.
On arrival, a local tour guide will pick you up and transfer you to your hotel. Check in and have the rest of the day at leisure.
Meals: Breakfast, A la carte lunch
Accommodation:
Want to know what a mighty army the great emperor, who united China over 2,200 years ago for the first time, had? Today the tour of Emperor Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum Site Museum will give you an idea. Spend a day here browsing thousands of life-size Terracotta Warriors and reading the detailed expressions on their faces.
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--Terracotta Warriors: Discovered in 1974 by local farmers digging a well, the Terracotta Warriors is one of the most significant archeological finds of the 20th century and has been registered in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Site. The site consists of three main buildings, Pit 1, Pit 2, and Pit 3. The three pits occupy an area of 22,000 square meters, housing about 8,000 life-size pottery warriors and horses. These painted terracotta warriors and horses, which individually sculpted from real-life models and arranged in battle formation, have been protecting the mausoleum of the first emperor in Chinese history, Emperor Qin Shi Huang, since 2,200 years ago.
Transfer via: Bullet D train (Duration: around 3.5-4.5hours), First Class Seat,
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation:
This morning, you will take a leisure walk along the Ancient City Wall, followed by a visit to the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda.
Afterward, embark on a bullet train to Chengdu. On arrival, be picked up and escorted to your hotel for check-in.
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--Ancient City Wall: The Xi'an City Wall is one of the largest and best-preserved ancient fortresses in China with a circumference of 13.74 km. Walking on the wall, you can best enjoy the watchtowers, moat, landscaped environs and feel like stepping back in time to ancient China.
--Big Wild Goose Pagoda: Big Wild Goose Pagoda, also called Da Ci'en Temple, was built in 652 during the Tang dynasty to house the sutras brought back from ancient India by the famous monk Xuanzang. It's a well-preserved ancient building and a holy place for Buddhists. This square-brick tower in pavilion type, by tower base, tower body, and tower top composition, is a good example of Chinese traditional architecture.
Meals: Breakfast, Sichuan Hot Pot lunch
Accommodation:
The spotlights of the tour today are the pandas at Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. Get there in the morning to watch these cute creatures climbing up and down, rollicking around, and having their breakfast.
Following an appetizing lunch with a Sichuan hotpot is a pleasing roaming around the Wenshu Temple. Find a seat at an open-air teahouse within the temple compound and enjoy tea time, a requisite relaxing and social moment for Chengdu people.
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--Giant Panda Breeding Research Base: As the biggest giant panda breeding base in the world, Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base is home to more than 150 giant pandas, as well as red pandas, golden monkeys, and some other endangered wildlife. Since the panda is usually more active before 10 am, to see more pandas enjoying their breakfast and gamboling, please be sure to get the base early, better around 8 am. If lucky enough, you may also see some cuter baby pandas.
--Wenshu Temple: Wenshu Temple is Chengdu's oldest and largest Buddhist temple originally built in the Tang dynasty, but the buildings here today were built in the Qing dynasty (1961). The most stunning features of the temple are the White Jade Buddha and the Thousand Buddha Pagoda. You can absorb the very atmosphere of Chengdu here: worshippers light candles and incense which make the temple is constantly encompassed in a cloud of thick perfumed smoke. The tea house at the back of the complex is a great place to relax and glance at local’s life, while the streets outside are filled with fortune-tellers, and hawkers selling joss sticks, paper money, statues, and so on.
--Teahouses: Chengdu is one of the few remaining cities in China with a really authentic tea house (Chadian) culture, thousands of teahouses dotted about Chengdu are hugely popular with locals, especially the elderly. Teahouses throughout the city are still important locations for social gatherings. Its distinct and unique atmosphere will let you get a good feel for Chengdu.
Transfer via: Flight (Duration: 2 hours and 15 minutes), Economy Class
Meals: Breakfast, lunch
Accommodation: Holiday Inn Nanjing Aqua City
Enjoy a leisure morning and then proceed to the airport for your flight to Nanjing.
Once arrival, be picked up to your hotel for check-in.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation:
Nanjing is one of four ancient capitals in China. Ten dynasties or regimes took Nanjing as the Capital since the third century, and there are plenty of culture relics here. Explore UNESCO-listed Ming Xiaoling Tomb to learn about royal mausoleum culture. Next, go to enjoy a leisure stroll on the Ancient City Wall (Xuanwumen Section) which is the longest, largest, and best-preserved ancient city wall in the world. Walking on the top of the wall gives to you the nice highlight of ancient time and modern Nanjing.
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--Tomb of Hongwu: Lies on the southern slope of Purple Mountain, it is the tomb of the first emperor of Ming dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang. The mausoleum was built between 1381 and 1383, the most interesting of it is the "spirit way" lined with 12 pairs of stone animals leading up to the mausoleum.
--Nanjing City Wall: Built from 1366 to 1386 in Ming Dynasty by more than 200,000 labourers, it was the longest city wall ever built in the world with 33.5km long and an average height of 12m and width of 8m, nowadays, two-thirds of it still stands.
Transfer via: High speed G train , First Class Seat
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation:
After breakfast, head to the railway station for your train to Suzhou.
On arrival, local guide and driver will pick you up and transfer you to the hotel. After a short break, visit Humble Administrator's Garden, the largest and most famous classic garden in Suzhou.
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--Humble Administrator's Garden: It is the best representative of Chinese classical gardens in the Ming dynasty. Focused on a central pond with pavilions, terraces, chambers, and towers located nearby, the garden is divided into three parts: the eastern, middle and western parts.
Transfer via: High speed G train (Duration: about 25-35 minutes)
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation:
Spend the morning visiting Tongli Water Town. Its rivers, streets, bridges, civil residences, and gardens are integrated perfectly as one, earning it the name of "the Oriental Venice" due to its unique water town scenery. Strolling around the town, you can see the architectures of Ming and the Qing dynasties, such as pavilions, towers, temples, and gardens, everywhere.
After the tour, proceed to Suzhou Railway Station for your train to Shanghai. Once arrival, be picked up to your hotel for check-in.
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--Tongli Town: A beautiful water town with over 1,000 years old, it has been called Tongli since Song Dynasty because the initial one Futu(meaning Rich Land) sounded too luxury. Having abundant waterways and bridges, notable literators and mansions with spacious halls and extensive gardens, Tongli is praised as "Oriental Venice", "Natural Photo Studio" and "Ming and Qing Dynasty Architecture Museum."
--Boat Cruise in Tongli Town: It is a good way to see the beautiful water town by taking a small boat. The tree-lined canals are very beautiful.
Meals: Breakfast, A la carte lunch
Accommodation:
Take a morning stroll along the waterfront of the Bund to admire the colonial-era buildings against Shanghai's modern skyline. While the traditional Yu Garden at the heart of Old Town brings you serenity and elegance with its exquisite layout and beautiful scenery.
Have a short break at a silk workshop and then Conclude the day with a panoramic view of the city from the Shanghai Tower.
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--The Bund: It is the microcosm of old Shanghai as well as the landmark of modern Shanghai. Strolling along the Bund, you will marvel at the spectacular international style architectures and their histories while enjoying the charming skyline on the east bank of the Pujiang River at the same time.
--Yu Garden (closed on Monday, except holidays): Located in the Old Town of Shanghai and laid out in 1577 AD by a powerful Ming official, Yu Garden shows a beautiful landscape of pagodas, pavilions, rockeries, fountains, ancient trees, and precious flowers.
--Silk Workshop (factory): Chinese silk has surprised the world through the ancient Silk Road. How small cocoons transformed into elegant silk and embroideries has for long time been described as a magical process. When visit the workshop/factory, you will see a variety of skills used for producing the dazzling silk items. It is also a good place to find worthwhile souvenirs for your families and friends.
--Shanghai Tower: Up to 632 meters and with 132 floors (127 floors above the ground and 5 floors below the ground) , Shanghai Tower is now the tallest building in China and second tallest in the world. It also has the world's highest observation deck within a building and the world's fastest elevators at a top speed of 20.5 m/s. As the last super high building in the heart of Lujiazui area, Shanghai tower will be the landmark of the financial service industry in China, and also a best choice for visitors to enjoy a panoramic view of the modern metropolis.
Note: You always need to wait in line to get on it, and in the peak season over one hour may be required.
Transfer via: Flight , arranged on your own
Meals: Breakfast
Enjoy the morning at your leisure. Check out of the hotel at noon and head to the airport for your departure flight.
Cancellation received 60 days or more before the departure of the first product or service in the relevant booking: The Lifetime Deposit will be held by the Tour Operator in accordance with these Terms. The remainder of the payments made to the Tour Operator for the cancelled product will be refunded.
Cancellation received 59-30 days before the departure of the first product or service in the relevant booking: The Lifetime Deposit will be held by the Tour Operator in accordance with these Terms. An amount equal to 50% of the remaining payments made to the Tour Operator for the cancelled Tour will be refunded.
Cancellation less than 30 days before the departure of the first product or service in the relevant booking: The Lifetime Deposit will be held by the Tour Operator in accordance with these Terms, and no further refund will be provided.