At your leisure this tour will take you to three great cities. Beijing the national capital concentrates major historical wonders as well as many significant contemporary sites. Shanghai is the awe inspiring economic generator of China. Xian is home to many incomparable ancient wonders, most notably the Terracotta Warriors. Guilin, LIjiang and the Yangtze River’s Three Gorges present sites and images of unprecedented beauty for you to marvel at. This tour will show you some of China’s world renown wonders.
You transfer to your hotel.
Dominating the Yangtze Delta, Shanghai is the pulsating commercial heart of China. Walk along the famous Bund past the facades of the colonial buildings lining the Huangpu River and look across to the fantastic skyscrapers of the Pudong district on the opposite side. After lunch you will visit the beautifully maintained Yu Garden, an outstanding example of a classical garden dating from the 16th century, now surrounded by a bustling market area. Later you will ascend the Shanghai World Financial Centre Observatory Tower, one of the world’s tallest buildings, for an astonishing view over the whole city. This evening you will be entertained by one of Shanghai’s famous acrobatic troupes. (B/L)
You transfer to the airport for your flight to Guilin. Here you will visit the Reed Flute Cave, Guilin’s largest and most impressive cave, filled with stalactites and stalagmites. You will also take a chairlift to the peak of Yaoshan and enjoy a spectacular view of this beautiful city. (B/L)
This morning you will embark upon an enchanting cruise from Guilin down the Li River, (famed in Chinese painting for millennia) to the charming river town of Yangshuo, a cruise during which fascinating scenes appear one after another. The river banks are lined with extraordinary limestone peaks, many shaped like animals, birds and mythological characters. Also to be seen are ba
mboo forests, chestnut orchards and picturesque little fishing villages. Tonight there will be a cultural performance. (B/L)
You fly to Lijiang via Kunming. Lijiang lies in northern Yunnan at 2400m at the foot of the imposing Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, which rises to 5500m. This region is the home of the Naxi people, descendants of Tibetan nomads, and the old part of Lijiang is now a World Heritage Area. Situated in one of the most scenic parts of China, Lijiang offers you a variety of spectacular excursions. (B/L/D)
Today you drive north along the eastern flank of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and take the chairlift to 3200m, descending again after a short walk around an alpine meadow. Later you will visit the Black Dragon Pool Park with its interesting plants, architectural features and stunning mountain back drop, and go on to tour around the small town of Baisha, 8km north of Lijiang. Here there are several buildings with fascinating murals depicting Buddhist and Daoist scenes painted in the 15th and 16th centuries in a style incorporating Tibetan, Naxi and mainstream Chinese elements. You will also visit Yuhu Village to see examples of authentic ethnic cultures. (B/L)
Today is at leisure. (B)
You fly via Kunming to Chongqing on the banks of the upper Yangtze, which is now a large modern city, the industrial and commercial hub of an independent municipality with a population of over 30 million. The city is best-known as the point of embarkation for the Three Gorges Cruise. On arrival in Chongqing you will enjoy an orientation tour of this enormous city before joining your luxury cruise ship for the night. (B/L/D)
You sail down the famous Yangtze River in a superbly appointed cruise ship, as it winds its way through the spectacular scenery of the Three Gorges. For many people, a cruise along this famous river is a lifelong dream. At 6300km, the Yangtze is the third longest river in the world, made famous today by its spectacular Three Gorges, and the controversial Three Gorges Dam. The Three Gorges stretch for 193km, along which are many historic sites such as Baidi City, cliff inscriptions, suspended coffins of the Ba Tribe, tombs of the Han Dynasty (prior to 220 AD), and battlefields of the Three Kingdoms period. Where the river widens, terraced fields spread out up mountain slopes, interspersed with orange orchards and tea gardens. The mist-shrouded landscape of the Yangtze Gorges is as lovely as a traditional Chinese painting. Along the way you stop and visit interesting places. (All meals on board)
Your cruise ends at Yichang from where you will be transferred to the airport to catch your flight to Xian. (B/L)
Today you will visit the army of some 6000 life-size Terracotta Warriors and their Horses made and buried, lined up facing east in battle array, over 2000 years ago to guard the tomb of the first emperor Qinshihuang, who died in 210 BC. Although the presence of the enormous mound under which the emperor lies buried has long been recognized, the buried terracotta army nearby was not discovered until 1976. Since then painstaking excavation and restoration work has continued to be carried out. The warriors are quite remarkable since their heads, in particular, were individually modeled and exhibit a considerable range of facial expressions, hairstyles and head dresses. Also on exhibition at the site is a pair of magnificent bronze chariots and horses unearthed not far away in 1980. Tonight in Xian you will attend a performance of the famed Tang Dynasty Show. (B/L)
This morning you take a walk along the massive Xian City Wall, one of the best preserved in China. The rectangular old part of Xian remains completely surrounded by this magnificent wall, complete with impressive gates and towers, built during the reign of the first Ming emperor in the late 14th century. Next you visit the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, a significant Buddhist site. After lunch you will fly to Beijing where, as an introduction to this city, you will visit Tiananmen Square, look across the vast space to the Great Hall of the People and stand before the massive Tiananmen (Heavenly Peace) Gate bearing a huge portrait of Mao Zedong where he proclaimed the establishment of the People’s Republic of China on 1 October 1949. (B/L)
This morning you will walk through the gates of the fabled Forbidden City to experience its hidden glories and mysteries. Here the gardens, marble courtyards, temples, pavilions and crimson, gilded halls, the residence of the emperors and their families, are all open to your wonderment. This afternoon, you will experience a rickshaw tour of Beijing’s original Hutong District, a fascinating maze of back alleys and hidden courtyards dating from Yuan Dynasty times (14th Century), where the people who still work and live here welcome you into their homes. (B/L)
You will be taken north today to pace the ramparts of China’s famed Great Wall, originally constructed over 2000 years ago to keep northern invaders at bay. Returning to the city, you will visit the Temple of Heaven, where the emperors, for the good of the empire, carried out the most important sacrifices and ceremonies of the year. Set in a huge park planted with conifers, the beautiful blue tiled buildings here represent the epitome of Ming architecture. (B/L)
This morning you will visit the wonderfully preserved and restored Summer Palace, the famed pleasure garden of the Qing Emperors. Beautiful ornamental plantings, languid willows and painted pavilions surrounding a scenic lake recreate the atmosphere of bygone centuries. In the afternoon you will have some free time to explore more of Beijing at your leisure. (B/L)
You transfer to the airport for your onward flight. (B)
| Daily Departure | **** | ***** | ||
| Twin Share | Single Supplement | Twin Share | Single Supplement | |
| Apr, Nov 11 | $4910 | $1155 | $5770 | $1965 |
| May, Sep-Oct 11 | $5150 | $1300 | $6120 | $2215 |
| Jun-Aug 11 | $4910 | $1155 | $5770 | $1965 |
| Dec 11, Jan-Feb 12 | $4530 | $898 | $5360 | $1680 |
The prices of above tour are based on the basis of a minimum of 2 persons travelling together.
For more details on what is included in this tour please click here