Golden Triangle & Yangtze

E-401: 12 Days Private Tour of Beijing - Xi'an - Chongqing - Yangtze River Cruise - Yichang - Shanghai
Tour Type: Private Partially-guided Tour, any part of the itinerary other than Yangtze River cruise can be customized
Guide & Driver: English-speaking guide & experienced driver for specified guided tours
Accommodation: 3-star decent hotels, also be open to your own choice

Tour Features:
    With essential parts to be guided tours, like the Great Wall, Forbidden City, and Terracotta Army Museum, plus some open free days for easy sightseeing in downtown, our itinerary is particularly designed for clients who are on a limited budget and enjoy a measure of independent travel with our professional suggestions.
From $1319 per person Free Inquiry
Day 1 Arrival in Beijing
Welcome to China! As your flight lands in Beijing Airport, you will firstly retrieve your luggage and clear Customs, and then walk to the Exit, where you will see your guide is waiting for you, holding a board with your name on it. We will then transfer you to your hotel in downtown Beijing.

If you plan to explore the city immediately from today, now is the time for you to ask questions and suggestions from your guide during the transfer. The rest of the day is free for your individual activities.

Accommodation: Days Inn Forbidden City Hotel
Day 2 Beijing
Tiananmen Square
This morning, you will be guided to visit the world's largest city square, Tiananmen Square. It also serves as the entrance to the Forbidden City, your next stop. Regarded as one of the World's Top Five Palaces, the Forbidden City is the largest and most complete ancient architectural complex in the world. It is a good place to learn about imperial lives from more than 500 years ago. Lunch is on your own arrangement, and your guide is glad to offer suggestions.

In the afternoon, you will first visit the Yonghe Temple, once the palace of the Emperor Yongzheng in the Qing Dynasty, and now an important Tibetan Buddhist temple in China beyond Tibet. Then visit the Summer Palace, which was a water and mountain garden used as a summer resort by the imperial family in the late Qing Dynasty. With delicate buildings, stone bridge, shy willows and elegant hills reflected in the water, the garden has become a picturesque wonderland.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast
Day 3 Beijing
Our clients on the Great Wall
Today we arrange a visit to one of the world's greatest manmade projects, the Great Wall. Measuring about 5,500 miles long, it is hard to see the entire site. The section you will visit is the Mutianyu Great Wall, one of the best-preserved and best-known sections. A round-trip cable car will be arranged. For lunch today, since there are no decent restaurants, we kindly suggest you have some fast food around the site.

Afterwards, you will be driven back to downtown Beijing and your visit continues to the Temple of Heaven, a place where ancient Chinese emperors held ceremonies to worship Heaven. Besides the main buildings of the Circular Mound Altar, the Imperial Vault of Heaven and the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the Three Echo Stones and Echo Wall are also very interesting. 

Meals: Western buffet breakfast
Day 4 Beijing to Xi’an by Overnight Soft Sleeper Train
Chinese people in the countryside
We remain the day free for your individual activities. If you want to do some shopping or taste local foods, the famous Wangfujing area near your hotel would be a great choice. Other places we would like to recommend are Shichahai Hutong area, and the nearby Nanluoguxiang Hutong food street. The check-out time of the hotel is before 12:00. You can store your luggage at the hotel reception and retrieve it before heading to the railway station.

If you take public transfer from your hotel to the train station, you may proceed as follows: From the entrance of the hotel, please turn left to reach the Nanheyan Street. Then walk north down the street about 50 meters and there is a bus station. Take bus No. 2 for 2 stops, get off at Qianmen Station, and you will find bus No. 9 or 67 which are just a few steps away. After 4 stops, either of these buses will take you to the Beijing West Railway Station which is just across the street. The whole journey may take about an hour if the traffic is good.

Before getting on the train, we suggest you have dinner elsewhere or inside the railway station. The train tickets will be given to you by your local guide the day before. If you have any concerns, please ask your guide in advance.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast
Accommodation: Overnight soft sleeper train
Day 5 Xi'an
Figure of the terracotta warriors
Your local guide and driver will meet you at Xi'an railway station and transfer you to the hotel. Since there are many nice eateries around your hotel, we leave breakfast to you. It is also a great opportunity for you to dine with the local people and see what they eat in the morning. After a break in the hotel, you will start a private guided tour to the Terracotta Army Museum, which is said to be the Eighth Wonder of the world. By visiting these life-size terra cotta soldiers and horses, ancient weapons and chariots, you will learn more about military affairs in ancient times.

The afternoon sightseeing will be extended to the Shaanxi History Museum. This museum collects various exhibitions concerning almost every stage of human living from primitive times to 1840. The last stop today is the exquisite and graceful Small Wild Goose Pagoda which is located in Jianfu Temple. It was listed as a national major cultural relic preservation site by State Council in 1961.

Accommodation: Days Inn City Centre Xi'an
Day 6 Xi’an to Chongqing by Soft Sleeper Train
Xi'an City Wall
No guided tour is arranged today. As your hotel is located in the city center, it is very easy for you to wander around by yourself. For your information, there are many scenic spots near your hotel, including the well-preserved City Wall, the Bell Tower and Drum Tower, the Great Mosque and the Muslim Bazaar, the Shuyuanmen Antique Cultural Street and the Forest of Stone Steles Museum. The Muslim bazaar is a great place for you to have lunch, where you will find various local snacks. You can arrange your tour of the Great Mosque and Muslim bazaar at the noon time.

Bus No. 608/616 will take you directly from your hotel to Xi'an Railway Station in about 30 minutes. The bus station is near your hotel, or you can take a taxi to the station in about 10 minutes if no traffic. The train tickets will be given to you by your local guide in advance.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast
Accommodation: Overnight soft sleeper train
Day 7 Chongqing
The train will arrive in Chongqing in the morning. Your professional Chongqing tour guide will meet you with comfortable transfer service. There will be a brief city tour to the Panda House in Chongqing Zoo, General Joseph W. Stilwell Museum, and Ciqikou Village. Chongqing is famous for hot pot which is loved by almost everyone. If you are not used to the spicy food, you can ask for the plain soup hot pot for lunch. After the tour, we will transfer you to board the cruise ship. Your memorable Yangtze River cruise tour begins as it sets sail at 22:00.

Cruises: President No.7/No.8 with balcony
Day 8 Yangtze River Cruise
Three Gorges Sightseeing
Today you will have a shore excursion to the Mount Shuanggui, also called Mount Luming. It has been a famous place of interest since the Song Dynasty and attracted a great number of writers and poets. Here you can also see old pavilions and temples built in memory of the important historical moments and some great people who had visited the place. After the sightseeing, you will board the ship and the cruise continues. Please enjoy yourself at the Captain's Welcome Party tonight.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 9 Yangtze River Cruise
The essential part of your river journey is coming today. You will appreciate the unique scenic splendor of the three gorges. First, the ship will sail through the Qutang Gorge, the grandest and most dangerous section. Standing on the deck, you will see the steep precipices on both banks of this narrow stretch of water. After that, you will enter the Wu Gorge which is famous for lofty peaks and mountains, especially the twelve charming and lively peaks standing in different postures and manners. The ship will then take you to the Xiling Gorge, the longest but gentlest one among the three. Between the Qutang and Wu gorge, you will take an interesting junk adventure for about three hours to Shennong Stream. While drifting through this zigzagging watercourse on a small boat, you can feast your eyes on the beautiful landscape.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 10 Yichang to Shanghai by High Speed Train
The final onshore excursion is a visit to the Three Gorges Dam, a project which brings great benefits in flood control and power generation. There is a viewing platform named Tanziling where you can overlook the entire Three Gorges Dam. After that, the cruise company will transfer you to the Three Gorges Tourist Center in Yichang city, where your local guide and driver will meet you and then transfer you to the railway station to catch a high speed train from Yichang to Shanghai. Buy some foods and fruits before boarding the train.

The train ride takes about 7.5 hours. Upon arrival in Shanghai, please go to the hotel we have booked for you by yourself. If you arrive at the Hongqiao Railway Station, you can take subway line 10 (Xin Jiang Wan Cheng Direction) to South Shaanxi Road Station and then change to subway line 12(Jinhai Rd. Direction). The second stop on the subway is the Hanzhong Road, from where your hotel is about 500 meters away on the west side of the Hengfeng Road. Alternatively, you may take a taxi (about CNY70) to the hotel directly. If you arrive at Shanghai Railway Station, we suggest you take subway line 1 (Xinzhuang Direction) and get off at Hanzhong Road Station, exit from Exit No. 4 and walk to the hotel. Or you may hail a taxi to the hotel directly with a cost of about CNY20.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast
Accommodation: Golden River-view Hotel
Day 11 Shanghai
Yuyuan Garden
Shanghai has a convenient public transportation network and nearly all sightseeing spots are in downtown area, so it is easy for you to travel independently. We suggest you use taxis between scenic spots. The first spot we recommend is the Shanghai Museum which is located near the Renming Square (People's Square). The museum houses a large number of historical art works like bronze, sculpture, jade, porcelain and ceramic wares. We suggest you rent an audio guide for CNY40 to make sure the major collections are not missed. The next stop is the Yu Garden. With halls, pavilions, bridges, pools and corridors carefully laid-out, it is like a work of nature, not a manmade garden. The surrounding area is the Shanghai Old Town, and you can easily find a nice restaurant to have lunch.

In the afternoon, take a taxi to the Bund area along the Huangpu River. Having the reputation as the mother river of the city, Huangpu River is famous for sightseeing, shipping, irrigation, fishery and climatic regulation. The Bund is located on its west bank where a cluster of western-style buildings form the 'Museum of International Architecture'. Looking across the river to its east bank, you will see modern skyscrapers one by one.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast
Day 12 Shanghai Exit
You will head to the airport to board your homeward flight today. We suggest you reach the airport at least 2 hours before the departure time of your flight. The transfer costs around CNY200 by taxi from the Golden River-view Hotel to the Pudong Airport (PVG). As an alternative, you can choose to walk to the Hanzhong Road and take subway Line 1 to the People's Square stop and then transfer to Line 2 to reach the Pudong Airport.

If you go to the Hongqiao Airport, both taxi and subway are very convenient. Please take subway Line 1 and get off at the People's Square and find Line 2 to the Hongqiao Airport. Hope you have a smooth trip back home.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast
Tour Prices
2-3 travelers4-5 travelers6-9 travelers
$1419
$1319
$1179
  • Prices are per person in US Dollars based on double occupancy.
  • Any part of the itinerary e.g. tour length, activities & hotels can be tailored to your individual interests.
Price Includes
  • Train fares
  • Hotel accommodation with breakfasts
  • Private guides and drivers on guided tours
  • Entrance fees to tourist sites on guided tours
  • Yangtze River cruise with full board
Price Excludes
  • International airfares
  • Transfers and entrance fees for free days
  • Entry Visa fees
  • Personal expenses
  • Tips or gratuities for guides and drivers
Why Travel With Us
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