Our clients at the Badaling Great Wall, Beijing Photo by our client Mr. John Hollar

Day 01Arrival in Beijing

Our guide will meet you outside the baggage claim area at Beijing Airport and transfer you to your hotel. The rest of the day is free.

Tips: Renminbi (Chinese currency) is not convertible outside China so you can not exchange money before you travel. Exchange desks can be found at the banks and banks' cash centers at major airports and hotels. Some establishments in mainland China accept USD traveler's cheques or major credit cards. In some places along the Silk Road and in Tibet  it is not always easy to exchange foreign currency so we recommend you carry a certain amount of cash along with your traveler's cheques. USD notes are the easiest to exchange in remote areas.

Day 02Beijing

Visit Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven. A Beijing Duck Dinner will be served at one of the city's famous restaurants followed by a lively Peking Opera performance at the Liyuan Theatre.(B+L+D)

Descriptions:
Forbidden City - Also called the Imperial Palace Museum, it is a comprehensive museum established on the basis of the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties and their collection of treasures. In 1987, it was put into the World's Cultural Heritage List.
 
Temple of Heaven - The Tian Tan's Vermilion Steps Bridge from south to north is 30-meter wide and consists of three distinct paths. The central one called Sacred Way is used by the gods. The east path is Yu Route for emperor and the west Wang route is for court officials.

Our clients in front of Potala Palace, Lhasa Photo by our clients Pedro and Hana

Day 03Beijing

Visit the Badaling Great Wall. To avoid having lunch at one of the shopping center restaurants, you will be driven to a popular local restaurant that serves Sichuan food. Visit the Ming Tomb. On the way back to downtown, drive by the Bird's Nest (Olympic National Stadium). You will see its appearance from a distance. Then visit the Summer Palace. (B+L, D is included for luxury series)

Differences
Luxury Series: an a la carte dinner is served at a famous Cantonese cuisine restaurant in the Wangfujing area.
Standard Series: We prefer to leave this dinner to your own choice as it is easy to find a good Chinese or western-style restaurant in the city. Also you may ask for some useful suggestions from your local guide or the hotel reception.
 
Descriptions:
Great Wall - The beacon towers of the Great Wall often played a great role in military communication during ancient wars. There is a legend about the beacon towers. It tells of how a foolish king won the smile of his beauty at the expenses of losing the throne.

Day 04Beijing - Lhasa

Take a morning flight to Lhasa where the altitude is 3,650 meters above sea level. Transfer to the hotel and acclimatize yourself to the high altitude in the afternoon. Dinner will be served at your hotel.(B+D)

Tips: Generally speaking, the flight from Beijing to Lhasa runs in the morning, you need to get up very early to catch it, which may cause you to feel very tired and uncomfortable when you arrive in Lhasa. If you feel the effects of a lack of oxygen, you are advised to make use of the oxygen in the hotel, which is charged separately and can be paid for in cash direct to the hotel. It is recommended that you do not take a bath or smoke on the first day after arrival in Lhasa.

Tibetans singing and dancing

Day 05Lhasa

Visit the Tibet Museum and the Carpet Factory. After having a western-style lunch, go head to visit the Sera Monastery and the Norbulingka Park. The a la carte dinner will be arranged for you at the best local Sichuan cuisine restaurant.(B+L+D)

Descriptions: 
Carpet factory - In the factory, you can see hundreds of experienced weavers using the old-styled vertical looms weaving carpets. All these elegant and colorful carpets are hand-made, different in size, style and pattern. The productions are exported worldwide. Tibetan Carpets, Persian Carpets and Oriental Artistic Carpets are crowned as the best in the world.
 
Sera Monastery - Sera Monastery is famous as one of the three largest monasteries of Gelugpa. Sera houses a collection of murals in their original state. The statues of Maitreya, Bodhisattvas and Arhats are also important attractions. Perhaps the most interesting scene is when the monks practice sutra-debating to enhance their comprehension of Buddhist studies at 15:00 every day. It is a unique phenomenon in monasteries in Tibet that leaves a deep impression on tourists.

Day 06Lhasa

Visit the magnificent Potala Palace. After enjoying a western-style lunch, you will go on to visit the Jokhang Temple, the thriving bazaar of Barkhor Street and the Tibetan Traditional Medicine Hospital. Dinner is served at your hotel.(B+L+D)

Tips: Tibet is a dream land for most people because of its mysterious religion, monasteries and Tibetan life style. There are indeed some taboos that should be refrained from when visiting the monasteries. For example it is not acceptable for women to wear hats in the Potala Palace. When entering the monastery, visitors should avoid stepping on the threshold. You should  also enter the portal from the hillside on the back hill and exit from the west gate. Last but not least, photo-taking is absolutely  forbidden inside the monastery.
 
Descriptions:
Jokhang Temple - It is really a holy place for you to learn about the Tibetan Buddhist culture. The main hall of the temple is a four-floor timber building with a golden roof. Inside the hall there is a statue of Sakyamuni, which is regarded as a rare treasure.
 
Tibetan Traditional Medicine Hospital - as the biggest Tibetan traditional hospital, it is the center for the treatment, training, research and production of Tibetan medicine.  The development of Tibetan medicine is described here.

Our clients are attracted by the terracotta warriors and horses, Xian

Day 07Lhasa - Xian

This morning, visit an Tibetan family. Take a flight to Xian and then transfer to the hotel. (B+L, D is included for luxury series)

Differences
Luxury Series: we have arranged a buffet dinner for you at your hotel this evening.
Standard Series: we would like to leave this dinner up to you. You may choose to dine at your hotel or ask for your guide's suggestions.
 
Descriptions:
City Wall - The City Wall is a top travel wonder of Xian, initiated by the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty in the shape of a rectangle. Among the remains of the massive defensive walls of several cities in China, the one in Xian City is the best preserved, most impressive and photogenic.

Day 08Xian

Visit the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum. To avoid the poor food available at the site, you will be driven back downtown to have lunch at a well known Cantonese cuisine restaurant. In the afternoon, visit the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and the City Wall. This evening you will be entertained with the marvelous Tang Dynasty Show.(B+L+D)

Differences
Luxury Series: you will attend theTang Dynasty Dinner and Show at Tang Dynasty Palace (Add: No.75, Chang'an Road, Xian).
Luxury Series: you will enjoy the Dumpling Banquet and Tang Dynasty Music and Dance Show at Shaanxi Opera Theatre (Add: No. 165, Wenyi Road, Xian).

Descriptions:
Terracotta Warriors - The dirt-colored terracotta warriors and horses leave a deep impression to visitors. But originally their color is not so monotonous. It is because air oxidations made the color flake and disappear as soon as the figures were unearthed.
 
Big Wild Goose Pagoda - Situated in the Da Ci'en Temple, about 4 kilometers from the center of Xian, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda is a famous extant ancient Buddhist pagoda in China, which was asked to build by the most excellent Buddhist monk Xuan Zang to store scriptures he brought back from India.

Yangshuo rural scenery

Day 09Xian - Guilin

Visit the Great Mosque and a local family. After enjoying the a la carte lunch at a famous local restaurant, take a flight to Guilin and transfer to the hotel.(B+L)

Tips: If you are interested and eager to know about the general living style of the local people, visiting a local family can satisfy your curiosity. You will be made very welcome and are bound to be impressed by how hospitable, friendly, and enthusiastic Shaanxi locals are. With the guide's help, you may talk with your host about their family members, daily life and main income. Sometimes if time permits, they may teach you how to make dumplings, which are the staple food for the majorities of Chinese on the eve of Chinese New Year of the lunar calendar.

Amazing scenery of Yangshuo

Day 10Guilin - Yangshuo - Guilin

Enduring memories are created today as you cruise down the Li River to Yangshuo. Upon arrival in Yangshuo, a short bicycle trip to the countryside will then be arranged. You will visit a local villager's home to experience the farmer's lifestyle there. Alternatively, you can take our electric car instead of taking a bicycle. Transfer back to Guilin.(B+L)

Tips: Lunch will be provided on the cruise today and since it may not meet your expectations, TCG suggests that you have a larger breakfast at the hotel. Your Li River cruise usually is scheduled to depart at 9:30 am. Since wind is relatively strong while cruising, you are advised to wear a jacket when you take the cruise on Li River, especially in the cold season. Though both bicycles and electric cars are provided as options, we highly recommend you to ride a bicycle if you are capable of it. It is a better way to enjoy the pastoral scenery of Yangshuo.

Day 11Guilin - Shanghai

Visit the Reed Flute Cave, the Seven Star Park and the Elephant Trunk Hill. Take a flight to Shanghai and transfer to the hotel. (B+L)

Tips: When night falls, Shanghai Xin Tian Di (also known as New World area) becomes bright and dynamic. People of many different nationalities, races, ages and classes gather here for recreational purposes. Bars, restaurants, boutiques, cinemas and spacious squares are all available, making it  a good place to ease your fatigue. Ask your guide for some guidelines and take a taxi there on your own to enjoy your time there.
 
Descriptions: Reed Flute Cave - The Reed Flute Cave is 5 kilometers from the city enter and locates on the south mountainside of the Guangming Hill (Bright Hill) in the northwest of Guilin. Because the entrance of the cave was covered with a kind of reed grass of which the flute can be made, the cave is called the Reed Flute Cave. The cave is 240 meters deep and the trip for sightseeing is about 500 meters. It is a famous scenic spot for enjoying the cave with its unique stalactite and the countryside landscape.
 
Elephant Trunk Hill - Originally named Yi Hill, Elephant Trunk Hill stands on the western bank of Li River. The shape of the hill is just like a giant elephant boozing water from the river with its long trunk, so it is called Elephant Trunk Hill. It is considered as the city symbol of Guilin. With an altitude of 200 meters, the whole hill is shaped by pure limestone of abyssal sediment 3.6 hundred million years ago.

Street scene of Shanghai

Day 12Shanghai

Visit the Shanghai Museum and the Yuyuan Garden. For the afternoon's activities, we have different programs for our luxury and standard series, as outlined below. Tonight a memorable a la carte dinner is served at Central Hotel, whose restaurant Wang Bao He has a history of around 260 years and is the best place to experience Shanghai Cuisine. The dinner will be followed by the Portman Acrobatic Show at the Shanghai Centre Theatre.(B+L+D)

Differences
Luxury Series: after lunch we will transfer you to the Bund area, where you will take a cruise tour on the Huangpu River. The cruise will start at 14:00, reach the Wusongkou pier and then get back to the Bund at 17:00. You are then left with some free time to explore the Bund area on your own.
Standard Series: you will be taken to visit the Bund along the Huangpu River and the famous Nanjing Road, a visit to a local family is then scheduled. 
 
Descriptions: 
Yuyuan Garden - located in the center of Shanghai Old City, is one of the few extant old tourist attractions in modern Shanghai. Yu means peace and health in Chinese. It is a place where people can pursue peace and comfort in this bustling city.
 
The Bund - The Bund, Shanghai's corridor, has emerged as a symbol of Shanghai City for more than a century. Shanghai people are very proud of it, since it fully demonstrates to the world Shanghai's superior capability of compromising the merits of Chinese and Western civilization.

Day 13Departure from Shanghai

Today we will transfer you to the airport for the return flight. Have a pleasant trip home!(B)

B-- Breakfast     L-- Lunch     D-- Dinner