Yellow Mountain & Classical Gardens

Upon arrival, your guide and the driver will greet you at the airport and escort you to the hotel in our comfortable air-conditioned private car. Once checked in, the rest time is on your own.

You can take a break to recover from jet lag and then recharge yourself with a bountiful dinner. Shanghai cuisine is known for its umami and sweetness, represented by Pan-Fried Pork Buns, Scallion Oil Noodles, and Red-Braised Pork. You can download a Dianping (Chinese Yelp) app to find highly-rated nearby restaurants serving these dishes.

Accommodation: Sunrise On The Bund Shanghai (4 stars)

After a morning pickup from your hotel, your guide and the driver will accompany you to discover both old and new Shanghai. Let’s kick off at Yu Garden, a peaceful oasis hidden in the bustle, built by a Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644 AD) official for his parents’ retirement. Follow the winding trails to enjoy the pavilions, rocks, and bridges wrapped in this natural painting. Stepping outside, you’ll return to modern Shanghai with stall shouts from Yu Market, selling typical street foods like Small Steamed Buns, which attract long lines of tourists.

After that, let’s stroll for an hour through the Former French Concession to experience Shanghai’s quaint bourgeois charm, where plane trees shade exquisite European-style mansions with manicured courtyards and vine-covered balconies. You’ll notice cozy cafes dotted throughout - over 9,000 across the city, reflecting Shanghainese obsession with coffee! Soak in the chill vibe, perhaps grabbing a drink and observing trendy influencers pose for their next Instagram shot. Then, continue your journey to the Bund, a waterfront area with a hotchpotch of colonial buildings showcasing Gothic and Baroque styles that tell the story of Shanghai’s transformation from a humble fishing village to a global metropolis.

Following that, you’ll glide through the city jungle with a Huangpu River Cruise, feeling the striking contrast between neoclassical wonders west and cyberpunk skyscrapers illuminating the night east, with LED screens that flash ‘I love Shanghai’! At the end of the day, enjoy an escorted private car transfer back to your hotel. 

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Sunrise On The Bund Shanghai (4 stars)

After breakfast, your guide and the driver will convoy you to the railway station for a 40-minute high-speed train to Suzhou. During this journey, you’ll ‘fly’ smoothly on the land, with a speed up to 350 kilometers (217 miles) per hour, and glimpse daily life beyond the main cities along the expansive rail network.

Upon arrival at Suzhou Railway Station, you’ll first be escorted to the hotel for check-in. Later, your Suzhou sightseeing will start from the Tongli Water Town, dubbed as the ‘Oriental Venice’, as canals and bridges connect every household. You’ll be mesmerized by the UNESCO-listed Retreat and Reflection Garden (Tuisi Garden), built in the late Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911 AD). Unlike traditional Chinese gardens, its design flows horizontally, giving a feeling that pavilions and halls are floating above water.

Next, extend your visit to another UNESCO-listed site, Humble Administrator’s Garden, a private garden whose name reflects its owner’s desire for seclusion. Ingenious designs, like borrowing, framing, and leaking natural views, are used to imitate a harmonious interplay of mountain and water within a compact space, making it the pinnacle of Chinese classic gardens. You’ll see a pagoda from the Central Lotus Pond; it’s actually located 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) away, but thanks to clever placement, it looks as if it’s part of the garden itself. This is the best example of borrowing the scenery that extends the garden’s visual boundaries.

Before returning to your hotel, you’ll enjoy a retro rickshaw ride through Suzhou Old Town, passing narrow alleys, traditional Chinese dress studios, and leisurely wooden boats gliding through canals, leaving you with a lasting impression of Suzhou.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Mercure Suzhou Pingjiang Wanda Plaza (5 stars)

After breakfast, your guide will accompany you on a 1-hour high-speed train to Hangzhou. Upon arrival, board the well-prepared private car to reach the hotel. 

★ Cruise on the West Lake

Once settled, prepare for a boat ride across the West Lake. Surrounded by verdant hills and a series of artificial pavilions and bridges, it offers the knock-down scenery that explains why Chinese artists and poets portray Hangzhou as another heaven. During 1-2 hours, you’ll glide through some of the Ten Scenes of West Lake, highlighted by Three Pools Mirroring the Moon. Actually, ‘three pools’ refer to three gourd-shaped pagodas, each with five holes, set to prevent the West Lake from silting up. Guess how many moons can be seen from those holes at night? An incredible 33, including the real moon in the sky, its reflection on the lake, plus the moonlight filtering through 15 openings and their additional reflections. The last one is the moon in your heart! Then, disembark and visit the Red Carp Pond, where hundreds of golden and red carp redden the pond, said to bring inner peace and good fortune according to local tradition.

In the afternoon, after taking in karst caves and groups of Buddha statues embedded into the rocks at Peak Flown from Afar, let’s walk along the path to Lingyin Temple. In the temple, lush greenery filters through the yellow walls, coupled with incense smoke curling from the burners, creating a peaceful and sacred atmosphere. You can admire some impressive Buddha statues and observe devotees circumambulating the stupa three times for prayer. Finally, your guide and the driver will whisk you back to your hotel.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Zhongwei Sunny Hotel Hangzhou (4 stars)

Bid farewell to the garden-landscape of Suzhou and Hangzhou, and you’ll be escorted to the railway station to board a high-speed train to Huangshan. Arrive in 1.5 hours, and you’ll be escorted to the hotel.

Then, your guide will accompany you to first visit Hongcun Ancient Village, isolating itself from modern civilization by mountains and preserving its initial look of over 1,000 years: canals flowing between traditional houses with grey tiles, white walls, and stepped roofs, with the central Moon Pond serving as the best location to observe these structures and their reflections. Around the pond, you may encounter many young artists practicing painting, who have frozen Hongcun Villages’ stories and temperatures on paper. Follow your guide to visit Chengzhi Hall, a wealthy trader’s luxury residence, to admire intricate wooden carvings on beams, ceilings, and windows once gilded by five kilograms of gold powder.

Later, we’ll head to the Tunxi Old Street, showcasing a blend of old and new with teahouses, craft shops, and fashionable restaurants along its flagstone walkway. If it’s Saturday, the riverbank music concert will add an extra romantic ambiance. Afterward, a private transfer back to your hotel will conclude the day.

► Night Activities Suggestion (at your own expense):
Tunxi Old Street is also known for local specialties, so consider having your dinner here. Clay Oven Roll may be most easily accepted, which are golden pastries filled with vegetable and pork minces. For offbeat diners, try to challenge Braised Salted Mandarin Fish and Fried Fermented Tofu, smelling strong but with a rich and special taste. Then, walk steps away to the adjacent Liyang In Lane to memorize today’s experience with a drink at a lakeside bar. Finally, you can stroll 20 minutes northeast back to your hotel.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Huangshan International Hotel (4 stars)

After breakfast, your guide and the driver will meet you at the hotel lobby and escort you to the foot of Yellow Mountain (Mt. Huangshan). In the following two days, test your endurance and load your camera with unparalleled granite peaks, seas of clouds, weird rock formations, and ancient pine trees while climbing the mountain.

The guide will accompany you on a cable car up, during which the stone peaks will gradually reveal their bluish-gray outlines through milky mist. Then, let’s hike to Beginning-to-Believe Peak, where numerous granite columns play hide and seek amidst the sea of clouds, and an oddly shaped pine tree resembling a lying black tiger grows against the wind. Heading north to Peach Blossom Valley, you’ll see azaleas paint the valley in varying shades of rouge if your visit falls in March. 

When reaching Lion Peak, stand on the suspended walkway to view sea of clouds flooding and filling the valleys beneath. What makes this experience insane is a sitting stone monkey enjoying the same scenery on the viewing platform! Later, you’ll pass by the Flying-over Rock, a 12-meter (39-foot) high stone cleverly keeping balance on a stone platform with limited contact area. Next, climb the Bright Summit, Yellow Mountain’s second highest peak at 1,860 meters (6,102 feet), which offers perfect photo opportunities of the sunset-lit clouds if weather permits. After a day of adventure, your guide will convoy you to the hotel on the mountain. Relax with a hot bath and rest for tomorrow’s hike!

 Handful Tips:
1. Due to low temperatures and occasional strong wind on the mountain, consider wearing a thick coat, layered underwear, and a woolen hat.
2. If you have average fitness, it’s advisable to get a trekking stick at the mountain foot with a reasonable price.
3. To save energy, you can leave your large luggage in our private car and pack light with some snacks and electrolyte water.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: North Building of Xihai Hotel Huangshan (4 stars)

Spend the morning exploring more of Yellow Mountain, beginning with a visit to the Cloud Dispersing Pavilion, just a 5-minute walk west from your hotel. If possible, be an early bird to join the crowds bundled up, waiting for the golden light to pierce through the clouds. From here, let’s hike to the West Sea Grand Canyon, where the wildest scenery will reward brave hikers who have conquered the narrow paths clinging to the cliffs. Follow the guide for a 2-hour hike to the canyon’s bottom, and we’ll then ride the downhill cable car to conclude the Yellow Mountain tour.

Next, your guide and the driver will escort you to the railway station for a 1-hour high-speed train to Shangrao. Upon arrival, you’ll be whisked to the Wangxian Valley, whose ethereal scenery will quickly reveal the literal meaning of its name - ‘Gazing at the Immortals’.

Ever wanted to be a swordsman dressed in a flowery white robe in Chinese costume dramas? You will fall in love with this wonderland! The highlight is an ancient house complex hanging on the cliff, whose blue-grey bricks, black tiles, and latticed windows perfectly recreate traditional local architectural style. Around 19:00, these houses will be lit, forming a magic scene rivaling Heaven’s eternal rooms! How could we let you miss living in one of them? Ascend the steps to your hotel, settle in, and open the window to overlook the whole valley bathed in soft light, which makes your fairyland fantasy come alive. For a more vibrant night, you can head to the square to watch some folk performances or join a campfire party, which are included in the price.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Xiansu Hotel Shangrao (4 stars)

After breakfast, your guide will accompany you to discover more surprises in the Wangxian Valley. Explore the ancient streets to watch traditional crafts like plant dyeing and wooden carving, test your courage on the transparent walkway, and then walk along winding paths to marvel at a waterfall group with cascading water over stone steps of varying heights. It’s easy to imagine how they provide splashing background music for heroic battles against villains!

In the afternoon, you’ll enjoy a private transfer to the railway station to take a 2.5-to-3-hour high-speed train back to Shanghai. After arriving, a local driver will pick you up and escort you to the hotel for check-in. Later, you can stay for a rest or walk 15 minutes southwest to the Bund Walkway by yourself, where you can enjoy peaceful views of the iconic night skyline and capture stunning photos away from crowds. Sleep well!

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Sunrise On The Bund Shanghai (4 stars)

It is a pleasure to spend this 10 days China train tour from France with you! Your guide and the driver will escort you to the airport based on your flight schedule. For your return journey to Paris, you could choose the direct flight MU569 (12:25/18:05) for 12 hours and 40 minutes, or AF111 (22:15/06:00+1) for 14 hours and 45 minutes. Hope you have a safe and cheerful trip!

If you want to decode more Chinese cities like Beijing and Xi’an via extensive rail networks, feel free to contact our travel consultants to customize your itinerary!

Meals: Breakfast