Wonders of China

Whenever you arrive today, your private guide will welcome you outside the Arrival Hall of the Airport after you retrieve your luggage and clear Customs, and then transfer you to the hotel in downtown by a comfortable private car. After assisting you to check into the hotel, he or she will leave the rest of the day for you to recover from jet lag and long flight.

After breakfast, the guide will accompany you to explore some symbolic attractions of Beijing. The first will be Tian’anmen Square. It has witnessed the country's development in the past 500 years and become an important venue for most of the national ceremonies, regarded as the heart of the great nation. Displaying incomparable ancient buildings in front of you, the subsequent exploration in the Forbidden City will enable you to have a deep insight into China's profound history. It is the largest ancient palace complex in the world and also the place that 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368 - 1911) lived in. Your local expert guide will unveil some historical stories to make your trip more interesting. Do you know how the imperial family keep warm in the Forbidden City? The emperor and his big family did never freeze in frigid winter, with stove, heated pit, and underfloor heating. You can witness the remains of ancient underfloor heating when visiting the over 600-year-old imperial palace. There were warm chambers on the east and west sides of a palace; out of the window, you can find a hole below, which is the passageway of underground fire paths all over the warm chamber. Similar to underfloor heating today, the fire flared in all the paths, making the whole room warm. Furthermore, high-quality man-made Hongluo charcoal, the best charcoal in ancient China, was supplied in Forbidden City. This charcoal burned strongly and completely, without soot or worry about gas poisoning.

★ What Makes Us Different
We will plan 2-3 hours for the exploration in the Forbidden City, to ensure you will not miss any important palace or exhibition; meanwhile, our knowledgeable guide will have enough time to tell you some interesting anecdotes behind the grand architecture and precious treasures.

★ A La Carte Welcome Lunch with Peking Roast Duck
China is a gourmet kingdom. A visit to China is not complete without tasting its delicious food. So, we will carefully select some good local restaurants for you to enjoy authentic Chinese food, rather than taking you to those touristy canteens for the purpose of filling the belly only. Around noon today, an a la carte welcome lunch (valued at CNY150 per person and included in our price) will be specially served at a noted restaurant. You may order the dishes per your preference with assistance of the guide.

Coming to Beijing, you must try Peking Roast Duck, one of the most famous local dishes. The restaurant we select for you today is good at making the duck. It is roasted with fruit wood charcoals, appearing to be bright red and tasting crispy outside, tender inside, mellow, fat but not greasy. After being served, the chef will slice it right in front of you and teach you how to enjoy it.

After lunch, continue to explore Yonghe Temple and Temple of Heaven. Two emperors Yongzheng (1678 - 1735) and Qianlong (1711 - 1799) once lived in the Yonghe Temple when they were still princes. In addition, Emperor Yongzheng’ coffin was placed here after he died. So, different from other prince mansions, its roofs are uniquely covered by yellow tiles instead of green ones to imply its higher rank. It is now a popular Buddhist shrine. The Temple of Heaven is the imperial altar for the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties to worship the God of Heaven for good harvests. Finally, we will transfer you back to the hotel by the private car.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, A la carte welcome lunch

Today, the guide will accompany you to take the private car for about 1.5 hours to visit the astonishing Mutianyu Great Wall. No visitor can help feeling the excitement of witnessing the majesty and grandeur of the walls. As one of the most popular sections of the China Great Wall, Mutianyu, like a soaring dragon, stretches along the mountain ranges. You will be deeply impressed by the undulating walls, spectacular watchtowers, and splendid mountain scenery around. To avoid over 600 mountain steps, we will include a round-way cable car ride for you at Mutianyu Great Wall. 

Lunch is not included today, but our guide will offer suggestions on restaurants nearby.

Return to the city in the afternoon. En route, we will drive by the Bird's Nest (National Stadium), the venue of the 2008 Olympic Games. You will see the full view of the huge 'nest' from a distance. Take this chance to add some memorable photos in your album. Then, proceed to Shichahai, an area preserving many ancient Hutongs and traditional folk yards - Siheyuan. A rickshaw ride lasting for around 40 minutes and a family visit will be arranged to make the trip more interesting.

At the end of the day, we will transfer you back to the hotel. There is a famous bar street at Shichahai. If you prefer to stay longer there to explore local night life, just inform the guide and he or she will lead you there before saying goodbye.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast

This morning, you will visit the Summer Palace , which is the largest and best preserved royal garden in the world. The whole garden mainly consists of the Longevity Hill and the Kunming Lake, ingeniously linked by the Long Corridor, seven hundred twenty-eight meters (796.2 yards) in length and whose beams are decorated by exquisite paintings.

★ An Exciting High Speed Train Ride from Beijing to Xi’an
Although coming to China for sightseeing, you may want to learn something else about this rapidly developing country and high speed train is one of the must-dos. The guide will escort you to the railway station and help you board a high speed train to Xi'an. It usually takes 5.5 hours, but we will try our best to reserve a seat on one of those with the shortest duration of about 4.5 hours. It runs fast at a speed up to 350km/h (217 mph), but unbelievably steady.

On arriving, you will be picked up by the guide in Xi'an and transferred to the hotel.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast

Your private Xi’an tour will start from the Eighth Wonder of the World, Emperor Qin Shi Huang (259 BC - 210 BC)’s Terracotta Army Museum, to check out his splendid burial objects. You will be astonished not only by the life-size pottery warrior figures and horses, each of which has its own facial expression and posture, but also by various kinds of bronze weapons which reflect the highly advanced weapon-making technology of 2,200 years ago. And with us, you will get to a new exhibition hall to examine some in details through just glass, among hundreds of most treasured archaeological excavations that have never had a chance to be displayed before. Exhibits that will impress you most would be those animal sculptures like life-size waterfowls in bronze and little camels in gold or silver. The vivid colors on the warriors' clothing and faces, particularly their striking red lips, will captivate you. The hall provides an unprecedented window for you to learn comprehensively about the mausoleum, as well as the Qin society, not only the military side, but also Qin people’s life, art, philosophies, and even ways of entertainment. There are also state-of-the-art technologies used to bring the past into life for immersive interaction.

Have lunch on your own today. Our guide will show you some restaurants around the site and assist you with the menu.

★ What Makes Us Different
1. Walk into the Home of the Farmer Who Discovered the Terracotta Army
After, visit the home of Mr. Yang Zhifa, the very man who discovered the Terracotta Army after being buried underground for over 2,200 years. At his home, you will learn more stories behind the meaningful discovery, see the hoe used to dig the clay warrior, the wooden cart to carry it, and the replica of the first discovered terracotta figure. You may also want to take a photo with him.
2. Make a Mini Terracotta Figure and Take It Home
Following, we will specially arrange for you an interesting handwork of a terracotta figure at a local workshop. You can either make a general, a soldier, or even the first emperor of China- Emperor Qin Shihuang following the artisan. The figure will be about 11 cm (4 in) tall and the clay you will use is dug out from 7-9 m (23-30 ft) underground, the same as that used to make Terracotta Army in ancient time.

Next, return to downtown and visit Shaanxi History Museum, one of the largest and most significant museums in China housing many rare historical excavations. Today’s tour will end here and the guide will transfer you back to the hotel.

Tonight if still energetic, you are advised to explore the Great Tang All Day Mall, a two-thousand-meter-long street for you to relive both the economic and cultural prosperity of Tang Dynasty (618 - 907). It is very close to your hotel. If needed, the guide will drop you off there directly.

► Dinner Suggestion (at your own expense):
If you decide to stay longer at the Mall, how about tackling your dinner at Chang'an Big Food Stall, a restaurant in the nearby Joy City mall? Here you can find almost all kinds of representative local specialties and snacks like hot oil noodles, gourd-shaped chicken, and cold noodles, each with impressive flavors. Waiters and waitresses are all dressed in traditional Chinese style and there are performances inspired by stories from Journey to the West - a feast of Chinese cultures to immerse in! The streets outside of the Mall will be illuminated and more bustling into midnight, so it’d be safe and perhaps more fun to hang out later.
Average cost per person: CNY 50 / USD 7
Address: No.1 Shop, 3 Floor, Joy City Mall, No. 777, Ci'en West Road, Yanta District
 
Meals: Western buffet breakfast

After breakfast, we will set off to City Wall Park, where you could see many elders doing morning exercises and various recreational activities. You can join them to play Tai Chi, which helps edify your temperament as well as strengthen your body. Then go up to the well-preserved ancient City Wall. If you are able to ride a bicycle, we suggest you to rent one to cycle around on the wall, which will be a memorable and exciting experience. Next, the guide will lead you to visit the time-honored Great Mosque. Then have a stroll in the lively Muslim Quarter surrounding it.

★ Enjoy a Big Feast of Xi’an Snacks
Xi’an snacks are famous all over China, and we will for sure include them in this private 10 days China tour package. The Muslim Quarter, gathering all noted local snacks, is the best choice. Today’s lunch will be served at a highly rated restaurant there. You can have a taste of hot oil noodles, Chinese hamburgers, fried dumplings, crumbled flatbread in mutton stew, glutinous rice with jujube and more.

In the afternoon, visit Han Yang Ling Museum on the way to the airport, which was built to protect the Mausoleum of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty (202 BC - 220 AD). In the underground museum, the relics and ruins remain in their original location without any moves. You can see the ancient Chinese burial customs very closely.

After, send you onto the flight to Guilin. On arrival, our guide based there will transfer you to the hotel, also by a private air-conditioned car.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Featured Xi'an snacks for lunch

Enduring memories will be created today as you cruise down the Li River to Yangshuo. The 83 km (52 mi) river course to Yangshuo is like a green ribbon flanked by numerous verdant hills. The odd peaks standing along the river course reflect on the crystal-clear water, creating a splendid landscape painting.

★ Leisurely Cycling in Yangshuo Countryside
Upon your arrival, we will arrange for you a cycling tour in the countryside to enjoy the pastoral scenery of Yangshuo. It will be a lot of fun to cycle in the picturesque surroundings. Our guide, quite familiar with the roads and scenery, will lead you to cycle along the most scenic route and the wonderland-like Yulong River will never be missed. It will last for about 1.5 to 2 hours. If you are not capable of riding a bicycle, we will arrange this countryside tour by car. You will also visit a local family during the countryside trip.

Finally, we will transfer you back to Guilin.

Travel Tip: The Li River cruise will last for around 4 hours, reaching Yangshuo at about 14:00. The lunch served on the cruise today is a simple Chinese box lunch. It is below the serving standard of TravelChinaGuide, so we kindly suggest you have a hearty breakfast at the hotel this morning.

► Dinner Suggestion (at your own expense):
In Guilin, the very local signature flavor is rice noodles. If you want to have a try, you may ask your guide to transfer you to the restaurant, named Tonglai Rice Noodles, instead of getting back to the hotel. This restaurant is tucked in a neighborhood on Tongquan Lane and well-known among locals. The façade looks just homely yet the inside is cleanly arranged. Try soup-less rice noodles, which is chewy and pleasantly flavorful. Match it with ice jelly to perfect the dining experience. The two combined would cost you just around 15 yuan. After enjoying the dinner, please take a taxi back to the hotel, which is not far from here. 
Average cost per person: CNY 15 / USD 2
Address: No. 1-3, Tongquan Lane, Zhongshan Middle Road, Xiangshan District, Guilin City

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Lunch

The first sightseeing stop today will be the Reed Flute Cave. This cave contains a large number of exquisite stalactites, stalagmites, columns and lime-flowers, which were carved by nature about 700,000 years, making it a magnificent underground palace and earning it a nickname - Palace of Natural Arts.

After, fly to Shanghai. Our local guide will greet you at the airport and escort you to visit the Bund, a waterfront to the west of the Huangpu River where many European style buildings stand. Standing on it and looking across the river, you will marvel at the city's modernity through the skyscrapers rising up to the sky.

★ Night Cruise on Huangpu River to Take in Modern Skyline of Shanghai
If do some homework before coming to China, you will know that Huangpu River and the Bund are the most beautiful at night and the best way to appreciate them is by cruise. Tonight, we will considerately arrange a Huangpu River cruise for you. As the ship sails forward, you will feel like a colorful scroll painting about a modern metropolis unveiling in front of you.

After, transfer you to the hotel, where you will stay for two nights.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast

In the morning, you will visit Shanghai Museum at first. It is one of the four largest museums in China, famous for its vast storage of 120,000 art relics, especially for the bronze wares, porcelain wares, calligraphy works, and paintings. Then, move on to explore Yu Garden, the best-preserved classic garden in Shanghai. Delicate pavilions, unique rocks, shimmering ponds, various patterns on the walls and windows make the garden an eastern fairyland. After, take a short stroll in Yuyuan Bazaar outside the Garden.

At noon, we will serve you an a la carte farewell lunch (valued at CNY150 per person and included in our price) at the fancy and famous local restaurant Shanghai Club, located near the Old City God Temple. The décor and local-style traditional murals make it reminiscent of a bygone era. This is where you can find authentic Shanghainese cuisine, with fresh ingredients and warm service offered. Try its Braised Pork or the local specialty Pan-fried Pork Buns. The former gives a melt-in-the-mouth sensation while the latter satisfies with its crispy skin and tender filling, both of which will leave you with an endless aftertaste.

After enjoying the terrific lunch, the guide will accompany you to visit Zhujiajiao Water Town in the west suburb of Shanghai. If Shanghai is modern and stylish, Zhujiajiao is antique and gentle. Here, people build their houses by water courses, hence reputed as “Venice of Shanghai”.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, A la carte farewell lunch

We will see you off at the airport today. Wish you a pleasant journey home loaded with pleasant memories in China.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast