Itinerary Details
Get to know the must-visit cities of Beijing, Xian and Shanghai on this trip, which will delight any traveler with both its historical significance and the incredible modern development. In addition to these traditional highlights of a China trip and a relaxing stay on a Yangtze cruise ship, you’ll also get fabulous impressions of the Zhangjiajie National Park with its unique rock formations, inspired even by the well-known director James Cameron for his masterpiece Avatar served. What breathtaking landscape and you are in the middle!
Today you land at the capital airport of China. At the airport, your travel guide will be waiting for you, and will also escort you to your hotel.
Accommodation option:
- Penta Hotel Beijing
- (4 Ratings)
breakfast and lunch
Morning visit to Tian'anmen Square - the heart of Beijing. Tian’anmen Square was the locality of numerous major political and historical events. It is the witness of Chinese development. While strolling in Tian’anmen Square, looking up at the magnificent layout, you will feel the majestic momentum. Behind the imposing gates lies the today’ s highlight: the 600 years Forbidden City. It is the largest and most complete ancient imperial palace in the world, covering an area of over 720,000 m, owning more than 9,000 buildings. The Forbidden City is a treasure trove of movable cultural relics, is also the seat of the National Palace Museum. It has over 1.8 million movable cultural relics, including more than 1.68 million pieces of precious relics. There were 24 emperors ever living here.
In the afternoon, visit the Temple of Heaven, which was used to pray for harvest by the emperors. It’s China’s existing largest structure for sacrifice to heaven. This Chinese monument is built entirely in wood, without using a single nail, which has become the symbol of Beijing.
Accommodation option:
- Penta Hotel Beijing
- (4 Ratings)
Temple of Heaven
breakfast and lunch
On the second day of your trip, visit the Summer Palace, which is the existing largest and best-preserved imperial garden in China. It is attractive both for its traditional Chinese garden art and impressive marble boat amidst the idyllic man-made Kunming Lake.
Then visit the Great Wall. The Mutianyu Great Wall has the largest construction scale and best quality among all sections of Great Wall. Mutianyu Great Wall really deserves to be the quintessence of the ten thousand miles Great Wall.
Accommodation option:
- Penta Hotel Beijing
- (4 Ratings)
Mutianyu Great Wall
breakfast and lunch
Today your journey continues with the high-speed train to another imperial city, Xian. When arrive and stow the luggage, you will start immediately with a bike ride on the largest, preserved city wall, which stretches round the old city and is the first landmark visitors will encounter in Xian. Today, this wall represents one of the oldest and best preserved Chinese city walls, as well one of the largest ancient military defensive systems in the world. You will be impressed by this first-hand experience!
Accommodation option:
- Grand Noble Hotel Xi'an
- (4 Ratings)
Xian City Wall
breakfast and lunch
A visit to the well-known Terracotta Army of the first emperor of China, Qin Shihuangdi is a must! Terracotta Warriors in Xian, known as the eighth wonder of the world, now is a museum to display the terra-cotta warriors and horses which were made in Qin Dynasty. Qin terracotta warriors have guarded the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang for over 2000 years. You will find more than 7,000 soldiers, each of them is different.
Then you will visit the Great Wild Goose Pagoda. It is a well-preserved holy place for Buddhist with a history of over 1300 years. It is a seven-story pagoda, holding the sutras and figurines of the Buddha that were brought to China from India by the Buddhist translator and traveler, Xuanzang. The Tang Emperor Gaozong built it to express his miss to his mother. Imagine, this building was built without cement and only by stacking stones!
Accommodation option:
- Grand Noble Hotel Xi'an
- (4 Ratings)
Terracotta Warriors
breakfast
Another high-speed train journey will take you about 5 hours to Chongqing, which has a population of over 30 million, the largest city in china. In the evening you go on board your 5 star Cruise ship and move into your comfortable and spacious cabin.
Accommodation option:
- Yangtze cruise boat
- (4 Ratings)
breakfast and lunch and dinner
Over the next two days, you will be able to enjoy the wonderful views of impressive rock formations and landscapes on the cruise. Enjoy a leisurely morning and watch the scenery of riverbanks passing by. A series of leisure activities are waiting for you, including the studying of Chinese traditional Tai Chi Boxing. You will take a shore excursion to Shibaozhai, a magnificent twelve-story pavilion built along the cliff to the top, where you can see the spectacular views of the surrounding area.
In the evening, cruise welcome party, costume performances and films are waiting for you.
Accommodation option:
- Yangtze cruise boat
- (4 Ratings)
Shibaozhai
breakfast and lunch and dinner
Continue to sail through the Qutang Gorge, Wu Gorge and Xiling Gorge, you can relax or immerse yourself in the beautiful scenery. Between them you will take a shore excursion to Shennong Stream, which has rushing waterfalls and an ancient plank path leading to suspended coffins in the cliff.
Accommodation option:
- Yangtze cruise boat
- (4 Ratings)
Three Gorges
breakfast and lunch
Today take a morning shore excursion to the Three Gorges Dam Site. Its vast ship locks are the wonder of engineering, you will learn more about the world's biggest hydroelectric project firsthand.
Arrived in Yichang, get off board. Your journey continues by bus to Zhangjiajie National Park. Located in northwestern Hunan Province in South China, Zhangjiajie is well known to the world for its amazing landscapes of sandstone landformand, also for being the shooting location of movie Avatar.
Accommodation option:
- Pullman Zhangjiajie Hotel
- (4 Ratings)
Three Gorges Dam
breakfast and lunch
Your private guide will pick you up from your hotel. Take a cable car up to Tianzi Mountain, and you will see large areas of grotesque peaks thrusting up and shrouded in mist. It is like a fairyland.
After lunch, ride a public shuttle bus to Yuanjiajie Scenic Area, whose moutains are the shooting locations and also the inspiration for Avatar's Hallelujah Mountain.
When get down the moutain, you will experience the Bailong Elevator. This glass elevator was built on the side of a cliff, and it claims to be the world's highest of its kind, which is listed into the Guinness World Records.
Accommodation option:
- Pullman Zhangjiajie Hotel
- (4 Ratings)
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park
breakfast and lunch
Today you will go ahead to Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon, which is famous for the Glass Bridge. The bridge stretches over two dramatic cliffs - 380 meters long and 300 meters above the canyon floor. It is now the the world's longest and highest glass-bottomed bridge. Walking along this glass bridge will be a thrilling and cool experience for you.
Then drive to Baofeng Lake that is in a basin in the middle of this mountainous area. You'll enjoy a 30-minute ride in a wooden boat. It is a leisurely experience as you cruise on the clear water, view hills of various shapes, and enjoy the entertainment of local minority people singing their traditional songs.
After the tour, go back to your hotel and enjoy your free time.
Accommodation option:
- Pullman Zhangjiajie Hotel
- (4 Ratings)
Grand Canyon with Glass Bridge
breakfast and lunch
Today your private guide will pick you up to Fenghuang, Hunan province. Fenghuang Ancient Town, an old town built up in Qing Dynasty, is still being kept in its original appearance with 300 years passed. And the ancient city is a gathering place for Miao and Tujia ethnic minority. The wooden houses and stone roads are the typical scenes here. The scenery after rain or in the misty morning is more like a Chinese traditional painting rather than a real world.
Visit the old fortress and see the stilt houses along the Tuojiang River, which is the mother river of the Fenghuang Ancient City. These hundreds of years’ buildings are multiple-storey wooden houses of the Tu minority’s style. Then you are invited to a traditional tea ceremony. For a grand finale, experiencing Fenghuang from the water on a wooden river boat is a must.
Accommodation option:
- Phoenix Grand Hotel
- (4 Ratings)
Fenghuang Ancient Town
breakfast and lunch
In the morning you continue to travel southwest and reach Longsheng of Guiling city after about 4.5-hour drive. The Rice Terraces in Longji show a picture of great momentum and are known widely for the awe-inspiring view. A short climb (about 30 minutes) takes you to the village of Ping’an, you will check in and then have a hike or a walk through the terraced fields.
Accommodation option:
- Longji Pingan Hotel
- (4 Ratings)
Longsheng Longji Rice Terraces
breakfast and lunch
Today, you will start a discovery trip to Yangshuo. Stroll along the Yulong River, enjoy the lanscape on the the quiet tributary of the Li River, which is known as little Li River. In Chinese the word “Yulong” means “meeting a dragon”. Local legend has it that a dragon from the East Sea strolled along the river and, was deeply impressed by the landscape. He decided to stay there forever. From then on, the villagers hence named the river "Yulong". The meandering river is lined by green bamboo and rolling hills. Local people use bamboo rafts as daily transportation between their houses, markets, and rice paddies. Sitting on the reclining chair on the raft, you can enjoy an all-around view of the picturesque Karst landform.
Then take a visit to the Moon Hill. It is a great limestone peak with a naturally created moon-shaped cavern passing through just below its summit. Reaching the upper section of Moon Hill, you need to make a steep climb up a well-made path through groves of dense bamboo. Moon Hill is not only an incredibly beautiful arch, it is certainly also one of the most interesting crags in the area.
Accommodation option:
- Yangshuo New Century Hotel
- (4 Ratings)
Bamboo Rafting on Yulong River
breakfast
This morning, enjoy your trip further in Yangshuo. You can wander in the idyllic mountain landscape of Yangshuo. Then say goodbye to the enchanting Yangsuo and fly on to Shanghai from Guilin airport.
Accommodation option:
- Shanghai Metropark Jichen Hotel
- (4 Ratings)
Yangshuo
breakfast and lunch
The old city of Shanghai with its traditional architecture will remind you of the scenes of old Kung Fu films. First visit Yu Garden, founded in the Ming dynasty, demonstrates perfectly the sophisticated art of combining several different elements to create a world in miniature - ingeniously mingling pavilions and corridors, small hills and carefully selected and well-placed rocks, lotus ponds, bridges.
Then visit the Jade Buddha Temple, which was founded in 1882 with two Jade Buddha statues brought from Myanmar to Shanghai by sea.
At the end of the day, stroll along Shanghai’s famous waterfront, the Bund. It is located along the Huangpu River and is the scenery line of Shanghai. The Bund has 52 different classical revival building in the Gothic, Romanesque, Baroque, Chinese and western style. Standing on the historic bank, you will enjoy the old buildings here and modern buidings with its skyline on the other bank.
If you are a shopping lover, plunge into the shopping paradise on Nanjing Road. You will find Chinese as well as many European shops and experience the colorful everyday bustle of the Shanghai.
Accommodation option:
- Shanghai Metropark Jichen Hotel
- (4 Ratings)
The Bund
breakfast
Today you say goodbye to China and take the Transrapid to the airport.
Shanghai Maglev Train