11 Days Memorable China Tour: Beijing, Xi'an, Guilin/Yangshuo, Shanghai

With a sunny smile, your private guide will be on time and waiting for you at the arrival hall. A comfortable private car (non-smoking) & experienced driver are ready and will transfer you to the hotel. Get the first impression of China.

Hotel:
Crowne Plaza Beijing Chaoyang U-Town (5-star)
Sunworld Hotel Beijing (4-star)
Dongfang Hotel Beijing (3-star)

Meals: None

Good to Know:
Don't worry about being late. Your guide will be there no matter when you arrive. This tour can be customized just for you.
Our tour guides are not only good at English, but also knowledge of the Chinese culture and history. Most importantly, they are nice people, friendly. You'll enjoy a nice time with them.

Free-Time Ideas:
If you are not suffering from jet-lag, we recommend the following activities:
A: Visit Beijing Zoo to see the cute giant pandas. Zoo opening times:
April 1–October 31: 7:30 to 18:00;
November 1–March 31: 7:30 to 17:00.
B: Watch a fabulous night show, such as the Kungfu Show or the Acrobatics Show.
Ask your China tour guide to help you with tickets.

You will first visit Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City in the morning. Then, have lunch in a local restaurant.

Later, you will get on a rickshaw and the rider will take you into the beating heart of Beijing: the hutongs (old alleyways). Follow up by spending some quality time with a local family in a hutong.

Hotel:
Crowne Plaza Beijing Chaoyang U-Town (5-star)
Sunworld Hotel Beijing (4-star)
Dongfang Hotel Beijing (3-star)

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Good to Know:
The Forbidden City is the most popular attraction in Beijing, so usually visitors have to take at least half an hour to queue up for entrance tickets. Only 80,000 tickets are sold per day. During the high season, if you don’t get up early to buy the tickets, you may well be shut out.
When you travel with us, however, our tour guide will buy the tickets in advance for you, so that you won’t waste any time standing in a queue and won’t need to worry about whether or not you can get in.

Optional Activities:
Cultural experience: If you are interested in learning to make facial masks for Peking Opera, learning Chinese calligraphy or learning Chinese paper-cutting, just ask us to make a reservation for you. (Each activity takes about 40 minutes and US$5-18.)

In the morning, take a relaxing visit to the Temple of Heaven, where Chinese emperors used to worship God.

Later, visit the Mutianyu Great Wall (2.5 hours' drive from downtown Beijing). This is a less-crowded section of the Great Wall. A cable car takes you up to a good spot, where you can have an easy walk along the wall.

You can return either by cable car, walking down or tobogganing down. Tobogganing down is actually the most popular.

Hotel:
Crowne Plaza Beijing Chaoyang U-Town (5-star)
Sunworld Hotel Beijing (4-star)
Dongfang Hotel Beijing (3-star)

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

The Great Wall Travel Tips:
Toilets are accessible from the Wall. They are clean and hygienic. You should of course always bring some tissues and wet wipes with you when travelling in China, as there are no tissues at most toilets in China.
Put on your hiking shoes. You can hike at your own pace. If you don't much like hiking, you can take some nice pictures of and from the Great Wall.
Cultural experience: Weather-permitting, at the Temple of Heaven you’ll see locals doing tai chi, making calligraphy and playing traditional instruments, and you can join them if you wish, for experiences you could probably never have in your own country.

Optional Activities:
If a 2-hour hike on the Great Wall at Mutianyu is not enough for you or you want to hike along other parts of the wall, let us know in advance. We can arrange the day according to your preferences.

After breakfast, you will be transferred to visit Summer Palace. The Summer Palace, initially built in 1888, is also known as the Royal Garden Museum. The long gallery, where there are over 8000 paintings about ancient Chinese stories, is the must-see in the Summer Palace.

After a fair well lunch with your Beijing tour guide at the charming traditional Chinese restaurant, later on be transferred to the airport, in just a few hours you'll be in Xi'an, meeting your local Xi'an tour guide.

Hotel:
Wyndham Grand Xian South (5-star)
Grand Noble Hotel (4-star)
Titan Times Hotel (3-star)

Meals: Breakfast

Free-Time Idea:
Quanjude Roast Duck is world-famous. You can taste it at brunch, if you wish. Ask your guide, who will help you to arrange this.

Optional Activities:
Beijing is a big city with many famous attractions not listed above, like the Bird’s Nest, Jingshan Park, the Bell and Drum Tower, the Yonghe Lama Temple and the Fragrant Hills Park. If you’d like to explore the city more, tell us on your inquiry form. We can customize a tour to meet your requirements.

The first Emperor united all of China. Stand face to face with 6,000 statues at the Terracotta Warriors and Horses, created by the first Emperor. It is said the warriors were all sculpted in the shape of powerful or rich people of the time.

After a dumpling lunch, explore the Ancient City Wall, which surrounds the city center. The wall was built in the 13th century on the foundations of the original Tang Forbidden City.

Later, visit the Muslim Quarter. Many souvenir shops, cafés and bars there are operated by Muslim people. At its heart is one of the largest Islamic mosques in China, remarkable for its combination of Chinese architecture and Islamic practice.

Hotel:
Wyndham Grand Xian South (5-star)
Grand Noble Hotel (4-star)
Titan Times Hotel (3-star)

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Free-Time Ideas:
Visit the Bell Tower and Drum Tower. When night falls, the towers are lighted, becoming beautiful and romantic. They are not far from your hotel, so you can walk there and back.
The Tang Dynasty Music and Dance Show is also recommended. If you’d like to see it, your guide will help you buy tickets.

Optional Activities:
Weather-permitting, you can bike on (or right round) the city wall.

Discover more of Xi'an and China's ancient history at the Shaanxi History Museum and Big Wild Goose Pagoda, then head to the Muslim Quarter and wander through the alley ways to explore and taste the local Muslim Cuisine, like Pita Bread Soaked in Lamb Soup, or Jiasan Steamed Soup Dumplings.

Flight to Guilin
Transfer to the airport for your evening flight to Guilin. Upon arrival at the airport, your Guilin tour guide will greet you at the arrival hall and transfer you to your hotel via private car and driver.

Hotel:
Shangri La Hotel Guilin (5-star)
Guilin Lijiang Waterfall Hotel (4-star)
Guilin Park Hotel (3-star)

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Wake up to birds singing in the morning, and your guide and driver ready to escort you to the Longji Terraced Fields. Built into the hillsides, the terraces are beautiful when the sun reflects on the water of the paddy fields, and the fields glow with yellow ears when the harvest is ripe. Longji (Dragon's Back) is always a feast for the eyes.

The Yao minority have lived there for generations in wooden houses. Yao women have long black hair, but they never use shampoo; they have their own mysterious method for keeping their hair clean and shining, which works even for women who are over 50.

It takes about 2.5 hours to drive from Guilin to Ping'an Village in Longji. After the day tour, you will return to your hotel in Guilin.

Good to know
Women in Longji excel at Yao style embroidery — a designated China Intangible Cultural Heritage. If you are interested in local culture, your travel advisor will be happy to arrange a visit to an embroiderer's family for you to try your hand at Yao embroidery to help the embroiderer pass on her culture to the next generation.

Hotel:
Shangri La Hotel Guilin (5-star)
Guilin Lijiang Waterfall Hotel (4-star)
Guilin Park Hotel (3-star)

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Enjoy the stunning natural beauty of the Li River as you cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo, taking about four hours. Get your camera ready and record the unforgettable scenery and moments. You'll reach Yangshuo wharf near the bustling West Street at about 13:30.

Biking in local villages
After check-in, your guide will choose a bike for you to start the biking tour around local villages. Meet people there and have pleasant interaction with them.

Optional Night Activity
Impression Liu Sanjie is a famous and quality outdoor performance show. Highly recommended for your evening. Put together by famous Chinese director Zhang Yimou, the show is set on the Li River with karst peaks as backdrop, featuring magnificent folk music and dance. It may not be performed if weather conditions are not amenable, ask your guide to check availability on that day.

Hotel:
Yangshuo Green Lotus Hotel

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Be transferred to visit to Daxu Ancient Town near Guilin. Daxu means "big market" and it was historically one of the four biggest markets of Guangxi Autonomous Region, because of its proximity to the river. Now you can observe that the old town is not as busy as it used to be, since the high ways and railways have replaced the river as means of transport, but people there still maintain their traditional way of life. Old residential houses, old shops, an old clinic and other home work-shops are still unchanged. Now such things can rarely be seen in China, after 20 years of economic boom. An English-speaking local scholar will accompany you to discover the town's glory and understand the lives of its ordinary people by visiting some local families and talking with some of the older people there.

In the afternoon or evening, head to Guilin airport for your flight to Shanghai, a modern city. Upon arrival, meet your Shanghai tour guide at the arrival hall, and transfer to your hotel for check-in.

Hotel:
Radisson Blu Hotel Shanghai New World (5-star)
The Bund Hotel (4-star)
Kingstown Hotel Plaza Shanghai (3-star)

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Today worlds collide, starting at the history exhibition (under the TV tower) watch Shanghai literally rise, at nearly 500m it's a breathtaking panoramic view from the Oriental Peal TV Tower. Lunch is arranged at Old Shanghai. After lunch, take a relaxing walk to ancient Yuyuan Garden, followed by the Bund, a must-see colonial waterfront area.

Hotel:
Radisson Blu Hotel Shanghai New World (5-star)
The Bund Hotel (4-star)
Kingstown Hotel Plaza Shanghai (3-star)

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Your car, driver and our guide will be ready and waiting at your hotel to get you to the airport on time. Sit back and relax, they will help you check-in and escort you to the correct security gate.

Good to Know:
You may want to add Zhujiajiao Water Town for your last day of the tour, if your flight takes off in the evening or later.