Splendid Northern China Sightseeing Tour, Hong Kong, Xi'an, Urumqi, Turpan, Aletai, Beijing, 15 Days

Highlights Itinerary Pricing Inclusions/Exclusions Important Info

Highlights

Baota Hill

Baota Hill is also called Jialing Hill. It stands to the southeast of the urban Yan’an where the Yanhe River and the Nanchuan River meet. The pagoda at the top of the hill is the symbol of Yan'an City which was first built in Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD).It underwent renovation in Song Dynasty. The pagoda has nine stories and is 44 meters high (144 ft). Standing at the top of the hill, you will have a bird view of the ancient city of Yan'an. This is sure to be one of the highlights of your visit.

The most famous attraction here is the iron bell which was made in 1628 during Ming Dynasty. It is 1.5 meters high and about one meter in diameter. The tower is of great historical importance in relation to the Chinese revolutionary movement: when the Chinese Communist Party had its headquarters in Yan'an, the bell was used to toll the hour of the day and sound alarms.

On the hill, there is a huge new bell named Ping’ an Bell (Safety Bell) and a new huge drum named Taiping Drum (Peace Drum). It is said that luck and happiness will be bestowed on you by Tolling the bell or beating the drum. There is also a Stele Forest upon the slopes of the hill. They are inscribed with a variety of ancient Chinese calligraphy.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC), Baota Hill was designated by the State Council as one of the first key cultural relics under national protection. Baota Hill is now a public park. It has many pine, cypress and Chinese scholar trees.

Location: Jialing Road, Yan'an.
Entrance Fee: RMB 41 for high season, RMB 31 for low season.
Opening Hours: 06:00-20:00
Transportation: Take bus No.1 or No.3 at Railway Station.

Revolutionary Memorial Hall

The Memorial Hall, not far from the Yangjialing Headquarters, is probably one of the best of its kind in China. It was founded in July 1950 in Yan'an City of Shaanxi Province, and it is one of the earliest revolutionary memorial halls in China. It was built in July 1950 and was previously called the Yan'an Revolutionary Museum. It was open to the public in February 1951.

The Revolutionary History Museum
The memorial hall boasts a comprehensive collection of historical literature, graphs and photos dating from the establishment of the "United Front against Japanese Invasion" to the opening of the Seventh General Conference of the Chinese Communist Party.

The main hall houses a huge collection of artifacts from the 1930-50s, including genuine footballs, sewing machines, Marxist books by Lenin, Stalin and Trotsky translated into Chinese and hundreds of communist weapons. Especially noteworthy is a white horse (it has been made into a specimen) that is said to have carried Mao Zedong.

The Revolutionary History Museum

The exhibition halls occupy 3,200 square meters, displaying 1,300 revolutionary cultural relics, more than 200 photos, as well as auxiliary exhibits like graphs, paintings, sculptures and models. All the exhibits introduce the founding of Northern Shaanxi Revolutionary Bases and the 13 years of revolutionary activities of the Communist Party of China. The memorial hall has launched the Exhibition of Yan'an Revolutionary Cultural Relics and the Exhibition of Yan'an Spirit, and has staged road shows in other places.

Location: Zaoyuan Road, East Bank of Yanhe River, Baota District, Yan'an.
Entrance Fee: Free
Opening Hours: 8:00-18:00
Transportation: Take Bus No.1 or 3.

Yangjialing Revolution Headquarters

After an epic Long March the pitiful remainder of a once strong, though hounded, Red Army arrived to set up base in a little town called Yan'an. The leadership clique at that time, including such revolutionary martyrs as the all powerful Mao Zedong, the wise patriarch Zhou Enlai and the military strategist Zhu De, arrived weary to start again from where they had left off in the Jiangxi Soviet. The base area was first commanded from the Yangjialing Revolution Headquarters (Yangjialing geming jiuzhi), about 3km north from the town, although the HQ was moved about a number of times between October 1938-March 1947 by the wary troops. This first site, however, is of particular note for the holding of both the first Central Committee (CC) meetings and the seventh National Plenum that was to officially instate Mao as the Chairman of the revolutionary struggle.

Yangjialing Revolution Headquarters
Like much of the town, the headquarters nowadays remains very much undisturbed by the tourist hordes that used to pour through here on communist pilgrimage. Of interest are the Meeting Hall where the CC met, and more particularly, the mound behind that contains the Former Dwelling Holes of the leading military cadres. These 'rooms' can still be seen, where Mao and the rest were to sleep, write and plot. They are elegant enough affairs with white plaster over straw, mud or brick walls, and wooden lattice entrances faced with paper, typical of the traditional local architecture. Further up the hill are also a series of caves where the communist offices were located (including the secretariat and the propaganda departments.
Yangjialing Revolution Headquarters

Yangjialing Village

Yangjialing Village-2.jpg Yangjialing Village-1.jpg

Yangjialing which is about three kilometers northwest of Yan'an was the headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party. Many strategic guidelines and decisions had been made here by the top leaders of Communist Party since the beginning of Anti-Japanese War. During this time, large-scale Production Campaign was carried out among people and army with vigor and vitality. Rectification Campaign started and the Seventh National Congress of CPC and Yan’an Forum on Literature and Art were held .The Seventh National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party held from April 23 to June 11, 1945, opened the new page of the modern Chinese revolutionary history.

Many constructions were destroyed in 1947 while Hu zongnan (KMT military Leader) occupied Yan’an, luckily most of them have been rebuilt after 1949, and many evergreen trees were planted around later. Today we can still visit: Central Hall, Central General Office, Central Organization Department, Central United Front Work department, the old resident place of Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Zhu de and where Mao Zedong and Anna Louis Strong talked.

At the entrance is an auditorium with brick and wood structure. The building behind was the office of the Central Committee's General. Mao Zedong and other high-level leaders of the revolution lived on a small hill in the north. There also is an exhibition hall; the objects displayed here show the revolutionary activities of the communist leaders and the people in Yan'an. Therefore, Yangjialing Village is a very important politic center in Chinese history. It has great significant meaning for most Chinese.

Location: Shengdi Road, Baota District, Yan'an.
Entrance Fee: RMB 11
Transportation: Take Bus No.1, 3, 7,8,12 or 13.

Date Garden

Date Garden is 8 kilometers northwest of Yan'an. The garden used to be the manor of a landlord.It served as office of CPC Central Committee Secretariat during the war period of anti-Japanese and liberation after the Army entered Yan'an City. It is a special garden filled with revolutionary history. Secretariat directed the war against the Japanese invaders here, the Rectification Movement in 1942, and the production movement in 1941 and 1942 held here to supply the food and clothing to the people and army during the war in order to struggle with military attacks against the Japanese and economic blockade by the Kuomintang.

Many leaders such as Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Zhu De once lived here. What's more, Mao Zedong wrote many of his revolutionary works. The Date Garden, with flourish trees and flowers, is a nice place to visit. There are lots of relics among which most reflect or present the Chinese revolution and the tough time of war. The garden has been destroyed by Kuomintang when the communist party left, and it was rebuilt by the local government. Date garden has become the one of the most bases of Chinese revolutionary education.

Location: Zaoyunag Road, Yan'an
Entrance Fee: RMB 20
Transportation: Take Bus No.8 or 13.

Cool Hill

The Cool Hill is also called Qing Liang Shan Mountain, which used to be the center for CPC news, while central CPC committee was in Yan'an, the CPC newspaper committee, Xinhua News agent, Liberation Daily, Yan’an Xin Hua broadcast, Central Press, Central Publishing Department and so on were all located here, therefore, the Cool Hill was the birth place of Chinese News and Publishing, the cradle of news warriors, who believes that a pen and a gun are both sharp weapons. They created news agencies, broadcasted and published newspapers in the dark and wet caves, spreading Marxism, Mao's thoughts and propagating policies, approaches of CPC. Under the direct led of CPC, they sent Chinese Revolutionary voice to all around China and the world. Their contribution to the Chinese revolution is indelible. Yan'an News Memorial Hall located in the south wing of the Cool Hill, As the unique Journalism thematic memorial hall, it is divided into 5 unites , with about 180 historic relics, 400 pictures, and documents, this period of history revives.

During the War of Resistance, the Xinhua News Agency, the Xinhua Broadcasting Station, and Jiefang Ribao (Liberation Daily) all had their offices here. There is a stone cave on this hill called Ten-Thousand Buddha Cave (Wanfodong) which was carved out during the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties. It contains more than ten thousand Buddhist sculptures. The Moon Well (Yue'erjing), the Piba Bridge, and many other scenic spots with fancy names on the hill are all connected with beautiful legends.

Location: Nothern Bank of Yanhe Rider, Yan'an
Entrance Fee: RMB 31
Opening Hours: 7:30-19:30
Trasportation: Take Bus No.1,4,5,6,11 or 19.

Yulin Town

Yulin Town, in the far northern section of Shaanxi Province, lies at the boundary between a Yellow Soil Plateau and the Mao Wu Su Desert (Maowusu shamo). The town is renowned as a garrison and patrol post that worked the northern fringes of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD) empire. Although a tiny town and not especially old, Yulin still retains much of its charm through being little renovated.

The town boasts a large number of sights for its size and the most notable include the fortress and beacon tower at the Zhengbei Terrace (Zhengbei tai), the Incense Burner Temple (Xianglu si), the remainder of the ancient Great Wall (Changcheng) and an old Bell Tower (Zhong lou). The nicest section of town is the Old Quarter, which still retains its Ming (1368-1644 AD) and Qing (1644-1911 AD) Dynasty look, hidden behind encircling walls and old, stone gates. This area is great to walk around, with pebble paved alleys, grey-tiled quadrangular courtyards (Siheyuan) and delicate copper rings upon wooden gates and windows. In places you will come across the original city walls.

China, with a long history and brilliant culture, has magnificent natural sceneries and attracts tens of thousands of tourists every year. This tour brings you to experience colorful and unique sceneries in Northern China. Our tour starts in Xi'an. This ancient capital city is a Chinese history book, be marvel at the Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses, and admires those ancient buildings such as the Wild Pagoda Tower. Tour to the Hukou Waterfall will to enjoy the marvelous view. Then we fly to the Urumqi, where you experience the exotic and colorful mountains and mysterious Kanas Lake. The Grape Valley in Turpan welcomes you with its abundant sweet fruits. Our tour ends in Beijing, the capital of China, witness and climb the magnificent ancient construction of the Great Wall, get a brief impression of this famous capital.

Itinerary

Day 1: Hong Kong-Xi'an

Take a flight to Xi'an from Hong Kong. Upon arrival, our guide will meet you at the airport and transfer you to the hotel. With a history of more than 3,000 years, Xi'an has abundant collection of archaeological relies to express its rich history. The rest of the day is on your own, you may have a rest and adjust yourself to this northwest environment, and later you may enjoy a walk in the city center or explore more.

Stay overnight in Xi'an.

Meals included:

Day 2: Xi'an

This morning we will go to visit [Banpo Museum], where you can see lots of precious unearthed cultural relics and artworks, indicating the civilization of the Matriarchal Community, the period of the prehistoric time. The hall provides us precious and indispensable evidence to our study of the people of that period. Next we will visit a Terra Cotta Fine Art Factory which is very close to the Banpo Museum. There we can see the Terra-cotta Warrior replicas, and have the opportunity to know the manufacturing operation of them. After the visit, we will travel by van/bus for 30 minutes to the world-renowned Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses Museum. Situated east of Xi'an city, the [Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses Museum] the most significant archeological excavations of the 20th century, is famous throughout the world for its life-sized terra-cotta warriors and horses. The three pits of the terra-cotta warriors and horses excavated shows you how magnificent the structure of Emperor Qin Shihuang's (the First Qin Emperor’s) Mausoleum was.

In the evening you may choose local special Dumpling Dinner and the Tang Dynasty Music and Dance Show.

Stay overnight in Xi'an.