Wonderful Scenery Tour in China

Upon your arrival in Beijing, meet your local CET representative and transfer to your hotel. Relax and rest before a welcoming dinner as well as a tour briefing with your CET representative.

Stay overnight in Beijing.
 

Meals:

After breakfast, we visit the [Tian’anmen Square]. Flanked by the People Great Hall on the left and the China National Museum on the right, with the People’s Hero Monument and Chairman Mao’s Mausoleum in the middle, Tian’anmen Square is the world's largest city square. One visitor has written, "An army troop could be massed, and all the kites in the world could fly." After roaming the Square we walk through the Tian’anmen (Gate of Heavenly Peace), under the famed portrait of Chairman Mao, to enter the [Forbidden City] , the symbolic center of the Chinese universe and a lasing monument of dynastic China, from which 24 emperors of the Ming and the Qing Dynasties ruled the Middle Kingdom for nearly 500 years (1420-1911).

Afterwards, let’s enjoy a [rickshaw ride along Old Beijing's Hutongs] (narrow ancient alleys) to discover the sights and sounds of local Beijing life in these traditional Chinese neighborhoods. See the locals as they go about their daily activities; and tour the maze-like alleyways and courtyard houses. Highlights include visits to a traditional courtyard home, to a local market, and a leisure walk along the "Lotus Lane" lined with bars, restaurants and tea houses. This unique tour features a delicious lunch served at a local family home with a Chinese dumpling-making demonstration.

Return to your hotel for some free time in the afternoon. In the evening, we arrange a [Beijing Duck] diner for you to taste the city’s most famous specialty.

Stay overnight in Beijing.
 

Meals: (B, L, D)

A memorable day awaits with an excursion to the [Sacred Way of Ming Tombs] and the [Great Wall]of China at the less-visited Mutianyu section.

After breakfast, you take a drive to the northwest of Beijing to visit the Sacred Way of Ming Tombs, regarded as China's finest example of imperial tomb architecture. Situated in a peaceful valley, the site was chosen by the Ming emperors as their burial place for its auspicious Fengshui alignment — a ridge of mountains to the north cradles the tombs on three sides, opening to the south and protecting the dead from the evil spirits carried on the north wind. Here you will walk along the elegant Sacred Way that leads to the tombs. Beginning with a grand marble gateway more than 400 years old, the long avenue is lined with 36 massive stone sculptures of officials, lions, elephants, camels and mythical beasts.

After lunch at a local restaurant, you take a scenic drive through the countryside and mountains to reach China’s most renowned monument-the Great Wall. Since the Great Wall is the single greatest attraction of China travel, we take you to the less-visited and more "original" Mutianyu section and try to avoid the most accessible and consequently the most crowded section of Badaling.

Stay overnight in Beijing.

Meals: (B, L)

In the morning, you visit the [Temple of Heaven], the largest temple complexes in China and a paradigm of Chinese architectural balance and symbolism. One key element in China's architectural genius was the blending of the monumental with the delicate, and the Temple of Heaven is perhaps the finest expression of this mixing of near opposite.

Time permits, you take a photo stop at the "Bird Nest" and visit the exterior portion of this huge complex — the main stadium of 2008 Beijing Olympics. In the afternoon, you tour the idyllic [Summer Palace], once the summer retreat and playground for the imperial family and royal court during the late Qing Dynasty. Considered the finest Chinese imperial garden, the Summer Palace spans over 700 acres with breathtaking views, temples, pavilions, palaces and halls including the lavishly painted "Long Corridor". It is most associated, however, with the Empress Dowager Cixi who paid for the extravagant Marble Boat with funds meant for the modernization of the Imperial Navy. Weather permitting you can take a Dragon boat ride across the picturesque Kunming Lake.

Later, transfer to the airport for a flight to Guilin to experience the naturally beautiful side of your China trip.

Stay overnight in Guilin.

Meals: (B, L)

Today's excursion will take us to appreciate “the Best Scenery under Heaven” — The Li River. Drive from our hotel to the wharf for the [Li River cruise]; enjoy the Li River picturesque scenery all the way to Yangshuo. Lunch will be served onboard. After getting disembarked at Yangshuo, have some free time to stroll around in this lovely and beautiful small town before going back to Guilin.

Stay overnight in Guilin.

Meals: (B, L)

In the morning, we tour [Daxu Old Town] where you can see over 300 hundred years old street and wood and adobe houses, and then a [tea plantation] to learn some tea culture and have a taste of several kinds of tea they make themselves there. After lunch, visit the [Reed Flute Cave], which boasts a natural gallery full of fantastic limestone stalactites and stalagmites and stone pillars. Then transfer to the airport to catch the flight for Beihai.

Stay overnight in Beihai.

Meals: (B, L)

It’s a day for you to relax thoroughly on the [Silver Beach] and the old street in Beihai.

Stay overnight in Beihai.

Meals: (B)

Take our van or private bus or train to travel to Nanning, the capital of Guangxi. After lunch, we will visit the [Qingxiu Mountain] , which is the 'green lung' of Nanning City. Located 5 kilometers (about 3.1 miles) southeast of the suburbs of Nanning and bordering the Yongjiang River, the mountain range is renowned for its beauty and the clear waters which run through it. It is no wonder they are counted as one of the Eight Wonderful Sceneries of ancient Nanning.

Stay overnight in Nanning.
 

Meals: (B, L)

After breakfast, take our van or private bus to Detian, and then we will have a visit to [Detian grand water fall], the second largest cross-country waterfall in the world (between China and Vietnam). Come back to Nanning after the visit.

Stay overnight in Nanning.

Meals: (B, L)

After breakfast, we will take a domestic flight to Fuzhou, and in the afternoon, we will proceed to travel to Wuyishan by train.

Stay overnight in Wuyishan.

Meals: (B, L)

In the morning, you will visit the [Mount Wuyi] for a full day tour, which is famous for its natural conservation of a large number of ancient plant species, wild animals and reptiles, many of which are peculiar to China. Its tranquil beauty and intact environment offer a refuge to the primitive forest, so it is called the 'Natural Arboretum'. Afterwards, come back to hotel.

Stay overnight in Wuyishan.

Meals: (B, L)

You will arrive in Xiamen in the early morning. After breakfast, visit [Gulangyu Island] and [Sunlight rock], the most famous scenic spots of Xiamen. Then process to the [Southern Putuo temple] and go shopping at [Longtoulu shopping street]. Afterwards, go to the airport for our flight for Shanghai.

Stay overnight in Shanghai.
 

Meals: (B, L)

Today, we begin our tour in the heart of old Shanghai at the 16th century city bazaar, the [Town God’s Temple Bazaar]. This complex, with its classical architectural details, maze of walkways and reflecting pools, has been a marketplace and social center for over 200 years. In contrast, there is the futurist Pudong area. Transformed from once fertile farmland, this new area is rapidly becoming the symbol of modern China with its world class hotels, international financial institutions, and commercial centers.

We visit to the 88th floor of the [Jinmao Tower] , the third tallest building in China. From its lofty platform, you enjoy a stunning view of Shanghai. After lunch, you visit [People's Square] and tour the famed [Shanghai Museum] , an unique and inspiring piece of art and architecture, home to more than 120,000 cultural relics of ancient China, including a priceless collection of jade, bronze, ceramics, paintings, furniture, etc. After dinner, you attend an unforgettable performance of the Shanghai Acrobats.

After the performance, we will be dropped at the [Xin Tian Di] for a leisure and romantic night. Literally means "New Heaven Earth", it is Shanghai's trendiest lifestyle destination. This 2-block complex of high-end restaurants (some of Shanghai's best), bars, shops, and entertainment facilities, mostly lodged in refurbished traditional Shanghainese shikumen (stone-frame) housing, is the first phase of the Taiping Qiao Project, an urban renewal project. Busloads of domestic Chinese tourists traipse through in the evenings, Western visitors feel like they've never left home, and hip young Shanghainese flood here to enjoy the good life they feel they're due.

Stay overnight in Shanghai.
 

Meals: (B, L)

It will be a relaxing day today. We will be provided with a specially prepared orientation list. Stroll through the Old Shanghai bazaar, shop at Nanjing Road’s emporiums, or enjoy a nostalgic evening performance by the renowned senior citizen’s Jazz band at the Peace Hotel.

Stay overnight in Shanghai.
 

Meals: (B, L)

You will be transferred to either Pudong Airport or Hongqiao Airport to catch your flight directly home or home via Beijing. Your tour we sponsored ends at the airport in Shanghai or Beijing.

Meals: (B)