Wonders of China Tour

At an appropriate time, be met at hotel and transfer to airport, for a flight to Guilin. Be greeted by your guide in Guilin and transfer to hotel. Guilin is well known for its eye-popped natural landscape under the heaven. Comparing to its nearby county Yangshuo which is loved by tourists, Guilin is more life style. Here you are suggested to savor a bowl of Guilin rice noodles. As its name, Guilin rice noodle is the most popular and fastest meal in Guilin, not only for breakfast, but sometimes for lunch or dinner as well. A walk around the central lakes to find the Elephant Trunk Hill – the symbol of Guilin is also a nice option.

Meal: B, L

Take a leisurely Li River cruise, disembark at the beautiful small town famous for its Karst landscape—Yangshuo. At Yangshuo, you can have a free afternoon for your own exploration. At night, the West Street is a must-go where shows lively nightlife with both Chinese and western style. Besides, you can also go to watch the optional evening show 'Impression Sanjie Liu' on the natural stage along Li River. 

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This morning, choose your bike and then be guided to the countryside of Yangshuo to exercise your feet and witness local peaceful village life. Less traffic paths will be chosen, to get away from the crowded tourists points. Stops can be done along the way, for opportunities of taking photos, having rest. While riding your bike, enjoy the stunning countryside scenery, with rice paddies, water buffalo, rivers…

OPTIONAL ACTIVITY

• One-hour bamboo rafting on Yulong River. Compared to Li River, Yulong River is more exquisite and the hand-rowing bamboo rafting offers a more peaceful and enjoyable experience. It’s full of fun. 

Meal: B, L

Drive back to Guilin and visit Reed Flute Cave near Guilin downtown--inside this water-eroded cave is a spectacular world of various stalactites, stone pillars and rock formations created by carbonate deposition. Then transfer to the airport for the flight connects to Kunming. Upon arrival, be met at the airport and transferred to hotel.

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One day tour to the Stone Forest, it is about 90 km from Kunming City and requires only a 2-hour drive. It covers an area of 400 square kilometers and includes both large and small forest as well as many other scenic spots. En route, pay a visit to the local Sani village to get close to Sani people and know about their life, customs and culture. Later, have a stroll around Green Lake.

Meal: B, L

At a right time, be met at hotel and transfer to rail station for a high speed train to Lijiang. The train journey takes around 3-4hrs, with a nice window view. Meet your local guide in Lijiang at the exit of Lijiang rail station, be transferred to hotel. Lijiang Ancient Town (Dayan Old Town) is one of the four best-preserved ancient towns in China. The architectures there make people feel that it’s not 21st century but at a period of ancient times. Follow your guide, to get into the unique Naxi ethnic culture and learn about the historic town.

Meal: B

After breakfast, go to the Joseph Rock's Former Residence at Yuhu Village, where you can know more about Joseph Rock and his life there. Secondly, visit Baisha Mural, painted in Baisha Town in Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), it is an interesting co-existence of Buddhism, Taoism and Lamaism in the artworks. Thirdly, go to Shuhe Old Town. Shuhe is the earliest settlement of Naxi people in Lijiang when their ancestors first moved to this region. Compared with Lijiang, the town is less touristy and polished with more original characters. At last, explore Black Dragon Pool Park, with an area of 40 hectares, it provides a heaven for birds and water-life, with spectacular plants.  

Meal: B, L

Transfer to Lijiang airport, fly to Chengdu. Chengdu is the hometown of giant panda, and features longstanding history and civilization. Be greeted at Chengdu rail station and then transfer to hotel and enjoy the rest of day by yourself.

For your leisure time, it’s suggested to visit Kuanzhai Alley or Jinli Old Street. As one of the three conservation districts of historic sites of Chengdu City, Kuanzhai Alley consists of three parallel Chinese old-style alleys. Jinli Old Street is favored by both locals and travelers with laid back atmosphere. It is beautiful especially at night when the lanterns are lighted. Enjoy the tasty Chengdu delicacies and have fun in the teahouses, bars, pubs, boutique shops…

Meal: B, L

In the morning, drive to the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base, which is home to nearly 50 pandas, and has just inspired the Kung Fu Panda 3 movie creators to portray a secret panda village. It will be perfect to see the pandas in the morning when they enjoy bamboo breakfast and have fun at the outdoor grassy land. Learn more about pandas, their evolutionary process & life habit, by visiting the panda delivery room. Later, go to visit Leshan Giant Buddha, the largest stone-carved Buddha in the world sitting by the side of Mount Lingyun. We’d like to suggest entering the park for a visit, walking along the plank road to get close looks to the Giant Buddha. Due to the fame of the Giant Buddha, the plank roads are always crowded and take time in waiting. If you don’t like this kind of visiting, a cruise along the river in front of the Giant Buddha is available to choose instead of entering the park. After the tour, drive back Chengdu.

Meal: B, L

After breakfast, you're escorted to the rail station for the high speed train to Xi'an. It’s a train journey for about 4hrs. Upon arrival, meet your local guide and transfer to hotel check in, then visit the Ancient City Wall--13,912 meters in circumference, 12 meters in height, the foundation is 18 meters in width and the top of the wall is 15 meters wide.

OPTIONAL ACTIVITY

• Cycling on the Ancient City Wall - You can rent a bike at City Wall on your own for 1.5-2 hours’ cycling. What an unforgettable experience. Besides, you can know more about the City Wall.

Meal: B, L

Drive to visit Xian's highlight--Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses Museum. It is known as the eighth wonder of the world and a museum to display terra-cotta warriors and horses in Qin Dynasty. Later, pay a visit to the Muslim Quarters to enjoy local snacks and get close to Muslim people's life. 

Meal: B, L

Transfer to the airport and fly to Chongqing. Upon arrival, be picked up to visit Ciqikou Ancient Town, which dates back to the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), it is where you will find the local residents dedicated to their traditional way of life, unaffected by modern influences to be found in the larger towns and cities.  

Meal: B, L

Drive to Dazu, 60 km west of Chongqing. Watch the Dazu Rock Carvings (the section in Mt. Baodingshan), listed as a World Heritage Site, the carvings are made up of 75 protected sites containing some 50,000 statues. Later, transfer back to Chongqing. After dinner, go to the pier and board a Yangtze cruise ship. 

Meal: B, L, D

On board, shore excursion to "the Ghost City" --Fengdu or Shibaozhai depending on the schedule of the cruise companies. Since 2010, some cruise companies offer optional shore excursions during your cruise, please kindly check with your travel consultant for more information.

Meal: B, L, D

Today you’ll get a close look of the enchanting landscape as you board a small boat and cruise along a tributary to the Yangtze to explore the exceptionally beautiful Lesser Three Gorges or Shennong Stream depending on the arrangement of the cruise company.

Meal: B, L, D

Shore excursion to the amazing Three Gorge Dam: it is the world's largest power station in terms of installed capacity (22,500 MW). Later, disembark at Yichang. After lunch, transfer to the Three Gorges Airport for the flight to Beijing. 

Meal: B, L

Private escorted tour to Temple of Heaven, a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design where the ancient emperors used to pray for the God's bless of the whole nation. Then go to the largest city square in the world, Tiananmen Square. Later, go to the Forbidden City, which is the largest imperial palace in China for 24 emperors' reign during the Ming and Qing dynasties with a history of around 600 years.

Meal: B, L

Private escorted tour to Mutianyu Great Wall (round-way cable car included). It has the largest construction scale and best quality among all sections of Great Wall which is less crowded and has better architecture than at Badaling. Then visit one of the famous Ming Tombs--Changling, which is the tomb for Emperor Yongle, the third Ming emperor, and his wife Empress Xu. He ruled for 22 years and made some achievements in political, military, economic, cultural and diplomatic fields.

Meal: B, L

Visit the Summer Palace. Locates northwest of Beijing, it was listed on the World Heritage Sites by the UNESCO in 1998--a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design with outstanding aesthetic value. Then pay a visit to Yonghe Lama Temple, originally it was a prince mansion of Qing Dynasty, later changed to the head office of Lama administration. At last, enjoy a Hutong tour by pedicab. The name of a Hutong represents its origin, location or history. It is in these gray-tiled long lanes that families play, buy goods, gossip, and connect. 

Meal: B, L

Pick up at the hotel and transfer to the airport.

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End of service.