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China Local Flavors Tour
15-day tour
Beijing - Xi'an - Nanjing - Wuxi - Suzhou - Hangzhou - Shanghai
Guilin, Yangshuo & Hong Kong Extension - 5 days
- Day 1 West Coast/Beijing
- Depart the West Coast for Beijing.
Day
2 Beijing- Upon arrival in Beijing, meet your local guide and transfer to the Capital Hotel (or similar).
- Day 3 Beijing (AB,L,SD)
- After breakfast, visit Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, home of Chinese emperors for more than 500 years. Spend time enjoying the cultural relics of the Palace Museum. For lunch you will enjoy Imperial Cuisine at Fangshan Restaurant, located on an island in Beihai Park. After lunch, visit the Temple of Heaven, one of the best examples of Ming Dynasty architecture in Beijing. Tonight attend a welcome dinner banquet featuring Beijing Roast Duck.
- Day 4 Beijing (AB,L,SD)
- In the morning enjoy a walk around a neighborhood park to see the local people practicing Tai Chi. Continue to the Great Wall at Juyongguan, one of the highlights of your trip. Enjoy the dramatic vistas and marvel at the Wall as it climbs and descends steep ridges and narrow valleys. In the afternoon visit the Summer Palace, located on Kunming Lake outside of the city, where you will admire the many halls, covered pathways and the 17-arch bridge. This evening enjoy Mongolian Hot Pot at DongLaiShun Restaurant, famous for its Instant Sliced Mutton Hot Pot and Barbeque dinner.
- Day 5 Beijing (AB,L)
- After breakfast, enjoy a pedicab tour of the Hutongs, the “old city” neighborhood of narrow alleyways and courtyard gardens hidden behind Beijing's modern facade. Visit Prince Gong’s Palace, the Drum Tower, and old-style courtyard houses still inhabited by Beijing residents. You'll have lunch with a local family. In the afternoon visit Lama Temple, a Tibetan Buddhist temple with finely detailed Thangka paintings and beautifully carved and cast Buddha images. You’ll also stop at the Cloisonne Factory to watch artisans at work. In the evening you'll stroll the Night Food Market and have the opportunity to sample some local specialties. Dinner on your own, so you can make your own choice from Beijing's wonderful restaurants.
- Day 6 Beijing/Xi'an (AB,L,SD)
- After breakfast, take an early morning flight to Xi’an. Transfer to the Sheraton Hotel (or similar), then take a tour of the ancient city walls, the Bell Tower and the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Lunch is at a local noodle shop where you'll see chefs making the noodles. This afternoon, we will visit the Shaanxi Museum, one of the most interesting in China. Tonight enjoy a Special dumpling dinner banquet at the Defachang Dumpling Restaurant where over 100 kinds of dumplings are available.
- Day 7 Xi'an (AB,L,SD)
- Today’s highlight is a visit to the Archaeological Museum, home to more than 6,000 life-size terra-cotta warriors and horses excavated from the tomb of the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty. After lunch, visit the Neolithic Village of Banpo which contains relics from the earliest known inhabitants of China. In the evening, attend a Tang Dynasty Dinner Show, recreating the costumes, music and dance from the Tang Dynasty.
- Day 8 Xi'an/Nanjing (AB,L,D)
- Transfer to the airport for your flight to Nanjing. Upon arrival transfer to the Hilton Hotel (or similar). Enjoy a city tour of Nanjing, including Linggu Si And Linggu Ta (Spirit Valley Pagoda and Temple), the Ming Dynasty Tomb of Zhu Yuanzhang, the old city gate and wall. In the evening, enjoy a boat ride on the Qinghuai River, affording both beautiful scenery and a glimpse into the lives of the local people.
- Day 9 Nanjing/Wuxi (AB,L,D)
- After breakfast, take a train to Wuxi. Transfer to the Tai Hu Hotel (or similar), then visit the Garden of Contentment, make a boating excursion on Lake Taihu, and tour the famous Li Garden.
- Day 10 Wuxi/Suzhou (AB,L,SD)
- After breakfast, take a train to Suzhou, a charming city of canals filled with Ming and Qing gardens, many dating back centuries; several of the gardens have been designated UNESCO World Cultural heritage sites. (If 10 or more in the group, we will arrange the transfer via boat on the Grand Canal.) Sightseeing will include Tiger Hill, the symbol of Suzhou, as well as the Garden of the Humble Administrator and the Silk Embroidery Research Institute. Tonight's dinner will be at the SongHeLou Restaurant, open since 1757. Overnight at the Bamboo Grove Hotel (or similar).
- Day 11 Suzhou (AB,L)
- After breakfast, visit the neighboring watertown of Tongli, which still retains the original Ming and Qing dynasty style of architecture. In this small town there are 15 crisscrossing rivers with 20 bridges. Teahouses, shops and traditional homes line the narrow streets. Return to Suzhou in the afternoon. Enjoy dinner on your own tonight.
Day
12 Suzhou/Hangzhou (AB,L,SD)- Morning train to Hangzhou (about 3 hours). In the afternoon enjoy a boatride on West Lake. Tonight enjoy a dinner of local Hangzhou specialties at the Lakeside Restaurant. Overnight at the Haihua Novotel (or similar).
- Day 13 Hangzhou (AB,L)
- After breakfast, tour the Ling Yin Monastery, built in the year 321 AD, then visit a tea plantation, where you will sample Hangzhou's famous tea. After lunch, tour the private Guozhuang Garden and Tiger Springs. Dinner is on your own tonight.
- Day 14 Hangzhou/Shanghai (AB,L,SD)
- A morning train takes you to Shanghai “Paris of the Orient”. Transfer to the Equatorial Hotel (or similar). You will start your tour of Shanghai with a visit to Yu Yuan Garden, famous for its rock gardens, pavilions, halls and ponds. You'll also visit Old Shanghai, a labyrinth of shops featuring all manner of antiques, curios and Chinese medicine. Continue to the Shanghai Museum, perhaps the finest museum in China. Wind up at the bustling shopping street Nanjing Road, and The Bund, famous promenade along the Huangpu River. Dinner tonight is at MeiLong Zhen Restaurant where foreign dignitaries frequently dine. Enjoy a special Shanghai Cuisine Dinner Banquet at this hundred-year-old restaurant, which recently hosted the President of France on a state dinner. Rooms were painted by the famous painter Su Shilin in 1928.
- Day 15 Shanghai/West Coast (AB)
- After breakfast, transfer to the airport for your flight home. Arrive back in the U.S. the same day. With the Guilin, Yangshuo & Hong Kong Extension, this day has a different schedule.
Guilin, Yangshuo & Hong Kong Extension - 5 days
- Day 15 Shanghai/Guilin (AB,L,SD)
- After breakfast, take a morning flight to Guilin. Upon arrival, transfer to the Royal Garden
Hotel (or similar), then begin sightseeing with a city tour, including Reed Flute Cave, Elephant
Trunk Hill, Fubo Hill and Seven Star Park. This evening enjoy a special dinner show featuring some
of China's many ethnic minorities. After dinner your guide will bring you to see traditional cormorant
fishing.
- Day 16 Guilin/Yangshuo (AB,L)
- Today's excursion is a cruise along the beautiful Li River. Experience the magical beauty of limestone rock formations and farmland commonly seen in Chinese landscape paintings. Disembark at the charming village of Yangshuo, which has one of the best antique and craft markets in China. You'll have time to browse the market and enjoy the local cafes. Overnight Yangshuo Paradise Resort (or similar).
- Day 17 Yangshuo/Guilin/Hong Kong (AB,L)
- After breakfast travel 40 minutes by boat to Fuli, a quaint and untouched town, typical Chinese style. Return to Yangshuo by boat. Continue your exploration with a visit to Moon Hill with breathtaking views of the countryside. In the afternoon transfer overland from Yangshuo to the Guilin airport in time for your evening flight to Hong Kong. Upon arrival in Hong Kong transfer to the Marco Polo Hotel (or similar).
- Day 18 Hong Kong (AB,L)
- After breakfast you'll embark on a sightseeing tour of Kowloon. You'll stop at Wong Tai Sin Temple, whose host of fortune tellers have helped to make this the territory's most popular temple; Kowloon Walled City Park, built on the site of a former Qing Dynasty coastal fortress; the jade market, a mecca for jade collectors from all over the world; and Yuen Po Street Bird Garden, the favorite gathering place for Hong Kong's songbird owners. After the tour enjoy a dim sum lunch at a local restaurant. Afternoon at leisure.
- Day 19 Hong Kong/West Coast (AB)
- After breakfast, transfer to the airport for your flight home. Arrive back in the U.S. the same day.
Land only price for basic tour begins in Beijing and ends in Shanghai, with Extension begins in Beijing and ends in Hong Kong. A $75 airfare surcharge will be added per person each way for departure and/or return on weekends. International air ticket taxes and airport departure taxes are additional.
| Full meals with symbols as follows | |
| AB - Full American Breakfast | L - Lunch at local restaurant |
| D - Dinner at local restaurant | SD - Special dinner banquet |
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