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17 Days Explore North and South China

Tour Price: please contact us
Destinations: Beijing, Yinchuan, Xian, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guangzhou
Duration: 17 Days
Tour Type: Private Tour
Accommodation: 16 nights in well selected hotels
Highlight: China is a big country abounding in natural wealth, from North China head to South China, you can explore a lot of different experiences, like from one country to another in Europe. Mixed ancient cities with modern cities, cultural difference will be the heart of this itinerary.


 

Day 01: Arrive in Beijing    
Activities: Upon arrival in Beijing, greeted by your private guide in Beijing and transferred to hotel in Beijing. Free for the rest of the day.

Meals: NIL     
Accommodation: Holiday Inn Express Beijing Minzuyuan or similar
 
Day 02: Beijing    Beijing
Activities: 1. Pick you up from the hotel and firstly transfer to have outside look at the National Grand Theater and walk around on Tiananmen Square for 40 minutes. 880 meters from north to south, and 500 meters from east to west, Tiananmen Square is the largest public square in the world and the heart zone of Beijing.
2. Then start the exploration to the Imperial Palaces Museum - Forbidden City for 2 hours, Forbidden City served as the home of 24 emperors and his family (14 in the Ming Dynasty and 10 in the Qing Dynasty). Visit the Forbidden City is to review the history of China's Feudal Society.
3. After lunch, move on to Jingshan Park to bird-view of Forbidden City.
4. Then proceed to visit the Temple of Heaven for 1.5 hours. Located in the southern part of Beijing, it had been one of the most holy places for the whole country for more than five centuries. It was the place where the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties worshiped the heaven and prayed for good harvests.
5. Night Kungfu Show will be arranged from 1715-1840. After the night show, transfer you back to the hotel.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Holiday Inn Express Beijing Minzuyuan
 
Highlights:
Day 03: Beijing    Great Wall
Activities: 1. Pick you up from the hotel around 8:00am and then transfer you to visit Ming Tombs - Dingling. Constructed between 1584 and 1590, Dingling is the only one underground palace in Ming Tombs.
2. Then have a short visit to a Jade Carving Factory, from where you can bargain for jade and handicrafts and get to know about Chinese jade culture.                                                                                  
3. After lunch, head to visit the famous Mutianyu Great Wall for bout 2 hours. The Mutianyu Great Wall is known for its beautiful surroundings - dense woods and rich pastures changing colors with the seasons of the year. There are 22 watch towers distributed at close intervals along the wall. Cable car is optional.
4. After the tour, transfer you back to the hotel.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Holiday Inn Express Beijing Minzuyuan
Souvenir Shop: Jade Carving Factory
 
Highlights:
Day 04: Beijing    Beijing
Activities: 1. Pick you up from the hotel and transfer you to visit the Summer Palace for about 2 hours. Summer Palace is one of China's largest imperial garden, originally a royal garden and a temporary dwelling palace for emperors of Qing Dynasty.
2. Then have a short visit to Beijing Pearl Market for about 40 minutes.
3. Then move to Beijing Panda House to see the lovely Giant Pandas for about 40 minutes.
4. After lunch, head to to Shichahai area for 2 hours. First take rickshaw going around the deep Hutong in Shichahai area, visiting an ordinary family in a courtyard. Then ascend the Drum Tower and have a bird's eye view of the old Beijing. Finally walk from Drum Tower to Nanluoguxiang.
5. After the whole day tour, transfer you back to the hotel.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Holiday Inn Express Beijing Minzuyuan
Souvenir Shop: Beijing Pearl Market
 
Highlights:
Day 05: Beijing    Yinchuan
Activities: 1. Pick you up from the hotel and transfer you to the airport to take the morning flight for Yinchuan.
2. Arrival at Yinchuan airport, greeted by your private guide and transfer you to hotel in Yinchuan.
3. After lunch, first visit to Nanguan Mosque. The Nanguan Mosque is one of the largest mosques in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in North China. The mosque has a high status among the Hui people.
4. Then move on to visit the Haibao Pagoda. Also known as the North Pagoda, Haibao Pagoda is located on the north outskirts of Yinchuan. Unique in style and exquisite in construction, it is a precious treasure of ancient pagodas in China.
5. Transfer you back to the hotel.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Yinchuan River Pearl Hotel
 
Highlights:
Day 06: Yinchuan    Yinchuan
Activities: 1. Pick you up from the hotel and head to Helan Mountains for visiting the rock carvings. Located 60km northwest of Yinchuan, the cliff carvings in Mt. Helan were done by the nomadic people in north China during Warring States Period and Western Xia State. These carvings depict the life, religious activities, wars, herding, and hunting of the minority peoples at that time.
2. After lunch, head to the Western Xia Tombs. These were the royal tombs of the Western Xia State about 800 year ago. Nine kings and more than 140 royal family members of Xixia State were buried here. The tombs are in the shape of pyramid, hence its name the Pyramid in China.
3. Transferred back to your hotel in Yinchuan

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Yinchuan River Pearl Hotel
 
Highlights:
Day 07: Yinchuan    Xian
Activities: 1. Pick you up from the hotel and transfer you to visit Ningxia Museum. The new Ningxia Museum was completed in late 2006 near Yinchuan People's Square. The museum has three sections: The Ningxia History, Themed Display and Temporary exhibitions. Various displays include the shows of pottery, ancient coins and various calligraphies.
2. After lunch, transfer you to Yinchuan airport to take the flight for Xian.
3. Upon arrival in Xian, greeted by your private guide and transfer you to the hotel in Xian.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Skytel Xi'an
 
Highlights:
Day 08: Xian    Xian
Activities: 1. Pick up from the hotel and transfer you to visit Shaanxi Provincial History Museum. If you love Chinese history, Shaanxi Provincial Museum is a must on your Xian trip. 370,000 exhibits in the museum vividly show the history of over a million years from prehistoric times (1,150,000 years ago - 21st Century BC) to about 1840 AD.
2. Then move on to Big Wild Goose Pagoda for a visit. Big Goose Pagoda is one of the oldest structures in China. It functioned to collect Buddhist materials that were taken from India by the hierarch Xuanzang.
3. After lunch, ascend the Bell Tower. The bell was sounded at dawn and the drum at dusk each day in ancient time, a means of telling time. Atop the Bell Tower you will have a panoramic view of the Xian City.
4. Finally visit the Muslim Quarters. Muslim Quarters just located behind the Drum Tower is a delightful place you mustn't miss! The bazaar in the Muslim area is most attractive with a wide area of stalls selling everything.           
5. In the evening, Tang Dynasty Show and Dumpling Dinner will be arranged.
6. After the night show, transfer you back to the hotel

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Skytel Xi'an
 
Highlights:
Day 09: Xian    Xian
Activities: 1. Pick you up from the hotel and transfer you to visit Terracotta Warriors. To visit Army of Terracotta Warriors is the main reason why you are here in Xian. The museum includes Pit 1, Pit 2 and Pit 3 as well the exhibition hall of the chariots and horses. Standing in front of the warrior battle formation, you may get some magical inspiring feeling of stepping onto a battlefield.
2. After lunch, visit the City Wall. The main magnet of Xian is the city wall, which is the most complete city wall that has survived in China as well being one of the largest ancient military defensive systems in the world.
3. After the whole day tour, transfer you back to the hotel.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Skytel Xi'an
 
Highlights:
Day 10: Xian    Shanghai
Activities: 1. Pick you up from the hotel and transfer you to the airport to take the morning flight for Shanghai.
2. Upon arrival in Shanghai, greeted by your private guide and transfer you to the hotel in Shanghai.                                                           
3. After lunch, transfer you to have a short walk along the Bund. The Bund is now surrounded by about 50 various buildings of different architectural styles including Gothic, Baroque, Romanesque, Classicism and the Renaissance.
4. Then embark on a cruise boat cruising on the Huangpu River passing the Bund on the west bank and Oriental Pearl TV Tower, Jinmao Tower, World Financial Center and more futuristic buildings at Lujiazui in Pudong on the east bank of Huangpu River.
5. Transfer you back to the hotel.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Shanghai Holiday Inn Zhabei Hotel
 
Highlights:
Day 11: Shanghai    Shanghai
Activities: 1. Pick you up from the hotel and drive to People's Square to visit Shanghai Museum. The museum has the selection of over 112,000 Chinese cultural relics from the Old Stone Age to modern times.
2. Then move on to the new development zone in Pudong - Lujiazui, which is teemed with the futuristic, avant-garde buildings - Oriental Pearl Tower, Jin Mao Building, Bank of China Tower. Taking the elevator to the 88-storey Observation Deck of Jinmao Tower to have a bird's eye view of Huangpu River.
3. After lunch, move on to Shanghai Bazaar and Yu Yuan Garden. Yuyuan is the most famous garden in Shanghai. It is located in the heart of Shanghai's Old City, one of the few existent old tourist places in Shanghai.
4. After the whole day tour, transfer you you back to the hotel.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Shanghai Holiday Inn Zhabei Hotel
 
Highlights:
Day 12: Shanghai    Suzhou
Activities: 1. Pick up from the hotel and drive about 1.5 hour and get to Suzhou - a well-known historical and cultural city. First visit Net Master Garden,the best and most celebrated as a model Ming Dynasty Garden in all of Suzhou. The garden also holds many structures of using lattice windows to frame views of flowers or bamboo.
2. Then visit the Ancient City Gate and Grand Canal. The Panmen City Gate is the oldest city gate in existence in Suzhou city.
3. Have a short visit of a silk spinning factory to see how Chinese silk has been produced since the 14th century.
4. After lunch, driver you to visit Zhouzhuang Water Town. Zhouzhuang is known as the No.1 Water Town in China. This over 900 year old watertown has become a trove of oriental culture with its simple and pristine custom, unique folklore, the well preserved ancient residential houses and mesmerising views. You will board a Chinese style gondala to cruise the watertown.
5. After the tour in Suzhou and Zhouzhuang, transfer you back to the hotel in Shanghai.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Shanghai Holiday Inn Zhabei Hotel
 
Highlights:
Day 13: Shanghai    Hangzhou
Activities: 1. Pick you up from the hotel and transfer you to the railway station to take the morning train for Hangzhou.
2. Hangzhou day tour to a wharf at West Lake for one hour boat cruise. There are many lakes named "West Lake" in China, but the "West Lake" here in Hangzhou is usually considered the most beautiful among all. It is surrounded by hills on its three sides, with an area of about 6.5 square kilometers.
3. Finish your cruise at the Huagang Park Wharf. The Huagang Park was a private garden of an official in the Southern Song Dynasty about 800 years ago. Now it has been greatly renovated and turned into large park of over 20 hectares.
4. Continue to visit Leifeng Pagoda. Ascending to the top of the pagoda and have a panoramic view of West Lake and the whole city of Hangzhou. Leifeng Pagoda is a five story tall tower with eight sides, which is the most visible landmark on West Lake.
5. After lunch, drive you to Longjing Tea Plantation to experience the traditional method of making Longjing (Dragon Well) Tea as well drinking, picking, smelling or buying.
6. After day tour in Hangzhou, take high speed train from back to Shanghai and transfer you to the hotel.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Shanghai Holiday Inn Zhabei Hotel
 
Highlights:
Day 14: Shanghai    Guangzhou
Activities: 1. Pick you up from the hotel and transfer you to the airport to take the flight for Guangzhou.
2. Upon arrival in Guangzhou, greeted by your private guide and transferred to hotel in Guangzhou. Free for the rest of the day

Meals included: Breakfast
Accommodation: Guangdong Yingbin Hotel
 
Day 15: Guangzhou    Guangzhou
Activities: 1. Pick up from the hotel and transfer you to visit Chen Clan Temple, an ancestral shrine for the Chen clan built 1894 with exquisite carvings, paintings and ornate scrollwork.
2. Then move on to visit Nanyue King Museum, the mausoleum of the Nanyue King dating to 2000 years ago and accidentally discovered in 1983.
3. After lunch, visit the Six Banyan Temple, which originally built in 537AD to enshrine the Buddhist relics.
4. Then move on to the new city axis of Guangzhou and have a stroll on the Huacheng Square. Have an outside look at Guangdong Museum, the Canton Tower and West Tower.
5. Continue to walk on Haixin Sha Park, the site of the opening ceremony of the Asian Games 2010.
6. After dinner, head to the cruise pier for one hour cruising on the Pearl River. Compared with daytime cruises on the Pearl River, night cruises are more attractive. The sparkling lights on both banks of the river and the moon reflecting on its waters create a magical atmosphere.
7. Transfer you back to the hotel.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Guangdong Yingbin Hotel
 
Highlights:
Day 16: Guangzhou    Guangzhou
Activities: 1. Pick you up from the hotel and transfer you to visit Yuexiu Park, a green belt in the city center of Guangzhou housing gardens, shaded wood paths and museums and take a picture of the symbol of Guyangzhou - the sculpture of five rams.
2. Then move on to Shamian Island. Former British and French concession on a tiny island on Pearl River linked to the mainland by several bridges. Now it is a paradise and old world charm in the busy city of Guangzhou. Houses there are from late 19th century and early 20th central.
3. Transfer you back to the hotel and free on your own in the afternoon.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Guangdong Yingbin Hotel
 
Highlights:
Day 17: Guangzhou Exit    
Activities: Pick you up from the hotel and transfer you to the airport for departure. The whole tour ends.

Meals: Breakfast