China Highlights

China Highlights Overview

This immersive tour takes in two spectacular cities, Beijing and Shanghai, and allows you to experience the Great Wall of China, Forbidden Palace, the Terra Cotta Warriors, Li River (on a cruise) and Shanghai's intricate ancient neighbourhoods that stand along modern architecture.

China Highlights

This immersive tour takes in two spectacular cities, Beijing and Shanghai, and allows you to experience the Great Wall of China, Forbidden Palace, the Terra Cotta Warriors, Li River (on a cruise) and Shanghai's intricate ancient neighbourhoods that stand along modern architecture. Consider extending your tour to include a visit to meet the pandas in Chengdu.

Touring style: private tour with driver and professional English speaking guide.

Best time for this tour: Mar to April / October to November

Day 1: Shanghai Arrival

You will be met and transferred to your hotel.

Distance and journey time:

Shanghai airport – Shanghai city approx. 45km): 1h

Day 2: Shanghai tour

In the morning head for the French Concession, a symbol of a time when Western powers were accorded many privileges. You will start your trip with a stroll through Fuxing Park where you will have an opportunity to watch the Chinese practising their ritual of morning exercise.

Afterwards wander the surrounding roads, admiring the old colonial homes that have now been transformed into restaurants, bars and different boutiques. Continue on to Xintiandi, an entirely renovated area that is considered one of the liveliest parts of the city.

Proceed to the nearby neighbourhood of Lujiazui, the epicentre of some of the most famous buildings: the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, Jin Mao Tower and the never ending Shanghai World Financial Center (the tallest building in Shanghai), where you can admire the city from the highest panoramic terrace in the world.

Shortly after, you will take the famous Bund Sightseeing Tunnel, a mini subway line, to cross the Huangpu River to reach Puxi in a couple of minutes.

Discover the Bund, the city’s famous walkway along some of Puxi’s historical buildings. The area dates back to the 1930s, Shanghai’s rich culture and European influence.

Explore the famous Nanjing Road with its colourful signs. Overnight in Shanghai

Day 3: Travel to Beijing

There is a choice to travel on the high-speed train to Shanghai or take a short flight to Beijing.

On arrival, you will be met and transferred to your hotel.

In the afternoon, take a tour by rickshaw to one of Beijing’s famous hutongs close to Houhai Lake. From here you will visit the Drum Tower, where the passing of the hours was signalled by a drum roll during the Ming era. The tower is opposite the Clock Tower and provides a pleasant insight into old Beijing.

Overnight in Beijing.

Distance and journey time:

Beijing airport – Beijing city (approx. 30km): 40 min

Day 4: A tour of the Great Wall and Ming Tombs

Visit the massive Great Wall, 90 km north of Beijing. After lunch at a local restaurant stop at the Ming Tombs, burial place for 13 emperors of the Ming Dynasty, approached through the Sacred Way and Avenue of the Animals.

On your way back, visit the Summer Palace. At one time a simple imperial garden, the site was totally redesigned by Emperor Qianlong in the 18th Century becoming one of the capital’s major sites. The Imperial Court used to relocate to the Summer Palace during the summer months to escape the stifling heat of the Forbidden City. A mix of temples pavilions, lakes, pagodas and gardens make up this harmonious representation of Chinese culture and architecture. The Long Corridor, the Marble Boat, Seventeen-Arch Bridge, Kunming Lake and Longevity Hill are the key landscape features of the Summer Palace gardens.

Overnight in Beijing

Distance and journey time:

Beijing city– Mutianyu Great Wall (approx. 75km): approx 2 hours

Mutianyu Great Wall – Summer Palace (approx. 75 km): 1h45

Summer Palace – Beijing city (approx. 22 km): 40 min

Day 5: A tour of the Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven

Visit the Temple of Heaven’s park to witness a uniquely Chinese morning ritual – public exercise. Beijingers, who believe that morning exercise is essential for their well-being. Discover the Temple itself, notable for its architectural simplicity and symbolism reflecting early Buddhist and Taoist beliefs. Here, emperors would forge the link between the round sky and the square earth through sacrificial rituals based on the founding principles of this ancient civilisation.

In the afternoon visit the Forbidden City. Most Chinese buildings face south, which according to ancient beliefs symbolised the barbarian threat and potential invasion from the north. This explains why the main entrance to the Forbidden City faces south towards Tiananmen Square, the third largest city square in the world.

Overnight in Beijing

Day 6: Summer Palace Beijing and a flight to Xian

Afternoon transfer to the airport for flight to Xian. On arrival, you will be met and transferred to your hotel.

Leave with your guide to discover the impressive city walls that were constructed during the Ming Dynasty. Mostly destroyed and then restored, they are some of the only town walls still left in China. Take a bike ride or an electric car ride to explore the town walls and look down on the hustle and bustle of the city streets below.

Visit Xi’an’s main Mosque, which is built in a Chinese style, and the very lively Muslim quarter which surrounds it.

Overnight in Xi'an.

Distance and journey time:

Xi’an Airport – Xi'an city 57km): 1 hr

Day 7: Terracotta warriors

Visit the amazing terracotta warriors, horses and chariots guarding the entrance to the 2000-year-old Qin Mausoleum and the Banpo Museum built around the site of a 5000-year-old Neolithic village.

Overnight in Xian

Day 8: Fly to Guilin

Early morning transfer to the airport for your flight to Guilin. You will be met and transferred to your hotel.

In the afternoon, leave with your guide for a tour of the Reed Flute Cave which takes its name from the number of reeds which grow at the entrance of the cave and which are used in the making of flutes. The day will finish with a pleasant stroll round Shan Lake, known for its two marvellous pagodas, one dedicated to the sun and the other the moon.

Overnight in Guilin

Distance and journey time:

Xi’an city – Han Yangling tomb (approx. 27km): 40 min

Han Yangling tomb – Xi’an airport (approx. 30km): 25 min

Guilin airport - Guilin city (approx. 30km): approx 45 min

Day 9: Li River Cruise

Transfer to the pier for the Li River cruise. Take in the breathtaking landscape, limestone hills and picturesque villages scattered amongst the giant looming karst hills.

Overnight in Yangshuo.

Day 10: Departure

You will be transferred to the airport for your departure flight or extend your China adventure to Yunnan or visit the pandas in Chengdu.

Distance and journey time:

Yangshuo – Guilin airport (approx. 85km): 1h30