Day 1 Arrive Guanghzou Upon your arrival, you are met for private transfer to your hotel for check-in and overnight in Guangzhou Overnight: Landmark Canton Hotel Guangzhou 4- Star or similar Day 2 Guangzhou—Foshan—Guangzhou (B/L) After breakfast, you will be transferred to Foshan for a full day tour. You will start to visit Foshan Ancestral Temple, one of the famous ancient buildings in Guandong Province with a history of more than 900 years. Originally it was called the Ancestor's Hall, for worshipping the ancestors by workers of the smelting trade. Continue to visit the Ancient Nanfeng Kiln, built during the Zhengde years of Ming Dynasty (1506-1521). For nearly five hundred years the flame has never died out, with constant production. Thus the kiln has been kept complete without any damage, which is rare in China. It is the oldest dragon kiln left in China and now is applying to the history culture heritage of the world. After lunch, you will visit the Foshan Folk Art Research Institute, a special institution for researching, inheriting and developing Foshan traditional folk art. Drive back to Guangzhou and transfer to your hotel. Overnight: Landmark Canton Hotel Guangzhou 4- Star or similar Day 3 Depart Guangzhou (B) Free till be transferred to the airport for your onward flight.
Price for 1 Person: USD 537per person Price for 2-5 persons: USD277 per person
Service included: - Accommodation ( one room for two-shared) -Entrance fees as mentioned in the itinerary. -Chinese lunch as listed in the itinerary, -Personal Guide & Driver + Private car / van for Private Transfer & sightseeing. Service not included: - Chinese visa - Personal expenses - Tips or gratuities to local driver and guide - Items not mentioned above
Shanghai, Beijing ,Xian ,Guilin and Yangshuo 12 Days Tour
Day 1 Arrive Shanghai, China
Upon your arrival, our guide will greet you at the airport and transfer you to your hotel for a good rest.
Overnight: New Century Hotel Shanghai or similar
Address: 1111 Liyang Road, Shanghai, China
Tel: 86-21-36084999
Fax: 86-21-65213418
Day 2 Shanghai
After breakfast, you will visit one of the oldest tourist sites in Shanghai, the Yuyuan Garden. With ponds ,traditional red walls with upturned tile roofs and and excellent teahouse—the Yuyuan Garden is a wonderful respite from city chaos. Then visit Shanghai old street. This old street includes the old day's native bank, silverware shop, Chinese pub, teahouse, theater and store. When you walk along this street, you will just feel you going back to the old Shanghai 100 years ago. This afternoon, you will visit the Bund, also called the Zhongshan Road, the famous waterfront and regarded as the symbol of Shanghai for hundreds of years. Later, enjoy a stroll along the famous commercial pedestrian street in Shanghai—Nanjing Road. Walking along this street you will feel the strong dynamics of Shanghai.
Overnight: New Century Hotel Shanghai or similar
Day 3 Shanghai---Beijing
This morning, you will visit the Jade Buddha Temple, home to two famous white jade Buddha statues brought from Burma in 1882.Later, transfer to visit Shanghai Museum which boasts the best bronze collection in the world, along with Ming and Qing dynasty furniture, jade, coins, paintings and ceramics. This afternoon, you will visit the Xintiandi where you can experience the perfect blending of old and modern Shanghai. After that you will be transferred to this airport for your onward flight to Beijing.
Overnight: Holiday Inn Downtown Beijing or similar
Address: 98 Beilishi Road, Financial Street, Xiacheng District, Beijing, China
Tel: 86-10-68338822
Fax: 86-10-68340696
Flight:
Day 4 Beijing
Full day city tour of Beijing by private vehicle. Start your tour with a visit to Tiananmen Square, a site of historic significance for the advent of communism in China. It is truly a people's square, alive with local kite filers and wide-eyed tourists from out of town. Then, go on to visit the impressive Forbidden Citywith the Imperial palace. Also known as the Imperial Palace Museum or Gugong, the Forbidden City was the place where the emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties carried out their administration and lived. You can see the great traditional palace architecture, enjoy the treasure kept in the palace, and learn of the legends and anecdotes about the imperial family and the court.
This afternoon, enjoy a stroll through the lush garden of the Summer Palace. Equally famous as the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace is called "Yiheyuan"(Garden of Nurtured Harmony) in Chinese. It is up to now the best preserved and largest imperial gardens in China.
Overnight: Holiday Inn Downtown Beijing or similar
Day 5 Beijing
Enjoy a morning excursion to visit the Mutianyu Section of the Great Wall of China, which is well preserved with spectacular view and snakes over the green hill countryside outside of Beijing. Just like a Gigantic dragon, the Great Wall winds up and down across deserts, grasslands, mountains and plateaus stretching approximately 6,700 kilometers(4,163 miles) from east to west of China. This afternoon, you will visit the Changling, one of the Ming Thirteen Tombs. It is the Tomb of Zhudi, the third emperor of Ming Dynasty.
Overnight: Holiday Inn Downtown Beijing or similar
Day 6 Beijing
This morning after breakfast, you will visit the Temple of Heaven, set in a 670-acre park. Here you will find Qinian Dian (Hall of prayer for the Good Harvests), constructed without a single nail, and one of the finest example of Chinese architecture. Later, visit the National Museum of China.It is the largest comprehensive history museum in China. Through display of both material and non-material collections and exhibits, it narrates the history created by the ancestors of the Chinese people. This afternoon, you will enjoy a rickshaw tour in the old Hutong and visit a local family.
Overnight: Holiday Inn Downtown Beijing or similar
Day 7 Beijing---Xian
It is your free time to explore Beijing till been transferred to the airport for the flight to Xian.
Overnight: Xian—Jianguo Hotel Xian or similar
Address: 2 Huzhu Road ,Xian, China
Tel: 86-29-83238888
Fax: 86-29-83235145
Flight:
Day 8 Xian
Enjoy a full day of sightseeing. You will visit the world famous Terra Cotta Warriors. It was discovered in 1974 and considered one of the eight wonders in the world. This afternoon, you will be transferred to visit the Great Wild Goose Pagoda, built in the beginning of the Tang Dynasty as a memorial to Crown Prince Lhi Zhi's mother.
Overnight: Xian—Jianguo Hotel Xian or similar
Day 9 Xian---Guilin
Today you will visit the Old City Wall. It was built in the Tang Dynasty when the city was the capital,this is now the only complete city wall existing in China. You will visit one of the gates and take a stroll on the wall. Then,, you will go to the Muslim area and visit the Great Mosque before heading to the airport for your flight to Guilin.
Overnight: Guilin---- Guilin Bravo Hotel or similar
Addr: 14 South Ronghu Road Guilin, China
Tel: 86-773-2898888
Fax: 86-773-2893999
Day 10 Guilin---Yangshuo---Guilin
Today make this day with trip to Li River Cruise to witness the spectacular limestone rock formations and rural life along the riverbanks. arrive in Yangshuo, a small town set in the lush rice paddies and surrounded by meandering rivers and limestone peaks. This afternoon take a cycling around Yangshuo. Then be transferred to Guilin by car.
Overnight: Guilin---- Guilin Bravo Hotel or similar
Day 11 Guilin---Shanghai
After enjoying your breakfast pay a visit to Elephant Trunk Hill & Reed Flute Cave. Elephant Trunk Hill is a hill that looks like a giant elephant putting its trunk into the river to drink water. It is the symbol of Guilin. Reed Flute Cave is full of stalactites and stalagmites in various shapes and sizes, which, with a multicolored lighting system, resemble a Chinese-version story of Journey to the Center of the Earth. The cave was also a frequent refuge for the local people escaping bandits and war in the past. This afternoon you will be transferred to the airport and take flight to Shanghai.
Overnight: Shanghai—New Century Hotel Shanghai
4 star Hotel: New Century Hotel Shanghai or similar
Address: 1111 Liyang Road, Shanghai, China
Tel:86-21-36084999
Fax: 86-21-65213418
Day 12 Depart Shanghai
Free till been transferred to the airport for your onward flight to home.
The Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival is one of world's four largest international ice festivals, along with Japan's Sapporo Snow Festival, Canada's Quebec Winter Carnival, and Norway's Ski Festival. It starts annually on January 5 and lasts for over one month. During this period, people throughout the world take part in the various artist, cultural, athletic and tourist events. The 27th Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival will start on January 5, 2011. It is a great winter festival and if you are in China during this period, it really should not be missed.
Some famous attractions you must see in Harbin city are Harbin Central Avenue, Sun Island and Saint Sophia Church.
Harbin Central Avenue is initially established in 1898. It has been the most prosperous commercial hub in Harbin for one hundred years.The street is lined with a large number of western architecture and is dubbed as "a gallery of European architectural art".
Sun Island is located in the north side of Songhua River of Harbin .The island covers a total area of 3,800 hectares of leisure resources,including the interesting Siberian Tiger Park.In summer, the island serves as a natural river beach swimming resort and sanatorium area.While in wintertime, when the island is gracefully covered with snow, the Sun Island is used as the playground for various winter sports.Skiing, Hockey,Ice-skating, and sledding games are all organized here.More importantly, the renowned annual Snow Carving Festival is held here.
Saint Sophia Church is the largest cathedral of Orthodox Church in Far-East Asia. It is 53.35 meters high and covers a total area of 721 square meters.The graphic design of the church is a Latin Cross shape from east to west. The wall are all made of the high-quality red bricks and the top of the church is a dome like the onion.
Prince Gongs Mansion is the largest 'siheyuan' courtyard in the world. This complex is covered a total area of 60,000 square meters. Over half of this is the residential portion, while the reminder is an garden to the rear.
The Prince Gongs Mansion is divided by three roads,creating an eastern area,middle area and western area.The mansion is constituted of more than forty houses. The Western-style Gate, the Grand Theater House and the 'fu' stele are the three uniqueness in Prince Gongs Mansion.
The Western-style Gate is the perfect harmanization of western style with ancient China carvings.The Grand Theater House was total built by the timber wood and still stand firmly over 100 years .The character 'fu' carving on the 8 meter long stele is the largest 'fu' character in Prince Gongs Mansion.Moreover, this character is the copy of the emperor of Kangxi's handwriting.
For the people who has a great knowledge of China history,especially the history of Ming Dynasty, this is a must visit. 13 of 16 of Ming Dynasty's emperor were buried here with their mistress.
If you are closing to here,you will just see hills with some buildings which were restored recently.Most of the reals had been destroyed by red guard during the culture revolution.
Tomb is a tomb.Like pyramid in Egypt,the highlights are underground. At present, only Dingling is excavated,you can go down stair about 7 to 8 floors to reach the basement, and explore the tomb to see emperor's coffin,artifacts and the architecture style of the underground.
the other highlight you must experience is the Sacred Road. It is a long road lined with many animal giant stone statues.All the statue is made in a whole huge stone.When you stroll along this road, you will feel walking in the trance of a long-gone era.
Dingling is also open to tourist,but it has not been excavated yet.The pillar in the hall is made by a huge nan mu, and many treasure was exhibited there.If you are interested int the architecture and the museum,it is worth visit.
As China's largest and most significant ancient palace, the Forbidden City is the best preserved one. It now serves a function as China's Palace Museum. This magnificent palace, located in the center of Beijing city, was built in 1406 and completed in 1420. In the past, it was used as the imperial residence for 24 emperors from Ming and Qing dynasties. It is the palace most representative of Chinese civilization, considered a holy place by the Chinese people.
The palace covers an area of over 2,350,000 square feet. It has 9,999 rooms built in traditional architectural style. Ten-foot-high walls surround the palace, reinforced by a massive moat and observation towers. The Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Middle Harmony and the Hall of Preserving Harmony are at the center of this awe-inspiring palatial complex. The Hall of Supreme Harmony is famous as a lama temple. These three halls divide the complex along a north-south and east-west axis. Just outside the palace complex is Tian'anmen Square , the largest city square in the world.
The Title of the Forbidden City is concerned with China's ancient philosophy and traditional astronomical theory. Chinese people follow the principle of the Heaven-Human Unity or Heaven-Human Interaction. Hence the Forbidden City is said to build via modeling the legendary Heaven Palace. In ancient astronomy, the fixed stars are categorized into three kinds (in Chinese "三垣"). They cycle around 28 Star Mansions（星宿）, and the Ziweiyuan(in Chinese "紫微垣" ), which, currently, is entitled Polaris, is located in the center of the heaven. It is the center of the star mansions. Zijincheng( Forbidden City, in Chinese "紫禁城") has the same meaning as it to show the Imperial Palace is the heart or center of humankind. Jin (禁) means this place is exclusively for Emperor. It is incomparably holy, so the commoners are forbidden to come in and stay in.
The number of rooms in Forbidden City is 9,999, and the number of bronzy doornails on each door is also 9 in both horizontal and vertical counting. This strange figure is also linked with ancient people's understanding to digit. The ancient people think "9" is the largest digit and Emperor on earth is also the largest. So they are in agreement for superiority. Besides, the same tone of "9" as Chinese Character "久" jointly means eternality or permanence, which further indicates the territory and rule of Emperor are everlasting . The idea of Confucianism is also deeply shown in the titles of buildings of the Forbidden City. For instance, the Chinese characters such as "仁"(benevolence) ,"和"(peace),"中"(centralization),"安"(stability) are all on behalf of the essence and core of Confucian ideas and highlighting the traditional ideology of Confucianism.
To some extent,Great wall represents the spirit of Chinese people and history. In many exhibitions or conferences in China, participators can easily find its existence in pictures or painting hung on walls. It has been widely expressed in politics, culture-exchange and artistic creation. It is the symbol of China.
The Great Wall of China is the great miracle in world ancient architecture. In the spring-autumn period, Chu State built up the unclosed city wall for several hundred kilometers, and during the period of warring states, Yan, Zhao, Wei, Han and Qin all built up their own great walls respectively. After the great unification of the whole China conducted by Emperor Qin Shihuang in Qin Dynasty, he united all the walls in different states together. After the establishment of Ming Dynasty, the general Xu Da built up or restored the Great Wall for more than 18 times. The restored Great Wall began from Jiayuguan in the west of China, Gansu Province, to Yalu River in the east of China. It is the Great Wall we see today.
In Beijing, the famous spots for seeing Great Wall are Badaling, Juyongguan, Mutianyu and Simatai. Among them, the most attractive spots areBadaling and Mutianyu section.
The Great Wall in Badaling section is preserved best and assembled most-advanced equipment, which offers the travelers safety and convenience. This section of Great Wall is located in the south of Yanqing County and northwest part of Beijing City zone. It was established in 1505 during the reign of Ming Dynasty. It was the vital military pass and the important barrier, and protection wall against the northern minority's entrance, and it was also the important barrier to safeguard the national capital. The Great Wall in Badaling section could be divided into two parts : southern part and northern part. Southern part is very steep and dangerous, so there are not many visitors. The climbing helping infrastructure there is not so complete as that in the northern part, but it is much more challenging and is the better choice for the youth to adventure and seek for different experience on the Great Wall. Hence, in this part, many visitors are youngsters. The Northern part is relatively safe and dependable, so many visitors prefer to climb the Great Wall via this section. But during the hot period of tourism industry, it is extremely crowded. Climbing the Great Wall truly gives people a sense of accomplishments, because after you successfully climb up to the peak, you could enjoy the magnificent and unusual sightseeing and breathtaking scenery. You also feel the grandness of nature and smallness of human; perhaps you will improve or deepen your personal understanding on life philosophy, and know how to coexist with nature and other creatures. Therefore, Chairman Mao's inscription is true and reasonable:He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a true man.
Mutianyu section of the Great Wall is the original part of Great Wall. It is the original one without any restoration. It is totally different from Badaling section. If you want to see the original appearance of the Great Wall more clearly, it will be your first choice.
