8-Days Classic China Tour

DAY 1 Beijing

• Beijing Arrival and Private Transfer to Hotel
• Crowne Plaza Beijing Chaoyang U-Town (5-star) / Sunworld Hotel Beijing (4-star) / Dongfang Hotel Beijing (3-star) (or Same Class)
• None

Your local English-speaking guide will be waiting for you at the arrivals hall and your driver will escort you directly to your hotel. Check-in at the hotel and recover from jet lag.

Free-Time Ideas

• Visit Beijing Zoo to see the cute giant pandas.
• Watch a fabulous night show, such as the Kungfu Show or the Acrobatics Show. Ask your guide to help you with tickets.

DAY 2 Beijing

• Tian'anmen Square, Forbidden City Explore, Hutongs
• Breakfast and lunch

You will first visit Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City in the morning. your tour guide will help you explore 6 carefully selected places in the Forbidden City, to discover the deep secrets of the emperors and concubines. Then, have lunch in a local restaurant.

Later, you will get on a rickshaw and the rider will take you into the beating heart of Beijing: the hutongs (old alleyways). Follow up by spending some quality time with a local family in a hutong.

Good to Know

Our tour guide will buy the tickets in advance for you so that you won’t waste any time standing in a queue.

DAY 3 Beijing

• Great Wall at Mutianyu and Temple of Heaven
• Breakfast and lunch

In the morning, take a relaxing visit to the Temple of Heaven, where Chinese emperors used to worship God.

Later, visit the Great Wall at Mutianyu (2.5 hours drive from downtown Beijing). This is a less-crowded section of the Great Wall. A cable car takes you up to a good spot, where you can have an easy walk along the wall.

You can return either by cable car, walking down, or tobogganing down. Tobogganing down is actually the most popular.

Good to know

• Put on your hiking shoes. You can hike at your own pace. If you don’t much like hiking, you can take some nice pictures of and from the Great Wall.
• Cultural experience: Weather-permitting, at the Temple of Heaven you’ll see locals doing tai chi, making calligraphy, and playing traditional instruments, you can join them if you wish.

DAY 4 Beijing to Xi'an

• High-Speed Train to Xi'an, and Private Transfer to and from Station
• Wyndham Grand Xian South (Superior Room)(5-star) / Grand Noble Hotel (4-star) / Titan Times Hotel (3-star) (or Same Class)
• Breakfast

Today the whole morning is free.

Your guide will pick you up in your hotel lobby. You’ll then transfer to the train station for a high-speed train. The train journey takes four and a half hours.

Upon arrival, your Xi’an guide and driver will transfer you directly to your hotel.

Free Time Idea

Beijing is a big city with many famous attractions not listed above, like the Bird’s Nest, Jingshan Park, the Bell and Drum Tower, etc... If you’d like to explore the city more, we can customize a tour.

DAY 5 Xi'an

• Terracotta Warriors, Learn to Make Terracotta Warrior at a Cave Dwelling, Ancient City Wall
• Breakfast and lunch

The first Emperor united all of China. Stand face to face with 6,000 statues at the Terracotta Warriors and Horses, created by the first Emperor. It is said the warriors were all sculpted in the shape of powerful or rich people of the time.

Visit the cave-dwelling family workshop in the countryside and learn how to make Terracotta Warriors from a local farmer.

After lunch, we will explore the Ancient City Wall, which surrounds the city center. The wall was built in the 13th century on the foundations of the original Tang Forbidden City.

Good to know

Weather-permitting, you can bike on (or right around) the city wall.

DAY 6 Xi'an to Shanghai

• Shaanxi History Museum, Big Wild Goose Pagoda, and Flight to Shanghai
• Les Suites Orient Bund Shanghai (5-star) / SSAW Boutique Hotel The Bund (4-star) / Kingstown Hotel Plaza Shanghai (3-star) (or Same Class)
• Breakfast and lunch

Xi'an was the starting point of the Silk Road. So it transpires that Shaanxi Historical Museum. The museum contains some of the most valuable collections from the earlier dynasties up to the Tang dynasty.

Later, visit the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Historically, this played a huge role in the introduction of Buddhism to China.

Flight to Shanghai after lunch.

DAY 7 Shanghai

• World Financial Center, In-depth Bund Culture Discovery, Yuyuan Garden, Shanghai Old Street
• Breakfast and lunch

In the morning, you climb to the top of Shanghai World Financial Center, the second high building in Shanghai, for a panoramic view of Shanghai.

In-Depth Bund Culture Discovery tour brings you back to the golden age of the Bund in the 1920s. Your guide will take you into several old buildings to have a look.

In the afternoon, explore Yuyuan Garden, a classic Chinese garden, and visit the old quarters of Shanghai has some well-preserved old residential houses and narrow lanes.

Night Time Ideas

• Watch ERA Acrobatics Show. Each individual performance attracts your attention and impresses your imagination. The artists do incredible things.
• Take a Huangpu River Cruise in the evening, to witness the gleaming night-Bund.

DAY 8 Shanghai Departure

• Private Transfer to the Airport and Shanghai Departure
• Breakfast

You will be transferred to the airport on time for your flight. We will make sure that you arrive at the airport 1.5 hours ahead of departure time for domestic flights, and 2.5 hours for international flights.

Extend Your Tour

Tongli Water Town is beautiful and gives you a taste of ancient China. You get a fully-fledged feel for the ancient surroundings by just walking around the fairly large town. Many souvenirs are for sale. Test your bargaining powers.

If you want to visit this water town near Shanghai, let us know on your inquiry form. We’ll arrange it for you. The cost for 1-Day Suzhou and Tongli Water Town Tour from Shanghai is US$179.