Start in: Shanghai
End in: Beijing
Special Experience: Acrobatic Show in Shanghai, Li River cruise in Guilin, Yangtze River cruise, Terracotta Army in Xian
China Impression tour with Yangtze Cruise (Route B)
Day-by-Day Itinerary
Day 1 Arrival/Shanghai
Accommodations: Holiday Inn Shanghai -Downtown 
Transfer via: International flight on your own arrangement
Upon your arrival at Shanghai, China's most cosmopolitan city, our local guide will meet you and escort you to your hotel. The rest of the day is free at your own leisure.
Accommodations: Holiday Inn Shanghai -Downtown
Meals: B,L,D
Sightseeing: Shanghai Museum,Yu Garden,Yuyuan Market,Jade Buddha Temple
Gala Event: Acrobatic Show
Today, your full-day excursion of incredible Shanghai will include: Shanghai Museum, Yu Garden, Yuyuan Market and the Jade Buddha Temple. Enjoy a wonderful Portman Acrobatic Show at the Shanghai Centre Theatre tonight.
- Shanghai Museum: often ranked as China's best museum, it is the biggest museum in China with a fine collection of over 120,000 pieces of Chinese artifacts.
- Yu Garden: located in the Old Town of Shanghai and laid out in 1559 AD by a powerful Ming official, Yu Garden recreates a beautiful landscape of pagodas, pavilions, rockeries, fountains, ancient trees and precious flowers.
- Yuyuan Market: outside the Yu Garden, a bustling market with different snacks and trinkets.
- Jade Buddha Temple: named after its exquisite milk-white jade Buddha brought from Burma in the 19th century by a Chinese monk, it is a spiritual oasis in the midst of a modern metropolis.
- Acrobatic Show: Chinese Acrobatics is one of the oldest performing arts with its history tracing back to Neolithic times, during its development in the history, it has been absorbing plentiful merits from the opera, dance and Chinese Kungfu, and formed its own artistic features. In Portman Acrobatic Show, in a very typical Shanghainese setting and atmosphere, you will enjoy many breathtaking and stunning programs such as Calvaria Skills, Silk Suspending, Hoop Diving and so on performed by very skillful performers, you will truly have an unforgettable experience of your life.
Accommodations: Holiday Inn Shanghai -Downtown
Meals: B,L
Sightseeing: The Bund ,Nanjing Road,Oriental Pearl TV Tower
After breakfast, you will tour the Bund and the Nanjing Road, and then visit the Oriental Pearl TV Tower.
- The Bund : where the great trading houses and banks had their headquarters in the 1920s and the 1930s. The Bund is about about a mile long, it is the city's fulcrum.
- Nanjing Road: known as "China's No.1 Shopping Street" with a huge selection of merchandise on sale.
- Oriental Pearl TV Tower: It stands opposite to the Bund in the Pudong area of Shanghai. Located on the bank of the Huangpu River, it is 468 meters high which makes it the highest TV tower in Asia and the third highest tower in the world. From the sightseeing floor, you can get a bird's eye view of the exciting city of Shanghai.
Accommodations: Guilin Park Hotel
Meals: B,L
Sightseeing: Fubo Hill,Elephant Trunk Hill
Transfer via: China domestic flight arranged by us
After breakfast, you will be escort to the airport to take the flight to Guilin. Upon your arrival, be met and transferred to the hotel. Pay a visit to the Elephant Trunk Hill and the Fubo Hill.
- Fubo Hill: where you can see lots of Buddha statues left about 1000 years ago in the Returned Pearl Cave and have a birds' eye view of the whole city after climbing up to the very top.
- Elephant Trunk Hill : the symbol of Guilin, which resembles a giant elephant drinking water from the Li River.
Accommodations: Guilin Park Hotel
Meals: B,L
Sightseeing: Li River Cruise,West Street(Yangshuo),Reed Flute Cave
After breakfast, drive to Zhujiang Pier (about 40-minute drive) to start the boat cruise along the tranquil Li River, the highlight of your sightseeing tour in Guilin, until you get to Yangshuo County. At Yangshuo, after roaming through the West Street, drive back to Guilin (1.5-hour drive). Visit Reed Flute Cave later.
- Li River Cruise: Along the river, you will be inspired by the breathtaking views of peaks and pinnacles, crystal-clear water and reflections in the water together with the serene pastoral views of rice paddies and water buffaloes.You will certainly feel like you are walking into a traditional Chinese painting by cruising on this wonderful river.
- West Street(Yangshuo): a busy and exotic slate street in Yangshuo County, about 2km long crammed with shops, pubs, cafes and hotels, where you can relax yourself and do some souvenir shopping.
- Reed Flute Cave: 5 kilometers away from the city center, famed as "A Natural Palace of Art", in which you can see lots of stalactites & stalagmites illuminated by the lights of different colors. You will also learn how they were formed.
Accommodations: On the Cruise
Meals: B,L
Transfer via: China domestic flight arranged by us
Take the morning flight to Chongqing. Upon your arrival at Chongqing, the largest city in Southwest China, our local guide will meet you and transfer you to the dock later. Departs Chongqing at 21:00.
Accommodations: On the Cruise
Meals: B,L,D
Sightseeing: White Emperor City,Shibaozhai
Shore excursion to White Emperor City or Shibaozhai this morning. The ship company will decide to choose one of these two spots as the excursion destination according to the weather situation.
- White Emperor City: actually a mini peninsular town scattered with temples and gates, it is located at the entrance of the Qutang Gorge on the north bank of the river.
- Shibaozhai: a gem of Chinese architecture, literally means Stone Treasure Fortress in English. It is a 12-storey red wood tower which was first built in Qing Dynasty with a history of 300 years. It was built against a rectangular rock with sheer cliffs on the river bank, 56 meters high, on the top of which you can enjoy a panoramic view of the rapid river and the surrounding countryside.
Accommodations: Jianguo Garden Hotel
Meals: B,L,D
Sightseeing: Lesser Three Gorges,Shennong Stream
Shore excursion to Lesser Three Gorges by smaller vessels or Shennong Stream this morning(08:00-13:00). The ship company will decide to choose one of those two spots as the excursion destination according to the weather situation.
- Lesser Three Gorges: indicating three separate valleys along the Daning River, the chief tributary of the Yangtze River, they are called "Dragon-Gate Gorge", "Misty Gorge" and "Dicui (Emerald) Gorge" respectively. You can take a small boat to enjoy the spectacular views and experience a water-borne sensation you have never had before when the natural scenic wonders unfold in front of you with clear water flowing fast through the gorges, sheer cliffs and steep mountains rising on either side to create one fine art gallery.
- Shennong Stream: a small tributary of the Yangtze River is 60 kilometers long and is famous for its picturesque scenery. Shennong Stream is beautiful and ancient. When you take a sampan drifting along it, which is not without risk yet exhilarating and a challenge to battle with the nature. You will be attracted and surprised by its crystal clear steam flowing swiftly from north to south through deep gorges, steep ridges and peaks, thick vegetation and wild flowers, flying birds and a plank road built along a cliff and ancient hanging coffins. Sweet love songs will be presented to you by the local ethnic people.
Accommodations: Jianguo Garden Hotel
Meals: B,L
Sightseeing: Three Gorges
Transfer via: China domestic flight arranged by us
Shore excursion to Three Gorges Dam site this morning(08:00-10:00). After lunch, you will disembark the ship in Yichang at 13:30. And then be met and transfered to airport to take flight to Xian. Upon your arrival, our local guide will meet you and escort you to your hotel.
- Three Gorges: spanning the Yangtze at Sandouping, Yichang, Hubei province, China. Construction began in 1994, and the 'Three Gorges Dam' is now the largest hydroelectric dam in the world. The Dam will be 2,335 meters long, 18 meters wide, and its bottom will be 130 meters wide after completion in 2009. When completed, the water level will rise to 135 meters above sea level. The reservoir began filling on June 1, 2003, and it will occupy the present position of the scenic Three Gorges area, between the cities of Yichang, Hubei, and Fuling, Chongqing Municipality.
Accommodations: Jianguo Garden Hotel
Meals: B
Sightseeing: Terracotta Warriors and Horses,Ancient City Walls ,Bell Tower
Today, you will enjoy a full-day excursion to the incredible life-size Terracotta Warriors and Horses. After lunch, visit the Ancient City Walls and then the Bell Tower.
- Terracotta Warriors and Horses: discovered in 1974 by local farmers digging a well, this is one of the most significant archeological finds of the 20th century. These 6,000 life-size painted Terracotta Warriors and Horses --individually sculpted from real-life models and arranged in battle formation have been protecting the mausoleum of the first emperor in Chinese history--Emperor QinShihuang for 2,200 years ago.
- Ancient City Walls : built during the 14th century on Tang dynasty foundations and they date from the Ming dynasty. The walls are the largest and best-preserved ancient fortress in the world. There is a gate in each of the four sides, and the gate towers built over each gate look lofty and magnificent and form a tight defence engineering system.
- Bell Tower: standing in the center of the city and built in 1582, the Bell Tower is a three-story wooden structure with traditional Chinese architectural features. It is so called because an iron bell is hung in the tower to give the correct time.
Accommodations: Jianguo Garden Hotel
Sightseeing: Big Wild Goose Pagoda,Shaanxi Provincial Museum
Transfer via: China domestic flight arranged by us
After breakfast, you will have a city tour to the Shaanxi Provincial Museum and the Big Wild Goose Pagoda before your onward flight to Beijing. Upon your arrival, be met and transferred to the hotel. The rest of the day is on your own leisure.
- Big Wild Goose Pagoda: regarded by many as a symbol of the city Xian, the pagoda was built in 652 A.D. in the Tang Dynasty to house the sutras brought back from India by the famous monk Xuan-zang.
- Shaanxi Provincial Museum: opened in 1991, the largest comprehensive museum in the province. The museum exhibits over 3,000 historical relics which is just a fraction of their collection. Most of the exhibited items are rare treasures, showing you the splendid Chinese culture.
Accommodations: Jianguo Garden Hotel
Meals: B,L
Sightseeing: Tiananmen Square,Forbidden City,Summer Palace
Today you will first visit the historic Tiananmen Square, and then the magnificent Forbidden City. In the afternoon, you will marvel at the exquisite Summer Palace.
- Tiananmen Square: the largest city square in the world and the spiritual heart of China, where the national flag is raised exactly at sunrise everyday.
- Forbidden City: located in the center of Beijing, used to be the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties with a history of around 600 years, it is the grandest integral palace complex still remaining in China.
- Summer Palace : Located on the northwestern outskirts of the city, it was an imperial summer resort of the Qing Dynasty. With its perfect layout, magnificent buildings and enchanting landscape, it is the most splendid classical garden in China.
Accommodations: Jianguo Garden Hotel
Meals: B,L
Sightseeing: Sacred Road,Ding Tomb,Great Wall
Today's full-day excursion will take you to the majestic Great Wall(Badaling section), the Ding Tomb of Ming Tombs and Sacred road.
- Sacred Road: the path lined with stone statues of animals, mystical beasts and officials who are supposed to serve the emperor in his afterlife, through which the sitting emperors would go to perform memorial rituals for the ancestors once a year.
- Ding Tomb: the burial site of the emperor Wanli, the 13th emperor of the Ming Dynasty who ruled for 48 years until his death in 1620, it is the only underground tomb of the thirteen Imperial Ming tombs ever excavated.
- Great Wall: the most famous symbol of China and one of the world's most remarkable architectural wonders, it was built over 2,000 years ago and stretches about 6,700km.
Sightseeing: Temple of Heaven
Transfer via: International flight on your own arrangement
After breakfast,you will visit Beijing's splendid Temple of Heaven. And then take the afternoon flight to your sweet home.
- Temple of Heaven: the place which was visited yearly by the emperors who performed intricate rituals to insure a good harvest for the whole nation at ancient times.
China domestic flights as specified in the itinerary 
Accommodations for 13 nights, including
11 nights at four star or higher hotels, 2 nights at five star yangtze cruise ship
24 meals, including 11 full breakfasts, 10 lunches and 3 dinners
1 gala evening events--Acrobatic Show in Shanghai 
Round-trip transfers---between airports, hotels and scenic spots in each city by private air-conditioned motor coaches with experienced drivers
A local English-speaking guide in each city
Entrance fees to scenic spots listed in the itinerary
Luggage transfers between airports and hotels
China Life Tourist Accident/Casualty insurance
Government taxes and service charges except tips for tour guides and drivers
We both found the Reed Flute Cave stunningly fascinating, made even so more so by the fact that we were along as the last ones to go through. We were very glad we went with the Longsheng rice paddies option even though it was the wrong time of the year. It was still beautiful with the Dragon's Backbone clearly visible-it was one of our favorite places. The Li River boat cruise was very enjoyable too.
- Adele and Giles Harding,South Africa
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