Start in: Shanghai
End in: Beijing
Special Experience: Acrobatic show in Shanghai, Guilin Li River cruise and countryside excursion in Yangshuo, Hutong tour by rickshaw in Beijing
China Contrast Tour (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
Sightseeing: Shanghai Museum,Nanjing Road,Yu Garden,Yuyuan Market
Gala Event: Acrobatic Show
Today you will first visit the Shanghai Museum, the Bund and the Nanjing Road, and then the Yu Garden and Yuyuan Market. Enjoy a wonderful Acrobatic Show 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.
- Nanjing Road: known as "China's No.1 Shopping Street" with a huge selection of merchandise on sale.
- 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.
- 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: Guilin Park Hotel
Meals: B,L
Sightseeing: Reed Flute Cave,Elephant Trunk Hill
Transfer via: China domestic flight arranged by us
Free in the day until our local guide escorts you to the airport for your flight to Guilin. Upon your arrival at Guilin, the most scenic city in China, our local guide will meet you and escort you to your hotel. Your tour in this beautiful city will include the Elephant Trunk Hill and the Reed Flute Cave.
- 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.
- Elephant Trunk Hill : the symbol of Guilin, which resembles a giant elephant drinking water from the Li River.
Accommodations: New Century Hotel
Meals: B,L
Sightseeing: Li River Cruise
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. Free time in the afternoon after checking in the hotel in Yangshuo.
- 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.
Accommodations: Jianguo Garden Hotel
Meals: B,L
Sightseeing: Big Banyan Tree,Moon Hill
Transfer via: China domestic flight arranged by us
In the morning, you will have an excursion to the Moon Hill and the Big Banyan Tree Park. Along the route a serene pastoral view of fantastic limestone mountains, peaceful farming villages with long stretch of rice fields and roaming water buffaloes spreads in front of you. Drive back to Guilin and take flight to Beijing. Upon your arrival, be met and transferred to your hotel. The rest of the day is on our own leisure.
- Big Banyan Tree: more than 1500 years old, with its crown covering more than half a hectare, it was once the spot where Third Sister Liu, the folk song singer of Zhuang people, sang beautiful melodies according to the legend.
- Moon Hill: viewed from different places, the moon takes on different shapes, sometimes full moon, sometimes half-moon and sometimes crescent, forming a marvelous spectacle in Yangshuo. Climbing about 800 steps up to the very top, you will have a fantastic view of the whole county.
Accommodations: Jianguo Garden Hotel
Meals: B,L
Sightseeing: Tiananmen Square,Forbidden City,Temple of Heaven
Today you will first visit the historic Tiananmen Square, and then the magnificent Forbidden City. In the afternoon, you will marvel at Beijing's splendid Temple of Heaven.
- 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.
- 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.
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.
Meals: B
Sightseeing: Hutongs
Transfer via: International flight on your own arrangement
After breakfast, you will visit Hutongs by rickshaw. Lunch will be served in one of the local people's home during the tour, where you can learn how to make dumplings. After that our local guide escorts you to the airport for your flight to your next destination-your sweet home.
- Hutongs: the old narrow paths with lots of courtyard homes where common people are living. They are like villages within a megalopolis. Through the hutongs' teeming maze of alleyways, you will see the old houses and learn about the daily life of ordinary Beijing citizens.
China domestic flights as specified in the itinerary 
Accommodations for 7 nights, including
6 nights at four star or higher hotels, 1 night at three star hotels
12 meals, including 7 full breakfasts, 5 lunches and 0 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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