Trip Highlights

Itinerary

Accommodation

Meals

Transfer

What's Included?

China Water-town Tour    8 days & 7 nights    Tour Code:  COT-P113

Take an 8 day East China water-town tour and experience other aspects of Chinese culture, the Jiangnan culture. Tour dynamic Shanghai and be surprised by its rapid development. Visit Zhouzhuang and enjoy the tranquility of simple water-town life. Get lost in the intriguing Suzhou classical Chinese gardens, stop in Hangzhou a paradise on earth, and sip tea by the West Lake.

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• Trip Highlights
• Sample Itinerary
• Features

Accommodation

Holiday Inn Downtown Shanghai(Plaza Wing) ★★★★

Shanghai

The Holiday Inn Downtown Shanghai is strategically located with easy accessibility whether you are in Shanghai or visiting nearby cities. The Hotel is within walking distance of the Shanghai Railway Station and Underground Subway to reach your business and tourist destinations. From Pudong airport, the number 5 Shuttle Bus will easily assist you to arrive the hotel. The hotel has a total of 510 rooms including 41 suites, all comfortably furnished, and includes 20 floors located in the Great Wall Wing and 14 floors in the Plaza Wing. Its seven meeting rooms can welcome until 530 persons and its three restaurants offer Cantonese, Western and International specialties. The hotel also has two lobby bars and one new opened Sports Bar which provides a wide selection of beverages and snacks. Combining central location with high standard service and facilities, the Holiday Inn Downtown Shanghai hotel makes a good choice for all its guests.

Bamboo Grove Hotel★★★★

Suzhou

Each of the 142 rooms at this fine 4-star hotel feature superior amenities. There are non-smoking rooms, trouser press, air conditioning, television, mini-bar in each of the hotel's well-equipped rooms. The hotel boasts morning call, boutique, car rental, dry cleaning and laundry, room service as part of its superior facilities and services.

Wanghu Hotel ★★★★

Hangzhou

The Wanghu Hotel is a four-star commercial hotel conveniently located just a few steps away from beautiful West Lake. In the downtown area and with the good view of the West Lake, the hotel is only 10 minutes' drive to the railway station and 30 minutes' drive to the airport.

Meals

Most meals are included as specified in the itinerary. Meal codes are: B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner. China Odyssey Tours can also be your culinary guide providing you the opportunity to savor tempting local food and world-famous dishes.

Breakfast - All the breakfasts are served in the hotels that you stay at, with both Chinese & Western foods, which will cater to your appetite well enough.

Lunch - Lunches are usually arranged at the Chinese restaurants near the scenic spots, with clean environment and healthy food. The tour guides will order the food according to your appetite. Most are Chinese dishes, and some are modified to fit westerners' taste. A complimentary glass of beer or soft drink is served with lunch.

Dinner - Same as lunch. If you are individual travelers and do not like Chinese food, China Odyssey Tours suggests dinner on your own and our local tour guide can recommend some good western restaurants.

 

Recommended Local Food in Shanghai , Suzhou , Hangzhou

 

Shanghai Spicy Crawfish: Crawfish can be found in almost every restaurant during the summer months. In Shanghai, the spicy crawfish enjoys a strong reputation among locals and visitors alike. A plate of crawfish and a bottle of beer are definitely the best choice for a late snack on a summer night in Shanghai.

To enjoy the spicy crawfishes you can visit the Fumao Crawfish Restaurant, which is listed as the No.1 brand in Shanghai, and has many branch restaurants. The crawfish at these restaurants are handpicked. The small crawfish come from Tai Hu Lake (a large lake near Wuxi City, in south part of Jiangsu province). The taste is of this local dish is delicious and spicy.

Shanghai Local Dishes: Shanghai local cuisine is derived from traditional Shanghai home cooking.  The ingredients and cooking methods are simple and economical, featuring stewing and braising cooking techniques.  Shanghai local dishes often use sugar in their seasoning and are partial to sauce.  Some popular favorites are: fried minced pork balls, chicken bone simmered in a brown sauce, spiced (five flavor) chicken leg, braised pork in Dongpo style, fried shrimps, sautéed alfalfa, braised bamboo shoots with oil, and boiled pork slices.
If you would like to taste these tasty Shanghai local dishes, they can be found in many places such as: the Maylinge Restaurant, the Zun Pin Shao Cai Gong Fang Restaurant (near Jing An Temple), and the Paul Restaurant. 

Suzhou Dried Been Curd: Suzhou dried bean curd with soy sauce is a famous product of Suzhou City.  It can be served as snack and as dish for simple meals or banquets.  Invented in mid-1940's it tastes fresh, sweet, and embodies flavors of both a gravy dish and candied fruit, featuring a dark reddish brown color.  In Suzhou, the most popular brand is Jijin, which is popular throughout China.

Suzhou Jujube Paste Cake: Jujube Paste Cake is one of Suzhou's most famous pastries. There are many different styles of Jujube Paste Cakes, such as pine nut jujube paste cake, Walnut jujube paste cake, and sweetened-bean-paste.  These cakes are round or square shaped and are crisp and fragrant.  In making these cakes, color, smell, shape and taste are given equal attention.

Hangzhou Lotus Root Powder: Xihu (West Lake) Lotus Root Powder is a famous specialty of Hangzhou.  In ancient times it was sent as tribute to the royal family.  It is made of high quality lotus root powder, jujube, dry longan, lotus seed and white sugar.   It is exported throughout Southeast Asia.

Hangzhou Dish: The Hangzhou-style dish—Dried Bamboo Shoots and Old Duck is well known throughout China.  It is the specialty of the Hangzhou Zhangshengji Restaurant.  The ingredients for this special dish are stewed for four hours.  This dish is delicious, crispy, but not greasy.  It is beautiful in appearance and delicious in taste.  Zhangshengji Restaurant's Dried Bamboo Shoots and Old Duck have received accolades from chefs and customers from around the world, and in 2000 was awarded with the title of 'New Hangzhou's Famous Cuisine', which won it overnight fame throughout China.

Transportation

All coach, cruise ship, rail, excursion boats and flights as specified within the tour itinerary are included. We have received wide recognition for our transfer service. With China Odyssey Tours on-time transfer service, you will not feel lonely in this strange world. China Odyssey Tours works hard to live up to the slogan's promise "You are not alone in China".

1) Coach - At China Odyssey Tours, we use a modern fleet of clean and comfortable air-conditioned coaches with experienced drivers. Free from the hassles of traffic, roadmaps, and parking, you will be finally free of distractions and free enough to enjoy the travel while a professional driver handles the wheel.

Seating Capacity

2) Flight - You can reserve your international flights according to your preferences. All the China domestic flights specified in the itinerary are arranged by us. Travel Consultants at China Odyssey Tours will arrange you the flights according to your schedule.

Airlines in China

There are quite a few airline companies in China, the ones we often use are: Air China (CA), China Eastern Airlines (MU), China Southern Airlines (CZ), Dragon air (KA), and Hainan Airlines (HU), who use the following airplanes: A300 / A310/ A319/ A320 /A321/ A340 & B737 / B747/ B757 /B767/ B777 / MD90/ MD82 /MD11 & BAE146, etc.

Airlines in China now sell e-tickets and all you need for check-in at the airport is to present your valid passport. When it is allowed, our local tour guide will go to the airline check-in counter and assist you until you get your boarding pass.

Luggage Regulations for domestic flights in China

For the check-in luggage, passengers holding an adult fare or half fare ticket are entitled to a free baggage allowance of 40kg (88 pounds) for first class, and 30kg (66pounds) for business class, while20kg (44 pounds) for economy class. No free baggage allowance is granted to infants. If your luggage is over the limitation, you will need to pay for the excess weight, and some of the airports in China are quite strict with this.

Tip for this: If you are traveling together in group more than 1 people, you can use your allowance together, for example, if you have 35kg, your friend have only 5kg, it will be fine as long as you two check in together. This method also applies to 3, 4, 5 or even more people within one group, as long as you are checking in at the same time over the airport counter.

For the carry-on luggage, total weight of carry-on baggage for each passenger may not exceed 5kg (11 pounds). First class passengers may carry up to 2 pieces. All other passengers may carry on only one piece. The size may not exceed 20x40x55cm. Carry- on baggage in excess of the limit is subject to an excess baggage fee and must be carried as checked baggage.