13 days & 12 nights China Experience Tour - Taste of China

Activity Level: Easy - walking, light hiking 
Itinerary Type: Regular itinerary
Highlights: Taking this 13-day tour will give you a better understanding of just how vast China is, and how unique each of its cities is! You will learn about its history in Xian, experience China of today in Beijing, foresee its future in Shanghai, marvel at its most magnificent landscape along the Yangtze River and witness the bizarre and beautiful Karst topography in picturesque Guilin.

Shanghai:
Day 1: Arrival in Shanghai. 
Day 2: Shanghai city tour; acrobatic show at night.

Guilin: 
Day 3: Fly to Guilin; Guilin City Tour. 
Day 4: Li River cruise to Yangshuo; drive back to Guilin.

Yangtze Cruise: 
Day 5: Fly to Chongqing; board the American Victoria and start your Yangtze River cruise. 
Day 6:Shore excursion to Fengdu Ghost City. 
Day 7: Explore the Lesser Three Gorges by small vessels. 
Day 8: Morning visit to the Three Gorges Dam; disembark in Yichang and fly to Xian.

Xian: 
Day 9: Visit the Terracotta Army; Xian city tour; Dumpling Dinner with Tang Dynasty Show. 
Day 10: Xian ancient culture tour; fly to Beijing.

Beijing: 
Day 11: Beijing city tour to the Forbidden City & Temple of Heaven; evening show - Peking Opera. 
Day 12:Drive to the outskirt of Beijing and visit the Great Wall & the Sacred Road; Peking Duck Dinner. 
Day 13: Visit the Summer Palace; final departure.

Day 1 Arrive / Shanghai 
Transfer via: International Flight arranged by you 
Upon your arrival in 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.

Day 2 Shanghai 
On this day you will travel around the cosmopolitan city of Shanghai. Your travel will include: the Shanghai Museum, famous for one of the largest and best collections of ancient Chinese art, the Bund, the financial center of Shanghai known as a"museum of buildings", Nanjing Road, one of China's premier shopping districts, Yu Garden an ancient classical garden, and Yuyuan Market, a shopper's paradise filled with local arts and crafts. In the evening you will enjoy a wonderful Acrobatic Show, one of China's oldest performing arts, acrobatics has absorbed features of opera dance and martial art, making it a truly unique art form.

Day 3 Shanghai / Guilin 
Transfer via: Internal Flight arranged by us 
On this day you will be free until your private guide escorts you to the airport for your flight to Guilin. Upon arriving in Guilin, the more picturesque city in China, your private guide will meet you at the airport and escort you to your hotel. You will then visit the city's symbol, Elephant Trunk Hill, Fubo Hill, where you can see ancient Buddhist carvings and get a panoramic view of the city, and Reed Flute Cave, known as a "Natural Palace of Art" for its bizarre stalagmites, and stalactites.

Day 4 Yangshuo 
After breakfast, you will be driven to Zhujiang Pier to begin your unforgetful boat cruise down the picturesque Li River. The cruise will take you to the ancient village of Yangshuo. After roaming Yangshuo's famous West Street, an ancient road filled with local arts and crafts, you will be driven back to Guilin City.

Day 5 Guilin / Chongqing / Yangtze River 
Transfer via: Internal Flight arranged by us 
Today your personal guide will escort you to the airport for your flight to Chongqing, where you will board your ship for your cruise down the unforgetful Yangtze River.
Accommodations: On the ship

Day 6 Yangtze Cruise 
Shore excursion to Fengdu Ghost City, a fantastic temple, where the devil is punished, and the good are rewarded, or Shibaozhai, an ancient 12-storey wood tower built into the cliff. The cruise line will choose which spot will be the excursion destination.
Accommodations: On the ship

Day 7 Yangtze Cruise 
Today you will have a shore excursion to the Lesser Three Gorges, where three smaller gorges will give visitors a sense of awe as the natural scenic wonders unfold in front of you.
Accommodations: On the ship

Day 8 Yangtze Cruise / Yichang / Xian
Transfer via: Internal Flight on our arrangement 
This morning, you will have a shore excursion to the Three Gorges Dam, the largest hydroelectric dam in the world. After lunch, you will disembark in Yichang, where you will be escorted to the airport for your flight to Xian. Upon arriving in Xian your personal guide will meet you and escort you to your hotel. You will be free the rest of the day to relax, or explore this ancient city.

Day 9 Xi'an 
On this day, you will visit the incredible Terracotta Warriors that have been guarding China's first emperor for more than 2,000 years. After lunch, you will take a trip to visit Xian's Ancient City Walls, the best preserved ancient city walls in the world, and the Bell Tower. Complete the day with a savory dumpling dinner and the Tang Dynasty show both located at Shaanxi Grand Opera Theatre.

Day 10 Xi'an / Beijing 
Transfer via: Internal Flight arranged by us 
After breakfast, you will tour the city of Xian, and visit the Shaanxi Provincial Museum, which houses one of the most magnificent collections of ancient Chinese artifacts in China, and the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, a temple that houses sutras brought back from India. In the afternoon, your private guide will escort you to the airport for your flight to Beijing. Upon arriving at Beijing airport, your personal guide will meet you and escort you to your hotel. The rest of the day is yours to relax or explore the city on your own.

Day 11 Beijing 
Today you will first visit the historic Tiananmen Square, the largest city square in the world, followed by the magnificent Forbidden City, which is the largest palace structure in the world and the place where China's emperors ruled for over 600 years. In the afternoon, you will marvel at Beijing's splendid Temple of Heaven, where China's emperors annually went to pray for good harvests. In the evening you will enjoy Beijing's famous Peking Opera at the Liyuan Theatre, the biggest and most famous traditional Peking Opera theatre in China. Peking opera is not just a singing drama but is an ancient ingenious and colorful combination of elements from many sources: traditional music, poetry, singing, recitation, dancing, acrobatics, and traditional martial arts.

Day 12 Beijing 
Today you will have a visit to the majestic Great Wall (Badaling section) and Sacred Road, which is a path lined with stone statues of animals, mystical beasts and officials who will serve the emperor in the afterlife. On your way back from the Great Wall, you will drive around the main Olympic venues for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the National Stadium (Bird's Nest) where the Opening and Closing Ceremonies were held, and the National Aquatics Center nicknamed "the Water Cube" for its unique design. Feel free to take some beautiful pictures of these stadiums. Enjoy Beijing's most famous dish, Peking Roast Duck, for dinner.

Day 13 Beijing / Departure
After breakfast, you will visit the exquisite Summer Palace, the largest classic Chinese garden in the world. In the afternoon you will be escorted to the airport for our flight to your next destination.