15 Days Scenic China and Rice Terraces Tour

Summary

Day 1 Shanghai Arrival
Day 2 Shanghai: Shanghai Museum, Yuyuan Garden&Bazaar, The Bund, Nanjing Road, Huangpu River Night Cruise, The Bund
Day 3 Shanghai-Huangshan: Train to Huangshan, Tunxi Old Street
Day 4 Huangshan: Hongcun Ancient Village, Huangshan Scenic Area
Day 5 Huangshan-Hangzhou: Enjoy Huangshan Sunrise, Train to Hangzhou
Day 6 Hangzhou: West lake cruise, Flower Harbor Park, Lingyin Temple, Meijiawu Tea Plantation, Qinghefang Old Street, Impression west lake show
Day 7 Hangzhou-Guilin: Reed Flute Cave, Elephant Trunk Hill
Day 8 Guilin-Longsheng-Guilin: Guilin to Longsheng by private vehicle, Longji Rice Terrace, Minority Village
Day 9 Guilin-Yangshuo:  Li River Cruise, West Street, Impression of Liusanjie
Day 10 Yangshuo-Xian: Big Wild Goose Pagoda, Xian Ancient City Wall
Day 11 Xian: Terracotta Warriors, Bell Tower, Muslim Quarter, Dumpling Banquet
Day 12 Xian-Beijing: Train to Beijing, Nanluoguxiang Hutong
Day 13 Beijing: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace
Day 14 Beijing: Mutianyu Great Wall, Ming Tombs
Day 15 Beijing Departure 

Day 1 Shanghai Arrival

Upon your arrival in Shanghai, our local Shanghai tour guide will greet you at the exit of Shanghai International Airport (based on your requirement), you will find a welcome signage "China Private Tour" and escorted you to your hotel directly, our guide will help you to check-in. 

The rest of the day is free on your own to recover the jetlage.

Day 2 Shanghai

After breakfast, drive you to visit Shanghai Museum. It houses a comprehensive collection that perfectly showcases the Middle Kingdom’s millennia old history. Spread over five floors, covers most of the major categories of Chinese art with a collection of 12, 300 pieces in 21 categories of valuable cultural relics.

Next you will visit Yuyuan Garden, it not only regarded as best private garden in Shanghai but also the best in southeast China.The garden enjoyed a history over 400 years since its first establishment by Pan Yunduan who had intended to bring happiness and pleasure to his parents and relatives.

Then, walking to nearby to Yuyuan Bazaar, there are many small streets and lanes where vendors sell their products and food stuffs to the tourists and local people.It is an ideal place for you to find some specialists.

Lunch is arranged at Nanxiang Dumpling House to try the most famous Shanghai Xiaolongbao(soup dumpling). A favorite of dim sum eaters around the globe, are considered to be a Shanghai specialty, rumored to have originated here in the 19th century. Legend has it that this world-renowned snack started out as an experiment by a cake shop owner in Nanxiang who decided to try out a riff on his popular steamed bread. 

After lunch, drive you to the Bund area. The Bund is a waterfront area in central Shanghai.When you come here, you can embrace the best cityscape, feast on the rich architectural fashions and know why Shanghai is glorified as "Paris of the East". There are a number of attractions in the area, such as Shanghai World Financial Center, the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, Century Park, Century Boulevard, Jinmao Tower etc. It is one of the most famous tourist destinations in Shanghai.

Continue your tour to Nanjing Road, another popular landmark of Shanghai. It is a shopping paradise as well as a ideal place tootake a wonderful walk to explore the modern atmosphere of the city.

After dinner, you will take the Night cruise along the Huangpu River. When traveling in Shanghai, you should not miss a cruise tour on the Huangpu River. It is the best way to admire Shanghai's classic skyline views of colonial architecture and modern skyscrapers along the river.

After the cruise, you will be taken back yo your hotel in Shanghai.

Day 3 Shanghai-Huangshan

Pick up from your hotel and transfer to Shanghai train station to catch your train to Huangshan. Upon on your arrival, our Huangshan local guide will meet you at the exit of the station then take you to have a simple lunch.

After lunch, you will visit the Tunxi Ancient Street, which  was built in Ming and Qing Dynasties. The colorful bazaars of local features are displayed in front of your eyes. You will find antique shops, medicine shops, tea houses, restaurants and galleries in the street.

After dinner, drive to your hotel for checking in.

Day 4 Huangshan

In the morning, check out from your hotel and drive you to visit Hongcun Ancient Village, the ancient village in Chinese paintings, is best example of typical Anhui-style architecture. Hongcun is the China you think of when you think of ancient China. Many of the buildings in Hongcun can date back to the Song Dynasty and is regarded as the best example of typical Anhui-style architecture. Called “the ancient village in Chinese paintings”, Hongcun is so quiet, peaceful and beautiful which was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000, together with Xidi.

Lunch will be arranged at a good restaurant in Hongcun Village.

In the afternoon, drive about 1 hour to foothill of Mt.Huangshan, where you take Yungu cable car to the top of Mt.Huangshan. Along the uphill way, you will see the Beginning-to-Believe Peak,  The Lion Peak, Brush Pen Peak, A Monkey Gaping at the sea and other attractions, enjoy the fantastic sunset on Cloud Dispelling Pavilion. Upon reaching the top, you are greeted with a breathtaking view of Huangshan Mountain. This is when you truly discover why it is known as the "the loveliest mountain of China."

After the tour, you will taken to your hotel on the Mt.Huangshan(Dinner will be arranged at your hotel).

Day 5 Huangshan-Hangzhou

If weather permits, get up early (around 5am- 6am) to enjoy the magnificent sunrise view. The best place for watching sunrise is from Refreshing Terrance, it is also closest spot from your hotel. In good-weather days, you can see clearly the golden light of the sun piercing the mists, and rocky peaks rising above the frothy, ever-changing sea of white clouds. After the sunrise, get back to your hotel for breakfast.

After breakfast, continue on your wonderful sightseeing on the Yellow Mountain to see the famous Dawn Pavilion, Stone Monkey Watching the Sea on the Lion Peak (1690m). Then walk along the wood path to the cable station to take a cable car to exit the mountain. Your driver is ready at the mountain foot to transfer you back to Huangshan City for lunch.

After lunch, you will be transferred to Huangshan train station for the afternoon train to Hangzhou. Upon your arrival in Hangzhou, our guide will pick you up from station and take you to have dinner before hotel check-in.

Day 6 Hangzhou

In the morning,our Hangzhou guide will meet you at your hotel lobby. Firstly, taking a boat sailing on the picturesque West Lake. This is an enjoyable and relaxing way to appreciate the beautiful scenery with its islands, causeways, temples, pagodas and ornamental planting.It is not surprised that you’ll become a part of this traditional Chinese painting. It is the symbol of Hangzhou which lies on its banks and is a place of tranquility.

Next, walk around Huagang Park, which is one of top ten views. Fish watching tour at the flower pond, this area now has been made into a 22 hectare (54 acre) park with many varieties of trees and flowers, featuring a peony garden which blooms in April and a goldfish pond which is the famous site for fish watching

Afterwards, you will pay a visit for the biggest and oldest Buddhist Temple in Southern Part of China-Lingyin Temple. Lingyin temple & Fei Lai feng, one of the top ten most famous ancient Buddhist monasteries in China, and contains numerous pagodas and Buddhist grottoes. It is really a tourist attraction that can offer you appealing places of historic interest, cultural relics as well as agreeable natural scenery with woods, flowers, springs, etc.

Your lunch is arranged at a Local Tea Farmer's Tea House. We can organize tea farmers teach you how to prepare and cook local delicacies if you are interested in it. You can learn how to cook Beger's Chicken, Westlake carp fish in vinegar source (Do not be scared, no bones!!! Aha), Lotus root, bamboo shoot...and many other tasty vegetables. If you don’t want to cook, just enjoy the local delicacies.

In the afternoon, drive you to enjoy the view of Tea Plantation and learn the local Tea Culture. Longjing Green Tea plantation & village (Meijiawu), which is the origin place for the most famous green tea - Longjing in china with beautiful natural scenery (There are many tea houses in the village, and you will have a chance to taste/try the local tea)

The last place for is Qinghefang Old Street. It is a good place to experience the life of Old Hangzhou, because it is the epitome of historic Hangzhou. A great place for shopping, eating, and sightseeing. You can see the well-preserved old buildings, explore the interesting boutique stores, and choose your favourite souvenirs

After dinner, go for enjoy a performance-Impression west lake show. It is one of most popular night show in China, it takes around 50 minutes to show you some Hangzhou local culture and folktale...After the show, you will be taken back to your hotel.

Day 7 Hangzhou-Guilin

Our Hangzhou driver will pick you up from your hotel at pointed time, transfer to Hangzhou International Airport for your flight to Guilin. It takes aroud 2.5 hours. Upon on your arrival, our Guilin local guide will meet you at the exit of airport then you will be taken to have a simple lunch.

After lunch, start your Guilin tour. The first stop is Reed Flute Cave. It is a natural limestone cave in Guilin, Guangxi Province of China and has been one of the most interesting attractions for over 1200 years in Guilin. It is also known as "the Palace of Natural Arts". The place is called Reed Flute Cave because of the abundance of reed plants present outside the cave. The reeds are used by the locals to make flutes.

    

Then, drive you to Elephant Trunk Hill(Xiangbishan), it is regarded as the symbol of Guilin. The name was chosen because the hill looks like a giant elephant dipping its trunk into the river. The green water of Li River in front of it and the clear spring at the foot make Elephant Trunk Hill one of the most famous hills in Guilin City. The Elephant Hill has several features: - Water Moon Cave (Shuiyue dong), Elephant's Eye Stone, and Pagoda for Puxian and Yunfeng Temple.

After dinner, you will be taken back to your hotel in Guilin.

Day 8 Guilin-Longsheng-Guilin

Pick up from your hotel in the morning, drive you to visit Longji Rice Terrace. It takes around 2 hours from Guilin downtown. With trekking for a while, we could see the stunning Longji Terraces. More than 700 years, the brave and smart local residents developed and built the paddies into hillsides surrounding their villages. With such a long history, the area is still being used for growing premium quality rice by Yao and Zhuang villagers. The rice terraces are built into the hillsides and look like great steps cut into the slopes as they wind around the mountainsides, which becomes a great natural view for tourists from all over the world.

Today, you will have a authentic lunch in the minority village to try some local food and know the dinning culture of minority enthnic group.

After lunch, free on your own to explore the minority villages and also walk into the rice terraces to take some good pictures. You will have chance to see locals working in the fields, children playing in the village as well as women in national costume weaving or doing needle works under the roof, ect.

Dirve you back to Guilin City at a suitable time. After dinner, you will be taken back to your hotel in Guilin.

Day 9 Guilin-Yangshuo

In the morning, our guide and driver will pick you up from the hotel, and then escort you to the Pier, where you will start the Guilin Li River Cruise to Yangshuo. The boarding time is scheduled at 9:30am, and the whole journey takes about 4 hours. With our guide's company and interpretation, you could immerse yourself in the stunning karst landscape made up of rolling hills, verdant forests, odd caves and tranquil villages along the Li River. 

After disembarkation, we will drive you to see the picturesque countryside of Yangshuo. You will visit West Street, West Street is the oldest street in Yangshuo with a history of more than 1,400 years. Situated at the center of Yangshuo County, the street has become, since the 1980's, a window of eastern and western culture and the biggest 'foreign language center' in China.

After dinner, you will enjoy a performance-"Impression of Liusanjie". It is an outdoor performance set in real mountains and rivers in Yangshuo County. The stage is a 2km (1.25 miles) stretch along Li River with 12 mountain peaks and the clear sky as the background. The theater therefore was named "Shanshui", meaning mountains and water in Chinese.

After the show, you will be taken back to your hotel in Yangshuo.

Day 10 Yangshuo-Xian

In the morning, pick up from your hotel and transfer to Guilin airport for your flight to Xian. Upon on your arrival, our Xian local guide will meet you at the exit of airport then drive to your hotel and check in.

In the afternoon, you will pay a visit for Big Wild Goose Pagoda. The Big Wild Goose Pagoda attracts numerous visitors for its fame in the Buddhist religion and its simple but appealing style of construction. It is rated as a National Key Cultural Relic Preserve. One of the pagoda's many functions was to hold sutras and figurines of the Buddha that were brought to China from India by the Buddhist translator and traveler Xuanzang.

Continue your tour to Xi'an Ancient Wall, as one of the UNESCO's World Heritage Site, Xian Ancient City Wall was built in the 14th century, under the regime of Emperor Zhuyuanzhang in Ming dynasty, had the function of protecting the cities or towns as military defense systems in ancient China. Xi'an Ancient City Wall is one of the oldest, largest and best preserved Chinese city walls.

After dinner, you will be taken back to your hotel in Xian.

Day 11 Xian

In the morning, our guide will meet you at the pointed time. Today, you will visit the highlights of Xian city.

Firstly, drive you to Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses Museum, it known as "the eighth Wonders of the world", the museum shows a surprisingly high level in sculpture which is listed as the most significant discovery of the 20th century. Up to now, there has discovered a total of 179 accompanying burial pits of different connotations and various shapes in Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum area. The discovery of these pits has provided all important significance in the research of the burial system of the Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum, the characteristics structures and characteristics of the burial pits. However, what makes people feel amazing is that of all the burial pits, none has been found survived from being burnt down. 

Your lunch is arranged at local restaurant with tasting local cuisine. Such as Liangpi,it is made from rice, this cold noodle dish is a summer favourite through Shaanxi province as well as other places around China.

After lunch, you will Bell Tower, which is the largest bell tower in structure and shape and the best-preserved one in China. The Bell towers located in the center of the ancient city of Xian, are two of its most famous symbols.

Contunie to visit the Muslim Quarter. It is a fascinating area where you can find exotic food, interesting people (some of the residents are still look like their Arabian cousins) and great souvenir stalls. You can taste many authentic Islamic snacks, like beef or mutton Rou Jia Mo (Chinese Hamburger), northwestern style noodles, Yangrou Paomo and many other attractive snacks that will not make you disappointed. The restaurants and eateries here are serving their food in budget prices. 

Today,you will have a Xian Dumpling Dinner, which is famous in Xian. Our guide will lead you to Shaanxi Grand Opera House and help you find your seat for the most famous Xian Dumpling Dinner within the Opera House. In Xian, a must for visitors to try is the delicious dumplings. While tasting those dumplings, customers will be astonished by the cooks' smart cooking methods include steaming, boiling, pan-frying, deep frying, and roasting. It seems that all of the indigenous meat and vegetables can be used for the dumplings' stuffing, such as pork, mutton, beef as well as celery, radish, cabbages, etc. Nowadays, by the cooks' continuously improving, the dumpling has been one of the local best foods to entertain visitors from home and abroad..

After the tour, you will be taken back to your hotel.

Day 12 Xian-Beijing

Transfer to Xian train station at the pointed time by our driver for high-speed train to Beijing. When you arrive in Beijing, our local guide will wait for you at the exit of train station with a sign "China Private Tour". 

You will go for tour directly, drive you to Beijing Nanluoguxiang Hutong Area. Recently the popularity of Nanluoguxiang hutong area has increased noticeably with tourist numbers on the rise following the complete refurbishment of the district in time for the 2008 Olympic Games. Many tourists enjoy taking ride through this 800-year-old hutong that was once home to celebrities, officials, artists and well-off families. There are well over 20 restaurants and 40 shops scattered along Nanluoguxiang.

After dinner, you will be taken back to your hotel in Beijing.

Day 13 Beijing

In the morning, our guide will meet you at your hotel lobby at appointed time. The first place for Beijing is Tiananmen Square, Tiananmen Square is the geographical center of Beijing City. It is the largest city square in the world, occupying an area of 440,000 square meters (about 109 acres), and able to accommodate 1,000,000 people at one time.

After sightseeing, walk into the Tiananmen you will meet the one of the world’s 5 most important palaces – Forbidden City. The Forbidden City, also named the Palace Museum, shares the honor of being one of five world-famous palaces with the Palace of Versailles in France, Buckingham Palace in England, the White House in the U.S. and the Kremlin in Russia.

Have lunch at the local famous Peking Roast Duck restaurant, taste the most famous duck in Beijing and try some local cuisine in Beijing.Roast duck — or Peking Duck, as it's often known — has been served in Beijing for around 600 years, according to Liu. First served by palace chefs during the Ming dynasty, it has royal pedigree.

In the afternoon, drive about 6km to next imperial site - Temple of Heaven. The temple was constructed in 1420 during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), and was enlarged during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It is the grandest cult architecture complex in the world and a masterpiece of the Chinese people created in ancient times. It covers 2,700,000 square meters (667 acres). Emperors of the two dynasties used to worship the heaven and pray for rich harvests, as the feudal emperors thought they were the son of the heaven. 

At last, you will head to visit Summer Palace, it is a vast ensemble of lakes, gardens and palaces in Beijing, China. It serves as a popular tourist destination and recreational park. Mainly dominated by Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake, it covers an expanse of 2.9 square kilometres (1.1 sq mi), three-quarters of which is water.  After 1949, the Summer Palace briefly housed the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China. Many of Mao Zedong's friends and key figures in the Communist Party, such as Liu Yazi and Jiang Qing, also lived there. Since 1953, many major restoration and renovation works have been done on the Summer Palace, which is now open to the public as a tourist attraction and park.

After dinner, you will be taken back to your hotel.

Day 14 Beijing

In the morning, pick up from your hotel and drive to Mutianyu Great Wall, it about 70KM far way from downtown. There is an old saying "If you haven't climbed the Great Wall, you haven't seen China." Many of your friends who visited China before might have told you this. It is indeed an experience of life. As one of the best-preserved parts of the Great Wall, Mutianyu section of Great Wall used to serve as the northern barrier defending the capital and the imperial tombs. It's known for its beautiful surroundings - dense woods and rich pastures changing colors with the seasons of a year. 

Lunch is offered near the Great Wall in a local Chinese restaurant.

In the afternoon, pay a visit for Ming Tombs, lies in Changping County, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) northwest from the urban area of Beijing. It is actually a tomb cluster of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), including thirteen emperor's mausoleums, seven tombs for concubines and one grave for eunuchs.  

After dinner, you will be taken back to your hotel.

Day 15 Beijing Departure

Free on your own in the morning, then you will be transferred to the airport and you can fly back home. Have a pleasant trip!

Price Per Person in US Dollars

Price Includes 1. All transfer and city transportation 2. Air-conditioned car or van 3. Hotels specified in the itinerary, all based     on two persons sharingone standard room; 4. Meals specified in the itinerary: Western     breakfast in hotels Chinese lunch and     dinner in local restaurants 5. Sightseeing: All arrangements mentioned     in the itinerary will be covered All first     admission/entrance fees in the itinerary 6. Tour guide: Conducted by a professional     tour guide

Price Excludes 1. International air-tickets 2. Airport departure tax. 3. International or domestic air tickets which     are not listed in the itinerary. 4. Insurance coverage of personal loss, illness     or damages incurred during your trip 5. Tips to the tour guide and driver 6. Meals not specified in the itinerary. 7. Personal expenses: phone bills, laundry,     optional tours, postage, excess baggage     charge, entertainment fees out of the     itinerary. 8. Single Room Supplement.