China Highlights

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China Adventure Tour

China Theme

Incentive Tour

Arrive in Beijing, the capital of China. Be transferred to your comfortable hotel on arrival. (D)

Begin the day’s activity with a visit to Tian’anmen Square, the largest urban square in the world. It is situated in the heart of Beijing. Then, move on to visit the Imperial Palace, also known as the “Forbidden City”, the biggest palace complex in the world. Twenty-four emperors from the Ming and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties lived and ruled China from there. In the afternoon, visit Temple of Heaven where the emperors of Ming and Qing Dynasties worshipped heaven and prayed for good harvest. A Peking Duck Dinner concludes your first full day activities in China. (B-L-D)

Today’s highlight is your visit to the Great Wall, one of the “Seven Wonders of the World” and a symbol of Chinese civilization. Just like a gigantic dragon, the Great Wall winds up and down across mountains from east to west. A short drive away is the statue-lined Shenlu (Spirit Road) leading to the Ming Tombs, here you can see some marvelous stone sculptures. The Ming Tombs area is for deceased emperors of the Ming Dynasty. (B-L-D)

Visit the enchanting Summer Palace, the largest and best-preserved imperial garden in China. As a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design, it integrates the natural landscape of hills and open water with manmade features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges into a harmonious and aesthetically exceptional whole. Then, you will take a ride in rickshaw through some old “Hutongs”, lanes or alleys formed by lines of Siheyuan (a compound with houses around a courtyard). Leave Beijing to Luoyang by train. (B-L-D)

Be transferred to the hotel for breakfast on arrival. Whole day’s excursion is to visit the Shaolin Temple, which is located at the foot of Song Shan Mountain --- the central of the five sacred mountains in China. The temple was founded in A.D. 527 by a monk, Bodhidharma. He developed a form of physical movement which is based on the natural motions of animals, hence the origin of Shao Lin Kung Fu. Then, you will visit Longmen Grottoes, built in the year of 494, during the Northern Wei Dynasty, the Long Men Grottoes is one of China's three leading treasure house of grotto art, with 2,100 grottoes. The largest Buddhist sculpture stands 17.14 meters tall. (B-L-D)

Ride a train to Xi’an, with a history of 3100 years. It is just like living history book. Be picked up upon arrival. You will have some free time in the afternoon. Moving around this old city is like going through thousands of years back in time. As regards the number of dynasties and span of time, Xi’an served as an ancient capital beyond compare. (B)

Full day’s excursion is to the unparalleled highlight Terracotta Warriors and Horses at the Tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor in China. Added highlight is a visit to Banpo Village - the remains of a Neolithic village dating back to 6,000 years. If time permits, visit a factory where copies of Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses are made. With the introduction of the workman there, you may try to use clay and mould to make the copies of Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses yourself. (B-L-D)

Begin today’s sightseeing with a visit to Big Wild Goose Pagoda which was built in 652 A.D. It contains a large volume of Buddhist scriptures which were obtained from India by the eminent monk of Xuanzang. Move on to visit Forest of Steles Museum where precious stone carvings and sculptures are kept. Then, pay a visit to the Great Mosque built primarily in the Ming Dynasty when Chinese architectural elements were synthesized into mosque architecture, and it is the largest and best-preserved one of the early mosques of China. Take an overnight train to Chengdu, always praised as the Tian Fu Zhi Guo, means “Storehouse of the Heaven”. (B-L-D)

Arrive in Chengdu at around 14:00. Be picked up and driven about 2 hours to Leshan. Pay a visit to Leshan Giant Buddha, said to be the biggest Buddha statue in the world. The Giant Buddha statue, carved on the mountain, stands 71 m high, with its back against Jiuding Mountain and facing the confluence of the Minjiang, Dadu and Qingyi rivers. There are more than 90 stone carvings and Buddhist shrines on both sides of the Giant Buddha. (B-L-D)

After breakfast, head for Mt. E’mei, a lush and tall sacred mountain dotted with twenty active temples and monasteries linked by hundreds of thousands of stairs. You will go to Golden Summit of Mt. Emei by cable car, sightseeing the Golden summit and enjoy the cloud sea. Its main peak, the Golden Summit, is 3099 meters (about 3389 yards) above the sea level, seemingly reaching the sky. Standing on the top of it, you can enjoy the snowy mountains in the west and the vast plain in the east. Take an overnight train to Panzhihua. (B-L-D)

Arrive in Panzhihua in early morning. After breakfast, take a bus driving to Lijiang, a city full of poetic and ancient atmosphere with its buildings and streets. (B-L-D)

Visit theSuhe Tea and Horse Old Town, Baisha Murals in Baisha Naxi village and Black Dragon Pool to have a look at the renowned Moon Embracing Pavilion. You will have some time for sightseeing of the Old Town of Lijiang, also known as Dayan Town with Sifang Street at the core, the entire city spreads out in all directions, and is crisscrossed by a labyrinth of flagged streets and alleyways. (B-L-D)

After breakfast, you will drive 47km to Stone Drum Village (47km) reaching the first Bend of Yangtze River, then, drive 50km to Tiger Leaping Gorge. Tiger Leaping Gorge, one of the world’s greatest four gorges, is located in Hutiaoxia Town in Zhongdian County and is honored as one of the deepest and most marvelous gorges on the globe. Then, continue driving105km to Zhongdian (Capital city of Deqen Tibetan Auto. Prefecture), where is close to Tibet and known as Shangri-La (a hidden paradise in James Hilton’s 1993 novel --- The Lost Horizon). (B-L-D)

Pay a visit to Songzanlin Lamasery, or “Second Potala” as it is affectionately known, a spiritual place that invites you to discover the mystery and traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. Visit Napahai Lake Nature Reserve, the habitat for the black neck cranes. Today, you will also have chance to visit Tibetan family and try home-made Yak Butter tea and Tibetan Cheese. (B-L-D)

Full day drive on the tour bus to Dali. Dali is a historically and culturally famous city of China, which is renowned for her historical interests. Dali City stands against Cangshan Mountain in the west and adjoins Erhai Lake in the east, and is embraced by undulating hills around. On arrival in Dali, visit Zhoucheng Village. (B-L-D)

In the morning, take a cruise on Erhai Lake. Just as its name implies, the lake is similar in form to that of a human ear. Enjoy the tea ceremony of Bai People (Three-Course-Tea) in Xizhou Old Town. You will also have some time to explore the Old Stone Town of Dali with its colorful markets. Ride an overnight train to Kunming, known as “The City of Eternal Spring”. (B-L-D)

Day 17: Kunming-Stone Forest-Kunming

Arrive in Kunming in the morning. Be picked up from railway station and driven to the Stone Forest (90 km) boasted as the World’s Karst Wonder, and pay a visit to Seven Star Yi people’s village on the way. This area offers visitors a unique landscape of stark limestone pillars twisted and sculpted by wind and water erosion some 270 million year ago. From a distance, these stone pillars look indeed like a dense forest; hence the name of Stone Forest. It covers an area of 350 square kilometers, yet only about 11.92 square kilometers have been developed as scenic landscape open to the public. Come back to Kunming in the late afternoon. (B-L-D)

You will visit to the Western Hill, from the top of which you get through the Dragon Gate which consists of some grottos cut out of the vertical cliff face of the Western Hill, from where you can enjoy a bird's eye view of Kunming city and the big lake at the foot of the hill. Then, visit the Golden Temple which is 330 years old and is the largest bronze-made temple in China. Then, visit Yunnan Provincial Museum. Fly to Guilin, one of China's top attractive destinations. (B-L-D)

After breakfast, visit the Reed Flute Cave is Guilin’s largest and most impressive cave and contains some of the most extraordinary underground scenery in all of China. Today’s highlight is cruising down the Li River, which stretches 83 kilometers from Guilin to Yangshuo. The cruise will give you a chance to savor the lovely view of the area’s extraordinary limestone peaks. The cruise ends in Yangshuo. Visit local markets. Yangshuo is a charming small town with its main street lined with small hotels, countless souvenir shops and restaurants. (B-L-D)

Visit some local villages in Yangshuo suburb. Then, drive back to Guilin. Pay a visit Fubo Hill for a panoramic view of Guilin and Seven Star Park, named after the tale that the seven peaks of Mountain Qixing (Seven Star) were the seven stars in the north sky falling down to the earth. Then, take a late afternoon flight to Shanghai, the bustling commercial heart of China, known as “Paris of the East”. (B-L-D)

Visit the Bund, at the west shore of the Huangpu River, the Oriental Pearl TV Tower and the Jin Mao Tower can be seen on the opposite side. The splendid row of early 20th century Europe buildings remains the quintessential Shanghai sight. Visit fascinating Yuyuan Garden, a well-restored Suzhou-style garden, and take a walk through the Old Town filled with antique markets and specialty stores. A fabulous Acrobatic Show concludes your first day in Shanghai. (B-L-D)

This morning you will visit marvelous Shanghai Museum, a leading attraction of the city since it opened in 1994, containing some priceless collections of paintings, porcelains and bronzes. Move on to check out the St. Ignatius Cathedral (Xujiahui Cathedral) built in 1846. Wander around the former French Concession represented by the leafy Fuxing Park and the architecture in the area. Then pay a visit to the Jade Buddha Temple where two rare jade statues of Sakyamuni Buddha are treasured. You will have some free time in the afternoon to explore the city. (B-L-D)

Be transferred to the airport and prepare for boarding on your homebound flight. (B)

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