China - Program 7

Arrive / Beijing
Transfer via: International flight on your own arrangement
Upon your arrival at Beijing airport, our local guide will meet you and escort you to your hotel. The rest of the day is free at your own leisure. Enjoy a welcome dinner tonight.

Beijing
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.
– The Tian’anmen (Gate of Heavenly Peace) Square: the largest city square in the world and the spiritual heart of China, where the national flag is raised exactly at sunrise everyday.
– The 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.
– The 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.

Today you will have a visit to the majestic Great Wall
(Badaling section)and Sacred road. On your way back from the Great Wall, you will drive around the under-constructing architecture of the main Olympic venues, the National Stadium (Bird’s Nest) where the Opening and Closing Ceremonies will be hold, and the National Aquatics with the nickname of “the Water Cube” for its unique design. Feel free to take some beautiful picture of those stadiums before they are at service for 2008 Olympic Game.
The 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 stretching about 6,700km. The Great Wall at Badaling: the most outstanding representation of China’s Great Wall, located 70km northwest of Beijing, at an elevation of 1000m, this section was first built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD) and heavily restored in the 1950s and 1980s. Standing at the strategic highest point from northwest of Beijing and giving access to every direction, Badaling section is the important pass for protecting Beijing City. Badaling section is composed of Guan City and its affiliated Wall, with city platforms, wall platforms and watchtowers along the Wall. The Wall is 8.5 meters high, 6.5 meters wide at the bottom and 5.7 meters wide on the top, which makes it possible for 5 horses or 10 people march abreast on the top. And the surrounding scenery is magnificent and impressive. The Sacred Road: the path lined with stone statues of animals, mystical beasts and officials who serve the emperor in his afterlife, through which the sitting emperors would go to perform memorial rituals for the ancestors once a year.

Beijing / Xian
Transfer via: Train from Beijing to Xian on our arrangement.
After breakfast,you will visit the exquisite Summer Palace. And then take the afternoon train to Xian. The Summer Palace: Located on the northwestern outskirts of the city, it was an imperial summer resort of the Qing Dynasty. With its perfect layout, magnificent buildings and enchanting landscape, it is the most splendid classical garden in China.
Accommodations: on the train.

Xian
Upon your arrival, our local guide will meet you and escort you to your hotel. After rest for a little while, you will have city tour to the Shaanxi Provincial Museum and the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. The Shaanxi Provincial Museum: opened in 1991, the largest comprehensive museum in the province, the museum exhibits over 3,000 unearthed historical relics, a small fraction of their collection, most of the exhibited items are rare treasures, showing you the splendid Chinese culture Big Wild Goose Pagoda: regarded by many as a symbol of the city, the pagoda was built in 652 A.D in Tang Dynasty to house the sutras brought back from India by the famous monk Xuan-zang.

Xian / Guilin
Transfer via: Flight from Xian to Guilin on our arrangement
Today, you will first visit the incredible life-size Terracotta Warriors and Horses and then the Ancient City Walls before your onward flight to the next destination–Guilin. Upon your arrival at Guilin, the most scenic city in China, our local guide will meet you and escort you to your hotel. The rest of the day is free at your own leisure. Terracotta Warriors and Horses: discovered in 1974 by local farmers digging a well, one of the most significant archeological finds of the 20th century. These 6,000 life-size painted terracotta warriors and horses –individually sculpted from real-life models and arranged in battle formation have been protecting the mausoleum of the first emperor in Chinese history—Emperor QinShihuang since 2,200 years ago.
The Ancient City Walls: built during the 14th century on Tang dynasty foundations, date to the Ming dynasty; the walls are the largest and best-preserved ancient fortress in the world. There is a gate in each of the four sides, the gate towers built over each gate look lofty and magnificent and form a tight defense engineering system.

Guilin
After breakfast, drive to Zhujiang Pier (about 40-minute drive) to start the boat cruise along the tranquil Li River which is the highlight in Guilin until you get to Yangshuo County. Along the river, you will be inspired by 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 are certainly walking into a traditional Chinese painting by cruising on it. At Yangshuo, after roaming through the West Street, drive back to Guilin (1.5-hour drive).
West Street: a busy and exotic slate street in Yangshuo County, about 2km long crammed with shops, pubs, cafés and hotels, where you can relax yourself and do some souvenir shopping.

Guilin / Shanghai
Transfer via: Flight from Guilin to Shanghai on our arrangement
Today’s excursion will bring you to the Elephant Trunk Hill and the Reed Flute Cave before your transfer to the airport for your flight to Shanghai. 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.
Elephant Trunk Hill: the symbol of Guilin, which resembles a giant elephant drinking water from the Li River.
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 and learn how they were formed.

Shanghai
Today you will first visit the Shanghai Museum, the Bund and the Nanjing Road, and then the Yu Garden and Yuyuan Market.
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.
The Bund (The word “Bund” was derived from Anglo-Indian word meaning quay): Where the great trading houses and banks had their headquarters in 1920s and 1930s, about a mile long, it is the city’s fulcrum.
Nanjing Road: known as “China’s No.1 Shopping Street” with a huge 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

Shanghai / Exit
Transfer via: International flight on your own arrangement
Free in the day until our local guide escorts you to the airport for your flight to your next destination–your sweet home.