China Tour from Washington

Please pack your luggage and make your own way to the airport today. As there are no direct flights available from Washington D.C. to Beijing, you are advised to choose connecting flights according to the latest flight schedule. We will confirm with you the flight information beforehand.

Upon landing, meet your guide after reclaiming luggage and clearing customs at the airport. The driver will transfer you to the hotel and help you check in. The rest of the day is free for you. Have a good rest to prepare for your coming adventure!

Accommodation: Hotel New Otani Chang Fu Gong

The first stop of your China tour is Tiananmen Square. You will stroll northward to reach the Forbidden City, also known as the Imperial Palace, one of the most majestic palaces in the world representing ancient Chinese imperial architecture. You will have a special tour in the Treasury Gallery.

After, enjoy an a la carte welcome lunch to sample authentic Chinese food and Peking Roast Duck at a fancy restaurant.

This afternoon, first take a walk at Yonghe Temple. Your tour at the lamasery will reach its climax as you step into Pavilion of Ten Thousand Happinesses, the last main hall and the grandest of all where to find a sitting Buddha honored by Guinness World Records, 26 meters (85 feet) tall and cut out of an entire chunk of sandalwood. We will then head to Temple of Heaven and see what the altar for Chinese emperors to seek divine blessings looks like. This evening, arrive at Liyuan Theatre to watch Peking Opera artists putting on stage makeup before appreciating a Peking Opera Show.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, A la carte welcome lunch

Your trip today starts from Mutianyu Great Wall, the most sublime section of the Great Wall of China. We treat you to a round-trip cable car ride up and down the Wall, with a red wine toast to commemorate your unforgettable moment of standing on this man-made wonder. The Wall, stretching 8851.8 kilometers (5500 miles) east-west, would take you nearly a year to hike its entire length- a record remaining to be set, meaning you must walk 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) each day.

Lunch tip: As the restaurants near the Wall do not meet our service standards, instead of arranging a lunch on site, we suggest you have a hearty breakfast or bring some fast food with you. If you still want to dine at a nearby restaurant, your guide is of course glad to recommend one for you.

On our way back to downtown, we will have a short photo stop at the Olympic National Stadium, famously known as the Bird's Nest. Later, explore the Hutong area via rickshaw and round off today’s trip with a visit to a family in one of those Hutongs. Hutongs, lanes lined with Chinese courtyard houses, are the ultimate destination to experience traditional local life.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast

After breakfast, visit the Panda House in Beijing Zoo and then the Summer Palace, the best-preserved royal palace garden in China. While at the Palace, you will be mostly impressed by a peach-shaped Kunming Lake at the foot of an imposing mountain. Covering 220 hectares with depth reaching up to 3 meters, it’s a large half-natural, half-manmade reservoir - the first of its genre in China’s imperial history.

After lunch, transfer to the airport for a flight to Xi'an. Upon arrival, your local guide will pick you up outside the baggage claim area and take you to the hotel for a three-night stay.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Crowne Plaza Xi'an

Your tour of Xi’an starts from the Terracotta Army, located in the burial pits of the mausoleum of the first emperor of China. After that, we will pay a visit to the family of Mr. Yang Zhifa, the first man that discovered the terracotta warriors. Then, spend some time at a workshop to learn how to craft a mini clay soldier from an artisan; take your little masterpiece with you before leaving.

Continue your trip to the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda. Tonight, your guide will accompany you to enjoy a splendid Tang Dynasty Music and Dance Show over a famous Dumpling Dinner. For Chinese people, dumplings, with a history dating back to the Tang dynasty (618 - 907), are more than just something to eat. What’s wrapped inside is not only yummy and nutritious elaborately-prepared fillings, but also blessings. You can almost find dumplings in each big family occasion, whether it’s for receiving guests, family reunion, or bidding farewell. Today, you are going to taste dumplings in various shapes and flavors, a special perspective for you to experience Chinese culture.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Dumpling dinner

Note:
As the theatre is usually closed in January, February, March, and December, you will arrange your own dinner and spend a free evening as you like if the travel meets these months.

This morning, your guide will take you to the City Wall Park to have a morning exercise and observe local life. Here, we will invite a master to teach you Tai Chi, a school of martial art practiced widely for strengthening health. Then, climb the City Wall - a military defense system to protect Xi’an when it’s still the ancient capital of China - to savor surrounding sceneries. You can ride a rental bicycle (at your own expense) on the Wall if interested.

When it’s time for lunch, we will explore the lively food streets at Muslim Quarter to try some local food. Afterwards, pay a visit to the Great Mosque. Later, transfer to the Shaanxi History Museum. You will witness many valuable historical relics, such as the Ox-Headed Agate Rhyton Inlaid with Gold, the only “qiao-colored” Tang-era jade carving - a type of jade ware carved with clever use of its natural color - that was ever discovered. It attests to the top-notch craftsmanship of Tang people, as well as the cultural exchange between the Tang Empire and other countries.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Lunch

After breakfast, your guide will transfer you to Xi'an North Railway Station for a 4-hour high speed train ride to Chengdu. Upon arrival, meet your local guide and transfer to the hotel for check-in. The rest of the day is for you to have a rest or get familiar with Chengdu. If you want to know about Chengdu's shopping, dining, and more, your local expert guide will be glad to assist.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast
Accommodation: Holiday Inn Chengdu Oriental Plaza

This morning, your guide will accompany you to watch pandas eating and sporting at Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. Then, visit Wide and Narrow Alley, where you can taste various Sichuan dishes with your guide's suggestions.

This afternoon, visit Jinsha Site Museum to admire the incredible crafts of the lost Shu Civilization, and go on to experience Chengdu’s featured slow-paced lifestyle at People’s Park over a cup of tea.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast

Your guide will transfer you to the railway station for a 2-hour bullet train ride to Chongqing. Upon arrival at the railway station, meet your local guide and go on to explore Jiefangbei CBD and Ci Qi Kou ancient village.

In the afternoon, your guide will take you to check into a five-star Yangtze cruise ship. Have a buffet dinner on board and join a Welcome Party at the invitation of your Captain. You are going to sail on the 6,300-kilometer-long (3915-mile-long) Yangtze River, the longest river in China and the third behind the Nile River and the Amazon River. It’s not only the east-west artery for water transport, which gives it the name of the “Golden Waterway”, but also considered the lifeline of the Chinese nation, providing fresh water resources to the lands by it.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Dinner
Cruises: Century Oasis

This morning, stretch your body by doing Taichi before breakfast and disembark to visit Fengdu Ghost City for some chills.

Enjoy a free afternoon onboard. There will be some cultural activities to get you excited.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Today sees you cruising through the Three Gorges - the biggest highlight of your Yangtze River tour. We will meet the magnificent Qutang Gorge at about 11:00 and start to wind along the twists and turns of the Wu Gorge at about 13:30. In the afternoon, enjoy a shore excursion to see the beauty of Shennv Stream.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After breakfast, check out of the ship and disembark to visit the Three Gorges Dam, the largest hydro-electric power plant in the world.

Then, head to the Three Gorges Tourism Centre in Yichang City, where your local guide will take you to the railway station to catch a bullet train to Shanghai, the last destination of your China tour. On arriving at Shanghai’s railway station after 7.5 hours, meet your local guide and transfer to the hotel.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast
Accommodation: Radisson Blu Hotel Shanghai New World

The itinerary of your Shanghai tour starts with Shanghai Museum, a treasure house where a million ancient Chinese artworks are stored. Then, head to Yu Garden and then its nearby traditional bazaar. In this classical Chinese garden, you will meander along the Nine Zigzag Bridge, built of granite and grass-white jade, to a stilted pavilion over a pond.

Around noon, an a la carte farewell lunch (valued at CNY150.00 per person and included in our price) will be provided at a fantastic restaurant. In the afternoon, enjoy some time at the highest bookstore in the world – Duo Yun Bookstore – on the 52nd floor of Shanghai Tower, to capture panoramic views of Shanghai’s modern cityscape. Go on to the Bund area and enjoy a 1-hour cruise on the Huangpu River. Shanghai, a window of the giant oriental power onto the world and vice versa, is always compared with New York, the world’s long-standing financial center. Although located on different halves of the earth, they have many things in common: soaring skylines, a river that runs through the city, and important roles as the financial center and international port city. While in Shanghai, you will find more similarities between the two: the Bund is the counterpart of Wall Street, Lujiazui that of Manhattan, People’s Square that of Times Square…End your tour of Shanghai with hanging around the Bund on your own, before we escort you to the hotel and bid farewell.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, A la carte farewell lunch

Today is the last day of your 15 days China tour from Washington D.C. Please head to the airport on your own. We recommend you reserve a taxi at the hotel reception beforehand to save time. If you need an airport transfer, we are also very glad to assist you. Bon voyage! As there is no direct flight between Shanghai and Washington D.C., you may track real-time flight prices to make connections that suit you most.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast