China Tour from San Francisco

Please catch your flight from San Francisco to Beijing today. Our travel consultant will confirm with you the flight arrival time before the trip. San Francisco and Beijing is directly connected by the flight UA888 operated daily, which departs from San Francisco International Airport and takes about 14h 35min. You can also book other suitable flights on your side.

Upon landing at Beijing airport, meet our professional guide outside the customs. After a warm greeting, your driver will transfer you to the hotel for check-in.

Accommodation: Hotel New Otani Chang Fu Gong

At the very beginning of your tour, we will come to Tiananmen Square to admire its solemn majesty. Then, enter the Forbidden City from the Meridian Gate north of the square to see what the living quarters and office of Ming and Qing Chinese emperors look like. The imperial architecture of over seventy palaces it contains, with glazed-tiled roofs and red-painted walls, is a highlight to behold of your China tour. Have a visit to the Treasure Gallery. Later, an a la carte welcome lunch with the famous Peking Duck will be served in a selected restaurant.

This afternoon, go on to soak in the holy vibe at Yonghe Palace and Temple of Heaven, the former a lamasery and the latter a sacrificial building complex, both run by the imperial family. In the evening, have fun enjoying a Peking Opera Show in Liyuan Theatre.

► Follow us to watch Peking Opera artists paint their faces
We will arrive earlier before the show starts to watch how the actors dress themselves and paint their faces. Take the chance to learn about the art of face painting! As one of the quintessential parts of Chinese culture, Peking Opera is popular from many aspects, whether it’s the appearance of the performers or their unique singing styles. In classical Chinese opera, different colors are applied for varied patterns on faces to describe different characters, which is called "lianpu”, or facial painting. While for Peking Opera, there are thousands of type of lianpu, to paint which red color is generally used to represent loyalty, courage, and integrity; black fortitude, wisdom, and altruism; blue a brave, scheming character; green recklessness; white treacherous or insidious traits; and yellow bravery and cruelty. While watching, try to find out the character of the actors!

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, A la carte welcome lunch

Today, take a morning excursion to Mutianyu Great Wall – the most picturesque part of the Great Wall of China and one of the top ten must-see sites in Beijing. Ever wondered about how the Wall can defy centuries of water erosion? The secret lies in its drainage system. Look at the floor, and you will find spaced grooves used for draining, with water-releasing mouths connecting them on the exterior of the Wall, and raised bricks to block water. Where the Wall and river intersects, there are also arched gates known as Water Pass to control the water flow during wet and dry seasons.

► More to expect for your visit of the Great Wall & lunch tips
On arrival, you will board a round-trip cable car to view the Wall winding among lofty mountains. We will then propose a toast with red wine in memory of your moment standing on it. One thing of note is that, food offered here are not highly recommended by visitors or from our experience, so you might want to have a big breakfast at the hotel or prepare some snacks before departure. The guide is of course willing to recommend some restaurants if you’d really like to eat here.

In the afternoon, drive back to downtown. You will have a short stop near the Olympic National Stadium (Bird’s Nest) to view an architectural gem by world-famous engineers from a distance. Your today’s tour will be rounded off with a rickshaw tour at the Hutong area and then a visit to a local family. Hutong, historical alleys flanked by old houses, is the best place to experience local traditional life. Later, transfer to your hotel.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast

After breakfast, visit the Panda House in Beijing Zoo. Then a private transfer will take you to Summer Palace, the classical Chinese garden for Chinese emperors. Traditional Chinese gardens can be divided into three categories: royal gardens for emperors, private gardens for landlords and rich men, and temple gardens for immortal gods. Royal gardens are of course the ones to be described as spectacular, and Summer Palace, representing the climax of artistic levels in terms of landscaping, would be the most spectacular of all.

After lunch, your guide will send you to the airport and help you with the boarding procedures. The next city on your China tour from United States is Xi’an, the capital of China in its ancient past. After your landing at Xianyang International Airport, you will be transferred to your hotel for check-in.

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

The whole morning will find us touring the Terracotta Army Museum. Built about 2,200 years ago, the terracotta warriors and horses of the army are part of the mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang (259 – 210 BC), the first emperor of China and the very person that kicked off the construction of the Great Wall you have visited in Beijing. Nearly a million laborers were then recruited to build the Wall – that’s one-twentieth of the then country's population! At a time when there was no machinery, all the constructions involved were completed by manpower, which were made even more difficult by the harsh environment amid steep mountains and deep valleys. Both commissioned by the Emperor, the Great Wall and Terracotta Army have something in common: they are all ancient and one-of-a-kind engineering feats with a grand scale, telling first-class artistic techniques of Chinese ancestors. At the museum, be ready to be amazed by a life-size battle formation.

► Learn how the Army was discovered and mold your own terracotta warrior
Out from the museum, let’s pay a visit to the home of Mr. Yang Zhifa, who discovered the first warrior of the Terracotta Army, and ask whatever you are interested to know about the anecdote. You will also learn to craft a mini clay soldier with a mold following the steps instructed by an artisan.

After lunch, continue to see the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. In the evening, we will entertain you with a special dumpling dinner and the brilliant Tang Dynasty Music and Dance Show.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Dumpling dinner

Tips:
Guests visiting in January, February, March and December need to arrange the dinner and evening activity on their own for this day, since the theater is usually not open during these times.

After breakfast, your guide will accompany you to stroll the City Wall Park and observe locals chatting and exercising in the morning. If interested, you can join them to do Tai Chi, a popular school of martial art. Then, you will be led onto the ancient Xi'an City Wall. Taking a leisure walk and renting a bike at your own expense to cycle along the Wall are both recommended.

Then, explore the lively Muslim Quarter and tackle your lunch here. Muslim Quarter is a food street to find all types of Shaanxi cuisine, of which Biangbiang Noodles is the most popular among tourists, named after the sound “biang-biang” while the flour dough are stretched and tossed onto the kitchen board. Wide and long like a belt, the noodles have a smooth and chewy texture and are complemented with spinach, carrot, eggs, etc. Take this chance to try it. You will love it for sure!

Later, visit the Great Mosque. And then head for Shaanxi History Museum to admire a large amount of cultural relics spanning over a million years that tells the history of Shaanxi and China. After the visit, you will be transferred to your hotel.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Lunch

This morning you will be escorted to the airport and fly to Guilin. Upon landing, be greeted by the guide of your Guilin tour and chauffeured to the hotel.

In the afternoon, your guide will accompany you to Reed Flute Cave, a captivating karst world made up by illuminated stalagmites, stalactite, and stone flowers, and other various curious formations. Next, pay a visit to the Elephant Trunk Hill, the landmark of Guilin, which looks like a giant elephant sucking water from the river with its trunk.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast
Accommodation: Sheraton Guilin Hotel

Today, we will travel to Yangshuo by cruising along the Li River, which allows you to absorb the essence of Guilin’s beauty. You will find yourself as if in a Chinese landscape painting, with profoundly green water beneath and grotesque hills on both banks. Disembark in about 4.5 hours.

Next, head for the countryside of Yangshuo. You can take a rental bike to take in its idyllic charm. The biking tour is actually something invented by the former US president Jimmy Carter during his visit of this place, who proposed that the reception staff change the walking plan and instead ride a bike to dive in its beauty. Inspired, relevant departments built a 5-kilometer (3-mile) cycle track, dotted with viewing decks and resting pavilions. Now, as biking is becoming more popular, there have been more than one routes for travelers. We will arrange the most suitable and beautiful route for you. We will then visit a local villager's home. At last, return to the downtown hotel in Guilin.

Tips: While onboard, you will be served a Chinese lunch box by the cruise company, which we think might be a bit too simple. Hence we suggest you have a hearty breakfast in the morning or prepare some snacks for lunch.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Lunch

After checking out this morning, you will be escorted to take a flight to Shanghai - the last city we will visit during your stay in China. On arrival at Shanghai’s airport, you will be taken to the hotel for a good rest. Have a refreshing stroll at the nearby People’s Park if you like.

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

Your Shanghai trip for today will start with a visit to Shanghai Museum. There are lots of fine cultural relics to feast your eyes upon, of which the bronzeware, calligraphy works and ceramics are what the museum is especially famous for. Then, appreciate the beauty of Yu Garden, a pearl among the classical gardens of southern China; and later hang around a nearby traditional bazaar.

After having an a la carte farewell lunch (valued at CNY150.00 per person and included in our price), hop on an elevator to the 52nd floor of Shanghai Tower to have a bird’s-eye view of Shanghai’s cityscape at Duo Yun Bookstore. Stroll the Bund area next. Apart from appreciating various architectural styles of colonial buildings, you can also pay attention to a white tower by the Huangpu River, which is actually the signal tower of the old Shanghai Bund Weather Signal Station, a landmark of the Bund. First built in 1884, the tower played a role in time telling and weather forecasting. Every day, a big black iron ball on the tower which would drop at exactly noon - a method borrowed from London’s Greenwich Observatory – and it would "broadcast" messages from Xujiahui Observatory via signal flags. Thanks to it, ships across the Huangpu River could adjust their chronometer and ensure their safety while out for sea voyage. The tower is also tall enough to be spot in many places in the urban area of Shanghai, to warn the public of lightning and typhoons.

Next, go for a cruise on the Huangpu River and then explore the Bund by yourself for some time. We will transfer you to hotel when the trip is completed and say farewell.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, A la carte farewell lunch

Your 12 days China tour from San Francisco will conclude today. After breakfast, reach the airport for your homeward flight. Bon Voyage! There is a direct flight (UA890) between Shanghai (Pudong Airport [PVG]) and San Francisco. You can take a taxi to reach the airport, which takes around 1.5 hours and costs about CNY 200. International flights are not included. You can also book other flights according to your preference.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast