21-Day China Essential Tour

Detailed Itinerary

• Day 1: Arrive at Shanghai (No meals)

  Take your flight from home to Shanghai. Start your wonderful adventure to China from the magic city. Be transferred to hotel and have a good rest in our well selective hotel.

  Recommended Hotel: SSAW Boutique Hotel Shanghai Bund****

• Day 2:  Shanghai (Breakfast/Lunch)

  Highlight: Shikumen, the Bund, Yuyuan Garden, Jade Buddha Temple, Lujiazui CBD and Shanghai Tower

  Shanghai is a magic city for everyone. Not only you can see the old architectures in Shikumen and Yuyuan Garden, but also modern skyscrapers in Lujiazui CBD and Shanghai Tower. Furthermore, walk along the Bund at night will impress you a lot.

  Recommended Hotel: SSAW Boutique Hotel Shanghai Bund****

  
  

• Day 3:   Shanghai - Huangshan by train (Breakfast/Lunch)

  Highlight: Hongcun

  Take a bullet train from Shanghai to Huangshan in the morning(3 hours). Arrive at Huangshan and be picked up to visit Hongcun, one of the most charming ancient villages that has been listed in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

  Recommended Hotel: In Huangshan City

• Day 4:   Mt. Huangshan(Breakfast/Lunch)

  Highlight: West Sea Area

  Relax yourself in morning and go to Mt.Huangshan Scenery Area. Take a cable car up and walk round half one hour the stone path to the hotel on Mt. Huangshan. Go to visit West Sea Area which is the highlight of Mt.Huangshan in the afternoon.

  Recommended Hotel:  On Huangshan Mountain

  

• Day 5:   Mt. Huangshan - Hangzhou(Breakfast/Lunch)

  Highlight: Beihai Area

  Get up early to enjoy the spectacular sunrise on the top of Mt.Huangshan. After that you will explore the Beijing Area. Then get a cable car down and take a bullet train to Hangzhou(3 hours). Arrive in Hangzhou in the late afternoon, be met by your guide at Hangzhou railway and transferred to hotel.

  Recommended Hotel: Zhejiang International Hotel****

• Day 6 Hangzhou(Breakfast/Lunch)

  Highlight: West Lake and Hu Qingyu Traditional Chinese Medicine Drugstore

  Taking a boat on poetic West Lake to feel the breeze. Visit affable Hu Qingyu Traditional Chinese Medicine Drugstore and learn more about Chinese traditional medicine. It is quiet an easy day of your China tour.

  Recommended Hotel: Zhejiang International Hotel****

  

• Day 7:  Hangzhou - Kunming (Breakfast/Lunch)

  Highlight: Transfer to Kunming

  Leisure morning to do further exploration in the city by yourself. Later, you will take a flight to Kunming, the Spring City. Be met by your guide at Kunming airport and transferred to hotel.

  Recommended Hotel:Kunming New Era Hotel ****

• Day 8:  Kunming (Breakfast/Lunch)

  Highlight: Stone Forest

  Today you will visit the natural masterpiece in Kunming, the Stone Forest. The various shapes of limestone were formed due to millions of years' movement of the Earth. Furthermore, you will enjoy a minority dance show at the park. Enjoy a locan lunch nearby and back to Kunming city.

  Recommended Hotel: Kunming New Era Hotel ****

  

• Day 9:  Kunming-Dali (Breakfast/Lunch)

  Highlight: Xizhou Village, Erhai Lake and Cangshan Mountain

  Take a bullet train(2.5 hours) from Kunming to Daili in the early morning. Our guide will pick you up at Dali railway station and start your city tour soon. Visit the Xizhou Village where you will see houses of the Bai minority people and experience the real life of locals. Have a bike ride along Erhai in the afternoon to enjoy the flowers, lake and the Cangshan Mountain. Moreover, you can have a good view of Three Pagodas far away. Have a lunch at a nearby local restaurant.

  Recommended Hotel: Gurong Hotel ****

  

• Day 10:  Dali-Lijiang(Breakfast/Lunch)

  Highlight: Lijiang Ancient Town and Black Dragon Pool Park

  Take a 3-hour bullet train from Dali to Lijiang. Enjoy your lunch and start the tour in Lijiang. Lijiang Ancient Town is the best-preserved minority ancient city now. You still can see the ancient houses, bridges and canals in the town. You can climb up to the Lion Hill who is in the backside of ancient  town to see the whole view. After that you can visit the Black Dragon Pool Park, where you can have a view of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in a long distance. Stay overnight in Lijiang Ancient Town.

  Recommended Hotel:Ivy Garden Resort Hotel ****

• Day 11:  Lijiang(Breakfast/Lunch)

  Highlight:  Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and Baisha Murals

  Go to visit Jade Dragon Snow Mountain by taking a cable car. You will find a totally different paradise as you see outstanding and thrilling natural beauty. Back to Lijiang and enjoy a lunch on the way. Then continue your tour to Baisha Murals at Baisha Village. Know more about the Naxi nationality.

  Recommended Hotel: Ivy Garden Resort Hotel ****

  

• Day 12 Lijinag-Shangri-la(Breakfast/Lunch)

  Highlight: Transfer to Shangrila

  Take a 1.5-hour bullet train from Lijiang to Shangrila. Be met by your guide at the Shangrila hotel and transferred to hotel. Have a good rest in hotel to adapt the high altitude of 3200 meters.

  Recommended Hotel:The 5th Meteorite · Light-year Hotel****

• Day 13:  Shangrila(Breakfast/Lunch)

  Highlight: Songzanlin Lamasery and Pudacuo National Park

  Begin your tour to Shangrila from Songzanlin Lamasery which is the largest Tibetan Buddhist Lamasery in Yunnan Province. Then visit Pudacuo National Park. It is a huge national park similar to Yellow Stone Park. You need to walk through to visit different spots, such as Lake Bita and Lake Shudu. You will be impressed by the well-preserved ecosystem within the virgin forests.

  Recommended Hotel:The 5th Meteorite · Light-year Hotel****

  

• Day 14:  Shangrila-Chengdu (Breakfast/Lunch)

  Highlight: Flight to Chengdu

  Refresh yourself by a half day free time from the previous days' trekking and the high altitude. Late in the afternoon, take a flight to Chengdu. Be met by local guide and transferred to hotel.

  Recommended Hotel: Atour Hotel Chengdu****

• Day 15:  Chengdu (Breakfast/Lunch)

  Highlight: Panda Keeper Program

  If you want to get close to giant pandas, you should not miss the Panda Keeper Program in Dujiangyan Panda Base. It is the only place where you can learn how to take care of the pandas, such as washing the bamboo shoots, breaking bamboos, seeing a panda be fed at a very close distance and so on. You will memorize this precious experience for a lifetime.

  Recommended Hotel: Atour Hotel Chengdu****

  

• Day 16:  Chengdu- Xi'an by train (Breakfast/Lunch)

  Highlight: Wuhou Temple and Jinli Ancient Street

  Today is a Chengdu city tour where all attractions are easier to reach. Wuhou Temple is the largest museum of the site left over from the Three Kingdoms Period, and a very quiet oasis in the city. Then walk around Jinli Ancient Street neighboring to Wuhou Temple to taste some local snacks. Finally you will be transferred to Chengdu railway station to take a bullet train to Xi'an. Be met by your guide at the Xi’an railway station and transferred to hotel.

  Recommended Hotel: Somerset Xindicheng Xi'an****

• Day 17:  Xi'an (Breakfast/Lunch)

  Highlight: Terracotta Warriors, Bell Tower, Gao's Courtyard and Muslim Quarter

  Visit Terracotta Warriors, a real underground world of Chinese royal family. Have a lunch of Chinese local rest restaurant nearby. Drive back to Xi'an to see Bell Tower, the biggest one remaind in China now. Gao’s Countyard is a good choice for you to see Chinese paper cutting and shadow puppetry. Moreover you will have a chance to taste delicious China northern snacks in Muslim Quarter.

  Recommended Hotel: Somerset Xindicheng Xi'an****

  

• Day18:  Xi'an- Beijing by train(Breakfast/Lunch)

  Highlight: Hutong

  Wave goodbye to Xi’an and take a bullet train(3 hours) to Beijing to have a perfect ending of your China tour. Be met by your guide at Beijing railway and transferred to hotel. Walk in Hutong, the original apartment for Chinese people to live, and have a real touch to Beijing local cities by yourself.

  Recommended Hotel: Beijing 5L International Hotel ****

  

• Day19:   Beijing (Breakfast/Lunch)

  Highlight: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven.

  Today our prossional guide and driver will picke you up at the hotel and begin your amazing Beijing city tour. Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City are next to each other in the central axis of Beijing. You will feel a new dignified China and an old amazing China at the same time. Moreover, Temple of Heaven will display you how ancient royal families present their loyalty to Chinese deity. You will have a lunch in a local restaurant nearby.

  Recommended Hotel: Beijing 5L International Hotel ****

  

• Day20:   Beijing (Breakfast/Lunch)

  Highlight: Great Wall and Summer Palace

  Continue your wonderful Beijing city tour. Never miss Mutianyu Great Wall or you will regret for your life-time. It was the masterpiece of Chinese people without any help of machines. Walk along on the Great Wall and have a good view of nature. Have a lunch in a local restaurant. Go back to Beijing city to visit the Summer Palace for Chinese Emperors.

  Recommended Hotel: Beijing 5L International Hotel ****

  

• Day 21: Depart from Beijing  (Breakfast)

  Be transferred to Beijing airport to take a flight home. Your China tour will end soon but your memory of China will last for days.