14 Days China Heritage Tour

Day 01 Beijing

Arrive in Beijing, the capital of China. You are greeted by your guide at the airport and transferred to the four-star Holiday Inn Downtown Hotel.

Day 02 Beijing (B, L)

Morning tour starts with the Gugong, also called the Forbidden City, in scripted as a UNESCO world cultural heritage site in 1987.Built between 1406-1420, it is the largest palace of the world imperial complex covering 74 hectares. It has 9999 halls and rooms in which emperors lived for over 500 hundred years in Ming and Qing dynasties. Walk leisure around Tian An Men Square to admire the grandeur of the largest public squares in the world. After lunch, you will visit the biggest and most important imperial Temple of China, Temple of Heaven, where emperors performed annual rituals of sacrifice to ensure prosperity for future generations. Then you will drive to the Summer Palace which was built 800 years ago. It is the second largest and best-preserved royal garden in China, with 294 hectares including the beautiful and serene Kunming Lake.

Day 03 Beijing (B, L)

Travel to the Badaling Great Wall, one of the eight ancient wonders of between 6000- 6500 km long built over several centuries to keep out the invading northern tribes. After a hike along a portion of the Wall, you visit the Ming Tombs (Changling), a secluded valley housing 14 imperial burial mounds. Then you will have an overview of Olympic Stadium, including Bird Nest and Water Cube. Then proceed to the Cloisonné factory to appreciate the marvelous Chinese traditional handicrafts.

Day 04 Beijing (B, L)

Morning ride in three-wheeled rickshaws through Beijing's Hutong, experiencing the lifestyle of the Beijing locals. Proceed to visit Lama Temple, the only Beijing city temple that survived the Cultural Revolution. It is the largest Lama Temple outside Tibet. It was built in 1694 and the architecture and ornamentation of the buildings show the influence of Han, Manchu, Mongolian and Tibetan styles. This afternoon visit 798 factory, it is a new rising, avant-garde and trendy space that hosts high-level cultural, artistic and commercial activities. In the evening board the overnight train to Datong, the second largest city in Shanxi province.

Day 05 Beijing / Dunhuang (B, L)

Fly to Dunhuang in the morning. Meet and transfer to the four-star Dunhuang Legend Hotel. After a short rest, visit Dunhuang Museum, Singing Sand Dune & Crescent Lake, which offers superb picture-book desert scenery.

Day 06 Dunhuang (B, L)

Full day tour brings you to visit Dunhuang's most famous monument - Mogao Grottoes, popularly known as "Thousand Buddha Caves". An art gallery in the desert, the walls of the caves are lined with Buddhist frescoes and sculpted figures, is said to be the finest examples of Buddhist art in the world. Mixing Indian and Chinese styles, they are a remarkable record of Silk Road civilization.

Day 07 Dunhuang / Xian (B, L)

Fly to Xian in the morning. You are greeted by your guide and transferred to the four-star Aurum International Hotel. After breakfast continue to visit the majestic Big Wild Goose Pagoda. It is a well-preserved ancient building and a holy place for Buddhists. Then visit Ancient City Wall. It's the most complete city wall that has survived in China, as well being one of the largest ancient military defensive systems in the world.

Day 08 Xian (B, L)

A full day tour takes you to visit Terracotta Warriors. It is the most significant archeological excavations of the 20th century. It was listed by UNESCO in 1987 as one of the world cultural heritages. The museum covers an area of 16,300 square meters, divided into three sections: No. 1 Pit, No. 2 Pit, and No. 3 Pit respectively. Return to Xian and continue your tour with a visit to Shaanxi Provincial History Museum. The museum's permanent exhibition primarily displays Shaanxi's ancient history. The collection from the Han through the Tang (618 A.D.-907 A.D.) and Song (960 A.D.-1279 A.D.) dynasties shows the changes of art and craftsmanship.

Day 09 Xian / Luoyang (B)

Transfer to the railway station to take the soft-seat train to Luoyang. Upon arrival, meet and transfer to the four-star Peony Hotel. After refresh at hotel, visit White Horse Temple, the first Buddhism Temple and is referred to as "the cradle of Buddhism" in China. Continue to visit the Longmen Buddhism Grottoes, one of the famous four grottoes in China. It provides a large number of historical data for studying ancient religion, fine arts, architecture, calligraphy, music, dress, as well as medicine.

Day 10 Luoyang / Dengfeng / Luoyang (B, L)

Morning program brings you to to Dengfeng to visit Shaolin Temple in the mountains of Songshan in Dengfeng. This is the birthplace of Chinese Martial Arts. Famous around the world the Shaolin Monks are expert in the art of Kung Fu today they will perform for you spectacular feats of strength, speed and power. Truly amazing! Continue to visit the pagoda forest in Shaolin Temple. It was a concentration of tomb pagodas for eminent monks, abbots and ranking monks at the temple.

Day 11 Luoyang / Shanghai (B, L)

In the morning, you will visit the LuoYang Custom and Folk Art Museum. The museum is located on the west bank of the South Chan River, on New street,Dongguan, in the Old Town district of Luoyang. The buildings were constructed in 1744,the ninth year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing dynasty. Buildings that survive are the Theater, Great hall, Back hall,side halls,wing rooms and a bell tower. They now serve as display rooms respectively for faith custom,wedding custom, birthday custom and folk art, all with exihibits to show the folk customs and traditional practices of the region. After that, you will continue to visit LuoYang Old Town District. The old town district is located in the most east of Luoyang city. There are the old streets, HuTong and old houses of Qing dynasty, at least of 300years old with local people are living there. You can enjoy the common people‘s life of Luoyang city. Then you will transfer to the airport and take a flight to Shanghai. Upon arrival, you will be transferred to the four-star Shanghai Greenland Jiulong Hotel.

Day 12 Shanghai (B, L)

Shanghai visit starts with a tour of the premier attractions of the city where we can immerse ourselves in the culture and sophistication of this cosmopolitan. You can stroll along the lovely paths and pavilions of Yu Garden in Shanghai Old City and at the same time experience Shanghai recently gained modernity. This afternoon visit Shanghai Museum, mainly the exhibitions of painting, bronze, sculpture, ceramics, calligraphy, jade, Ming & Qing Dynasty furniture, coins, seals, and ethnic artwork. Continue visiting Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Centre to see what a city of the future is really going to look like. Enjoy your shopping in Nanjing Road, known as the No. 1 Shopping Paradise in China. In the evening enjoy leisure walk along the riverfront Bund and admire the night lights on both sides of the harbor.

Day 13 Shanghai / Suzhou / Shanghai (B, L)

In the morning drive to Suzhou and appreciate the elegant classical Suzhou garden with a tour to the Master of Nets Garden, Lingering Garden to understand the art of Chinese aesthetics through every rock, waterway, plant and flower. New Suzhou Museum, designed by world famous architect I.M.Pei was completed in October 2006, covering over 10,700 square meters. The new museum houses over 30000 cultural relics --- most notably for excavated artifacts, Ming and Qing Dynasty paintings and calligraphy, and ancient arts and crafts. Suzhou has been the silk trade center of China for centuries, one must visit the Silk Embroidery Research Institute and Silk factory to see how silk is produced and dyed. Drive back to Shanghai in the afternoon.

Day 14 Shanghai (B)

Transfer to the airport for your departure flight. Service completes.