Best of China Tour From Great Wall to the Yangtze 13 Days

Welcome to Beijing, the captivating capital of China! When your flight lands at Beijing Airport, your personal tour guide will be ready to welcome you at the arrival hall exit and take you to your hotel in a private vehicle. The rest of the day is free for you to relax and recover from the long flight.

On the first day of your China tour, start off to visit the solemn and respectful Tiananmen Square at the core of Beijing. Nearby, you'll see today's highlight - the Forbidden City. Splendid palaces, imposing pavilions, elegant ornamentation, and cultural relics, all of these will tell you about the historical stories behind the 600-year-old royal residence.

This afternoon, enjoy some time relaxing in Summer Palace, China's most extensive and best-preserved imperial garden. Walk around this royal garden, and if the weather permits, enjoy a boat ride on Kunming Lake.

No trip to Beijing will be complete without visiting the majestic Great Wall. After breakfast, a 2-hour drive will take you to the Mutianyu Great Wall, a less-crowded section with breathtaking scenery. Taking the cable car up to the wall, you'll spend 2 or 3 hours hiking along the stone steps and get amazed by the ancient Chinese's creativity.

Continue driving to Changling Tomb, the largest and best-preserved one of the Thirteen Ming Dynasty imperial tombs. Finally, return to your Beijing hotel for the night

The first stop of today's exploration will be the Temple of Heaven along with its surrounding park. As an imperial complex of religious buildings, the temple will surprise you with its rich history and sacred architecture, while the park offers you a chance to observe and even partake in the morning exercise of the locals. Following this, sit back in an outdated rickshaw and weave your way through Hutong's narrow alleys to see the traditional houses of old Beijing.

After your visit, fly about two hours to the time-honored Xi'an and settle into your downtown hotel with your local guide's help.

Today will be one of the most memorable parts of your trip to China, as you will uncover the mystery of the underground army of Terracotta Warriors. Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, commissioned the Terracotta Army to serve him in the afterlife and guard his mausoleum. You will surely be astonished by the thousands of vivid life-size clay statues.

Before retiring to your hotel, try out ethnically Muslim dishes and visit Chinese-style Great Mosque at downtown's Muslim Quarter.

Flying about 2 hours to Guilin in the morning, you'll see another face of China.

Upon arrival, visit the Reed Flute Cave before checking into your hotel. Stepping into the cave, you will see various shapes of stalactites and stalagmites illuminated by colorful lights and learn about how they were formed.

Li River is the most representative scenery of Guilin's karst landform. After breakfast, you will be taken to Zhujiang Pier for a leisurely cruise along the famed river down to Yangshuo. You will be immersed in the unique scenery formed by towering karst peaks, bamboo groves, and rice paddies along the river. Depending on the water level, it will take around 3.5 to 4.5 hours.

After the cruise, your tour guide will accompany you passing through the busy West Street and assist in checking into your hotel. The rest of today is to relax or explore at your own leisure.

After breakfast, your guide will take you to the railway station for your high-speed train (about 5-6 hours) to Chongqing. On arrival, be picked up and taken to the dock, where you settle into your cabin for the Yangtze cruise. The ship usually departs from Chongqing at 9:00 pm.

Have a leisurely morning on the board to enjoy the scenery on both sides of the Yangtze River. In the afternoon, take the included excursion to Shibaozhai, a historical red pavilion hanging on a solitary hill to serve as a path to the top of the hill, where you can get a sweeping view of the surrounding area.

Optional: This morning, you could take an optional land tour to Fengdu Ghost City, organized by the cruise company.

Enjoy another leisurely morning while the cruise continues. In the afternoon, join the group to visit Shennv Stream. A wooden flat-bottom boat will take you to the depth of the valley, relishing in the stunning scenery and glimpsing into the original life of locals.

Optional: If you're interested in Chinese history, an optional tour to the White Emperor City may be a nice choice.

After breakfast, embark on a shore excursion to the massive Three Gorges Dam, a must-see engineering wonder in China. Disembark the cruise at noon, and your private tour guide in Yichang will pick you up and transfer you to the airport for your flight to Shanghai.

After arrival, be transferred to the hotel for check-in.

Start your city exploration from Shanghai Museum, tracing back to the past through its thousands of collections. Continue onto the elegant Yu Garden, the bustling Yuyuan Market, and the former French Concession. End today's tour by strolling around the Bund, where you can get a microcosm of Old Shanghai dating back to the 1920s.

Time to say goodbye to China. Enjoy some free time until the tour guide picks you up and transfers you to the airport for your homebound flight.