GT_12_11

12-DAYS/11 NIGHTS BEIJING/XI'AN/ YANGTZE CRUISE/GUILIN/YANGSHUO/SHANGHAI
Group Tours

Departure Dates Double Occupancy Single Occupancy

May 10 USD 2274 USD 2893

June 7 USD 2136 USD 2605

July 5, 19 USD 2136 USD 2605

Aug 2, 16, 30 USD 2136 USD 2605

Sept 20 USD 2274 USD 2893

Oct 4,18 USD 2140 USD 2725

Nov 15, 22 USD 2195 USD 2810

As the capital of China, Beijing is one of the world's truly imposing cities, with a 3,000-year history and 11 million people. Covering 16,808 square kilometers in area, it is the political, cultural and economic center of the People's Republic of China . Situated in northeast China, Beijing adjoins the Inner Mongolian Highland to the northwest and the Great Northern Plain to the south. Five rivers run through the city, connecting it to the eastern Bohai Sea. Administratively, the Beijing municipality equals the status of a province, reporting directly to the central government. Rich in history, Beijing has been China's primary capital for more than seven centuries. China's imperial past and political present meet at Tiananmen square, where the Forbidden City palace of the emperors gives way to the Great Hall of the People congress building and the mausoleum of Chairman Mao Zedong. The old city walls have been replaced by ring roads, and many of the old residential districts of alleys and courtyard houses have been turned into high-rise hotels, office buildings, and department stores. Beijing, a dynamic city where the old and new intermingle, remains a magnet for visitors from inside and outside China.

Xi'an is a city with incredible history, as well as a prosperous modern city. As the capital city of Shannxi province, it holds a key position in the fertile plain between the highland plateau of the north and the Qinling Mountains to the south. Xi'an has been the capital of eleven dynasties for more than 2000 years. Along with Rome and Constantinople, this city played a vital role in bridging the gap between east and west. There are important sites and relics in this city. The Terracotta Army of Qin Emperor is regarded as the eighth wonder of the world.

Chongqing is a well-known city with a history of more than 3000 years. It is the famous historical and cultural city in China . Chongqing is the birthplace of the Bayu Culture. At present, Chongqing is a municipality directly under the Central Government with the largest area, the most administrative districts and the largest population. The original area of the whole city is 82,000 square kilometers, governing former Chongqing , Wanxian, Fuling cities as well as 43 districts, cities and counties in the Qianjiang Region. Chongqing has a population of 30,020,000, most of them are of Han nationality. 49 other ethnic minorities, such as Tujia, Miao, Hui, Man, and Yi also live here but retain their own traditional customs. The colorful local customs have already become an important tourist attraction in Chongqing.

Lying on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, Yichang covers an area of about 8,108 square miles. It is an ancient city and its history can be traced back for 4,000 years. Now, after thousands of years' development, the city stands out with its various unique characteristics. Located in the middle of China, Yichang is the transportation center which connects the eastern and the western parts of China. Yichang has abundant water resources.

The city of Guilin, named after the fragrance of osmanthus, built in Qin dynasty over 2000 years ago, prospering in Tang and Song, flourishing in Ming and Qing, is a world famous tourist city for its picturesque scenery, as well as a well-known cultural and historic city. Located in the subtropical zone, Guilin boasts a pleasant climate for sight-seeing throughout the four seasons. It is inhabited by 12 nationalities with a total population of 1,260,000. The typical Karst formation makes Guilin the prettiest wonder on earth which notables of all dynasties and heads of different states have been coming one after another to appreciate, all gasping with admiration:"Guilin is the most beautiful place in the world!" Today's Guilin ranks second respectively on the list of China's ten best scenic spots and that of China's top forty tourist spot. With her new appearance today, she is ready at any moment to bid you welcome.

Shanghai is China's most comprehensive industrial and commercial city, ranking the first in population and population density. As a tourist city, it attracts travelers from both home and abroad by its commercial activity rather than scenic beauty. Shanghai is situated on the bank of the Yangtze River Delta, with East China Sea in the east and Hangzhou delta in the south. Housing a population of over 16 million at present, it was once a small town supported by fishing and weaving before the first Opium War. Late in 1990, the central government started developing the area, and has since become the well-known booming metropolis city.

	Schedule:
	Day 1	Arrive at Beijing. Transfer to Doubletree by Hilton Beijing Hotel for 2 nights stay.
	Day 2	Beijing Beijing Full Day Tour of Temple of Heaven & Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City. (B, L, D)
	Day 3	Morning visit Great Wall Afternoon take flight from Beijing to Guilin Transfer to Guilin EVA INN Hotel for 1night stay (B, L)
	Day 4	Guilin Li River Cruise to Yangshuo Transfer to Yangshuo Regency Holiday Hotel for 1 night stay (B, L, D)
	Day 5	Half day Yangshuo Tour Afternoon take flight from Guilin to Xian Transfer to Xi'an Heizee Hotel for 2 nights stay(B, L, D)
	Day 6	Full day Terracotta tour ( Terracotta Museum & visit to Terracotta factory to see how Terracotta's were made two thousand years ago) Afternoon visit to Banpo Museum (B, L, D)
	Day 7	Take a flight from Xian to Chongqing Embark in the evening for 3-nightYangtze River Cruise (B, L, D)
	Day 8	Cruise with Shore Excursion to Fengdu or Shibaozhai or Wanzhou (B, L, D)
	Day 9	Cruise sail through Qutang Gorge/Wu Gorge and the Three Gorges Dam ship Locks.Excursion to Daning River Small Gorges or Shennong Stream (B, L, D)
	Day 10	Morning visit Three Gorges Dam site. 1:30 pm disembark Yichang,then take flight from Yichang to Shanghai Transfer from Shanghai Airport to Shanghai Grand Mercure Baolong Hotel for 2 night stay (B, L,D)
	Day 11	Full day City Tour visit the Shanghai Museum , the Bund, Jade Buddha Temple and Shopping at Nanjing Road. (B, L,D)
	Day 12	Transfer from Shanghai Grand Mercure Baolong Hotel to Shanghai Airport. Departure from Shanghai . (B)

The price includes:

Hotel is:

Doubletree by Hilton Beijing Standard room for 2 nights, with ABF daily
Guilin EVA INN Hotel Standard room for 1 night, with ABF daily
Yangshuo Regency Holiday Hotel Standard room for 1 night, with ABF daily
Xi'an Heizee Hotel Sta ndard room for 2 nights, with ABF daily
Shanghai Grand Mercure Baolong Hotel Standard room for 2 nights, with ABF daily

All airport transfers

All entrance fees to all sightseeing

Private English Speaking tour Guide, and Driver

Yangtze River Cruise Ticket

All domestic airfare (Economy Class)

Beijing to Guilin
Guilin to Xi'an
Xi'an to Chongqing
Yichang to Shanghai

This price excludes:

Gratuities for the Guides and Drivers
Incidentals in hotel such as dry cleaning, phone, mini bar
Inbound and outbound international air

Note:

Hotels used may be changed prior to tour but will be replaced with similar category of hotels
Price and availability subject to change without notice until deposit is received

Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square is the largest downtown square in the world. It covers an area of 44 hectares, big enough to hold one million people. Here is the most sacred place for Chinese people. Beijing is the heart of China, and Tiananmen Square is the heart of Beijing.

The Forbidden City

Forbidden City was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties which is the largest palace complex in the world. It surrounded by 10-meter high walls and a 52-meter wide moat. It covers 74 hectares and has 9,999 rooms. In the forbidden city, you can get more knowledge about the eastern architecture, splendid painted and beautiful craftwork.

Temple of Heaven

Temple of Heaven was built in 1,420 in the Ming Dynasty, which is the most holy of all Beijing's imperial temples. This is where the Emperor came every winter solstice to worship heaven and to solemnly pray for a good harvest. True to the Chinese saying, "Round Heaven, Square Earth." The park is in a square shape and the temple in a round shape which symbolizes that the emperor had to leave the Earth (represented by the square) for Heaven (represented by the round-roofed building).

The Great Wall

The Great Wall is perhaps China's most famous and most mythologized site. Several sections are conveniently visited from Beijing, including at Badaling, the most popular site, about 70 km (43 mi.) northwest of Beijing and at Mutianyu, 90 km (56 mi.) northeast of Beijing. These impressive brick and earth structures date from the Ming dynasty, when the wall was fortified against Mongol forces to the north. The Ming wall is about 26 feet tall and 23 feet wide at the base, and could accommodate up to six horsemen riding abreast. Watch towers, built on high points every 200-300 meters or so with small garrison forces, used fire signals or fireworks as a means of communication. These stretches of the wall are part of a system that extends from the Shanhaiguan fortress on the Bohai Gulf in the east to the Jiayuguan fortress in the west, altogether some 6000 km (3700 mi).

Museum of Terracotta Warriors and
Horses of Emperor Qin Shi Huang

The Terracotta warriors and Horses are the most significant archeological excavations of the 20th century. Upon ascending the throne at the age of 13 (in 246 BC), Qin Shi Huang, had work begun on his mausoleum. It took 11 years to finish. It is speculated that many buried treasures and sacrificial objects had accompanied the emperor in his after life. It is a sight not to be missed by any visitor to China.

Banpo Museum

The Banpo Museumis located in the eastern outskirt of Xi'an City. As the first museum at the prehistoric site, It was built at the base of the excavations of the Banpo site.The Banpo site is a typical Neolithic matriarchal community of the Yangshao Culture dating back about 6,000 years. Here a lot of relic exhibited to show how ancient people.

Yangtze River Cruise

Coursing over a distance of 6,380 kilometers, the mighty Yangtze is the longest river in China and the third longest in the world after the Amazon in South America and the Nile in Africa. It begins at Qinghai plateau at southwest, and flows through nine provinces, some major industrialized cities and into Yellow Sea after Shanghai in the east. It is also a cradle of ancient Chinese civilization. However, Yangtze River also floods every year causing loss of lives & millions of dollars. Therefore, the government decided to build dams to control the water; and Gezhouba & Three Gorges dams are born. Highlights of the cruise include the famed Three Gorges "Qutang, Wu and Xiling" showcasing dramatic scenery, deep valleys, verdant landscapes and stunning vistas; shore excursions of the Small Gorges with visits to either Shennong Stream Gorges or the Daning River; and the Three Gorges Dam Site, the world's largest construction project and an engineering marvel.

Li River Cruise

The poetic and picturesque Li River is the important component of Guilin scenery. It originates in Mountain Cat at Xinan county in the northeast of Guilin. It winds and meanders its way for 170 kilometers, passing through Guilin, Yangshuo to the outlet of Gongchen river in Pingle county. Li River, between Guilin and Yangshuo, traverses 84 kiometers like a jade ribbon winding among thousands of hills. Along the river, the rolling peaks, steep cliffs, green hills and clear water constitue a fascinating hundred-mile picturesque gallery. Li River scenery is known to all not only for its green hills, clear water, fantastic caves and spectacular rocks but also for its wonderful deep pools, springs and waterfalls. Moreover, people can enjoy the different beauties of Li River scenery at different seasons and weathers. In fine days, reflections of the hills in clear and greenish water are specially pleasing to the eyes, but it is more enchanting under rainy and misty weather. The hazy view of the drizzling rain and lingering clouds give birth to a wonderful fairyland for tourists.

Yangshuo West Street

West Street is the oldest street in Yangshuo with a history of more than 1,400 years. Situated at the center of Yangshuo County, West Street has become, since the 1980's, a window of eastern and western culture and the biggest 'foreign language center' in China. Visitors are attracted to West Street by its unique mix of cultures. West Street is 517 meters (1,696 feet) long and 8 meters (26 feet) wide, meandering in an 'S' along its length. Being completely paved with marble it is a typical example of a southern China street. It is greatly admired by foreigners for its simple style and courtyard-like setting. There is a saying about West Street that 'half is village while the other half is stores'. Because, at times, foreigners outnumber Chinese, West Street is also called 'foreigners' street'. Visiting West Street , you may see a multitude of items, from embroidered silk cloth, wax-painted weaving, to ethnic costumes made of batik fabric. At night, the restaurants on "Foreigner's Street" are crowded with diners. With facades decorated stylishly with tree bark, palm leaves and colorful lights, these restaurants all boast their own specialties.

The Jade Buddha Monastery

The Jade Buddha Monastery is famous for the Jade Buddhas in it. During the rule of Emperor Guang Xu of the Qing dynasty, Hui Gen, an abbot from Putuo Mountain, went on a pilgrimage to Tibet traveling through China and finally arriving in Burma. He found Burma to be rich in jade and superb in craftsmanship. He wanted to bring carved jade Buddha back to China. He obtained donation of over 20,000 taels of silver and got special permission from the Burmese king to dig and select jade in the mountains. He hired excellent jade carvers to carve five jade Buddhas in various sizes, all decorated with treasured stones and big pearls. On his way back from Burma, he left two Buddha carvings in Shanghai for the Buddhist disciples there to worship.

Shanghai Museum

As a museum of ancient Chinese art, Shanghai Museum houses a collection of 120,000 precious works of art. Its rich and high-quality collection of ancient Chinese bronze, ceramics, painting and calligraphy is specially celebrated in the world. Its unique architectural form of a round top with a square base, symbolizing the ancient Chinese philosophy that the square earth is under the round sky, is a distinguished architectural combination of traditional feature and modern spirit. The present Shanghai Museum has eleven galleries and three special temporary exhibition halls. It extends warm welcome to the visitors from all over the world.

The Bund (Waitan)

The Bund (Waitan) is one of the most recognizable architectural symbols of Shanghai. "Bund" derives from an Anglo-Indian word for an embankment along a muddy waterfront and that is what it was in the beginning when the first British company opened an office there in 1846. Located on the west bank of a bend (running north and south at this point) in the Huangpu River and just south of Suzhou Creek, the Bund became the site of some of the earliest foreign settlements after Shanghai was opened as one of five "Treaty Ports" in the Treaty of Nanjing that ended the Opium War in 1842. Because of its proximity to the Yangtze (Changjiang) River--the path into central China, Shanghai grew rapidly as the economic center of foreign interests.

Doubletree by Hilton Beijing
168 Guang An Men Wai Avenue, Beijing, China 100055

The new hotel is conveniently situated next to the Central Official District of Beijing (COD) and Beijing's prestigious Financial Street business district.The hotel has 547 rooms.

Hotel Amenities:

Automated Teller (ATM)
Baggage Storage
Car hire service desk Beverage Area, Complimentary
Concierge Desk
Foreign Currency Exchange
Furrier
Gift Shop
Laundry/Valet Service
Lounge
Luggage Hold
Multi-Lingual Staff Room Service
Safety Deposit Box

Hotel Description

Guest Rooms: Designed in a contemporary style, this 30 square meter room is equipped with working and seating areas, 32 inch flat TV, HSIA, iron/ironing board, standing shower, in room safe and coffee, tea maker.

Location: The Doubletree by Hilton Beijing hotel is located at the South West 2nd Ring Road, just 38 km / 24 mi from Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK). Our stylish new hotel is conveniently situated next to the Central Official District of Beijing (COD) and Beijing's prestigious Financial Street business district. Our guests enjoy fast and easy access to all of Beijing's major attractions. The Doubletree by Hilton hotel is within 7 km / 4 mi of the historic Dong Cheng District and Tian'anmen Square, the red-walled Forbidden City and Imperial Palace, Beijing Zoo, Panjia Yuan Antique Market and the Temple of Heaven.

Restaurant: Chinese cuisine offering delicious food in a fantastic environment! The restaurant is located on the 3rd floor and features 12 private dining rooms.

Eva Inn, Guilin
66 Binjiang Road Xiufeng District, Guilin, Guangxi, China

The four-star Eva Inn demonstrates why a great vantage point is key to enjoying Guilin travel. Surrounded by lush trees at ground level and unveiling spectacular views of Elephant Trunk Hill and Li River on the upper floors, Eva Inn provides the best seat in the city. The hotel has 113 rooms

Hotel Amenities

Multilingual staff 24-hour front desk
Business center
Copy service
Massage service
24-hour security
Bar Sauna Hair and beauty salon

Hotel Description

Guest Rooms: The hotel features 113 rooms with different styles and luxury that offer the perfect accommodation solutions to fulfill all travel needs. Extended stay and short term stay guests will find a range of home comforts in their rooms which is designed to make you feel as relaxed as possible.

Location: Situated in the heart of the enchanting Guilin city and on the banks of Li River, approaching Zhengyang Walking Street , this hotel is in proximity to Two River and Four Lake scenery spots and is just 6 minutes to the famous Elephant Trunk Hill.

Restaurant: Uniquely appealing with energy and a culture of its own, the property's on-site Left Bank Cafe offers an extensive array of food that includes a combination of Western and Chinese cuisines freshly prepared to treat your taste buds.

Yangshuo Regency Holiday Hotel
No. 117 West Street, Yangshuo, China, 541900

Yangshao Regency Holiday Hotel is a four star hotel that provides a fine balance of eastern and western decor. The hotel has 70 rooms.

Hotel Amenities

Laundry service
Business center
Conference facilities
Restaurant
Sauna
Health Club
Babysitting
Swimming Pool

Hotel Description

Guest Rooms: The hotel has 70 guestrooms and suites which are all tastefully decorated, fully equipped with IDD, satellite TV, mini bar and air-conditioning facilities.

Location: It is located in the world famous "West Street" in Yangshuo, by the bank of the Lijiang River in Yangshuo Town.

Restaurant: The restaurants and bars in the hotel offer tempting oriental cuisines, as well as a variety of western foods.

Xi'an Heizee Hotel
No. 219 Xing Qing North Road, Yantaj District, Xi'an

The Heizee Hotel Xi'an (Haijing Jiudian) is a four star business hotel in Xi An, which is built according to international standards. The 24-story mansion's design is reminiscent of German style architecture. Opened in 2007.

Hotel Amenities:

Meeting facilities
Business center
Domestic direct-dial
International direct-dial Laundry service
Beauty salon

Hotel Description

Guest Rooms:The hotel has different kinds of apartments, and guest rooms, including One-Bedroom Apartment, Family Room, Standard Room, Business Room, and Deluxe Suite, all providing 24-hour hot water, long-distance telephone, broadband Internet access, television and other facilities.

Location: The hotel i s located near the Kangfu Road commercial center and Xing Qing Palace in the eastern area of Xi'an city.
Restaurant: Guests can savour delicious western cuisine in the relaxed atmosphere of the onsite restaurant, the Chinese restaurant, is sure to tempt you with its varied menu of Cantonese and Sichuan delicacies. Casual dining, both Asian and Western, can also be found at the Junk Cafe.

Grand Mercure Baolong Hotel Shangha
180 Yixian Road 200434 Shanghai China

Grand Mercure Baolong Hotel Shanghai is located close to major shopping areas, points of interest and cultural centers, including local attractions such as Lu Xun Park, historic Duolun Road and Fudan University. Capturing the essence of both old and new Shanghai, this heritage listed hotel has 372 spacious rooms with a warm and elegant decor. Conference facilities, 3 restaurants and 2 bars make this an ideal destination for business and holiday travelers seeking convenience, comfort and luxury. The hotel features 372 rooms

Hotel Amenities:

Business centre
Conference facilities
Disabled facilities
Gymnasium
Laundry facilities Parking facilities
Restaurant Room service
Sauna
Swimming pool
Tennis court

Hotel Description

Guest Rooms: The hotel boasts air-conditioned guest rooms that are comfortable and tastefully furnished in modern style.

Location: The Grand Mercure Baolong Hotel Shanghai is located near Lu Xun Park, near prestigious Fudan University and Tongji University . The property is set in the north-eastern part of the city, easily accessible to all major commercial districts.

Restaurant: The hotel also has six restaurants, featuring delicious Chinese and western cuisine and a cosy lounge that serves cocktail and fine drinks, in a relaxed ambience.