DAY 01 Fly to Beijing
DAY 02 Arrive Beijing
Arrive in Beijing, China’s capital city. Welcomed by your local guide at the airport, you will be escorted to your hotel for check-in.
DAY 03 Beijing (B,LSD)
In the morning, marvel at the vast Tiananmen Square and see the neighboring halls and monuments. Walk through the Gate of Heavenly Peace to the magnificent Forbidden City, which was home to the Ming and Qing dynasties for over 500 years. Continue exploring Beijing’s famous sights with tour to the Temple of Heaven, a complex of buildings representing the pinnacle of Ming and Qing architecture built in 1420, including the Hall of Prayer for good harvest, the Imperial Vault of Heaven and Circular Altar. The surrounding park areas are also alive with locals practicing tai chi, playing traditional musical instruments, enjoying a game of Chinese chess, or just chatting with friends. Spend the afternoon at the former Imperial Summer Palace – the famous royal garden that was favored by the Empress Cixi in the late 19th century. Stroll through the “Long Corridor” to admire its painting gallery. Enroute visit a pearl factory. Tonight, you will be served with one of the most famous dishes at Quanjude Beijing Duck Restaurant.
DAY 04 Beijing to Xian (B,L)
Travel to the northwest of Beijing to visit China’s most famous attraction – the Great Wall of China. Built over 2,000 years ago, it stretches 4,000 miles across mountains and valleys in the northern part of China. Walk along a well-preserved section of this true wonder of the world and enjoy the panoramic views. You will also have a chance to visit a Jade Carving Museum. Tonight board your flight to Xian, Arrive in Xian your guide will escort you to hotel for check-in.
DAY 05 Xian (B,L,SD)
After breakfast, go to visit the Terracotta Warriors museum. It is a huge underground military museum constructed as an accessory pit of Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum. In the museum, you will not only appreciate the life-size warrior figures, but also enjoy the display of Chinese ancient weapons, which exemplify the wisdom of the laboring people over 2,200 years ago. Then you will visit the Small Wild Goose Pagoda Park. It mainly consists of the Xian Museum, the ancient Jianfu Temple built in the year 684 A.D during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and the famous Small Wild Goose Pagoda. Afterwards, visit the ancient City Wall, the largest and the best preserved one in china. The dumpling dinner and Tang Dynasty Show will be served in the evening.
DAY 06 Xian to Kunming (B,D)
In the morning, board your flight to Kunming, Arrive in kunming meet your guide and go to visit Western Hills, which are actually a range consisting of four mountains: Biji, Luohan, Huating, and Taiping. Viewed from a distance, the skyline of the Western Hills’ forest reserve resembles a beautiful maiden reclining leisurely alongside of Dianchi Lake with her long hair drifting casually in the mirror-like water. It is for this reason that the local people gave the Western Hills the nickname, Sleeping Beauty Hills. Then go through the Dragon Gate, which is the steepest spot in the Western Hills and well worth climbing up the winding old stone stairs because the view is spectacular, visit Huating Temple, which is the largest Buddhist temple in Kunming and its history stretches back to 900 years. Inside are three gilded lacquer Buddhas seated upon lotus thrones and 500 statues of Buddhist Arhats on the sidewalls. There is a stark contrast between the three majestic Buddhas and the seemingly easy-going poses of the luohans.
Day 07 Kunming (B,L)
Visit a fantastic natural phenomenon located southeast of Kunming – The Stone Forest. It covers an area of 400 square kilometers (96,000 acres) and includes both large and small stone forests, as well as many other scenic spots. An old local saying says that “If you have visited Kunming without seeing the Stone Forest, you have wasted your time.” Truly, the Stone Forest is one of the most important attractions of Yunnan). After lunch drive back to Kunming to visit the Flower and Birds market. Afterwards enjoy free time at Nanping Street, a commercial and entertainment street.
Day 08 Kunming to Dali (B,L,D)
This morning you will take your morning flight to Dali. Upon arrival, take a cruise tour of Erhai Lake. Erhai Lake is the largest highland lake next to Dianchi and one of the seven biggest fresh water lakes in China. It means, “Sea shaped like an ear”, in Chinese. Implying that the lake is ear shaped and as large as a sea, hence it was so named. In a sunny day, the crystal waters of Erhai Lake and the snow mantled Cangshan Mount radiate with each other. Thus the scene was commonly described as “Silver Cangshan and Jade Erhai”. After lunch Visit Dali Old Town, which was set up in 1382 A.D during the Ming Dynasty as the capital of the Dali kingdom. At present, only the south and north gate towers remain standing. Walking in the city, you will enjoy many historical relics, ancient buildings and rich minority customs, such as the “Foreigners Street”, the ancient Yuxi School, tea houses, and antique shops. Afterwards, visit The Three Pagodas. In the time of Nanzhao and Dali Kingdoms, Chongshengsi was the largest monastery in this area and the Three Pagodas were only a part of it. Now, the monastery has long disappeared and only the Three Pagodas remain.
Day 09 Dali to Lijiang (B,L,D)
Instead of transferred directly from Dali to Lijiang , you will stop by a time-warp ancient town, Shaxi Ancient Town, which is listed by the World Monuments Fund as one of the world’s 100 most endangered sites. As a place where you can breathe in fresh air around-the-clock, this town was once a crucial node on the tea-horse roads and has not yet been invaded by hordes of tourist. The Xinjiao Temple on Sideng Street is the only Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) Bai Buddhist temple. Afternoon continue to the tour in Lijiang. Lijiang Ancient Town presents a fusion of beautiful scenery, minority architecture, and culture. It is very rare in China that such a well-preserved minority ancient city still exists. Afterwards, visit the Black Dragon Pool Park, where the view of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain is one of the most famous postcard-perfect sceneries in southwest China.
Day 10 Lijiang (B,L)
This morning you will go visit the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, the holy mountain of the Naxi people. Use the cable car and find yourself in a real paradise as you overlook stunning and variant natural beauty, including spruces, meadows, lakes, pines, and clouds. Afterwards, visit the mysterious Baisha Murals at Baisha Village .Painted over 1,000 years ago, the murals display the life stories of China’s main religions, including Confucianism, Taoism, and Tibetan Buddhism. We will also have a chance to visit a Local Herb Clinic to see how the old doctor and his apprentice diagnose and treat patients using traditional Chinese medicine.
Day 11 Lijiang to Shangri-La (B,L,D)
Today we will drive from Lijiang to Shangri-La . Enroute we will visit Stone Drum Town stands at the base of the mountain flanking the First Bend of the Yangtze River. This town derives its name from a white marble carved monument in the sharp of a drum. It is where three rivers meet and make a sudden 100-degree turn to make a V-shaped bend, which is a magnificent scene. Afterwards, visit one of the world’s deepest and most marvelous gorges, the Tiger Leaping Gorge. The dashing water from the magnificent Jinsha River into the narrow valley with a stone in the center. There is an ancient saying that the gorge is so narrow that a tiger was able to leap over to the other side of the river, hence the name.
Day 12 Shangri-La (B,L,D)
Today visit the largest Tibetan Buddhist Lamasery in Yunnan Province – Songzanlin Lamasery – which was build in the style of Potala Palace in Lhasa and represents the Tibetan culture, housing Buddhist statues and many precious culture treasure. Afterwards, visit Pudacuo National Park retains a well-preserved ecosystem within the virgin forests. The must see scenery in this park includes Lake Bita and Lake Shudu. “Bita” means ‘ a place with a dense oak forest’ in the Tibetan language and “Bitahai” means ‘a quiet lake’. The Bitahai Lake is surround by mountains covered with ancient pines, oaks, and rhododendrons, and appears like an emerald in the heart of the mountains. Shudu Lake is surrounded by a forest of fir, spruce, and silver birch, and is home to lots of wild animals.
Day 13 Shangri-La to Shanghai (B)
This morning board your flight to shanghai, Arrive in Shanghai meet your guide and go to visit Shanghai Museum. As a museum of ancient Chinese art, Shanghai Museum possesses a collection of over 1,000,000 objects, about 120,000 of which are precious works of art. High quality collection of ancient Chinese bronze, ceramics, painting and calligraphy is specially celebrated in the world. Later enjoy free time in Nanjing Road.
Day 14 Shanghai (B,L)
In the morning, take a walk on the Bund. The Bond’s Art Deco and Neoclassical facades appear much as they did during Shanghai’s previous heyday as China’s most international city, way back in the 1920s and ’30s. Of course, the surroundings have changed radically. Then go to visit the Shanghai Bazaar and Yu Yuan Garden. Yuyuan is the most famous garden in Shanghai. It is located in the heart of Shanghai’s Old City (Shanghai bazaar), one of the few existing old tourist places in Shanghai. Shanghai bazaar is teemed with a great number of small streets and lanes where vendors sell their products and food stuffs to the tourists and local people. After lunch, go to visit Jade Buddha Temple, is the most famous Buddhist temple in Shanghai. The temple was established in 1918 with the style of the Song Dynasty. It is an active temple with over 70 monks. It houses a 1.9-metre-tall jade statue of Buddha carved out of a single piece jade. Afterwards, take a short tour of a silk spinning factory to see how Chinese silk has been produced since the 14th century .
DAY 15 Shanghai to Hometown (B)
You will have a free time till transfer to airport.
B= Breakfast
L= Lunch
D=Dinner
SD=Special Dinner
