Splendid China | 10 Days 9 Nights Pure-Play Small Group Tour of Beijing + Xi'an + Chengdu + Shanghai

Welcome to Beijing, the capital of China. Our driver will greet you at the airport/train station exit and take you to your hotel in downtown Beijing to check in and rest. After that, you are free to spend your time as you wish—relax at the hotel to ease the effects of jet lag, or explore the surrounding area. Suggested ways to arrive 1. By plane: Beijing has two airports, Beijing Daxing International Airport and Beijing Capital International Airport. Both offer numerous international and domestic routes. You can fly to Beijing from countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, and Cambodia, as well as from most cities in China, such as Hong Kong, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Xi'an, Guilin, Hangzhou, Kunming, and Wuhan. 2. By train: Beijing has an extremely well-developed rail network. You can take a high-speed train to Beijing from cities such as Xi'an, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, and Harbin.

After breakfast, you will visit the world-renowned Tian'anmen Square. [Tian'anmen Square] is located on Beijing's central axis and is the largest city-center square in the world. It holds an important place in Chinese history and has witnessed countless major historical events. Here you can view the majestic and solemn Tian'anmen Gate Tower and learn about China's long-standing culture. Afterwards, cross the square and head to the Beijing Palace Museum. [The Forbidden City], also known as the Purple Forbidden City, is located at the center of Beijing's central axis. It was the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties and is the world's largest and best-preserved complex of wooden palace architecture of a forbidden city. Here you can visit the important halls along the central axis in sequence, admiring the splendid and exquisite ancient palace architecture while following the guide's commentary to learn more about the historical stories of the Forbidden City. After finishing, you can also go to the nearby [Jingshan Park] (about a 15-minute walk) to overlook the panoramic view of the Forbidden City and the magnificent scenery of Beijing. In the afternoon, you will take a car to visit the famous imperial garden, the Summer Palace. [The Summer Palace] is the largest and best-preserved imperial garden existing in China, and one of China's four great gardens. It is known as the Museum of Imperial Gardens, with beautiful scenery inside, and its pavilions, towers, lakes, bridges, and other views are a feast for the eyes. Tip: The Beijing Palace Museum is closed on Mondays, and the visiting order will be adjusted according to the actual situation.

After breakfast, you will drive 73 kilometers (about 1.5–2 hours) to visit the Mutianyu Great Wall, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. [Mutianyu Great Wall] is the longest and best-restored section of the Great Wall in China, and enjoys the reputation of being "the most outstanding section of the Great Wall." You can first take the cable car up to Watchtower No. 14, then hike westward, enjoying the magnificent surrounding mountain scenery and the winding, majestic views of the Great Wall along the way, before reaching the highest point at Watchtower No. 20 to complete your Great Wall journey. After visiting the Great Wall, return to downtown Beijing, and along the way view the exteriors of the [Bird's Nest] (Beijing National Stadium) and the [Water Cube] (Beijing National Aquatics Center), and take photos with them. Then return to the hotel and have a good rest.

Today our driver will take you to Beijing Railway Station to catch a high-speed train to Xi'an. The journey takes about 4.5–5.5 hours, and along the way you can take in views of Chinese towns and mountain scenery. Upon arrival at Xi'an Railway Station, our driver will greet you at the exit and take you on the rest of your itinerary. First, you will visit Xi'an's famous cultural landmark—the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda. Located within Daci'en Temple, the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda is the earliest and largest surviving square pavilion-style brick pagoda of the Tang Dynasty. It has seven stories and stands about 64 meters tall. Here you can admire the ancient architectural style, view the Buddhist scriptures and statues that Master Xuanzang brought back from Tianzhu, and climb this thousand-year-old pagoda to look out over the city of Xi'an. Afterwards, you will visit Xi'an's famous food and culture street—Muslim Quarter—where you can soak up the local atmosphere while savoring local specialty snacks such as roujiamo and Biangbiang noodles.

After breakfast, you will take a car for about 40 kilometers (1 hour) to visit one of the "Eighth Wonder of the World," the Terracotta Army of Qin Shi Huang. [The Museum of the Terracotta Army of Qin Shi Huang] is a site museum built on the original site of the terracotta pits and is also China's largest ancient military museum. Under the vivid commentary of a professional guide, you will visit Pits No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 in sequence, learning about the historical background and production techniques of the Terracotta Army, as well as the little-known stories behind these thousand-year-old clay figures buried in the long river of history. In the afternoon, head to visit the time-honored Xi'an Ancient City Wall. [The Xi'an Ancient City Wall], first built in the Ming Dynasty and also known as the Xi'an Ming City Wall, is one of the largest and best-preserved ancient city walls existing in China. You can climb onto the wall, walk on the historical gray bricks, and feel the charm of the ancient city wall, or ride a bicycle to enjoy the excellent scenery formed by the ancient city wall and the modern cityscape together. In addition, near the Xi'an Ancient City Wall, you can also visit the amazing Bell Tower and Drum Tower. The Bell Tower and Drum Tower were first built during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, about 600 years ago. The two buildings echo each other from afar and are magnificent. When night falls, the lights of the Bell Tower and Drum Tower come on together, creating a spectacular scene.

This morning, after breakfast at the hotel, our driver will take you to the train station in advance according to your ticket time to catch the high-speed train to Chengdu (about 3–4 hours). Welcome to Chengdu. Our driver will greet you at the train station exit and escort you to your hotel in downtown Chengdu for check-in. You can arrange the remaining time freely. If you are tired, you can rest at the hotel to recharge; if there is still time, you can also take a stroll around the area.

After breakfast, you will drive about 17 kilometers to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in the northern suburbs of Chengdu, to see China's adorable national treasure, the giant panda, and learn about their habits and conservation. The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, or Chengdu Panda Base for short, is home to more than 100 giant pandas, making it the base with the largest captive giant panda population in the world. Here you can watch giant pandas of different ages playing, eating, climbing hills and trees, and sleeping in the park, and you can also follow your guide to visit the Panda Museum to learn more stories about pandas. In addition, if you visit in autumn, you may have the chance to see adorable giant panda cubs in the Moon Nursery and Sun Nursery. In the afternoon, you will drive about 50 kilometers (1 hour) to visit the Sanxingdui Museum, known as "sleeping for three thousand years, awakening to astonish the world." Unearthed in 1929, Sanxingdui is the largest, longest-lasting, and culturally richest ancient state site discovered to date in southwestern China. Here you will see the majestic bronze standing figure, the exquisitely crafted bronze sacred tree, the paper-thin gold mask, the intricately patterned gold staff... and, following your guide's footsteps, travel through the dust of history to explore the ancient Shu civilization and unlock the mysterious stories behind these artifacts. After the visit, return to downtown Chengdu and stroll through Jinli Ancient Street. Jinli is Chengdu's oldest and liveliest commercial district, with a history dating back to the Qin and Han dynasties. Here you can explore and taste traditional Chengdu snacks, watch interesting folk performances, and admire the beauty of traditional Chinese ancient architecture. Plan B: Chengdu Panda Base + Chengdu Museum + Kuanzhai Alley + People's Park Note: During peak season, the Sanxingdui Museum is very crowded during holidays, and tickets are hard to come by. If tickets are sold out, your itinerary will be adjusted to Plan B, a tour of downtown Chengdu. The itinerary changes are as follows: In the afternoon, you will visit the Chengdu Museum, the largest comprehensive city museum in southwestern China. This is an excellent place to learn about Chengdu's history, culture, and art. The museum has a rich collection of more than 200,000 items, covering precious artifacts from the Neolithic period to the Republic of China era, such as bronzes, gold and silver wares, pictorial bricks, stone carvings, ceramics, calligraphy and paintings, and furniture. Among them, the humorous Eastern Han drumming and singing pottery figurine, the mysterious Sanxingdui bronze human-face mask, the exquisite lacquered figure with meridian points, and the finely crafted openwork gilded sachet are the museum's treasures and well worth careful viewing. In addition, the museum's shadow puppetry, puppet shows, Sichuan opera, Sichuan cuisine, and teahouse culture and other Chinese intangible cultural heritage are truly stunning, allowing you to experience up close the charm of Chengdu's splendid history and culture and its unique folk customs. Afterwards, you will visit Kuanzhai Alley, hailed as one of the "Ten Most Beautiful Streets in Sichuan." This is the only remaining ancient street from the Qing Dynasty in Chengdu, preserving the authentic old Chengdu style. It is a great place to experience the genuine laid-back, slow life of Chengdu. Strolling leisurely through it, you can admire exquisite ancient architecture, taste authentic old Chengdu food (dandan noodles, spicy rabbit head, skewers, etc.), and take great travel photos. Next, continue to People's Park, praised as one of the "Most Beautiful Parks in Chengdu," to experience Chengdu's relaxed culture up close and the slow pace of local life. Here, in a century-old teahouse, you can order a cup of fragrant covered-bowl tea and sit on a bamboo chair chatting leisurely with a few friends. You can also experience intangible cultural heritage ear cleaning (at your own expense) and enjoy the tingling "little comfort" that shoots straight to your head, or watch the exciting local mahjong games and visit the famous matchmaking corner. If you are lucky, you may even encounter locals dancing square dances, practicing tai chi, or playing traditional Chinese instruments.

After breakfast, you will have some free time in Chengdu until the driver takes you to the airport to catch a flight to Shanghai. After arriving in Shanghai, our driver will greet you at the airport exit and take you to a downtown Shanghai hotel to check in. You can arrange the remaining time freely. If you are rather tired, you can rest at the hotel to recharge; if it is still early, you can also take a stroll nearby.

After breakfast, you will head to the Lujiazui business district in Pudong, Shanghai, to visit the tallest building in Shanghai and even in China — [Shanghai Tower]. Here, you will take the world's fastest sightseeing elevator (73.8 km/h) directly to the "Top of Shanghai Observatory" on the 118th floor, 546 meters above the ground, and enjoy a 360° panoramic view of Shanghai's magnificent skyline and the city, overlooking the famous buildings around. If you are interested, you can also send a special blessing from above the clouds to your family and friends at the Top of Shanghai Air Post Office, currently the highest post office in the world. Afterwards, head to visit the [Shanghai Museum East]. Admire various exquisite and precious cultural relics and gain a deeper understanding of China's long and profound history and culture. The Shanghai Museum East has many cultural relics on display, and especially worth seeing are its famous treasures: • Da Ke Ding: This bronze vessel from about 3,000 years ago has a majestic and solemn appearance and is an outstanding representative of China's Western Zhou bronze culture. • Shang Yang Fang Sheng: As a relic of Shang Yang's reforms, it is not only a physical standard of weights and measures in the Qin Dynasty, but also carries the ultimate code of the rise of Great Qin's economy. • Zi Zhong Jiang Pan: On this bronze water basin vessel from the Spring and Autumn period, more than 30 lifelike aquatic animals are carved. When clear water flows into the basin, these animals all rotate 360°, full of fun, and it also showcases the superb craftsmanship of the ancients. Afterwards, head to [Yu Garden], known as the "crown of famous gardens in the southeast," to enjoy the scenery of classical Jiangnan gardens in China. Yu Garden was first built in the 38th year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty (1559 AD), with a history of more than 460 years. It was originally a private garden built by Pan Yunduan, the Ming Dynasty provincial administration commissioner of Sichuan, for his father to spend his later years in peace. Strolling along the winding paths of Yu Garden, you can admire China's exquisite garden layout, beautiful classical architecture, and superb brick carvings, stone carvings, clay sculptures, and wood carvings. The Yuyuan Bazaar near Yu Garden is a very lively district where you can taste the most authentic Shanghai cuisine or browse various traditional Chinese handicraft shops. Afterwards, you can walk along [Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street], known as "China's No. 1 Commercial Street," to the Bund, about 2 kilometers in total. Along the way, you can appreciate Shanghai's architectural style of the 1930s and 1940s, and also browse various century-old brand stores. [The Bund] is located on the west bank of the Huangpu River and is one of Shanghai's landmark attractions, known as the "Exhibition of Ten Thousand Nationalities' Architecture." It brings together 52 exotic buildings of different styles, such as the Shanghai Club, the Peace Hotel, and HSBC Bank. Stepping into it feels like entering the golden age of the former Wall Street of the East. Standing by the river, you can also look out at landmark buildings such as Shanghai Tower, Oriental Pearl Tower, Jin Mao Tower, and Shanghai World Financial Center. Tips: 1) Yu Garden is closed on Mondays, and the visit will be changed to Shanghai City God Temple; 2) Shanghai Museum East is closed on Tuesdays, and priority will be given to arranging the People's Square branch. If the People's Square branch cannot be booked, other downtown attractions will be coordinated as a replacement.

After breakfast, this wonderful journey will come to an end. Our driver will take you to the airport or train station for your next destination. If you would like to extend this trip and explore more destinations in China, such as Xinjiang, Tibet, Yunnan, Guilin, or Zhangjiajie, you can also contact our customer service to arrange it for you.