Ancient Charm & Modern Style · Landscape Painting | 10 Days 9 Nights Group Tour of Beijing + Xi'an + Guilin + Shanghai

Welcome to China's capital, Beijing. Our driver will greet you at the airport/train station exit and take you to a downtown Beijing hotel to check in and rest. After that, you can arrange your time freely. You can rest at the hotel to ease the effects of jet lag, or take a stroll nearby. Suggested ways to arrive 1. By plane: Beijing has two airports, namely Beijing Daxing International Airport and Beijing Capital International Airport. Both airports have many international and domestic routes. You can fly to Beijing from countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, and Cambodia, and you can also fly to Beijing from most cities in China, such as Hong Kong, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Xi'an, Guilin, Hangzhou, Kunming, and Wuhan. 2. By train: Beijing's rail transit is extremely developed. You can take high-speed rail to Beijing from cities such as Xi'an, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, and Harbin.

After breakfast, you will head to visit the world-famous Tiananmen Square. [Tiananmen 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 see the majestic and solemn Tiananmen Gate Tower and learn about China's long history and culture. Afterwards, cross the square and head to visit 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 also the world's largest and best-preserved complex of wooden palace buildings. Here you can visit the important palaces one by one along the central axis, admiring the splendid and exquisite ancient palace architecture while following the guide's explanations to further understand 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 drive to visit the famous royal garden — the Summer Palace. [The Summer Palace] is the largest and best-preserved existing imperial garden in China, and one of China's four great famous gardens. It is known as the Royal Garden Museum, with beautiful scenery inside, and its pavilions, towers, lakes, bridges, and other views are simply breathtaking. 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, part of the Great Wall of China, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The Mutianyu Great Wall is the longest and best-restored section of the Chinese Great Wall, and enjoys the reputation of being "the most outstanding section of the Ten-Thousand-Li 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, Watchtower No. 20, to complete your Great Wall tour. 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 rest well.

Today our driver will take you to Beijing Railway Station to take a high-speed train to Xi'an. The journey takes about 4.5 to 5.5 hours, and along the way you can get a glimpse of China's towns and mountain scenery. After arriving at Xi'an Railway Station, our driver will greet you at the train station exit and take you to begin the subsequent itinerary. First, you will visit Xi'an's famous cultural landmark, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. [The Big Wild Goose Pagoda] is located inside Daci'en Temple and is the earliest existing and largest Tang Dynasty square pavilion-style brick pagoda. The pagoda body has 7 stories and is about 64 meters high. Here you can admire the ancient architectural style, view the scriptures and Buddha statues brought back from Tianzhu by Master Xuanzang that are collected in the pagoda, and also climb this thousand-year-old pagoda to look out over the city scenery of Xi'an. Afterwards, you will go to Xi'an's famous food and culture street, [Muslim Quarter], to experience the local living atmosphere while tasting local specialty snacks, such as roujiamo, Biangbiang noodles, and more.

After breakfast, you will drive about 40 kilometers (1 hour) to visit the Terracotta Army, one of the "Eighth Wonders of the World." [The Terracotta Army Museum] is a site museum built on the original location of the terracotta pits and is also China's largest ancient military museum. Under the vivid explanations 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 ancient Xi'an City Wall, which has a long history. [Xi'an City Wall] was first built in the Ming Dynasty, also known as the Xi'an Ming City Wall. It is one of the largest and best-preserved ancient city walls in China. You can climb onto the wall and walk on the historical blue bricks to 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 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 light up together, creating a spectacular scene.

This morning, after breakfast at the hotel, our driver will take you to the airport in advance according to your flight time to catch your flight to Guilin (about 2.5 hours). Welcome to Guilin. Our driver will greet you at the airport exit and take you on the rest of your itinerary. First, you will visit Guilin's iconic attraction—Elephant Trunk Hill. Located at the confluence of the Li River and the Peach Blossom River, Elephant Trunk Hill gets its name because its shape resembles a giant elephant drinking water in the river. Afterwards, you will visit Reed Flute Cave, known as the "Palace of Natural Art." Reed Flute Cave is one of China's most famous tourist caves. Inside the karst cave, large numbers of stalagmites, stalactites, stone pillars, stone curtains, and stone flowers, along with various scenes illuminated by colorful lights, are dazzling and dreamlike. You can follow your guide's explanations to learn about the formation of stalactites and old stories from the past.

After breakfast, depart from the hotel and take a car to the pier (about 1 hour), then take a Li River cruise to enjoy the most beautiful section of the Li River: the Guilin to Yangshuo section. The entire journey is about 84 kilometers and takes about 4 hours. People often say, "Guilin's scenery is the best under heaven, and Yangshuo's scenery is the best in Guilin." On this cruise, you can personally experience Guilin's picturesque, fairyland-like landscape, learn the legendary stories of sights such as Wangfu Stone and Guanyan, and enjoy the wonderful experience of traveling within a painting. (Lunch upgrade: we have carefully prepared a customized Western lunch for you, and the guide will bring the freshly cooked meal to you in the morning for you to enjoy on board.) After arriving in Yangshuo, the driver will pick you up from the pier and take you to the hotel to rest for a while. Then you can go out in Yangshuo and enjoy Guilin's most outstanding pastoral landscape. You can choose the following ways to explore: (1) driving plus walking; (2) cycling; (3) riding a motorcycle (an extra fee may be required). Whichever way you choose, you can travel along country roads and enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way, including karst mountains, rice fields, villages, and rivers, and you may also see scenes of life such as people working in the fields, children playing by the river, and cattle grazing in the fields. In the evening, head out to explore Yangshuo's busiest district, West Street. This is a street that perfectly combines Eastern and Western elements and is also the best place to experience Yangshuo's nightlife. Whether you want to taste some local food or find a small shop to order a drink, relax, and enjoy a rare leisurely moment, this place can meet your needs.

This morning, after enjoying breakfast at the hotel, our driver will take you to the airport in advance according to your flight time to catch your flight to Shanghai. Welcome to Shanghai. Our driver will greet you at the airport exit and escort you to your hotel in downtown Shanghai for check-in. You are free to arrange the rest of the time as you wish. If you are tired, you can rest at the hotel to recharge; if it is still early, you can also take a stroll around the neighborhood.

After breakfast, you will head to the Lujiazui business district in Pudong, Shanghai, to visit the tallest building in Shanghai and 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, where you can enjoy a magnificent 360° panoramic view of Shanghai's skyline and the city, looking down on the famous buildings around you. 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, you will visit the [Shanghai Museum East], to admire a variety of exquisite precious artifacts and gain a deeper understanding of China's long and profound history and culture. The Shanghai Museum East has a large number of artifacts on display, and especially worth seeing are its famous treasures: • Da Ke Ding: This bronze vessel from about 3,000 years ago is majestic and solemn in 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 from the Qin Dynasty, but also carries the ultimate code of the rise of the Qin economy. • Zi Zhong Jiang Pan: This bronze water basin from the Spring and Autumn period is carved with more than 30 lifelike aquatic animals. When clear water flows into the basin, these animals all rotate 360°, endlessly fascinating, and it further demonstrates the superb craftsmanship of the ancients. Afterwards, you will head to [Yu Garden], known as the "Crown of Famous Gardens in the Southeast", to enjoy the scenery of China's classical Jiangnan gardens. Yu Garden was first built in the 38th year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty (1559 AD), and has 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 comfort. Strolling along the winding paths of Yu Garden, you can admire China's ingenious garden layout, exquisite 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 take in Shanghai's architectural style of the 1930s and 1940s, and also browse various century-old time-honored 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 World Architecture". It brings together 52 foreign-style buildings of different styles, such as the Shanghai Club, the Peace Hotel, and HSBC, and 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 will be replaced by a visit to Shanghai City God Temple; 2) Shanghai Museum East is closed on Tuesdays, and we will first try to arrange the People's Square branch. If the People's Square branch cannot be booked, other downtown attractions will be arranged as a replacement.

After breakfast, this wonderful 10-day in-depth exploration of China will come to an end. Our driver will take you to the airport or train station for your next destination. If you wish to extend this trip and explore more destinations in China, such as Tibet, Zhangjiajie, Yunnan, and more, you can also contact our customer service to arrange it for you.