China Highlights with Hong Kong Discovery. 14 Days Shanghai-Suzhou-Beijing-Xian-Guilin-Hong Kong

Transcription

1 China Highlights with Hong Kong Discovery 14 Days Shanghai-Suzhou-Beijing-Xian-Guilin-Hong Kong

2 Day 1 - Shanghai Upon arrival, you will be greeted by the guide and be transferred to your hotel in the city center. Accommodation: Grand Hyatt Shanghai (Grand River View Room) Day 2 - Shanghai (B, L, D) After enjoying your breakfast visit the lively People's Square, a popular area for Shanghai residents to do morning stretching exercises and a good spot to take in a panoramic vista of the city. Continue to the Urban Planning Museum to learn more about the city's future and past and to see a scale model of how Shanghai will look in Then stop in at the Shikumen Museum, where a traditional courtyard home is decorated as it would have been in the 1920s. For lunch, you will go to Crystal Jade restaurant to taste Cantonese cuisine. Move on to the Former French Concession to experience a mixture of both Chinese and Parisian taste. After that visit the trendy boutiques and restaurants in the Xintiandi district. Tonight, you will have dinner at South Beauty 811 Club. It is a one of the top place to try Sichuan cuisine. Accommodation: Grand Hyatt Shanghai (Grand River View Room)

3 Day 3 - Shanghai (B, L, D) After breakfast you come to a local residential community. You will visit a kindergarten, a neighborhood committee and a food market nearby. Then pay a visit to Children Palace. It was initiated by Soong Ching-ling and offers after-school activities to children. The place is most frequently visited not only because of the founder but also the gorgeous colonial settings of the building itself. This noon, you will have chance to taste the authentic Shanghai food in a restaurant named Lynn. After having lunch you will enjoy a leisurely walk along the Bund, the most famous landmark of Shanghai. Then take a boat tour on the Huangpu River. At night, you will dine at Jean Georges, a very nice French restaurant on the Bund that offers wonderful views across the river of the Pudong skyline. After dinner go to the historic Peace Hotel to hear its famous jazz band. Accommodation: Grand Hyatt Shanghai (Grand River View Room) Day 4 - Shanghai Tongli Suzhou (B, L) Today you will be driven to Tongli. Explore this small water town with delightful scenery in peace and tranquility. It's well-known for its "low bridges, running water and small villages", for its customs and traditions, as well as

4 its rich collection of antiques and historic sites. After having lunch you will be transferred to Suzhou. You will have lunch at De Yue Lou, a famed Suzhou style restaurant. After lunch you visit Suzhou Museum which is designed by the world famous architect I.M.Pei. Besides thousands of cultural relics housed, the museum itself is absolutely a piece of exquisite piece of art work. You will also visit Net of Master Garden. Small but elegant, it was listed as a UNESCO world cultural heritage site in Dinner is on your own choice. Accommodation: Suzhou Shangri-la Hotel (Executive Room) Day 5 - Suzhou Shanghai Beijing (B, L) This morning continue exploring the historic city by visiting the Humble Administrator Garden, the largest and most beautiful garden in Suzhou. This noon you will make lunch at Songhelou, another old brand restaurant. After lunch you will be transferred to Shanghai airport to take flight CA1518 (Air China, 4:55pm 7:00pm) to Beijing. Meet your local guide on arrival and be transferred to your hotel. Dinner is not included tonight. Accommodation: Raffles Beijing Hotel (Landmark Room)

5 Day 6 Great Wall Excursion (B, L) This morning head for the superb Mutianyu section of the 2,000-year-old Great Wall, which is the country's most famous attraction and one of the few sights in the world that is still able to exceed the expectations of visitors. Walking along the walls and enjoy the breathtaking landscapes. Cable car ride is available to save your energy. For lunch, you will taste the authentic American food at Mutianyu Schoolhouse Restaurant. After lunch visit the Summer Palace, a royal residence set among traditional Chinese gardens on the beautiful Kunming Lake. Stroll along the famous Long Corridor and enjoy the traditional imperial architecture. Dinner will be your own arrangement. Accommodation: Raffles Beijing Hotel (Landmark Room) Day 7 - Beijing (B, L, D) After enjoying your breakfast your tour begins with a walk through Tiananmen Square, which is the world's largest with a capacity to hold over one million people. Continue through the beautiful Gate of Heavenly Peace to enter the splendid Fobidden City. It was the sacred heart of the empire for about 500 years ( ), totally 24 Ming and Qing Dynasty

6 emperors lived and ruled here. Your tour here will include access to two special exhibition halls, Hall of Clocks and Treasure Gallery, which are not included in normal tours. Have lunch at Li Jia Cai (Family Li Imperial Cuisine), the first Michelin star restaurant in Beijing famous for Chinese imperial cuisine. After lunch embark on a pedi-cab tour of the hutongs(alleyways) in Beijing's historic Houhai(Back Lakes)district. These alleyways containing traditional courtyard homes used to be neighborhoods in Beijing. Though many have been torn down to make room for modern buildings, some are saved and well preserved. On this tour, you will get to visit several homes and chat with the families who reside in them, a rare insight into everyday life of Beijingers. Tonight enjoy a traditional Peking duck dinner at Dadong Restaurant which is considered by many as the best duck restaurant in Beijing and repeatedly voted "Best Chinese Restaurant of the Year" in Beijinger's Annual Restaurant Awards. The skin of the duck at Dadong is crispy and you dont find any oil at all in the duck meat, more tasty and healthier. Accommodation: Raffles Beijing Hotel (Landmark Room) Day 8 - Beijing Xian (B, L) After enjoying your breakfast you will visit the spectacular Temple of Heaven, one of the most important landmarks of Beijing and a magnificent example of ceremony architecture, where emperors offered ritual sacrifices and prayed for good harvests. After that go to Liulichang, a street with long history and rich cultural

7 atmosphere. It is a favorite place of scholars, painters and calligraphers as there were hundreds of shops selling ancient books, paintings, ink stones...etc. Enjoy Cantonese cuisine and dim sum at Crystal Jade. After lunch you will be transferred to the airport. Take flight CA1225 (Air China, 3:30pm 5:25pm) to Xian. Upon arrival, your local guide will meet you and take you to your hotel. Dinner is on your own arrangement. Accommodation: Shangri-la Hotel Xian (Executive Room) Day 9 - Xian (B, L, D) After breakfast depart with your guide and driver for Xian's most famous attraction, the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum, one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the 20th century. Your tour here will include a privilege to get a closer look at the soldiers and horses. You may see the archaeologists working in the pit as the warriors are still being excavated. Enjoy lunch at Real Love Chang An, Xian's best-known restaurant. You will be deeply impressed by both its tasty dishes and excellent decoration. After lunch drive to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. It was built in AD652 to house and protect Buddhist scriptures brought back from India by a famous Chinese monk Xuanzang, who spent 17 years traveling to India for the scriptures and translating them into Chinese. His journey has been described in the famous Chinese novel Journey to the West.

8 Tonight you will enjoy dinner at Tang Palace while watching a fantastic dancing show Tang Dynasty Show. It is quite impressive and reflects the social conditions and culture of Tang Dynasty ( ) vividly. Accommodation: Shangri-la Hotel Xian (Executive Room) Day 10 - Xian Guilin (B, L) After breakfast visit the Shaanxi History Museum, which houses a wonderful collection of historic and cultural artifacts. Xian saw its heyday in Han (206 BC - AD 220) and Tang ( ) Dynasty. The museum boasts a great deal of extremely valuable relics reflecting the history, culture and social life of the two periods. From this point of view, even the Palace Museum (Forbidden City) can't compete with it. Enjoy lunch at Real Love Chang An, Xian's best-known restaurant. You will be deeply impressed by both its tasty dishes and excellent decoration. After lunch you will be transferred to the airport and take flight MU2307 (China Eastern, 5:40pm 7:25pm) to Guilin. Dinner is on your own tonight. Accommodation: Sheraton Guilin Hotel (Executive Room) Day 11 - Guilin Yangshuo (B, L) After enjoying your breakfast enjoy a half-day cruise tour on the picturesque Li River, a trip that afford close-up views of the stunning karst formations for which Guilin is famous.

9 Pass tranquil farming land, fishing scenes and picturesque villages as the ship sailing down the river. Buffet lunch is served onboard. arrive in Yangshuo, a small town set in the lush rice paddies and surrounded by meandering rivers and limestone peaks. In the afternoon embark a golf cart to travel through the streets and explore the peaceful countryside view. At night, dinner is on your own choice. Tonight enjoy a wonderful show named Impression Liu Sanjie directed by Zhang Yimou who is regarded the most intelligent and creative director in China. He also successfully directed the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Accommodation: Green Lotus Hotel (Deluxe River View Room) Day 12 - Yangshuo Guilin Hong Kong (B, L) This morning attend a Tai Chi class. Tai Chi is a Chinese martial art well-known to the public. In traditional Chinese fictions, it is often depicted as a sort of unconquerable power. But in modern time, its legendary meaning gradually fades away and it is now treated as daily exercise done mainly for health purpose. you will be driven to Guilin. Have lunch at Xinjiulong Restaurant. It is a nice restaurant located by the picturesque Li River. When dining there, you can meanwhile enjoy the gorgeous scenery of the river. This afternoon you will be transferred to the airport and take flight HX122 (Hong Kong Airlines, 6:00pm-7:30pm)to Hong Kong. Upon arrival your local guide will meet you at the airport and transfer you to your hotel. Check in for a 2-night stay. Accommodation: Peninsula Hong Kong (Grand Deluxe Harbor View)Dinner is on your own.

10 Day 13 - Hong Kong (B, L) After enjoying your breakfast you have an outstanding tour of Hong Kong's most important island, including a visit to Victoria Peak to treat you to a magnificent bird's eye of the city and bustling harbor, then move on to two of our loveliest beaches at Repulse Bay & Deep Water Bay, and Aberdeen with its fishing community and floating restaurant. Lunch is served at Cafe Deco. This afternoon is free for you to enjoy shopping around or explore further.and dinner is on your own choice. enjoy a half day free at leisure. Accommodation: Peninsula Hong Kong (Grand Deluxe Harbor View) Day 14 - Hong Kong (B) Free till departure transfer to the airport for your international flight.