China Golden Triangle Tour

You will arrive at Beijing Capital International Airport or Beijing Daxing International Airport. After your arrival, your guide will transfer you to the hotel. On the way to the hotel, the guide will tell you some interesting stories and useful travel information about Beijing. Then you will check in at the hotel.

Free time suggestion: If your arrival is not too late, and you still are full of energy after a long trip, you can go to the Houhai Lake area or Sanlitun Bar Street to have a glimpse of Beijinger’s nightlife.

Houhai Lake

Sanlitun Bar Street

Today, your 8-day China tour begins. Beijing is an ancient city with a history of more than 3,000 years and a capital of more than 800 years. Nowadays, it is not only the capital of the People's Republic of China, but also the political center, the cultural center, the international communication center, and the scientific and technological innovation center.

This morning your tour will start from Tian’anmen Square, which is the largest city center square in the world. It is about the size of 61 FIFA football fields and can accommodate around 1 million people to get together to celebrate the important Chinese festivals. There were many big events that happened in Tiananmen Square. In the first year of the Republic of China (1912), on February 12, Empress Dowager Longyu issued an imperial edict of abdication in the name of Emperor Xuantong (Pu Yi) on the Tiananmen Gate Tower. It was the end of the Chinese emperor system that lasted for 2,132 years from the first emperor Qin Shi Huang to the last emperor Pu Yi. On October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong, standing on the Tiananmen Gate Tower and waving to 300,000 people, solemnly proclaimed to the world "The Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China is established today!" The first five-star red flag of the new China was raised here. 

After walking through the Tian’anmen Gate and the Meridian Gate (Wu Men), you will enter the Forbidden City (closed each Monday). The Forbidden City, formerly known as the Palace Museum, is in the center of Beijing's central axis. It is the imperial palace of the 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in China. It is one of the best-preserved ancient wooden-structure architectures in the world and was listed as a World Cultural Heritage in 1987. During stroll in the Forbidden City, you may see the Forbidden City cats in some corners, or on the glazed tile roofs. There are 181 cats in total, and they are famous now. Every day, visitors from all over the world go to the Forbidden City to play with cats. If you are lucky, you can take pictures with these cats. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were some princesses and queens in the Forbidden City who kept cats, and these cats were called the Royal Imperial Cats. Some of the cats today may be the descendants of the Royal Imperial Cats. 

Then you will visit the Temple of Heaven. It was built in the south of Beijing in the 19th year of Emperor Yongle in the Ming Dynasty(1420), and was rebuilt during the emperors Qianlong(1739-1796) and Guangxu (1875-1908) periods of the Qing Dynasty. It was the place for the emperors to worship the god of heaven and pray for the good harvest in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Since 1420, after the buildings of the Temple of Heaven being finished, a total of 22 emperors had visited the Temple of Heaven in person and prayed here. If you are lucky, you may meet some Tai Chi enthusiasts who may teach you some Tai Chi movements. You will have lots of fun in it.

After lunch, you will go to the Summer Palace, which is also known as Royal Garden Museum. The Summer Palace, a royal garden of the Qing Dynasty in China, formerly known as the Qingyi Garden, is in the northwest of Beijing, 15 kilometers away from the Forbidden City. The Summer Palace was built by Emperor Qianlong to honor his mother, and was completed in 1764. It’s famous for one of the spots, Long Corridor, which let you and emperors both can enjoy the garden view even on rainy or snowy days.

Optional activities:

1. Watch a Kungfu show at night is a good choice if you are interested in real Chinese Kungfu. This show will last about 80 minutes(19:30 - 20:50).  
2. If you don’t know where to have dinner, a Peking Roast Duck dinner will round off your one-day Beijing tour. With a history of about 1500 years, Peking Roast Duck is a royal dish in ancient China. The chef will slice the duck up beside your table, and the guide will teach you how to eat it in an authentic way.
3. You may want to taste some local snacks, but don’t know where to go. Then Wangfujing Street is a good choice. Wangfujing Street is located in the city center, near the Forbidden City, and it is easy to get there. You could also have a taste of local snacks, like Tanghulu(hawthorns, covered with sugar and put on sticks).

Forbidden City

Summer Palace

This morning, we will drive for about 1 hour (55 KM) to visit the Ding Tomb of the Ming Tombs. Ming Tombs are the tombs of 13 emperors in the Ming Dynasty. The tombs are located at the foot of Tianshou Mountain in Changping District, Beijing, with a total area of over 120 square kilometers. Today, you will visit Ding Tomb, which is the only one of the Ming Dynasty 13 tombs that have been excavated in 1957 and can be visited in the underground palace. It is the tomb of the Emperor Wanli and his beautiful and beloved Empress of the Ming Dynasty. All the original buildings were burned down during the peasant uprising. If there are not many people in the tomb, you may feel a little scary when you see the coffin and their funeral objects. 

After lunch, we will visit the Great Wall. It is said that the Great Wall is the only man-made construction on Earth that can be seen by the astronaut in the space. The total length of the existing Great Wall is 21196.18km. The construction of the Great Wall began in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods(770 BC-221 BC) and has a history of over 2,000 years. It was listed as a World Cultural Heritage in 1987. You will visit one section today, Mutianyu Great Wall, which is the essence of the Great Wall constructed in the Ming Dynasty, with much fewer tourists than any other sections. If you want to experience some challenging activity other than climb the Great Wall, then you can take toboggan down. You can sit on the toboggan that you can control the speed and slide from the top to the bottom of the mountain instead of walking down step by step. If you want something more exciting, there is helicopter for you to choose.

Tips:

1. To protect the relics, photography is not allowed in the underground palace of Ding Tomb.
2. Wear comfortable shoes and clothes when visiting the Great Wall.
3. Wear sunscreen and sunglasses on sunny days or you may get sunburned.
4. When you encounter a difficult section, do not force yourself to climb further, safety first. You know that it become more difficult when you come back.

Ming Tombs

Mutianyu Great Wall

This morning, you will say goodbye to Beijing and head to Xi’an. You will take the estimated high-speed train G571 09:22/15:05 to Xi’an. After arrival in Xi’an, your Xi’an guide will pick you up at the train station and transfer you to see the 600 years old City Wall which is the most complete City Wall in China. The existing city wall was built in Ming Dynasty. Standing on the wall, you can see many ancient buildings as well as the bustling streets.

Optional: Except strolling on the City Wall, you could also rent a double-riding or triple-riding bicycle with your friends, lover, or children, and even you can fly a kite on the wall.

City Wall

double-riding

After breakfast, we will drive for about 1 hour (40KM) to visit the Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses Museum - the No.8 Wonder in the world. The Terra Cotta Warriors and the Horses stand silently to guard the tomb of China’s first emperor-Qin Shi Huang for over 2000 years. There are about 7,000 terra cotta warriors, 100 chariots, and 100 warhorses that have been excavated. The warriors are as tall as real men, generally around 1.8 meters. It is worth mentioning that the facial expression of each warrior is different. . According to their costumes, armors and hairstyles, there are differences among senior military officials, intermediate military officials, inferior military officials and general warriors. When the Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses were unearthed, a bronze sword was found, which was unusually tough. It was pressed under a 150 KG terra cotta warrior, making the bronze sword bent to 45 degrees. But the moment the terra cotta warrior was removed, the bronze sword immediately rebounded straight and restored naturally. How amazing it is!

Then we will go back to the city center and visit the Great Mosque, which is located in one lane of the Muslim Quarter, where you will visit later. Great Mosque is the only Chinese temple-style ancient mosque with a large-scale building complex. While the sightseeing, you will find many carvings of dragons. Why are there dragons in a mosque? Legend has it that during the invasion of China by the Eight-Power Allied Forces, Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu came to Xi'an for refuge and once visited the Great Mosque, so some dragons were carved to show respect to the emperor. As you know, Chinese use the dragon to represent the emperor.

At the end of the day, you could taste some local snacks at the Muslim Quarter. The most famous snack of Xi’an is Roujiamo, also known as Chinese hamburger, which is a snack of beef or mutton sandwiched between baked crispy burger. The beef or mutton are stewed in the ancestral cooking method.

Optional: Do you want one more authentic experience in Xi’an? Then tell your guide, and your guide will take you to watch the Tang Palace Dancing and Singing Show and have a dumpling dinner. You will have dinner first. After dinner, you will see the one-hour Tang Dynasty show. The dinner time is 18:50-20:10, and the show time is 20:30-21:40.

Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses Museum

Great Mosque

Today you will visit the Small Wild Goose Pagoda(closed each Tuesday), which was built during the reign of Emperor Zhongzong(707-710) of the Tang Dynasty to store Buddhist scriptures and Buddhist charts brought back from the Tianzhu(ancient India and nearby area) by the Tang Dynasty monk Yijing. Master Yijing is the most successful monk after master Xuanzang died. In addition to appreciating the ancient architecture, you can also learn calligraphy here if there is enough time. There will be a calligrapher to teach you to write one or two Chinese characters with a brush. 

Then you will have a local family visit. You could have a talk with this family, and know about their life, such as their jobs, their daily life, their children or their eating habits. After the visit, you will have a deep understanding of Chinese family culture. It must be a fantastic experience on your trip. 

After lunch, you will take an estimated flight HO1212 15:30/18:00 to Shanghai. Your Shanghai guide will be holding your name sign and waiting for you at the airport. Your guide will not leave until you appear. After your arrival, you will be transferred to the hotel and check in.

Small Wild Goose Pagoda

Xi‘an

After breakfast at the hotel, you will first visit Jade Buddha Temple. It was built in 1900 at first, but burned down during the war of the Revolution of 1911. The current Jade Buddha Temple was rebuilt in 1918. There are many Buddhist believers in Shanghai. If you are lucky, you can see a Buddhist religious rite conducted by the master at the Jade Buddha Temple. It is to release the souls of the deceased people from purgatory.

After the visit to the temple, you will go to see the Yu Garden (closed each Monday), which is a classical garden in Southern China. It was originally a private garden in the Ming Dynasty and has a history of more than 400 years. The president of China, Xi Jinping, and his wife once hosted French President Macron and his wife here, and they also toured the Yu Garden together. Then you will have some free time looking around the nearby bazaar. Here you can not only buy the nice silk products, but also taste the authentic Shanghai snack, steamed soup dumpling. Steamed soup dumpling is a unique food in Shanghai, you may not find it in any other place. The soup inside the dumpling is drinkable, but the outer bun skin is not edible. 

After lunch, we will go to the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, which is a symbolic building of Shanghai, with a tower height of 468 meters. At the tower base, there is a Shanghai City History Development Exhibition Hall. With more than 80 miniature attractions, hundreds of precious historical relics, hundreds of gorgeous buildings scaled down, 117 life-size wax figures, and nearly 1,000 small wax figures and clay figures, it reflects the development process of Shanghai. At 259 meters, there is a sightseeing hall, where you can enjoy the city view of Shanghai. There is a suspended sightseeing gallery covered with transparent glass at the periphery of the sightseeing hall. Besides, there is a buffet restaurant at 267 meters, which is a revolving restaurant, where you can see the whole of Shanghai during a meal.

Then you will have a walk on the Bund. The best place to take amazing river photos, and shoot promotional films of Shanghai tourism. There stand 52 classical buildings of very different styles, known as "Exhibition of the World's Architecture". For example, Three on the Bund was built in 1916 and was formerly known as the Chartered Mercantile Bank owned by the British. It was the first steel-frame building in Shanghai. Now there are four nice restaurants in the building.

The last stop of your trip is the No.1 shopping street the Nanjing Road. Here you will find not only the earliest department stores in China, but also century-old national brands. You can also taste authentic Shanghai dim sums, such as green dumplings, longevity cakes and crabmeat dumplings at Shen Dacheng restaurant. Shen Dacheng is a time-honored Chinese brand, which was founded in the first year of emperor Guangxu (1875) and has a history of more than 140 years. Moreover, you can also buy some Chinese traditional souvenirs here, like chopsticks and the Four Treasures of the Study(brush, ink, paper, and inkstone).

Optional:

1. This night is your last night in China, and don’t just stay at the hotel. I will recommend the acrobatic show, ERA - Intersection of Time, for you, and the duration is 90 minutes(19:30-21:00).
2. In the evening, you will take a Huangpu River Night Cruise and enjoy the beautiful night view of the Bund on the deck. It's said that “The best place to enjoy the view of Huangpu River is not on the Bund, but on a cruise”. Huangpu River Night Cruise is the Top night activity in Shanghai.

Oriental Pearl TV Tower

Yu Garden

You will have a free morning. The guide will meet you at the hotel lobby and take you to the airport according to the time of your flight. You will be back to your sweet home and the memorable China tour will end here. We hope you have a pleasant journey and look forward to serving you again!