China History and Culture Immersion Tour

Beijing is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the world's most famous historical and cultural cities and ancient capitals. With a history of more than 3,000 years as a city and more than 800 years as a capital, Beijing was the capital of five dynasties: Liao(907-1125), Jin(1115-1234), Yuan(1271-1368), Ming(1368-1644) and Qing(1636-1912), and became the capital of the new China when the People's Republic of China was founded on October 1, 1949.

In Beijing, it is hot and rainy in summers, cold and dry in winters. And springs and autumns are short there. The average rainfall was 483.9 mm, which is one of the highest in North China. The seasonal distribution of precipitation is very uneven, with 80% of the annual precipitation concentrated in the summer months of June, July and August.

Today, our guide will meet you at the arrival hall with holding your name sign. We won’t leave until your appearance. After meeting and greeting, we will drive to the hotel and our guide will help you with check-in.

After breakfast, we will go to see Tian’anmen Square which is located on the central axis of Beijing. The Tian’anmen Tower, the Great Hall of the People, the National Museum, the Monument to the People's Heroes and many other national symbols are located here. And various large-scale celebrations are also held here. Every morning, a flag-raising ceremony is held in Tian’anmen Square. It attracts countless visitors. During New Year's Day, Spring Festival, International Labor Day, National Day and the first day of every month, the flag-raising ceremony is different. It is called the festival flag-raising ceremony. During the festival flag-raising ceremony, the National Anthem is played live by the Military Band during the flag-raising. During the usual flag raising, it is the recording of the National Anthem that is played. The flag-raising ceremony is held when the sun rises every day.

If you are interested, you could check with the guide and come to Tian’anmen Square earlier to watch the flag-raising ceremony. 

Then we will walk through the underground tunnel to reach our next stop –the Forbidden City (closed each Monday).

The Forbidden City was the residence of the royal family during Ming(1368-1644) and Qing(1636-1612) Dynasties and is now known as the Palace Museum. In the Forbidden City, in addition to the ancient architecture and the endless stream of visitors, there are also cute animals, the most famous of which is the Forbidden City cat. Today there are about 150-200 cats in the Forbidden City. They live leisurely inside the Forbidden City and are fed on time by the staff. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were concubines in the Forbidden City who kept cats, and in the Qing Dynasty there was an archive dedicated to recording the origins and names of these pet cats. These cats hide most of the time during the day. If you are lucky, you may see one sleeping under the sunshine.

Then we will have lunch at a local restaurant.

After lunch, we will visit the Temple of Heaven. The Temple of Heaven was a place where emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties offered sacrifices to heaven and prayed for good harvests, and is located on the south side of Tian’anmen Square. Right now, it is also a public park for locals doing excises in the morning. There are a lot of ancient trees in the Temple of Heaven. Among all the ancient trees, the most amazing and famous tree is called Nine Dragons Cypress. It is more than 500 years old. It is located outside the fence on the northwest side of the Echo Wall (one attraction inside the Temple of Heaven). There is also a magical legend related to the tree. Legend has it that this tree is the tree of “fertility”. There was an infertile woman who touched the tree and she got pregnant and gave birth to a baby boy. In this way, not only women come to touch it, but even the man also came to touch it. Everyone expects lucky things to happen to them. Later, in order to protect the tree, the tree had to be protected by a fence. Although people can’t touch the tree right now, the beautiful legend has been passed down with it forever.

Our last stop is the Summer Palace. The Summer Palace is composed of Wanshou Mountain and Kunming Lake, with the peaks of the western mountains as the background, and the buildings are integrated with the mountains and lake. In the past, the royal family often spend their summer in the Summer Palace.

Dragon Lady Cixi loved to listen to opera in the Summer Palace's Garden of Harmonious Pleasures. She often asked her ministers to accompany her to listen to the opera. Sometimes it took several hours to finish the opera, during which many ministers would want to go to the toilet. But the biggest problem is that once the opera starts, the gate of the Garden of Harmonious Pleasures is closed, and there is no toilet in the Garden of Harmonious Pleasures. Even if there is a place to go to the toilet is also dedicated to Dragon Lady Cixi, others are not eligible to use it. There is a small door in the Garden of Harmonious Pleasures, out of which is a small aisle, from which the ministers can find the toilet. So, the ministers had to pay out of their own pockets to bribe the eunuchs at the door. Whenever there was a toilet emergency, the eunuch quietly opened the small door for the ministers to go outside for answering a call of nature. The ministers came back in a relaxed mood, so this place was jokingly called the happy alley. The guide will tell you more interesting stories about the Summer Palace during your visit.

Then we will drive back to the hotel.  

Temple of Heaven

Summer Palace

Today we will start our tour to the northwest of Beijing city. We will drive for about 1 hour to the visit Ming Tombs which is 45 kilometers away from Forbidden City. Ming Tombs is located in the Yanshan Mountains northwest of Beijing's Changping District and is a treasured place according to Feng Shui(Chinese Geomancy). Thirteen emperors of the Ming Dynasty were buried here. We will visit the Chang Tomb which is the first of the Thirteen Tombs, the tomb of Emperor Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty. It is said that the lost Yongle Canon(an encyclopedia compiled during the Ming Dynasty) is in the Chang Tomb, but since the cultural relics could not be well protected after the Ding Tomb was excavated, the Chang Tomb has been not allowed to be excavated.

After, we will continue our tour of the Great Wall.

Lunch will be at an authentic restaurant on the way to the Badaling Great Wall.

Badaling Great Wall is located northwest of Beijing city, and it is an outpost of Juyongguan, an important pass of the Great Wall. Badaling Great Wall is the best-preserved and most representative of the Great Wall built in the Ming Dynasty, and it is the earliest section of the Great Wall open to visitors. We will first arrive at the foot of the mountain. Then we will take a shuttle bus to the starting point of the Badaling Great Wall. Please remember to take some water with you. Because there’s no water selling on the Great Wall. We will give you some free time to conquer this wonder of the world.

After visiting, we will go back to the hotel.

Ming Tombs

Badaling Great Wall

After breakfast, our guide will take you to the train station. Today, you will take the estimated high-speed train G307 09:38/15:16 to Xi’an. 

Xi'an is one of the world's four most famous ancient capitals. It is the birthplace of Chinese civilization, the cradle of the Chinese nation, the outstanding representative of Chinese culture, and the eastern starting point of the Silk Road. Xi'an is the capital city with the longest history, the greatest number of dynasties and the greatest influence in Chinese history, and it is the first ancient capital of China. Since the founding of New China, more than 200 heads of state and leaders have visited Xi'an, including former U.S. Presidents Reagan and Clinton, Queen Elizabeth II, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, South Korean President Park Geun-hye, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Our local guide in Xi’an will hold your name sign and wait for you at the exit of the train station. Upon arrival, the guide will take you to first visit the Xi’an City Wall. The Xi'an City Wall is located in the center of Xi'an, 18 meters high, 12-14 meters wide at the top and 15-18 meters wide at the bottom. Inside the City Wall is commonly referred to as the Old City. There are also bikes for renting on the City Wall. It costs 20-50 CNY for each bike. If you are interested, you could have a try with your friends and families.

Then we will drive to the Muslim Quarter. Xi'an Muslim Quarter, as one of the representatives of Xi'an's customs, is the collective name of many streets in the Muslim District. There are a large number of food shops on both sides of the streets and nearly 300 kinds of special snacks. Here, you could savor the most authentic Roujiamo (Chinese hamburger) which is one specialty of Xi’an. Enjoy some free time there.

Then we will take you to the hotel overnight.

Xi’an City Wall

Muslim Quarter

This morning, we will drive for about 1 hour to visit the Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses Museum  which is located 42 kilometers northeast of the Xi’an City Wall. There are three pits in the Terracotta Warriors and Horses which is arranged in a shape of the Chinese character “品”. The three pits contain more than 7,000 terracotta figurines, 100 chariots, 400 pottery horses and hundreds of thousands of weapons.

After visiting, we will have lunch at a local restaurant nearby.

In the afternoon, we will drive about 1 hour to visit the Small Wild Goose Pagoda (closed each Tuesday) which is located 46 kilometers away from Terra Cotta Armys. The Small Wild Goose Pagoda is one of the representative Buddhist buildings during the heyday of the Silk Road which is also known as Jianfu Temple Pagoda in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). If we are lucky, we could attend a calligraphy class in the Small Wild Goose Pagoda. You will learn some simple Chinese characters.

After spending some quality time at Small Wild Goose Pagoda, we will drive back to the hotel overnight.

Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses Museum

Small Wild Goose Pagoda

Today, you will take the estimated flight 9H8349 13:05/15:55 to Guilin.

Guilin, located in northeastern Guangxi province, is a world-famous tourist destination and a famous historical and cultural city. It is a multi-ethnic region with dozens of ethnic groups such as Zhuang, Yao, Hui, Miao, Dong, etc. There are 4.76 million people in the city. The annual average temperature is about 19°C(66.2°F). In winter, Guilin is full of fragrant Osmanthus flowers, and the average temperature is around 15°C (59°F), with the lowest being 8°C (46.4°F). The temperature difference is not too big in spring and winter of Guilin, so you can wear spring clothes in both spring and winter. Summer is the rainy season in Guilin, with most of the rain falling in May and June, making it the "Rainy Guilin". If you choose to travel at this time, do not forget to bring umbrellas. At this time, you can wear normal summer clothes like a T-shirt.

Upon arrival, our guide will wait for you at the airport and take you to the hotel for a rest.

This morning, we will take the Li River Cruise to Yangshuo. Guilin Li River Scenic Area is the world's largest and most scenic karst landscape tour area. Guilin Li River's wondrous mountains and beautiful waters have attracted countless literati and writers, who have written many popular poems and articles.

It would be a pity to come to Guilin and not take a Li River Cruise. Lunch is on board.

When we arrive at Yangshuo, we will visit Yangshuo West Street which is known as a thousand-year-old street. It is located along the Li River, and although it is only 1.1 kilometers long, it is the busiest place in Yangshuo. It is lined with a variety of bars and restaurants on both sides of the road. Foreigners sometimes seem to be more numerous than Chinese people here, so it is also called "Foreigner Street". The buildings along the street still retain the classical charm of ancient China. We will give you some free time on West Street.

Then we will drive back to the hotel.

Yangshuo West Street

Li River

After breakfast, you will go to the airport and fly to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is a dynamic city and a major gateway city to China. Located at the southeastern tip of China, Hong Kong consists of four parts: Hong Kong Island, Lantau Island, the Kowloon Peninsula and the New Territories. Victoria Harbour, located between Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, is a world-renowned deep-water harbor. The night view of Victoria Harbour is stunning.

The weather in Hong Kong is sunny, warm and dry in the fall, slightly cold and dry in winter, warm and humid in spring, and hot and rainy in summer. Hong Kong has a population of approximately 7.51 million in mid-2019, the vast majority of whom are Chinese. The official languages of Hong Kong are Chinese and English. Most of the waiters in the restaurants and the sellers could speak English. The road signs are also in both Chinese and English. You would feel much easier to walk around without guidance than in mainland China.

Our local guide will wait for you at the arrival hall of the Hong Kong International Airport.

Then we will head to the hotel. The rest day would be your free time to discover the surroundings.

Today we will start our Hong Kong city tour from the Wong Tai Sin Temple. There is a custom of burning incense in Wong Tai Sin Temple at the beginning of the year. Every year on New Year's Eve, at midnight, the believers will rush to burn the "first incense" in the temple, the scene is very lively! People believe that the first person who burn the incense in front of Buddha will be blessed.

Then we will drive to Victoria Peak. Victoria Peak is the highest point in Hong Kong and has always been a symbol of Hong Kong. It is an ideal place to enjoy a bird's eye view of the magnificent harbor. Strolling along the scenic hilltop walkway, you can see the towering skyscrapers, the world-renowned Victoria Harbor and the refreshing green hills.

Then we will have a walk on Repulse Bay. Repulse Bay is one of the most beautiful beaches in Hong Kong, and is also knowns as "Hawaii" in China.

Our last stop is Stanley Market. Stanley Market is the busiest place in Stanley, with small shops and stalls selling leather, silk, wool, and cotton clothing, as well as Chinese handicrafts, watches and souvenirs. Enjoy some free time there.

After, we will head back to the hotel.

Wong Tai Sin Temple

Stanley Market

Today, we will have a Hong Kong Island tour. We will go to visit Lantau Island. We will drive directly to the Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car Station. Ngong Ping Cable Car is a cable car system linking Tung Chung and Ngong Ping, offering 360-degree views from the cable car. The total length of the cable car route is 5.7km and the journey takes about 20 minutes.

Taking the cable car, we will reach the top of the mountain. Walking through the Ngong Ping market, we will see the Po Lin Monastery. Every year, several ceremonies are held at the Po Lin Monastery to pray for good fortune and avoid disaster. Some of the more famous ceremonies are the Buddha's Birthday celebration in early April and the Great Compassion Dharma Ceremony in mid-September.

The world-famous Big Buddha is located at the top of Ngong Ping Mok Yue Peak on Lantau Island, opposite Po Lin Chorten Monastery.

In the afternoon we will take a public bus to Tai O Fishing Village. If you want to see one of Hong Kong's rare stilt houses on the water, head to Tai O fishing village on the north-western tip of Lantau Island. The local people have been living together in stilt houses on the water for generations, and they continue to live there today. If the weather permits, we could also take a wooden boat tour.

At the end of the day, we will drive back to the hotel.

Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car Station

Po Lin Monastery

After checking out from the hotel, you will be transferred to the airport and fly to your sweet home.

Our service ends here.

Author: Lexie Jia

Proofreader: Summer Hou