China Essential Escorted Tour

Welcome to Beijing, the capital of China! You will arrive at Beijing Capital International Airport or Beijing Daxing International Airport, which depends on your flight. Your guide will be waiting for you in the arrival hall holding your name sign with a warm smile. After an exchange of greetings, you will be transferred to the hotel. On the way to the hotel, you may feel free to ask any questions and your guide will answer you patiently. At the same time, your guide will make a brief introduction to Beijing, which can help you learn more about the beautiful city.

Beijing is not only a political center, but also a cultural center with thousands of years of history. It boasts many historical and cultural sites that are waiting for you to explore. Therefore, your journey in Beijing will be very colorful and unforgettable.

Free Time Suggestion: After checking in at the hotel, you can go to Wangfujing Street if you are still energetic after a long trip. Wangfujing Street is the most famous commercial street in Beijing. It is 1,818 meters long and consists of four sections. There are different kinds of stores and shopping malls along the street, with a wide business scope of daily necessities, clothing, and jewelry. Besides, local restaurants can also be found there. It is a great place for visitors to enjoy themselves.

Today, you will be shown around several famous places of interest. After breakfast, you will first go to visit Tian’anmen Square. The square was an imperial square outside the imperial city during the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368-1912) and was not open to common people during that period. Now, it is a popular place for sightseeing and celebration. There are several famous buildings scattered in the square, including the Monument to the People’s Heroes, the Mao Zedong Memorial Hall, and the Great Hall of the People. Every early morning, solemn flag-raising ceremony will be held in the square, which attracts countless citizens and visitors.

Walking through Tian’anmen Square, you will enter the Forbidden City (closed each Monday). The Forbidden City was the imperial palace of the 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is divided into two parts: the outer court and the inner court. In the center of the outer court stand the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Central Harmony, and the Hall of Preserving Harmony where great national ceremonies were held in the past. The inner court is the place where emperors, empresses, and concubines lived. Among all the halls, the Hall of Supreme Harmony is the most dignified building in the Forbidden City. It has fifty-five doors and is supported by seventy-two pillars. The interior decoration of the hall is extremely exquisite and featured by Chinese dragons. Besides, there are ten mysterious animal statues at each of its roof corners. In Chinese imperial tradition, the more mysterious animal statues on the roof, the higher this palace ranks. The number of mysterious animal statues on the roof of the Hall of Supreme Harmony is the biggest, which manifests its superiority to other buildings.

After lunch, you will visit the Temple of Heaven. The Temple of Heaven was the place where the emperors in the Ming and Qing Dynasties offered sacrifices to the god of heaven and prayed for the good harvest. It is divided into two parts (inner part and outer part). There are many magnificent and exquisite ancient buildings in the inner part, such as the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the Circular Mound Altar, and the Imperial Vault of Heaven. Among these ancient buildings, the Imperial Vault of Heaven was the place for housing the sacrificial offerings in the heaven-worshiping ceremony. There is a magic attraction called Three Echo Stones. The attraction refers to the three special flagstones on the road outside the front gate of Imperial Vault of Heaven. When standing on the first flagstone and clapping, you can hear one echo; standing on the second flagstone and clapping, you can hear two echoes; doing so on the third flagstone, you can hear three echoes. That’s why it is called Three Echo Stones.

Next, you will go to the Summer Palace. It was built as an imperial garden for the short stay of the royal family of the Qing Dynasty (1636-1912) in summer. As a representative of classical Chinese gardens in terms of design and construction, it has become a popular attraction among visitors from all over the world. It integrates natural landscapes, historical buildings, and cultural relics. The Kunming Lake inside covers three-fourths of the total area of the Summer Palace. There are three small islands on the lake, symbolizing the three sacred mountains (Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou) in ancient Chinese legends. Along the west causeway of the lake, rows of willows are planted. The combination of the rippling lake with the green willows forms the enchanting scenery in summer.

Tian’anmen Square

Summer Palace

Hutongs are narrow lanes or alleys stretching between rows of Siheyuan (quadrangle courtyard). They have existed for more than 700 years and reflect the history and culture of Beijing. At first glance, the Hutongs look almost the same with gray walls and tiles. However, after exploring several Hutongs, you will find that each Hutong has its characteristics. Besides, Hutongs are named based on various factors such as shapes, locations, dialects, plants, and famous people. For example, Xianyukou Hutong gets its name Xianyukou (Xianyu means fresh fish in Chinese.) because it once was a busy dock where many fishermen sold fresh fish. Now, it is featured by a variety of fish-related decorations involving brick carvings, manhole covers and road lamps.

If you want to visit Hutongs as many as possible, you can take a rickshaw, which is a three-wheeled vehicle with a bike-like front and a chair-like body. It can accommodate one or two passengers. You can explore Hutongs sitting on a rickshaw without feeling tired. During the tour of Hutongs, we can also arrange a local family visit for you. By visiting the house of local people, you can know well the structure of Beijing’s traditional residence and get close to the life of Beijingers.

After a local family visit, you will have lunch and then go to the Mutianyu Great Wall. The Mutianyu Great Wall is a well-preserved and representative section of the whole Great Wall. It had great significance in serving as a military barrier to guard the safety of Beijing in the past. There are plenty of trees on the mountains, where the Mutianyu Great Wall is located. Together with these trees, the Mutianyu Great Wall will present different beautiful sceneries in four seasons. Apart from the natural scenery, you can also see cute cats on the Mutianyu Great Wall. They have lived here for many years, and you can feed them or take pictures with them if you like.

Hutongs

Mutianyu Great Wall

Today you will visit Beijing Zoo after breakfast. The zoo was built in 1906. It raises more than 5,000 rare wild animals (over 500 species). Among the houses for animals, the Panda House is the most popular. It has a unique shape, with the main building looking like a bamboo shoot. The outdoor activity venue is built by imitating the natural environment and is equipped with different amusement facilities, which can guarantee the giant pandas play leisurely. When you visit these chubby pandas, you may see them eating delicious bamboos, rolling on the ground, climbing up and down the trees, or playing with other pandas. You will feel happy and excited when seeing these cute animals.

After visiting Beijing Zoo, your journey in Beijing will come to an end. You will take an estimated flight CZ4461 16:10/18:20 to Shanghai. Shanghai is an international center for finance, trade, shipping, and technological innovation in China. It is also famous for a myriad of places of interest. After arriving there, your guide in Shanghai will be waiting for you at the airport, holding your name sign. You will be transferred to the hotel and have a nice rest. On the way to the hotel, the guide will tell you something interesting about Shanghai.

Beijing Zoo

Beijing Zoo

After breakfast, you will go to Yu Garden (closed each Monday), which is a classical garden in south China. It was built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) with a history of more than 400 years. The garden is featured by many ancient pavilions, halls, exquisite rockeries and ponds. One impressive anecdote about Yu Garden is that the Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom visited it about 30 years ago.

Then you will go to Jing’an Temple. The temple is the oldest Buddhist temple in Shanghai, with a profound history that can be traced back to about 1,800 years ago. It consists of three main buildings: the Great Buddha’s Hall, the Hall of Heavenly Kings, and the Three Sage Hall. Besides, there is a grand pagoda named Jing’an Pagoda in the temple, which is 63 meters high and enshrines a big golden statue of Shakyamuni. Apart from solemn statues of Buddha, the temple also houses numerous Buddhist scriptures and authentic works of ancient Chinese famous painters and calligraphers.

After lunch, you will be shown around the Shanghai Tower, which is a landmark skyscraper in Shanghai. With a total height of 632 meters, Shanghai Tower is the second-highest building in the world. As a high-rise building with comprehensive functions, it includes nine functional zones, such as business, conference, office, hotel, and sightseeing. There is a sightseeing hall on the 118th floor of this tower. This hall is surrounded by floor-to-ceiling glass walls, and you can overlook Shanghai with a 360-degree view.

Next, you will go to the Bund. It is the waterfront located on the west bank of Huangpu River. There are 52 classical buildings with different styles standing nearby, involving Gothic, Baroque, and Romanesque styles. Therefore, it is also known as the “Museum of World Architecture”. You can walk along the Bund to appreciate these special buildings and take some pictures, which offer you an opportunity to better feel the historical charm of Shanghai. Apart from this, you can also enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Huangpu River, where a flock of birds sometimes skim over the water.

Then you will go to Nanjing Road. It is the most bustling commercial street and one of the most famous tourist attractions in Shanghai. It is 5.5 kilometers long and is divided into two sections: East Nanjing Road and West Nanjing Road. The former is featured by large shopping malls, time-honored stores, and specialty shops while the latter is famous for luxury goods and high-end personalized consumption. You can almost find whatever you want in the Nanjing Road which is a paradise for shopping. It is also worth mentioning that various stores selling traditional Chinese delicacies can also be found in the Nanjing Road, including smoked fish, pork mooncake, and qingtuan (green sticky rice dumplings filled with sweet red bean paste).

Option: If you are not tired after a day’s visit, you can cruise on the Huangpu River to enjoy the night scenery. At night, the buildings along the river are decorated with bright lights of different colors. The river presents a different look under the illumination of those resplendent lights.

the Bund

Nanjing road

After breakfast, you will be transferred to Zhujiajiao Water Town, which is located in the west of Shanghai. The town is about 45 kilometers away from the downtown area of Shanghai and it will take about 1 hour to get there. The town is the most well-preserved ancient town in Shanghai and has always enjoyed a reputation of “Venice in Shanghai”. The town is crisscrossed by many rivers, and residential houses are usually built along rivers. Most of those residences are of brick and wood structure, with tile-consisted dark-gray roof and white walls, forming an elegant picture like Chinese ink painting. In addition, there are many bridges of different shapes spanning the water. Because of the special geographical environment, various alleys crisscross, forming a network layout. Besides, there are a variety of stores of ancient styles along the alleys. It is full of fun to explore this charming water town.

After lunch, you will go back to the downtown area and visit Tianzifang Market, which is especially popular among young people who love culture and art. The market is formed based on Shanghai’s most distinctive alleys among Shikumen buildings(a traditional Shanghainese architectural style combining Western and Chinese elements). The market gets its name (Tianzifang) from an ancient Chinese painter Tian Zifang. Walking on this market, you can feel strong artistic atmosphere. There are numerous creative studios, art workshops, galleries, and antique shops scattered in the market. In addition, you can find various cafes with different styles there. Walking in the maze of alleys, you can appreciate exquisite handicrafts and smell the rich aroma of coffee, which may make you completely relaxed.

Zhujiajiao Water Town

Zhujiajiao Water Town

Today your 7-day escorted tour in China will come to an end. After breakfast, the guide will take you to the airport according to your flight schedule. Welcome to China again!

Author: Wang Kun

Proofreader: Liu Yan