A Chinese Journey!
Beijing, Xian, Shanghai, China
March 4-12, 2011

See the exotic and captivating highlights of China—from the Great Wall to the modern day "Rodeo Drive" of Shanghai.

Value inclusions:

• Airport transfers
• Luxury transportation
• 9 days accommodations, 4 and 5 star hotels
• Porterage for one suitcase
• Beijing City Tour inclusive of The Forbidden City
• Ming Tombs
• Great Wall of China
• Visit to traditional Hutong (ancient) home
• Drum Tower
• Temple of Heaven
• Shaanxi Provincial Museum
• Terracotta Warriors and Horses
• Tang Dynasty Dinner Show
• City Tour of Shanghai inclusive of Jade Buddha Temple
• Garden of Master Fishnet World Heritage Site
• Visit to the Embroidery Institute and Silk Factory
• Chinese foot massage
• Peking duck dinner
• Domestic airport taxes
• Chinese tour guide—English speaking

Day 1, Friday - Depart for Beijing In flight—lose one day and arrive on Saturday    

Day 2, Saturday - Beijing - Our local guide will meet us at the airport for a transfer to the hotel. The remainder of the day at leisure.

Day 3, Sunday - This is a full day tour which features the Forbidden City, where 24 emperors lived and ruled China. A special lunch will be served in the "Hall of Listening to the Oral." After lunch there is a visit to the Imperial Garden and a cruise on the Kunming Lake. Your tour then stops at the famous Tian'anmen Square, the largest square in the world. Tonight, enjoy a Peking Duck dinner.

Day 4, Monday - Following your included breakfast, board your coach for one of the highlights - a trip to the Great Wall of China, then on to the Ming Tombs. There is lunch and dinner today before we have a delightful and relaxing evening enjoying a foot massage. According to Chinese medicine, the foot is believed to be a separate body, which is directly related to all of our body parts and organs. Your foot is divided into many different vital energy sections, which can treat different parts of your body. By massaging a section of the foot, the corresponding body receives specific therapeutic treatment. Foot massage can also be used to treat internal organ diseases, relieve internal discomfort, and relax your body. This special experience takes around 1.5 hours!

Day 5, Tuesday - This day will be an adventure as we journey by coach to a traditional Beijing living area, called a hutong. Here we divide into pairs, each two of us sitting in our own rickshaw to have a local Chinese adventure. Visit an ordinary citizen's house, sit and have a chat and a cup of tea, making Chinese friends and learning a better understanding of Chinese people. There is also a visit to a kindergarten and the Drum Tower. Lunch will be served in the local people's home and we'll learn how to make Chinese dumplings. The afternoon is spent at the Temple of Heaven, which is considered one of the finest buildings ever constructed in ancient China.

Day 6, Wednesday - Xian - There is a morning flight to Xian. We'll meet our guide upon arrival and be transferred to the hotel. There is an afternoon tour to the Shaanxi Provincial Museum, one of the best museums in China, before we stroll on the ancient City Wall. Today's dinner is a special Chinese meal with local flavor.

Day 7, Thursday - One of the wonders of the world—the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum. See thousands of life-size terracotta warriors and horses guarding the tomb of the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang (221-210BC). Spend the afternoon at a tour to the Big Goose Pagoda, which was built in 652 in the Tang Dynasty for safekeeping volumes of Buddhist scriptures brought from India. Tonight, we attend the Tang Dynasty Dinner Show.

Day 8, Friday - Shanghai - Our flight departs this morning for Shanghai. Shanghai was the "paradise of adventurers" in the past, and today is China's commercial center being the most sophisticated city in China. After our lunch, we'll tour the Bund, Yu Garden and the Jade Buddha Temple – then taste the Shanghai local food. You'll be fascinated with the Chinese Acrobats presentation this evening.

Day 9, Saturday - Today is a full-day excursion to Suzhou by coach. Suzhou is known as the "Venice of the East" and famous for its silk industry. Stops include the Garden of Master Fishnet (a World Heritage Site), the embroidery institute, and the silk factory. There is lunch and dinner included before a return to Shanghai.

Day 10, Sunday - Transfer to the Shanghai airport for your departure to the USA. You'll arrive home the same day, gaining your day back.

Tour does not include: Chinese Visa Charges, Airfare from US to China, gratuities for guides and drivers.

The tour is limited to 20 passengers maximum. There is a minimum of 6 in order to operate. $300 per person refundable deposit to reserve your space.