15 Days Grand China Experience Tour from Hong Kong

Today, you will leave Hong Kong for Guilin on your own. You can take a bullet train from Hong Kong West Kowloon Station to Guilin West, which takes only about 3 hours. Or, you can take a flight from Hong Kong International Airport to Guilin Liangjiang International Airport, which is not available all year around.

Upon arrival at Guilin railway station/airport, your local tour guide and driver will meet you, and escort you to your hotel. The rest of the day is yours to have fun on your own.

Transferring Notes: Since there are very few trains between Hong Kong and Guilin, you can also transfer first to Guangzhou South Station or Shenzhen North Station by Hong Kong bullet train and then travel to Guilin by another bullet train, which is relatively cheaper than flight travel, but takes about 3-3.5 hours to arrive in Guilin City.

Evening Ideas: You can take a leisure walk around the famous city water system - Two Rivers and Four Lakes for the amazing night views.

In this morning, you’ll be driven about 90 kilometers (about 2.5 hours) to witness one of the most beautiful rice terraces in China - Longji Rice Terrace, an amazing feat of farm engineering rising up to 1000m high in Longsheng County. There are several featured Zhuang and Yao minority villages along the road and you’ll take a visit to the special Huangluo Yao Village, the First Village of Long Hair in the World, where you can see women in red ethnic clothes with very long hairs (the longest can reach up to 1.7 meters).

Later, continue your drive to a beautiful 600-year-old Zhuang Village - Ping’an. The rice terrace is layer upon layer, like the changing ladder created by nature leading to the blue sky, forming a majestic painting between heaven and earth. From Ping’an, you can hike on the cobbled paths built among terraces to catch the best landscape. Climb up to the great lookouts at Seven Stars with Moon and Nine Dragons and Five Tigers from which you can get superlative views of terraces and villages. Hike half day around, then back to Guilin for accommodation. 

Good to Know:

1. Best time to visit: Longji Rice Terrace can be visited all year round. Go mid-April to late June for mirror-like irrigated terrace and rice transplanting scene; go July to mid-September for green terraces; go late September to early-November for golden and harvest scene; or go late December to early February for silvery terraces.

2. Walking: When arriving at Ping’an Village, you can only be dropped at Ping’an Village Tourist Center parking lot that you need to walk about 900 steps to your hotel. Comfortable shoes are highly recommended!

3. Luggage carrying: For the aged or travelers who are lack of physical strength, you’d better hire a local porter to help carry your heavy luggage to the hotel (pay extra expense on your own).

4. Notice: The Viewing Platform of Seven Stars with Moon is under a reconstruction which means it is closed for travelers at present. The hiking route between Seven Stars with Moon and Nine Dragons and Five Tigers would do some adjustment during the construction. You won’t miss the amazing rice terraces scenery when visiting.

As the declaration in Chinese textbook "Guilin’s landscape is the best under heaven", today you will explore this best landscape starting with a relaxing sightseeing cruise along the Li River from Mopanshan Pier to Yangshuo Town. Along the 84-kilometer cruise, dazzling scenery overwhelms your eyes like a vast endless Chinese painting of winding river, green limestone karst mountains, fascinating countryside views.

After about 4 hours’ cruise, disembark in Yangshuo Town, and check in your hotel. After a short break, you will start your exploration of the ideal countryside view of Ten-mile Gallery, passing Gongnong Bridge and Big Banyan Tree. Throw yourself into the stunning countryside views and relaxed atmosphere. Be enthralled by the patches of paddy fields nestling under green Karst hills, with farmers cultivating. Record the peculiar hole of Moon Hill at Li Village with your simple shutter with a simple wander. Also, if time and your physical condition permit, climb up that hill (needs about 30-50 minutes up with thousands of steps) to appreciate the larger moon hole closer and have a broader panorama of the Karst wonders of Yangshuo Town. Then, our driver will send you back to your hotel.

This evening is for you to walk leisurely on the ancient West Street to witness how the western culture and Chinese culture perfectly and peacefully coexist here. Whether you want to enjoy a cup of drink in bar, taste some local food, or just experience the relaxing atmosphere, you get it here.

Optional activity: experience the splendid evening performance Impression Liu Sanjie (19:45~20:45 or 21:20~22:20) with Li River itself as the stage, directed by famous director – Zhang Yimou.

Today, after your breakfast, our guide will take you to enjoy your best highlight cycling experience along the picturesque Yulong River (Yangshuo – Jiuxian Village – Xiangui Bridge – Shuiedi Dock). Immerse yourself into the fascinating countryside view with the rolling hills around and crystal clear river with the reflection of mountains, bamboos, trees, floras and blue sky, and enjoy this simple moment to see the refreshing color combination of farmland pieces, flowers, plantations and footpath. Visit a local family house to see the living environment of local peasants and their daily farming tools.

After the cycling and family visiting experience for about 2.5 hours, continue your exploration of Yulong River highlights by enjoying the joyous bamboo rafting from Shuiedi Dock to Gongnong Bridge, the most classic part (about 40-50 minutes). Sit leisurely back on the bamboo chair and admire the emerald sightseeing passing by, enjoy every minutes like traveling in a traditional Chinese landscape painting. After that, have a break and enjoy your lunch at a local restaurant. Then, continue to bike back to West Street to join the interesting and popular Cooking Class at 15:30 to learn about Chinese ingredients and cook Chinese dishes with the guide of English speaking chef.

Dinner will be arranged at the restaurant where the cooking class is organized. After dinner, drive back to Guilin city for accommodation.

After breakfast, drive about 2 hours to Guilin Airport to catch your flight to Chengdu. You will arrive at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport after 2 hours' flying, and then be picked by your tour guide and transfferred to your downtown hotel.

Optional Evening Activity: 1) enjoy a delicious dinner of Sichuan cuisine at a local restaurant; 2) watch a wonderful performance of Sichuan Opera which includes folk opera, face changing, fire spitting, rolling lights, and other delightful entertainment (usually performs at 20:00~21:30).

This morning you will make a memorable visit to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.  This facility is not only the most important panda scientific research center in the world, but also the home for more than 100 Giant Pandas. You will walk at leisure through the bamboo-framed paths and closely observe giant pandas of different ages eating bamboos, playing with each other, tumbling, and climbing trees. Be sure to not miss the chance to watch female pandas nursing their cubs in the nursery rooms! There is also a very informative Panda Museum where you can learn more scientific facts about Giant Pandas. Following the visit to this Panda base, you will be taken to a hidden spiritual Buddhist temple in hustling downtown Chengdu, Wenshu Temple, where you will marvel at the exquisite Buddhist architecture, soak in the reverent atmosphere, and wander on the temple’s peaceful paths. 

Chengdu is famous throughout China for its relaxing and leisurely pace and lifestyle, which will be demonstrated by a visit to the City’s Renmin Park. Sit down, order a pot of Chinese tea, have a casual chat with your friends and watch locals indulging themselves in different kinds of folk entertainment – napping, playing mahjong, disco dancing, and giving neck massages! Next will be an impressive visit to the famous Jinli Old Street. Time will steal away as you quietly walk on the lively streets full of delicious local snacks, delicate artifacts, interesting folk shows, and other activities.

Optional activity: In the evening, watch a wonderful performance at the Sichuan Opera which includes folk opera, face changing, fire spitting, rolling lights, and other delightful entertainment. (usually starts at 8pm and last 1.5 hours)

Today is free until your guide escorts you to catch your flight to Lhasa (about 2hrs and 40mins). Upon arrival, a tour guide will pick you up at the arrival hall and escort you to your hotel in downtown Lhasa while you enjoy the stunning views along the Yarlong Tsangpo River.

After check in, the rest of the day is for you to acclimate to the high altitude and weather of Lhasa. You should avoid strenuous physical activities during this period since this may cause high altitude sickness. 

After breakfast, start an incredible day of exploration in Lhasa city. The grandiose Potala Palace will be the first site to discover. After more than 1300 years of historical changes, this colossal Palace still dominates the skyline of Lhasa city. The Palace is the political and religious center of Tibet and has served as the governance and preaching site for the Dalai Lama. Climbing up the sacred steps to the Red Palace and White Palace you will explore their marvelous interiors full of exquisite Thangkas, numerous Buddha statues, vivid wall paintings, and other works of Buddhist art.

In the afternoon, visit the holiest Buddhist temple in Tibet, Jokhang Temple, where the 12-year-old-like Shakyamuni statue is consecrated. With a history stretching over 1,300 years, this temple combines the architecture styles of Tibet, China, Nepal and India. As a spiritual center of Tibet, Jokhang Temple attracts hundreds of devoted pilgrims to worship there every day. Outside the door of Jokhang Temple is the famous pilgrimage circle, Barkhor Street, where you can join faithful Tibetans in colorful attires walking the circle around Jokhang Temple.

After breakfast, start your day with a visit to the summer palace of the Dalai Lamas and also the largest Tibetan garden - Norbulingka Park. The luxuriant trees and flowers, cool ponds and comfortable palaces make Norbulingka the best place for a summer retreat. Then drive about 5km westward to Drepung Monastery. This monastery used to play a crucial role in Tibet Buddhism as the school of the Dalai Lamas. As you walk along, immense temples and chapels leap to your eyes one after another. In its heyday, more than 10,000 monks lived and studied in the monastery. Various Buddhist rituals are performed in the monastery during festivals, most famous being the ceremony of Buddha Display in the annual Shoton Festival.

You will then visit the featured six hundred year-old Sera Monastery, famous for its grand ceremony of Buddhist debating and its beautiful temples with sensational icons, murals and history.

Today is free for you to explore Lhasa city until your tour guide transfers you to the airport for your flight to Xian (about 2hrs and 45mins).

Welcome to Xian, the ancient capital of China! You will be met by our local tour guide at the arrival hall of Xian Xianyang Airport and escorted to your downtown hotel in a private vehicle. The rest of the day is on your own to relax. 

After breakfast, drive about 40 km to discover one of the greatest man-made wonders in the world - the Terracotta Warriors and Horses, built by the first emperor of China Qin Shihuang to protect him in his afterlife. Over 8,000 life-size warriors, horses and chariots, buried in 3 pits for more than 2,000 years until uncovered by a local farmer in 1974, form an ancient military army with complete battle units of infantry, cavalry, etc. Standing in front of these figures, one can’t help being amazed not only by the ambition of Emperor Qin Shihuang but also by the fabulous artistic skills of ancient Chinese artisans. (Before the Terracotta Warriors Museum visit, you will have a rare opportunity to make a miniature Terracotta Warrior on your own under the instruction of a local potter.)

After lunch, return to Xian to spend a leisure time on the Ancient City Wall, the largest and best-preserved ancient city wall in China. Just like the merchants and envoys on the Silk Road thousands of years ago, you will enter the interior of the city walls through the Hanguang Gate. There you will visit a mini museum to see the real Tang Dynasty city wall ruins from over 1400 years ago, including gateways, cross-sections of the wall, and the remains of water channels. After the museum visit, get up to the city wall to enjoy a leisure stroll and pleasant panoramic views of Xian city. Rent a bike (extra cost: 45RMB) to enjoy a relaxing cycling on the Wall is strongly recommended. The cycling routes and duration are flexible. Feel free to discuss with your tour guide. Leave the City Wall, then go to wander leisurely around the bustling and lively Muslim Quarter, a place where you can try different local snacks and explore Muslim culture.

This evening you will be offered an interesting visit to Grand Tang Dynasty Ever Bright City which is a great place to walk, enjoy amazing nightscape and most importantly recall the prosperity and glory of the mighty Tang Dynasty. Seeing this area at night is totally different as the lighting is marvelous yet tastefully done.

Optional activity: enjoy a wonderful Tang Palace Dance Show (usually from 8pm to 9pm) after (or without) a hearty dumpling dinner.

After breakfast, head to Da Cien Temple, a famous Buddhist sutra translation site during the Tang Dynasty. Big Wild Goose Pagoda is the most famous building in the temple. The pagoda, rising to a height of 64.5 meters, was built by the famous Buddhist master Xuanzang to preserve classic scriptures he bought back from India during the early Tang Dynasty. Xuanzang was the prototype character for Tang Seng in the famous Chinese novel “Journey to the West”. (Note: It costs an extra 30 RMB if you want to climb up the Big Wild Goose Pagoda)

Next is an educational visit to the Shaanxi History Museum where you can ramble in the modern exhibition halls to appreciate historic relics such as porcelains, paintings, and currencies dating from the Zhou to the Tang dynastic periods (1100BC to 907 AD). (Note: Shaanxi History Museum may be replaced with other activity or attraction because of crowding tourists during July ~ early September and China’s National Day during Oct.1-Oct.7. You may check details with your travel consultant.)

The rest of today is free until you get escorted to take a high speed train to Beijing (about 4.5hrs), the capital city of China. You will be welcomed by local tour guide at airport, then be escorted to check in your downtown hotel.

After breakfast, start to explore the historical face of Beijing with a brief visit to Tiananmen Square, now the largest city plaza in the world. Tiananmen Gate on the northern side of the square was the site where Chairman Mao announced the establishment of the People's Republic of China. Stepping into the Tiananmen, you will see one of the world’s five most important palaces – the Forbidden City, a huge palace complex of more than 9,000 rooms where 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties lived. Pass through various doorways in this magnificent structure to admire the beautiful and well preserved buildings decorated with yellow-glazed tile roofs, white marble bases and splendid colorful paintings.

After lunch, drive to the outskirts of Beijing to spend an enjoyable time in the Summer Palace, the largest and best-preserved royal garden in China. Stroll around ancient pavilions, mansions, temples, bridges and corridors while feasting your eyes on the vast lotus in Kunming Lake and the colorful paintings in the Long Corridor.

Optional activities: 1) You can watch a wonderful Kungfu Show in the Red Theater (Hong Ju Chang) which usually starts at 19:30; 2) Enjoy the classic Chinese art performance of Beijing Opera at Liyuan Theater between 19:30-21:00.

After breakfast, drive about 70km to witness one of the Seven Wonders of the World - the Great Wall. Visit the Mutianyu, a less crowded yet well-preserved segment of the Great Wall built in the Ming Dynasty. It will more than live up to all of your expectations! You’ll take a cable car to ascend the Great Wall, then hike the most beautiful and interesting part of Mutianyu. It's a wonderful experience to climb up its rising towers to enjoy scenic views and take brag-worthy photos of the wall wriggling along mountain ridges. After the exciting time, descend Mutianyu Great Wall by cable car. (Note: If energy permits, you can hike up or down which takes about 40 minutes to climb steps. Please tell your likes to your travel consultant.)

Continue your trip to Sacred Way, a 7-kilometer-long passage leading to the Imperial Tombs of 13 Emperors of Ming Dynasty. The Emperor, known as the Son of the Heaven, who came from Heaven to his country through the Sacred Way, also would return to Heaven through this road. Take a walk through the largest archway in China and Great Palace Gate and you’ll see the magnificent stone guard of 12 sets of mythical animals and 12 officials. Then drive back to Beijing city and take a short stop at the Beijing Olympic Village to view its famous Bird’s Nest and Water Cube from the outside.

Optional activity: After the whole day’s tour, treat yourself a great dinner to taste the famous Peking Roasted Duck at Quanjude.

After breakfast, drive to the imperial site of the Temple of Heaven. Originally a site used to pay homage to Heaven and pray for good harvests, it is now a bustling place where locals take part in traditional activities such as Tai Chi, dancing, kite flying, water calligraphy, and others.

Then get back to the central city to hop on a rickshaw to experience the Beijing Hutongs – small alleys made by neighboring quadrangle dwellings. Shuttle among different Hutongs to get a feel of the old Beijing life style, visit various antique shops and small boutiques, truly feel the historical changes of Beijing, also pay a visit to a local family’s home in the traditional Hutongs.

Your China tour is now about to end. Drive to the airport to catch your flight to your next destination or back home.