12 Days Best China and Yangtze River Cruise Tour

Upon your arrival at Beijing Airport or Beijing Train Station. Our guide will hold a sign with your name waiting for you at Exit. Transfer to Beijing downtown to visit Temple of Heaven, the largest ancient imperial worship architecture group in the world where the ancient Emperors prayed for peace and harvest.

Transfer you back to the hotel.

This morning, our guide will pick you up from your hotel. You will visit the Tiananmen Square firstly. Tiananmen Square is the world's largest city center square and was the locality of numerous major political and historical events. It is the witness of Chinese development. Then go through an underground tunnel to the imperial palace, also known as the "Forbidden City", which functioned as the house of emperors and their families, and also the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government for up to 500 years.

In the afternoon, move on to the Summer Palace, The Summer Palace is known as the Gardens of Nurtured Harmony, it has been included in World Heritage List in December 1998. It stated that the Summer Palace "a masterpiece of China landscape garden layout. Natural landscape of hills and open water is along with man-made features like pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to create a harmonious ensemble of remarkable aesthetic value."

After breakfast, you are picked up at your hotel around 8:00am. Drive to visit the Ming Tombs, there are 13 Ming Dynasty Emperors were buried in this area. You will visit the Dingling Tomb today, which is the only one of the Ming Dynasty Tombs to have been excavated. Visit the Jade Factory, where they explained the difference types of jade and how jade can be carved in a great variety of shapes.

After lunch, you will visit the Mutianyu Great Wall, which is known for its beautiful surroundings - dense woods and rich pastures changing colors with the seasons of a year. Mutianyu Great Wall is located in Huai Rou County on the north-east of Beijing. This section of the Great Wall is about 75 KM from the center of Beijing. As one of the best-preserved parts of the Great Wall, Mutianyu section of Great Wall used to serve as the northern barrier defending the capital and the imperial tombs.

On the way back to your hotel. You will have a short visit to see the exterior Bird Nest and Water Cube - the amazing architectures that built for Beijing Olympic Games.

Pick up from the hotel in the morning. Take flight to Xian. On your arrival, our local guide will pick you up. Then drive to visit famous and must-be see spot, the Terra-Cotta Warriors, which is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BC and whose purpose was to protect the emperor in his afterlife.

In the evening, you will enjoy a delicious Dumpling Dinner, dumpling also called jiaozi in Chinese, is one of the most representative Chinese food. Then the Tang Dynasty Show will be on performance. The Tang Dynasty Music and Dance Show is a wonderful performance of the ancient music and dance has history of more than 1000 years ago.

After breakfast, pick up from the hotel. Continue to visit the Big Goose Pagoda. A major Buddhist site, the simple, elegant brick Pagoda stands in the grounds of the attractive Da Ci'en Temple. The Pagoda was built in the 7th century to house the Buddhist materials that Xuanzang (Tripitaka) brought back from his epic journey to India. Continue to visit Shaanxi Provincial History Museum - a large modern museum of the national level where you will see the artifacts that have been collected in Shaanxi Province since the upper Cave Man 18,000 years ago.

After lunch, you will visit Xian Ancient City Wall, which is one of the largest ancient military defensive systems in the world and the most complete ancient city wall in China. And today, the city wall is regarded as a landmark dividing the Xian city into the inner part and the outer part. You are free to take the bicycle around the city wall at your own expenses(optional).

Move onto Great Mosque, the biggest and most preserved complete Chinese existent mosque. It was first built at the Tianbao first year (742 years) during Tang Dynasty..

Take morning flight for Chongqing. Your afternoon Chongqing tour starts with the visit to Ciqikou Ancient Town. The old town is located in Shapingba district of Chongqing and on the west bank of Jialing River. The majority of the houses date from the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Then come back to the city center and visit Stillwell Museum. Stillwell Museum is situated in the Yuzhong District in Chongqing city to commemorate General Joseph W. Stilwell (1883 - 1946) who contributed greatly to China during the World War II. Check in the Cruiser ship.

Your memorable Yangtze River tour begins today. You will take a short break from the fabulous natural scenery to visit spectacular along the river, Fengdu Ghost City, which is famous for its ghost culture. First take a cable car up to the hill and visit the temples all over the mountain with many statues. Then, return to the ship and move towards the fantastic Three Gorges.

This morning you will sail through miles of stunning gorges. In the afternoon you will arrive at Badong where you will disembark for a magical excursion down the Shennong Stream. Local trackers will pull us in wooden sampans through awesome gorges and lush pine forests. Along the way you will see the remnants of ancient roads and pass cliff-top grottos that held the coffins of warriors. If you are lucky, you will glimpse rare animals, such as the golden-haired monkey.

Pass through the Xiling Gorge which is the longest and historically the most dangerous of the Three Gorges. Then move on to the massive the Three Gorges Dam and disembark for a tour of this engineering marvel at Sandouping Village.

You will arrive in in Yichang. Transfer from cruise to airport in Yichang for your flight for Shanghai. Arrival at Shanghai, pick up and transfer to the hotel. You are at leisure for the remainder of the day.

Pick up from the hotel. visit Yu Garden. Yuyuan is the famous gardens in Shanghai where you will see how a large beautiful garden was made by a rich rice merchant 400 years ago. Adjoining these gardens is an old shopping area with narrow streets and buildings that were of a typically old Chinese style. There are many small streets and lanes where vendors sell their products and food stuffs to the tourists and local people.

After lunch, visit the new development zone in Pudong - Lujiazui, which is teeming with the futuristic, avant-garde buildings - Oriental Pearl Tower, Jin Mao Building, Bank of China Tower. Taking the elevator to the 88-storey Observation Deck of Jinmao Tower where you will have a spectacular view of the whole city.

First visit Shanghai Museum, the selection of over 112,000 Chinese cultural relics from the Old Stone Age to modern times. You will be amazed to see the pottery that is over 10,000 years old. You have to go quickly though all the 4 floors. Then proceed to visit the pedestrians only Nanjing Pedestrian Road, a walking bustling street that is always packed with people watching other people. Then move on to the Bund, one of the most noted waterfront and architectural symbols of Shanghai. Then visit a Silk Factory, where you can bargain for silk products and China's traditional silk arts.

After lunch, take one hour cruising on Huang Pu River. You start with the Hangpu River Cruise that will take you along the skyscrapers on the new area known as Pudong. Then you ruise to the west side of the river that has many skyscrapers and the famous Bund that has a row of the early 20th century buildings near the river. Back to your hotel.

Free at leisure until be transferred to the airport to see you off.