Day 4: Beijing - Xian
( B, L, D )
After breakfast in the hotel, we will take
our coach to the Great Wall , one
of the Seven Wonders of the World. The Wall is about
six thousand kilometers in length from east to west
across the country, and the only manmade structure
visible from the Moon.
Go to the Summer Palace when we back in the afternoon.
The Summer Palace was built in 1750 as a royal recreational
resort. About 75% of the Garden was covered with water---the
Kunming Lake. Among its famous features are the 700-meter-long
corridors with its wonderful Painted Gallery, the
Marble Barge, and several magnificently painted pavilions
and pagodas. It is said that the huge amount of money
used for building the Summer Palace was supposed to
build a Chinese Navy, however, the huge Marble Barge
by the vast Lake was the only thing relating to the
Navy. We will take the evening flight to Xian.
Day 5: Xian ( B, L, D )
Xian, the Capital of Shaanxi Province. Xian
has a history of nearly 6000 years and was the starting
point of the famous ancient Silk Road. We will have
a walk along the City Wall, which
was built in the 13 th century, and then go to the
Big Wild Goose Pagoda , a sacred
palace for the monks. The most famous monk in Chinese
history, Monk San Zang, had once taught Hinayana there
after his long and difficult journey to Indian. He
was also the main character in one of the four greatest
traditional Chinese novels, Journey To The West.
On the way we will also visit the Stele
Forest , where you can get a sense of Chinese
Calligraphy Arts.
Day 6: Xian - Wuhan ( B, L, D )
Today, our tour begins with a visit to the
astonishing underground ruins, Museum of Qin
Terra-Cotta Warriors and Horses. Concealed
under earth, those thousands of life-sized clay warriors,
horses and chariots, as part of the Tomb of Emperor
Qinshihuang, were discovered accidentally by a farmer
while digging out a well near his home. We will go
to the excavation site to see those lifelike warriors
and horses and then visit the Huaqing Hot
Spring , where the Queen of Tang Dynasty
used to take her bath. in the afternoon we will fly
to Wuhan.
Day 7: Yangtze River Cruise ( B, L, D )
After breakfast at hotel, we head for Yellow
Crane Tower . I t is one of the "Three
Famous Towers South of Yangtze River (the other two:
Yueyang Tower in Hunan and Tengwang Tower in Jiangxi).
Then we will have a wonderful tour to H u
bei Provincial Museum .
There you can have a chance to see the most important
collections of artifacts in the province. More than
140,000 items, mainly from a big tomb excavated in
1978, are well preserved here, including 645 first
class cultural relics and 16 national treasures. After
lunch we will take a 4 – hour drive to Yichang. There
we will board on our boat and begin the fantastic
cruise on Yangtze River. Our cruise ship is a 4-star
Galaxy II.
Day 8: Yangtze River Cruise ( B, L, D )
Today begins your unforgettable cruise on
China's longest river. We will first pass through
Xiling Gorge . You can see the towering
cliffs gathered on the banks. Stretching over 60 miles,
Xiling Gorge is famous for its odd-shaped rock formations
and tricky, treacherous currents. Later we will make
our stop at the Three Gorges Dam Project,
which is the world's largest hydroelectric
project at this time. We will reach Badong
in the afternoon.
Day 9: Yangtze River Cruise ( B, L, D )
Continue our wonderful cruise on the Yangtze
River. In the morning you have the chance to experience
an excursion to the clear waters and unchanged environment
of the Shennong Stream , one of the
tributaries of the Yangtze River. Board on your ship
again and then later we will pass the mystic Wu
Gorge with its famous peaks. In the afternoon
your ship will pass the mighty Qutang Gorge
, sailing through its towering cliffs.
Day 10: Yangtze River Cruise ( B, L, D
)
On today's cruise tour you can have the whole
day explore the beautiful and interesting Shi
Bao Zhai. Enjoy your last nights on our
luxurious cruise ship. We will head to our destination,
Chongqing.
Day 11: Chongqing / Shanghai ( B, L, D
)
Arrive in Chongqing in the morning. There we say goodbye
to the impressive Yangtze River and begin our new
adventure in this mountainous city. A city tour will
show you Chongqing Museum . The museum
has over 40 exhibiting halls with about 100,000 pieces
of relics, which spans over 3000 years history from
the ancient Kingdom of Ba and the near-mythical Three
Kingdoms Period to World War Two and the Chinese Revolution.
We will take our flight to Shanghai in the evening.
We will stay at the 5-star Guangdong Hotel while in
Shanghai.
Day 12: Shanghai ( B, L, D )
Shanghai is the largest commercial and financial center
of China, and also the biggest city in Asia. Today
we will go to the Jade Buddha Temple ,
which is famous for its two big Jade Buddhas, each
of them was carved out from a single piece of Jade.
In the morning we will visit the Yu Garden
, a finely designed maze of elegant pavilions
and ponds in the old part of this city. We will have
a night tour along the Bund, the
most famous waterfront stretching in China, which
is about one mile along the Huangpu River.
Day 13: Shanghai – USA ( B, L )
After breakfast we will pay a visit to the
busiest famous commercial street, Nanjing
Road. In the afternoon we will visit the
newest and the modernest city in the whole world---Pudong.
Then we will transfer to the Shanghai Pudong Airport
and take our flight back home. We arrive in SFO the
same day at about 12:00 noon. ( end of the tour )
Note: Single
room supplement is $370 for the whole trip.
