18-Day Mind-Boggling Beijing Datong Pingyao Xian Luoyang Kaifeng Nanjing Suzhou Shanghai Tour

18-Day Mind-Boggling Beijing Datong Pingyao Xian Luoyang Kaifeng Nanjing Suzhou Shanghai Tour Highlights

Price Per Person: available upon request

Day 1 Arrive in Beijing

Meals: N/A

Accommodation: Novotel Hotel Xinqiao Beijing  or similar

When your flight arrives at Beijing Capital International Airport, your local guide will be waiting for you, holding a welcome board with your names and Absolute China Tours on it. On the way to your hotel, your guide will give you a brief introduction of Beijing, an age-old city which is the capital of China. The rest of the day will be yours to explore this magnificent city.

Day 2 Beijing

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, and Peking Roast Duck Dinner

Accommodation: Novotel Hotel Xinqiao Beijing  or similar

Your adventure in Beijing starts at Tiananmen Square and The Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square is the center of the city, where the Chinese national flag is raised every morning at sunrise. The square is surrounded by many important buildings, for example, the memorial hall of Chairman Mao Zedong, one of the founders of the People’s Republic of China. Sightseeing inside The Forbidden City includes the front halls, the imperial garden, and some of the most beautiful imperial treasure collections.

In the afternoon, you will explore another landmark of Beijing, the Temple of Heaven, where Qing emperors used to hold sacrificing ceremonies and make offerings for social stability and a good harvest.

At night, enjoy Beijing Roast Duck in Quanjude, a time-honored restaurant famous for the dish. You will then be transferred to your hotel.

Day 3 Beijing

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch 

Accommodation: Novotel Hotel Xinqiao Beijing  or similar

Travel to the suburb of Beijing to visit the magnificent Great Wall of China. You will explore the more remote Gubeikou Section of the Great Wall, with very few people and is rugged enough for a good hike. It is about 2.5 hours drive away from Beijing and it is about 3-4 hours of hiking. We will provide water, snacks and trekking poles. Please prepare a day pack to carry these and wear comfortable shoes. After the trip, we will drive back to your hotel.

Day 4 Beijing - Datong by plane

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Garden Hotel Datong  or similar

Experience the delight of ancient Chinese art today as you embark on a journey to the tranquil Summer Palace. The imperial garden will have you looking on in wonder as you journey around mazes of temples, palaces, pavilions, and halls amid bridges and wharves that sit atop the calm waters of Kunming Lake.

Dating back to 1750, the Summer Palace is famous for its magical garden design and was where former royal families would relax with their guests. Each footstep you take within the garden will lead to a greater feeling of serenity and enchantment as human-made wonders such as the “Tower of the Fragrance of Buddha” and the “Hall that Disciples the Clouds” sit beneath stunning surrounding lakes and gardens.

In the afternoon, and you will fly to Datong. When you arrive, you will be transferred to the hotel.

Day 5 Datong

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Garden Hotel Datong  or similar

You will first travel to the Yungang Grottoes. It is one of the largest grottoes in China and is equally famous with the Mogao Grottoes, Longmen Grottoes, and Maijishan Grottoes.  Located at the foot of Wuzhou Mountain, the grottoes extend for nearly 1 km. There are 45 major grottoes and more than 51,000 statues, which represent the outstanding grotto art of Chinese Buddhism culture in the 5th or 6th century. Then you will visit Huayan Temple and the Nine Dragon Screen. 

Day 6 Datong - Taiyuan by private car

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: World Trade Hotel Shanxi  or similar

In the morning visit the marvelous and incredible Hanging Temple which is an architectural wonder in Chinese history for the temples hanging on the mountain cliff with the exquisite Buddhist statues in the temple. It was built more than 1500 years ago and it combines different religions. Then transfer southeast to visit the Wooden Pagoda. Located in Yingxian County, it is the oldest and highest wooden structure in China. The Wooden Pagoda is now under protection. Afterward, proceed to Taiyuan.

Day 7 Taiyuan - Pingyao by private car

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Pingyao Yunjincheng Hotel  or similar

Drive to Pingyao. Begin your tour in Pingyao Ancient Town. The first stop is the Ancient City Wall. With a 630 year history, it almost keeps the original appearance when it was constructed in the early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Then you will stroll along Ming-Qing Street, also called Nanda Jie. Lined by 20-30 private museums setting a cultural flavor of the Ming and Qing dynasties (1638-1911), it has become a hot tourist attraction you cannot miss. Also, you will be surprised to find the first draft bank in China, the Rishengchang Draft Bank, which was established in 1823. Then pay a visit to County Government Office that was once the ancient city hall and law court. After that, you will come to see the Armed Escort Agencies Museum, where you can see many interesting objects and exhibits showing you how the merchants and their commercial goods were protected when being transferred from place to place by armed escorts. It was a very popular phenomenon in ancient China to transport commercial goods with such armed escorts.

Day 8 Pingyao - Xi'an by bullet train

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Grand Noble Hotel Xi'an  or similar

You will travel to Zhangbi Ancient Fortress and Wang Family Compound. Zhangbi Ancient Fortress is actually an ancient village which features amazing architecture and engineering. It has many kilometers of tunnels under the town which were designed and built to protect the town. Wang Family Compound consists of 5 architectural groups but only 2 of them are now open to tourists. The entire architectural complex is very big. It is said that it covers half of the town. It has an impressive and interesting maze of rooms and courtyards with delicate wood and stone carvings. Thus it is also known as a forbidden city in Shanxi province.

Then you will be transferred to the Jiexiu Railway Station nearby and take a bullet train to Xi'an. Upon arrival, transfer to the hotel.

Day 9 Xi'an

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Grand Noble Hotel Xian  or similar

In the morning, you will visit the world-famous Terracotta Warriors. These life-sized soldiers and horses in the Terracotta Warriors Museum are one of the most significant archaeological excavations in the 20th-century. They are a form of funerary art buried with the First Emperor of Qin in 210-209 BC, who declared himself the first emperor of China. Their purpose is to help the emperor rule the empire in the afterlife.

Then return to downtown Xi'an. You will visit the Old City Wall which is one of the best-preserved in China and enjoy a leisure walk along the Muslim Street. Muslim Street is a famous food street, where many local cuisines are available to sample and enjoy. Local cuisines are often spicy.

Day 10 Xian - Luoyang by bullet train

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Luoyang Friendship Hotel  or similar

Explore the Shaanxi History Museum, which houses a wonderful collection of historic and cultural artifacts. Xian saw its heyday in Han (206-220) and Tang (618-907) Dynasty. The museum boasts a great deal of extremely valuable relics reflecting the history, culture and social life of the two periods. From this point of view, even the Palace Museum (Forbidden City) can't compete with it.

Then you will travel to Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Erected by Xuan Zang, a prestigious Buddhist monk in the Tang Dynasty, the pagoda was meant for keeping the precious Buddhist sutras brought from India by Xuan Zang, who spent 17 years on a pilgrimage to India to seek for real Buddhist sutras.

After that, you will be transferred to the railway station to board the bullet train to Luoyang. Upon arrival, you will be transferred to the hotel.

Day 11 Luoyang

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Luoyang Friendship Hotel  or similar

Today we will drive you to Dengfeng City to visit the Shaolin Temple. Shaolin Temple is famous for Kungfu. Monks in Shaolin Temple mastered Kungfu for bodybuilding, temple protection, and even state defensive. Nowadays, it is for self-protection, leisure, and amusement, especially playing an important role in filmmaking. Currently, Shaolin Kungfu is a major draw for many Kungfu lovers or Chinese culture enthusiast from all around the world.

Day 12 Luoyang - Kaifeng by bullet train

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Zhongzhou International Hotel Kaifeng  or similar

In the morning, you will visit Longmen Grottoes. Longmen Grottoes visualize the profound and abstract Buddhism culture by sculptures ranging from 2cm to 17m. Thus, Longmen Grottoes, together with Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, Yungang Grottoes in Shanxi and Maijishan Grottoes in Gansu have enjoyed the reputation as China Top Four Buddhist Grottoes.

In the afternoon, you will be dropped off at the railway station and take a bullet train to Kaifeng, one of the six ancient capitals of China. The other five are Xian, Luoyang, Beijing, Nanjing and Hangzhou. Kaifeng served as the capital of northern Song Dynasty for 167 years from 960 A.D. to 1127 A.D. There are many historical sites which have survived the years and remain today as valuable places for people nowadays to visit and trace the history of northern Song Dynasty. Upon arrival, transfer to the hotel.

Day 13 Kaifeng - Nanjing by bullet train

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: New Era Hotel Nanjing  or similar

Today you will visit Baogong Memorial Hall which is in memory of Bao Zheng (999-1062), an honest and dedicated official in northern Song Dynasty. He was famous for his piety, his perseverance, and persistence in upholding justice, and his uncompromising stance against corruption. He was a magistrate in Kaifeng. His splendid ability to judge affairs and refusing to yield to the higher powers made him the symbol of justice in China. You will have a chance to see a performance which shows how Bao Zheng heard a case and settled it. After that, you will travel to Qingmingshanghetu Garden, which is a large theme park reproducing the prosperous scenes in the Northern Song Dynasty, based on the famous Chinese painting Qingmingshanghetu by Chinese painter Zhang Zeduan. Every morning, a grand opening ceremony is usually held in the Qingmingshanghetu Garden. Going inside, one will see the towering city wall, Rainbow Bridge, old street scenes, shops, small rivers, docks, and boats. Their designs and layouts are based on the depiction on Qingmingshanghetu. Traditional performances such as acrobatics, fortunetelling, gaming, and Song Dynasty style weddings are quite interesting. The Specialty Food Street sells many kinds of Kaifeng style snacks, also folk handicrafts, like statues made of sugar, paper cuttings, and kites and so on. After that, transfer to the railway station and take a bullet train to Nanjing. Upon arrival, transfer to the hotel.

Day 14 Nanjing - Suzhou by bullet train

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Nanlin Hotel Suzhou  or similar

In the morning, you will pay a visit to the Mausoleum of Dr. Sun Yatsen. Dr. Sun is regarded as the father of modern China both by the communists and Kuomingtang. He died in Beijing in 1925 and was buried in Nanjing just as he wished. After that, you will be guided to the Memorial Hall of the Nanjing Massacre. It exhibits many historical documents and pictures which record the atrocities committed by the Japanese soldiers against Chinese civilians during the occupation of Nanjing in 1937.

After that, you will visit explore the bustling market street around the Confucius Temple, which is a center of culture, arts, shopping, and entertainment. Finally, drive to the railway station and take a bullet train to Suzhou. Upon arrival, transfer to the hotel.

Day 15 Suzhou

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Nanlin Hotel Suzhou  or similar

Pay a visit to the Humble Administrator's Garden. It is a well-preserved beautiful ancient architectural complex famous for its stunning layout. Lunch will be served in a local restaurant. After lunch, you will go to Tiger Hill, the landmark of Suzhou. Tiger Hill is full of anecdotes and legends. Following our guide, you will get to know the stories behind Huqiu Pagoda, and Sword-shaped Pool, etc.

After that, explore Pingjiang Pedestrian Street.

Day 16 Suzhou - Shanghai by private car

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Lee Gardens Hotel Shanghai  or similar

This morning, you will pay a visit to Tongli, an old water town about 30 minutes drive away from Suzhou. Take a short cruise over the river winding through the town to see the dwellings which are traditional in Jiangnan, which refers to the south of the lower reach of Yangtze River. Have lunch in a local restaurant. After lunch, be driven back to your hotel in Shanghai.

Day 17 Shanghai

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Lee Gardens Hotel Shanghai  or similar

Today, you will explore the Shanghai Museum (not open on Mondays). As the biggest and also the best museum in China, Shanghai Museum displays a large collection of bronzes, sculptures, ceramics and porcelain, paintings, calligraphy, seals, jade, coins, furniture and ethnic artifacts from minority groups amongst other things.

Then walk along the famous Nanjing Road, which is the most popular pedestrian street in Shanghai. After that, you will visit The Bund, the landmark of Shanghai, which is lined with dozens of historical buildings.

Finally, you will travel to the Yuyuan Garden, which is a Chinese classic garden. Its architecture features exquisite rock and wooden carvings, rockery, ponds, etc.

Day 18 Depart from Shanghai

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: N/A

Enjoy free time until being driven to the airport for your flight to your next destination. Thus, the end of this magnificent tour.