The Most Classic China Tour

Welcome to Beijing, the capital of China. You will arrive at Beijing Capital International Airport or Daxing International Airport. Our guide will wait for your arrival at the airport and then take you to the hotel.

In the morning, after breakfast, you will visit Tian’anmen Square, which is the largest city square in the world and also the symbol of both Beijing and China. Tian’anmen Square covers an area of 440,000 square meters and can accommodate 1 million people for grand gatherings. In the center of the square stands the Monument to the People’s Heroes; on the west side of the square is the Great Hall of the People; on the east side is the National Museum of China; on the south side is one ancient gate tower with hundreds of years. These majestic buildings, together with Tian’anmen Gate Tower, become the highlights of Tian’anmen Square. One eye-catching building you cannot miss is the Tian’anmen Gate Tower. It consists of two parts: the platform and the tower. This building has five gates. The middle gate is the main and highest gate. Generally, this gate was only allowed to pass through by the emperors in the Ming and Qing Dynasties(1368-1912) and the remaining four were allowed to pass through by other nobles and officials . No matter in ancient times or in modern times, the square plays great role. For example, in ancient times, it was a place for emperors issuing the imperial edicts. In modern times, it is an important place for holding big ceremonies and gatherings. 

After visiting Tian’anmen Square, you will visit the Forbidden City (closed on Mondays), which was the imperial palace in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It covers an area of about 720,000 square meters, with more than 70 palaces and 9,000 rooms. The Forbidden City can be divided into two parts. The first part is centered on the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Central Harmony and the Hall of Preserving Harmony. In the past, many national grand ceremonies would be held in this area. The second part is centered on the Palace of Heavenly Purity, the Hall of Union and the Palace of Earthly Tranquility. They were the main palaces where the emperors and the imperial concubines lived in the past. Besides, there are many ingenious designs in the Forbidden City, like the design of the roof ridges in the Forbidden City. When you take a stroll around the Forbidden City, you will find that there are no bird standing on the roofs. What is the reason for this? To maintain the beauty and cleanness of the roofs in the Forbidden City, the craftsmen design the width of the ridges based on the birds’ toe sizes. Moreover, the roofs are covered with glazed tiles, which are smooth enough. Furthermore, the roofs are designed with a special slope, which is not impossible for the birds to stand on the roof. The above three special designs together make the birds cannot stand on the roofs in the Forbidden City. The second interesting design is about the two bronze lion statues in front of the gate of Palace of Heavenly Purity, the palace for dealing with national affairs. The two lions are designed with drooping ears, which are different from the other lion statues. In the past, the emperor did not allow the empress and concubines to interfere in state affairs. So the two bronze lion statues with drooping ears were to warn the empress and concubines not to hear or ask anything about the national affairs. 

After lunch, you will visit the Temple of Heaven, which was originally a place for emperors of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing Dynasties (1636 -1912) to worship heaven and pray for a good harvest. The temple includes the Circular Mound Altar and the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest. It has a history of more than 580 years. Feudal emperors attached great importance to heaven-worshiping activities. Every year, grand heaven-worshiping ceremonies would be held here. One ceremony was held on the 15th day of the first lunar month to pray for a good harvest. Another ceremony was held on the winter solstice of the northern hemisphere to thank nature for his blessing. Next, let’s take a look at the Circular Mound Altar, which is a three-story round platform. There are many magical and interesting explanations about the architectural form of the Circular Mound Altar. One of them is about the number “Nine”. The Circular Mound Altar is divided into three layers, with nine steps for each stairway on each layer. The number of railings between two adjacent stairways is nine or the multiple of nine. At the same time, the number of the slates laid on each layer is also the multiple of nine. So why the design of Circular Mound Altar has such a close link with number nine? According to Chinese ancient legend, the Jade Emperor(the supreme god) lived in the nine-layer heaven. In Chinese ancient legend, the heaven had nine layers, so ancient people used number nine or the multiple of nine to symbolize the nine-layer heaven, meanwhile show respect to the supreme god - Jade Emperor.

The last stop of today’s itinerary is the Summer Palace, which was an imperial garden in the Qing Dynasty. Nowadays, the Summer Palace is the most well-preserved imperial palace and is known as the “Imperial Garden Museum”, covering an area of about 3 kilometers. It is mainly composed of Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake. In Qing Dynasty, the Hall of Benevolence & Longevity was the place where Empress Dowager Cixi summoned officials and met with foreign guests. Besides, there are Hall of Joyful Longevity, Hall of Jade Ripples and Yiyun Hall, which were the residences of Cixi, Emperor Guangxu and his imperial concubines respectively. What you cannot miss in the Summer Palace is the more than 700-meter Long Corridor, which is known as the “world’s first corridor”. There are more than 8,000 colorful paintings on the beams of the Long Corridor.  

Temple of Heaven

Summer Palace

In the morning, we will drive for about 1.5 hours(55 kilometers) to visit Ding Tomb, one of the Ming Tombs. The Ding Tomb is the joint burial tomb of Zhu Yijun, the 13th emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and his two empresses. It was built in 1584, covering an area of 182,000 square meters. Zhu Yijun had been in power for 48 years, but he only hosted the imperial court(daily imperial morning conference for emperor to deal with some national affairs and the officials to submit proposal) for 10 years. It is said that he was only ten years old when he ascended the throne. Because he was still young, Empress Dowager entrusted all military and political affairs to the key officials. However, Zhu Yijun gradually found that as an emperor, he had no real power and had to consult with a group of officials when making decisions. If some decisions were not adopted, he would be criticized by these officials. So he did not want to go to the imperial court to see these officials. Moreover, Zhu Yijun had different opinions on the successor of throne with these officials. Finally, Zhu Yijun refused to host the imperial court any more. 

After lunch, you will visit the Mutianyu Great Wall, which has a long history and enjoys a good reputation in the world. With a total length of 5,400 meters, the Mutianyu Great Wall, built in 1368, is the longest section of Chinese Great Wall. The Mutianyu Great Wall tourist area is surrounded by mountains with beautiful scenery. Mutianyu Great Wall tourist area is equipped with excellent service facilities, which can provide tourists with all-round service. Cable cars are provided in the scenic area, which are safe, comfortable and fast. After visiting the Mutianyu Great Wall, you will be escorted to the hotel to rest.

Ding Tomb

Mutianyu Great Wall

This morning, you will say goodbye to Beijing and head to Xi’an. You will take the estimated high speed train G89 06:53/11:24 to Xi’an. You can have lunch on the train. After arrival in Xi’an, your Xi’an guide will pick you up at the train station and transfer you to the hotel. In the afternoon, you will first visit Muslim Street. As the name suggests, it is a 500-meter street where Muslims live. There are 10 mosques of different sizes in this district. About 20,000 Muslims live in these mosques, maintaining the original religious traditions and living habits. Visitors to Xi’an generally won’t miss the Muslim Street, not only because they can taste a lot of delicacies but also can feel strong cultural atmosphere. On both sides of the Muslim Street, you can see the buildings with Qing Dynasty’s style, reflecting unique historical and cultural values. 

Next, you will visit the Great Mosque, which is one of the four mosques in China and the primary occasion for Muslim religious activities in Xi’an. According to the content carved on the existing stone tablets in the mosque, we can know that the Great Mosque was built in 742. In the mosque, there are five courtyards along the east-to-west axis, covering an area of 13,000 square meters. When entering the first courtyard, you will see four round artifacts. You may wonder what they are used for? These four round objects are lamp brackets. They are mainly used to celebrate the special night, called “Gaideer Night”(‘Gaideer’ is the Chinese pronunciation, which is from the transliteration of Arabic.). On that night, lamps on the four round artifacts will be lighted. This night is important for all Muslims and the lamps on the lamps brackets will play great role in this night. Gaideer means “peace, predetermination and nobility”. It is said that, in Muslim religion, Allah arranged everything in the past, present and future of the world on this night, so Muslims call this night “predetermined night”. Muslims believe that, on this night, doing good things can get multifold blessings from Allah. Therefore, Muslims all over the world will celebrate this vital night. Now, I believe you have a basic understanding of these lamp artifacts.

Muslim Street

Great Mosque

After breakfast, we will drive for about 1 hour(40 kilometers) to visit the Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses Museum. It is an important part of the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor (This emperor is also called Qin Shihuang, 259BC-210BC). There are three pits in the Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses Museum. The first pit covers the largest area of 14,260 square meters. There are more than 8,000 terracotta warriors and horses in the pit. The expressions and actions of each terracotta warrior are different. These terracotta warriors are so vivid that many people doubt that whether they are dead real persons hidden behind the clay. However, through scientific and technological test, it is verified that the terracotta warriors and horses are just funerary objects in the shape of chariots, war horses, and soldiers made of clay. The eyes, nose, mouth, and facial contours were all carved according to the faces of different real soldiers at that time, therefore none of them are alike. 

After lunch, you will visit the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. To store Buddhist scriptures and statues, it was built under the charge of Master Xuanzang(one Buddhist monk and Chinese pilgrim to India who translated the sacred Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Chinese). There are seven floors for this pagoda, with a height of 64 meters. When you see its name, you may wonder why it is called Big Wild Goose Pagoda. According to Indian Buddhist legend, there were two schools of Buddhism, Mahayana and Hinayana. The Buddhists believed in Hinayana Buddhism were allowed to eat meat. One day, a monk in a Hinayana temple in India could find nowhere to buy meat for dinner. At this time, he found a group of wild geese were flying toward the temple, and this monk muttered under his breath while he was looking at the group of geese, “If only the Buddha gives a goose to us.” Hardly had his voice faded away, a wild goose fell to its death in front of him. After hearing of this thing, the monks in the temple were shocked and they believed that it must be the manifestation of Buddha. Later they built a small pagoda at the place where the wild goose fell to commemorate this day and named this pagoda “Wild Goose Pagoda”. When Xuanzang came to India, he also heard of this story. Inspired by this story, he decided to name the pagoda built in Xi’an “Big Wild Goose Pagoda”. The adding of “big” is to differentiate the pagoda in India.

Next, you will visit today’s last destination - Ancient City Wall, which has a history of more than 600 years. It is one of the most famous and best-preserved city walls in China. The wall is rectangular with a height of about 12 meters. You can choose to feel the charm of this ancient wall by walking or riding a bike. Cycling on the city wall is a popular way to admire the scenery here. At present, bicycle-rental services are provided at the east, south, west and north gates. After cycling, you can return the bike at any one of the above gates. After visiting the wall, you will be escorted to the hotel to rest.

Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses Museum

Ancient City Wall

Today, you will say goodbye to Xi’an and head to Guilin. You will take the estimated flight 3U3269 15:45/18:10 to Guilin. After arrival in Guilin, your Guilin guide will pick you up at the airport and transfer you to the hotel.

You will start your Li River cruise this morning. Li River is famous for its rich natural landscape. Taking a cruise is the best way to appreciate the beautiful scenery of Li River. During the cruise, you cannot miss the attraction Wangfu Stone(Husband-waiting Stone). It looks like a woman carrying a child on her back. This woman looks into the distance and waits for her husband’s coming back. About this stone, there is a sad story. It is said that there used to be a family with a couple and a child living in this place. Their life was hard. In order to support the family, the husband went to work before dawn and came home late at night everyday. But one day, his husband did not come home. The next day, the wife carrying her child on her back climbed up to the top of a mountain to wait for her husband. But she did not see her husband. During the following days, the wife kept climbing up to the top of the mountain to wait for her husband every day. Later, somebody told her her husband died on the way back home. She did not believe and still waited for her husband on the mountain. One day, the wife did not come down the mountain. When the villagers went to the top of the mountain to seek for her, they only found a huge stone, which looked like a woman carrying a child on her back. Later, people called this stone Wangfu Stone.

After finishing the cruise, you will head to Yangshuo West Street, which is about 8 meters wide and nearly 800 meters long. With a history of more than 1,400 years, it is the oldest and most prosperous street in Yangshuo. Furthermore, it is one of the most popular attractions in Yangshuo. Don’t underestimate this street. Its reputation is no less than that of Wall Street in New York. It attracts countless visitors all over the world with its unique style and infinite charm. Here, you can see many foreigners, some of whom come for leisure and vacation, and some of whom come to learn how to cook Chinese food. Hundreds of thousands of foreigners come here to work, live or study, which is unusual in China. Therefore, people call this unique street “Foreign Street”. It is also an ideal place for Chinese to learn foreign languages and foreigners to learn Chinese. There are dozens of foreign language schools and oral language training camps. The bars and restaurants on the street not only provide catering but also play a great role in allowing Chinese and foreign friends to exchange information as well as learn Chinese and Western cultures.

Li River

Yangshuo West Street

This morning, you will visit Reed Flute Cave, which is 500 meters long. Why is it called Reed Flute Cave? Because there used to be reeds growing near the entrance of the cave. And it is said that the reeds could be made into flutes producing a pleasant sound. Later, people began to call this cave Reed Flute Cave. There are a large number of stalagmites and stalactites in various shapes in this cave. This cave is praised as the “Art Palace of Nature”. More than 40 million visitors have visited Reed Flute Cave since its being open to the public.

This afternoon, you will be transferred to the airport and take the estimated flight MU8565 13:35/16:00 to Shanghai. Your local guide in Shanghai will pick you up and then transfer you to the hotel. 

Reed Flute Cave

Reed Flute Cave

This morning, you will visit the Jade Buddha Temple. It has a construction area of about 8,856 square meters. There are more than 200 halls in this temple. This temple is located in a prosperous urban area, but it is known as a pure land for its tranquil Buddhist atmosphere. Besides, the Jade Buddha Temple is the paradise for stray cats. They will be treated mercifully by these monks. And monks in this temple believed that there is certain connection between these cats and Buddhism. So when you come to this temple, you may meet some cats.

Then you will come to Yu Garden(closed each Monday). This garden was a private garden in Ming Dynasty. It was built more than 400 years ago. The first owner of this garden was Pan Yunduan, a senior official at that time. This garden was built for his parents. However, his parents died before the completion of Yu Garden. In the garden, you can see five dragon walls. Generally speaking, the dragon has five toes, but the dragons in Yu Garden only have three. In the past, only the buildings related to emperors were allowed to be designed with dragon patterns. At the very beginning, when the emperor heard that the dragon-shaped walls were designed for Yu Garden, he sent someone to investigate. After knowing that, to avoid being punished, Pan Yunduan immediately ordered people to smash two toes of each dragon’s claw. When the investigators arrived, Pan Yunduan told them, “Look, they are not dragons as each of them only has three-toe claws.” What a clever man! When you visit this garden, you cannot miss these unique dragon walls.

In the afternoon, we will come to the last stop of this journey, Shanghai Tower. Shanghai Tower has a total construction area of 578,000 square meters. It is a high-rising building with 127 floors above the ground and 5 floors underground. Its total height is 632 meters. Do you know why Shanghai Tower is designed with a spiral shape? Because this shape can decrease the wind speed, making the building safe when it is attacked by a strong typhoon. Besides, the two-layer special glass can guarantee its constant temperature inside, which can reduce the usage rate of air condition. In this respect, such a design is not only conducive to environmental protection but also makes this large-scale building more economically feasible. In addition to these ingenious designs, you can also overlook the beautiful scenery of Shanghai on the 118th sightseeing platform.

Yu Garden

Shanghai Tower

Today, our guide and driver will meet you at the hotel lobby and escort you to the airport according to your flight schedule. You are going to go back to your sweet home and the memorable China tour will end today. We are looking forward to serving you again in the other cities of China.

Author: Huimei Li

Proofreader: Liu Yan