China Family Challenging Tour

Welcome to Qingdao, a beautiful city on the east coast of China. Qing in Chinese means “green”, while dao means “island”. And this is where your China family tour begins. Our great tour guide will be waiting for you at the airport. We will escort you to the hotel and handle the check-in for you, then the rest of the day is free for you to explore.

After a nice breakfast, we will start to visit the Badaguan Scenic Resort, covering an area of about 625,000 square meters. Badaguan means eight passes, because there used to be eight avenues named after eight famous passes in China. Although two more avenues were built in this place after the people’s liberation, people are still used to calling it Badaguan. One of the features of Badaguan Scenic Resort is that both sides of each avenue are full of trees and blossoms, furthermore, the trees and blossoms along each of the ten avenues are different. For example, Juyongguan Avenue is full of ginkgo trees, while Jiayuguan Avenue is decorated with maple trees. In addition, there are also different styles of architectures in Badaguan Scenic Resort, such as Greek, Spanish, and Danish architecture that you cannot miss.

Then, we will have some fun at Qingdao No.2 Bathing Beach, not far from the Shanhaiguan avenue of the Badaguan Scenic Resort. Compared with other bathing beaches in Qingdao, the area of Qingdao No.2 Bathing Beach is not the largest, but the sand here is the softest and the waves are the smallest. So it is perfect for sunbathers, whether lying on the beach or bathing in the water. On the west of the beach, there are so many beautiful cobblestones in different shapes and sizes that visitors often come to pick up as souvenirs. While on the east of the beach, there is a road built with stones extending into the sea. Many people will spend some time wandering on this road and breathing the fresh sea air in the sunshine. In this place, you are free to enjoy the peaceful environment and the beautiful scenery, which will be a really relaxing time with your family!

After a lunch break, we will go to the Qingdao Site Museum of the Former German Governor’s Residence (closed each Monday). The area of it is over 4,000 square meters. It is a four-story building, designed by a German architect. It was opened to the public as a museum in 1999. One of the artistic exhibits in the museum is the fireplace. There are 6 fireplaces in this building in total. We know that the fireplaces are used for heating the room, cooking and so on. Besides, the fireplaces are usually attached to some traditional western festivals. For example, on Christmas morning, the first thing the children need to do is running towards the fireplace to look for the gifts given by Santa Claus. Although there are modern heating systems inside the building, the fireplaces are still preserved. More importantly, the surface of each fireplace is decorated with colorful glazed tiles of different patterns, and the glazed tiles are full of beautiful Chinese elements.

Then, you will head to the May Fourth Square, built in 1997, covering an area of 100,000 square meters. May Fourth Square got its name from the famous May Fourth Movement, a revolutionary movement initiated by students against imperialism and feudalism. On May Fourth Square, there is a symbolic sculpture called the Wind of May. The shape of the sculpture is an upward spiral like a swirling wind breaking through dark clouds, and its flaming color can always catch your attention. It is a well show of the solidarity and greatness of the Chinese nation in the May Fourth Movement.

Not far from the square is the 2008 Olympics Sailing Center. The 29th Olympics and the 13th Paralympics Sailing Games in 2008 were held in this place. There are two major vivid architectures. One is the sculpture of the Olympic torch and the other is the sculpture of the sailing boat, which are very spectacular. Inside the Olympics Sailing Center, there is an Olympics Sailing Museum, with the mountain behind and the sea in front. Over 1,100 exhibits are displayed in the museum, and they are fine in quality and beautiful in design. One of the exhibits is a large painting drawn by Charles Billich, the famous international painter from Australia. He spent three months drawing this painting and named it Qingdao. About 4.2 meters long and 1.2 meters wide, this painting shows the beauty of Qingdao and expresses his love for Qingdao. After the sightseeing, we will go back to the hotel.

Badaguan Scenic Resort

 2008 Olympics Sailing Center

This morning, we will drive you to the train station and take the estimated train G5571 07:23/09:59 to Qufu, the hometown of Confucius. Our experienced guide will pick you up at the train station. We will first visit the Confucius Temple. Originally, this temple was built to commemorate Confucius, which was not only because his ideology influences China and the world, but because he was a nice teacher. His teaching method had really led his students to success in different areas. An interesting story says that one day, a youth traveled a long way to come to Confucius and wanted to learn from him. But the youth was surprised at the first sight of Confucius. Because Confucius just seemed like a normal old man and was not handsome and strong like what the youth had thought. “Confucius is the most famous teacher, but he looks like nothing unusual. In contrast, most of his students dress, act and speak like gentlemen. Now that they are better than Confucius, why do they still follow him? ” the youth thought. So, he asked Confucius, “what do you think of your student Zigong? ” Confucius said, “ He is more eloquent than me. ” The youth continued, “ Then how about Zilu? ” “ He is braver than me. ” Confucius replied. “ Ah! Mr. Confucius, that is the only thing that I can not understand. They are better than you, why do they still follow you? ” the youth jumped up in surprise. Confucius said and smiled, “ Zigong is really eloquent, but lacks humility. Zilu is really brave, but without flexibility. It is true that they have many virtues, but I can improve their weaknesses. That is why they are willing to follow me. ” 

After visiting the temple, we will go to the Kong (Confucius’ family name) Family Mansion at the east of the Confucius Temple. It was built in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). After continuous extension, we have today’s Kong Family Mansion covering an area of over 133,000 square meters and with over 480 rooms. At the gate of the mansion, there are two stones carved into the shape of lions. They are Chinese guardian lions, considered auspicious in traditional Chinese culture. So, they can be used as decoration as well as be used for guarding the house. But in ancient time, only those who passed the imperial competitive examination were qualified to place the guardian lions for their houses. Therefore, the two stone lions at the gate of Kong Family Mansion also implicitly proved the high status of the Kong family in society.

After walking out of the mansion, we will visit the Confucius Cemetery, a private family cemetery of Confucius and his descendants. In 1994, the Cemetery, the Mansion and the Temple were added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List. In this area, there are huge centuries-old trees, which makes the cemetery more quiet and solemn. It is said that those trees were planted by the disciples of Confucius. Although the cemetery covers an enormous area and has over 100,000 graves, most people mainly come to visit the grave of Confucius himself. For many Chinese parents, they will take their children to worship Confucius for helping their children get good grades in school exams. Maybe you could give it a try. After the unforgettable Confucius tour for family with kids, we will drive you to the hotel in Qufu.

Confucius Cemetery

Confucius Temple

After breakfast, we will drive 1.4 hours (about 80KM) towards the north to Mount Tai. Located in the center of Shandong Province, Mount Tai is one of the Five Sacred Mountains in China and also a World Heritage. Mount Tai is towering and majestic. Its main peak of is Jade Emperor Summit, about 1,545 meters above sea level. In the nice weather, you might see the beautiful sunrise, the glowing sunset and the amazing sea of clouds. Except for the natural scenery, you can also see some temples and stone inscriptions here. From the Qin Dynasty (221B.C.-207B.C.) to the Qing Dynasty (1636-1912), 13 emperors had climbed Mount Tai for hosting major ceremonies. Even Confucius had come to Mount Tai thousands of years ago.

We will go to the Tourist Center first. Then we will take a sightseeing shuttle bus along a twisting road leading to the Zhongtianmen. It is a stone gate built in the Qing Dynasty and almost halfway up the mountain. Walking ahead, you will pass the most dangerous and difficult part of the road. It has a vertical height of about 400 meters and over 1,600 steps. But once you cover the full length of this part, you will be tired but very proud. After that, we will get to Nantianmen, which means you are about to the top of Mount Tai. You will feel that you are so close to the sky and the clouds. It is a good time to slow down and look around. Walking eastwards, you can have a stroll on Heavenly Street. As early as about 1,000 years ago, many pilgrims came here to pray for safety. To solve their accommodation, the heavenly street emerged. Today, although the length of the street is not very long, the stores, restaurants and hotels are well-run. Then, you can also worship in the Jade Emperor Hall. In Chinese culture, Jade Emperor is the highest-ranking god in Taoist theology. According to the folk belief, the Jade Emperor can control the changes in the natural world and dominate people’s lives and deaths.

After the exploration of Mount Tai, we will down the mountain by a cable car. The 4-day family challenging tour will come to an end. We will transfer you to the train station and you will take the estimated train G6978 19:41/22:29 to the hotel in Qingdao. We hope you have a nice journey in China, and it will be our pleasure to serve you again!

Mount Tai

Mount Tai

Editor:Yalin Zhao

Proofreader:Yan Liu