Popular China Golf Experience

Welcome to Beijing! Our guide will be holding your name sign and waiting for you at the arrival hall. After meeting you, the guide and the diver will transfer you to the hotel. Then you can have a nice rest after a long-distance flight. Beijing is the capital of the People’s Republic of China and was the capital of six dynasties. And Beijing has the largest number of imperial palaces, gardens, temples, and mausoleums in China. In addition, the city hosted the 2008 Summer Olympic Games and will be the host to the 2022 Winter Olympic Games, making it the only city to host these two big events.

After having a buffet breakfast at the hotel, you will have a visit to Tian’anmen Square, located in the center of Beijing with an area of 440,000 square meters. It names after Tiananmen (Gate of Heavenly Peace). The gate is located at the north of the square and separates Tian’anmen Square from the Forbidden City. Tian’anmen Square is surrounded by many buildings, such as the Great Hall of the People and the National Museum. In addition, there is a national flag at Tian’anmen Square, and the flag raising and lowering ceremony are held every day. The time of raising and lowering time is determined by the time of sunrise and sunset.

Then, you will go to the nearby Forbidden City (closed each Monday). It was constructed in 1420 and is the best-preserved and largest imperial palace in China and the world. Besides appreciating the magnificent buildings and breathtaking landscape, you can also focus on more detailed decorations. Many animal sculptures are protecting the Forbidden City. Let’s take Four Divine Creatures as an example, namely dragon, phoenix, turtle, and kylin. The dragon in China represents dignity and power, and it also represents the emperor. The Chinese phoenix is the head of all birds, and it symbolizes peace, prosperity, and a constant striving spirit. The turtle is a symbol of longevity. And the kylin would bring offspring, convey the will of Heaven and dictate the rise and fall of a dynasty.

After having lunch, you will head to the Summer Palace, the best-preserved imperial garden in the world. It is mainly composed of Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake. Besides, there are more than 3,000 ancient structures, such as pavilions, halls, corridors, bridges. If you stroll along the east bank of Kunming Lake, you may see a bronze ox. The ox has the same size as a real one, and it was made in 1755. There are 80-character inscriptions on the back of the ox, dedicated by Emperor Qianlong, the fourth emperor of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). According to the legend, Da Yu, the master of flood control, would put an iron ox into the water when he completed every project. And oxen were acclaimed as good swimmers, even-tempered, and hardworking. Since the Tang Dynasty (618-907), it has become a custom to place a bronze ox on the bank of the lake, hoping for preventing flooding forever.      

Forbidden City

Summer Palace

This morning, you will first go to the Hutong. Hutong is an alley formed by Siheyuan (a traditional courtyard compound in China) lining on both sides, and the width of Hutong can range from 40 centimeters to 10 meters. And these hutongs are interlaced, resembling a maze. Many Beijing Hutongs were formed during the Ming (1206-1368) and Qing dynasties. Here, you can give a glimpse of the traditional daily life of ordinary people in Beijing and know what old Beijing was like. You may see street vendors selling snacks, and local people chatting, taking their pets birds for a walk, playing card games, or chess in hutongs. In addition, you can take a rickshaw to explore the hutongs, which is a classic way to visit hutongs in a short time.  

After lunch, we will drive northwestward for about 1.5 hours to the Badaling Great Wall, 75 kilometers away from the center of Beijing. This section is the best-preserved and most complete among all Great Wall sections. Most parts of it were built and reinforced during the Ming Dynasty, and the total length of it is 12 kilometers. There are a total of 43 watchtowers. And the majority of stairs here are not very steep and equipped with handrails, so the Badaling Great Wall is relatively easier to climb up. This section has been viewed by the largest number of heads of states and governments. In 1957, the first foreign dignity came here was Voroshilov, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Over the next years, more than 400 foreign leaders have paid a visit here, such as Nixon, Reagan, Bush, Elizabeth II, Margaret Thatcher, Putin, and Mandela.

Hutong

Badaling Great Wall

Today’s activity is a must for your China Golf Tour. You will be taken to the Beijing Honghua International Golf Club or other clubs with the same level. You will play half-day golf and enjoy free time for the rest of the day. Beijing Honghua International Golf Club is located near the Asian Games Village, one kilometer away from the Bird Nest. The club was set up in 2004 and was designed by Nick Faldo who ranked number one on the Official World Golf Ranking and won six major championships (three Opens and three Masters). The design and construction meet the standards of the World Championship. The whole area of the course covers 90,000 square meters, and of course, there is an 18-hole international standard golf course. Besides the golf courses, the club also is equipped with sauna, shower and locker rooms, Chinese and Western restaurants, café, bar, swimming pool, and gymnasium.

Beijing Honghua International Golf Club

Beijing Honghua International Golf Club

In the morning, you will visit the Temple of Heaven, located in the center of Beijing. It is an imperial temple where emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties worshiped Heaven and prayed for good harvests. As the most representative example of Chinese ritual architecture, it has an amazing design, reflecting mystical cosmological laws and Chinese beliefs. The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is the most striking building here, you can have a closer look at it. The three-layer roofs with glazed blue tiles stand for the blue sky and the peak of the roof is yellow which symbolizes the supreme of imperial power (yellow represent the emperor in ancient China). There is no beam inside the hall, but 28 wooden columns, namely 4 inner, 12 middle, and 12 outer columns, symbolizing the 4 seasons, 12 months, and 12 Shichen (an ancient Chinese timing unit equaling two hours).

After lunch, the guide will escort you to the airport to take the estimated flight HU7547 14:30/17:50 to Chengdu. The local guide will pick you up at the arrival hall, and then transport you to the hotel. You can have a rest and get ready for the next day. Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, is famous for being the hometown of cute giant pandas and is the first Asian city to be named a UNESCO City of Gastronomy. From the discoveries of Sanxingdui and Jinsha Sites, we can know that there were inhabitants in Chengdu over 4,000 years ago. Here, you can have a closer look at the adorable Giant Pandas, explore the culture of Three Kingdoms, taste authentic Sichuan foods, enjoy folk performances, and experience local leisure life.

Temple of Heaven

Temple of Heaven

This morning, you will go to Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding to see cute giant pandas, the National Treasure of China. It is only 10 kilometers from the center of Chengdu. Nowadays, it is home to more than 200 giant pandas. Here, you can closely observe the giant pandas of different ages with different poses, such as eating, drinking, sleeping, climbing trees, and playing with each other or with the feeders. There is an interesting legend about why giant pandas are black and white. In the past, pandas were snowy white. One day, a young shepherd was bitten to death by a leopard when she tried to save a giant panda. Then, other giant pandas held a funeral for that girl. And all the giant pandas came to the funeral with black armbands to show their respects to the girl. They cried so much that their eyes and bodies were dyed black by the black armbands.   

Then, you will go to Jinli Old Street, one of the oldest shopping streets in Sichuan Province. The street has a total length of 350 meters, and on both sides, there are many stores selling handicrafts and antiques, such as Shu embroidery, lacquer products, and old porcelain dishes. In addition, you can see some folk artisan performances are put on the roadside stands, including making sugar figurines, puppet shadow shows, and moulding figures out of clay. And there also are many stores selling delicious foods and snacks like buckwheat noodles, sesame cakes, and fried sugar balls. Besides, you may see a talented craftsman who can write your name on a grain of rice and put it in a pendant on a necklace. It’s so amazing, isn’t it? You can buy it for yourself or your friends since it is a very memorable souvenir.

And then, you will go to the nearby Chengdu Wuhou Shrine Museum, located in the west of Jinli Old Street. The Wuhou Shrine Museum can offer a good example of the culture of the Three Kingdoms (220-280), and it was dedicated to Zhuge Liang, the Wuhou (Marquis Wu) of the Kingdom of Shu. The main buildings here are Wuhou Temple, Liu Bei Temple (the first emperor of Shu), Sanyi Temple, Mausoleum of Liu Bei, and the Culture Exhibition Hall. Liu Bei Temple is also called Zhaolie Temple ( Zhaolie is the posthumous title of Liu Bei). Entering the temple, you can see a 3-meter high golden sculpture of Liu Bei. Was it made of real gold? It turned out that a craftsman hammered the gold into many sheets of thin foil and then stuck the gold foil on the clay sculpture.   

The last attraction of today is the People’s Park, a comprehensive park that integrates culture, garden, heritage preservation, and entertainment. It was built in 1911, covering an area of 112,639 square meters. There are many famous scenic spots, including, the Gold Water Stream, Goldfish Island, the Orchid Garden, and the Potted Landscape Garden. The Orchid Garden is located in the south of People’s park. It is the largest orchid landscape garden in downtown Chengdu, with a total area of 880 square meters. There is a square pavilion surrounded by a pool. And on the western and southern sides of the pavilion, there are orchid shelves, on which over 900 pots of orchid with 28 species are displayed. Among these 28 species, 14 kinds of orchids are famous and precious varieties. Apart from the delicate potted orchids, there are corridors, rockery, and other kinds of water plants, which make it a good place for resting.

Chengdu Wuhou Shrine Museum

Jinli Old Street

After breakfast, you will head to Kuanzhai Alley, which is composed of three parallel ancient alleys and 45 courtyards. Some courtyards are traditional Qing-style quadrangles, and some buildings are in western style since the Christians came and lived here during the end of the Qing Dynasty. Kuanzhai Alley is a popular entertainment block and a famous tourism site. On both sides of the alleys stand lots of restaurants, café, bars, teahouses, and stores selling featured souvenirs and craftsman works. There is a special and comfortable activity in Kuanzhai Alley—ear-picking in a traditional way. All you need to do is sitting on a deck chair, closing your eyes, and enjoying a half-hour ear-picking service. The expert will first sanitize your ears and then use a super-long metal ear spoon to make deep cleaning of your ears. Their skills are very sophisticated, and you will enjoy the whole process.

After having lunch in a local restaurant, you will be escorted to the airport to take the estimated flight MU6236 15:00/18:05 to Shanghai. The local guide will be waiting for you and then transfer you to the hotel. Shanghai is a famous international metropolis, and an influential hub of economy, finance, international trade, and culture in China. It is home to the world’s second-highest building and many other skyscrapers with distinctive designs. In addition, there are plenty of splendid examples of art deco buildings with various styles, including Gothic, Baroque, Romanesque and Neoclassical. And you also can find some local architectural heritage, such as Shikumen (Stone Gate), and Nongtang (laneway).

Kuanzhai Alley

Kuanzhai Alley

In the morning, you will pay a visit to Jing’an Temple, also known as the Temple of Peace and Tranquility. The temple consists of three main buildings, namely the Mahavira Hall, the Hall of Heavenly Kings, the Hall of the Three Saints with a structure of the temple being at the front and the pagoda at the rear. In the east wing room of the Mahavira Hall, you can see the biggest jade sitting statue of Sakyamuni in China. The jade statue has a height of 3.87 meters and a weight of 11,000 kilograms. In the west wing room of the Mahavira Hall, you can see a 6.2-meter, 5-ton statue of Bodhisattva made of millennial camphor standing on a lotus-shaped base.   

Then, you will go to visit the Yu Garden (closed each Monday). In China, there are three kinds of gardens, namely royal garden, temple garden, and private garden, and the Yu Garden belongs to the last one. Like other kinds of gardens, Yu Garden is composed of four basic factors—water, plant, building, and rockery. One of the most characteristic structures of Yu Garden is the decorative dragon wall, made of five dragons. Two relatively quiet dragons are a lying dragon and a sleeping dragon. And the third dragon has the momentum of flying across the clouds. The two left dragons face each other, and there is a pearl in the middle, which is called “double dragons play with the pearl”. If you want to take a photo, the dragon wall is the best background.    

After enjoying lunch, you will visit the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. It is the 4th highest tower in Asia and the 6th highest tower in the world, with a height of 468 meters. The tower mainly is composed of the square, 3 slanting stanchions, 3 vertical columns, and 11 spheres. Three spheres are large, namely the Bottom Sphere, the Upper Sphere, and Space Capsule, and there is an observation deck on each of these spheres. Two decks are outdoor observation decks, and they are 90 meters (in the Bottom Sphere) and 259 meters (in the Upper Sphere) off the ground respectively. And the highest observation deck is on the Space Capsule at 350 meters. In addition, the deck in the Upper Sphere is a 150-meter-long glass-bottomed sightseeing corridor where you can enjoy a 360-degree view of the Shanghai landscape and challenge yourself by looking down through the transparent glass floor.

The next attraction is the Bund, a famous 1.5-kilometer-long waterside promenade on the west bank of Huangpu River. To the west of this promenade stand 52 different classical buildings in the Gothic, Baroque, Romanesque, Neoclassical, and other styles. Among 52 various buildings, the neoclassical Custom House is reclaimed as one of the symbols of the Bund together with the neighboring HSBS Building. The Custom House has two sections: the east section is eight-story tall with a clock tower on the top and the west section is five-story tall. The most noticeable feature of the Custom House is the 11-story clock tower with a height of 90 meters. The clock has four 5.3-meter-diameter faces, and each of them was made up of over 100 pieces of glass. And the clock tower was modeled after the design of Big Ben at the Palace of Westminster and remains to be the largest clock in Asia.

Then, you will stroll along Nanjing Road, a 5.5-kilometer-long shopping street. If you are a fashion-seeking shopper, you should not miss it. On this century-old shopping street, over 600 businesses are famous brands, and about 100 traditional stores and specialty shops sell clocks, wool, silk goods, embroidery, etc. Besides, you can easily find century-old traditional Chinese food stores. You can step into the Zhen Lao Da Fang and try their famous smoked fish, meat mooncake, turnip strips cake, and crab-yellow pastry. And the neighboring store is Bee Cheng Hiang which features dried pork slices, dried pork floss, and sausages. Besides, there are other delicious Chinese snacks worthy of tasting, including Hot and Sour Rice Noodles, Ma Po Bean Curd, and Sesame Seed Bun.

Jing’an Temple

Nanjing Road

Playing golf in Shanghai is an essential part of your China Golf Tour. This morning, you will be driven for about an hour to the Lake Malaren Golf Club Shanghai, about 30 kilometers away from downtown Shanghai. Today, you will play half-day golf and will have half-day free time. This club is a world-class champion golf venue offering 36 holes on its Masters (formerly South) and North Forest Courses. The Master Course has hosted many top-level tournaments, such as the European Tour’s BMW Masters championship. And in 2010, it was redesigned by Nicklaus Design, one of the world’s leading Shanghai golf course design companies. The new design course has a “natural parkland” style, incorporating many natural elements, including trees, natural grasses, lakes, and a strong rolling topography. The natural course will make you feel aesthetically pleasing and give you a challenging and different golf experience.

Lake Malaren Golf Club Shanghai

Lake Malaren Golf Club Shanghai

Today, your 10 days China Golf Tour comes to an end. After enjoying a buffet breakfast, your guide will help you check out and then escort you to the airport according to your flight schedule. Hope you enjoy this China Golf Tour. If you are satisfied with this tour, you can participate in other interesting theme tours of our company next time!  

Author: Zhang Yibo