China High-Speed Train Tour from Shanghai to Beijing

Upon arrival at Shanghai airport, you will start your excellent China tour! Our professional guide will be holding your name sign and waiting for you at the arrival hall according to your flight schedule. Afterward, you will be transferred to the hotel in downtown Shanghai.

After breakfast, you will visit the Yu Garden (closed each Monday). It was built in the Jiajing and Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), covering an area of 20,000 square meters.  Yu Garden often hosts various kinds of flower shows, as well as festival celebration events, such as the Double Ninth Festival, the Lantern Festival. It holds exhibitions of strange stones, calligraphy and painting.

Then you will have a local experience by strolling around the nearby Shanghai Old Street. Shanghai Old Street, formerly known as Fangbang Middle Road, starts from Henan South Road in the west and ends at Renmin Road in the east, with a total length of 825 meters. The Shanghai Old Street district was originally an important venue for foreign trade and small commodity trading in Shanghai, witnessing the economic and social development of Shanghai. You will be amazed at the variety of small goods here, such as silk, folding fans, and porcelains. Here you can buy some local souvenirs for your family or friends, and you can also taste the local specialties – Soup Dumplings, which is a large, soup-filled type of steamed buns (baozi) in Chinese cuisine. I am sure you will like the taste.

After lunch at a local restaurant, you will be transferred to visit the Shanghai Tower, which is a high-rise landmark skyscraper in Shanghai. The Shanghai Tower covers an area of 433,954 square meters, with a total height of 632 meters, which exceeds the nearby Shanghai World Financial Center and Oriental Pearl TV Tower.

Next, you would take a walk at The Bund. Located on the east bank of the Huangpu River in the heart of Shanghai, the Bund is a must-see destination for tourists visiting the city. For tourists, a Shanghai tour is not complete without a visit to the Bund. Here you will see 52 different styles of classical revival buildings, known as the ‘International Architecture Exhibition Group’.

And you can also visit Nanjing Road. Nanjing Road is one of the most prosperous streets in Shanghai. There are more than 700 shops on Nanjing Road. It is one of the ten most beautiful pedestrian streets in China. You will spend some leisure time here.

Shanghai Tower

Nanjing road

In the morning, our guide will pick you up from your hotel according to the appointed time. Then you will be transferred to the airport to take an estimated flight MU8581 09:10-12:00 to Guilin. Your Shanghai tour will end here.

Welcome to Guilin! Guilin is located in southwestern China, the most prosperous region of southwest China which is known for its diversity of culture. Guilin is a world-famous tourist city, and one of the first national historical and cultural cities in China. The scenery in Guilin is world-famous and has been known as “East or west, Guilin landscape is best” for thousands of years. Our Guilin local guide will wait for you at the airport according to your flight schedule.

After picking you up, you will be transferred to visit Elephant Trunk Hill. Elephant Trunk Hill, formerly known as Li Mountain, is located at the confluence of the Taohua River and the Li River in Guilin. The mountain is named for its shape which looks like a giant elephant standing on the edge of the river with its nose outstretched and drinking water from the Li River. It is known as the symbol of the Guilin landscape.

Legend has it that this Elephant Trunk Hill was transformed from a divine elephant in the heaven. The divine elephant was originally the Jade Emperor's mount. One year, Jade Emperor took the divine elephant to fight in a war against strong enemies. The battle was extremely fierce, and the divine elephant was wounded to protect the Jade Emperor in the war. The divine elephant was separated from Jade Emperor in the battle. And he tried to catch up with the troop, but finally stopped at Guilin because he was exhausted. The elephant's life was in danger. A couple in Guilin named Xiang Gong and Xiang Po found the elephant and decided to rescue it. After several days, the divine elephant slowly recovered.

At that time, there was a monster in the Li River in Guilin. The monster in the water often overturned fishing boats, flooded farmland, and the local people suffered a lot. So the divine elephant tried his best to subdue the monster, and helped farmers plowing and working. With the help of the divine elephant, the local people finally lived a good life of happiness and stability. And the divine elephant also liked to live with the people of Guilin, and decided not to return to the heaven.

Elephant Trunk Hill

Elephant Trunk Hill

In the morning, our guide will pick you up from your hotel. Then you will be transferred to the Mopanshan Pier to enjoy a 4 hours’ Li River Cruise. It is about 35 kilometers from the central area of Guilin and it takes about 53 minutes by car. Li River is 164 kilometers long, and Li River cruise tour is from Lingchuan to Yangshuo, with 64 kilometers of water section. It is a must-have experience for tourists who come to Guilin for the first time. Coming to Guilin without visiting the Li River, you are bound to come back with regrets. The eye-attracting landscape and country scenery will never disappoint you. During the cruise tour, you will see the Xingping Ancient Town, which is a beautiful ancient town along the Li River and is an age-old castle complex survived from over 500 years ago. Although some courtyard buildings have weathered through ages, the simple but elegant flying-eaves, roofs, and lattice windows present the folk customs of the local residence from the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368-1912). You will have lunch on board. When you arrive in Yangshuo in the afternoon, you will visit the Yangshuo West Street. Yangshuo West Street, also called Foreigner Street, has a history of over 1,400 years. West Street is still a small village street, but most of the bars, restaurants, cafes, craft and painting stores on the street are decorated with a mix of Chinese and Western styles. And there are foreign language signs. Ordinary residents and even old ladies selling fruits on the street can speak English fluently. You can have a free talk with the local people here. More than 150 foreign leaders of state and government have visited here, including Clinton, Nixon, Kissinger, Margaret Thatcher, and so on.

Li river

Yangshuo west street

In the morning, our guide will pick you up from your hotel according to the appointed time. Then you will be transferred back to Guilin. After you arrive in Guilin city, you will be transferred to your hotel to have a good rest, you are free to arrange your time for the rest of the day.

In the morning, you will be transferred to the train station and take an estimated train G4114 09:00-16:00 to Chengdu. Your Guilin tour will end here. Welcome to Chengdu! As the hometown of pandas, Chengdu is charming in the way the local people live - relax, leisure & cozy. Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan Province, an important national high-tech industrial base, trade and logistics center and comprehensive transportation hub. Chengdu is the best tourist city in China with famous sites such as Wuhou Temple, Jinli, Sichuan Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, and so on. Our local guide will wait for you at the train station. After picking you up, you will be transferred to your hotel in Chengdu to have a good rest. You are free to arrange your time for the rest of the day.

After breakfast, you will first be taken to visit the Wuhou Temple in Chengdu. It is about 12 kilometers from the central area of Chengdu and it takes about 38 minutes to get there by car. Wuhou Temple is located on Wuhou Temple Street, Nanmen, Chengdu City. It is a commemoration for the King Liu Bei of Shu Kingdom (221-263), one of the regimes of the Three Kingdoms (220-280), and his prime minister Zhuge Liang. It is the only combined memorial temple for both a king and his minister in China, as well as the most prestigious museum for Shu Kingdom relics. Chengdu Wuhou Temple was the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units (1961) and also the first batch of first-class museums. It attracts millions of tourists every year and enjoys the reputation of the Holy Land of the Three Kingdoms.

Next, you will go to see the Jinli, which is located adjacent to Wuhou Temple. Jinli was once one of the oldest and most famous commercial streets in the history of Xishu dynasty. Jinli is 550 meters long, and the buildings along the street are in an architectural style of the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. In 2005, Jinli was selected as one of the "Top Ten Commercial Pedestrian Streets in China", which is as famous as the famous shopping streets such as Wangfujing Street in Beijing, Jianghan Road in Wuhan, Jiefangbei in Chongqing, and Heping Road in Tianjin. You can buy some souvenirs for your friends and family here, such as chopsticks, tea, lanterns, and silk quilts. Then you will have lunch at a local restaurant. In the afternoon, you will be transferred to visit the Sichuan Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. It is about 25 kilometers from the central area of Chengdu, and it takes about 36 minutes by car. For you who are in deep love with giant pandas, the cutest animal in the world, visiting Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding to have close contact with the lovely creatures will be a lifetime experience. A visit to Chengdu is not complete without a visit to see the cuddly giant pandas, which is characterized by large, black patches around its eyes, over the ears, and across its round body. The Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding is built according to the ecological environment of giant pandas, with a vegetation cover rate of more than 96%, creating an ecological environment suitable for giant pandas and many rare wild animals to live and breed. More than 80 giant pandas, as well as rare animals such as red pandas, black-necked cranes and white cranes lived here.

Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding

Wuhou Temple

In the morning, our guide will pick you up from your hotel. Then you will be transferred to the train station and take the estimated train G574 10:21-14:00 to Xi’an. Your Chengdu tour will end here. Welcome to Xi’an! Xi’an was known as Chang’an in ancient time, and it is the ancient capital city of China as well as the starting point of the ancient silk road. In Xi’an, you will have a chance to come face-to-face with the world-renowned Terracotta Warriors and explore the most grandiose ancient city wall in China. Our local guide will wait for you at the train station. Then you will be transferred to your hotel in Xi’an to have a good rest. You are free to arrange your time for the rest of the day.

After your breakfast at the hotel, you will first be transferred to see the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum. It is about 45 kilometers west from the central area of Xi’an and it takes about one hour to get there by car. Terracotta warriors are a category of ancient burial sculptures. In ancient times, slaves were the appendages of the slave owners during their lifetime, and after the death of the slave owners, the slaves had to be buried alive for the slave owners. The terracotta warriors and horses are burial objects made of clay in the shape of soldiers and horses (chariots, war horses, soldiers). Being the most significant archeological discovery of the 20th century and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Terracotta Warriors is no doubt a must-see for every tourist to Xi'an.

After that, you will have lunch at the local restaurant and you will taste the local cuisines. In the afternoon, you will visit the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. The Big Wild Goose Pagoda is located in the Da Ci’en Temple, which was built during the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty by Prince Li Zhi in memory of his mother, and was first presided over by Master Xuan Zang. During this period, he supervised the construction of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Xuanzang is an eminent monk of the Tang Dynasty, who used to study in India from 629 AD to 645 AD. He visited a pagoda in India. When he came back to Xi’an-the capital city of the Tang dynasty, he built the Big Wild Goose Pagoda in Da Ci’en Temple imitating the structure of the pagoda in India to store the Buddhist scriptures brought back from India. The Big Wild Goose Pagoda is a well-preserved holy place for Buddhist with a history of over 1,300 years. It is the landmark building of Xi’an, and a key national cultural relic and AAAA attraction. 

At last, you will go to see the Great Mosque. The Great Mosque was founded in the first year of the Tang Emperor Xuanzong (742 AD), which has a history of more than 1,250 years. Through the several times of restoring and expanding during the Song, Yuan, especially the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Great Mosque has gradually formed the current magnificent, and solemn group of ancient buildings complex. While the Great Mosque stands as one of the most notable tourist attractions in the ancient city of Xi’an, it also continues to be revered as a place of worship for the local Hui Muslims. 

Great Mosque

Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum

In the morning, our guide will pick you up from your hotel. Then you will be transferred to visit the City Wall. The city wall is the largest and best-preserved ancient city wall in China. Located right in the center of Xi'an, the rectangular-shaped city wall is 13.7 kilometers long and completely encloses the old city center. As a defense fortification, the wall features a moat, drawbridges, watchtowers, parapet walls, and large gate towers. Then you will be transferred to the train station and you will take the estimated train G88 13:32-17:55 to Beijing.

Welcome to Beijing! Beijing is the capital of the People's Republic of China, and it is the political center, the cultural center, the international communication center, and the center of science and technology innovation. With a long history and splendid culture, Beijing is one of the first national historical and cultural cities, one of the four ancient capitals of China and the city with the largest number of world cultural heritages. There are many world-renowned scenic spots such as the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, the Great Wall and the Summer Palace. Our local guide will wait for you at the train station.

City Wall

City Wall

After breakfast, our friendly tour guide and driver will pick you up at your hotel according to the appointed time. First, you will go to see the famous Tian'anmen Square. Tian’anmen Square is located at the center of Beijing City and the midpoint of Chang'an Avenue, where you can see the Tian’anmen Tower, Monument to the People's Heroes, Great Hall of the People, Chairman Mao Zedong Memorial Hall and see the national flag-raising ceremony. Thousands of people come to the Tian’anmen Square every day. It is a must-visit place for tourists who are the first time to visit Beijing city. Tian’anmen Square is a record of the indomitable revolutionary spirit and fearless heroism of the Chinese people. It is as well as the site of numerous major political and historical events, and a historical witness of China's rise from decline.

Then you will visit the Forbidden City (closed on each Monday). The Forbidden City in Beijing is a royal palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in China and is the essence of ancient Chinese palace architecture. The Forbidden City in Beijing covers an area of 720,000 square meters, with a construction area of about 150,000 square meters. It is one of the largest and best-preserved ancient wooden buildings in the world. Next, you will have lunch at a local restaurant.

After a short rest, you will be transferred to visit the Summer Palace. The Summer Palace, an ancient royal garden in Beijing, formerly known as Qingyi Garden, is located in the western suburbs of Beijing, 15 kilometers away from the city, covering an area of about 290 hectares. The Summer Palace was listed as World Heritage in 1998. UNESCO reported that the Summer Palace is "a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design". Then you will be transferred back to your hotel.

Summer palace

Tiananmen Square

In the afternoon, you will be picked up from your hotel. First, we will drive for about 1 hour to visit the Sacred Way, and it is about 48 kilometers from Tian’anmen Square.  The Sacred Way is the first scenic spot of the Ming Dynasty Tombs. It consists of Stone Archway, Stone Elephant Life, Dragon Phoenix Gate, etc. Next, you will visit the Chang Tomb. The Chang Tomb is the largest one among the Ming Tombs, and it was built in the seventh year of Yongle (1409). Emperor Zhu Di of the Ming dynasty was the first emperor to build the Chang Tomb. After that, another 12 tombs were built. Chang Tomb is the largest and the most completely preserved of these tombs. Because of its grand ancient architecture, brilliant culture and long history, the site is one of the most significant attractions in Beijing.

Then we will drive about half an hour to the Great Wall and you will have an opportunity to climb up to the Badaling Great Wall. The Great Wall is the general name of the vast military projects built by ancient China to resist the invasion of the northern nomadic tribe alliance in different periods. The Great Wall stretches for thousands of miles from east to west of China, which is just like a gigantic dragon, winds up and down across deserts, grasslands, mountains and plateaus. It is a great miracle created by the working people in ancient China and a testimony to China’s long history. It is said that the Great Wall is the only human project that can be seen from space.

On the way back to the hotel, you will have a picture stop at the Bird's Nest and Water Cube. The National Stadium (Bird's Nest) is located in the southern part of the central area of Beijing Olympic Park and is the main stadium for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The Bird’s Nest covers an area of 210,000 square meters, with about 91,000 seats for spectators in the stadium. It held the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, track and field competitions and the final of soccer matches. Not far from the Bird's Nest, there is the National Aquatics Center, also known as Water Cube. Its creative design concept is originated from the arrangement pattern of cells. The Water Cube was produced by combining modern technologies with traditional Chinese culture.

Water Cube

Bird Nest

Your wonderful China tour will come to an end today. Your professional local guide will pick you up at your hotel and transfer you to the airport.                                                                                                                    

Our service will end here.

Author: Tina Jia
Proofreader: Lexie Jia