15 Days Splendid Southern and Northern China Spring Festival Tour

Day 1 Arrival in Hong Kong

Transfer via:International Flight on your own arrangement

Upon your arrival, our local guide will meet you and escort you to your hotel. Then you will spend the rest of the day exploring the nearby streets, or resting and catching up on your jet lag. Hong Kong is the "heaven to gastronomists", with an abundance of food coming from all over the world. Many food streets are open to serve various special foods during the Spring Festival.

Day 2 Hong Kong (B)

Sightseeing: Half day Hong Kong island tour for Victoria Peak, Repulse Bay, Aberdeen fishing village

Today we explore the Victoria Peak first. The peak is Hong Kong’s No.1 tourist destination. It features the city's oldest mode of transport – the 112-year old Peak Tram, and Hong Kong's most unusual building and icon – The Peak Tower. It combines shopping, food and entertainment. Then continue to visit the lovely Repulse Bay. It is primarily an exclusive residential area and has a relaxed, resort-like atmosphere. It features statues of Kwun Yum and Tin Hau, both protectors of fishermen. The tour will continue with a visit to the Aberdeen fishing village where you will enjoy a SAMPAN RIDE on the harbor to get a close-up look at the unusual way of life.

Day 3 Hong Kong (B)

Sightseeing: Free Day or New Year celebration, fireworks show at Victoria harbor if you meet the right date for Spring Festival.

Today you can explore this well-known city with a fame of Shopping Paradise on your own. You can shop in the local market for any traditional Chinese souvenir you like. In the evening, enjoy the celebrations for the New Year and watch the city lit up during a glittering fireworks show at Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor.

Day 4 Hong Kong / Guangzhou (B )

Transfer via: Express train on our arrangement

Sightseeing: Free Day or New Year PARADE for right date of Spring Festival

Today you will enjoy the highlights of this Hong Kong tour. For celebration of Spring Festival, the city begins the New Year festivities at spectacular PARADES with dragon and lion dances, grand floats, live performances and celebrities. The whole city will become a sea of Carnival. If you happen to meet the Chinese New Year Celebration when you are in Hong Kong, you can join in it and enjoy the fantastic shows. This evening, our guide will transfer you to the railway station for the express train to Guangzhou. Arriving in Guangzhou, our local guide will meet you and transfer you to your hotel.

Day 5 Guangzhou (B L )

Sightseeing: Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Chen Family Temple, Temple of Six Banyan Trees, Nanyue King Tomb Museum
After breakfast, you will be picked up at your hotel and then have a trip to Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, a Chinese style building which was sponsored by Chinese to commemorate Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the great forerunner of Chinese revolution.

And then visit the Chen Family Temple. Built in 1636 in late the Ming Dynasty, Chen Family Temple is also known as Guangdong Folk Art Museum now as well as the best decorated ancient architecture in South China. After lunch, visit the Temple of Six Banyan Trees, a world famous ancient Buddhist temple built in 1460 years .

Then we will visit the Nanyue King Tomb Museum, the oldest and largest tomb of Western Han Dynasty with the most funerary objects in Lingnan (South of the Nanling Mountain) Area. Then be transferred back to your hotel.

Day 6 Guangzhou / Guilin (B,L )

Transfer via: China Domestic flight on our arrangement
Sightseeing: Guangzhou flower fair

This morning our guide will transfer you to visit the famous Guangzhou Flower Fair. The streets and fairs in Guangzhou will bustle with people shopping and florists from suburban areas setting up temporary shacks for the flower fair. Guangzhou is known for its flower fair held annually during the Spring Festival. The origin of flower fairs can be traced back 500 years ago. There is an old saying there, "No flower fairs, no Spring Festival". In the fair, there will be traditional Chinese performances, face painters, painting and calligraphers. At the moment the city will look like sea of flowers. You can take your fantastic photos of that to memory your unique experience in Guangzhou.

In the evening, you will then be transferred to airport for your flight to Guilin. Arriving in Guilin, you will be met and transferred to hotel by our local guide.

Day 7 Guilin (B,L )

Sightseeing: Li River Cruise, West Street

Guilin is famous for its picturesque scenery, and the best way to see it is from the deck of Li River Cruise ships. In the morning, we will depart from your hotel to the Zhujiang Pier (about 1 hour’s drive) for a 4.5 hours wonderful cruise. You will enjoy the unique mountains, peaceful green fields, farms and villages with water buffalos, cows wondering around on both banks of the river. Disembark at the one-thousand-year-old town Yangshuo in the afternoon and wander around the West Street, which is the oldest street in Yangshuo with a history of more than 1,400 years. You can have a short exploration to the old town’s lovely attractions.

It is suggested to rent a bike and ride for about 50 minutes' bike from Yangshuo to the Moon Hill. Named for the crescent-shaped cave running through the moon, Moon Hill is one of the highlights in Guilin.

In the evening you will be transferred back to Guilin city.

Day 8 Guilin / Xian (B,L )

Transfer via: China Domestic flight on our arrangement

Sightseeing: Elephant Trunk Hill, Reed Flute Cave

This morning we will begin the tour with the Elephant Trunk Hill. Located at the conjunction of the Li River & the Peach Blossom River, the whole hill really looks like a giant elephant with a long trunk drinking from the Li River. The Elephant Trunk Hill is the symbol of Guilin city.

Then we go on to visit Reed Flute Cave, which is a vast and very impressive cave system, are two of the best attractions in the city. Known as "the Palace of Natural Arts" where you can see beautiful stalactites & stalagmites, learn how they are formed. There are all kinds of nice flutes for you to buy, make sure you pick up some as gifts for your friends!

You will fly to Xi’an later. Arrive in Xi’an, you will be met and transferred to hotel by our local guide.

Day 9 Xian (B,L )

Sightseeing:Terracotta Warriors and Horses, Big Wild Goose Pagoda, Bell Tower

Unique Cultural Performance: Tang Dynasty Show

After breakfast at your hotel, we will set off for the incredible 2000 year-old Terracotta Warriors and Horses. It is the greatest archaeological findings of the century: the army of terracotta warriors and the bronze chariots entombed in vast underground vaults in Emperor Qin's tomb. More than 7000 figures in full battle array are formed for battle in several large pits. This is your mummy tour in China instead of Egypt.

Then you continue to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda where Famous Buddhist Master Xuanzang (Monk Tripitaka) stored his well-preserved collection of classic Buddhist artifacts brought from India in Tang Dynasty.

Later we will go on to the Bell Tower. This wooden tower, the largest and best-preserved of its kind in China, is 36 meters (118 feet) high.

This evening you will enjoy a very spectacular and elaborate Tang Dynasty Show with traditional Chinese dance, music and beautiful Chinese girls in Tang-style dress.

Day 10 Xian / Beijing (B, L)

Transfer via: China Domestic flight on our arrangement

Sightseeing: Ancient City Wall, Great Mosque,

Today you will experience a half-hour's hike along the Ancient City Wall. It is the largest and best preserved present city wall in ancient China and is probably the best military battlement in the world. You can rent a bicycle for a ride along the top of the 1000-year¬-old city wall.

Then we will continue to drive to the Great Mosque of Xi’an, the largest and best preserved of the early mosques of China. It was built primarily in the Ming Dynasty when Chinese architectural elements were synthesized into mosque architecture facing Mecca with its courtyard from east to west. This is the sacred place for Silk Road traders and travelers to worship Allah. It remains a popular tourist site of Xi'an, and is still used by Chinese Muslims (mainly the Hui people) today as a place of worship.

In the evening you will fly to Beijing, China’s another ancient capital with a lot of incredible historical sites. Arriving in Beijing, you will be met and transferred to hotel by our local guide.

Day 11 Beijing (B, L)

Sightseeing: Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City

Unique Cultural Performance: Peking Opera Show

Today is the highlight of Beijing city tour. At the beginning of this day we join with thousands of local people who practice Tai Chi Quan at the Temple of Heaven before breakfast. If you like you can learn it quick and join in or just watch, dont hesitate yourselves! The Temple of Heaven, built in 1420A.D, is the place where emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties would offer sacrifice to heaven and pray for good harvests.

Then we go on visiting Tiananmen Square, the biggest square in the world that lies in the center of the city. It's the symbol of Beijing and ranked No. 1 in the 16 new scenic highlights of Beijing. Then you will have the chance to experience ancient emperor's daily life.

In the afternoon we will visit the Forbidden City, from which the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties governed for over 500 years. It is the essence and a must for sightseeing in Beijing, the magnificent and solemn palaces arouse your imagination of the life of Chinese emperors.

In the evening you will be taken to the Liyuan Theatre to enjoy Beijing's spectacular Peking Opera.

Day 12 Beijing (B, L, D)

Sightseeing: Badaling Great Wall, Ming Tomb, Sacred Road

Special Dinner: Peking Duck Dinner

Today we will depart from your hotel after breakfast and spend about 1.5 hours transferring to the surrounding countryside to visit the Badaling Great Wall, one of human being’s remarkable feats built over 2,000 years ago. You can climb and walk on one of the best preserved sections of the ancient wall, admiring the splendid mountain scenery.

After having lunch at a local restaurant, we will continue to visit the Ming Tombs, the resting places of Ming Dynasty’s thirteen emperors and their splendid treasures. Passing down the Sacred Way, a road lined with statues of dignitaries as well as huge elephants, lions, camels and horses, we will see the marble tombs of the Ming Dynasty emperors and visit one of the spectacular tombs – Dingling.

Later you will be transferred back to Beijing city. On the way back to your hotel, you will be transferred to visit the main 2008 Beijing Olympic venues to take an exterior visit of both the Beijing National Stadium (Bird's Nest/Olympic Stadium) and the National Swimming Centre ('The Water Cube'), and feel free to take some photos of the stadiums.

In the evening, enjoy the famous Peking Duck Banquet for dinner.

Day 13 Beijing / Shanghai (B, L)

Transfer via: Domestic flight on our arrangement

Sightseeing: Hutongs tour by Rickshaw, Summer Palace, Shanghai Bund, Nanjing Road

Special Lunch: Chinese Traditional Dumplings lunch

Today we will start the visit with Hutongs tour by Rickshaw, a maze of historic alleyways between old single storey traditional courtyard houses. Dotted around the Hutongs are the Drum and Bell Towers, Tea House, and local people's houses. You will sit in the rickshaw to enjoy the local common Hutong life. The tour also includes a visit to a local family and enjoying the dumplings lunch; the housewife will teach you how to make dumplings if you are interested in that. Dumpling is a kind of main food for Chinese people, and it is also the traditional food for Spring Festival.

Then we continue to visit the Summer Palace. The palace is positioned in the west suburb of Beijing, about 12 kilometers northwest of the city center. Equally famous as the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace is called 'Yiheyuan' (Garden of Nurtured Harmony) in Chinese. It is up to now the best preserved and the largest imperial gardens in China. One may regret it if he comes to Beijing without visiting this grand imperial garden.

Later, you will fly to your last destination for the tour in Shanghai. Arriving in Shanghai, you will be met and transferred to hotel by our local guide. Then you can take a walk to the Bund and the Nanjing Road for relaxation.

Day 14 Shanghai (B, L )

Sightseeing: Shanghai Museum, Jade Buddha Temple, Oriental Pearl TV Tower, Yuyuan Garden

Today we will start the day with a visit to Shanghai Museum. It is the biggest museum in China, with a collection of over 120,000 pieces of Chinese art & cultural relics. It is especially famous for its treasures of bronzes, ceramics, paintings and calligraphy.

Then we will head to the Jade Buddha Temple, the old-time and classical architectural style makes the temple unique and inimitable in this world-famous metropolis. Both the Sitting Buddha and the Recumbent Buddha are carved with whole white jade. If we are lucky enough, we can watch the monks holding a Buddhist ceremony in a side room.

After lunch, we will visit the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, the highest TV Tower in Asia, creating a picture of “twin dragons playing with pearls”. The entire scene is a photographic jewel that excites people’s imagination and attracts thousands of visitors all year round.

Then we will take a relaxing walk to the lovely Yuyuan Garden, which was finished in 1577 and is the most beautiful garden by the south of the Yangtze River. Wandering in the area of Yule Pavilion and Wanhua Chamber, you will find pavilions, corridors, streams, courtyards as well as many other natural features.

Day 15 Depart from Shanghai ( B )

Transfer via: International Flight on your own arrangement

Free time until our guide escorts you to the airport for your flight to your next destination.

Your special Chinese Spring Festival tour ends here.