5 Days Shanghai Suzhou Hangzhou Tour with West Lake Biking

Full Itinerary Day by day

Day 1 Shanghai Arrival

Ni Hao! Welcome to Shanghai, the biggest metropolis in China!

Upon arrival, you will be met by a local tour guide at the arrival hall of the airport/train station/port and escorted to check in your hotel in downtown by a private comfortable vehicle. The rest of today is on your own to relax. If you want to explore nearby, feel free to get some practical suggestions from your tour guide.

Optional Activity - Attend an entertaining Acrobatic Show, including breathtaking “balls of death” acts, chair balancing, hula hoops, juggling of benches, walking in the air, and other breathtaking performances (usually performed during 19:30~21:00).

Arrival Ideas: At present, there are many international and many domestic flights to and from Shanghai. Also, you can arrive in Shanghai city by taking a high speed train from Beijing (5-6hrs), Xian (6-7hrs), Hangzhou (1hrs), Suzhou (30mins), Huangshan (4hrs), and so on.

Day 2 Shanghai - Suzhou - Shanghai (B, L)

Today, you’ll enjoy a one day side trip to discover the poetic Suzhou with about 1.5 hours’ driving.

Start with an interesting visit to Lingering Garden, one of the Four Greatest Gardens in China as well as the perfect representative of traditional Suzhou Gardens. The Lingering Garden has synthesized almost all the classic features of Suzhou gardens. It is composed of residential areas, shrines, family temple and garden, making fully use of the changings between big and small, bend and straight, bright and dark, tall and low, tight and disperse, with the surrounding landscapes, such as trees, flowers, lake, sky, as backgrounds to create an ingenious system of space. Stepping into the garden, you will find the buildings, rockeries, corridors, pavilions, ponds and trees in Lingering Garden are all standing in the best place, neither too crowded nor too sporadic. The most incredible thing is that, in the same place, looking from different angles, you can enjoy different scenery. Making a step, you will get another feeling of another kind of scenery.

After visiting Lingering Garden, move on to next site Shantang Ancient Street, a wonderful place for a relaxing walking. It used to be an important trade and culture center during Ming and Qing Dynasties, and now is famous as “the miniature of old Suzhou and the window of Wu culture”. Enjoy the ornate water-town style architectures, marvel at the bustling streets and savor at local snacks.

In the afternoon, you will go to explore the most historical site in Suzhou Tiger Hill. The famous Chinese poet in Song Dynasty (960-1279), Su Shi, once said, “It is a lifelong pity if having visited Suzhou you did not visit Tiger Hill.” He was definitely right. The hill is only 36 meters in height, but covers about 3.5 acres areas with a number of historical sites some of which have history over 2,500 years. The most famous sites include the Yunyan Pagoda which is an over-1000-year-old pagoda with seven stories in height and famously leans much like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and the Sword Pool where the King of Wu, He Lu, tested and buried his treasured swords about 2500 years ago. Apart from the history, the Tiger Hill is also an amazing place to go for a walk, enjoy natural scenery and experience local custom. Next, transfer from Tiger Hill to Suzhou Silk Museum which is China’s first professional silk museum, established in 1989. The museum aims to promote silk culture, protect silk relics, preserve silk craftsmanship, and spread knowledge about silk.

After all sightseeing, drive back to Shanghai.

Day 3 Shanghai (B, L)

After breakfast, you will visit Shanghai Museum, one of the Four Best Museums in China. There are over one billion cultural relics related to Chinese ancient history and art are exhibited inside, including precious bronzes, paintings, calligraphy, ceramics, jade, sculptures, traditional furniture, seals and old coins from more than 5,000 years ago to the Qing Dynasty. Da Ke Ding(bronze food vessel in over 3000 years ago), Bianzhong of Marquis Su of Jin (ancient musical instruments) are the top treasures to visit. An Audio Explanation Device will help you better learn the facts and knowledge of the exhibitions.

Next, take a leisurely walk on the charming Wukang Road which was a special premier living quarter and retail district for expats in early Shanghai (from 1849 AD until 1943 AD). You will browse hundreds of old European-style buildings, apartments, villas, boutique shops, restaurants of a wide range of culinary styles standing among the ultra-modern architecture complex. It is a significant window into the city’s up-and-down history.

Next, visit the Shanghai World Financial Center (SWFC), “the Eye of Shanghai”, one of the most incredible skyscrapers in Lujiazui. With a height of 492 meters (1,614 ft), the tower is the second tallest building after the nearby Shanghai Tower (632 meter/2,073 ft). Ascend up to the 474 meter-high 100th floor observation deck, try a thrilling skywalk on the transparent glass walkway and enjoy a breathtaking bird’s eye view of the entire city, including the Bund, neighboring Shanghai Tower, Jinmao Tower and many surrounding attractions. Feel Shanghai lying under your feet and blue sky hanging above your head.

Later, get to Nanjing Road, Shanghai’s earliest commercial street and one of the most popular current landmarks. Lots of big name brands, restaurants, cafés, souvenir shops and towering buildings can be seen when you stroll around this busy pedestrian mall. Continue your walk to the Bund, the No. 1 attraction in Shanghai. Stretching along the west bank of the Huangpu River, this 1.5km-long road was a simple towpath for transporting good but developed to the early “East Wall Street” in late 19th century, as a perfect blend of the East meeting the West. The Bund mainly features 52 various European-style architectures praised to the Exhibition of World’s Architecture. Make a pleasant walk to see those western classical and modern style buildings and amazing skyscrapers of Lujiazui across the river.

After the tour, drive back to your hotel. (If you want to spend free time at the Bund, Nanjing Road or somewhere else please let your tour guide know.)

Day 4 Train to Hangzhou & Hangzhou (B, L)

In this morning, you will be transferred to take high speed train (1 hour) to Hangzhou, known as "City of Heaven". Upon your arrival at Hangzhou, our local guide will meet you and then set out on today’s sightseeing in a comfortable, air-conditioned and private vehicle.

First, drive uphill to Meijiawu Tea Village, a refreshing wonderland surrounded by mountains with a large area of emerald Dragon Well tea plantations in neat lines and curves. Walk among the tea plantations with fun and take beautiful photos (Optional activity: you can pay a visit to the local tea grower’s family and experience picking tea leaves, watching stir-drying tea leaves, enjoying tea ceremony, tasting Dragon Well tea, etc., which needs extra payment.). After that, go to China National Tea Museum to learn systematically about Chinese tea culture including the history, procession, customs and classification of tea, and admire diverse kinds of tea wares, machines, displays, etc.

Next, go to Wulinmen to take the 0.5 hour’s sightseeing cruise on Beijing Hangzhou Grand Canal. That great canal dug from Spring and Autumn period is over 2,500 years old, which is one of the three greatest projects in China and a World Cultural Heritage. Appreciate the view of the modern and old houses on banks passing by and see the vibrant scene of different cargo ships and passenger ships coming and going just like that in the past centuries.

Disembark at Gongchen Bridge and have an interesting cultural visit to Qiaoxi Conservation Area which was called “Little Shanghai” for its prosperity in Ming and Qing era due to the convenient linking by the Grand Canal. Now, this cultural street block preserves lots of old folk dwellings and industrial sites and has a series of themed museums and exhibitions to introduce the culture and history of the Grand Canal, Hangzhou and China. Go to China Museum of Knives, Scissors & Swords to admire various scissors used in daily life and learn the developing story of Zhang Xiao Quan. It is a nationally renowned brand of knives and scissors of nearly 400 years old and still favored by lots of domestic consumers. Besides, have a great look at plentiful of swords for military defense and knives from ancient to now! Walk to the adjacent China Umbrella Museum. You will know how the world first umbrella was inspired from lotus leaves, their special status in Chinese literature, irreplaceable meanings in the wedding and marriage in China, detailed processing, etc. with displays of rich types and colors of umbrellas of different materials in China and the world. Then, go to the nearby Workmanship Demonstration Pavilion to watch the live demonstration of painting on oiled paper umbrellas and various handicrafts, such as making potteries, embroideries, bamboo weaving, etc. (Optional activities: You can experience one of the handcrafting activities if you are interested and time permits, which needs extra payment.)

Continue to enjoy a nice historical walk at Hefang Street, a unique pedestrian street to see the typical old and prosperous Hangzhou in South Song era. Stroll to admire the ornate old styled Chinese architectures, interesting local handicrafts, delicious snacks, etc. Then, walk to the century-old Chinese pharmacy on the street - Hu Qing Yu Tang, which is also known as Traditional Chinese Medicine Museum and was built by Xueyan Hu, a famous merchant in late Qing dynasty. Many locals still visit senior doctors there for treatment today. Marvel at the magic of traditional Chinese medicine by looking at the countless traditional Chinese medicines and herbs, various traditional tools and watch the live processing of medicines.

After today’s visiting, be escorted back to your hotel in Hangzhou downtown. Have a good sleep!

Day 5 Hangzhou & Hangzhou Departure (B)

On this day, you’ll enjoy your cycling exploration around the picturesque West Lake and bike from the Willow Park to Beishan Street (about 9 kilometers, 1 hour), and passing the beautiful sightseeing of the Leifeng Pagoda, Prince Bay Park, Yang Causeway, the West Inner Lake, Lotus Swaying in the Breeze Park, Yue Fei Temple that is dedicated to a revered general of the Southern Song Dynasty, etc. at the south, west and north belt of the lake. Park your bike and enjoy a nice walk to Gushan Hill and “Autumn Moon over the Calm Lake”, an ancient, water-rimmed terrace to rest your legs. After having a look at the picturesque West Lake, continue to the famous lake landmark - “Lingering Snow Over the Broken Bridge” which is an arched bridge that gives the illusion of being broken after winter snowfall.

After exploring the West Lake, go to Feilai Peak (Peak Flying from Afar), which flew to China to spread Buddhism from India according to the legend. It features in over 300 Buddhist carvings lining the riverbanks and hillsides and tucked away inside grottoes. With over 1,000 years, it is the precious fresco treasure in the whole regions south of Yangtze River. Continue to the adjacent Lingyin Temple of nearly 1,700 year, which is the oldest and one of the most popular temples in Hangzhou. Hidden in the luxurious forest, it offers charming and peaceful landscape mixed with the strong Buddhist atmosphere among the large scaled of magnificent and antique temple clusters.

After the visiting, be escorted to the airport or railway station in Hangzhou for your flight / train to the next destination or home. Tour ends!

The quotation for this trip is from Request Per Person

1. This price is for one person, based on a group of 2 adults sharing one standard double-bed room in a 4-star hotel and traveling with our private tour in low seasons. It will drop greatly if your group has 4 or more members.
2. This price is subject to change according to your traveling season, month and date. There may be huge price increasing during public Chinese holidays, school summer vacations, tourism peak seasons or some special dates. (China Public Holiday 2025 Schedule Released)
3. Other factors that may change the final tour price include group size, hotel class, tour activities, fluctuation of currency exchange rate, etc.
4. This price is based on exchange rate USD 1=RMB 7.00. The final price will be based on the exchange rate in effect at the time of agreement with our quotation.
5. This price is only valid to March 31, 2025.
6. This price is not the final price until the Confirmation Letter is sent.
7. The items included and excluded in this price are for reference only. The final services included, please refer to the confirmation letter sent to you by the travel consultant.

How Our Teams Serve you at China Discovery

"Highest Standards of Quality and Honesty" is the core value of each specialized team at China Discovery.

Eveyone in our company is working hard for only one goal, which is to ensure the highest level of service, luxury, and attention to detail from the minute you begin planning your trip, to the day you return home.

1-on-1 Travel Consultant

Our travel consultants are professional, experienced and responsible, helping you from the very beginning to the end of your China trip!

After sending us an inquiry, one of our travel consultants will get back to you within 0.5~23.5 hrs. In the next few days, he/she will be working closely with you to formulate a customized tour plan, as well as providing professional suggestions based on your travel interests, time, and budget.

Beside, he/she will keep in contact with you during your entire tour in China, continually checking if everything is going well as planned.

We're working at Chengdu Bamboo International Tours, local based in Chengdu.

Local Tour Guides

Our local guide in every destination is not only very friendly, enthusiastic but also very informative and knowledgeable.

Once you arrive in the destination, the patient and punctual guides will pick you up and take you to get under skin of the city at your own pace. By in-depth discovery and explanation, they’ll show you more about the history, culture, customs and authentic local life. Throughout the journey, they're not only expert guides who take care of all the details but also fellow travelers who are dedicated to help you explore in comfort and style.

Our guides are passionate about what they do, and it shows all the way!

Local Drivers & Vehicle

Using our private transfer service makes you comfortable, relaxed and worry free all the way!

Our private service includes licensed drivers with many years’ driving experience and air-conditioned, non-smoking, clean and well-maintained cars/vans. Drivers are local, polite, friendly and helpful, taking you to your tourist sites, hotels, airport/train stations in safety. All kinds of vehicle are offered, and yours depends on the size of your group. Usually, we offer sedan cars, SUVs, business vans (MPV) and different types of buses, all with extra space for your luggage.

Our private transfer service guarantees you the highest comfort!

Comfortable & Homelike Hotels

In each destination, you’ll enjoy a comfortable stay in a great location!

The hotels we choose are based on star rating, great locations, well-equipped facilities, cozy bed, high quality service and guests’ feedbacks. Choices are a lot ranging from luxury 5 star, comfortable 4 star to budget 3 star. You could decide where to stay to best suit for your budget and likes. Generally, the hotels have both Western and Chinese breakfast with a wide choices.

If you have already got an ideal hotel, please feel free to tell our travel consultants and they'll book the hotel for you.

Have good sleep in our well-selected hotels in all the destinations of China.

Meals & Dining

We can satisfy all the dietary requirements no matter you want Chinese local food, western food, vegetarian food or muslin food.

The restaurants we will take you for lunch or dinner are all designated tourist restaurants approved by local tourist administration bureau. They have very good sanitary conditions and the food is prepared fresh and clean.

There will be some meals excluded in your itinerary as you like, and your private guide will be delighted to give you some suggestions and take you to the local restaurants to taste like Beijing Roast Duck, Xian Dumpling Dinner, Sichuan Hotpot, etc., if you are interested in local food tasting.

All the dining options will satisfy your stomach!

Check What our delighted customers are saying about our services

Hi Rita,

The best experience ever!!!! I fell in love.

I received your lovely card and cute gifts, thank you so much.

Done it! As always it’s my pleasure to hire your company services, see you in the next adventure.

Emmy

Emmy‚ Mexico, December 15, 2024

Hi Rita,

Please kindly see the feedback below.

We are a family of 7. This private tour package definitely met our expectations! Both tour guides (Chengdu- MAY & Chongqing-DAVID) provided us a very good service, both friendly and very flexible despite the change in our tour schedules. They were also very responsible and ensured our safety, meals and transports were well taken care of, especially since we have elderly and kids in our group. Both tour guides are very fluent in English too so it is very convenient for some of the non-chinese speakers in our group.

We will look for the same tour agent again in our next trip to China!

Best Regards,

Victoria

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Victoria‚ Singapore, December 14, 2024

Hi Shirley,

Thanks for the tour, and the itinerary that you planned for us was very comprehensive and detailed. We enjoyed it very much. The tour guide was also very friendly and experienced. He followed your itinerary closely and brought us to all the sites and explained in detail. He also recommended and brought us to enjoy some of the local cuisines during lunch.

Overall, we are impressed by the excellent service, reliability and quality that yourself, the tour guide and the driver has provided us. We would like to visit China again and we will not hesitate to engage your services again. Thank you!

Regards

Chun How

Chun How‚ Singapore, December 14, 2024

Hi Shirley,

I'm writing to provide some feedback on our recent Xian and Beijing trip that you put together for us.

We travel a lot, in the past year to Japan, New Zealand, China, Turkey, Africa, China, and finally this Xian/Beijing trip. I bring this up to highlight that we deal with a lot of travel professionals. You are easily the best travel professional we have dealt with through all of those trips. My wife, who happens to be Chinese asked me to make sure to keep your contact information for future China trips, with the intention of replacing the China based agent her brother usually uses for our trips.

Please let your manager know that we would probably not have used your company if not for you. Bamboo Travel is new to us and in a foreign country, so we had doubts as to what to expect. Your service was excellent from start to finish which really gave us confidence in your company. We had a little bit of an unusual itinerary and some constraints related to our other China travel prior to this tour. You were able to work through all of our issues with fast responses to our questions.

You also went what I would say was above and beyond expectations. The final example of that is a friend in the US was shipping some things to our hotel in Beijing for me to bring home to her. I contacted you to confirm the hotel name before they shipped the items, expecting I would then have to figure out the shipping details. Your reply not only confirmed the hotel, but you provided the shipping info in both English and Chinese, which saved me the hassle of trying to figure which address to use. Not a huge thing, but it's those small things that add up to a big difference in customer experience.

Thanks again for everything!

Xian:

Our guide was Waldner and we liked him from the start. We were just coming off another tour with another company which had maybe the best tour leader we've ever had. Even though we were always comparing Waldner measured up well. He was great at explaining the history of places we visited as well as answering our cultural questions. The restaurants/food were very good. He and the driver also modified the itinerary somewhat to optimize the driving based on our arrival and departure times and locations. We liked the hotel in Xian. The car (van) was very comfortable. Waldner also helped arrange tickets for a night show for us.

Beijing:

Pickup was great; even though we got in late the guide that picked us up was there and actually met us at the track. Cindy was our guide and we really liked her also. She is very knowledgeable and willing to answer (a lot of) questions. This was my 3rd time in Beijing and it was amazing what a difference having a good guide made. Cindy and the driver also modified the itinerary to optimize the driving. She also helped us book tickets to two shows, one of which was not on your list of optional items (Lao She tea house). Cindy was concerned about us ordering a cab so she stayed at the show to make sure we got back to our hotel ok. The restaurants/food were very good. The hotel was good but not great; for example we had hot water issues every day, and when I went to pick up a package that was shipped to me they just left me to dig through a pretty large pile of packages all addressed in Chinese.

To wrap up, I would rate the overall experience of looking for a trip, picking a company, and traveling 9.5 out of 10. Shirley, your service was 10 out of 10.

See you next trip!

Terry

Terry ‚ USA, December 11, 2024

Dear Rita,

Feedback.

The trip organised by Rita Jiang to Beijing and Xian was very well planned and enjoyable, showing the best of Chinese history, culture, heritage, and enormous progress.

Your 2 guides, Linda Chua and Beryl are very good. Linda went out of her way to take us to Peking Opera at night. The kids were tired, so we did not go to Summer palace and Heavenly temple, and did not go to Xian Pagoda. It was our choice, so its ok. (I have been to all)

The 2 bus drivers were excellent, very careful, disciplined and good temperament and helpful. I could not give a tip to Beryl at Xian station, as I had to rush into toilet inside, and did not know she could not enter the train Station.

The pace was good, but the last day of train from Xian, to hotel (plus late dinner scrabbling in Beijing), then early next morning to airport was too Hectic. However, it was because we had to return on 8.12.24. we wish we could stay longer in Xian, and elsewhere. We could probably have gone to Xian by train, then fly back to Beijing by plane, but one way tickets could cost much more.

Anyway, thank you very much for all your fine arrangements. We all enjoyed the short trip.

For the kids, the major highlights were the Great Wall, Terracotta warriors, Acrobatic show. They will treasure. I will plan more trips for them to China.

Best wishes and warm regards,

Richard

Richard‚ Singapore, December 11, 2024

Check What our customers are saying about us on Tripadvisor.com

excellent assistance, helpfulness and courtesy. My contact 'was Shirley, prepared friendly and punctual. Highly recommended...

Luciano P

"Travel consultant Mr Wonder Wang was so helpful and he planned our trip to Xi’an and Beijing so well. Mr Waldner is an amazing guide. His knowledge and enthusiasm made our tour very memorable..." read more »

Reviewed on December 13, 2024

Luciano P

"excellent assistance, helpfulness and courtesy. My contact 'was Shirley, prepared friendly and punctual. Highly recommended..." read more »

Reviewed on December 13, 2024