Your tour - at a glance
Day 1~3 Arrival & Beijing Tour
Arrive at Beijing and go to visit the best highlights of Beijing, such as the grand Tiananmen Square, historical Forbidden City, spectacular Temple of Heaven, manmade wonder Great Wall of China, traditional Hutong, etc.
Day 3~5 High Speed Train to Xian & Xian Tour
Two full day to visit the incredible Terracotta Warriors, leisurely walk on the Ancient City Wall, Grand Dang Dynasty Ever Bright City and Muslim Quarter, explore the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and Xian Museum.
Day 6~8 Guilin, Yangshuo & Longsheng Rice Terrace Tour
One full day to cruise the Li River, and enjoy leisure life at Yangshuo Town. Before taking flight to Hong Kong, have a day tour to explore the stunning Longji Rice Terrace.
Full Itinerary Day by Day
Day 1 Beijing Arrival
Ni Hao! welcome to Beijing, the iconic city and capital of China! You will be met by our local tour guide at the arrival hall of Beijing Airport and escorted to your downtown hotel by a private comfortable vehicle. The rest of the day is your own to relax. If you want to explore nearby areas, feel free to get some practical suggestions from your tour guide.
Arrival Ideals: At present, there are many international and domestic flights to Beijing. Besides, you can take a high speed train to this capital city from Shanghai (5-6 hrs), Xian (5.5 hrs), Guangzhou (8-9.5 hrs), etc.
Day 2 Beijing Great Wall Tour (B, L)
After breakfast, start to explore the historical face of Beijing with a brief visit to Tiananmen Square, now the largest city plaza in the world. Tiananmen Gate on the northern side of the square was the site where Chairman Mao announced the establishment of the People's Republic of China. Stepping into the Tiananmen, you will see one of the world’s five most important palaces – the Forbidden City, a huge palace complex of more than 9,000 rooms where 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties lived. Pass through various doorways in this magnificent structure to admire the beautiful and well preserved buildings decorated with yellow-glazed tile roofs, white marble bases and splendid colorful paintings.
Leave the city, drive about 70km to witness one of the Seven Wonders of
the World - the Great Wall. Visit the Mutianyu, a less
crowded yet well-preserved segment of the Great Wall built in the Ming Dynasty.
It will more than live up to all of your expectations! You’ll take a cable car to ascend the Great Wall, then hike the most beautiful and interesting part of Mutianyu. It's a wonderful experience to climb up its rising towers to enjoy scenic views and take brag-worthy photos of the wall wriggling along mountain ridges. After the exciting time, descend Mutianyu Great Wall by cable car. (Note: If energy permits, you can hike up or down which takes about 40 minutes to climb steps. Please tell your likes to your travel consultant.)
Optional activities: 1) You can watch a wonderful Kungfu Show in the Red Theater (Hong Ju Chang) which usually starts at 19:30; 2) Enjoy the classic Chinese art performance of Beijing Opera at Liyuan Theater between 19:30-21:00.
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Forbidden City Shot by Our Customer Harty
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Sara's family from Australia visited Mutianyu Great Wall in December 2023
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Tiananmen Gate at Tiananmen Square
Day 3 Beijing & High Speed Train to Xian (B, L)
After breakfast, drive to the imperial site of the Temple of Heaven. Originally a site used to pay homage to Heaven and pray for good harvests, it is now a bustling place where locals take part in traditional activities such as Tai Chi, dancing, kite flying, water calligraphy, and others.
Then get back to the central city to hop on a rickshaw to experience the Beijing Hutongs – small alleys made by neighboring quadrangle dwellings. Shuttle among different Hutongs to get a feel of the old Beijing life style, visit various antique shops and small boutiques, and truly feel the historical changes of Beijing, also pay a visit to a local family's home in the traditional Hutongs.
Your Beijing tour is now about to end. Your tour guide will see you off at the Beijing West Railway Station for a high speed train trip to Xian (about 5 hours). You will be picked up by your tour guide at Xian North Railway Station and escorted to your hotel in Xian. The rest of the day is on your own to explore this ancient capital of China.
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Taylor's Family's Hutong Exploration with China Discovery in 2018
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Temple of Heaven in Beijing Shot by Our Customer
Day 4 Xian (B, L)
After breakfast, drive about 40 km to discover one of the greatest man-made wonders in the world - the Terracotta Warriors and Horses, built by the first emperor of China Qin Shihuang to protect him in his afterlife. Over 8,000 life-size warriors, horses and chariots, buried in 3 pits for more than 2,000 years until uncovered by a local farmer in 1974, form an ancient military army with complete battle units of infantry, cavalry, etc. Standing in front of these figures, one can’t help being amazed not only by the ambition of Emperor Qin Shihuang but also by the fabulous artistic skills of ancient Chinese artisans.
After lunch, return to Xian to visit Da Cien Temple, a famous Buddhist sutra translation site during the Tang Dynasty. Giant Wild Goose Pagoda is the most famous building in the temple. The pagoda, rising to a height of 64.5 meters, was built by the famous Buddhist master Xuanzang to preserve classic scriptures he bought back from India during the early Tang Dynasty. Xuanzang was the prototype character for Tang Seng in the famous Chinese novel “Journey to the West”. (Note: It costs an extra 30 RMB if you want to climb up the Big Wild Goose Pagoda). After (or before) visiting the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, you will be provided an interesting experience of trying on the Hanfu which is the solemn costume of the emperors and their families, the ministers and the noble in the ancient dynasties of China. Seize this rare opportunity to take some photos to record this unique memory!
This evening you will be offered an interesting visit to Grand Tang Dynasty Ever Bright City which is a great place to walk, enjoy amazing nightscape and recall the prosperity and glory of the mighty Tang Dynasty most importantly. Seeing this area at night is totally different than during the day as the lighting is marvelous yet tastefully done.
Optional activity: Enjoy a wonderful Tang Palace Dance Show (usually from 8pm to 9pm) after (or without) a hearty dumpling dinner.
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Our guests get viewed by the countless Terracotta Warriors
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Victoria from South Africa visited Terracotta Warriors in 2023
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Our Customers visited Big Wild Goose Pagoda
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Dazzling Grand Tang Dynasty Ever Bright City lovely night views
Day 5 Xian & Flight to Guilin (B, L)
After breakfast, start today's tour with an educational visit to the Small Wild Goose Pagoda and Xi’an Museum to learn a lot about the history and culture about the ancient city of Xi’an. They are together located in a clean and beautiful park. The Small Wild Goose Pagoda is rather smaller and 55 years younger than its “sister” - the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda. Built during 707 to 709 AD, the pagoda is 43.4 meters tall with 13 tiers (originally 15 tiers), looking like a very tall rectangular pyramid. An interesting fact about the Small Wild Goose Pagoda is that the pagoda has survived nearly 70 earthquakes, and now still standing firm and sturdy. You can walk around to appreciate the beautiful design and take photos of the pagoda. Then you will go to visit Xi’an Museum which is only several minutes’ walking from the Small Wild Goose Pagoda. This museum has more than 130,000 pieces of jade relics, seals, paintings, porcelains, Buddhist statues, stone carvings and many other precious relics.
Later, go to spend a leisure time on the Ancient City Wall, the largest and best-preserved ancient city wall in China. Just like the merchants and envoys on the Silk Road thousands of years ago, you will enter the interior of the city walls through the Hanguang Gate. There you will visit a mini museum to see the real Tang Dynasty city wall ruins from over 1400 years ago, including gateways, cross-sections of the wall, and the remains of water channels. After the museum visit, get up to the city wall to enjoy a leisure stroll and pleasant panoramic views of modern Xian. Rent a bike (extra cost: 45RMB) to enjoy a relaxing cycling on the Wall is strongly recommended. The cycling routes and duration are flexible. Feel free to discuss with your tour guide. Leave the City Wall, then go to wander leisurely around the bustling and lively Muslim Quarter, a place where you can try different local snacks and explore Muslim culture.
The rest of today is free for you until get escorted to catch flight to Guilin (about 2hrs), the darling of tourists. You will be welcomed by local tour guide at airport, then be escorted to your hotel in Guilin City. The rest of today is at your leisure to have fun.
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Our guests enjoyed riding on the Ancient City Wall, Xian
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Visit bustly Muslim Quarter in day time
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Xian Museum and Small Wild Goose Pagoda
Day 6 Guilin - Li River Cruise - Yangshuo (B, L)
As the declaration in Chinese textbook "Guilin's landscape is the best under heaven", today you will explore this best landscape starting with a relaxing sightseeing cruise along the Li River from Mopanshan Pier to Yangshuo Town. Along the 84-kilometer cruise, dazzling scenery overwhelms your eyes like a vast endless Chinese painting of winding river, green limestone karst mountains, fascinating countryside views, amazing scene of A Painting of Nine Horses, and notable view printed on the back of the 20 RMB note. (Please note: Lunch is served by the cruise with simple local Chinese cuisine. And you can take some snacks when getting on board.)
After about 4 hours's cruise, disembark in Yangshuo Town, and check into your hotel.
After a short break, start your impressive exploration of the best charming sightseeing and ideal countryside ease at Yulong River. Let all the refreshing scenes please your eyes and souls to the utmost. Just enjoy every moment with the Karst hills dotted around, chatting stream, rippling mountain reflection, swaying floras, patches of vivid crops, comfortable breeze... There are diverse kinds of ways for your enjoyment of the fun and beauty, including biking, hiking, bamboo rafting and driving. You can easily choose and combine your ideal way(s) and part of Yulong River. (Please tell your likes to your travel consultants before booking the tour, as the final prices will differ by activities you choose).
Biking (some physically demanding & sightseeing by the river) - Ride to enjoy the river view and the real fields (route: Yangshuo - Jima - Shuiedi Dock - Gongnong Bridge - West Street; for 1.5-2 hours).
Bamboo Rafting (relaxing and interesting & sightseeing on the river) - have fun with the classic bamboo rafting (Route A: Shuiedi Dock - Gongnong Bridge for 40-50 minutes; Route B: Jima Dock - Gongnong Bridge for 1.5 hours) to see the more serene view like pieces of traditional Chinese landscape ink paintings.
Driving (most leisurable and comfortable & sightseeing on the road) - drive and travel from Jima to Gongnong Bridge to appreciate the lovely countryside view (about 0.5 hour). You can get off and on anywhere on the middle way to explore more about your interested place.
After that, walk leisurely on the ancient West Street to witness how the western culture and Chinese culture perfectly and peacefully coexist here. Whether you want to enjoy a cup of drink in bar, taste some local food, or just experience the relaxing atmosphere, you get it here.
Note: according to the regulations of Yulong River Tourism, children less than 1 meter high and elders over 70 years old are not allowed to take the bamboo rafting.
Optional evening activity:
Watch the splendid evening performance of Impression Liu Sanjie with the Li River itself as the stage, which was directed by famous director - Zhang Yimou (usually performs for an hour between around 19:45 and 22:20).
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Guilin Li River Scenery on 20 RMB Chinese Note, Taken by Rose from India in September 2024
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Josh's Group from USA Enjoyed Cycling along Yangshuo Yulong River in July, 2023
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Christina's Group from Denmark Enjoyed Yulong River Bamboo Rafting in July 2021
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Giorgia's group from Italy visited Yulong River in August, 2019
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Chusi's Family from USA Visited Yangshuo West Street in June, 2018
Day 7 Yangshuo to Longsheng (B, L)
In
the morning, you’ll drive about 150 km (about 4 hours) to witness one of the
most beautiful terraces in China - Longji
Terraces in Longsheng County. There are several featured
ethnic villages located along the road of which most famous is the Huanglong
Village whose women often wash their long hairs (over 1.5 meters) in the river.
You
will arrive at Pingan Village and check in. After some rest, start to explore
the breathtaking views of terraces. The rice terrace is layer upon layer, like the changing ladder created by nature leading to the blue sky, forming a majestic painting between heaven and earth. From Ping’an, you can hike on the cobbled paths built among terraces to catch the best landscape. Climb up to the great lookouts at Seven Stars with Moon and Nine Dragons and Five Tigers from which you can get superlative views of terraces and villages.
Good to Know:1) Best time to visit: Longji Rice Terrace can be visited all year round. Go mid-April to late June for mirror-like irrigated terrace and rice transplanting scene; go July to mid-September for green terraces; go late September to early-November for golden and harvest scene; or go late December to early February for silvery terraces; 2) The Viewing Platform of Seven Stars with Moon is under a reconstruction which means it is closed for travelers at present. The hiking route between Seven Stars with Moon and Nine Dragons and Five Tigers would do some adjustment during the construction. You won’t miss the amazing rice terraces scenery when visiting.
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Longji Rice Terrices (Pingan, Seven Stars with Moon) in late September 2019, Taken by Caryn from Australia
Day 8 Longshengto Hong Kong(B)
Wake
up in the fresh air of peaceful morning, you may forget where you are. Enjoy
the magnificent sunrise which
is quite amazing. The rest time is on your own to have fun around - you can
take some leisure walking around, or go to communicate with local people and
experience ethnic culture in the villages. If you are a shutterbug, of course
it is the wonderful time in this perfect place to take some beautiful
photos.
Lastly, drive to Guilin Airport to catch your flight to Hong Kong.
Optional transfer: You can also take a high speed train directly from Guilin West Station to Hong Kong which starts only at around 13:30 p.m. and rides about 3.5 hours. Besides, if the train does not match your schedule, you can transfer more flexibly first by bullet train to Guangzhou South Station for 2-3 hours or to Shenzhen North Station for 3-3.5 hours, since there are more train options from Guilin to Guangzhou and Shenzhen every day. And then take a high speed train to Hong Kong from Guangzhou for about 1 hour or from Shenzhen for about 15-20 minutes.
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Delma from Ireland visited Longji Rice Terraces (Pingan, Seven Stars with Moon) in July, 2021
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Visa Notice for Traveling to China
Notice on Latest Visa and Entry Policies for Foreigners Entering China - Updated on December 18, 2024:
1. China has launched a 30 Days Visa-free Policy for 38 eligible countries, including several European nations — Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Switzerland. In Oceania, Australia and New Zealand are listed, while in Asia, Malaysia, South Korea, Brunei, and Japan are included. This policy is valid till December 31, 2025. Read more »
2. 240-Hour Visa Free Transit (10 days) has been lanched. 54 eligible countries include the US, UK, Canada, Brazil, etc. Eligible travelers can now travel across provinces, for example traveling from Beijing to Xian, then to Shanghai. Mohan Railway Port at China-Laos border can be used to enter/leave Yunnan. Hong Kong High-speed Rail West Kowloon Station has been added to Guangdong Province 144-hour transit visa-free. Read more »
3. Countries with a mutual visa exemption agreement with China include several European nations, including Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Malta, San Marino, Serbia, and Seychelles. From North America, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, and Barbados are listed. Several Caribbean nations are also included, such as Dominica, Grenada, and Solomon Islands. Oceania is represented by Fiji, Suriname, and Tonga. In South America, countries like Ecuador, Mauritius.
4. Booking of flights and hotels, China itineraries and invitation letters are not required for application of Chinese Tourist Visa for U.S.nationals.
5. Appointment is not required for visa application in many embassies and consulates.
China Discovery will keep focusing on the updates of the latest Chinese visa and entry policy! You can also call +86 010 12367 (Official telephone number of China National Immigration Administration) to check further information. Welcome to join in our Facebook Groups to catch up with the latest news!
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Practical Info about Traveling with Us
Restaurant & Food
Vegetarian food Requirement
Vegetarian food in Chinese cuisine culture is usually divided into 3 categories: the Monastery
Vegetarian
Food, the Court Vegetarian Food and the Folk Vegetarian Food. And the main ingredients are:
soybean,
taro powder, mushrooms, fresh vegetables and tofu (bean curd). It will be easier to find the
vegetarian
restaurants in big cities of china, such as: Beijing, Shanghai, Xian, HK, etc.
If allergic to some food
We suggest you to list any food or ingredients that you are allergic to and let our travel
consultant
know. Then your travel consultant will mark them in the guide’s itinerary, so that our guides
in
different cities can make some preparations and arrangements in advance.
Do our guide and driver join the meal with us?
The tour guides and driver will be at the same restaurants with you, but they will only join the
meal
when you invite. Sometimes the drivers are shy to join as they usually eat fast and could not
understand
English talk around the table, so the guide will be with you more often.
Will we be able to try some local foods during our visit?
Yes, you will. 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, if you
are
interested in local food tasting. But remember, some local snacks may not match your stomach,
so
ask your guided for more information before eating.
Shopping
What to buy in China?
In China, there are myriads of souvenirs for visitors, and each city has its own specialty.
How to bargain?
Bargains are not acceptable in big supermarkets and department stores. But in some night markets
or tourist
shops, you can bargain for a lower price, since the vendors always ask for very high price for
a
certain item. You’d better ask the opinion of the guide first, and then the guide will tell you
the
real value and quality of the item. Please note that when the bargain is processing, the guide
will
be hesitate to help as it may annoy the bosses. Just try to let the guides know you will
bargain
in advance.
What to do with persistent vendors?
If you do not need something from them, just do not ask for price. Some of the venders are very
persisted,
and if they keep selling things to you, you can simply say “No, thanks.” (Chinese
pronunciation:
”Bu, XieXie”). If they do not give up, you just keep silence. Silence is sometimes useful to
handle
this situation.
Private tour features
- 1. Private guide, driver and vehicle are for your exclusive use; no matter you are
individually,
or in a family or friends group. The tour is run exclusively for you without strangers.
- 2. Every itinerary can be customized to meet your specific interests/ wishes, that is, you
can choose
your favored hotels, sightseeing spots, the tour length, means of transportation, budget,
etc.
All are free of charge.
- 3. Start the tour on any date you want.
- 4. Escort you through the whole tour. All private transfers during the tour are offered,
including
airport/train station transfer, hotel-attractions round trip transfer.
- 5. The sightseeing during the tour could be based on your own timetable and pace. Flexible
to change
at your short notice.
- 6. Ideal for people who need considerate care and assistance, such as elderly, the
disabled, families
with small children.
Emergency calls
Call your guide, or if you can’t find your guide, call your travel consultant or our office
immediately.
All the phone numbers include in our confirmation letter. Keep the letter with your during your
trip.