Essence of China

As you arrive, your local guide will be waiting to welcome you in the arrival hall. After meeting your new host, take off in your private vehicle to check into your hotel.

Gaze across Tiananmen Square • Enter the Forbidden City, where emperors ruled for five hundred years • Hike up Jingshan and take in a commanding view over the Forbidden City • Wander through the popular imperial neighborhoods around Houhai Lake and try some of Beijing’s unusual local snacks • Get lost in Beijing’s hutongs where tradition, street snacks, and quiet alleyway stories await around every corner • Savor a Peking duck dinner in one of Beijing’s oldest kaoya restaurants.

Drive out of the city to Jinshanling, a beautifully restored section of the Great Wall. • Here you will hike along the wall and gaze in awe at Ming-era watchtowers and fortresses snaking across verdant hills • Pop a bottle of champagne on top of a Great Wall watchtower • Enjoy an Old Beijing dinner tour, from dumplings to noodles with a name most Chinese people can’t write, and take the tastiest history lesson of your life in the hutongs

Start the day practicing taiji (tai chi) with a master in the Temple of Heaven. • Discover the grounds of the Temple of Heaven • Your local guide and private chauffeur will escort you to the station for your high-speed train to Xi’an • Upon arrival in Xi’an, your local guide will meet you in the arrival hall with your private vehicle on standby to take you to your hotel to rest before dinner.

Gaze into the heart of Xi’an as you bike along the city’s ancient city wall • View the proudly unflinching Terracotta Warriors • Learn about Xi’an’s 1,300 year old Muslim community by visiting the Muslim Quarter • Go on a sunset foodie tour and taste a new side of Xi’an, from local hot spots to handmade noodles to sidewalk BBQ, then wash it all down with a craft beer at a local brewery.

Your local guide and private chauffeur will escort you to the airport and help you check in to your flight to Guilin. • Upon arrival, your local guide will meet you in the arrival hall with your private vehicle on standby to take you to your hotel in Longsheng (1.5 hours car ride and a 30 minute hike).

Spend the day hiking at your own pace through minority villages along the verdant, softly undulating Dragon’s Backbone Rice Terraces. • Visit Ping’an village on your trek, home of the Zhuang, China’s largest ethnic minority who have their own distinct traditions dating back thousands of years. • Meet the locals and explore the town, keeping an eye out for the mesmerizing patterns of Zhuang textiles.

Take in the famous scenery of karst mountains and swirling mist as you make the 2 hour drive from Longsheng to Yangshuo. Upon arriving in Yangshuo, check into your hotel and relax. • Bike along the banks of the Yulong, the Li River’s more tranquil tributary, gliding along flat paths and past remote villages with the sun on your face and wind in your hair on this two-hour ride. • Hike through primarily flat but very picturesque forested paths, open fields, and isolated villages. • After dinner, enjoy the spectacle of Impression Liusanjie, an epic two-hour performance of ethnic song and dance, choreographed by the mastermind behind the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, in a natural amphitheater.

Snake through the makeshift maze of shops in Yangshuo’s bustling city market. • Learn how to cook some local classics at a cooking session in a traditional courtyard home after sourcing ingredients yourself at a local wet market. • Embark on a bamboo raft cruise along the Yulong River • Climb up Wuzhi Hill and arrive at one of Yangshuo’s most prized vantage points. Take your time soaking in panoramic views of idyllic villages and winding rivers, all laid out across a patchwork of rice paddies.

Pack up and head to the Guilin Airport (1.5 hour drive) for your flight to Shanghai with the assistance of your local guide and private chauffeur. • On the way, stop at Qixianfeng Tea Farm, enjoy a cup of tea or two, and get your hands dirty as you pick the freshest leaves like locals have for generations. • Upon arrival in Shanghai, your local guide will meet you in the arrival hall with your private vehicle on standby to take you to your hotel.

Begin your day by going on an expert-led Shanghai history tour of the Bund & Former French Concession. • Ride one of the world’s fastest elevators to the world’s highest observation deck in China’s tallest building, Shanghai Tower, and feel yourself blown away by awe-inspiring views of one of the planet’s largest cities. • Getting lost in the colorful swirl of antiques, lanterns, and keepsakes at Yuyuan Bazaar. Bask in the aroma of freshly made xiao long bao and flex your haggling skills as you search for the perfect Shanghai memento.

Drive about 2.5 hours to Suzhou. Visit the Humble Administrator’s Garden and Suzhou Museum, designed by architect I. M. Pei. Explore the Master of the Nets Garden, then take a small wooden boat along a canal to Pingjiang Street. Browse its shops and cafes before returning to Shanghai.

In the morning, spend some time at your leisure before your local guide escorts you to the airport and helps you check in for your flight home.