15-day Chinese Ancient Capitals & Culture Tour

Day 1Arrival in Beijing

Welcome to China! Upon your arrival at Beijing’s airport, your local guide will meet you and escort you to check in the hotel. The rest of the day for your free relax to explore the city.

Day 2Beijing

Your today tour starts with a morning strolling across the world's grandest city central square, Tiananmen Square, witnessed many historical events and significant celebrations through over 500 years. Then you will enter from its south gate to the Forbidden City, the world's largest palace complex where the emperors and his family had once worked and lived.

Go on a visit to Beijing Hutongs - the old lanes and courtyard houses. Take a rickshaw or biking to explore Beijing's charming lanes. The visit to a local family, who've lived in the Hutongs for generations, offers a local perspective of history, and is a highlight of the Hutongs for most of tourists.

Option: Peking Opera for night show and Beijing Roast Duck for dinner.

Day 3Beijing

After breakfast, you will pay a morning visit to the world's greatest man-made projects, the Great Wall at Mutianyu section, set up as a military fortification more than 2,000 years ago. Then vist the Sacred Road of Ming Tombs and Dingling, an ancient emperor's mausoleum group of the Ming Dynasty with underground palace.

On the way back to Beijing downtown, you will have a stop for an outside look of two famous Olimpic site: Bird Nest (National Stadium) and Water Cube (National Aquatics Center).

Day 4Beijing/Taiyuan

After breakfast you will pay a morning visit to Temple of Heaven, once a site where the emperors offered sacrifices to the heaven, it is even larger than the Forbidden City. Its main buildings progressing from south to north are the Circular Mound Altar, the Imperial Vault of Heaven and the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest.

After lunch you will be driven to train station for the bullet train to Taiyuan (3 hours), the capital city of Shanxi Province. Upon arrival in Taiyuan , your local guide will meet you and escort you to the hotel for rest.

Day 5Taiyuan/Pingyao

After breakfast, we drive to ancient royal garden Jinci Temple, which is famous for the frescoes. Continue to Qiao Family Compound – the typical residence of rich Jin Businessman, which is built in in 1756 in the Qing Dynasty. The Qiao Compound gained its renown not only for its large scale but also for the exquisite craftsmanship reflected in the brick carving, woodcarving and murals.

Proceed to Pingyao Ancient City from Qiao Family Compound and have free time in the old down.

Day 6Pingyao/Xian

After breakfast, your sightseeing will begin with a visit to the City Wall of Pingyao, which has been well preserved. As a whole, the rectangular wall resembles a tortoise, which was considered as a symbol of longevity traditionally. Ascending the wall, you could overlook the ancient city of Pingyao. Then, get down from the wall and have a stroll on the traditional Ming-Qing Street. On both sides of this not very wide street, there are many buildings in ancient Chinese architecture style, which used to be firms, exchange shops and different kinds of shops like teashop, cloth shop and salt shop. Nowadays, some of them have been turned to hotels, restaurants or shops selling souvenirs while some have been preserved as attraction sites and museums.

Your next stop is the Temple of City God, one of the best-preserved Temples of City God in China. Its distinctive feature lies in the combination of the Temple of the God of Wealth and the Temple of the Kitchen God, which are separately situated to its right and left. Following, you will proceed to Ri Sheng Chang Exchange Shop and Tong Xing Gong. Ri Sheng Chang Exchange Shop is the first money exchange shop in China as well as the founder of Chinese modern banks, which has played an important role in Chinese financial business for about one century. Tong Xing Gong was an establishment which provided private escort service for the exchange shops to guard their safety during transportation. The last travel destination today is Shuanglin Monastery, about 4 miles to the city. This is a construction in castle style which is especially renowned for the painted clay sculptures.

In the later afternoon you will take a bullet train (3 hours) to Xi'an.

Day 7Xi'an

After breakfast at your hotel, your guide will meet you and you will be driven to visit the incredible Terracotta Warriors. Go on to visit the Daqin terra-cotta making factory see all kinds of models of Terracotta Warriors. After lunch you will be driven to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, where housed in a huge temple complex, the ancient pagoda was built to house Buddhist Sutras brought to China from India.

Option: In the evening you may choose to enjoy an Chinese Dumplings Feast and amazing Tang Dynasty Show, which bring the pageantry and music of the ancient Tang Dynasty to life.

Day 8Xi'an/Luoyang

After breakfast, your guide will meet you and you will be driven for a visit to the Shaanxi History Museum to discover Xian's amazing history. After that you will go on a walk or a biking on the top of Ancient City Wall to get a bird's eye view of this ancient capital. Then visit Xi'an Muslim Street for a relax.

In the late afternoon you will take a morning bullet train (2 hours) to Luoyang. Upon arrival, we will transfer to check in the hotel for a rest.

Day 9Luoyang

After breakfast, we will start a full day Luoyang tour to visit to the Longmen Grottoes to see the dedicated carved Buddhist sculptures along the both banks of Yi River. There are 2,345 caves with 2,680 statues, over 70 stupas and 2,680 inscribed stone tablets, some of them could be dated back to 493 AD.

Another 30 minute’s drive will proceed to White Horse Temple, which is said to be the first Buddhist temple of China. Its name was from the white horses that carried the Buddhist scriptures and statues brought back from India after Buddhism was first introduced to China along the ancient Silk Road. A full day Luoyang city tour will end with a visit to Luoyang Museum for the wide range collections of relics, including pottery, painting and so on.

Day 10Luoyang/Sholin Temple/Zhengzhou

Take a morning drive less than 2 hours from Luoyang to famous Shaolin Temple – the birth place of Shaolin Kungfu, situated in Songshan Mountain in Dengfeng city. In this UNESCO world Heritage site, you can watch the live Kungfu performance by monks and admire the impressive buildings inside mountains. Drive ahead to Zhengzhou in the late afternoon.

Day 11Zhengzhou/Nanjing

After breakfast, we will take a morning bullet train (3.5 hours) to Luoyang. Upon arrival, you will start your Nanjing tour to visit Ming Xiaoling Tomb. Overnight in Nanjing.

Day 12Nanjing/Suzhou

After breakfast, you will contiue your Nanjiang tour to visit the Nanjing Massacre, Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum, Zhonghua Gate, Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge and more.... Then you will take an afternoon bullet train to Suzhou.

Day 13Suzhou

Today you will start your full day tour with first visit to the Humble Administrator's Garden, which is the largest classical garden in this region and praised to be one of the top four gardens in China. Tiger Hill is next stop. Then vist Suzhou Silk Museum, Panmen Gate. In the evening enjoy Night Garden Show in the Master of the Nets Garden.

Day 14Suzhou/Zhouzhuang/Shanghai

Today, you are driving to Zhouzhuang which is the No.1 Water Town of China. Surrounded by water, Zhouzhuang blends the unsophisticated residential houses, paved narrow lanes, stone bridges and some historical sites. Besides of experiencing the folk culture, it is suggested that you pay a visit to Shen House, Milou Tower and Chengxu Taoist Temple. Shen House is the former residence of Shen Wansan, who was the richest businessman in the 14th century of the early Ming Dynasty. The two-storey wooden Milou Tower once was a popular restaurant where some noted literators always visited. After one day's tour, we will drive you to Shanghai.

Day 15Shanghai Departure

After breakfast, you will start a full day tour in Shanghai to visit the Shanghai Museum, Shikumen, Old Concession Area. Then you will have a bird view of Shanghai city on the top of Jinmao Tower and enjoy coastal sight at the Bund of Shanghai.

After that you will take a short relax until a transfer to the Shanghai Pudong Airport for the flight to your next destination.