15-day Luxury Epicurean China Gourment Food Tour

Day 1Arrival in Beijing

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

Day 2Beijing

After having breakfast in your hotel, your guide will meet you and you will be driven to visit The Forbidden City, home to China's Emperors for over 500 years. After lunch, you will be driven to The Summer Palace, where you will marvel at the opulence of this imperial summer getaway. You will then be drive to visit TheTemple of Heaven, which was where China's Emperors prayed to heaven.

Options: In the evening you are free to choose to be mesmerized by a Peking (Beijing) Opera performance in Beijing's famous Liyuan Theatre. The opera will have English and Japanese subtitles.

Day 3Beijing

After breakfast at your hotel, your guide will meet you and you will be driven to visit the majestic Great Wall (Badaling Section). After lunch near the Great Wall, you will be driven to visit the Sacred Road, the road leading to the tombs of the Ming Dynasty's Emperors. You will then visit the Dingling, the only excavated imperial Ming Dynasty Tomb with underground palace.

Option: Beijing Roast Duck for dinner at Quanjude Restaurant

Day 4Beijing/Xian

After breakfast at your hotel, your guide will bring you to take a rickshaw or biking through the ancient lanes and alleyways of Beijing's Hutongs where local Beijingers have been living for centuries.

After lunch you will be driven to train station for the bullet train to Xian (5 hours), another of China's ancient capitals. Upon arrival in Xian, your local guide will meet you and escort you to the hotel for rest.

Day 5Xian

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. Then 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.

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 6Xian/Chengdu

After breakfast, you will take a morning flight to Chengdu. Upon your arrival in Chengdu, your guide will meet you and escort you to check in hotel for a rest.

Then you will to visit visit Chengdu Panda Breeding Center, to see lovely giat pandas. Then back to Chengdu city to visit Kuanzai Alley.

Option: a Sichun or Chongqing Hot Pot at local restaurant for your dinner.

Day 7Chengdu/Leshan/Mt. Emei

After breakfast, you will be transfered to visit Huanglongxi Ancient Town which has 1,700 years of history. Then go on by bus to see Leshan Giant Buddha, the world's largest one.

Then visit the Lingyun Temple, the Ancient Plank Cliff Path and the Stele Forest. After visiting will take bus to Emeishan, stay overnight at the foot of Mount Emei.

Day 8Mt. Emei/Chengdu/Guilin

After breakfast will take cable car up the Mt. Emei. Visit the Wannian Temple. Then walk through Qingyin Pavilion - the biggest natural ecology reserve area for monkeys.

Then take the tourist bus down to the foot of the mountain. To visit the Fuhu Temple, one of famous nuns temple. Then you will be transfered back to Chengdu for the flight to Guilin. When you arrive in Guilin, will meet you and transfer you to hotel for a rest.

Day 9Guilin/Yangshuo

After breakfast at the hotel, our guide and driver will transfer you to the Zhujiang pier to board the ship for Li River cruise (4 hours) from Guilin to Yangshuo. It is one of the great waterways to admire the picturesque scenery along the river sides. Upon arrival at Yangshuo, you will have a stroll along the famous West Street. This is a vibrant place alive with cafes, pubs, restaurants and where many westerners gather.

Tips: Today we kindly suggest you have a larger breakfast at the hotel this morning as the lunch provided on the cruise is less than adequate. The cruise arrives at terminal Yangshuo at around 13:30 to 14:30 according to the different water flows. There are many cafes available in Yangshuo.

Optional activites for late afternoon:
1. Attend a Chinese cooking course in a cooking school
2. Learn Taichi for 1-2 hours.
3. Li River Beer Fish is recommended for dinner.
4. Night show options: Commorants Fishing or Impression Liu Sanjie

A cruise along the Li River from Guilin to Yangshuo is an unforgettable experience for stunning scenery. In Yangshuao, there's something interesting such as lumbering water buffaloes pulling carts or cooling off in the river, fishermen gliding along on their narrow bamboo rafts, and if you're very lucky you might see one of the famous fishing cormorants.

Impressions of Liusanjie performance. The Performance, directed by Zhang Yimou, China's premiere movie director and director of the Beijing Olympics' Opening Ceremony, is made up of hundreds of people and is performed on the Li River with the mountains as the backdrop. It is an unforgettable experience.

Day 10Yangshuo/Longsheng Longji Terraces

There are three options for morning enjoyment: Enjoy a countryside biking, a bamboo rafting on the Yulong River and a helicopter tour over Yangshuo.

An afternoon drive (about 2.5 hours) from Yanghuo to Longji Rice Terraces. And then you will enjoy the dusk/sunset view of rice terraces around Zhuang and Yao minority villages. The terraces look like ribbons as they wind from the foot to the top of some hills. The villages feature traditional wooden architecture where no nails are used in construction. The different ethnic minority customs and dress are especially interesting. Stayovernight at Ping'an Zhuang Village.

Day 11Guilin/Longsheng/Guangzhou

Get up early to take a morning walk around Ping'an Zhuang Village for a sunrise view of Longji Terraced Rice Fields. After breakfast, you will visit to Huangluo Yao Village to meet long-hair wowen and watch the ethnic performance.

Then you will be transfered back to Guilin for the afternoon bullet train to Guangzhou. Upon arrival, you local guide will meet and escort you to check in the hotel.

Day 12Guangzhou

After breakfast, one-day Guangzhou tour will start with a visit to the Dr. Sun Yatsen's Memorial Hall, one of the many memorial halls in the country for this great forerunner in the revolutionary history, the founder of Nationalist Party of China and Republic of China. Built in 1929, the whole architectural complex covers an area of 62,000 square meters. The main building is a 3,700 square meters majestic octangle hall with no pillars in the middle. The plaque of the hall is inscribed with Dr. Sun's own handwriting: "the world is for all" which was also the guidance and goal of his revolutionary life.

The next stop is the Temple of Family Chen, built in 1984 of the Qing Dynasty by the joint-venture of all the Chens in the province. It was originally used as a residence for the Chens' children when they came to Guangzhou to take part in the imperial examinations. But after the system was abolished, it became the family's academy. This family temple is large scaled, garishly decorated and very well preserved. The whole area of structure occupies an area of 8,000 square meters which contains incomputable elegant and complicated sculptures, screens, windows and railings, etc. The buildings themselves are art works which were visited and highly praised by many architects from all over the world. Then proceed to visit Baiyun Mountain Park. At last back to Huangpu Old Port for night relax with local life experience.

Dinner: Guangzhou Restaurant
Opened over 50 years ago, the Guangzhou Restaurant has been a Guangzhou favorite almost since its opening. The restaurant specializes in traditional local dishes

Day 13Guangzhou/Hong Kong

Enjoy a typical Cantonese morning tea (Zao Cha, a kind of local Chinese breakfast with rich delicious food ). And then you will take a free relax until a transfer from Guangzhou to Kong Kong.

Day 14Hong Kong

After breakfast, you will take morning transfer from Guangzhou to Hong Kong. Upon arrival, you will go to visit Central for your tram ride up to Victoria Peak, which will give you a fantastic bird's eye view of Hong Kong. After a little bit rest, head to the famous Wong Tai Sin Temple where old beliefs and traditions survive in this modern city. Then proceed to visit Aberdeen where you will see an entire community living on small houseboats as they have for centuries, or to visit Lantau Island for Big Buddha and Da'ao Fishing Village.

Then you will go to the romantic beach of Repulse Bay and explore the Stanley Market to find some of your favorite souvenirs for your family or friends, where is the most luxurious section of Hong Kong.

Day 15Hong Kong Departure

Afer breakfast, you will take a morning relax until a transfer to at the airport for the flight to next destination.