China tours from Canada
Google “China tours from Canada” and you’ll see many tour operators touting China tours from Canada. The truth is few of them are located in Canada. Laurus Travel is a Canadian tour company based in Canada and owned by Canadians, giving Canadian consumers a level of protection that our foreign competitors may not match.
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China Travel Visa-free! Effective February 17, 2026, Canadian citizens can travel to China for up to 30 days visa-free! Check out the official announcement by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. |
Consistently rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau, Laurus Travel is the only Canadian China tour operator recommended by Frommer’s. In fact, Laurus Travel has been recommended in every edition of Frommer’s China since the guidebook publisher released the first edition of its China guidebook series over two decades ago. This is an endorsement that money can’t buy. In addition to the large number of customer testimonials on our website, reviews on Laurus Travel’s China tours can be found all over the internet.
We have many China tours available. One of the most popular China tours we have been running for over two decades is the 19-day China Odyssey. The well-paced itinerary, starting in Beijing and ending in Shanghai, is packed with UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Highlights include the Great Wall, the Terracotta Army Museum, day cruise on the picturesque Li River, and a multi-day cruise on the mighty Yangtze River.
China Tours from Canada – Recommended Itinerary
China Odyssey (19 days)
Beijing – Xian – Chengdu – Yangtze Cruise – Yichang – Wuhan – Guilin – Shanghai
Explore ancient sites in Beijing and Xian, admire nature’s beauty in Guilin, sail through the majestic Three Gorges of the Yangtze, savour authentic Chinese cuisines of different regions – this China tour package gives you all that and much more! Trip highlights include the Forbidden City and the Great Wall at Mutianyu in Beijing, Terracotta Army in Xian, a 3-day cruise down the mighty Yangtze, hiking through terraced rice paddies and a day cruise on picturesque Li River in Guilin.
Important Features
- Small group size – average 15, maximum 20
- Expert guides handpicked by company owners
- Inter-city travel by high-speed train except for one city pair (by air)
- No annoying forced shopping of any kind
- Quality meals at non-tourist restaurants (no cheap tourist food)
- Unlimited supply of bottled water during group activities
- Deluxe cabin with private balcony on luxury Yangtze cruise
- Exclusive Yangtze cruise amenity package
- Free Wi-Fi in all hotels
- Great Wall visit at Mutianyu with cable car rides
- Day hike at Longji terraced rice fields
Options Available
- Peking Opera show in Beijing
- Tang Dynasty cultural show in Xi’an
- Traditional face mask changing performance in Chengdu
- Half-day immersive tea farm visit in Guilin
Meal Code: B = breakfast / L = lunch / D = dinner
Day 1/Thu: Departing for Beijing
The trip starts with your transpacific flight departing from a city of your choice. You’ll lose a day upon crossing the International Date Line.
Day 2/Fri: Arrival in Beijing
Meet the driver on arrival for transfer to the hotel. You’ll have the balance of the day at leisure. The guide will get in touch with you tonight.
Day 3/Sat: Beijing (B/L/D)
Capital of China, Beijing is a world-class cultural and educational centre with a population of 21.7 million (2017), ranking it China’s second largest city behind Shanghai. Beijing is renowned for its opulent palaces, temples, and huge stone walls and gates – treasures that make it the most popular tourist city in China by the number of visitors it receives every year.
China Tours from Canada – Testimonials
“Hello Heidi, we arrived back from China on Wednesday, November 9th, after fulfilling a long-time dream to visit the land of my father’s birth.
We were fortunate to find your company on the internet and booked the 19 day China Odyssey Tour, plus 2 days in Hong Kong. I want to express a whole-hearted THANK YOU to you and the Laurus Travel team for facilitating what was our first guided trip and one that will remain as our most memorable. There were many things we appreciated about your organization; there were a variety of tour options available for China and other parts of Asia as well as the size of the group. When I contacted you earlier in the year, you were quick to respond and supplied the information requested by us and our two friends who travelled with us, with no pressure for us to book. You followed up when I asked you to and you were very helpful in arranging the flights not only with our preferred airline but were able to secure reduced seat pricing for us. You also obtained our China visas very quickly and saved us a lot of pre-trip leg work. The reminders and travel tips, you provided prior to leaving, were very helpful especially since we were leaving our home for a significant period. Thanks again.
Now, on to the trip itself. On our arrival in Beijing we were happy and relieved to see the Laurus flag being held high by our smiling taxi driver. He didn’t speak a whole lot of English, just enough to let us know where he was taking us. We didn’t know what to expect since this was our first to Asia and as mentioned before our first guided tour. The Sheraton hotel in Dongcheng, Bejing, was extremely well appointed and our stay was exceptional. We ventured out on our own as we arrived one day early and were surprised as to how little English was spoken in Bejing and our Mandarin was at best, laughable. By pointing to the picture of Tiananmen Square on the map, our taxi driver was able to get us there quickly in spite of the rain. Later, we made our way to the recommended South Beauty restaurant close to our hotel and managed to order dinner by pointing to the pictures on the menu. The four of us ate dinner for about 10 people! Every dish was absolutely delicious and spicy. We received a telephone call that evening from Jacob Wei, our extraordinary tour leader, who gave us instructions for the next morning (spoken in perfect English)! What a relief!
China is in one word—Majestic. The splendour of its vast landscape, culture, beautiful people (many), rich history and the mixing of the ancient, well preserved monuments and buildings with the modern sky scrapers, as we saw in every city, particularly Shanghai, certainly exceeded anything we imagined China would be. Photos or print cannot capture or duplicate the reverence one feels when walking on the iconic great wall or experiencing the splendour of the majestic Yangtze River. We woke at 3am to watch the ship go through one of the locks.
The local guides were exceptional and added great dimension to the tour, in particular David in Guilin who eloquently shared so much of the history with us and was able to offer insight on life in modern day China as well. We thoroughly enjoyed Elaine’s female perspective who guided us in Shanghai and yes, she told us where to find the good shops!
A special thank you goes to Jacob Wei, our exceptional and much beloved tour leader who travelled with us, on each leg of the China tour. He was not only very well versed in the history, politics and culture of China but showed true compassion and genuine care for our group. We always felt safe as we knew that he was looking out for us, no matter where we strayed, trying to get the perfect photo. We nicknamed him our “warrior”. It was difficult to say goodbye to him on leaving China; We extended an invitation to host him and his family, should he wish to visit our beautiful country.
Hong Kong was over the top opulent and breathtakingly beautiful. Quite the jaw dropping experience seeing so many tall buildings and the view from the Peak was incredible. We found a wonderful Italian restaurant and although we enjoyed all the delicious chinese dishes in China, we were craving some Italian pasta by this time. We enjoyed our sightseeing day with Alex. who was also very knowledgeable and was amazed at how warm the water was at Repulse Bay beach.
I have nothing but praise for Laurus Travel and the entire team for putting together an amazing tour which exceeded our expectations. Thanks for making my friend’s birthday memorable with a birthday cake at lunch. What a thoughtful touch! Another great aspect of this trip was the friendships we made with the wonderful group of people from Canada & USA who shared this experience with us. We will be more than happy to endorse your organization and hope to travel with you on our next trip to Asia in two years.”
Pamela M
Mississauga, Ontario
