Beijing – Guilin – Kunming – Xianggelila – Lijiang – Shanghai
This spectacular China tour focuses on exotic Yunnan Province, a region that never fails to awe the visitor with its stunningly beautiful landscape, rich biodiversity, and intriguing tribal cultures.
Westerners began to pay attention to Yunnan around a century ago when the National Geographic magazine published a series of articles and photographs on the region. It is believed that those articles and photographs inspired James Hilton to write his famous novel Lost Horizon.
Important Features
- Small group size – 16 maximum
- Expert guides hand-picked by company owners
- No annoying forced shopping stops
- Quality meals at non-tourist restaurants
- Unlimited supply of bottled water during group activities
- Free Wi-Fi in all hotels
- Great Wall visit at Mutianyu with cable car
Options Available
- Peking opera show in Beijing
- Optional day tour to Suzhou from Shanghai
Meal Code: B = breakfast / L = lunch / D = dinner
Day 1/Thu: Departing for Beijing
Your China vacation starts with the 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.
Beijing was already a strategically important city in northern China for centuries when Kublai Khan decided to move his capital here from Karakorum in Mongolia. With the collapse of the vast Mongol empire in 1368 AD, Beijing, known as Da Du or Grand Capital at the time, lost its status as the country’s capital but soon regained it when the imperial court of the successive Ming Dynasty moved here from Nanjing. Beijing continued to serve as China’s capital after Manchu tribes dethroned the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty in 1644 and established the Great Qing Empire (Qing Dynasty), which lasted till 1912.
We begin today with a visit to the Forbidden City. Officially known as the Palace Museum, the Forbidden City was the place where the emperors of Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1912) Dynasties lived and carried out their administration. Construction of the Forbidden City took 14 years (1406-1420) to complete. The complex consists of 980 buildings and covers 72 hectares or 180 acres. It exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. The Qing Dynasty was overthrown in 1912 but the royal family was allowed to continue to live in the Forbidden City till 1924, when the last emperor, Pu Yi, was driven out of the imperial palace. One year later the Forbidden City was turned into a museum. Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987, this is the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.
Next up is Tian’anmen Square. Located in the heart of Beijing, the square measures 880 metres from north to south and 500 meters from east to west. Said to be the largest public plaza in the world, Tian’anmen Square has the capacity to hold one million people. The imposing Tian’anmen Tower sits at the north end of the square while the Monument to the People’s Heroes dominates the centre. The square is flanked by The Great Hall of the People (west) and the National Museum (east). Chairman Mao’s Mausoleum and Qianmen (Front Gate) are located in the south of the square. One of the top 16 tourist attractions in Beijing, Tian’anmen Square is also the witness of the Chinese people’s great struggles for democracy and personal freedom since 1919.
Afternoon sightseeing at the Temple of Heaven, another UNESCO World Heritage Site. Situated in southeastern Beijing the Temple of Heaven is China’s largest extant sacrificial temple where, during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the emperors conducted the elaborate and most exalted sacrifices addressed to “the Supreme Ruler of the Universe.” Construction of the temple started in 1406, during the reign of the Ming Emperor Yongle, and took 14 years to complete. The temple was expanded under the Qing emperors Qianlong (1736-1796) and Jiaqing (1796-1820). Occupying 2.73 square kilometres (roughly 1,700 by 1,600 metres), the area of the Temple of Heaven is more than twice that of the Forbidden City.
The famous Hongqiao Pearl Market, the largest pearl market in the world, is right across the street from the Temple of Heaven. Recommended by numerous guidebooks for freshwater pearls, Hongqiao teems with domestic and international shoppers. If you are interested, please ask the guide to drop you off there. However, you’ll need to get back to the hotel by taxi, which costs about 50 yuan or US$8.
Today we enjoy a delicious dinner at a popular Peking Roast Duck restaurant. Peking Roast Duck is a famous Beijing dish prized for the thin and crispy skin with authentic versions serving mostly the skin and little meat, sliced in front of the diners.
Day 4/Sun: Beijing (B/L)
After an early breakfast, we embark on a full-day excursion to the legendary Great Wall at Mutianyu, 75 km northeast of the city.
Zigzagging over 6,000 kilometres from east to west along the undulating mountains, the Great Wall was built to hold off tribal invaders from the north. As history shows, the Wall failed the Chinese rulers miserably, especially in the case of Kublai Khan who and his men swept across China from the Mongolian steppe, thus the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368).
Construction of the earliest sections of the Wall started in the 7th century B.C. A major renovation started with the founding of the Ming Dynasty in 1368 and took 200 years to complete. The wall we see today in Beijing is almost exactly the result of this effort.
Day 5/Mon: Beijing (B/L)
We begin our sightseeing today with a visit to a traditional hutong neighbourhood. Hutong refers to an ancient alleyway with siheyuan or ”4-sided courtyard house” on both sides. The name hutong dates back to the Yuan Dynasty (1279 – 1368 CE). According to some experts, the word originated from the Mongolian language, in which it is pronounced as hottog and means “well.” In ancient times, people tended to gather and live around wells. Therefore, the original meaning of hutong should be “a place where people live around”.
Next on our schedule is the Summer Palace, a well-preserved UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site. The imperial resort was first named Garden of Clear Ripples, which was burnt down by the allied forces of Great Britain and France in 1860 at the end of the Second Opium War (referred to as Arrow War by the British). Reconstruction started 25 years later and was completed in 1895 when the name was changed to Yi He Yuan (Garden of Good Health and Harmony). The design gives prominence to Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake south of the hill. The sprawling complex covers an area of 290 hectares and the buildings inside consist of over 3,000 bays.
We spend the afternoon touring the Temple of Confucius and White Cloud Temple, a Taoist place of worship known in Chinese as Bai Yun Guan.
Day 06/Tue: Beijing – Guilin (B)
The morning flight to Guilin takes 3 hours. Transfer to the hotel on arrival and spend the rest of the day exploring on your own.
A small city by Chinese standard, Guilin has long been renowned for its unique scenery. The name Guilin literally means “forest of sweet osmanthus”, owing to the large number of fragrant sweet osmanthus trees in the city.
For dinner, you will find all kinds of restaurants around the centrally located hotel. Please consult your local guide for expert advice.
Day 07/Wed: Guilin (B/L)
We begin today with a five-hour cruise down the Li River. The 83km stretch of the river between Guilin and Yangshuo affords breathtaking scenery as the river snakes through tall karst mountains, gigantic bamboo sprays, and picturesque villages — sights that have inspired countless poets and painters for generations.
We disembark in Yangshuo after lunch on board and drive back to Guilin. We wrap up the day with a quick tour of Fubo Hill (elevation 63 metres) located 2km from the hotel. Walking back to the hotel along Li River is a perfect way to soak in the beauty of the city.
Day 08/Thu: Guilin (B/L)
Enjoy a full-day hiking excursion to the terraced rice fields in Longji. Located 80km (2 hours drive) to the north of Guilin, Longji, meaning dragon back, is famous for its terraced rice fields. Because the villages at Longji are in the jurisdiction of Longsheng County, the tourist attraction is often collectively referred to as Longsheng Terraced Fields. The scenery is arguably at its best in early May during transplanting and in late September to mid-October when the fields turn golden.
Built by local farmers of different ethnic groups from Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) to Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), the mountainous fields cover a total area of 66 square kilometres, rising between 300 meters and 1,100 metres above sea level.
Optional Tea Farm Visit
If time permits and for a nominal fee, we can arrange a late afternoon visit to Guilin Tea Science and Research Institute, subject to a minimum of 6 participants. Founded in 1956, the state-owned institute has an experimental tea farm covering an area of 42 hectares and boasts 250 species of tea plants. The predecessor of the institute was said to be one of the tea suppliers to the imperial court during the Ming Dynasty. The farm sits on fertile soil ideal for tea growing. During harvesting season, the farm employs 150 workers full time to pick tea leaves. Each year the institute produces around 42 tons of organically grown tea of different flavours.
Day 09/Fri: Guilin – Kunming (B)
We spend the morning exploring on our own. In the afternoon, we will travel to Kunming by high-speed-train (G408, 15:10/19:43).
Capital of Yunnan Province, Kunming is known as the “city of eternal spring” due to its temperate climate. Sitting at 1,900 metres above sea level in the middle of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, Kunming long profited from its position on the caravan roads through to Southeast Asia, India and Tibet. During the Second World War, Kunming became the terminus on the Chinese side of the famous Burma Road and also served as an airbase for the Allied Forces.
Day 10/Sat: Kunming (B/L/D)
Enjoy a full-day excursion to Stone Forest. Located 126km southeast of Kunming, the UNESCO World Heritage Site is a massive collection of gray limestone pillars created by water erosion. The tall rocks seem to emanate from the ground in the manner of stalagmites, with many looking like trees made of stone.
Day 11/Sun: Kunming (B/L)
Our sightseeing today includes the historic Western Hill Scenic Area and Huating Temple.
Day 12/Mon: Kunming – Xianggelila (B/D)
After breakfast, we embark on an overland journey to Xianggelila, known as Shangri-La for westerners (3,160 metres/10,400 feet above sea level). The day-long drive covers 200 kilometres of country road snaking through scenic river valleys and high mountains dotted with villages of various ethnic nationalities. The highlight of the drive is a stop at the Tiger Leaping Gorge, the first bend of the Yangtze. The gorge is a 15-kilometre scenic canyon on the Jinsha River, a primary tributary of the upper Yangtze River. With a maximum depth of 3790 metres, the Tiger Leaping Gorge is believed to be the deepest river canyon in the world.
Day 13/ Tue: Xianggelila (B/L)
In the 1933 novel Lost Horizon, the British author, James Hilton, describes Shangri-La as a mystical, harmonious valley, gently guided from a lamasery, enclosed in the western end of the Kunlun Mountains. Some scholars believe that the Shangri-La story owes a literary debt to Shambhala, a mythical kingdom in Tibetan Buddhist tradition, which was sought by Eastern and Western explorers. Because of this remote association, the local authorities in Yunnan applied to the State Council, the Chinese equivalent to the cabinet of a Western federal government, to have their county’s name changed from Zhongdian to Shangri-La (Xiangelila in Chinese pinyin) for the sake of tourism promotion. The application was approved in late 2001 and the name change soon went into effect.
We spend the morning exploring Pudacuo National Park. Stops include Bita Lake and Shudu Lake surrounded by virgin alpine forests. Designated as a national park on June 25, 2007, Pudacuo covers an area of 1,300 square kilometres. It is the first national park in China that meets the standards established by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The park contains more than 20 percent of China’s plant species, about one-third of its mammal and bird species and almost 100 endangered species. It is notably home to vulnerable Black-necked cranes, many rare and beautiful orchids, and Himalayan Yew – a coniferous tree whose extracts are a source of the anticancer drug, paclitaxel.
Afternoon sightseeing takes in a Tibetan village, the Ganden Sumtseling Monastery and a local market. Located 5 kilometres from the town of Zhongdian, the Ganden Sumtsenling Monastery, also known as Sungtseling, is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery first built in 1679. Situated at 3,380 metres above sea level, it is the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Yunnan province and is sometimes referred to as Little Potala Palace in reference to the Dalai Lama’s Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet.
Day 14/Wed: Xiangegelila – Lijiang (B/L/D)
We will drive to Lijiang (2,400 metres/8,000 feet above sea level) and visit Tiger Leaping Gorge in the middle of the journey.
Lijiang is home to the ethnic Naxi people whose intriguing Dongba religion and unique customs coupled with the region’s enchanting scenery combine to make Lijiang and its vicinity a fascinating place to explore. Joseph Rock, the Austrian-American explorer, geographer, linguist and botanist, spent almost three decades researching this part of China. The old town of Lijiang known as Dayan is protected as a UNESCO-designated World Cultural Heritage Site.
Day 15/Thu: Lijiang (B/L)
We begin today with an excursion to Yunshanping or Spruce Meadow, an alpine pasture surrounded by virgin forests at the foot of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. While there, we’ll attend a live performance called Impression Lijiang. Directed by Zhang Yimou, Wang Chaoge and Fan Yue, Impression Lijiang is a song and dance extravaganza that takes place on location at 3,100 metres above sea level, in a spring-like city in Southwest China. Premiered on July 23, 2006, the hour-long show has been performed on a regular basis averaging over a million spectators per year.
Later today we visit an ancient village on the way back to the city. In the afternoon we enjoy a walking tour of the old town (this may be moved up to the day before depending on flight schedule).
Day 16/Fri: Lijiang – Shanghai (B)
Free morning to explore on your own. Transfer to the airport for late afternoon flight to Shanghai.
With a population of 24 million (2015), Shanghai is China’s biggest city, which delights the visitor with its futuristic skyline and historical landmarks. Rapid economic growth in the past 30 years has again turned Shanghai into a leading global city with significant influence in commerce, culture, finance, media, fashion, technology and transport.
Day 17/Sat: Shanghai (B/L/D)
Our full-day tour begins at Jade Buddha Temple located in an old neighbourhood. This active temple of Mahayana Buddhism was founded in 1882 housing two jade Buddha statues imported from Burma.
We then process to famous waterfront promenade known as the Bund, which is followed by a visit to Yu Garden in the old town centre.
We wrap up the day with a drive through the glitzy financial district of Lujiazui on the opposite side of the Bund across Huangpu River.
Day 18/Sun: Shanghai (B)
Free day to explore on your own. We recommend Shanghai Museum and the Urban Planning Exhibition Center nearby. Shanghai Museum, a great place to explore on your own (audio guide available for a fee), is frequently cited by visitors as one of the best of its kind in China with a treasure trove collected from around the country.
Optional Suzhou Day Tour
After a leisurely breakfast we ride the high-speed train (30-40 minutes) to Suzhou, an ancient city most famous for its gardens, canals and silk industry. In late 13th Century a Venetian named Marco Polo visited Suzhou and he was very impressed by what he saw. He vividly described the prosperous silk making trade and dubbed Suzhou Venice of the East due to the small waterways crisscrossing the city.
Our full-day schedule takes in historic Tiger Hill, Humble Administrator’s Garden, Suzhou Museum (designed by I.M. Pei), North Pagoda and a short canal cruise. We return to Shanghai by high-speed train (30-40 minutes) in early evening.
The all-inclusive price with hot lunch starts from US$190 per person subject to a minimum of 2 participants.
Day 19/Mon: Shanghai – Home City (B)
Your China tour ends this morning. Transfer to the airport at any time for your return flight. Guests flying back to North America will regain a day upon re-crossing the International Date Line, thus arriving home the same day as departing from Shanghai.
| City | Nights | Hotel | Category |
| Beijing | 4 | New Otani Chang Fu Gong | 5 stars/luxury |
| Guilin | 3 | Sheraton Xian North City | 5 stars/luxury |
| Kunming | 3 | Sofitel Kunming | 5 stars/luxury |
| Xianggelila | 2 | Shangri-La Resort | 5 stars/luxury |
| Lijiang | 2 | InterContinental Lijiang Ancient Town Resort | 5 stars/luxury |
| Shanghai | 3 | Amara Signature Shanghai | 5 stars/luxury |
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Dates & Prices
discount available
| Depart (Thu) |
Return (Mon) |
Land Only* CA$/US$ |
Single Supplement CA$/US$ |
| 2024 | |||
| 10-Oct | 28-Oct | $7,300/$5,365 | $2,700/$1,985 |
| 17-Oct | 04-Nov | $7,300/$5,365 | $2,700/$1,985 |
| 24-Oct | 11-Nov | $7,300/$5,365 | $2,700/$1,985 |
| 2025 | |||
| 08-May | 26-May | $7,300/$5,365 | $2,700/$1,985 |
| 05-Jun | 23-Jun | $7,115/$5,270 | $2,700/$1,985 |
| 10-Jul | 28-Jul | $7,115/$5,270 | $2,700/$1,985 |
| 14-Aug | 01-Sep | $7,115/$5,270 | $2,700/$1,985 |
| 04-Sep | 22-Sep | $7,300/$5,365 | $2,700/$1,985 |
| 11-Sep | 29-Sep | $7,300/$5,365 | $2,700/$1,985 |
| 09-Oct | 27-Oct | $7,300/$5,365 | $2,700/$1,985 |
| 16-Oct | 03-Nov | $7,300/$5,365 | $2,700/$1,985 |
| 23-Oct | 10-Nov | $7,300/$5,365 | $2,700/$1,985 |
| 30-Oct | 17-Nov | $7,115/$5,270 | $2,700/$1,985 |
* Land Only price excludes international airfare. Please contact us for a fare quote.
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What the tour price includes:
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What the tour price excludes:
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