Fourteen Day Grand China
Tour and Cruise, June 08
Draft Day by Day Itinerary
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Click the map to have a larger version open in a new window |
China is a country the same size as the US, and while it
isn't possible to see the entire country in two weeks, we
think you'll agree that this tour is about as comprehensive
as possible, while still being relaxed enough to be a
vacation. |
This is the itinerary for the June 2008 Grand China Tour and Cruise.
Please note this itinerary - particularly for the river
cruise portion - is somewhat subject to weather conditions
and may change to best reflect the weather and operational
conditions at the time the cruise occurs.
Click here for the main
details of this tour/cruise and the booking form to confirm your
interest.
Itinerary
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Day 0 (Tues or Wed, 17/18 June) :
Leave the US |
Choose the airline you wish to take you to China today. |
You should make your
own arrangements to fly from the US to Beijing, perhaps
leaving either Tuesday or Wednesday, so as to arrive into
Beijing on or before Wednesday 18 June.
In most cases, if you leave the US
in the morning of Wednesday, you'll get into China that same
evening, but some flights will have you leaving late on
Tuesday and arriving earlier on Wednesday.
Leave
earlier if you wish to spend extra time
in China
before the start of the main tour |
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Day 1 (Wednesday 18 June) :
Arrive into Beijing |
China - a land of exotic contrasts and mysteries - eagerly
awaits your arrival
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Your flight should arrive into
Beijing, anytime today.
Make your own way to the hotel,
and the rest of the day is at leisure for you to relax from
your international flight. |
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Day 2 (Thursday 19 June) :
Beijing City Touring |
The famous Gate on Tiananmen Square that leads in to the
Forbidden City, still with a giant picture of Chairman Mao
above the main entrance
The Temple of Heaven, a Taoist temple that the Emperors of
the Ming and Qing dynasties worshipped at
The Summer Palace is a sprawling complex of palaces,
temples, covered and uncovered walkways, lakes, and natural
beauty.
The new Birdsnest Stadium that is part of Beijing's
development for the Olympics in August |
Welcome to Beijing.
After breakfast at your hotel,
today we offer you a full day tour around the main city
sights. Amongst other sights, you'll see the Forbidden
City and Tiananmen Square, the Temple of Heaven and the Summer
Palace. These sites have all been designated World
Heritage sites.
But it won't all be ancient.
We'll also take you past the 'Birdsnest' - the distinctive
main stadium for China's 2008 Olympic Games (don't worry -
the Games don't start until 8 August so won't interfere with
our travel plans in June).
We include a Chinese lunch on our
tour, and offer an optional traditional 'Hot Pot' meal this
evening at a Chinese restaurant just a few minutes walk from
the hotel.
Included Meals: Breakfast,
Lunch |
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Day 3 (Friday 20 June) :
Beijing - Great Wall and Ming Tombs |
One of the series of ceremonial buildings at the Tomb site
we'll visit today.
We'll have a chance to go walking along the Great Wall for
over an hour this afternoon.
Enjoy a Peking Duck dinner this evening at what is probably
Beijing's best Peking Duck restaurant. |
After breakfast today, we take you out of the city,
traveling first to the region of the Ming Tombs.
This is a region carefully chosen by the Ming dynasty Feng
Shui experts as being well suited for the colossal tomb
complexes of their emperors, and we'll visit the most
impressive of these tombs. This has been designated a
World Heritage site.
After an included Chinese lunch, we continue on to a section
of China's Great Wall. The Great Wall was built over a
2100 year project (and you thought your local freeway
construction was slow) and is the longest man-made structure
in the world, stretching some 4,000 miles. It has also
been designated a World Heritage site.
At its peak, over one million soldiers were stationed on
guard on the wall, and a measure of the colossal nature of
the project is the estimated 2 - 3 million workers who died
during its construction.
You'll have a chance to walk along one of the best preserved
sections of the wall.
Dinner this evening is special - we include a famous 'Peking
Duck' dinner at perhaps the best Peking Duck restaurant in
Beijing, the Da Dong Duck Restaurant.
Included Meals: Breakfast,
Lunch Dinner |
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Day 4 (Saturday 21 June) :
Beijing and fly to Xi'an |
The Small Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an.
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You've free time in Beijing today - perhaps walk
along to the famous Silk Market, close to our hotel.
Note that this market sells very little silk, but just about
everything else!
Later this afternoon we'll fly to
Xi'an (airfare included). This is a comfortable short
flight of about 1hr 40 mins, and will be on either a modern
Boeing or Airbus aircraft.
We'll transfer to our hotel in
Xi'an upon arrival.
Included Meals: Breakfast |
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Day 5 (Sunday 22 June) :
Terracotta Warriors and on to Chongqing |
Some of the 8.099 Terracotta Warriors, unearthed by chance
by a local farmer in 1974, located just outside Xi'an.
The Conference Hall in Chongqing.
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Xi'an, a city with over 3100 years of history, is one of the
four great ancient capitals of China, serving as the capital
for 13 dynasties of emperors. It is also the eastern
end of the Silk Road, made famous by Marco Polo. More
recently, it is the center for some of China's space
exploration programs.
But, most of all, Xi'an is where
the Terracotta Warriors were discovered, by chance, in 1974.
This collection of 8,099 figures was buried with a former
emperor in 210 BC. This has now been designated a
World Heritage site.
Of course we visit these warriors,
and then we have a chance to make our own pottery at a local
pottery workshop.
After lunch, we fly on to
Chongqing, another short flight (about 1 hr 10 minutes) and
again on a modern western airplane.
We'll be transferred to our hotel
where we spend one night.
Included Meals: Breakfast
Lunch |
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Day 6 (Monday 23 June) :
Cruise Day 1 - Fengdu |
Our traveling hotel and home for the next six days and
nights, the recently rebuilt Victoria Prince.
One of Fengdu's 48 temples.
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We'll transfer the short distance from our hotel to the
cruise ship this morning, the
Victoria Prince, then set sail shortly thereafter.
This afternoon we'll visit Fengdu, then reboard the boat and
continue our cruise down the Yangtze River.
Most of Fengdu is being lost as part of the Three Gorges Dam
project in China, but part will remain above water, and a
complete new city has been built to replace those parts that
are being submerged.
Fengdu (pronounced 'Fung Doo') is known as the 'Ghost City'
to Chinese people, not due to a prevalence of ghosts
everywhere, but due to a specific legend about two Han
dynasty officials who became immortal through following
Taoist teachings in the city. Perhaps because of this,
48 temples are in the city. We won't visit them all!
Included Meals: Breakfast
Lunch Dinner |
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Day 7 (Tuesday 24 June) :
Cruise Day 2 - The Three Little Gorges |
One of the Three Little Gorges on the Daning River
Beautiful layers of color at sunset over the Yangtze,
sailing through the Wu Gorge |
Today we'll travel off the ship to visit the Three Little
Gorges. As part of the massive hydro-electric power
scheme and dam a bit further downriver, the water level in
this area has risen an incredible 164 ft (50 m).
Our sidetrip up the Daning River
to the Three Little Gorges gives us a feeling of traveling
back in time. Beautiful nature and stunning scenery
abound, unspoiled by modern man and his conveniences.
Depending on weather and water
level conditions, we sometimes visit the Shennong Stream
instead, with four natural gorges and a similar abundance of
beauty.
We continue our journey, sailing through the Three Large
Gorges, and this evening our ship makes its way through the
locks at the main dam site.
Included Meals: Breakfast
Lunch Dinner |
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Day 8 (Wednesday 25 June) :
Cruise Day 3 - The Three Gorges Dam |
The Three Gorges Dam, the largest hydroelectric power
station in the world, and due to be fully operational in
2011.
A modern bridge across the Yangtze River in Yichang.
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The Three Gorges dam is a stunning achievement, the second
largest public works project in China after the Great Wall,
and the largest hydroelectric power station in the world.
It was first proposed and planned almost
100 years ago, before finally being implemented in the 1990s
and due to be completed in 2011. It is sorely needed as a way to feed
China's rapidly growing need for electricity.
This morning we tour the dam
development, and then rejoin the ship, which has sailed on
downriver to Yichang, marking our exit from the Three Gorges
project.
Included Meals: Breakfast
Lunch Dinner |
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Day 9 (Thursday 26 June) :
Cruise Day 4 - Wuhan |
The Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan.
A standard category cabin on our ship,
Victoria Prince. |
We'll enjoy a relaxed morning cruising along the Yangtze,
and this afternoon will enjoy an excursion to Wuhan, and a
visit to the Hubei Provincial Museum.
Wuhan is a large city (9 million
people) and the capital of Hubei province, and is situated
where the Han river joins the Yangtze. Rather like
Budapest, it is the union of three cities that were located
side by side on the banks of the two rivers, and its name is
formed from the first syllables of the three former cities
(two of which were named Han-). It was briefly the
capital of China (in 1937).
The provincial museum has a fine
collection of artifacts from ancient tombs.
Included Meals: Breakfast
Lunch Dinner |
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Day 10 (Friday 27 June) :
Cruise Day 5 - Huangshan |
The spectacularly beautiful Yellow Mountain.
The 'Treasure Hall of the Great Hero' partway up Jiuhuashan. |
Today we take an excursion off the ship to Huangshan, also
known as the Yellow Mountain.
Together with the Great Wall and
the Yangtze river, this is probably one of China's 'big
three' icons. Its beauty has been depicted in
countless paintings and photos.
Weather permitting, we'll tour of
the Huangshan Scenic Area, where the region's 'Four Ultimate
Beauties' are on display – the 'Sea of Clouds', the ancient
green pines, fantastically shaped rocks, and steaming hot
springs.
The region has been designated a World Cultural and Natural
Heritage site.
We return to the ship this afternoon and continue along the
Yangtze river.
Note - if weather precludes a visit to Huangshan, we will go
instead to the similar mountain, Jiuhuashan (the name means
'Nine Glorious Mountains' and one of the four sacred
mountains of the Chinese Buddhist faith).
Included Meals: Breakfast
Lunch Dinner |
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Day 11 (Saturday 28 June) :
Cruise Day 6 - Nanjing |
The Confucian Temple and nearby bazaar.
A nighttime scene in modern downtown Nanjing. Yes,
those are the Golden Arches on the left of the picture. |
Nanjing was a former capital of China on several occasions,
most recently and notably as capital of the Republic of
China (1912 - 1949, which was then superseded by the
People's Republic of China).
Nanjing's name means
'southern capital' - Beijing means 'northern capital' and
one of the four great ancient capitals of China. We
visit three of the four on this tour - Beijing, Xi'an and
Nanjing (the fourth is Luoyang).
We have a chance to explore this important city all day
today. Our touring includes a visit to Sun
Yat-sen's mausoleum (392 stairs lead up to the vault itself
- visiting the vault is optional). Dr Sun is considered the Father of
Modern China, having overseen the fall of the Qing dynasty
in 1912 and founded the Republic of China.
Another highlight is a visit to a
Qing dynasty style bazaar surrounding a Confucian temple.
After a fascinating day in
Nanjing, our ship sets sail at 9pm to complete our journey
to Shanghai.
Included Meals: Breakfast
Lunch Dinner |
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Day 12 (Sunday 29 June) :
End of Cruise, Shanghai City Touring |
The Bund with its classical European buildings on one side
of the Yangtze river.
A view of Pudong - modern Shanghai on the other side of the
Yangtze.
An evening stroll along Nanjing Rd, close to our hotel, and
the Bund (also close) reveals the bright lights of downtown
Shanghai. |
Our ship arrives into Shanghai early this morning.
After breakfast we are met by a
coach and taken for a tour around Shanghai, visiting such
'must see' sites as the Bund (grand buildings along the
river front), the French Concession, the Yu Gardens, and the
Jade Buddha temple, where we'll have a chance to sample (and
buy!) some traditional herbal teas prepared by the monks
that have claimed healing powers.
We then check into our very
central hotel where we stay for the next two nights.
Included Meals: Breakfast
Lunch |
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Day 13 (Monday 30 June) :
Shanghai region - Suzhou and Zhou Zhang |
The classic gardens in Suzhou.
The 'Venice of the East' - Zhou Zhang.
Get up close to the machinery in a silk factory and learn
how to quickly tell the difference between real silk and
fake artificial fibers. |
After breakfast this morning, we travel out of Shanghai city, to visit two very
beautiful small towns.
Suzhou is renowned for the beauty
of its classic gardens, and has earned the accolade of being
named a World Heritage site as a result.
Zhou Zhang - sometimes called 'the
Venice of the East' is a small and beautiful historic town,
surprisingly made famous by a painting given by an American
to China's ruler in the 1970s. We'll take a cruise
around its canals by hand poled boat.
Lunch today is at a working silk
mill, and we'll see how silk is transformed from the
material that forms a cocoon into the beautiful garments
that result at the end of the process, and have a chance to
buy from a huge selection of items in the factory outlet
store - some seem to be well priced, others perhaps not so
well priced.
We'll have a farewell dinner this
evening where those not going on to Guilin tomorrow will
have a chance to say their goodbyes.
Included Meals: Breakfast
Lunch Dinner |
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Day 14 (Tuesday 1 July) :
End of Tour |
Here's a popular souvenir - a carved stone signature stamp
(or 'chop') with your name in Chinese characters.
This stamp shows my name (David) and in traditional complex
letters rather than modern simplified ones. |
Today is the end of the main tour, and after breakfast,
you're free to extend your stay in Shanghai, to travel
elsewhere, or to return back home once more.
Note, immediately below, details of our optional extension
on to Guilin.
Included Meals: Breakfast |
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Extension Day 1 - Day 14 (Tuesday 1 July) :
Start of optional extension to Guilin |
Guilin is set in an area of outstanding natural beauty.
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If you choose our optional tour on to Guilin, you'll have
free time in Shanghai for much of the day, and a chance to
go on an optional walking tour along the Bund and some of
the back streets, giving you a feeling for the amazing
diversity that makes up Shanghai.
Later this afternoon, we'll fly
the short (2 hr 20 min) flight to Guilin and then check into
our hotel for the next two nights.
Included Meals: Breakfast |
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Extension Day 2 - Day 15 (Wednesday 2 July) :
Guilin |
Beautiful karst hills from the Li River.
There's a timeless nature to the Li river and its beautiful
scenery between Guilin and Yangshuo. |
The area around Guilin and Yangshuo is some of the most
beautiful in China. Gentle karst (water soluble)
hills, clear water, caves and beautiful scenery all merge
poetically into a unique and uniform whole.
We'll take a cruise from Guilin
along the Li river to Yangshuo, and then return back to
Guilin by coach, giving us a great opportunity to see the
outstanding beauty of this area.
Included Meals: Breakfast
Lunch |
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Extension Day 3 - Day 16 (Thursday 3 July) :
End of Guilin extension |
You're free to add still more to your China tour, anyway you
wish. |
Our time together in China comes to a close today.
You're free to extend your time in China or make any other
arrangements you may wish.
If you need help arranging the airfare back from Guilin to a
major international gateway city, we can assist there, too.
Included Meals: Breakfast |
Click here for the main
details of this cruise and the booking form to confirm your
interest.
Originally published
18 Jan 2008, last update
30 May 2021
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