27 days travel around china

includes: beijing, chengde, taiyuan, datong, xian, dunhuang, lhasa, lijiang, kunming, guilin, chendu, leshan, chongqing, luoyang, zhenzhou, nanchang, shanghai, and suzhou

d1 arrive in beijing, meet at airport and transfer to a 4 star hotel.

d2 begin the day with a visit to tian'anmen square, the world largest. then, move on to the imperial palace, also known as the "forbidden city" that symbolizes the imperial and traditional china. after lunch, you will go to visit the enchanting summer palace, one of china's largest and best-preserved imperial gardens. a peking duck banquet concludes your first full day activities in china.

d3 head for yonghegong lamasery this morning. after lunch visit temple of heaven, which features elegant 15th century ming dynasty architecture. later, you will stroll through liulichang, a historic street in beijing renowned for traditional fine art and antique stores. tonight's dinner is the royal cuisine at fangshan restaurant in beihai park. after dinner, enjoy a short episode of classic peking opera in a nearby theatre.

d4 this morning, you get up early and take a walk in jingshan park near your hotel to see chinese doing morning exercises. today's highlight is your visit to the great wall, symbol of chinese civilization. head for the great wall at badaling after breakfast. on the way back to the city, stop by shenlu (holy road) to see some marvelous stone sculptures.

d5 fly to urumqi this morning, the capital of xinjiang uygur autonomous region. check in a 4 star hotel upon arrival. visit xinjiang autonomous region museum in the afternoon. see the mummy exhibit in the museum.

d6 fly to kashgar this morning. check in a 3 star hotel. visit the big market, which is said to be the largest in asia. then move on to visit id kah mosque with its dome and minarets. the busiest, some say the biggest, mosque in china, id kah mosque, occupied the central square of kashgar, where it has stood since 1442.

d7 visit tomb of abakh hoja located in the northeast suburbs of the oasis. two of the tombs under the doomed ceiling are draped in green: that of abakh hoja and that of his great granddaughter, iparhan, who is known in chinese history as xiang fei, the fragrant concubine. fly back to urumqi in the evening and overnight at the 4 star hotel.

d8 today you will enjoy an outing to tianchi lake (heavenly lake), one of the scenic alpine destinations in xinjiang located on the slopes of bogda peak that has an altitude of 5,445 meters (16,200 feet). in the afternoon, you will visit nanshan pasture, where kazaks continue herding sheep and horses as they have for generations.

d9 travel to turpan and stay at a 3 star hotel. once an important way station on the ancient northern silk road, the city currently has a population of nearly 200,000. turpan is china's hottest city, its "land of fire," with summer temperatures routinely reaching a toasty 40 degrees celsius. visit the site of beziklik thousand buddha caves, which is located half an hour east of turpan by car. in uygur, "beziklik" means simply “place of paintings.” it is a major buddhist site in the heart of the flaming mountains.

d10 this morning, visit the ruins of gaochang, the walled capital of the ancient uygur kingdom. then move on to visit a uygur villager to meet local farmers and check out the famous "karez well", an underground irrigation system that was first installed in this region about 2,000 years ago. after dinner, take an overnight train to dunhuang.

d11 arrive liuyuan in the morning and transfer to dunhuang by bus. check in a 4 star hotel. dunhuang is the site of one of the most priceless troves of buddhist art the world has ever known – the mogao grottoes. there are a total of 45,000 square meters of murals and over 2,000 painted clay figures. today, mogao has become a shrine for buddhist art lovers, and yet, scientists and archaeologists on site are painstakingly working to keep the art from being damaged or disappearing.

d12 after breakfast, head to the airport for a flight to the ancient tang dynasty capital, xi’an. check in a 4 star hotel upon arrival. in the afternoon, visit shaanxi history museum, modeled on a tang dynasty palace. stop at the city wall, which is still largely intact and one of the most complete ancient city walls in china.

d13 begin the day with a once-in-a-lifetime viewing of the extraordinary 2,200-year-old terra cotta warriors of china’s first emperor, qin shihuang. inside the terracotta museum, the warriors still stand on the actual site where peasants discovered them in 1974. later in the day, visit the great mosque in the muslim district located in the western section of xi'an. tonight, you are invited to enjoy a splendid dinner show with tang dynasty style performances.

d14 fly to kunming in the morning. check in a 4 star hotel. take a city tour in the afternoon. take a visit to the dragon gate from where you can get a bird's-eye view of the dianchi lake and the city.

d15 today's excursion takes you to the stoneforest, which offers visitors a unique landscape of stark limestone pillars twisted and sculpted by the elements. the stoneforest is home to the sani people, a branch of the yi minority. in the local market, you will see many yi women selling their handmade crafts.

d16 fly in the morning to dali and transit to the asia star hotel. explore rare and precious plant life along the erhai lake. visit the chongsheng three pagodas which is located at the foot of yinglo peak of cangshan mountain northwest of dali city.

d17 today's highlight is to explore the city of dali and its surrounding bai villages. one of the minority nationalities of china, the bai has a population of 1.13 million. take a look at the unique structure of their houses and learn of their daily life, handicrafts, religious observances, festivals and rituals.

d18 after breakfast, drive to lijiang, the route reveals magnificent vistas and sweeping landscapes of wildflowers. lijiang is a step back in time, and it still preserves much of the original architecture and lifestyle of naxi people nearly a century ago. check in the 5 star lijiang guanfang hotel.

d19 lijiang lies in a broad, elevated basin at nearly 2,400 meters above sea level. we'll venture into the countryside to observe life in naxi minority villages and to admire the beautiful spring wildflowers. also spend some time wandering in the old town of lijiang which is a world culture heritage.

d20 fly to chongqing via kunming. upon arrival, take a city tour to explore china's wartime capital. visit general stilwell's house and the chongqing zoo where you will get a glimpse of giant panda. after dinner, board a 4 star cruise ship, and begin our enthralling cruise.

d21 yangtze river cruise. today you start your cruise downstream from chongqing. your cruise ship will dock at shibaozhai, or precious stone fortress, for a few hours' shore excursion. you will have plenty of time to explore this legendary site. prepare yourself for a climb of more than one hundred or so steps if you want to reach the top. in the evening, enjoy the captain's cocktail party on board.

d22 the highlight of today's cruise is to be thrilled at one of china's greatest natural wonders--the extraordinary three gorges of yangtze river, which unfortunately will soon disappear as a result of the dam construction now underway. you will also take an exciting side trip on a wooden sampan through the small gorges of shennong stream, a tributary of yangtze river. take an excursion to three gorges dam construction site in sanduoping in the afternoon. tonight enjoy a farewell banquet followed by entertainment presented by the ship's crew members.

d23 cruise ends in yichang. upon disembarking, fly to shanghai and then transfer to suzhou by motor coach. you will check in a 4 star hotel. the highlight of today's activities is to visit suzhou's beautiful gardens including the humble administrator's garden (1522ad) and the lingeringgarden (1525ad).

d24 our first destination today is tongli, a small town on the banks of the grand canal. its history goes back to the song dynasty, more than 1,000 years ago. then we will visit zhouzhuangvillage, which was established in 1086, the first year of the reign of emperor yuanyu of the song dynasty. travel from suzhou by motor coach late afternoon to wonderful shanghai. check in a 4 star hotel. take a stroll on the bund before heading for an exciting acrobatic show.

d25 this morning, you will visit the marvelous shanghai museum. after lunch, visit yuyuan garden, a well-restored suzhou-style garden that was created by a ming dynasty mandarin in 1559. we will also stop by nanjing road, the best-known shopping street in china.

d26 enjoy a relaxing day in shanghai on your own. taxi service in the city is both convenient and inexpensive and gets you to anywhere you want to go. tonight, enjoy a farewell dinner at your hotel featuring shanghai cuisine.

d27 after a relaxed breakfast in your hotel, we will transfer you to the airport for your departure