Meet & greet: Upon arrival at Beijing Airport, you will be welcomed to China by your private English-speaking guide, and then transferred to your hotel.

Time at leisure in Beijing: After checking into your hotel, the rest of the day is free at leisure. You can relax at your hotel, or do some exploring around Beijing independently. Get lost in the hutongs, visit the Wangfujing Night Market to sample some exotic local delicacies, or wander around any of Beijing’s many picturesque parks and hidden temples.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Cote Cour (Deluxe Room)

Morning guided tour of Tiananmen Square & the Forbidden City: After breakfast, you will be picked up from your hotel and taken for a tour of Tiananmen Square where you will visit the mausoleum of Chairman Mao. Afterwards you will enter the Forbidden City, the largest and most complete group of ancient buildings in China. Built in the 15th Century, the Imperial Palace was a forbidden area for 500 years before the revolution of 1911. It was home to two royal dynasties, the Ming and Qing emperors, and it is from this palace that the emperors governed China, stepping out of its confines extremely rarely. Afterwards you will visit Jingshan Park where you can get a great view over the Forbidden City & Beijing on a clear day, and then you will have lunch in a local restaurant.

Afternoon tour of the Temple of Heaven and the Hutongs: Located in the centre of Tiantan Gongyuan Park, the spectacular Ming temple has become regarded, and is widely used, as the symbol of Beijing. Dating from 1420, its wooden pillars support a curved ceiling without cement or nails to a height of 38 metres. The temple's intricate carving and bright colours illustrate the opulent Ming style. Also in the Temple complex is the Echo Wall - a circular structure composed of polished bricks on the inside. The temple and its surrounding altars, gates and park are a meeting place for the people of Beijing and it is possible to see the locals enjoying a game of chess or practicing the ancient art of Tai-Chi. Later take a cyclo tour of the fascinating Hutongs. Mostly built during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, hutongs are the narrow network of lanes created by closely built quadrangular homes in the city's inner areas. They are a fast disappearing sight as Beijing's city developers move in to modernise these areas. 

Peking Duck Dinner: This evening, enjoy dinner at a renowned Peking duck restaurant. The hallmark bird is a crispy duck served with plum (or garlic) sauce, scallions and pancakes. Also carved up is the skin of the duck, served with sugar, an old imperial favourite.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Cote Cour (Deluxe Room)

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Private transfer to Chengde, via Jinshanling: After breakfast, you will depart Beijing and drive for 2 hours to reach the Great Wall at Jinshanling Pass. Stretching from the Gobi desert to the Yellow Sea, this is the largest man made structure on earth and is an amazing feat of engineering, labour and sacrifice. The original wall was begun 2,000 years ago when China was unified under Emperor Qin Shi Huang to keep out marauding nomads. The construction used hundreds of thousands of political prisoners and an estimated 180 million cubic metres of packed earth. Jinshanling is further out of the city than some of the more developed and more crowded parts of the Wall. Visitors here can see the collection of watchtowers and ramparts that rest on the mountain ridges, offering views of the Great Wall as it snakes across the skyline far into the distance. You will have lunch in a local restaurant here before continuing on the drive to Chengde, where the Qing emperors used to retire to in the heat of the summer. Arrive mid-afternoon and check into your hotel to relax.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Chengde Imperial Mountain Resort (Standard Room)

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch

Guided tour of Chengde: After breakfast at the hotel, you will set out to explore the landscaped gardens of the Imperial Mountain Resort and some of the temples built by the Qing Emperors, notably the Putuo Zongcheng Temple and also the impressive Puning Temple. Lunch will be taken in a local restaurant.

Private transfer: This afternoon, drive back to Beijing and on arrival check in at your hotel.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Cote Cour (Deluxe Room)

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch

Morning at leisure: This morning, you have some free time in Beijing to relax at your hotel or do some last minute sightseeing or shopping before your train to Datong this afternoon.

Private transfer: Later, you will be picked up from your hotel and transferred to the railway station in time to catch the train to Datong.

Train journey: You will be booked on train K615 which departs Beijing at 15.33 and arrives in Datong at 22.11. You will have a shared 4-berth soft sleeper cabin.

Private transfer: On arrival in Datong, you will be met and transferred to your hotel to check in.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Datong Garden Hotel (Standard Room)

Meals: Breakfast

Guided tour of the Yungang Caves & Hanging Monastery: This morning, you will set off to visit the Yungang Caves, one of China's most important centres of Buddhist art. Carved around 400AD, this series of grottoes holds around 50,000 Buddha statues. Later you will travel to the Hanging Monastery near Hunyuan. An amazing sight, the monastery clings to the side of a cliff and was built some 1,400 years ago. After sightseeing, you will return to your hotel in Datong.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Datong Garden Hotel (Standard Room)

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch

Private transfer: After breakfast, you will be met at your hotel and transferred to the railway station in time to board your onward train to Taiyuan.

Train journey: You will be booked on train K7801 which departs Datong at 08.30 and arrives in Taiyuan at 11.35.

Private transfer to Pingyao with sightseeing: On arrival, you will be met and taken for lunch in a local restaurant. Afterwards, you will see the Buddhist Jinci Temple and then set off by car for the ancient walled city of Pingyao, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and world famous as being one of the last, if not the last, of the old Chinese towns to have intact Ming dynasty city walls. On arrival, check in, relax and explore the old town of Pingyao at your leisure.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Jing’s Residence (Courtyard Room)

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch

Morning guided tour of Pingyao: After breakfast, take a guided walking tour of the ancient centre of Pingyao. A chance to see the enormous and complete city walls and the narrow streets with their Qing Dynasty shops and houses and even the local governor's office. Lunch will be taken at a local restaurant.

Afternoon guided visit to Wang Family Estate: After lunch, drive out of town, around 20 miles, to visit the Wang Family Estate, a huge private house complex with walls the size of the Forbidden City in Beijing. After time to look around, you will return to Pingyao for an evening at leisure.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Jing’s Residence (Courtyard Room)

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch

Private transfer: This morning, you will be transferred to Pingyao's Railway Station in time to catch your high-speed train to Xi'an.

High-speed train journey: You will be booked on Train D2561 which departs Pingyao at 10.03 and arrives in Xi'an at 13.03. 

Private transfer: On arrival in Xi'an, you will be met and transferred to your hotel to check in.

Afternoon visit to the Small Wild Goose Pagoda: This afternoon, you will visit the Small Wild Goose Pagoda, which was built in the Tang Dynasty. Originally built with 15 storeys, an earthquake in the 16th century reduced the top two storeys to rubble and they have never been replaced.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Grand Noble Hotel (Superior Room)

Meals: Breakfast

Morning guided tour to the Terracotta Warriors: After breakfast, leave the city to visit the site of the Terracotta Warriors. In 1974 a peasant digging a well came upon what now stands as one of the main attractions in China and one of the most important archaeological finds of the 20th century. An army of thousands of life-sized warriors and their horses in battle formation, which were buried for 2,000 years, stand guard over the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang. The figures were buried with artefacts and weapons of the day and every figure differs in facial features and expressions. The dig is still in progress, as it is believed that the site is part of an even larger army still buried underground. Return to Xi'an for lunch.

Afternoon guided tour of the Muslim Quarter & the Great Mosque: This afternoon, you will visit the historic Muslim quarter of the city. In the centre of the walled city you will find the old houses and narrow lanes of Xi'an's Muslim, or Hui, community. Islam has been the most enduring of all faiths in Xi'an. It was first introduced by Arab merchants during the Tang Dynasty, and flourished during the Yuan (1279-1368). The Great Mosque survived the Cultural Revolution virtually unscathed and remains an outstanding Chinese re-interpretation of an Islamic place of worship. It was founded in 742 A.D, according to a stone tablet in the mosque, but nothing from this Tang period survives. The present layout dates from the 14th century.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Grand Noble Hotel (Superior Room)

Meals: Breakfast

Morning tour of the Shaanxi Museum: This morning, you will visit the Shaanxi Museum, established in 1952, and considered to be one of the best museums in China. Its exhibits date from prehistoric times through early dynastic China and up to the early 20th century, and many are from the local area. Included are terracotta horses and soldiers, Ming and Qing pottery, bronze cooking vessels from the Shang and Zhou dynasties (16th - 11th centuries B.C.) and tools and pottery from the Palaeolithic and Neolithic ages. Lunch will be taken in a local restaurant.

Afternoon tour of the City Walls & the Wild Goose Pagoda: This afternoon, you will be taken to see the old city walls which form a circumference of 9 miles with a gateway and watchtowers on each side. Most sections of the wall have been restored or even rebuilt and it stands at 12 metres high. Afterwards visit the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, a symbol of ancient Xi'an, and a well preserved ancient building and Buddhist holy place which is located in the southern suburb of Xi'an City, about 2.5 miles from the city centre. Standing in the Da Ci'en Temple complex, the pagoda attracts visitors due to its appealing style of construction and the new square that is in front of the temple.

Private transfer: This afternoon, you will be transferred to the airport for your flight to Guilin.

Flight: CA1225 Xi'an - Guilin 18.40 - 20.50

Private transfer: On arrival in Guilin, you will be met and transferred to your hotel to check in.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Aroma Tea House (Garden View Room)

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch

Private transfer: After breakfast, you will be transferred to the river where you will board your cruise boat.

Cruise to Yangshuo on the River Li: Depart Guilin on a leisurely 4 hour cruise down the picturesque Li River. There is stunning scenery on the way as your boat meanders between the dramatic forested peaks and past bamboo fishing villages. This is one of the most enchanting river journeys in China with great photo opportunities along the way. A simple packed lunch will be provided for you to eat on-board.

Guided tour of Yangshuo: On arrival in Yangshuo, you will be met by your guide and after some time at leisure to explore the charming town of Yangshuo, you will be transferred to your hotel to check-in.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Moondance Resort (Standard Room)

Meals: Breakfast & Lunch

Day at leisure: Today, you are free at leisure to roam the Guangxi countryside independently. By far the best way of getting around is by bike, although walks of any length are also available. Spending time on the water either on the Li itself or by bamboo raft along one its’ many gullies is also a memorable way to explore. Numerous other activities are also recommended, such as a cooking class at the Yangshuo Cooking School, shopping along Yangshuo’s central West Street, taking in the evening Son et Lumiere show, or arranging a trip to witness the fascinating fishing with cormorants method still practised by local fishermen.

Accommodation: Stay tonight at the Moondance Resort (Standard Room)

Meals: Breakfast