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Walking through Ancient Chinese Civilization 15 nights, 16 days tour to Beijing, Datong, Taiyuan, Pingyao, Xian, Luoyang, Shaolin Temple, Zhengzhou and Shanghai. (Tour Code: EL)
Day 01 Australia/Beijing
Fly from Australia to Beijing, the dynamic capital of the People’s Republic of China. Once the imperial city of Mongol, Ming and Manchu emperors, Beijing today is still extraordinarily rich in historical sites and cultural relics. After clearing airport formalities, you will be met by our CTS guide and transferred to your hotel.
Day 02 Beijing (B/L/D)
Tour the Tian’anmen Square, the biggest public square in the world. If permitted, we visit Mao’s Mausoleum. After lunch, visit Forbidden City, the vast complex of palaces, which was the home to successive emperors for more than 500 years. Included is admission to the living quarters, museum and jewellery sections. Tonight you will experience the famous Beijing Duck Banquet for your welcome dinner.
Day 03 Beijing (B/L/D)
Morning tour to the Great Wall, stretching almost 4,000 miles from the Pacific Ocean to the sands of Central Asia and befittingly crowned one of the ten wonders of the world. Along the way, you will stop at a jade carving factory where you can watch artisans at work. Continue to the Summer Palace, the largest and the best preserved of all imperial palace gardens, which boasts such delights as the famous Marble Boat and the ornately painted ‘Long Corridor’, and take a boat ride on its Lake Kunming if the weather permits. After dinner, you will witness the amazing Beijing Acrobatic Show.
Day 04 Beijing (B/L)
In the morning, enjoy a pedicab tour of the Hutong – the ‘old city’ with neighbourhoods of narrow alleyways and courtyard gardens. Here you will experience local life on a family visit and a kindergarten school. After our special lunch in a local family home, tour to the Temple of Heaven, the 500 year old Temple houses altars on which sacrifices and offerings were laid to the gods in a glorious setting of gardens, trees and sculptures. Visit a local market if time permits. Evening at leisure.
Day 05 Beijing – Datong (B/D)
After breakfast, we board the train for Datong, home of the famous Yungang Grottoes.
Day 06 Datong (B/L/D)
Visit the Yungang Grottoes, which is located 16km west of Datong, carved out of a sandstone cliff that is a part of the large Wuzhoushan Mountain range. The long stretch of caves was a masterpiece comparable to the ancient Egyptian pyramids, taking 40,000 workmen many decades (453-493 AD) to finish the majority of construction. Then you will visit the Nine-Dragon Screen built during the Ming Dynasty 600 years ago and Huayan Temple, originally built in the Liao Dynasty (916-1125 AD), as an ancestral temple to the imperial family.
Day 07 Datong – Taiyuan (B/L/D)
Today we will visit en route the Hanging Temple, situated in a deep valley surrounded by towering cliffs, the temples are perched high up on cliffs which creates an awe-inspiring impression of inaccessibility and amazement as to the methods used in their construction. This amazing site is a must-see for its uniqueness and cultural, architectural, religious and artistic significance. Then travel by coach heading on to Taiyuan – the capital city of Shanxi province.
Day 08 Taiyuan – Pingyao (B/L/D)
Morning city tour to Jinci Temple, an ancient Chinese garden with Song-dynasty structures. Then, take a side trip to Pingyao, an ancient town alive with history. It is one of China’s most well preserved ancient towns which houses temples, traditional architecture, city walls, battlements and watchtowers that will amaze you. For dinner, you will try the local specialty, which is famous for wheaten food.
Day 09 Pingyao – Xian (B)
Free at leisure to explore this ancient town on your own pace till we take an overnight train ride to Xian.
Day 10 Xian (B/L/D)
Upon arrival in Xian, you will be met and transferred to the hotel for breakfast. Then, you will visit the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Today you will sample the Xian dumpling dinner. Afterwords, you will see the traditional Tang Dynasty Show.
Day 11 Xian (B/L/D)
Morning tour to the greatest archaeological discovery of the century, the 2,000 year-old Terracotta Warriors interred with the Emperor Qin Shi Huang. In the afternoon, we will visit the Great Mosque, the best-preserved Islamic mosque in China and focus for the 30,000 Chinese Muslims of Xian.
Day 12 Xian – Luoyang (B/L/D)
In the morning, we travel by train to Luoyang, which is one of the seven ancient capital cities in China’s history. It has a history of 1592 years and a capital 13 different dynasties. Upon arrival in Luoyang, you will be met & transferred to the hotel. We will have a short city tour if time permits.
Day 13 Luoyang (B/L/D)
The world-famous Longmen Grottoes are located 12 km south of Luoyang. Today’s highlight is a visit to the Longmen Grottoes. Spanning a length of over 1,000 meters on the hillsides along the Yi River, the Longmen Grottoes built in AD 494, together with the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang (Gansu Province) and the Yungang Grottoes (Shanxi Province), are reputed as the three greatest stone sculpture treasure houses in China. In the year 2000, Longmen Grottoes was listed by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage Site. After lunch, visit the White Horse Temple. Tonight you will sample the local flavor for dinner.
Day 14 Luoyang – Shaolin Temple – Zhengzhou (B/L/D)
Travel by coach to the famous Shaolin Temple, the birthplace of Chinese martial arts. A martial arts demonstration by the monks of Shaolin Temple will be arranged. We will continue our trip to Zhengzhou, provincial capital city of Henan Province. Here you will take a short city tour before checking into your hotel.
Day 15 Zhengzhou/Shanghai (B/L/D)
In the morning, we take a flight to Shanghai, the biggest commercial city in China. Upon arrival, you will be greeted by our guide and transferred to the hotel. After checking-in at your hotel, if time permits, we visit Shanghai Museum, one of the finest museums in China or to the Bund, Old Town and Yu Garden.
Day 16 Shanghai/Australia (B)
Today you are free for some last minute shopping before being transferred to the airport for your flight back home.
Day 17 Australia
Arrival in Australia.
