Day 1
Arrive in Guilin
Guilin is a city in China, situated in the northeast of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on the west bank of the Li River. Its name means "forest of Sweet Osmanthus", owing to the large number of fragrant Sweet Osmanthus trees located in the city. The city has long been renowned for its unique scenery.
Day 2
Guilin - 
- Yangshuo - 
- Guilin
Yangshuo County is a county in Guilin, Guangxi Province, China. Its seat is located in Yangshuo Town. Surrounded by karst peaks and bordered on one side by the Li River it is easily accessible by bus or by boat from nearby Guilin. Over the years, it has become popular with foreign backpackers.
Day 3
Guilin - 
- Shanghai
The Reed Flute Cave near Guilin is the most spectacular caves I have seen so far in Asia. It's a huge underground cave system with stunning rock formations, stalagmites and stalactites, illuminated with colored lights. The cave can hold comfortably 1000 people.
Elephant Trunk Hill is located on the western bank of Li River. The shape of the hill is just like a huge elephant drinking water from the river with its trunk, so it is called Elephant Trunk Hill.
Shui Yue Cave (Water Moon Cave) is between the trunk and the legs, which is a semi-round cave penetrated by water. The inverted reflection of the cave in water plus the part above forms a full moon. This phenomenon is unique and many laudatory inscriptions were found on the wall inside the cave. Visitors can boat through the cave to the river. Another cave regarded as the eyes of the elephant lies in the hillside. It provides tourists an ideal position to enjoy the panoramic view of Guilin. On the top of the hill is a two-storey pagoda built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) surrounded by green trees. The north seat of the second floor is inlaid with an image of Bodhisattva Puxian. The pagoda looks like a precious vase on the back of an elephant seen from distance and many beautiful legends about the pagoda with good wishes are said among people. As the symbol of Guilin, Elephant Trunk Hill is the main scenic spot of the Elephant Trunk Hill Park, which also includes Yunfeng Monastery (a building with ancient style), Aiqing Dao (Love Island) and so on.
Day 4
Shanghai
Situated in the northwest near the intersection of Anyuan Lu and Jiangning Lu, the temple is an active one, attracting large numbers of visitors, both local and overseas Chinese tourists. It is one of Shanghai's few Buddhist temples.
Jade Buddha Temple was built between 1911 and 1918, housing 70 resident monks. Its exterior is easily identifiable by its bright saffron walls. Inside, the centerpiece is a two-meter-high white jade sitting Buddha encrusted with jewels. It is said the statue weighs 1,000kg. The sitting Buddha was installed in the temple when it was brought by monks from Burma to Zhejiang Province in 1882. A smaller reclining Buddha lies on a redwood bed.
Yuyuan is a 400 year old classical Chinese garden in the Old Town of Shanghai, not far from the Bund. Pan Yunduan spent twenty years and all his savings building it to please his parents in their old age.
The Oriental Pearl TV Tower is located in Pudong Park in Lujiazui, Shanghai. The tower, surrounded by the Yangpu Bridge in the northeast and the Nanpu Bridge in the southwest, creates a picture of 'twin dragons playing with pearls'.The base of the tower is supported by three seven-meter wide slanting stanchions. Surrounding the eleven steel spheres that are 'strung' vertically through the center of the tower are three nine-meter wide columns. There are three large spheres including the top sphere, known as the space module. Then there are five smaller spheres and three decorative spheres on the tower base. The entire structure rests on rich green grassland and gives the appearance of pearls shining on a jade plate.
Located along the Huangpu River, the Bund shows off Shanghai's outstanding foreign buildings, most of which were erected before 1937. To the Europeans, the Bund was Shanghai's answer to Wall Street. In the 1930s, the string of buildings hosted the city's financial and commercial centers, and the world's greatest banks and trading empires established a base here. The Bund was derived from the Anglo-Indian term that literally means a muddy embankment. At the beginning of the 19th century, the area was a mere shallow waterfront covered with reeds.
Day 5
Shanghai - - Yichang, Embark
The Shanghai Museum is a museum of ancient Chinese art, situated on the People's Square in the Huangpu District of Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
Day 6
Yangtze River Cruise
You depart from Yichang at 9 o' clock in the morning. Sumptuous Western and Chinese buffet are offered as breakfast.
Day 7
Yangtze River Cruise
The Lesser Three Gorges is one of the exciting and famous stops in the Yangtze Three Gorges. It is often called the "highlight" of the cruise, even the whole China trip. It always refers to the three separate valleys of the Daning River, namely "Dragon-Gate Gorge", "Misty Gorge" and "Dicui (Emerald) Gorge". These three gorges, with an area of 160 hectares of forest, lie on the lower reaches of Daning, extending from the entrance of the Dragon-Gate Gorge in the South to Tujiaba in the North for 50 km. Here sheer cliffs and steep mountains rise on either side, creating one of natural fine arts gallery as natural scenic wonders unfold on both banks of the river. Clear water flows between precarious precipices and peaks covered with green trees and bushes. Here you can board a small junk to enjoy the spectacular views and experience a water-borne sensation you never did before. Its "subtle mountains, clear waters, pretty rocks, dangerous rapids, sharp turns, fantastic caves, and stalactites in various shapes" characterize the natural landscape in the Lesser Three Gorges. Monkeys, mandarin ducks, water birds and fish can be seen in this area. In addition to the continuous natural scenery there are a number of historical places of interest along the way, such as suspending coffin, boat coffin, remains of ancient plank walkway. The area has been made one of the key nature reserves in China and is becoming known as a tourist attraction continuing to offer its charms.
Day 8
Yangtze River Cruise
The Farewell Dinner invites you to bid a fond goodbye to your new travel company. Thanks to the crews' hospitality, you still have more fun to enjoy.
Day 9
Disembark, Chongqing - - Xian
The Erling Park lies on the Erlin Mountain of western side of Chongqing City and is near The Fotu Guan. The Jialing River and the Yangtze River are flowing at the foot of it from south and north. The topography of the Erlin Mountain is very high and steep standing toweringly at the gate of the mountain city - Chongqing as if it was guiding for the mountain city. The Erlin Park was built in late Ch'ing Dynasty (1644 ~ 1911A.D.). Originally it was a private garden and called "Yiyuan". Later, a rich businessman purchased the place and converts in to a villa and named it "Liyuan". During Emperor Guangxu of Ch'ing Dynasty, a friend of the garden's owner - a calligrapher named Zhaoxi felt the topography of this mountain like a goose's head, so he wrote down "Erlin Mountain" to the owner. The owner was very happy and immediately he carved and set up a stone tablet. This is the origin of the name of the Erlin Park. The Erlin Park displays the layout of Suzhou gardens. There are pavilions, platforms, high buildings, winding paths and corridors, lotus ponds, arc bridges and so on in the whole garden.
Day 10
Xian
Banpo Neolithic Village Museum. The remains of this village, located just east of Xian and inhabited from about 4500 B.C. to 3750 B.C., were discovered in 1953. The museum was built in 1958. Placards in both Chinese and English help the visitor understand this very early settlement of the area. Inside the museum, there are the hall for the ruins, the hall for cultural relics, and the clay cave ruins. The Banpo Lady Statue on the rock in the garden pond bears a physical resemblance to the early Banpo people.
Day 11
Xian - - Beijing
Shaanxi History Museum, which located to the northwest of the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda in the ancient city Xian, in the Shaanxi province of China, is one of the first huge state museums with modern facilities in China. The museum houses over 300,000 items including murals, paintings, pottery, coins, as well as bronze, gold, and silver objects. The modern museum was built between 1983 and 2001 and its appearance recalls the architectural style of the Tang Dynasty.
Day 12
Beijing
Tiananmen Square: Tiananmen (Gate of Heavenly Peace) was the main entrance to the Forbidden City during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Built in 1417, it was first named the Cheng Tian men, meaning that emperors obeyed the order of Heaven in ruling the country. Destroyed by fire twice, it was rebuilt in 1651 during the Qing Dynasty and renamed Tiananmen. It is also honored as the "Gate of the Nation." As one of the largest city squares in the world, Tiananmen Square occupies an area of 440, 000 square meters--spacious enough to accommodate half a million people. Many annual and special celebrations and assemblies are held here. On October 1st, 1949, Chairman Mao Ze Dong declared the founding of the People's Republic of China on the Tiananmen Rostrum, thus opening a new chapter in the history of China. In the new period of reforms and opening, Tiananmen, with its long history and rich culture, attracts people from all over the world.
Forbidden City: The Forbidden City also named the Palace Museum, shares the honor of being one of five world-famous palaces with the Palace of Versailles in France, Buckingham Palace in England, and the White House in the U.S. and the Kremlin in Russia. The palace, the most magnificent and splendid palace complex in China, was listed as a World Cultural Heritage Building in 1987. It was built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and the construction of this group of buildings took fourteen years from 1406 to 1420. In the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), it was the imperial palace where twenty-four emperors ascended the throne and exercised their strong power to the nation.
Temple of Heaven: At the Temple of Heaven Emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368-1911) worshiped Heaven and prayed for good harvests. The northern part of the outer surrounding wall is semi-circular; the southern part is square; this forms a pattern symbolic of the ancient belief that Heaven was round and the earth square. The double surrounding wall separates the temple into the inner and outer temples with the main structures in the inner one, covering 273 hectares.
Day 13
Beijing
The Great Wall: The Great Wall at Badaling is the best representative section of the Great Wall. It is more than 7 meters high and 5 meters wide. It was the strategic point of Juyongguan Pass in ancient times. Many other fortresses and beacon towers were constructed at the strategic points. This section of the Great Wall has drawn great attention from the Chinese government since the foundation of P.R. China. It was designated a major historical site under state protection in 1961. The Great Wall was listed "a World Cultural Heritage" by the UNESCO in 1987. The Great Wall at Badaling is preserved as a historical monument and has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world.
The Ming Tombs: Located at the foot of the Tianshou Mountain in Changping District, Beijing, the Ming Mausoleums, occupying an area of 120 square kilometers, is well preserved and have the biggest number of emperors buried in the world.
Day 14
Depart form Beijing
In the past 13 days you have had a wonderful time in China. You must be fascinated about China. We are sure that you enjoy China's splendid culture and unique scenery and you can be our best ambassadors to share that experience with your friends and neighbors. We sincerely hope to see you revisit China again with your friends.
