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Our "Grand 14" Tour offers the highlights of China - Beijing, the Great Wall, the Terracotta Warriors, the Giant Pandas, Suzhou and Shanghai - as well as two of the nation's most exotic destinations: Guilin & the Li River and Tibet. As a trimmed version of our 19-night "Grand 19" Tour, the "Grand 14" Tour offers the same level of luxury for sophisticated, discerning world travelers.
During your two-week journey with us you'll experience some of China's finest, most luxurious hotels and restaurants. One evening in Beijing features our "Freestyle Dining" option allowing you to select your restaurant from virtually any in the city - or allow our Tour Manager to offer recommendations based on your preferences.
Plus, this luxury-series tour enables you to further personalize your journey: extend your stay in your favorite city; add or delete attractions; or select a preferred hotel. Contact us for details regarding these exciting options.
To see dates and rates for this tour -Click Here-
To see day-by-day trip details for this tour -Click Here-
For 2008, Let’s Travel China Tours are All-Inclusive! |
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Trip Length:
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14 Nights/15 Days |
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| Begins
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Beijing |
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Shanghai |
| Departures:
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2010
Nov 01 |
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Highlights:
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Beijing, Shanghai, Great Wall,
Chengdu, Suzhou, Tongli,
Xian, Guilin, Lhasa,
Yangshuo
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| Trip prices:
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From $7220 per person |
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| Beijing | 3 Nights | Orientation, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, Great Wall of China, Temple of Heaven, Hutong neighborhood, Beijing Duck Dinner, Beijing Opera | Xian | 1Night | Terracotta Warriors, Xian City Wall, Shaanxi History Museum, Lacquer Furniture Factory, Dumpling Dinner | Lhasa | 3 Nights | Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple, The Barkhor, Sera Monastery, Norbulingka | Chengdu | 1 Night | Giant Panda Breeding Research Center, Chengdu Teahouse | Guilin | 3 Nights | Li River Cruise, Longji Titian Rice Terraces, Ping An village, "Beer Fish" dinner | Suzhou | 2 Nights | Humble Administrator's Garden, New Suzhou Museum, Suzhou Silk Museum | Tongli | Day Tour | Tongli Canal tour | Shanghai | 1 Night | Bund Tour, Pudong Tour, Farewell Dinner, Acrobatic Show
Shanghai Maglev airport transfer |
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Travel: |
Arrive Beijing
Motorcoach to hotel |
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Cities:
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Beijing |
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Highlights:
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Arrival in Beijing
Orientation |
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Overnight:
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The Regent Beijing |
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Meals:
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Dinner |
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- Welcome to China! Following your flight arrival in Beijing you'll transfer to your hotel.
- The remainder of the day is at your leisure. Your flight arrival time may afford time for lunch (not included in your tour price). Your hotel offers an excellent restaurant serving Chinese and Western-style cuisine. If you'd prefer to dine away from your hotel your Tour Manager can suggest alternate dining options.
- You may choose to relax at the hotel but if your arrival schedule permits you may also opt for some local sightseeing or shopping before dinner. Be sure to check first with your Tour Manager.
- During this evening's dinner your Tour Manager will host a brief tour Orientation and provide an overview of Day 2’s planned activities. Should your flight arrival schedule prevent you from attending tonight’s Orientation, your Tour Manager will be sure to contact you regarding Day 2’s planned activities.
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Cities:
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Beijing |
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Highlights:
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Tiananmen Square
Forbidden City
Hutong neighborhood
Pearl Production Ctr.
Peking Duck Dinner |
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Overnight:
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The Regent Beijing |
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Meals:
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Breakfast, Lunch and Beijing Duck Dinner |
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- Tiananmen Square is your first stop on this first day. The square is the prime venue for both state-sponsored and unstaged events. It is vast – the largest such square in the world. From here you'll proceed to the Forbidden City.
- You'll have ample time to tour the 170-acre Forbidden City complex but still, you'll only be able to see a fraction of the site's nearly 9,000 rooms. The Forbidden City is a UNESCO World Heritage Site - one of the many featured on Let's Travel China tours.
- No visit in Beijing is complete without a pedicab tour through one of Beijing's quaint Hutong neighborhoods. Here, canals, alleyways and narrow streets provide a rare glimpse of a Beijing scene missed by most tourists. Your tour may include a visit with a family at a traditional, "courtyard-style" quadrangle home or perhaps drop in on a nursery or pre-school.
- A special evening is planned: a delicious Peking Duck Dinner!
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| More Beijing? |
| Learn more about Beijing City and its attractions |
| Click
here |
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| More Beijing - literally!
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| Want more time in Beijing? Call a Tour Specialist
for details. |
| 661-272-3767 |
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Cities:
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Beijing |
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Highlights:
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Great Wall of China
Free Activities
"Choice Dining"
Beijing Opera |
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Overnight:
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The Regent Beijing |
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Meals:
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Breakfast, Lunch and "Choice Dining" Dinner |
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- A morning visit with the Great Wall of China highlights the day. Avoiding the tourist crush, you'll travel to the less-crowded, less-commercialized town of Mutianyu, where the terrain is hillier and the scenery more dramatic.
- What to do after lunch? It's "Your Choice" - a Let's Travel China exclusive! Your Tour Manager will provide details of your options as well as supply you with maps and travel aids - even the complimentary use of a cell phone. Or, if you'd prefer, you're free do your own thing. It's "Your Choice."
- Attractions: Maybe you'd like to visit the Summer Palace, built by the the mid-18th century Emperor Qianlong. Within the imperial park is Kunming Lake offering a refreshing boat ride.
- Shopping: Head for the pedestrian-only Wangfujing street. Or try the weekend Panjiayuan flea market (available on tours originating on Thursdays).
- The Arts: Beijing is a city of culture and the arts. For starters, try Beijing 798 Space - a trendy, "Soho-esque" neighborhood of contemporary art and culture.
- Tonight we offer you our complimentary "Choice Dining" program. Your Tour Manager can secure reservations for you at Beijing's finest restaurants or, for a more personal experience, arrange for an intimate "single table" dining venue. Or, if you'd prefer, you may select your own restaurant. Bon appetit!
- Following dinner you'll be treated to an evening at the opera - the Peking Opera!
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The
Great Wall Myth:
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Is the Great Wall of China the only manmade object viewable from space?
No. Although the wall is sometimes barely visible at very low Earth
orbit, highways, bridges, airports and dams are far easier to spot.
In fact, even China’s first astronaut, Yang Liwei, circling
the Earth in 2004, confirmed he couldn’t see the Great Wall.
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Travel: |
Fly to Xian |
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Cities:
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Beijing
Xian |
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Highlights:
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Terracotta Warriors
Shaanxi History Museum
Dumpling Dinner
Night Market |
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Overnight:
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Sofitel On Renmin Square |
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Meals:
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Breakfast, Lunch and "Dumpling Dinner" |
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- This morning you'll fly westward from Beijing to Xian, provincial capital of Shaanxi. Following your arrival, you'll stop in at a popular Xian restaurant for lunch.
- One of your most magical memories of China may well occur this afternoon with your tour of the Terracotta Warriors. An entire subterranean Army stands ready to defend the tomb of China's first emperor – Qin Shi Huangdi. Discovered in 1974, the site ranks with King Tut's tomb as one of the 20th century's greatest archeological finds.
- Many historians maintain that the Tang Dynasty (AD 618 – 907) represented a "Golden Age" of Chinese civilization. It was - and remains - one of the tastiest, too. A traditional Dumpling Dinner is offered this evening.
- Following dinner you'll have ample time to explore the night markets and take in the beautiful evening views of Xian's massive city wall.
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| "A
German art student briefly fooled police by posing as one of China's
terracotta warriors at the heritage site in the ancient capital,
Xian. Pablo Wendel, made up like an ancient warrior, jumped into
a pit showcasing the 2,200-year-old pottery soldiers and stood motionless
for several minutes. The 26-year-old was eventually spotted by police
and removed from the scene." |
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-BBC News, September 18, 2006 |
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Travel: |
Fly to Lhasa |
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Cities:
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Xian
Lhasa |
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Highlights:
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Xian City Wall
Lacquer Furniture Factory
Lhasa Arrival |
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Overnight:
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Brahmaputra Grand Hotel |
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Meals:
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Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner |
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- Built in 1992, the Shaanxi History Museum is a treasury of provincial and Chinese history. Thousands of relics dating from prehistoric times on through the Qing Dynasty (China's last dynastic chapter) fill the world-class museum.
- One of Xian's notable attractions is its City Wall, still intact along its entire 9-mile rectangle around its former imperial palace. Over a span of some 4,000 years Xian has been the capital to 11 dynasties. Should you choose, bicycles are available for rent allowing you to travel along the top of the wall's perimeter for the finest views of this historic city.
- Time permitting, your day includes a stop at a Lacquer Furniture Factory.
- In the early afternoon you'll board your flight and travel over a thousand miles to Lhasa, Tibet's capital city. Following hotel check-in, you'll have time to relax and acclimate to the region's elevation (about 12,000 ft.). Tibet is a huge province that includes vast deserts sparsely populated by nomadic peoples. But it's here, in the foothill region framed by the magnificent Himalayas is where you'll find the most scenic, most exotic attractions. Enjoy your views!
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Athens. Rome. Xian.
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Most historians are in agreement that by 500 B.C., Athens had achieved the distinction as the world's most prosperous city. Five hundred years later, Rome had eclipsed Athens for the title. Yet, by 500 A.D., while Rome was being sacked by Vandals, Xian stood at its peak of power and influence - the wealthiest city in all the world.
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Cities:
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Lhasa |
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Highlights:
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Sera Monastery
Jokhang Temple
the Barkhor Markets |
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Overnight:
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Brahmaputra Grand Hotel |
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Meals:
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Breakfast, Lunch and "Tibetan-style Dinner" |
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- This morning you'll tour the 1,300-year-old Jokhang Temple - Tibet's holiest shrine. For centuries it was the spiritual retreat for the Dalai Lamas. It's here, outside the walls of this temple, where pilgrims spin prayer wheels as they perform one of three Tibetan koras, or sacred circuits.
- The Barkhor is essentially a crowded and colorful neighborhood of shops, hawkers, teahouses and market stalls catering to visitors and to Buddhists who perform their ritual clockwise kora around Jokhang (see above).
- Your tour will be timed to include the open-air "debating courtyard" at the Sera Monastery. Here, Tibetan monks debate and interpret Buddhist teachings, their positions often punctuated with highly-ritualized, often loud gestures, such as hand clapping and foot stomping.
- Tonight's dinner will feature a distinctive, "Tibetan-Style" menu. Enjoy!
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| More
Lhasa? |
| Would you like to learn more about Lhasa
and its attractions?
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| Click
here to read more... |
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Cities:
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Lhasa |
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Highlights:
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Potala Palace
Norbulingka |
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Overnight:
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Brahmaputra Grand Hotel |
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Meals:
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Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner |
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- Today you'll visit Tibet's most recognizable attraction: Potala Palace. It's a magnificent, hill-top structure of a thousand rooms. Once the residence of the Dalai Lama, Potala Palace is now a museum, though still used for important religious ceremonies and high-profile political events.
- Another palace is on the attraction list today: Norbulingka, best known as the "Summer Palace" of the Dalai Lamas. The 374-room palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was founded by the seventh Dalai Lama in 1755. During the Shotun Festival ("Yogurt Festival") traditional Tibetan opera performances are held.
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Travel: |
Fly to Chengdu |
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Cities:
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Lhasa
Chengdu |
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Highlights:
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Chengdu Teahouse
"Hot-Pot" Dinner |
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Overnight:
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Chengdu Shangri-La |
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Meals:
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Breakfast, Lunch and "Hot-Pot" Dinner |
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- There's free time this morning to do some touring on your own, maybe some shopping, or just time to relax and take in the breathtaking (literally!) mountain scenery.
- In mid-afternoon you'll board your flight to Chengdu, arriving in plenty of time for tea! In a nation of 1.3 billion tea-drinking inhabitants, Chengdu stands out for its tea - and its teahouses. They come in all shapes and sizes here, from the bare-bone streetside table or two, to elaborate, lake-side affairs with full meals and entertainment. Accordingly, your visit includes tea in a Chengdu Teahouse!
- Later, you'll enjoy a delicious "Hot-Pot" Dinner - a savory balance of sweet, sour and spicy - and a distinctive numbing sensation!
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Travel: |
Fly to Guilin |
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Cities:
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Chengdu
Guilin |
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Highlights:
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Giant Panda Breeding Research Ctr.
Guilin Markets |
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Overnight:
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Guilin Lijiang Waterfall Hotel |
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Meals:
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Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner |
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- It was in Chengdu where the world's first paper currency was printed, but today the city is most famous for its Giant Panda Breeding Research Center, located just a few miles from town. There's no doubt that this will be yet another highlight of your tour because you'll not only see Pandas, you may even see Baby Pandas! This is not just a zoo, as offered on some tours, but an actual habitat and breeding center for this endangered species (and the just-as-cute Red Pandas live here, too). Your morning visit coincides with feeding time - the best time to see the Pandas as it's when they're most active.
- In the mid-afternoon you'll fly south to Guilin, one of China's most beautiful cities. There's time tonight to browse the colorful Local Markets of town.
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On Destinations...
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"One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things."
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- Henry Miller
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Travel: |
Travel to Longsheng |
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Cities:
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Guilin
Longsheng |
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Highlights:
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Longji Titian Rice Terraces
Ping An Village |
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Overnight:
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Guilin Lijiang Waterfall Hotel |
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Meals:
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Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner |
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- Today you'll venture to the hills of Longji Titian ("Dragon's Backbone Terraces"), populated by the Zhuang community. The climate here is perfect for rice-growing; the terrain isn't. So, for lack of choice, they constructed rice paddies – thousands of them – on terraced hillsides.
- Ping An is an ethnic Zhuang village where residents are skilled at weaving, dyeing and intricate embroidery. Traditional homes and buildings – many of which, like the rice paddies, are terraced – can be visited and walking trails afford excellent views of the nearby rice terraces.
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The
Guilin Scene!
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Guilin
is known for its spectacular limestone peaks, called “karsts,”
which punctuate the otherwise flat landscape. Once an ancient seabed,
tectonic forces have raised the alkaline limestone above ground
exposing it to rains, which are by nature, slightly acidic. The
resulting erosion has created a curious, almost eerie topography
of cone-shaped hills and “stone forests.” Underground,
the views are no less amazing with subterranean rivers, caverns
and sinkholes.
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Travel: |
Li River Cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo |
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Cities:
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Guilin
Yangshuo |
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Highlights:
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Li River Cruise
Yangshuo
"Beer Fish" Dinner |
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Overnight:
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Yangshuo Paradesa Hotel |
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Meals:
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Breakfast, Lunch and "Beer Fish" Dinner |
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- Mist-shrouded bamboo forests cling to the cavernous, weathered limestone cliffs and pinnacles ("karsts") along the picturesque Li River. You'll lunch aboard your comfortable, 3-hour river cruiser as the incredible scenery slips by on route from Guilin to Yangshou.
- The remainder of the day is enjoyed at Yangshuo, where there's plenty of free time for biking, hiking, or more river cruising. Optional nighttime bamboo raft tours allow you to watch as local fisherman "fish" using trained cormorants (large, fish-eating birds).
- Dinner tonight, if you wish, is a "Beer Fish" Dinner". It includes, of course, fish (maybe caught by a cormorant!) which is marinated in beer and vegetables. It's a Yangshuo favorite.
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Beer-Fish Recipe!
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Wondering what's actually IN a "beer-fish" recipe? Wonder no more. And if you'd like to cook it at home, here's The Recipe! (But we're betting it will taste far better in Yangshuo!)
Thank you, Gary Rhodes of "Rhodes Across China"
- UKTV FOOD
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Travel: |
Motorcoach to Guilin
Fly to Shanghai
Motorcoach to Suzhou |
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Cities:
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Yangshou
Suzhou |
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Highlights:
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Free time in Yangshuo
Fly to Shanghai and coach to Suzhou |
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Overnight:
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Sofitel Suzhou |
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Meals:
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Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner |
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- The morning offers free time in Yangshuo - time to explore the sights on your own or relax at your resort hotel.
- From Yangshuo you'll travel the short distance back to Guilin, taking in the scenic beauty of the Li River valley on route to the airport.
- Following your short flight eastward to Shanghai you'll transfer to nearby Suzhou. Depending on traffic you may stop on route for dinner.
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The
Chinese Rock Gardens:
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During the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279) - the peak of Chinese rock garden construction, the favored “Taihu” rock became more treasured than jade, gold, silver or silk. Selected for their shape, color, and texture, these rocks (found at Tai Lake, west of Suzhou) represented wisdom and immortality.
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Cities:
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Suzhou |
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Highlights:
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Suzhou Gardens
Silk Museum |
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Overnight:
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Sofitel Suzhou |
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Meals:
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Breakfast and Lunch |
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- Now a city of almost 6 million inhabitants, Suzhou, the "Venice of the East," remains a city of classical Chinese gardens. The completion of the Grand Canal sped trade throughout the region and enriched local silk merchants. Their private Gardens, such as the Lion Grove Garden, the Ou Yuan and the Humble Administrator's Garden, are now open to the public.
- A visit to the Suzhou Silk Museum chronicles 6,000 years of silk manufacture and includes actual mulberry-munching silkworms spinning cocoons.
- The working talents of Chinese artisans are viewable at the Silk Embroidery Research Institute. Several silk filaments are woven to make one silk thread and even still, some threads are so fine as to be viewable only with magnification.
- Following lunch you'll return to your garden hotel. The remainder of the day is free. Exploring Suzhou on your own is easy – your hotel's location places you within steps of shopping and restaurants. If you're looking for a Western-style "fast food fix," this is the place! TexMex, hamburgers, fried chicken, pizza – as well as Chinese, Thai, Japanese and other cuisine options are within an easy walk of your hotel.
- One excellent option for your free time may be a visit to the recently-opened Suzhou Museum whose architect, the world-famous I. M. Pei, was born here. The museum, easily explored in a few hours, houses local treasures of the 2500-year-old city in a decidedly contemporary setting.
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Suzhou:
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"By
the 14th century Suzhou had established itself as China's leading silk
producer, and aristocrats, pleasure-seekers, famous scholars, actors and
painters were attracted to the city, constructing villas and gardens for
themselves."
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-Lonely Planet. 2005
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Travel: |
Motorcoach to Shanghai |
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Cities:
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Tongli
Shanghai |
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Highlights:
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Tongli Canal Tour
Bund & Pudong disctrict
Farewell Dinner
Acrobatic Show |
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Overnight:
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Le Royal Meridien Shanghai |
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Meals:
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Breakfast, Lunch and "Farewell Dinner" |
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- Tongli, "the town that Suzhou used to look like," is visited in the morning. Tongli's homes and gardens still open onto busy canals lending the town a unique charm and serenity.
- In the early afternoon, following your canal-side lunch in Tongli, you'll travel the short distance to Shanghai. There's time to tour the city's Western-style Bund neighborhood and time for some shopping, too. Shanghai was a minor county seat until the British arrived in the mid-19th century, lured by the potential wealth of untapped trade markets. Across the river soars Pudong, the skycraper, neon-lit skyline of postcard fame.
- A special evening is planned for tonight: a delicious Farewell Dinner followed later with an Acrobatic Show.
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Travel: |
Flight departure from Shanghai |
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Cities:
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Shanghai |
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Highlights:
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Shanghai Maglev airport transfer
Farewells! |
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Overnight:
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N/A |
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Meals:
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Breakfast |
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- Depending on your flight plans, you may have time for some last-minute shopping in nearby shops and markets. Your Tour Manager can offer money-saving suggestions.
- If you've arranged transfers through Let's Travel China and your flight schedule permits, your transportation to Shanghai's international airport will include travel aboard the world's fastest commercial train: the Shanghai Maglev! Speeding at up to 430 kph (almost 270 mph) it'll make easy work of your airport transfer.
Shanghai is hosting the World Expo 2010 from May thorugh October (May 1 - Oct. 31, 2010). It is a scheduled World Expo in the tradition of international fairs and expositions. The theme of the exposition will be "Better City – Better Life" and signifies Shanghai's new status in the 21st century as a major economic and cultural center. We will offer packages that include extended stays in Shanghai as well as admission tickets to the Expo. |
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Shanghai Maglev:
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"The doors shut, and the train accelerates like a skyscraper elevator, silently, smoothly, and rapidly, and by the time the last car leaves the station you already seem to be going 50 miles per hour. Four minutes of gravity-simulator-style acceleration later...you reach the peak speed of 270 miles per hour for the tiny 20-mile run."
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- Henry Blodget - Slate.
March 21, 2005
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| Single Supplement:
Add $2275 to above prices
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3rd Guest (age 9 to 12) Land + Air:
70% of Land Only price, plus applicable Air cost
3rd Guest (age 9 to 12) Land Only: 70% of Land Only price
3rd Guest (age 12+) Land + Air:
85% of Land Only price, plus applicable Air cost
3rd Guest (age 12+) Land Only: 85% of Land Only price
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*Land + Air: Land + Air prices include all tour features as noted below in “All-Inclusive Pricing” as well as Roundtrip International Air Travel from Los Angeles (or selected departure city, where applicable and available) to/from China. In all cases prices are subject to change without notice due to airline seat availability.
*Land Only: Land Only prices include all tour features as noted below in “All-Inclusive Pricing.” Please note that Land Only prices include all travel within China as noted in the tour’s Trip Itinerary.
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All prices listed above are quoted in
USD, per person, and based on double occupancy. Single Supplement prices are shown above.
Prices are subject to change without notice and are capacity controlled.
"ALL-INCLUSIVE Pricing" includes: Tour Gratuities for guide services (Tour Manager, City Guides, Drivers, and Baggage Handling); Accommodations; Meals as noted in Trip Details; Admission fees to attractions as noted in Trip Details; Air, Train, River Cruise & Motorcoach travel within China as noted in Trip Details; Airport Transfers in Beijing on arrival and Shanghai on departure (provided transfers dates coincide with tour “Departs On” or “Returns On” dates or if transfer dates coincide with pre-tour or post-tour hotel extension purchased through Let’s Travel China); Tour Guide services; Air Taxes and Fees.
Not Included: Above prices do not include Excess Baggage Fees; Travel Passports or Visas; Expenses of a personal nature; Airport Transfers in Beijing and Shanghai which do not coincide with tour “Departs On” or “Returns On” dates or pre-tour or post-tour hotel extensions purchased through Let’s Travel China. Airport Transfers not otherwise included are available for purchase at $40.00 per person per transfer.
Terms & Conditions: Click here to view
standard Terms & Conditions.
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