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Choose Cruise ExpertBeijing, Shanghai and Yangtze River Cruise
THIS EXCLUSIVE 14 NIGHT FLY / STAY / CRUISE / TOUR / RAIL PACKAGE INCLUDES
- • Return international flights from Sydney or Melbourne (Brisbane and Adelaide available for an extra $400pp)
- • 10-day (9-night) Guided land tour
- • Tour highlights include: Tiananmen Square and The Forbidden City, the Great Wall, Suzhou, the Lingering Garden, Meijiawu Tea Village, Shanghai Museum, Terracotta Warriors and more!
- • 5-day (4-night) Yangtze River cruise from Yichang to Chongqing onboard China Goddess 2
- • Enjoy 4 breakfasts, 3 lunches, and 3 dinners onboard your 4-night cruise
- • Choose from a range of not to be missed optional activities: Hutong Rickshaw tour, Golden Mask Dynasty show, Chinese Acrobatic Show; ERA, Night Cruise on the Huangpu River and more (additional costs will apply)
DEPARTURE DATES:
- • 8 May 2024
Holiday Itinerary Details
Today depart Australia for Beijing, China. Upon arrival, a local tour guide will meet you at the airport and transfer you to the hotel.
Your exploration of Beijing begins at Tiananmen Square and The Forbidden City. As the largest city square in the world, Tiananmen Square is the first “must-see” tourist attraction for Chinese and foreign visitors. The Forbidden City, actually a “nick-name” for the Imperial Palace, was the political center of China for almost 600 years, during the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Tonight you can choose to watch the Golden Mask Dynasty show (optional, price: 350 RMB per person payable upon arrival), a large-scale Chinese musical drama showed at OCT Theater in Beijing Happy Valley. It is a fairy tale about wars, royalty and romance. A queen, who wears a golden mask, creates a splendid dynasty. In the years of wars, Golden Mask Dynasty defeat Blue Mask Dynasty. However, the queen declares a total amnesty. The king of Blue Mask Dynasty is moved by her mercy and trust. Soon, they fall in love with each other. Unfortunately, there comes catastrophic natural disaster. The queen scarifies herself to save the people.
An exciting morning to China’s historic symbol – the Great Wall, a monumental feat of ancient Chinese engineering. Once you set foot on the wall, you will be appreciated by this longest, oldest and most labour-intensive projects in mankind’s history. En-route stop at a Jade carving workshop to learn about the 5,000 year culture of Chinese jade. On the way back, we will pass by modern exteriors of the Bird’s Nest and Water Cube.
Enjoy the remainder of the day at leisure or join an optional Hutong Rickshaw tour with old-fashioned Rickshaw ride and meal in a local family (price: 300 RMB per person payable upon arrival). These narrow alleyways lined by courtyard residences will give you an insider’s look into the lives of local families.
After breakfast, make a stop at ‘Tongrentang’ to learn more about traditional Chinese medicine. Next, travel to Suzhou. Upon arrival, a tour representative will meet you and then escort you to check into the hotel.
Suzhou, which dates back to 514 BC, is sometimes called the "Venice of the East". There is an option to take a cruise along the Grand Canal (optional payable on tour) to view life along China’s ancient waterway. Today visit the famous Lingering Garden. The Lingering Garden is a renowned classical Chinese garden and is recognised with other classical Suzhou gardens as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. China is known for its silk, so of course a visit to the Silk Spinning Factory is in order. Afterwards drive to Hangzhou (approximately a 2 hour coach ride), where the 2016 G20 Summit was held in September 2016.
This morning start this amazing day with a small boat ride on the West Lake another UNESCO World Heritage Site, which reveals the ethereal beauty of Hangzhou's willow draped islands.
Hangzhou is considered the tea capital of China, so a visit to the city just isn’t complete without a trip to a local tea house. Make a special visit to the Tea House at Meijiawu Tea Village located at the hinterland of West Lake Park which is considered one of the most important Longjing tea productions in China. Enjoy the natural environment and beautiful village scenery while learning more about their special tea culture and how to appreciate the sophisticated taste and aroma of Longjing tea. At the Tea House, learn how to make the Longjing Tea including tea leaves picking, frying and tasting.
Drive to Shanghai to visit the famous Bund (Approx. 2 hour bus ride). Shanghai is divided by the Huang Pu River into eastern and western sections. Modern mega high rises are seen on the eastern side while traditional European style architecture may be seen on the western side. The Bund is a five-block riverfront promenade with many of Shanghai's banks and trading houses. Tonight there is an optional activity to watch a superb and thrilling Chinese Acrobatic Show “ERA: The Intersection of Time” (optional payable on tour). If ERA is unavailable, we will offer a similar Show instead.
This morning transfer to Shanghai Railway Station for a high speed train ride to Yichang (approx. 7 hours). You will be met at Yichang Railway by your tour guide and transferred to the 'China Goddess No.2', where you will settle in to your balcony cabin and begin your memorable four-night cruise down the Yangtze River. Yichang, renowned as the “Gateway to the Three Gorges” and the ‘Throat between Sichuan and Hubei’, is an important trading port and a transportation hub along the Yangtze River.
Please note that the cruise itinerary and excursions are subject to change without notice.
After breakfast, enjoy a shore excursion to the Three Gorges dam. This 60-storey, mile-wide structure is a stunning example of human achievement and a hallmark of an emerging China.
The Goddess 2 vessel departs upstream through the west section of Xiling Gorge in the late afternoon, the first of these dramatic slices through the surrounding mountains. The new reservoir has altered the landscape and, with more than a million people relocated, the scenery is now of a wild countryside – the physical embodiment of thousands of beautiful Chinese landscape paintings. Watch the fog move in as it appears to turn the mountains into ghostly sculptures and enjoy a sumptuous Captain’s Dinner for your evening meal.
An additional optional shore excursion is available in the morning (river conditions permitting) to Three Gorges Tribe.
A morning side excursion is offered into the Lesser Three Gorges. You will see where the mighty Yangtze flows faster and has carved narrower, even more dramatic, rising stone cliffs. While cruising, you can spot the coffins of the Ba people suspended along an ancient plank road that hugs the cliff face.
Your cruise ship will sail through the Wu Gorge and Qutang Gorge. Wu Gorge is 45 kilometres long, noted for its deep and serene scenes, the Wu Gorge is full of zigzags, strange peaks, rising mists, and beautiful sights. Qutang Gorge, known for its splendid magnificence, is only 8 kilometres long.
An additional optional shore excursion is available in the late afternoon (river conditions permitting) to White Emperor City and “Return to the Three Gorges” Live Show (evening).
Tonight’s dinner features a feast of local cuisine and entertainment during your meal.
This morning, after breakfast, experience an adventurous shore excursion to Fengdu Xueyu Dong. This ancient village of temples is full of shrines to the gods of the underworld. Visitors are said to be purified after they 'survive' the scares. Surrounded by misty mountains, this area was revered as a crossing-over point, a mix of the material and spiritual worlds.
An additional optional shore excursion is available (river conditions permitting) to the scenic Wulingshan Mountain range.
The day finishes with a Captain’s Farewell Banquet dinner.
After breakfast, disembark your cruise in Chongqing and transfer to Chongqing Airport for your high speed train to Xian. Upon arrival transfer to the hotel.
The highlight today is a visit to the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum. Unearthed near Xi’an, the thousands of life size sculptures of soldiers, chariots and horses are considered a world wonder. With different facial expressions and weaponry adorning each soldier, the Terracotta Warriors were believed to have been created to accompany the Qin Emperor into the afterlife. This site is among the top archaeological excavations of the 20th century. You will definitely be amazed by the scale of the Terracotta Warriors Army.
After breakfast visit The Small Goose Pagoda, one of two significant pagodas in Xian, the site of the old Han and Tang capital Chang'an. As a national AAAA scenic spot and a world heritage site, the Buddhist pagoda survives from the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Then transfer to Xian Airport for your homebound flights.