Luxury China Private Tour With Optional Guilin and Hong Kong Extension

Day 2

Arrive Beijing
Upon arrival in Beijing, you will be privately driven to The Peninsula Beijing.

Meals: —
Accommodation: The Peninsula Beijing

Day 3

Beijing Private Tour
Enjoy a full-day Beijing private tour, beginning with a walk from Tiananmen Square to visit the Forbidden City. Built from 1406, the Forbidden City was the China Imperial Palace from the Qing Dynasty. Taking at least two hours to walk through the sprawling grounds/compounds, the Forbidden City is a taxing walk for all ages and a “challenging” walk with pre-teens! Stop for lunch at a local restaurant before continuing to the Summer Palace (AKA Yi He Yuan). First commissioned as a birthday gift by Emperor Qian Long in 1750, destroyed by foreign troops in 1860, and restored by Empress Dowager Cixi in 1888, this is the largest classical garden of its kind in China, complete with pavilions, pagodas, and temples. 

Afterwards, visit Yong He Gong or Lama Temple, the largest Tibetan Buddhist temple in Beijing. Constructed in the 17th century as ab imperial residence for court eunuchs, the structure was later used as the residence of Prince Yong (who later became emperor from 1723 – 1736).

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: The Peninsula Beijing

Day 4

Beijing Private Tour
Your full-day Beijing private tour begins with a drive to The Great Wall! Notwithstanding the various wall locations, we enthusiastically endorse the Mutianyu section, an approximate two-hour drive from downtown Beijing. Not nearly as jammed with tourists as the closer Badaling site, Mutianyu has a ski-lift service to the Wall itself where one can hike (an earnest work-out!) to varying sections of the Ming Dynasty guard towers, with few tourists and unobstructed views. Following lunch at a local restaurant, continue to old Beijing: the “Hutong” neighborhood of Hou Hai area. When the Mongols swept through China in the 13th century, they built their capital at Beijing (calling it Dadu) and left some residual influences that continue to be felt to this day.  Among the most lasting of the Mongol legacy was the “hutong”, the winding alleyways that linked the city through a network of diverse neighborhoods, each area being spun like a web of interconnecting lanes that became the lifeblood of old Beijing.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: The Peninsula Beijing

Day 5

Fly Beijing to Lhasa
This morning, you will be transferred to the airport for your flight to Lhasa.

Upon arrival at Lhasa Gonggar International Airport, you will be privately driven to the St. Regis Lhasa Resort.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: St. Regis Lhasa Resort

Day 6

Lhasa Private Tour
This morning, enjoy a stop at the Potala Palace, most notable for being both the residence and administration for the Dalai Lamas from 1649 – 1959. Its wall measure from 3 meters to 5 meters with 1,000 rooms, 10,000 chapels and hold 200,000 sculptures. Enjoy lunch at a local restaurant.

Following lunch, you will visit the Jokhang Temple which was founded by King Songsten Gambo. Legend says that the temple was constructed to house the two Buddhist images brought to Lhasa by his two wives, Chinese Princess Wencheng and Nepalese Princess Bhrikuti. The temple covers a total area of 2.51 hectares with its oldest foundations dating back to 652.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: St. Regis Lhasa Resort

Day 7

Lhasa Private Tour

Your full-day Lhasa private tour begins with Deprung Monastery, founded in 1416 by one of the chief disciples of Tsongshapa (the founder of the Gelugpa sect). Prior to 1949 and the PRC (People’s Republic of China), the monastery was home to 10,000 monks. During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), Deprung and many other monasteries were heavily damaged.

Just a 10-minute walk away, you will reach your next stop. Nechung Monastery was home to the state oracle until 1959. It also holds the sacred image of Pehar, the three headed, six-armed deity protector of the Gelugpa sect.

Following a return to your hotel for lunch, this afternoon includes a visit to Sera Monastery, famous for its esoteric philosophy. This visit to the teaching Monastery will focus on the afternoon debates between the student lamas who are subjugated to to a series of questions by their master instructors. These lively discussions in student-teacher pairs stressed the tenants of the esoteric teachings.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: St. Regis Lhasa Resort

Day 8

Transfer Lhasa to Chengdu

This morning, you will be transferred to the airport for your flight to Chengdu. Upon arrival in Chengdu, visit a local restaurant for lunch.

Following lunch visit the cottage of Poet DuFu, who fleed Xi’an during the An Lushan Rebellion. He is said to have written 240 iconic poems here – enjoy the simplicity of his life radiating through the walls. Finally, enjoy perusing handicraft shops and restaurants at Kuan Zhai Xiangzi, a bustling district comprising three lanes and 45 courtyards dating back to the Qing dynasty. Continue the tour with a visit to Kuan Zhai Xiangzi which is a wide/narrow alley consisting of three lanes and 45 courtyards. This area is popular for shopping with local handicrafts and restaurants.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Upper House Chengdu

Day 9

Chengdu Panda Base Visit! 
Today, enjoy a special visit to Dujiangyan Giant Panda Base. This 126-acre center includes a veterinary hospital, nursery, a medical research lab, 10 monitoring enclosures, 30 normal enclosures, a kitchen, on-site educational center and staff housing. Along with visiting each enclosure, you’ll have the unique opportunity to hold the Giant Panda and Red Panda. Zen thoroughly enjoyed her private panda holding session during our several Lynch family visits over the years – a memory we will never forget. There is truly no other place in the world that is even comparable to this experience.

Following lunch at a local restaurant, visit the Dujiang Irrigation System which was started in 256 BCE and is still in use today more than 2,200 years later. The water management scheme now irrigates over 5,300 square kilometers (2,000 square miles) the land which the lush countryside has benefitted from.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Upper House Chengdu

Day 10

Optional: Transfer from Chengdu to Guilin to Yangshou

Following breakfast you will be privately transferred to the train station for your transfer to Guilin. Upon arrival in the city, a private driver will transfer you an hour and half away to the Banyan Tree Yangshou.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Banyan Tree Yangshou

Day 11

Optional: Yangshou Private Tour
Your full-day Yangshou private tour begins with driving to Xingping for a private ride on a bamboo raft along the Li River. The ride highlights the scenic, picturesque region around Guilin.

Following lunch at a local restaurant, you will visit a deep limestone cave called the Silver Cave. The caves name comes from natural light refracting on cave full of stalactites of all sizes. From the depths of the cave, you emerge to visit Moon Hill, a limestone pinnacle that has a perfectly circular cave close to the summit that, from a distance, looks exactly like a full moon.

Another highlight of the tour is the “Big Banyan,” one of the most massive trees found anywhere in China with a trunk girth of 7.1 meters (23 feet around) and a height of 17 meters (56 feet). The tree covers an area of 1,000 square meters (10,764 square feet).

Later, board a local “tik tik” or enjoy a bike ride where you will travel along country lanes that crisscross through rice paddies. The final destination is a local farm village where resident farmers will discuss their daily lives and the annual festivals.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Accommodation: Banyan Tree Yangshou

Day 12

Optional: Yangshou Private Tour 
This morning, visit the Longsheng region, about 2.5-3 hour drive in the mountains. These mountain terraces, that have been worked for centuries, rise over 1,000 feet in some areas. During the spring planting season, they become emerald flights of steps that cover the mountainsides. You will spend time in the villages and learn about the traditions of the traditional Yao and Zhuang cultures.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Banyan Tree Yangshou

Day 13

Transfer Guilin to Shanghai

This morning, you will be transferred to the airport for your flight to Shanghai. Upon arrival, you will be privately driven to The Peninsula Shanghai.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: The Peninsula Shanghai

Day 14

Shanghai Private Tour

Full-day Shanghai private touring begins with the 16th century Ming Dynasty private garden and residence, Yu Garden. Despite Shanghai’s crowded lanes and teeming masses, the garden remains an oasis of tranquility. Its deceptive size, laid out with many corners and breezeways to give one the illusion of size, houses in exquisite harmony, the essential elements of a Chinese garden – pavilions, water, vegetation, rock formations, and bridge. Take a walk through Bund, a waterfront area sweeping along the Huangpu River that has become the center of Shanghai’s foreign business establishment, and the symbol of Shanghai’s identity as a modern city. 

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: The Peninsula Shanghai

Day 15

Shanghai Private Tour
Full-day Shanghai private touring begins with a walking tour in the historic district around the French Concession. We thoroughly enjoyed the tree-lined streets and and eclectic Art-Deco, Spanish revival, and Loire Valley Chateau style houses.

Following lunch at a local restaurant, continue to The Shanghai Museum, considered one of the five best museums in the world (!) and comprising 120,000+ works illustrating Chinese art history. Visit the observation deck of Shanghai Tower next. Opened in 2015, the building is the second tallest in the world standing at 632 meters with the observation deck at 562 meters, the highest on earth. 

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: The Peninsula Shanghai

Day 16

Fly Shangai to Home

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: —