17 Days Chinese Opera Excursion—Beijing/ Xi’an/ Chengdu/ Hangzhou/ Huangshan/ Suzhou/ Shanghai

Arrive in Beijing and meet your private guide and driver at the airport. Drive to and settle in your centrally hotel. Spend rest of the day adjust to jet lag or maybe you can weave through the neighbourhood Beijing for a head start on your own.

• Hotels: Beijing Aman Summer Palace, Beijing Double Happiness Courtyard Hotel, Fairmont Beijing Hotel

Great Wall

This morning, we’ll kick off the day with a visit to Tiananmen Square. If you come early enough, you can watch the daily flag raising here. Moving on to Forbidden City, one of the most recognisable locations in China, was once the exclusive estate of Ming and Qing ruling classes. Discover some of the most important collections of ornamental treasures at Treasure Gallery. In the afternoon, visit Temple of Heaven, where emperors performed vital rites in praying for good harvest or to worship the god. Admire this group of supreme architectures and study the layout of them together with your guide. Then, tour Beijing opera costume factory and go behind the scenes of how Chinese opera costumes are made. At last, head to Beijing Opera Museum and study the history and some background knowledge of Peking Opera. From here, enjoy dinner on your own, perhaps spend the night to watch Peking Opera performance at Liyuan Theatre.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,

Great Wall

We’ll begin the day with a visit to Mutianyu Great Wall, one of the most well-preserved sections of the Great Wall of China. A section that provides splendid surrounding landscape and majestic view of wall snaking through mountains. You’ll take chairlift up the wall and zoom down on a toboggan. Later, return to city area. Take a look at two famous modern structures in Beijing—Bird’s Nest and Water Cube. These two architectures are the spectacular icons of 2008 Olympics Games. From here, your driver will transfer you back to your hotel or you can drop off somewhere.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,

Great Wall

We’ll kick off the day by exploring Summer Palace, a royal garden for emperors to escape the summer heat during olden days. Appreciate its exquisite architectures and cruise the Kunming Lake in the garden for fascinating views. Later, catch the train to Xi’an. Arrive in Xi’an, meet your private guide and settle into your hotel in the central area.

• Meals: Breakfast,
• Hotels: Sofitel Legend Peoples Grand Hotel Xian

Great Wall

This morning, venture northeast to the suburb of Xi’an and explore a group of hyper realistic sculpture of terracotta army at Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s Mausoleum Site Museum. This subterranean life-size army of thousands can be truly fascinating. Electric vehicle is provided within this site. Stroll the Muslim Quarter and explore a variety of halal food in Xi’an. With your guide, discover one of the oldest and well-preserved mosques in China here. Xi’an Great Mosque is an Islamic mosque with unique architectural style of Chinese temple. This still functional ancient building complex was first built in 741AD during Tang dynasty, though most of the buildings you see now are from Ming and Qing dynasty.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,

Great Wall

Begin the day by visiting the ancient city wall of Xi’an. It is one of the best-preserved ancient city wall in China. Tour this city wall on a bike and learn about the different structures on the wall. Then, we’ll spend the afternoon at Small Wild Goose Pagoda Scenic Area, located two kilometres to the south of Xi’an. This square shape pagoda was built during Tang dynasty from 707AD to 710AD. Later, visit a local family, interact with them and try your hand at making Chinese dumpling with the family. Enjoy your hard work as lunch in local’s home. In the afternoon, take the train to Chengdu. Meet your guide and driver at the train station before drive to your hotel. Enjoy the rest of your day on your own.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
• Hotels: Buddha Zen Hotel Chengdu, JW Marriott Hotel Chengdu, Grand Hyatt Chengdu

Great Wall

Start the day with a visit to Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Center to meet a group of adorable famous residence in Chengdu, the giant panda. Return to city area, and enjoy a leisurely walk at Jinli Ancient Street. This street is lined with ancient Chinese buildings and countless stores selling local specialty and mouth-watering snacks. Following your lunch, spend half a day learn Sichuan Opera singing with master from Shufeng Yayun, with full makeup and costume on. From here, spend the night on your own, perhaps, watching local performance such as Sichuan Opera and face changing at Shufeng Yayun.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,

Great Wall

Ease into the day by visiting People’s Park and watch locals practicing Tai Chi, dancing and singing. Find a number of teahouses here and sample a cup of tea in one of those as you watch people pass by. Then, visit Wenshu Temple, a Tang dynasty monastery dedicated to Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of wisdom. This is Chengdu’s largest and best-preserved Buddhist temple. Later, catch your flight to Hangzhou. Check in at your hotel afterwards. Spend the night exploring the city on your own. Perhaps you can stroll Hefang Street near West Lake for a visit of the amazing bronze art in Jiangnan Tongwu.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
• Hotels: Four Seasons Hotel Hangzhou at West Lake, Banyan Tree Hangzhou, JW Marriott Hotel Hangzhou

Great Wall

We’ll kick off the day with a tea culture trip to a nearby tea plantation to experience tea leave picking and learn the art of tea making. Then, move to Hangzhou’s most famous Buddhist temple, Yinglin Temple. It is located at the northwest side of West Lake. First built in 326AD, the temple was collapsed and rebuilt several time, with some of the buildings are rebuilt in the early 1900s. Take some time to admire these ornate halls and statues here. Nearby is Peak Flying from Afar, which is believed to be magically transported here from India according to legend. Intricate Buddhist carvings can be found here, dating from 10th to 14th centuries. On the northern shore of West Lake, stood an eye-catching golden-spire-topped pagoda called Leifeng Pagoda. This pagoda was first built in 977AD during Tang dynasty, and renovated in 2001 after it had collapsed in 1924. In the late afternoon, appreciated the mesmerising view of West Lake as you cruise slowly through the leisurely charm of a vignette. From here, you can enjoy rest of the evening on your own. Perhaps you can spend more time in the scenic area or watch Impression Hangzhou, which is a spectacle of light, music, dance and theatrics staged entirely on the lake itself.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,

Great Wall

Following your breakfast, take bullet train to Huangshan. Meet your local guide and driver before moving on to Tangmo Village. This settlement has existed ever since Tang dynasty. Admire its unique Huizhou style architectures and find a giant gingko tree in the village. In this village, spend an hour or so to learn some simple movements and singings of Huangmei Opera. Then, drive to Bao Family Garden nearby. On your way, pass by Shexian Tangyue Memorial Arches, where you’ll see seven carved stone memorial arches that consecrate Bao Family’s ancestors for achievements of service and piety. Explore the sprawling Bao Family Garden, which includes a collection of bonsai.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,

Great Wall

Following your breakfast, we’ll drive to Huangshan Scenic Area. Take cable car up the mountain. Appreciate those bizarre stone formations and mist filled valleys from above. Then, hike some distance to your hotel on the summit. Enjoy your buffet lunch in your hotel before we hike to West Sea Grand Canyon. Encounter wild animals and strange rock formations in this often fogged canyon. Have your dinner back in the hotel and enjoy rest of the time of your own. Please take note that you need to save your heavy baggage at the entrance. Bring along your valuables and belongings needed for a night on the mountain.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner,
• Hotels: Huangshan Beihai Hotel, Xihai Hotel

Great Wall

Wake up early and catch the first ray of sunlight at either Cloud Dispelling Pavilion or Refreshing Terrace depending on which hotel you are staying. Return to your hotel for breakfast and take cable car down the mountain. Take bullet train to Suzhou, arrive in Suzhou and settle into your centrally hotel.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
• Hotels: Tonino Lamborghini Hotel Suzhou, Hyatt Regency Suzhou, W Suzhou

Great Wall

Begin our day with a tour to Humble Administrator’s Garden, largest classical Chinese garden in Suzhou. First built in 1509, this garden of impressive scenery is filled with different style of bridges, pavilions, lotus ponds and bonsais. Then, stroll Pingjinag Road that has a history of more than 2,000 years, even though the housings you see now are no longer their original form. Off the main road into a narrow lane, you’ll find Kun Opera Museum. Spend some time in the museum and gain insights on the history of Kun Opera, listen to some audio sources. If you are lucky enough, encounter live performance of Kun Opera on stage in the museum. In the afternoon, visit Suzhou Silk Museum that unfolds the history of silk production and Suzhou embroidery from around 2,000BC. Interestingly, spot a room exhibiting live silk worms eating mulberry leaves and spinning cocoons. Next, learn Su-style embroidery at Suzhou Embroidery Institute. Rest of the day is yours to explore the city streets. Maybe, you can watch fascinating night shows at Master of Nets Garden.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,

Great Wall

Following your breakfast, drive to Panmen Scenic Area located at southwest corner of the city which is surrounded by city moat. This tranquil part of the city is dotted with bell towers, pavilions, ancient temple and Ruiguang Pagoda, far less crowded than those Chinese gardens at central area, a place for a leisure stroll. Drive to Tongli Water Town later. Tongli is one of the most famous water towns, with classic whitewashed houses, arched stone bridges and bustling canal-side streets. This water town was founded more than 1,000 years ago during Song dynasty. Stroll the shop and residence lined streets and cruise the town down those winding water canals. Later, take bullet train to Shanghai. Meet your private guide and driver at the train station before drive to your hotel.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
• Hotels: Four Seasons Hotel Pudong Shanghai, JW Marriott Hotel Shanghai at Tomorrow Square, Hotel Indigo Shanghai on The Bund

Great Wall

Walk the neighbourhood of former Shanghai French Concession, and discover an out-of-place slice of France smack in the middle of city area. Next, head to Shanghai City God Temple, a Taoist temple built from 1403 to 1424 in Ming dynasty. Though the buildings have been largest renovated, their designs and architectural styles are still fascinating. Next, appreciate different art works done by the local and international artists at Shanghai M50 Art Community. Later, up second tallest building in Shanghai, Shanghai World Financial Centre (to 94th, 97th and 100th floor) for a panorama view of the cityscape. At the end of today’s tour, amble along Huangpu River down promenade of The Bund for a view of colonial colossi. At night, you can choose to watch Shanghai acrobatic show ERA: Intersection of Time, or SPIRAL (optional).

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,

Great Wall

Enjoy this whole day to explore Shanghai city on your own. You can ask your guide for any suggestions.

• Meals: Breakfast,

Great Wall

This morning, take breakfast at your leisure and depart for flight home, or onto your next destination. See you next time!

• Meals: Breakfast,

Great Wall