Tour At a Glance - 10 Nights
	Our Standard Services: Only the best hotels (and larger room categories) Only the best restaurants and dining venues Non-commissionable shopping Family Tour Included Highlights: VIP airport pickup for all guests Kite flying Private Shadow Puppetry performance Private banquet atop the Great Wall Private Shaolin Kung Fu performance Visit to a prestigious Beijing atheletics school Hands-on dumpling & noodle-making lesson Biking atop the ancient Xi'an City Wall Traditional Chinese dragon dance with village children Bespoke bamboo raft ride along Guilin's Li River VIP seats at the Shanghai acrobatic show Interacting with young virtuosos at the Shanghai Children's Palace China Host personal shopper services in Shanghai

Day One: Beijing
	You will be met at the gate of Beijing International Airport by airport VIP staff who will lead you through immigration, baggage claim, customs, and directly to your China Host. Your China Host will accompany you during the remainder of your stay in China and act as a personal concierge to you throughout your stay in China. Upon transferring to the hotel, you will have the remainder of the day at leisure. (Grand Hyatt Beijing - 5 Stars)
Day Two: Beijing
	This morning we take you to one of ancient China's most sacred sites, the majestic Temple of Heaven used by the Emperor as a place to mediate affairs between God and man. Morning is a wonderful time to visit the Temple as you will see local Beijingers out doing their daily exercises. The Temple of Heaven is one of the best places to fly a kite! Each child will be given a Chinese kite, shaped like butterflies, dragons or phoenixes. Whether by force of irony or expediency, China’s government has been located in the same area continuously for over six hundred years. After strolling across the impressive Tiananmen Square, an authoritative symbol of today's China, you will by awed by the majesty of the magnificent Forbidden City (to which in times past you would have been denied access). During dinner, you will be treated to a private performance of shadow puppetry, one of China’s oldest performance arts. (B, L, D)
Day Three: Beijing
	For shoppers, Beijing's largest open-air market will come close to paradise. Here you will mingle with Beijingers, overseas and local art dealers, and farmers who import goods from the countyrside. For non-shoppers, this market can be thought of as China's largest museum of modern cultural life, where you can see, talk to, and photograph a wide range of local and regional Chinese conducting business. While the parents are shopping, children will be taken to have their faces painted and they will be photographed wearing traditional Chinese opera costumes. In the afternoon, we will visit the Great Wall which has fascinated generations of travelers. While the utility and meaning of this defense mechanism has been contested by centuries of diplomats and invaders, its unprecedented scale will astonish you and its unexpected beauty will inspire you. You will be treated to a private banquet on the wall itself (weather permitting). Before dinner, you will be given some time for a stroll along this most magnificent of sites. During dinner, you will see your very own extraordinary kung fu performance of the famous Shaolin warriors. (B, L, D.)
Day Four: Beijing
	We begin the day with a visit to the delightful Summer Palace, a retreat built exclusively for the Dowager Empress Cixi; its ornate temples, pavilions, and covered corridors, set amidst a graceful landscape, epitomize both the decadence and refinement of this powerful matriarch. At the Summer Palace, you will glide along the lake on a traditional dragon boat. We continue the day with a visit to Beijing's historic and intimate alleyways (or Hutong). During a pedicab tour of Beijing's old quarter, you will be afforded a great insight into the everyday life of Beijingers. You will also have the chance to visit a prestigious athletic school where young Olympic hopefuls are learning table tennis, badminton, martial arts and more. (As this is a private school that is generally not open to visitors, please note that availability and visiting times are subject to approval.) (B, L, - no dinner included)
Day Five: Beijing - Xi'an
	This morning we will visit the Beijing Zoo where you will get a chance to see the famous Chinese panda bears. In the afternoon, we fly to Xi'an, where in the evening you will enjoy a private dumpling-making and noodle throwing lesson by the hotel's expert chefs. (Xi'an Hilton - 5 Stars) (B, L, D.)
Day Six: Xi'an - Guilin
	This morning we visit Xi'an's most stunning Terracotta Warriors. Dating from the second century BCE, the thousands of moulded soldiers, officers, horses and wagons form a small component of the underground army buried to protect the legendary first Emperor of China during his afterlife. Afterwards you will be taken to the City Wall where you will be able to rent bicycles to ride atop the wall itself. In the early evening we fly to Guilin, whose beautiful countryside will soothe you of your urban cares. Craggy limestone towers, their caves appearing like windows in a sheen of vegetation, overlook lush plains of rice fields and fruit orchards. (Guilin Shangri-La– Deluxe Room)
Day Seven: Guilin
	The day begins with a ride on traditional bamboo rafts along a less visited stretch of the Li River. Children swim in the rippling waters, lined with overhanging clumps of bamboo. Local farmers rake the riverbed for reeds to give to their wives to dry out and weave. Fishermen click signals to their cormorants as they hunt the river bottom for fish. After a white-linen banquet in the spectacular karst landscape, you will have a chance to see rural China by traveling far from the tourist route deep into the countryside to view village life. You will visit a local village, watch villagers prepare soy milk and tofu, and wander through the rice fields.  The children will also have a lesson from the local kids in the art of the traditional Chinese dragon dance! This is a wonderful place to relax and really enjoy rural China. (B, L - no dinner included.)
Day Eight: Guilin - Shanghai
	This morning has been left free. Some might wish to rent a bike to further explore the area. Others may wish to tour the hotel's internationally-acclaimed contemporary sculpture park. Many though, will choose to relax with a good book. If you are feeling active, there are many options open to you from cycling through the country fields to learning how to throw a pot. In the afternoon, we fly to Shanghai. Considered to be the most Western of Chinese cities last century, Shanghai should perhaps now be thought of as its most futuristic. Having advised you of Shanghai's best restaurant and bars, we will help make any reservations that you might require for this evening of fun, when we leave you to enjoy Shanghai on your own. (Peninsula Hotel - 5 Stars - Deluxe Riverview Room) (B, L - no dinner included)
Day Nine: Shanghai
	Today we take you to visit the Shanghai Museum, one of the most modern in the country. Arranged by category rather than according to a chronology, its collection introduces and elucidates the gamut of Chinese arts from ceramics to jade and ivory carvings to paintings. In the afternoon you will be taken to the Shanghai Children’s Palace where gifted Chinese children spend their afternoons learning to sing, play musical instruments and dance. (Please note that availability and visiting times will have to be reconfirmed closer to date.) After dinner at one of the city’s best new restaurants, you will enjoy VIP seats while witnessing the marvelous stunts of an Acrobatic Show. (B, L, D)
Day Ten: Shanghai
	This morning we take you to visit the Yu Gardens, one of the best examples of traditional Chinese garden design in the country. Afterwards, you will have some time to stroll through Shanghai's Old Quarter. En route to lunch, we will travel along sycamore-lined boulevards into the heart of the French Concession. This section of the “Paris of the Orient” now hosts many arts-based businesses and art galleries that we can visit if you so desire. The afternoon will be spent discovering some of Shanghai’s great shopping treasures in trendy neighborhoods. This might include a contemporary ceramics shop, the studio of a woman who designs cashmere handbags for Harrods or a fantastic Tibetan carpet shop. Our farewell dinner takes place at our favorite Shanghai restaurant, boasting a magnificent view over the Bund and Pudong waterfronts. (B, L, D)
Day Eleven: Shanghai
	For many guests, today heralds their departure from China. You will be transferred to the airport in time for your return flight home. (B)
	Please note that B, L, D denotes Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

For more information about this tour, please email us at web_inquiry@imperialtours.net.   Return to top

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