Publication: Oakwood Life
Section: Neighborhood News – Tour & Travel
Author: Tony Huffman

This article originally appeared in Oakwood Life and is reproduced here as part of Imperial Tours’ media and publication archive.

Tony’s Recent Trip to China and Tibet

My wife and I, along with 10 friends/clients visited China in late April 2013 with the aid of Imperial Tours, a Virtuoso partner tour company operating exclusively in China.

Our itinerary consisted of:

• Beijing: 4 nights
• Xian: 2 nights
• Lhasa: 4 nights
• Shanghai: 4 nights

Beijing

We stayed the first 2 nights at the Aman Hotel at the Summer Palace. A great place to begin a tour of China, as it is quiet and not in the center of the city. The atmosphere is authentic Chinese in “village” type of rooms, many of which at one time were part of the Summer Palace grounds. The hotel has private access through a “secret” door to the Summer Palace grounds.

Food is just OK, not great.

The second two nights we spent at the Shangri La Hotel at the World Summit Center. BEAUTIFUL hotel with huge rooms.

The day we moved hotels was the day we visited the Great Wall. It was a beautiful, if chilly clear sunny day, which was great for our sit-down lunch on the Wall. Imperial only uses a section of the wall that is about a 2 hour bus ride from the city — a LONG trip, but well worth it as we were the ONLY tourists on this section of the wall.

In Beijing we visited:

• Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City to include a private tour of the Emperor’s private residence, Chonghuagong (a MUST), the traditional alleyways known as hutong, as well as wonderful outdoor food market.

Lhasa

This was the highlight of the trip, as very few tourists have been allowed into Tibet the last few years. We stayed at the relatively new St. Regis, Tibet’s only 5 star hotel, and it was spectacular. All our rooms had view of the Potala Palace. At 12,000 feet the air is thin, but we all took medication and no one had altitude sickness, but lots of shortness of breath.

On day one we visited the Jokhang Monastery and saw the pilgrims arriving and praying at the Monastery. This area is a good place for local shopping. Then we visited the Sera Monastery and saw the fascinating debating gardens and the monk students debating with their teachers.

The next day we visited the Potala Palace, the previous winter home of the Dalai Lama. After a lengthy climb up about 200 steps we were inside. It is MAGNIFICENT.

In the afternoon we drove to the Drakyerpa Cave at 15,000 feet and we were snowed on.

The next day we visited the Ganden Monastery which was very interesting and worth the trip. Be sure to go early to get there by 11am to see the hundreds of monks chanting beautifully.

Shanghai

What is not to love about Shanghai. We stayed on the Bund, which is the ONLY place for a leisure traveler to stay these days. It is BEAUTIFUL and many good restaurants are within walking distance.

On day one we had a 4 hour private tour on Colonial Architecture of the Bund and the French Concession. A MUST in the afternoon we visited the Fabric Market—think of a knock off the grand bazaar—focused on textile goods, both ready to wear and tailor-made.

On day two we visited the Shanghai Museum. One and a half hours is plenty. Be sure to spend most of your time in the Jade and Furniture galleries. Then the Urban Planning Museum, which is a MUST, to see how the government planned the entire growth of Shanghai. We did a great deal of shopping this afternoon in an area called Xintiandi South Block. A HIP place to eat and shop. Shanghai Tang is a beautiful shop as is Annabelle Lee’s (also on the Bund).

On our last full day, we had a cooking lesson in the morning at The Kitchen. This was sooooo much fun, we actually did hands-on cooking of 3 different dishes and then ate it all. YUMMY, a great hit with all of us.

Other Comments

We used the services of Imperial Tours’ “China Host.” Think of him as a 24/7 concierge who is bilingual and was with us from breakfast until after dinner. He is not a guide, but oh my, did he come in handy.

For More Information

Imperial Tours specializes in bespoke luxury travel throughout China, Tibet, Hong Kong, and Korea. Contact us to discuss a custom itinerary tailored to your interests.

Email: web_inquiry@imperialtours.net

© Oakwood Life. Article reproduced for archival and reference purposes.