Summary
Short description
Between Beijing and Shanghai, take in the mountain wonders, rural villages and ancient cities of China’s heartlands
Highlights
- Travel on bullet trains, with private transfers throughout
- See the megacity sleek and Great-Wall icons of Beijing and Shanghai
- Showcase the rural splendour of mountain villages and tea plantations
- Enjoy everything from canal cruises to rickshaw rides
- Bring it all to life with private tours (and lunches) included throughout
In Brief
- 4 Nights Beijing
- 1 Night Tangmo village
- 1 Night Huangshan Scenic Area
- 1 Night Huangshan
- 1 Night Hangzhou
- 3 Nights Shanghai
In pictures
About
Recommended for:
City | History & culture | Natural world | Rail holidays
Travelling first class on hi-speed trains and with private transfers included throughout, this curated itinerary will see you sweep between two city greats, taking in both eastern China’s storied highlights and lesser-known gems. Indeed, in Beijing and Shanghai, you’ll enjoy the likes of Tiananmen Square alongside hidden gardens and rickshaw rides through old-town laneways. Then, plunging into rural China, you’ll take in everything from ancient villages and tea plantations to the great mist-clad peaks of Huangshan mountain. It’s all brought to life by the services of private guides throughout, bringing you on canal cruises, cable-car rides and cultural workshops. The included lunches each day don’t hurt, either.
Day by day itinerary
Day
1
Depart UK
Make the most of your complimentary airport lounge access before boarding your overnight flight to China.
Days
2-5
Beijing
On arrival, a private driver will see you to your central accommodation. Then, over the next three days, you’ll begin your programme of private, expert-led tours, beginning with the imposing gates of Tiananmen Square and the world’s largest palace complex – the Forbidden City. And, alongside the imperial Summer Palace, the royal family’s 15th-century Temple of Heaven and the Great Wall itself, you’ll also discover the city’s lesser-known jewels. Indeed, after visiting the Sacred Way’s imperious Ming Tombs, you’ll be treated to a rickshaw ride through the old town’s hutong alleyway maze, admiring the centuries-old timber architecture and pausing to try your hand at traditional Beijing paper art and opera makeup.
Stay: Capital Hotel (Superior) or Grand Hotel (Deluxe)
Meals: B L
Day
6
Tangmo Village
Depart Beijing today with a high-speed train trip to Huangshan, where you'll be met for a private transfer to Tangmo village. Having settled into your hotel, you'll join your guide to wander the village's thousand-year-old lanes to uncover hidden pavilions and pretty water-side houses. It all culminates with the chance to learn some traditional paper craft and make your own stone-tablet rubbings.
Stay: Tang Die Roaina Hotel (Standard / Superior)
Meals: B D
Day
7
Huangshan Scenic Area
Today you’ll start to explore the great “Yellow Mountain” range, where dramatic rock formations are shrouded in mist and dense vegetation. You’ll begin with UNESCO-listed Hongcun village, perhaps admiring its thousand-year-old charm on a lake-side bike ride before a visit to a local family brings it all to life. Your private tour will then see you up into the mountains with a private transfer and a cable-car ride, admiring such stunning (and whimsically named) viewpoints as “Fairy Maiden Peak” and “A Monkey Gaping at the Sea of Cloud”. It all concludes with a night in your welcoming, lodge-style accommodation, making the most of the gorgeous mountain views.
Stay: Shilin Hotel (Standard) or Xihai Hotel (Superior)
Meals: B L
Day
8
Huangshan
This morning, you’ll be perfectly placed for a spectacular sunrise of Huangshan, before your private guide brings you on to secret pavilions and viewpoints over great canyons. It’s then time to descend on the cable car, before your private tour continues with the village of Lingshan, famous for its bamboo houses, canal-side beauty and its “Ancient Water Street” – three miles of gorgeous blue flagstone.
Stay: International Hotel (Standard) or Crowne Plaza (Superior)
Meals: B L
Day
9
Hangzhou
Today, private transfers will bookend your first-class trip to Hangzhou, where you’ll check into your central accommodation; our marbled Deluxe option is a particular highlight. Joining your private local guide, you’ll then see just why historic Hangzhou has long been an artist’s favourite, taking in its spectacular, willow-lined lake with a serene cruise before pausing at its hidden pagodas and temples – ranked among the country’s most sacred.
Stay: Holiday Inn CBD (Standard) or Sofitel West Lake (Superior)
Meals: B L
Day
10
Hangzhou to Shanghai
You’ll have some further time around Hangzhou, your expert guide bringing you to the rolling Dragon Well Tea Plantation before heading on a walk through the green countryside to Yellow Dragon Cave’s twisting rock formations. A stop at a traditional Chinese medicine shop will then see you on to your last train sprint to Shanghai. Here, you’ll be met at the station by a private driver and brought to your central accommodation.
Stay: Sunrise on the Bund (Standard) or Yangtze Boutique (Superior)
Meals: B L
Days
11-12
Shanghai
With two full days in Shanghai, your private tour will showcase both its megacity skyscrapers and hidden charms. It all begins with the world-class Shanghai Museum and its historic art collection before you take in the exotic Yu Garden and the ornate Jade Buddha Temple. The next day, your private driver will bring you out to Suzhou – an ancient town famed for its pretty waterways and for being the home of one of China’s four major gardens. You’ll also enjoy a cruise along its Grand Canal, admiring the pagoda-dotted banks and hump-back bridges.
Stay: Sunrise on the Bund (Standard) or Yangtze Boutique (Superior)
Meals: B L
Day
13
Depart for UK
After a final breakfast, a private transfer will see you to the airport for your day flight home.
Meals: B
Map
Pricing
Any element of this itinerary can be adjusted to suit your needs. Just contact us to find out more.
Accommodation rating:
13-day rail journey
from £3,925 pp incl. flights
Superior
Low Season
from £3,925 pp. incl. flights
High Season
from £4,140 pp. incl. flights
Includes:
- Complimentary UK airport lounge access
- Return flights between London, Beijing and Shanghai
- 12 nights accommodation in typically 4* (Superior) hotels on a B&B basis
- First class train tickets between Beijing-Huangshan, Huangshan - Hangzhou & Hangzhou- Shanghai
- Private round trip transfers to/from railway stations and city hotels
- Private sightseeing including lunch, highlights include: The forbidden city & Summer Palace in Beijing, Rickshaw rides, visit a traditional village and local family, take in the mountain peaks of the Huangshan scenic areas, temples and Tea plantations..
Terms & Conditions
Prices are per person based on two people sharing a twin/double room; prices are subject to availability and possible change; normal booking conditions apply.
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