4 Days Mount Jiuhua Buddhism Tour with Shanghai Essence

Full Itinerary Day by day

Day 1 Shanghai Arrival

Ni Hao! Welcome to Shanghai, the biggest metropolis of China!

Upon arrival, you will be met by local tour guide at the arrival hall of the airport and escorted to check in your hotel in downtown by a private comfortable vehicle. The rest of today is on your own to relax. If you want to explore nearby, feel free to get some practical suggestions from your tour guide.

Optional Evening Activity - Enjoy an entertaining and breathtaking Acrobatic Show at Shanghai Circus World or other acrobatic theatres.

Day 2 Shanghai (B, L)

After breakfast, your guide and driver will pick you up from your hotel to start your Shanghai exploration. The first stop is to visit Shanghai Museum, one of the Best Four Museums in China. This modern museum, with a round top and a square base which symbolizing the ancient Chinese perception of the world as "round sky, square earth", has collected many international-standard exhibits of bronzes, paintings, calligraphy, sculpture, ceramics, jade from more than 5,000 years ago to the Qing dynasty. It is an ideal place to learn about the profound Chinese history and culture.

Then, take an interesting visit to Yu Garden, a shining star among all dotted ancient Chinese gardens in Jiangnan which fully embodies the traditional design of architecture. Jagged pavilion with elegant decoration, glittering pools with roving fish, sprouting pine trees, all these pleasant scenes refresh both your eyes and mood. Adjacent to the garden is the Yuyuan Bazaar where you can savor tasteful local snacks or bargain at some elaborate traditional Chinese handicrafts and art works as souvenirs.

After lunch, drive a few kilometers to Lujiazui Area of Pudong New District to visit visit “the eye of Shanghai” - Shanghai World Financial Center (SWFC) where you can have a panoramic view of the whole Shanghai and Huangpu River area. Ascend yourselves to 474 meters on the 100th floor to experience sky walk on the transparent glass-walled walkway and feel Shanghai lying under your feet and blue sky hanging above your head.

Later, move to another popular landmark of Shanghai - Nanjing Road which is shopping paradise as well as a great place to take a wonderful walk to experience the local modern atmosphere. Lastly, you will stop at the Bund. Originally the towpath for transporting, the Bund transformed into a feverish trading district during European concession period. Stroll along the Bund, feel the perfect fusion of Chinese culture and Western culture, and seize the stunning Shanghai skyline with your own eyes.

Optional Evening Activity - Take a relaxing Huangpu River night cruise to see the city’s most significant edifices and streets sparkling under the atmospheric cover of darkness (about 50 minutes).

Day 3 Shanghai to Mount Jiuhua by High Speed Train & Mount Jiuhua Half-day Tour (B)

After breakfast, you’ll be picked up and escorted to the railway station to catch a G High Speed Train to Chizhou in southern Anhui Province, a city most famous for the holy Buddhist mountain - Mount Jiuhua. Upon arrival, your tour guide and driver will meet you at the Chizhou Railway Station, and then escort you to Mount Jiuhua directly. Check in your hotel in Mount Jiuhua and take a short rest. In this afternoon, you’ll have a half-day Buddhism exploration.

First, you will get to Great Vow Culture Park at the north foot of Mount Jiuhua to start your Buddhism exploration. You can take tourist bus to witness the 99-meter Golden Statue of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, a new pilgrimage landmark of Mount Jiuhua and the tallest outdoor bronze Buddhist statue in the world. Beyond the spacious square, archways, bridges, clear ponds, the most impressive sight is the giant Buddhist statue standing before layered majestic green mountains.

Next, you will go to visit the towering, fresh, moist and lush Flower Terrace Scenic Area which is famous for colorful wild flowers over the hill and dales in May days. Ride a sightseeing bus from the tourist center to cable car station, and then hop on the 20-min pleasant cable car ride going over peak after peak to get to the beginning of the hiking trail on the mountain. Well-paved stone steps lead you gradually up to the top mountains of Flower Terrace. Enjoy the panoramic view of surrounding and afar. The clouds envelop mountains, producing a kind of mesmerizing sensation. Then come to the most highlighting Hanging Plank Road which is 1.4km long, and constructed along the side of the mountain with high drop-offs and full of surprisingly beautiful landscape of rugged rock peaks and bizarre pine trees.

After exploration of scenic Flower Terrace, take cable car down the mountain, and transfer to Jiuhua Street by sightseeing bus. Jiuhua Street gathers a lot of important Buddhist temples. You will go to visit Huacheng Temple, the first and leading temple of Mount Jiuhua. The temple was built in Eastern Jin Dynasty more than 1,600 years ago and most existing buildings are from Qing Dynasty. Now the temple has been changed to the Jiuhuashan Museum of Historical Relics, exhibiting thousands of cultural treasures, like Buddhist sutras, ritual instruments, imperial decree, jade seal, ancient paintings and calligraphy.

Stay overnight in Jiuhua Street on Mount Jiuhua.

Day 4 Mount Jiuhua Tour & Chizhou Departure (B, L)

After breakfast, take cable car to Longevity Palace, a Ming Dynasty five-storey ancient Buddhist temple on a hilltop (elevation: 871m). The temple, built in Southern Anhui folk residence style, is a major must-visit Buddhist temple of Mount Jiuhua, most famed for consecrating the intact saint corporeal body of monk Haiyu (style name: Wuxia) in the Incarnation Hall. He once spent over 20 years copying the Avatamsaka Sutra with his blood of tongue and gold powder here. You can get a grand view of Jiuhua Street and see 500 life-like statues of Arhats in different gestures and looks in the Hall of Five Hundred Arhats, a unique sight that can only be seen in Mount Jiuhua. Walk to the observation deck to view the undulating mountains in Flower Terrace Scenic Area perfectly forming a splendid view of a natural sleeping Buddha.

Later, take another cable car to Heavenly Terrace Peak (Tiantai Peak, elevation: 1,306 meters), the main peak of Mount Jiuhua. An old saying goes “you never reach Mount Jiuhua without a visit to Heavenly Terrace Peak”. Take a short hike to visit Ancient Lecture Temple, a small Tang Dynasty temple siting steep hillside, where Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is said to once chant Avatamsaka Sutra.

And then, hike upward to visit Tiantai Temple on the summit, the highest temple of Mount Jiuhua that has been visited by many famous monks, including Kim Qiaojue - the manifestation of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. Take your time to visit Wanfo Hall (Ten-Thousand Buddha Hall), Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Hall and Avalokitesvara Hall, trace footprints of master monks and absorb the strong Buddhist culture. The maintain top is still a wonderful location to catch a panoramic view of breathtaking natural scenery of Mount Jiuhua, including thin mist floating among gently rolling hills, grotesque pine trees growing on monstrous rocks and nearby Shiwang Peak - the highest peak of Mount Jiuhua (elevation: 1344.4 meters).

After the tour, you will be escorted to the airport or train station to catch your flight or train to next destination.

The quotation for this trip is from Request Per Person

1. This price is for one person, based on a group of 2 adults sharing one standard double-bed room in 4-star hotel and traveling with our private tour in low seasons.
2. This price is subject to change according your traveling season, group size, hotel class, change of activities in your itinerary and possible fluctuation of currency exchange rate. If you want a lower price, you can get more people to join you, or use economy class hotels.
3. This price is only valid to March 31, 2022.
4. Reference exchange rate of USD 1= RMB 6.65. The final quote is based on current exchange rate. It may change according to the currency fluctuation, while the RMB quotation will be remained the same.

How Our Teams Serve you at China Discovery

"Highest Standards of Quality and Honesty" is the core value of each specialized team at China Discovery.

Eveyone in our company is working hard for only one goal, which is to ensure the highest level of service, luxury, and attention to detail from the minute you begin planning your trip, to the day you return home.

Check What our Customers Say...

Hi Lyn,

Sorry for the slow reply. The cruise was really good; considering how few foreign passengers were on board the staff really went out of their way to look after us.

Andrew - 2021.06.28‚ UK, June 28, 2021

Thanks Leo for organising this trip. We had good time;

Huangshan: we loved the place but felt sad that this was not the right season for it.. So while booking you can just inform us on the same.. I had checked the weather before going, I knew it was raining but I thought it like shenyang rain.. Light.. Not that heavy.. So if possible just give an info on that to people..

Driver and vehicle: good

Guide: very good

Hangzhou: good place.

Driver: very rude. Not even accommodating a small requirement of stopping at a supermarket.

Guide:Very good.

Shanghai and around: good

Driver: Kind and helpful.

Guide: very friendly, helpful and good.. Appreciate that she helped us for booking food online..

Guides were supportive at all places.. Thank you!! But again a feedback for your company: Try being little flexible when you are doing a customized trip. Customized trip is not just booking hotels or car. Clients need more flexibility in terms of everything when we know we are paying more than just for the trip expense

Nagaveni - 2021.06.27‚ India, June 27, 2021

Hi Rosalyn,

The tour was wonderful and Shirley a great guide. We enjoyed it a lot.

Thanks a lot for the organization.

Verena - 2021.06.22‚ Germany, June 22, 2021

Hi Wonder, back to Shanghai, it was an amazing trip, and the driver is just a great guy who really help us from the beginning to the end. Thank you for everything.

Here is my review about the trip to Guilin, it’s just our point of view so there is nothing bad about what I will say.

At first we had an amazing driver, friendly and always helping us for everything, and very good and safe drive.

Day one was great, not really a lot of things to see or do in Huangluo Yao village, but it’s ok, by the way the restaurant the driver bring us there was very great, best Chinese food we had in China. Ping’an Village is just wonderful, walking in the middle of the rice terrace with an amazing view was perfect. The hotel was nice too (sorry to disturb you this day, but after I realize the woman playing with a kid on the terrace was working for the hotel, at the beginning I thought she was a client), by the way, it was great, she really took care of us, and again excellent food, the view from the room is great too.

Day two was great too, thousand layer terraces is a place to see, and the cable car is very useful, Ping An is better cause we really are in the middle of the rice terrace with all the farmer around, it’s really local, 1000 terrace is more for the view and we really enjoyed it.

Visit of the Tea farmer was interesting.

Then back in Guilin, we went to the city to the pedestrian street near a lake with two beautiful towers, and also went to a park near a hill. Guilin is a nice city but it stays a city, the hotel was great too, but all was a little bit too much “metropole”. I think it should be better to stay in a more local place like small village close from Mopanshan. Nothing bad about this Wonder, but we come from Shanghai who is a big city, and when we go out from a city it’s nice to be in the country side. The hotel was perfect too, but it’s the kind of hotel I go during some business trips, by the way we know Guilin now.

Day 3 was very very very great, the cruise is amazing, the bamboo boat very great too and the country side of Yangshuo is just wow, so beautiful, we have rented a motorbike from the hotel and wend around in the afternoon, just beautiful, we really enjoyed. The hotel was perfect too, all the staff speak English and are very friendly. In the restaurant, Chinese and Western food was nice too, in the evening we went to see a show in Yangshuo, they knew we should come back late and they manage everything so serve us after 10pm. Very great hotel with a so beautiful view. This is the point, at the hotel at Ping An village or Yangshuo, in the evening we can enjoy the view from outside on the balcony of the room, drinking a glass and smoke a cigarette, it’s just empty out mind and we really enjoy this moment, thing we cannot do in Guilin for example.

Day 4, back to Guilin and go to Elephant Hill, it’s just a park like the 100 parks we have in Shanghai, nothing special to see, especially after seeing the rice terraces around Ping An and the beautiful landscape from Li River and Yangshuo. Reed Flute cave was just wow too, so so beautiful, that was the first time in my life I saw a so beautiful cave, really love it.

This trip was the best one we did in China, we both love it, just wish to have one more day in Yangshuo. If I need to give a note I will give 9/10, Thank for your great work.

David - 2021.06.18‚ France, June 18, 2021

Thanks for all your help Jack, we really enjoyed our trip! Would definitely recommend to friends in the future, our driver was excellent.

Cherice - 2021.06.18‚ USA, June 18, 2021

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