[Important] Travel News for Expats: China travel is reopening! Travel with China Discovery and learn about where to visit & requirements for each destination! Read Details >
[Important] Travel News for Expats: China travel is reopening! Travel with China Discovery and learn about where to visit & requirements for each destination! Read Details >
Enchanting Southeastern China
Ni Hao! Welcome to Shanghai, the most 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.
Evening Optional Activity: attend an entertaining and breathtaking Acrobatic Show, including balls of death, balance of chairs, hula hoops, juggling benches, walking in the air, etc.
After breakfast, your guide and driver will pick you up at your hotel. Today, the first stop is to visit Shanghai Museum, the No.4 museum in China. Enter into the “round heaven and square earth” and enjoy over 120,000 precious historic Chinese artistic relics, from bronze, ceramics, painting and calligraphic works to jade, coins, seals and sculpture, etc. You won’t miss Da Ke Ding, the precious treasure of Shanghai Museum, showing the history and economy of the West Zhou Dynasty (1046 BC-771 BC). To help you learn about the history and facts about the relics in the museum easily, an Audio Explanation Device will be prepared for you.
Then, take an interesting walking through the charming Former French Concession which used t be designated for the French and residential and as the premier residential for expats and retail district of Shanghai during the settlement period(1849 until 1943) and the Republic of China era(1912~1949). Its juxtaposition between the ultra-modern and the colonial past,tree-lined streets, boutique shops, historic lane houses and villas make it a window into the city’s up-and-down history.
Later, drive to Lujiazui Area of Pudong New District to visit 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 at your feet and blue sky over your head.
You will then transfer 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. Stroll along the Bund, feel the perfect fusion of Chinese culture and Western culture, and seize the stunning Shanghai skyline with your own eyes.
Evening Optional Activity: take Huangpu River cruise to enjoy fantastic night view of Shanghai.
Yu Garden: The Classical Garden Built in 16th Century
The Bund Night Views in Shanghai
On this morning, drive about 75 minutes to visit the famous Tongli Water Town, an-aged but very well preserved water township with a history of more than 1,000 years. Fifteen rivers divide the town into seven islands and forty-nine sets of historic bridges connect the town as a whole, giving visitors a good idea of what Suzhou must have been like in its heyday. You’ll pay a visit to the Tuisi Yuan, Pearl Pagoda, Triple Bridge, Ming and Qing Dynasty Street, etc.
Then drive another 30 minutes to Suzhou for the visit of Lingering Garden, one of the four most famous classical gardens in China that famous for the way it artistically dealt with space, and seamlessly combined various pavilions into the picturesque landscape. Then visit No.1 Silk Factory, where you can learn more about silk production and the detailed steps involved in the silk making process.
After the tour, go to check in your hotel in Suzhou city.
Tongli Water Town
Suzhou Lingering Garden
Get up early to have breakfast, and go to catch a morning high speed train to Hangzhou. Upon arrival at Hangzhou, your private tour guide and driver will pick you up at the railway station, and then set out on today’s sightseeing.
Firstly, spend the peaceful and less-crowded morning time to visit the iconic and World Heritage site of Hangzhou - the picturesque West Lake. You will start with a 45-minute leisure cruise to enjoy the tranquil lake views as well as the ancient pagodas, traditional arched bridges, tree-lined walkways, beautiful hills, green islands and lush gardens. After the cruise, disembark the lake shore to stroll leisurely on the famous Su Causeway and Bai Causeway, and explore the poetic sites around, such as Three Ponds Mirroring the Moon, Fish Viewing at the Flower Pond, etc.
Leave West Lake, and move on to next site - Lingyin Temple, about 3km west away from the West Lake. With a history of nearly 1700 year, Lingyin Temple is hidden in the luxurious forest, and offers charming and peaceful landscape and impressive Buddhist culture. Next, extend your visit to the adjacent Feilai Peak which features in uncountable Buddhist carvings lining the riverbanks and hillsides and tucked away inside grottoes.
Lastly, drive about 7km to Meijia Dock Dragon Well Tea Village. After arrival, you will go for a walk among the tea plantations, marvel at the beautiful surrounding scenery, and sit down to enjoy a cup of the best Dragon Well Tea and listen to the interesting introduction about authentic traditional tea culture. After the enjoyable tea time, say goodbye to the host, and drive to the China National Tea Museum to learn systematically about Chinese Tea Culture.
Optional evening activity: 1) watch a magnificent night show - Enduring Memories of Hangzhou, a live performance with changing lights, music and dancing on the West Lake, which usually starts at 7pm; Notice: the Impression West Lake would be unavailable during December 17, 2018 to the early-March, 2019 for the cold winter in Hangzhou. 2) feast your eyes to enjoy an amazing Music fountain show at Third Park , near the eastern lakeside of West Lake.
Dragon Well Tea Culture Tour
Beautiful West Lake
Lingyin Temple
After breakfast, you will drive about 20 minutes to Six Harmonies Pagoda to see the masterpieces of ancient Chinese architecture. Climbing onto the top, you could have a spectacular view of Qiantang River and surrounding hills.
Leave Six Harmonies Pagoda, and go to take an enjoyable walking at the famous Hefang Street, a unique pedestrian street full of ornate Chinese architectures, local delicious snacks and interesting handcrafts. (Optional activity: if you are interested in traditional Chinese medicine culture, you can take a brief visit to the Museum of Traditional Chinese Medicine where you can learn about the history and development of traditional Chinese medicines, observe processing herbs into medicine, even buy some Chinese medicine if you like.)
Lastly, be free until your guide and driver escort you to take a high speed train to Shanghai. After arrival, be transferred to your hotel. The rest time is free to arrange your own activity in Shanghai.
Six Harmonies Pagoda
Hefang Street
After breakfast, your guide and driver will pick you up at your hotel. First, you’ll pay a wonderful visit to Jade Buddha Temple, the site of the largest Jade Buddha in the world and numerous religious artifacts, ancient statues and Buddhist scriptures. This peaceful kingdom of Buddhism hidden among modern blocks and dominating mansions is a great place for a nice break in this very busy city.
Next, you’ll be transferred to Tianzifang which is touristic arts and crafts enclave that has developed from a renovated traditional residential area in the French Concession area of Shanghai. It is the typical tourist attraction to appreciate the preservation of local Shikumen architecture. In this place full of rich flavor of life, you can leisurely stroll along the clean old alleys to watch the daily life of local Shanghai people, savor a cup of drink at the open-air café, and find some interesting things in the novel shops to feel the international feature mixed with real Shanghai culture.
In the afternoon, your guide and driver will escort you to the airport for your flight to next destination or home.
Jade Buddha Temple
“No mountain is worth seeing after a trip to Mt. Huangshan”!
If you want to travel Huangshan at a leisure pace, this is the ideal trip - short days, classic itinerary, cable cars covered, private transfer. You will reach the top of Mount Huangshan for a day-and-night trip to enjoy the best scenery, and get down the mountain to stroll along the Tunxi Ancient Street to encounter its hundred-years' history and admire the "Four Treasures of the Study" in Ink Stone Factory...
Shanghai / Suzhou / Hangzhou /
Shanghai / Suzhou / Hangzhou / Mt.Huang
Shanghai / Suzhou / Shanghai
[Important] Travel News for Expats: China travel is reopening now! Travel with China Discovery and learn about where to visit & requirements for each destination! Read Details >
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