12 Days Beijing, Xian, Yangtze River, Wuhan & Shanghai Tour

Full Itinerary Day by Day

Day 1 Beijing Arrival

Welcome to Beijing! Clear the customs and retrieve your baggage by yourself upon arrival, be greeted by our tour guide in the Arrival Hall who is holding a sign on which says your name; transferred by your private car/van to your hotel downtown. The rest of the day is your own time.

Day 2 Beijing ( B, L )

Today you will first visit the world's biggest city plaza, the Tiananmen Square; then walk to the marvelous "Egg" (National Centre for the Performing Arts) to take some pictures from its outside; subsequently, go to the Forbidden City, the most complete imperial palace in China; and later proceed to the impressive Temple of Heaven. After the sightseeing tour, be driven back to your hotel.

Day 3 Beijing ( B, L,D )

After breakfast, drive to the Badaling Great Wall (about 80 km, 1.5hours) where you will experience at first hand the wonder of the Great Wall. For lunch you'll sample some delicious fare in a local restaurant. Afterwards, visit the Sacred Way and Changling, one of the Ming Tombs; on the way back to your hotel, you might make a stop at the Beijing Olympic Village to take some photos of the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube from the outside.

Feel a little bit tired? Not to worry! We will arrange a foot massage (free of charge) for you, just relax and enjoy it! With a Peking Roast Duck dinner you will complete today's tour!

Day 4Beijing & Flight to Xian (B, L)

After breakfast, you will marvel at the exquisite Summer Palace, the imperial garden.

Then head to visit the Drum Tower dating from 1420. Ascending the big Drum Tower, you will have a bird's eye view of the surrounding communities of Hutongs and Siheyuan from here. And then move on to an ordinary family courtyard home for a tea break. Afterwards, take a rickshaw to visit the most famous Hutongs keeping the original layout in the Shichahai area. Then move on to the Prince Gong's Mansion.

After the tour, our guide will escort you to the airport and take the flight to Xian.

Day 5 Xian (B, L, D)

In the morning be picked up at your hotel then driven to the Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses; the most significant archeological excavations of the 20th century, It is one of the most popular tourist spots not to be missed by any visitor to China. After lunch, move on to visit the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and the Ancient City Wall; enjoy the local specialty Dumpling Dinner served in a fine restaurant in the evening.

Day 6 Flight to Chongqing from Xian (B, L)

Today will be free until your guide picks you up to the airport and flight to Chongqing. After arriving in Chongqing city be met and transferred to the Chongqing downtown. Your tour guide and driver will take you to the Chongqing zoo to see the Giant Panda, and then visit the Ciqikou Old Town, if time permits.

Then, you'll be transferred to the Cruise pier, and board the ship in the late afternoon. Your lifetime Yangtze River Cruise starts in Chongqing. (Note: the boarding time changes based on the cruise ships, season, water level, weather, etc.)

Day 7 Yangtze River Cruise (B, L, D)

Shore excursion to the Fengdu Ghost City to check why it has been regarded as the "City of Ghosts". It is where the devil lives according to Chinese legend. The temples built on Ming Mountain show punish instruments and demon paintings, depicting the Chinese people’s imagination of hell.

Note: Some cruise ships make the shore excursion to the Shibaozhai Pagoda. Shibaozhai, like a pearl on Yangtze River, is 278 kilometers away from Chongqing. As the gem of Chinese Architecture, the 12-story, 18th Century red wooden temple is an architectural delight full of Legends and beautiful stories. You have the final say on which excursion to make, as we can book any of the cruise ships at great rates!

Day 8 Yangtze River Cruise (B, L, D)

Shore excursion to Lesser Three Gorges by smaller vessels.

The Lesser Three Gorges, like a shining pearl hiddden in remote mountains, are much smaller, narrower and have some dramatic scenery to offer. That is the most splendid river adventure throughout China for you.

Note: Some cruise ships make the shore excursion to the Shennong Stream. Shennong Stream is a collection of local culture. The nature scenery, boat tracker, local sampan, ancient hanging coffins, unique ethnic minority Tujia culture… all is worth your exploration. You have the final say on which excursion to make, as we can book any of the cruise ships at great rates!

Day 9 Yichang & D-train to Wuhan from Yichang (B, L)

Today’s highlight is a morning excursion to Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest hydropower project, located at the middle of Xiling Gorge near Yichang. You will marvel at this gigantic dam from different angles, learn more of the background history of the Three Gorges Dam Project and enjoy the surrounding beautiful landscape and scenery.

After the dam visiting, you’ll take the bus arranged by the cruise company heading to Yichang Three Gorges Center Cruise Terminal for leave. Here you will be pick up by our local guide in Yichang at about 12:30. After lunch at a local restaurant, drive to the Yichang East Railway Station to catch the 2-hour high speed train to Wuhan.

After arrival in Wuhan, our local tour guide and driver will escort you to your hotel in Wuhan. Rest of the day is free to explore the beautiful city on your own.

Day 10 Wuhan - Shanghai (B, L)

After breakfast, your guide and driver will pick you up at your hotel. Today, you’ll first visit Hubei Provincial Museum. Founded in 1953, Hubei Provincial Museum has 6.5 hectares with 200,000 exquisite items include bronze, jade and lacquer work, porcelain and paintings. You can enjoy a performance of chime bells, stone chimes and other ancient instruments. The museum is a window to explore Chinese history.

Later, head to the Heptachord Terrace (Guqin Tai), located on the south bank of Moon Lake, near the western foot of Tortoise Hill. It is the beautiful site with great layout where you could appreciate the sincere friendship between Yu Boya and Zhong Ziqi in Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 B.C.).

Lastly, transfer to Yellow Crane Tower, one of the most renowned towers south of the Yangtze River. It enjoys the fame of “The First Scenery under Heaven”. And its cultural significance led to its being made the symbol of Wuhan City.

After the tour, your guide and escort you to Wuhan Aiport to catch the flight to Shanghai. Stay overnight in Shanghai.

Day 11 Shanghai (B, L)

Today after breakfast, our guide and driver will escort you to visit the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center, a must-see for all true Shanghainophiles to witness how Shanghai became a cosmopolitan city from a shabby fishing village.

Later you will be taken to visit the 400-year-old Yu Garden – the representative traditional Chinese garden in Shanghai. Out from Yuyuan Garden, move to Yuyuan Bazaar to explore how elaborate and cute the traditional Chinese handicrafts and art works are, and savor some local flavor snacks here…And then drive to Pudong New Area to enjoy a bird's eye view of Shanghai from the Jinmao Tower.

Followed a trip to a silk factory to see how silk is produced from the cocoons of silk worms, and turned into the beautiful fabric we all know and love.

Evening ideas: To maximize your enjoyment of Shanghai, in the evening, you can watch an awesome Acrobatic Show. (Optional)

Day 12 Shanghai Departure (B)

After breakfast, head to the famous Bund to witness Shanghai’s skyline, and stroll along China's No.1 shopping street - Nanjing Road.

Then continue to Jade Buddha Temple to admire the largest jade Buddha in the world and exquisite religious artifacts.

Being free until transferred to the airport or train station to take the flight or train to your next destination or back to home. Service ends.

Free Quote for the Trip

Yangtze River Cruise FAQs & Tips

How is the all-inclusive Yangtze River tour like?

Compared to book a China Tour only, booking a Yangtze River Tour Package will save you more money and time.

The Yangtze cruise ship will take you directly to the destination and the staff on board will arrange various activities on board. The prices of meals, accommodations onboard and entrance fees of arranged shore excursions are included in the Cruise price. All you need to think about is joining and enjoying.

Which cruise line should I choose?

Yangtze River cruise lines are sailing between Chongqing, Wanzhou (a county in Chongqing), Yichang, Wuhan, Nanjing & Shanghai for different duration. Usually, cruise between Chongqing and Yichang are chosen by 95% visitors. To meet different needs of different customers, we offer all the cruise lines with our top cruises for you at the most discounted price. Just send us your requirement, we’ll do the rest.

What are the best ships for Yangtze River Tours?

There are over 30 cruise ships on the Yangtze River. The newest and the most luxury cruises are Victoria Cruises, Century Cruises, Yangtze Explorer & President Cruises. To narrow down you choices, we carefully selected the “TOP” for you their high quality services, luxury accommodation and reasonable prices.

2013 best-value Yangtze Cruises:
Victoria Jenna & Anna, Century Sun & Sky, President Prime, Yangtze Explorer, Victoria Sophia (Chongqing=Shanghai), Century Diamond (Chongqing=Nanjing)

2013 Most luxury Cruise Ships:
Yangtze Explorer, Century Legend & Paragon, Victoria Jenna & Anna

>>More 2013 Yangtze River Cruises

How to book my Yangtze River cruise?

Specialized in China Yangtze River Tour arranging & Yangtze Cruise booking for many years, we guarantee you the best cruise experience & the most personalized service at the lowest possible price. Just feel free to contact our professional travel experts who are glad to book the best cruise for YOU.

Practical Info about Traveling with Us

Restaurant & Food

The restaurants we will take you for lunch or dinner are all designated tourist restaurants approved by local tourist administration bureau. They have very good sanitary conditions and the food is prepared fresh and clean.

Note: If you have any special dietary needs, just let your travel consultant know while booking.

Vegetarian food Requirement

Vegetarian food in Chinese cuisine culture is usually divided into 3 categories: the Monastery Vegetarian Food, the Court Vegetarian Food and the Folk Vegetarian Food. And the main ingredients are: soybean, taro powder, mushrooms, fresh vegetables and tofu (bean curd). It will be easier to find the vegetarian restaurants in big cities of china, such as: Beijing, Shanghai, Xian, HK, etc.

If allergic to some food

We suggest you to list any food or ingredients that you are allergic to and let our travel consultant know. Then your travel consultant will mark them in the guide’s itinerary, so that our guides in different cities can make some preparations and arrangements in advance.

Do our guide and driver join the meal with us?

The tour guides and driver will be at the same restaurants with you, but they will only join the meal when you invite. Sometimes the drivers are shy to join as they usually eat fast and could not understand English talk around the table, so the guide will be with you more often.

Will we be able to try some local foods during our visit?

Yes, you will. There will be some meals excluded in your itinerary as you like, and your private guide will be delighted to give you some suggestions and take you to the local restaurants, if you are interested in local food tasting. But remember, some local snacks may not match your stomach, so ask your guided for more information before eating.

Vehicles

We offer sedan cars, SUVs, business vans (MPV), and different types of buses. Different vehicles will be used according to different group size.

Shopping

What to buy in China?

In China, there are myriads of souvenirs for visitors, and each city has its own specialty.

Some of the best buys are:

• Beijing: Cloisonné; Fresh water pearls
• Xi'an: Replicas of the Terra Cotta soldiers; Tangsancai (Tang Dynasty hand painted China); Antique Furniture
• Shanghai: Silk carpets
• Hangzhou: Longjing Tea; Silk
• Suzhou: Silk
• Guilin: Scroll paintings; China Southern Sea Pearls
• Yunnan: Mounted Butterflies; Pure tea; Dali Batik (tie-dyed fabric)
• Xinjiang: Carpets; jade articles
• Tibet: Thang-ka（tanka）(Sheep skin wall hangings)

How to bargain?

Bargains are not acceptable in big supermarkets and department stores. But in some night markets or tourist shops, you can bargain for a lower price, since the vendors always ask for very high price for a certain item. You’d better ask the opinion of the guide first, and then the guide will tell you the real value and quality of the item. Please note that when the bargain is processing, the guide will be hesitate to help as it may annoy the bosses. Just try to let the guides know you will bargain in advance.

What to do with persistent vendors?

If you do not need something from them, just do not ask for price. Some of the venders are very persisted, and if they keep selling things to you, you can simply say “No, thanks.” (Chinese pronunciation: ”Bu, XieXie”). If they do not give up, you just keep silence. Silence is sometimes useful to handle this situation.

More Tips for free-time shopping

• 1. If you think you have no desire or interest, you do not feel embarrassed to let our guide know DIRECTLY (since some of our guides are enthusiastic in taking you shopping)
• 2. Better to choose the shops run by the state when buying expensive articles.
• 3. Do not shop everything in one city, because every place has its unique local products which worth buying.
• 4. Do not feel obligate to buy anything only because the shop attendants are very kind to you.
• 5. Be smart consumers. Do not spend big money on things you are not familiar with. Do ask for shop guarantee, contacts and certificates when purchasing big items like antiques, jade, arts pieces.
• 6. Leave plenty of time for transactions. When you see something you like - buy it. Usually, you would not find it elsewhere and you would not have time to go back.
• 7. Always verify the date of antiques before you purchase them. Antiques dated before 1795 cannot legally be exported.
• 8. Articles made from rare wild animals are contraband and will be confiscated by customs without compensation.

Private tour & Group Tour

A: Private tours

• 1. Private guide, driver and vehicle are for your exclusive use; no matter you are individually, or in a family or friends group. The tour is run exclusively for you without strangers.
• 2. Every itinerary can be customized to meet your specific interests/ wishes, that is, you can choose your favored hotels, sightseeing spots, the tour length, means of transportation, budget, etc. All are free of charge.
• 3. Start the tour on any date you want.
• 4. Escort you through the whole tour. All private transfers during the tour are offered, including airport/train station transfer, hotel-attractions round trip transfer.
• 5. The sightseeing during the tour could be based on your own timetable and pace. Flexible to change at your short notice.
• 6. Ideal for people who need considerate care and assistance, such as elderly, the disabled, families with small children.

B: Group tours

• 1. Low Price;
• 2. Share a guide and driver;
• 3. Share a clean, safe and air-conditioned vehicle;
• 4. Good chance for you to meet and make friends from all over the world;
• 5. Tour date is fixed and unchangeable.

Emergency calls

Call your guide, or if you can’t find your guide, call your travel consultant or our office immediately. All the phone numbers include in our confirmation letter. Keep the letter with your during your trip.

Note: As our Beijing office is using the different guide arranging system, so we will not be able to provide the Beijing guide information until the day before you arrival, but once we have it, we will email you immediately.

Check What our delighted customers are saying about our services

Hi Tracy,

I have been very busy since coming home! We got back to school and work immediately. The trip was wonderful. The guides were great.

Thank you!

Hwai

Hwai‚ Canada, April 15, 2025

Hi Jack,

We are back to Australia, and we totally enjoyed our cruise. Food offered on board and during land excursions were excellent. Land excursions are quite comprehensive. We would recommend the cruise to our friends.

Thank you.

Chang

Chang‚ Australia, April 14, 2025

Hi Leo,

We left last night after our three day tour ended. We had a great time and saw everything we wanted to despite the high winds.

I just wanted to mention that our guide, Andy, did a wonderful job during the tour. He was very knowledgeable and took care of our every need. He is a great ambassador for your company.

Thank you,

Flanagan

Flanagan‚ USA, April 13, 2025

Dear Rita,

Thank you for your arrangement. Everything went well and we all had a great time. Will definitely recommend your tour to my colleagues and families group.

If I have to nominate the best tour guide of all we had it go to Jamie (Beijing). He did great and beyond. Very helpful, knowledgeable and easy going.

Here are some of our pic we took there.

Junaidi

• 

Junaidi‚ Indonesia, April 12, 2025

Hi Tracy,

Everything is up to our expectations.

I will definitely refer my friends to Yangtse cruise & to you personally too.

Keep up the good work.

Regards,

Yew

Yew‚ Malaysia, April 11, 2025

Check What our customers are saying about us on Tripadvisor.com

We are one of the few China travel agencies who have kept active and received lots of feedbacks and reviews during pandemic years!

Navigator10991129870

"We decided to go on a one-week visit to Mt Huangshan and Wuyuan County, and April@China Discovery managed to make all the necessary arrangements despite our last minute request..." read more »

Reviewed on April 15, 2025

Navigator10991129870

"We decided to go on a one-week visit to Mt Huangshan and Wuyuan County, and April@China Discovery managed to make all the necessary arrangements despite our last minute request..." read more »

Reviewed on April 15, 2025

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.

1-on-1 Travel Consultant

Our travel consultants are professional, experienced and responsible, helping you from the very beginning to the end of your China trip!

After sending us an inquiry, one of our travel consultants will get back to you within 0.5~23.5 hrs. In the next few days, he/she will be working closely with you to formulate a customized tour plan, as well as providing professional suggestions based on your travel interests, time, and budget.

Beside, he/she will keep in contact with you during your entire tour in China, continually checking if everything is going well as planned.

We're working at Chengdu Bamboo International Tours, local based in Chengdu.

Local Tour Guides

Our local guide in every destination is not only very friendly, enthusiastic but also very informative and knowledgeable.

Once you arrive in the destination, the patient and punctual guides will pick you up and take you to get under skin of the city at your own pace. By in-depth discovery and explanation, they’ll show you more about the history, culture, customs and authentic local life. Throughout the journey, they're not only expert guides who take care of all the details but also fellow travelers who are dedicated to help you explore in comfort and style.

Our guides are passionate about what they do, and it shows all the way!

Local Drivers & Vehicle

Using our private transfer service makes you comfortable, relaxed and worry free all the way!

Our private service includes licensed drivers with many years’ driving experience and air-conditioned, non-smoking, clean and well-maintained cars/vans. Drivers are local, polite, friendly and helpful, taking you to your tourist sites, hotels, airport/train stations in safety. All kinds of vehicle are offered, and yours depends on the size of your group. Usually, we offer sedan cars, SUVs, business vans (MPV) and different types of buses, all with extra space for your luggage.

Our private transfer service guarantees you the highest comfort!

Comfortable & Homelike Hotels

In each destination, you’ll enjoy a comfortable stay in a great location!

The hotels we choose are based on star rating, great locations, well-equipped facilities, cozy bed, high quality service and guests’ feedbacks. Choices are a lot ranging from luxury 5 star, comfortable 4 star to budget 3 star. You could decide where to stay to best suit for your budget and likes. Generally, the hotels have both Western and Chinese breakfast with a wide choices.

If you have already got an ideal hotel, please feel free to tell our travel consultants and they'll book the hotel for you.

Have good sleep in our well-selected hotels in all the destinations of China.

Meals & Dining

We can satisfy all the dietary requirements no matter you want Chinese local food, western food, vegetarian food or muslin food.

The restaurants we will take you for lunch or dinner are all designated tourist restaurants approved by local tourist administration bureau. They have very good sanitary conditions and the food is prepared fresh and clean.

There will be some meals excluded in your itinerary as you like, and your private guide will be delighted to give you some suggestions and take you to the local restaurants to taste like Beijing Roast Duck, Xian Dumpling Dinner, Sichuan Hotpot, etc., if you are interested in local food tasting.

All the dining options will satisfy your stomach!