16 Days Best China Historical & Culture Tour

Our Beijing tour will start with Temple of Heaven - the royal altar of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Then move on to the center of the city - Tiananmen Square. Go north through the square and you will reach the Forbidden City. As the largest and best-preserved ancient wooden structure in the world, it has more than 8,000 pavilions and thousands of historic treasures.

Get up early to visit Badaling Great Wall. Great Wall is one of the greatest architecture projects in human history. Then visit Ming Tomb(Changling), where the 3rd emperor of Ming Dynasty Zhu Di and his queen were buried.

Today we will continue the Beijing tour to Beijing hutong alleys, a living museum of Beijing history showing the traditional lifestyle of Beijing people. Then have a local family visit and explore how the Beijing people live.

After that, escorted to the railway station to take the train to Datong. A local tour guide will pick you up at train station and transfer to your hotel.

After breakfast at hotel, head to visit Huayan Temple, the largest and most perfectly preserved temple of the Liao and Jin dynasties in China.

Then move on to visit Nine-Dragon Screen and Yungang Caves. Nine Dragon Wall is the oldest and largest glazed-tile Nine Dragon wall still extant in China. And Yungang Grottoes are excellent examples of rock-cut architecture and one of the three most famous ancient Buddhist sculptural sites of China.

In the morning, head to visit Hanging Temple. Built more than 1,500 years ago, this temple is notable for its location on a sheer precipice and the only existing temple with the combination of three Chinese traditional religions: Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.

Then continue driving to visit Wooden Pagoda in Yingxian County, which is the only present large wooden pagoda in China and also the tallest among ancient wooden buildings of the world.

Then we will arrive at Wutai Mountain and check in hotel.

Today is a full day to explore Wutai Mountain. As one of the four top Buddhist mountains, the Wutai Mountain is a combination of natural scenery, historic relics, ancient architecture, Buddhist culture, folk customs and a summer resort.

Explore Wutai Mountain at leisure until being transferred to Taiyuan railway station for the overnight train(19:42- next 06:16) to Zhengzhou.

After airport-hotel pickup, a bit of rest for freshing up. Then we will head to Yellow River Scenic Area, 20 kilometers away the northwest of Zhengzhou City. It is a section of hills along the Yellow River covered with bushes, trees and a large paved plaza.

After that, move on to visit the Relics of Shang Dynasty, which is most famous for the mysterious pictographs and colorful bronzes.

In the morning, drive to Dengfeng and visit Shaolin Temple, which is reputed as the Head Temple of all Zen Buddhist temples in China with a history of more than 1500 years. And in the year of 2010, it was listed as the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site.

Then move on to Pagoda Forest to see hundreds of stone pagodas and graveyard for the monks through the ages.

After that, drive to Luoyang.

In the morning, head to visit the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site - Longmen Grottoes. Located on both sides of the Yi River to the south of the ancient capital of Luoyang, it comprises more than 2,300 caves and niches carved into the steep limestone cliffs over 1km long stretch.

After that, move on to visit White Horse Temple, the first Buddhist temple in China and renowned as the cradle of Chinese Buddhism. It was established in 68 AD under the patronage of Emperor Ming in the capital Luoyang of Eastern Han dynasty.

In the late afternoon, take the high speed  train to Xi'an. A local tour guide will pick you up at train station and transfer to your hotel.

In the morning, take a stroll along the Ancient City Wall, where we can ride a bicycle on. Then move on to the Bell Tower. Bell Tower of Xi'an is a symbol of the Xi'an city and one of the grandest of its kind in China which was built during the early Ming Dynasty.

The last stop is Big Wild Goose Pagoda, one of the most famous Buddhist pagodas in China.

Today visit the world famous Terracotta Warriors. The Terracotta Army is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China.

In the afternoon, continue the tour to Huaqing Hot Springs, where we can see the delightful gardens of Nine-Dragon Pool, the Lotus Flower Pool and the Frost Drifting Hall with Tang style.

In the evening, take the overnight train to Shanghai. A local tour guide will pick you up at train station and transfer to your hotel.

The first stop of our Shanghai tour is Nanjing Road and the Bund. Nanjing Road is China’s premier shopping street with the length of 5.5km. The bund is a famous waterfront and regarded as the symbol of Shanghai.

Then move on to Yuyuan Garden. Yu Yuan Garden(or Yun Garden) is a famous classical garden located in Anren Jie, Shanghai.

The last stop is the Jade Buddha Temple, which is a venerable and famous Buddhist temple built in 1928.

In the morning, we will head to visit Shanghai Museum first, the selection of over 112,000 Chinese cultural relics from the Old Stone Age to modern times.

Then continue the tour to the Oriental Pearl Tower. The ultra-modern Oriental Pearl TV Tower combines ancient concepts with 21st Century technology, where you can get a bird-eye-view of whole Shanghai city.

Explore this city at leisure until being transferred to the airport for your next destination. Service ends.