Tour Duration: 11 day(s)
Group Size: 11 - 99 people
Specialty Categories: Railway Trips
Season: January - December
Airfare Included: No

China steeped with history and controversy and gave birth to one of the world’s first civilizations. It has a recorded history that dates back some 3,500 years ago. The history of post 1949 china is the People’s Republic, proclaimed by Mao Zedong on October 1st 1949 at its capital Beijing.

Tour Itinerary:

Day 1: Hong Kong

Independent arrivals in Hong Kong. Group gathers at a centrally located five-star hotel, for a onenight stay. Evening welcome dinner.

Day 2: Hong Kong/Border Crossing

Free morning to explore the fantastic island of Hong Kong. Lunchtime departure of our private Shangri La Express train as we pass through the border controls at Guangzhou. Late afternoon departure where our train begins its overnight journey towards Guilin.

Day 3: Guilin

Early morning arrival in the enchanting city of Guilin, where we spend the day sightseeing. Situated on the Li River in some of the finest scenery in the world, our day includes a cruise on the river amongst the strange karst rock formations that feature on so many of the covers of books about China. We also visit the 600,000 - year old Yudi Lan (Reed Flute) Cave on the outskirts of the city.

Day 4: On board

A relaxing day on the train as we head towards the mountains of the Yunnan Province and Kunming.

Day 5: Kunming

We spend the morning in Kunming where our visit includes the Golden Temple and Yunnan Stone Forest. At lunchtime we start our transit over one of the world’s most spectacular railway lines. Completed only in the 1970’s, the line to Chengdu tortuously passes over many precariously perched bridges and over deep ravines before plunging into yet another tunnel.

Day 6: Chengdu

Mid-morning we arrive in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province and home of the Giant Panda. During our city tour we visit the Giant Panda Breeding Research Institute.

Day 7: Xian

We spend the morning in the ancient capital city of Xian. Our tour features the walled city and a visit to the world-famous Terracotta Warriors. We return to the train for a late lunch as we depart for Inner Mongolia.

Day 8: Datong

Afternoon arrival into Datong where we spend the rest of the day visiting the Yungang Caves; one of the three major cave clusters in China. There are 53 caves revealing over 51,000 stone statues. Dinner on board the train as we head towards the bright lights of Beijing.

Day 9: Kangzhuang/Beijing

Our train stops in Kangzhuang so we can spend the morning at the Great Wall of China. We have lunch as the train slowly descends under the wall and down to the plains for our final run into Beijing, where we arrive late afternoon. Transfer to the five-star Peninsular Palace Hotel, or similar, for two nights.

Day 10: Beijing

We spend the day visiting the various sites of this bustling city including Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven before lunch at the Summer Palace. Farewell Peking duck dinner in the city.

Day 11: Beijing. Transfers to Beijing’s Capital airport are included today.