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12-Day Beijing and East China Water Tour

Tour Code:TE-CTA-1201
Start in:Beijing
End in: Beijing
Destinations:Beijing → Shanghai → Zhouzhuang → Suzhou → Hangzhou
Day 1  Arrival/Beijing

Transfer via: International Flight on your own arrangement

Upon your arrival at Beijing airport, our local guide will meet you and escort you to your hotel. The rest of the day is free at your own leisure.

Breakfast:noneLunch:noneDinner:noneLodging:Beijing
Day 2   Beijing

Today you will first visit the historic Tiananmen Square, and then the magnificent Forbidden City. In the afternoon, you will tour the exquisite Summer Palace. Enjoy a famous Peking Duck Banquet for dinner.

- Tiananmen Square: the largest city square in the world and the spiritual heart of China, where the national flag is raised exactly at sunrise everyday.

- Forbidden City: located in the center of Beijing, used to be the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties with a history of around 600 years, it is the grandest integral palace complex still remaining in China.

- Summer Palace : Located on the northwestern outskirts of the city, it was an imperial summer resort of the Qing Dynasty. With its perfect layout, magnificent buildings and enchanting landscape, it is the most splendid classical garden in China.

- Peking Duck Dinner: Peking Roast Duck is regarded as one of the most delicious dishes throughout the world. A Peking Duck Dinner is usually a fixed item on any Beijing tour itinerary. At time-honored restaurants such as Quan Ju De, you can savor the mouth-watering traditional Beijing specialty, and at the same time the chefs will show you how they cuts the meat into exactly 108 slices from one duck, each having a piece of skin.

Breakfast:IncludedLunch:IncludedDinner:IncludedLodging: Beijing
Day 3   Beijing

Today you will have a tour to the majestic Great Wall(Badaling section), the Ding Tomb of Ming Tombs and Sacred road.

- Sacred Road: the path lined with stone statues of animals, mystical beasts and officials who are supposed to serve the emperor in his afterlife, through which the sitting emperors would go to perform memorial rituals for the ancestors once a year.

- Ding Tomb: the burial site of the emperor Wanli, the 13th emperor of the Ming Dynasty who ruled for 48 years until his death in 1620, it is the only underground tomb of the thirteen Imperial Ming tombs ever excavated.

- Great Wall: the most famous symbol of China and one of the world's most remarkable architectural wonders, it was built over 2,000 years ago and stretches about 6,700km.

Breakfast:IncludedLunch:IncludedDinner:noneLodging:
Day 4   Beijing

After breakfast,you will visit Hutongs by rickshaw, lunch will be served in one of the local people's home during the tour, when you can learn how to make dumplings. And then do some shopping at Xiushui Street.

- Hutongs: the old narrow paths with lots of courtyard homes where common people are living. They are like villages within a megalopolis. Through the hutongs' teeming maze of alleyways, you will see the old houses and learn about the daily life of ordinary Beijing citizens.

- Xiushui Street: a market near the embassy area and known as Silk Street market among foreigners. The main commodities include garments, silk products and tourist souvenirs. You can enjoy bargaining with the vendors and may have a pleasant surprise of finding a real treasure if you are lucky enough. Since early this year, an indoor five-story building with three underground stories claimed as the new Xiushui Market has been opened to substitute the old outdoor one.

Breakfast:IncludedLunch:IncludedDinner:IncludedLodging: Beijing
Day 5   Beijing/Shanghai

Transfer via: China domestic flighton our arrangement

Take morning flight to Shanghai. Upon your arrival, be met and transferred to the hotel. The rest of the day is on your own leisure.

Breakfast:IncludedLunch:noneDinner:noneLodging:Shanghai
Day 6  Shanghai

Today, your full-day excursion of incredible Shanghai will include: Shanghai Museum, the Bund and the Nanjing Road, Yu Garden and Yuyuan Market.

- Shanghai Museum: often ranked as China's best museum, it is the biggest museum in China with a fine collection of over 120,000 pieces of Chinese artifacts.

- Yuyuan Market: outside the Yu Garden, a bustling market with different snacks and trinkets.

- Yu Garden: located in the Old Town of Shanghai and laid out in 1559 AD by a powerful Ming official, Yu Garden recreates a beautiful landscape of pagodas, pavilions, rockeries, fountains, ancient trees and precious flowers.

- Nanjing Road: known as "China's No.1 Shopping Street" with a huge selection of merchandise on sale.

Breakfast:IncludedLunch:IncludedDinner:noneLodging:Shanghai
Day 7  Shanghai

Today is on your own arrangement. (No guide service and transferring being arranged.)

Breakfast:IncludedLunch:noneDinner:noneLodging:Shanghai
Day 8  Shanghai/Zhouzhuang/Suzhou

In the morning, drive to Zhouzhuang (30km away from Suzhou), there you will pay a visit to the Ancient Memorial Archway, Quanfu Temple, the Hall of Shen's Residence and the Twin Bridge. Drive to Suzhou, overnight in Suzhou.

- Twin Bridge: indicating two bridges -- the Shide Bridge and the Yong'an Bridges which were built between 1513 and 1619 AD and connect with each other. One bridge is in the direction of north-south, while the other east-west with one square and one round opening. As they look like an ancient key, the twin bridge is also known as key bridge.

- Hall of Shen's Residence: consisting of seven courtyards and five archways, it is the top of the residences with the unique local style of Jiangnan (meaning south of Yangtze River).

- Quanfu Temple: standing on the bank of the Baixian Lake, built in 1086 AD in Song Dynasty on the land donated by Zhou Digong, it is a good combination of Buddhist culture with architectural arts.

- Ancient Memorial Archway: an archway made of stone and standing upright at the junction of the old and the new town, it is the symbol of Zhouzhuang.

Breakfast:IncludedLunch:IncludedDinner:noneLodging:Suzhou
Day 9   Suzhou/Hangzhou

Transfer via: Train on our arrangement

Your tour in Suzhou today includes: the classical Humble Administrator's Garden, the ancient Tiger Hill Park, have a cruise on the Grand Canal and then visit the Pan Gate, and the No.1 Silk Factory. Take evening train to Hangzhou. Upon your arrval, be met and tranferred to the hotel. The rest of the day is on your own leisure.

- Grand Canal: commenced in the Sui Dynasty (605-616 AD), 1794 kilometers long from Beijing to Hangzhou, the Grand Canal has created a bountiful agricultural region and served as a major transportation artery between north and south.

- Tiger Hill Park: a symbol of the city, with a history of over 2,500 years, the Tiger Hill has had the reputation of being the No.1 sight of Suzhou, with a Song-dynasty leaning pagoda on top which was built in brick to imitate wood architecture.

- Humble Administrator's Garden: covers 10 acres and is the largest garden in Suzhou. It was built in 1509 during the Ming Dynasty and is divided into the eastern, middle and western parts. All of this centers upon the broad expanse of a lake to form the poetic and picturesque garden landscapes and waterscapes with exquisite buildings and luxuriant vegetation.

- Pan Gate: the only remaining city gate dating from the 12th century. It is built over Suzhou's former moat.

- The No.1 Silk Factory: Suzhou is famous for its silk production. In the factory you can learn more about silk production and detailed steps of the silk making process, and you will have an opportunity to purchase some of the incredibly delicate works as well.

Breakfast:IncludedLunch:IncludedDinner:noneLodging:Hangzhou
Day 10  Hangzhou

The city tour in this beautiful city will include: West Lake by boat, Lingyin Temple and Feilai Peak, Dragon Well Tea Plantation and Six Harmonies Pagoda.

- Six Harmonies Pagoda: first built in 970 AD in the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) to calm down the tide of the Qiantang River, it is a pavilion-style tower made of brick and wood with a height of 59.89 meters. The name "six harmonies" comes from the six Buddhist ordinances, meaning "harmonies of the heaven, earth, east, west, south and north".

- Feilai Peak (Peak Flying From Afar): opposite the Lingyin Temple, 209 meters (about 700 feet) high,it is a hill covered with inscriptions and reliefs carved into the rock dating from the 10th to 14th centuries.

- Lingyin Temple: a celebrated Chan (Zen) Buddhist temple founded in 326AD, despite being destroyed and rebuilt 16 times, it remains one of Hangzhou's main attractions. The current structure dates from the late Qing dynasty. Its highlights are the Great Hall with its 65 foot camphor-wood statue of the Buddha and the FeilaiPeak opposite the temple.

- West Lake: There are 36 West Lakes throughout China, but the one in Hangzhou is the inspiration for them all. The name of the West Lake originated during the Tang Dynasty from its lying to the west of Qiantang County. Another saying is that the lake is also named after Xi Shi, a famous ancient beauty, because of the apt comparison made between the two by the famed poet Su Dongpo (1037-1101AD). Originally a lagoon, the lake was dredged in the 8th century and later diked. The entire lake is ringed on three sides by mountains and one side by the city proper. With the green hills, willow trees, elegant bridges and clean spring water around, the view of the West Lake is simply enchanting.

- Dragon Well Tea Plantation: Dragon Well Green Tea is one of the most famous brands in China. In this Tea Plantation you can pick the tea leaves, taste a nice cup of tea and learn the history and processing procedure of tea.

Breakfast:IncludedLunch:IncludedDinner:noneLodging:Hangzhou
Day 11  Hangzhou/Beijing

Transfer via: China domestic flight on our arrangement

Take afternoon flight to Beijing. Upon your arrival, be met and tranferred to the hotel. The rest of the day is on your own leisure.

Breakfast:IncludedLunch:noneDinner:noneLodging:Beijing
Day 12   Beijing/Exit

Transfer via: International Flight on your own arrangement

Free in the day until our local guide escorts you to the airport for your flight to your sweet home.

Breakfast:IncludedLunch:noneDinner:noneLodging:none
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