17 Days mountain hiking tour: Beijing-Chengdu-Mt. Emei-Mt. Siguniang-Chengdu-Shanghai
During this 17-day tour, you will see the famous sites, like Forbidden City, Great Wall, and the Bund; experience the fun of hiking on mountains as well as feeling the religious atmosphere.
Trip Highlights
- Step your feet on the marvelous Great Wall
- Have close contact with the cute giant pandas
- Feel the Taoist atmosphere by hiking on Mt. Emei
- Have great chance to see the sunrise on Golden Summit
- Hike on Mt. Siguniang
Customizable Tour Itinerary
Day 1 Beijing Arrival
On arrival at Beijing, you will find our guide at the arrival hall waiting for you with your name sign. Be escorted to the hotel for the check-in and take some rest then.
Meals: No meal, advice freely available
- Hotels: Hilton Beijing Wangfujing, Regent Beijing, Park Plaza Beijing Wangfujing, Beijing Double Happiness Courtyard Hotel
Day 2 Tian’anmen Square, Forbidden City (closed on every Monday), Jingshan Park, Walking tour in Hutong with Family visit
After breakfast, comes the first site of your 17-day China tour, the Tian’anmen Square, the site of countless major political and historical events, as well as a historical witness to China's rise from decline to rise. Walk through the street; you will reach Forbidden City, home to 24 Ming and Qing emperors. Travel back to the ancient times with your experienced guide.
Savor a delicious Dim Sum lunch at Jindingxuan Restaurant. After lunch, take a short visit to Jingshan Park where you can get a nice shot of one watchtower of Forbidden City and take a panoramic view of Forbidden City. Walk around the Hutongs and visit the Hutong family and you will experience the “old” Beijing in the new Beijing.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch at Jindingxuan Dim Sum Restaurant with a la carte menu
Feature Dinner option: Peking Roast Duck(Dadong Peking Duck, Qianmen Quanjude Peking Duck), Fangshan Restaurant, Mei Family Restaurant, Bai Family Restaurant)
Optional evening activity: Peking Opera, Kungfu Show
Note: It takes about 3 hours walking in the Forbidden City. You can ask the guide to stop for some rest if you are tired.
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
Day 3 Temple of Heaven, One Hour Taichi experience in Temple of Heaven, Mutianyu Great Wall with round ways cable car or one way chairlift and slide way down
After breakfast, pay a visit to Temple of Heaven to check out how the emperors worshiped the heaven in ancient times. Today it is also a park for locals doing exercises. You will participate in a Taichi lesson with a master here.
There’s a Chinese saying goes that He who does not reach the Great Wall is not a true man. A visit to the Great Wall has been a must for travelers. Today you will visit the older, less crowded, and more original Mutianyu Great Wall.
Before going up to the Great Wall, enjoy a local lunch at Xin Shuang Quan Restaurant to store energy. Ascend the Wall to the 6th watchtower by chairlift and hike the Wall as long as you want. Go back to the 6th watchtower to take the toboggan down, which is quite exciting and only available at Mutianyu Great Wall. Be escorted back to the hotel after the visit.
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
Day 4 Summer Palace with boat cruise, private transfer to the airport in Beijing. Private transfer from the airport to the hotel in Chengdu
This morning is scheduled for the royal garden - the Summer Palace. Wander through the harmonious landscape and the exquisite building complex; you may feel travel back to Qing Dynasty. Cruise the Kunming Lake for about 10 minutes to appreciate the garden from a different angle.
Be escorted to the airport in Beijing after the tour and lunch. A flight will take you to Chengdu, the hometown of giant pandas.
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
- Hotels: The Ritz-Carlton, Chengdu, JW Marriott Hotel Chengdu, Chengdu Xijinge All Suites Apartment
Day 5 Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Center, Jinli Ancient Street, Wuhou Ancestral Hall
Reputed to be “the giant panda’s natural paradise and the people’s land of idyllic beauty”, the Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Center provides beautiful environment of overlapping mountains, clean water, lush trees, etc. for the giant pandas and other rare animals, also tourists who visit there.
After a local lunch nearby, travel back to city area to visit Jinli Ancient Street. Take a heart-lighted stroll and explore the interesting shops with your guide. Later visit Wuhou Ancestral Hall, which is a memorial temple for Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of Shu Han during The Three Kingdoms period of China. It is named after Zhuge Liang who was honored as the marquis of Wuxiang Village.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch in the local restaurant with a la carte menu
Feature Dinner option: Lao Ma Tou Hotpot, Huang Cheng Lao Ma
Optional evening activity: face changing show and taste the local tea in Shufengyayun Theater
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
Day 6 People’s Park, Tea tasting Local Tea House, Jinsha Site Museum, private transfer to Mt. Emei (3hrs)
Morning visit to People’s Park, the perfect place to learn about the locals’ laid-back lifestyle. Savor a cup of tea in a local tea house like the locals.
Your Chengdu tour will end at Jinsha Site Museum. It has become a landmark building in Chengdu, with 2235 pieces of cultural relic collections - gold ware, bronze ware, jade ware, stone ware, lacquered wood ware and pottery and ivory.
After the Chengdu tour, you will be taken to Mt. Emei for overnight.
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
- Hotels: JZ Hotel Emei, Hengmai hotel
Day 7 Baoguo Temple – Wannian Temple, – Xixinsuo Temple, Zhanglaoping, Huayan Summit – Leidongping
After breakfast, take the earliest (08:30am) public sightseeing bus from Baoguo Temple to Wannian Temple parking lot. The hiking starts from here. You will hike all the way to Leidongping via Wannian Temple, Xixinsuo Temple, Zhanglaoping, Huayan Summit. It is around 8pm when you arrive at Leidongping. Spend overnight here.
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
Day 8 Leidongping-Golden Summit-Leidongping-Bottom of Mt. Emei, private transfer back to Chengdu
If you want to see the sunrise at Golden Summit, you may need to get up at about 4am. It will depend on the time of the sunrise. It takes about 2 to 3 hours from Leidongping to the Golden Summit by walking. Or you can take the cable car, which starts at about 5am. The opening time differs from seasons. A lot of people would like to take the cable car to save energy and time. However, there is great possibility that you will miss the sunrise if you take the cable car. After the sunrise, you can take the cable down to Leidongping. Later, you will take the public sightseeing bus from Leidongping parking lot to the bottom.
Go back to Chengdu after the tour.
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
- Hotels: The Ritz-Carlton, Chengdu, JW Marriott Hotel Chengdu, Chengdu Xijinge All Suites Apartment
Day 9 Drive from Chengdu to Rilong via Dujiangyan, Yingxiu, and Wolong (6hrs). Altitude: 540m - 3,200m
Today you will travel on the road. After breakfast, the guide and driver will escort you all the way from Chengdu to Rilong via Dujiangyan, Yingxiu and Wong. The whole driving takes about 6 hours.
Note: You may ask the driver to stop on the road from time to time to have some rest and take some pictures.
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
- Hotels: Artistic Conception Resort Hotel, Holy Land Image Hotel
Day 10 Rilong- Changping Valley-Rilong (6 - 8 hrs hiking)
After a sound sleep and a big breakfast in the hotel, are you ready for the long hiking today? Changping Valley was the ancient battlefields. Only part of the road could be opened to traffic, while most of the road could only be traveled on foot or on horseback. During the hiking, you will see the panorama of Siguniang Mountain, Yaomei Peak, the scenery of Changping Valley, the primrose forest, the yak herd, the sea of flowers if in summer and the red leaves if in autumn.
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
Day 11 Rilong-Dajianbao-Jipengzi-BC base camp (6-8 hrs)
Today is still a tough day as a long time hiking is waiting for you. After breakfast, start from Rilong and end at BC base camp. During the tour, you will hike through Zhaijieping, Guozhaungping, Shibanre, Dajianbao, Jipengzi, Dacao and also appreciate the scenery of panorama of Siguniang Mountain, Yaomei Peak, the scenery of Changping Valley, the primrose forest, the yak herd, the sea of flowers if in summer and the red leaves if in autumn.
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
- Hotels: BC base camp
Day 12 Base camp-Summit-Rilong (10 hrs hiking)
After a night rest and breakfast, continue your hiking to the summit and enjoy the view you never enjoyed before, like stunning scenery on the summit, alpine meadow, alpine shrub, yak group. Remember to record this memorable moment with your camera. After that, come down from the summit and drive back to Rilong.
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
- Hotels: Artistic Conception Resort Hotel, Holy Land Image Hotel
Day 13 Drive from Rilong back to Chengdu (6 hrs)
Today you will not do ant hiking, but driving back to Chengdu. Just relax in the vehicle and appreciate the scenery along the way.
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
- Hotels: The Ritz-Carlton, Chengdu, JW Marriott Hotel Chengdu, Chengdu Xijinge All Suites Apartment
Day 14 A half free day in Chengdu, private transfer from Chengdu hotel to the airport. Private transfer from the airport to the hotel in Shanghai
After several days’ hiking, you finally have some time to rest in the hotel. The guide will meet you at the confirmed time at the hotel lobby and escort you to the airport in Chengdu for the flight to Shanghai. Shanghai guide will be there waiting for you at the airport arrival hall.
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
- Hotels: The Peninsula Shanghai, Grand Central Hotel Shanghai, Central Hotel Shanghai
Day 15 French Concession, Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall, Yuyuan Garden (close on every Monday), City God Temple, Shanghai Tower, the Bund
After a sound sleep and a tasty buffet breakfast at the hotel, start to know the Shanghai tour with a visit to French Concession. Once the biggest concessions during the period from 1849 to 1946, it still keeps the beautiful western style buildings. Travel back to the old China by roaming around the narrow alleyways. Continue the tour to Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall where displays the overall urban planning and development of Shanghai.
Drive to Xiangyefu Restaurant, a classic tea house restaurant located at Shanghai City God Temple Area. After enjoying lunch, explore the Shanghai City God Temple and Yuyuan Garden, a tranquil Chinese style garden that owns a history of more than 400 years. Later be taken to the Shanghai Tower, the tallest buildings in China. Atop the building and enjoy a panoramic view of the Shanghai city on the observation deck. The Bund is today’s last stop. It has become a must see in Shanghai that combines the Huangpu River, the long beach, green belt and beautiful buildings. After the leisurely walk, you will be transferred back to the hotel or you may ask your guide just drop you off there and continue to explore on your own.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch at Xiangyefu Teahouse Restaurant with a la carte menu
Feature Dinner Option: Nan Xiang Mantou Dian, Green Wave Gallery, Lost Heaven-Yunnan Restaurant Bund Branch
Optional evening activity: Era Time or Shangcheng Acrobatic Show
- Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
Day 16 A free day in Shanghai
Today, there is no hiking and no tour plan. Just relax in the hotel or do some exploration around the hotel on your own.
- Meals: Breakfast,
Day 17 Shanghai Departure
Your 17-day China tour draws to a close today. Meet your guide and driver at the hotel lobby and be taken to the airport for your flight home or to next destination. Wish you a safe flight!
- Meals: Breakfast,
Price Includes
- In-country transportationas noted in the itinerary.
- Admission fees and activity expenses as noted in the itinerary.
- Luxury or boutique hotels centrally located.
- Meals in local restaurants as noted in the itinerary with complimentary drinking water.
- Your own English-speaking guide service.
- Your own chauffeur and vehicle service.
Price Excludes
- International transportation.
- Chinese tourist visa. (which enquired for most foreign passport holders)
- Travel and medical insurance.
- Meals, snacks, alcohol, etc. apart from those included in the itinerary.
- Excess baggage charges.
- Personal expenses.
- Sights, excursions and activities not included in the itinerary.
- Gratuities to guide and driver.
ANY QUESTIONS?
This tour is tailor-made and we can tailor to meet your reqeusts. Your personal travel consultant will contact you within 24 working hours!
GREAT FAMILY CHINA TOUR
JULY 2024 We wanted to thank Grace at China Culture tour for organizing a great tour of China. We enjoyed our Beijing - Xian-Chengdu -Guilin -Yangshuo - Shanghai trip. Our local guides Bruce in Beijing, Susan in Xian, Jane in Chengdu, Mike in Guilin and Mary in Shanghai took care of us…read more details »
Teng Han L from SINGAPORE
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