12 Days Beijing Xian Yangtze River Cruise and Shanghai Tour for Seniors

Welcome to China! Meet your private guide and driver for a transfer from airport to your hotel. Your vehicle is in a good condition, spacious and comfortable. Your guide will then assist you in hotel check-in procedures and anything else you may need help. After a long air journey, relax and get over the jet lag.

• Hotels: Beijing Fairmont Hotel, Beijing Double Happiness Courtyard Hotel, Beijing Aman Summer Palace

Tian'anmen Square

This morning, navigate to the heart of Beijing, where the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square are located. Walk on the Tiananmen Square to look up Tiananmen Rostrum, fluttering Chinese national flags and other historical sites surrounding.

Enter Forbidden City. The previous imperial palace has become an amazing museum of ancient Chinese culture and art. Have an in-depth visit of Forbidden City to admire the traditional Chinese wooden architectures, see many awe-inspiring treasures and learn history.

In the afternoon, take a dragon boat to cruise China’s royal garden – the Summer Palace. It is a fabulous combination of Chinese imperial architecture and classical garden. Enjoying the mountainous beauty, elegant gardens and river cruise, you will experience part of a Chinese emperor’s life.

Watch a performance of Peking Opera or Shaolin Kung Fu with VIP seat (optional).

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,

Tian'anmen Square

The iconic landmark of China, the Great Wall is a big draw for all people. For senior travelers, we’ll arrange you the round way cableway on Mutianyu Great Wall. You may or may not walk for a while to take in the magnificent views – the walls stretch on the mountaintops as far as your eyes can reach. Learn from your expert guide the historical facts of the Great Wall.

Then peep your legs loose on a rickshaw, a public vehicle widely used in Beijing in the early 19th Century, and go through the historical hutong alleys, where the old Beijing, with many disappearing scenes, can still be found. There’re chances that you may have a chat with the senior people living in hutong.

Follow the traditional dinning etiquette to enjoy a Beijing Roasted Duck dinner (optional).

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,

Great Wall

A gift to your health, take a private Tai Chi boxing lesson right in front of Temple of Heaven. And see the locals, mostly the elderly, enjoying their morning hours in a healthy, active way by dancing and practicing Kung Fu. Temple of heaven itself is a truly outstanding architecture and was a sacred place for ancient Chinese monarchs to worship heaven.

If you’re traveling in Beijing at a weekend, don’t miss visiting Panjiayuan Market. Here see antique lovers looking for the old stuffs, valuable or sophisticated counterfeiting, from the local craftsman and vendors.

Board a high speed train from Beijing to Xian, one of China’s premier historic capitals, with many ancient sites.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
• Hotels: Sofitel Legend Peoples Grand Hotel Xian, Wyndham Grand Xian South

Temple of Heaven

Begin your full day Xian tour with a trip to the archaeological site of the enormous Terracotta Army. The vividly carved warriors, officers, horses, chariots and weapons were the funerary objects of Emperor Qinshihuang and supposed to protect him after he died. Get to know Chinese manual skill of terracotta 2000 years ago.

Then take a stroll on bustling Muslim Street, a renowned food center in Xian introducing perfectly the local cuisine that blends Muslim flavor. Come to the Great Mosque of Xian in Huajue Alley, a grand Islamic mosque blending traditional Chinese architectural art yet strictly in accordance with the Islamic layout system.

Tonight, be amused by Tang Dynasty music and dance, while at the same time gracefully feasting on various flavors of dumplings at a banquet (optional).

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,

Terracotta Warriors Museum

This morning, view Xian’s urban landscape, dotted with old structures such as Bell and Drum Towers, on the majestic Ancient City Wall. There’s no other place like Xian that retains its history on every modern aspect.

Soak up Silk Road history and culture at the site of Big Wild Goose Pagoda. This masterpiece of Buddhist architecture was constructed in 652 to keep the Buddhist classics that were brought back by the legendary Monk Xuanzang from ancient Indian. It witnessed the prosperity of Silk Road and the introduction of Buddhism to China.

Fly from Xian to Chongqing, a city famous for hot pot and fabulous night views, and where your Yangtze cruise starts. Transfer to the port to board your ship.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,

Xi'an Ancient City Wall

If you prefer, live like an energetic Chinese senior – practicing Tai Chi moves in the breeze in the early morning, and bask in the first soft sunlight. Join a local-expert-led shore excursion to Shibaozhai Pagoda standing majestically on the bank of Yangtze. One of the few all-wood architectures of ancient China, the pagoda is hailed as an amazingly strange building in the world.

At tonight’s welcome party, meet the captain and crew. Enjoy the delicious dinner and a choreographed performance.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner,

Shibaozhai Pagoda

As the ship sails, you’ve come to the most scenic place of the Yangtze. Keep practicing Tai Chi on board and feel at ease with comfortable environment. Enjoy the beautiful Three Gorge sceneries all along. The ship gradually sails through Qutang Gorge and Wu Gorge, and you can see high mountains and steep precipices along the banks. Then get out of your ship and take a small boat to float through pristine Shennv Stream (Goddess Stream).

Attend the Captain’s Farewell Party.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner,

Shennv Stream

After breakfast, check out, and disembark in Yichang this morning. You will be driven to the site of Three Gorge Dam, along with all the other passengers. The dam is a multipurpose hydraulic project, the biggest and most efficiency of its kind in the world, and creating a spectacular scene on the Yangtze River.

Before flying to Shanghai, have a visit of Sanyou Cave, a famous cultural site in Yichang, with ancient pavilions and military fort. Many ancient literati came here successively and left hundreds of cliff inscriptions and poems.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
• Hotels: Four Seasons Hotel Pudong Shanghai, Grand Hyatt Shanghai, JW Marriott Hotel Shanghai at Tomorrow Square

Three Gorge Dam

Today, discover both Shanghai’s charming traditional culture and modern spectacles. Visit Fuxing Park, with a garden that mixes classical French style. Local people, especially the elderly, like to do the morning exercise to keep fit in the park.

Continue to explore Shanghai, touring Yu Garden, a traditional Chinese garden in Shanghai city center with outstanding design and refined layout. Then walk the zigzagging bridge of Town God Temple Area and come to Shanghai’s most famous food streets. Steam bun, traditional cakes, noodles… are to make your mouth watering.

Later ascend the observation deck of Shanghai World Financial Center, one of the tallest buildings in Lujiazui, to view the rising skyscrapers. Then ramble on the Bund along Huangpu River. There are over 50 colonial buildings of different classical Western architectural styles, making the Bund a historical landmark in Shanghai.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,

Shanghai Pudong area

Today, transfer from Shanghai to Tongli to soak up the picturesque views of thousand year-old ancient town, canals, Ming & Qing dwellings, gardens, wetlands… Experience a peaceful, slow-paced life as the locals do in Tongli and ride a boat to cruise the lakes and bridges. Walk leisurely on the Ming Qing Street lined with traditional snack and specialty shops and visit UNESCO-listed Tuisi Garden.

Tonight, enjoy VIP seating watching the performance of Shanghai acrobatics (optional).

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,

Tongli Water Town by Boat

Pick up, and transfer from hotel to airport. Your guide will assist you to go through the check-in procedures and walk you to the security Checkpoint. Board your flight back home. China Culture Tour service ends.

• Meals: Breakfast,

Yu Garden