Rich and Colorful Beijing + Guilin
Traveling by the fast, comfortable and reliable high speed bullet trains is becoming more and more popular, as a stylish way to explore the Middle Kingdom. After your Beijing tour, you can take a direct bullet train to Guilin (usually departing in early morning). 11 hours journey on the train seems to be long, but you will not be tired or bored if you get a seat by the window. As the bullet train traverse the vast land of China from north to south, you will see so many aspects of China - metropolis, rural villages, tiny towns, farm lands, markets, rivers, mountains...What a scenic and interesting train journey! But if you think 11 hours' train journey is too long to spend, feel free to let us exchange to flight which only takes about 3 hours fly from Beijing to Guilin.
Highlights of this tour
Ni Hao! welcome to Beijing, the iconic city and capital of China! You will be met by our local tour guide at the arrival hall of Beijing Airport and escorted to your downtown hotel by a private comfortable vehicle. The rest of the day is your own to relax. If you want to explore nearby areas, feel free to get some practical suggestions from your tour guide.
Arrival Ideals: At present, there are many international and domestic flights to Beijing. Besides, you can take a high speed train to this capital city from Shanghai (5-6 hrs), Xian (5.5 hrs), Guangzhou (8-9.5 hrs), etc.
After breakfast, start to explore the historical face of Beijing with a brief visit to Tiananmen Square, now the largest city plaza in the world. Tiananmen Gate on the northern side of the square was the site where Chairman Mao announced the establishment of the People's Republic of China. Stepping into the Tiananmen, you will see one of the world’s five most important palaces – the Forbidden City, a huge palace complex of more than 9,000 rooms where 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties lived. Pass through various doorways in this magnificent structure to admire the beautiful and well preserved buildings decorated with yellow-glazed tile roofs, white marble bases and splendid colorful paintings.
After lunch, you will go to hop on a rickshaw to experience the Beijing Hutongs - small alleys made by neighboring quadrangle dwellings. Shuttle among different Hutongs to get a feel of the old Beijing life style, visit various antique shops and small boutiques, and truly feel the historical changes of Beijing, also pay a visit to a local family's home in the traditional Hutongs. After Hutong visit, drive to the outskirts of Beijing to spend an enjoyable time in the Summer Palace, the largest and best-preserved royal garden in China. Stroll around ancient pavilions, mansions, temples, bridges and corridors while feasting your eyes on the vast lotus in Kunming Lake and the colorful paintings in the Long Corridor.
Optional activities: 1) You can watch a wonderful Kungfu Show in the Red Theater (Hong Ju Chang) which usually starts at 19:30; 2) Enjoy the classic Chinese art performance of Beijing Opera at Liyuan Theater between 19:30-21:00.
After breakfast, drive to the imperial site - Temple of Heaven. It was originally used to pay homage to Heaven and pray for harvest, now becomes a bustling place for locals to take part in traditional activities, such as Tai Chi, dancing, kite flying, water calligraphy, etc.
After the Temple of Heaven visit, drive about 70km to witness one of the Seven Wonders of the World - the Great Wall. Visit the Mutianyu, a less crowded yet well-preserved segment of the Great Wall built in the Ming Dynasty. It will more than live up to all of your expectations! This great wall, linking Gubeikou in the east and Juyongguan in the west, was served as the vital military strategic point in the ancient time. Moreover, Mutianyu section is the “longest great wall in China” so far and since protection work is well done here, tourists can now see its original appearance and enjoy the real ancient culture of great wall. Also, spectacular natural scenery in Mutianyu Great Wall always impresses visitors here for its abundant vegetation. You’ll take a cable car to ascend the Great Wall, then hike the most beautiful and interesting part of Mutianyu. It's a wonderful experience to climb up its rising towers to enjoy scenic views and take brag-worthy photos of the wall wriggling along mountain ridges. After the exciting time, descend Mutianyu Great Wall by cable car. (Note: If energy permits, you can hike up or down which takes about 40 minutes to climb steps. Please tell your likes to your travel consultant.)
This early morning, your tour guide will see you off at the train station for your morning high speed train to Guilin (about 11 hours). The bullet train will take you to traverse the vast land of China from north to south, you will see so many aspects of China - metropolis, rural village, tiny towns, farm lands, markets, rivers, mountains...What a scenic and interesting train journey!
Upon arrival at Guilin railway station, your local tour guide and driver will meet you, and escort you to your hotel. The rest of the day is yours to have fun on your own.
In this morning, you’ll be driven about 90km (about 2.5 hours) to witness one of the most beautiful rice terraces in China - Longji Rice Terrace, an amazing feat of farm engineering rising up to 1000m high in Longsheng County. There are several featured Zhuang and Yao minority villages along the road and you’ll take a visit to the special Huangluo Yao Village, the First Village of Long Hair in the World, where you can see women in red ethnic clothes with very long hairs (the longest can reach up to 1.7 meters).
Later, continue your drive to a beautiful 600-year-old Zhuang Village - Ping’an and check in your hotel located near the rice terraces. After some rest, start to explore the breathtaking views. The rice terrace is layer upon layer, like the changing ladder created by nature leading to the blue sky, forming a majestic painting between heaven and earth. From Ping’an, you can hike on the cobbled paths built among terraces to catch the best landscape. Climb up to the great lookouts at Seven Stars with Moon and Nine Dragons and Five Tigers from which you can get superlative views of terraces and villages. Hike half day around, then back to Ping’an for dinner and accommodation.
Good to Know:
1. Best time to visit: Longji Rice Terrace can be visited all year round. Go mid-April to mid-June for mirror-like irrigated terrace and rice transplanting scene; go mid-June to mid-September for green terraces; go late September to early-October for golden and harvest scene.
2. Walking: When arriving at Ping’an Village, you can only be dropped at Ping’an Village Tourist Center parking lot that you need to walk about 900 steps to your hotel. Comfortable shoes are highly recommended!
3. Luggage carrying: For the aged or travelers who are lack of physical strength, you’d better hire a local porter to help carry your heavy luggage to the hotel (pay extra expense on your own).
4. Notice: The Viewing Platform of Seven Stars with Moon is under a reconstruction which means it is closed for travelers at present. The hiking route between Seven Stars with Moon and Nine Dragons and Five Tigers would do some adjustment during the construction. You won’t miss the amazing rice terraces scenery when visiting.
When walking up in the fresh air of peaceful morning, you may forget where you are. You can go to watch the magnificent sunrise over the beautiful rice terraces at a great location. Then get back to hotel for breakfast.
After breakfast, you’ll enjoy an in-depth hiking tour led by your guide from Ping’an to Zhongliu and Dazhai (located in Jinkeng Yao Rice Terraces). The walk from Ping’an to Zhongliu takes about 2 hours, as well as another 2 hours from Zhongliu to Dazhai. You’ll indulge in the most invigorating walk offering the most spine-tingling views - sparkling layers of waterlogged terraced fields tenaciously climbing the hillsides, bubbling stream, local farmers working in the fields and primitive minority villages…It is surely worth your time and effort! After the tour, transfer back to Guilin.
Please note:
1. Jinkeng Rice Terrace has three main sites - West Hill Music, Thousand-layer Terraces and Golden Buddha Peak and if you want to explore deeply, you can use cableway up to Golden Buddha Peak for the magnificent and panoramic view of the terrace. Please discuss with your guide based on the real situation.
As the declaration in Chinese textbook "Guilin’s landscape is the best under heaven", today you will explore this best landscape starting with a relaxing sightseeing cruise along the Li River from Mopanshan Pier to Yangshuo Town. Along the 84-kilometer cruise, dazzling scenery overwhelms your eyes like a vast endless Chinese painting of winding river, green limestone karst mountains, fascinating countryside views, amazing scene of A Painting of Nine Horses, and notable view printed on the back of the 20 RMB note. (Please note: Lunch is served by the cruise with simple local Chinese cuisine. And you can take some snacks when getting on board.)
After about 4 hours’ cruise, disembark in Yangshuo Town, and check in your hotel. Take a short break, and then throw yourself into the stunning countryside views and relaxed atmosphere. Be enthralled by the patches of paddy fields nestling under green hills and near the mirror-like river, with farmers cultivating the soil with their water buffalos.
After that, walk leisurely on the ancient West Street to witness how the western culture and Chinese culture perfectly and peacefully coexist here. Whether you want to enjoy a cup of drink in bar, taste some local food, or just experience the relaxing atmosphere, you get it here.
Optional afternoon activities:
1. Join the interesting Chinese Cooking Class (15:00-18:00) to learn about Chinese dishes and cook your special dinner with the help of English-speaking chef. 2. Discover more about Chinese culture by joining our calligraphy class / Taichi class.
Optional evening activity:
Watch the splendid evening performance of Impression Liu Sanjie with the Li River itself as the stage, which was directed by famous director - Zhang Yimou (usually performs for an hour between around 19:45 and 22:20).
This morning, after breakfast, start your impressive exploration of the best charming sightseeing and ideal countryside ease at Yulong River. Let all the refreshing scenes please your eyes and souls to the utmost. Just enjoy every moment to close up to the Karst hills dotted around, chatting stream, rippling mountain reflection, swaying floras, patches of vivid crops, old dwellings on the riverside, comfortable breeze, clear azure sky… There are diverse kinds of ways for your enjoyment of the fun and beauty, including biking, hiking, sightseeing bus, bamboo rafting and scooter. You can easily choose and combine your ideal way(s) and part of Yulong River. (Please tell your likes to your travel consultants before booking the tour, as the final prices will differ by activities you choose.).
Biking (some physically demanding & sightseeing by the river) - Ride to enjoy the river view, the real fields, the antique houses and hundreds-year-old stone bridge (route: Yangshuo - Jima - Jiuxian Village - Shuiedi Dock - Gongnong Bridge - West Street; for 3 hours). During the tour, pay a visit of a local family near Chaoyang to have a short break and see their living environment and farming tools of local peasants.
Bamboo Rafting (relaxing and interesting & sightseeing on the river) - have fun with the classic bamboo rafting (Route A: Shuiedi Dock - Gongnong Bridge for 40-50 minutes; Route B: Jima Dock - Gongnong Bridge for 1.5 hours) to see the more serene view like pieces of traditional Chinese landscape ink paintings.
Sightseeing Bus (most leisurable and comfortable & sightseeing on the road) - sit leisurely on the bus from Jima to Gongnong Bridge to appreciate the lovely countryside view (about 0.5 hour). You can get off and on anywhere on the middle way to explore more about your interested place.
After the visiting, be transferred to catch your flight / train to next destination. (Note: arrange your flight or train in late afternoon or early evening.)
Note: according to the regulations of Yulong River Tourism, children less than 1 meter high and elders over 70 years old are not allowed to take the bamboo rafting.
Hong Kong / Guilin / Xian / Beijing
Hong Kong / Guilin / Yangshuo / Longsheng / Chengdu / Chongqing / Yangtze Cruise / Yichang / Zhangjiajie / Shanghai / Xian / Beijing
Hong Kong / Guilin / Longsheng / Yangshuo / Guilin
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