Iconic China

Arrive Beijing — Welcome to China

Touch down at Beijing Capital Airport. Your private guide and driver meet you at arrivals with a name sign. Private transfer to your hotel — a restored hutong courtyard in the heart of old Beijing. Freshen up, then join your guide for a welcome dinner at a courtyard restaurant serving imperial cuisine. Your guide walks you through the journey ahead over tea.

Beijing — Tiananmen, Forbidden City & Jingshan

Begin at Tiananmen Square — the world's largest public square — as your guide explains its role from dynastic times to today. Enter the Forbidden City through the Meridian Gate. Your guide brings 500 years of palace intrigue to life: concubine rivalries, eunuch politics, emperor rituals. Skip the standard route to explore quieter courtyards most groups miss. Climb Jingshan Hill for the iconic rooftop panorama — golden tiles stretching to the horizon.

Beijing — Great Wall at Mutianyu

Early start to beat the crowds. Private driver takes you to Mutianyu — the best-preserved section of the Great Wall, with far fewer visitors than Badaling. Cable car up, then walk the ramparts at your pace. Your guide shares the wall's hidden history: how it was built, where the bricks came from, what life was like for the soldiers stationed here. Lunch at a farm-to-table restaurant overlooking the wall. Afternoon visit to the Summer Palace — Kunming Lake, the Long Corridor, and the Marble Boat at golden hour.

Beijing → Xi'an — Temple of Heaven & High-Speed Train

Morning visit to the Temple of Heaven. Join locals practicing tai chi and ballroom dancing in the park — your guide translates the moves if you want to join. See the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, an architectural masterpiece built without a single nail. Explore a hutong alley by rickshaw, stopping at a family home for tea. Afternoon: board the first-class high-speed train to Xi'an (~5.5 hours). Your Xi'an guide meets you at the station for a private transfer to your hotel inside the ancient city walls.

Xi'an — Terracotta Warriors & Tang Dynasty Evening

The day you've been waiting for. Private drive to the Terracotta Warriors museum. Your guide — a history specialist — walks you through all three pits: the main battle formation (6,000 warriors, each with a unique face), the command headquarters, and the bronze chariot exhibition. Learn why each figure is different, how they were discovered by farmers digging a well in 1974, and the ongoing excavation work. Lunch at a local restaurant famous for hand-pulled biang biang noodles. Evening: Tang Dynasty dinner and music show — a spectacle of classical dance, silk costumes, and ancient instruments.

Xi'an → Guilin — City Wall & Muslim Quarter

Rent bikes and cycle atop Xi'an's 600-year-old city wall — the most complete ancient fortification in China (14km loop, do as much as you like). Walk through the Muslim Quarter, a sensory overload of sizzling lamb skewers, pomegranate juice stalls, and the Great Mosque — a rare fusion of Chinese temple architecture and Islamic tradition. Afternoon flight to Guilin. Your Guilin guide meets you at the airport. Check into your riverside hotel.

Guilin → Yangshuo — Li River Cruise

Board a private boat for the Li River cruise — four hours through the karst landscape that inspired a thousand scroll paintings. Mist-shrouded peaks rise vertically from the water, bamboo groves line the banks, cormorant fishermen drift past on bamboo rafts. Your guide points out the formations that appear on the ¥20 bill. Arrive in Yangshuo, a charming town nestled among the peaks. Afternoon: walk or bike through rice paddies and ancient villages. Sunset drinks at a rooftop bar with 360° karst views.

Yangshuo → Shanghai — Countryside Morning & Fly East

Morning tai chi session with a local master on the riverbank (optional, all levels welcome). Bike through Dragon Bridge countryside: rice paddies, water buffalo, farmers in conical hats — the rural China that feels centuries away from Shanghai. Drive back to Guilin for your flight to Shanghai. Your Shanghai guide meets you at the airport. Evening: walk the Bund — Art Deco grandeur on one side, Pudong's neon skyline on the other. The city reveals itself at night.

Shanghai — Old & New, Yu Garden to French Concession

Start at Yu Garden, a 16th-century scholar's retreat of rockeries, pavilions, and carp ponds in the heart of old Shanghai. Cross the Nine-Turn Bridge and explore the surrounding bazaar. Walk the French Concession: plane-tree-lined streets, 1920s lane houses, hidden cafés — your guide reveals the stories behind the facades. Afternoon visits to Shanghai Tower observation deck (world's second-tallest building) for a view that puts the city in perspective. Evening: farewell dinner at a Michelin-recommended Shanghainese restaurant, then an ERA acrobatics show — a jaw-dropping spectacle of balance and athleticism.

Depart Shanghai — Journey Home

Private transfer to Shanghai Pudong Airport. Your guide helps with check-in and says goodbye. If your flight is late, optional morning visit to the Propaganda Poster Art Centre or a last stroll through the Former French Concession — your guide adjusts the morning to your schedule.