17 Days China private tour of Beijing Silk Road Xian and Shanghai

Detailed Itinerary

• Entry Beijing  
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  Arrive at Beijing airport or train station. Be met and transferred to hotel for checking in. Remainder of the day is at leisure. If time permit, you may take a walk near your hotel.
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• Day 2. Beijing : Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Olympic Park  
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  Private tour guide and driver will meet you from hotel lobby at 08:30 a.m. Drive to visit Tiananmen Square, The biggest downtown Square of the world. Many important events took place in this square including the celebration of new China in 1949.
  Tour guide will lead you to walk through the Tiananmen Rostrum and enter the Forbidden City from Wumen Gate. With another name Palace Museum, it was the imperial palace of Ming and Qing dynasties. Rectangular in shape, Forbidden City is the world's largest palace complex. Visit Forbidden City along the central axis from south to north for about 1.5 hours.
  We will walk out Forbidden City from the north gate - Shenwumen Gate.
  
• Have lunch in a nice local restaurant in downtown and take a short rest.
  Drive 20 kilometers around 40 minutes to visit Summer Palace, which was the imperial garden of Ming and Qing dynasty. The garden covers mountain, Land as well as more than 3,000 buildings, such as halls, pavilions, towers, etc. Take sightseeing in this beautiful garden for about one hour and twenty minutes. It time permit we will stop at Olympic Park to take an outside view of Bird Nest and Water Cube, before being transferred back to hotel.
• Note
  • Tickets of Forbidden City needs to be reserved in advance. Please send us your scanned copy of passport when make reservation.
•   Buffet breakfast in hotel, lunch in local restaurant,
• Day 3. Beijing : Ming Tombs, Great Wall of China.   
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  After buffet breakfast in hotel, you will be met from hotel at 08:30 a.m. Drive one and half hours to Ming Tombs - the final resting place of Emperors in Ming Dynasty(around 600 years ago).
  We will visit the biggest tomb - Changling Tomb, which was built by the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty in 1409 AD. The main hall of Chang Ling is the largest nanmu wood structure of in China. The visiting time is around one hour.
  Have lunch in a nice local restaurant on the way to Great Wall.
  
• Drive 40 minutes to discover Great Wall of China - the defensive project to prevent the northern invaders in ancient times. We will visit the Great Wall at Badaling section, which was built in 1505 during the Ming Dynasty. This section of the Great Wall is the best preserved and the most popular one. The sightseeing time on Great Wall is around one and half hours.
•   Breakfast, Lunch,
• Day 4. Beijing: Hutong, Temple of Heaven, Beijing-Lanzhou  Reach Lanzhou.  
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  This day start from your hotel lobby at 08:30 a.m.
  Drive to downtown area near Drum Tower to discover old Beijing area - Beijing Hutong.
  Beijing Hutongs are lanes or alleys formed by lines of local courtyard. Most of them were built surrounding the Forbidden City over 600 years ago. This is a good place to touch traditional daily life of Beijing local people. Man-powered rickshaw is the best vehicle in Hutong.
  
  Then we will drive to visit Temple of Heaven - the best preserved and the largest sacrificial building complex in the world. In Ancient times, emperor came to the temple every winter to pray for ample harvests and good weather. The main buildings, Circular Mound Altar, Imperial Vault of Heaven and the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest, stands on a 750 meter long south-north axis. The sightseeing of Temple of Heaven is around one hour.
• Be transferred to airport to connect flight to Lanzhou.
  You will be met and transferred to Lanzhou hotel in downtown area.After reaching Lanzhou airport, you will be met and transferred to hotel in downtown Lanzhou.
•   Breakfast in hotel, lunch in local restaurant,
• Day 5. Lanzhou : White Pagoda Park, Yellow River Steel Bridge, Gansu Provincial Museum, Yellow River Mother Sculpture  Check in Jiayuguan hotel.  
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  After buffet breakfast in hotel, you will be met by tour guide and vehicle at 08:30 a.m. Drive to visit White Pagoda Park, which is located on the north bank of the Yellow River with a white pagoda temple on its height. The pagoda is structured in 7 terraces with an octagonal body and 17-meter in height. This is the best place to take a bird view of Lanzhou City.
  We will take a short visit of Yellow River Steel Bridge, which is located closed to White Pagoda Park.
  Have lunch in a nice restaurant of downtown Lanzhou.
  
• Drive to visit Gansu Provincial Museum. The museum offers excellent selection of exhibits relating to Gansu province and the Silk Road. 75,000 cultural relics including natural resources and historical exhibits are exhibited here. The highlight is 'Horse stepping on a flying swallow' - symbol of Chinese tourism.
  Take a short visit of Yellow River Mother Sculpture before being transferred back to hotel.
• Note
  • Lanzhou Stretch Noodles is available for lunch upon request.
•   Buffet Breakfast, Lunch,
• Day 6. Lanzhou - Xiahe Sangke Grassland  
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•   Breakfast, Lunch,
• Day 7. Xiahe Labrang Monastery, back to Lanzhou   
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•   Breakfast, Lunch,
• Day 5. Lanzhou: Binglingsi Grottoes.   
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•   Breakfast, Lunch,
• Day 9. Jiayuguan Pass, Overhanging Great Wall, Wei-Jin Art Gallery.   Afternoon train to Dunhuang  
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•   Breakfast, Lunch,
• Day 10. Dunhuang Echoing-Sand DuneEchoing-Sand Dune, Crescent Moon Lake  
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•   Breakfast, Lunch,
• Day 11. Dunhuang Mogao GrottoesMogao Grottoes, the Dunhuang Museum  
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•   Breakfast, Lunch,
• Day 12. Dunhuang - Xian  Check in hotel of Xian.  
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•   Breakfast, ,
• Day 13. Xian Terracotta Warriors and Horses, Huaqing Hot Spring, Big Wild Goose Pagoda, Dumpling Banquet，Evening Tour in the Great Tang Dynasty Lotus Park  
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•   Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• Day 14. Xian Provincial History Museum, Great Mosque, City Wall, DrumTower and Square  
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•   Breakfast, Lunch,
• Day 15. Xian fly to Shanghai  Reach Shanghai.  
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•   Breakfast, Lunch,
• Day 16. Shanghai Yu Garden, JadeBuddhaTemple, Nanjing Road, Oriental Pearl TV Tower, the Bund, HuangpuRiver Cruise  
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•   Breakfast, Lunch,
• Day 17.Departure  
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•   Breakfast, ,