Tour 3 11 DAY ITINERARY Beijing-Xian-Shanghai Day 01 Day 02 Day 03 Day 04 Day 05 Day 06 Day 07 Day 08 Day 09 Day 10 Day 11 Depart Sydney aboard China Southern Airlines flight. Set down at Guangzhou before continuing journey onto Beijing. On arrival, your guide will greet you and organise the transfer to accommodation. In the morning visit Tiannamen Square and tour the Forbidden City, the imperial palace of the emperors for more than 500 years. In the afternoon tour to the majestic Temple of Heaven where emperors prayed for good harvests and the welfare of their subjects. In the evening be entertained by the amazing Beijing Acrobatic Troupe. All day tour to the 6 500 kms long Great Wall of China, built as a barricade against the marauding northern neighbours, and the Ming Tombs in Shisanling Forest where 13 of the 16 emperors from the Ming Dynasty are buried. In the evening enjoy a Peking Duck banquet. Morning visit to Fragrant Hills Park. Stroll through beautiful parkland, ride on the chairlift to peak for a fine view and tour the 1366 built Azure Clouds Temple containing 500 Buddha statues. In the afternoon visit the magnificent Summer Palace resort where the imperial court spent the summer months escaping the heat in Beijing. Evening free but options such as attending Beijing Opera or visiting a foot massage parlour or relaxing at the hotel karaoke bar or recreational centre can be arranged. In the morning enjoy a pedicab tour of the Hutongs and inspect the architecture and gardens of Prince Gongwang’s Palace to participate in a tea ceremony. In the afternoon go shopping at a department store in Wang Fu Jing street or test your bargaining skills with the crafty stallholders in the free market at “Silk Alley”. Late afternoon, depart Beijing aboard a soft sleeper passenger train for overnight journey to Xian. Morning arrival at Xian, transfer to accommodation and relax. Afternoon touring the City Wall and Drum Tower, Shaanxi History Museum, one of the finest in China, and cloisonné / jade craft centres. In the evening enjoy banquet and performance at the Tang Dynasty Cultural Show. Spend day touring amazing archaeological wonders. See the 6 000 figures of the Terracotta Army that protect the mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shihuang (259 BC – 210 BC), the first emperor of united China. Stroll through Huaqing Pool where the emperors and concubines of the Tang Dynasty bathed in the hot spring pools. Inspect the excavations and relics of Banpo Neolithic Village that date back to the period 4 500 BC – 3 750 BC). Relax and enjoy a free evening with hotel in house activities. . Depart Xian on your 1.5 hour flight to Shanghai. Transfer to your accommodation. In the afternoon journey through the boulevards of the former French concessions, visit the Shanghai Institute of Arts and Crafts and watch demonstrations in the crafts of paper cutting, embroidery, painting, jade carving, miniature sculpturing and pottery. Visit any one of Shanghai’s renowned museums. Enjoy a free evening or optional visits to a cultural show, Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe, Peace Hotel Jazz Band, or Shanghai commercial centre can be arranged. In the morning visit the Jade Buddha Temple and Yuyuan Gardens, the old city quarters of Shanghai. In the afternoon stroll down the pre World War ll waterfront commercial promenade of the Bund and the free markets of Nanjing Road and be entertained during a visit to a Children’s Palace In the evening enjoy an end of tour banquet. In the morning visit the busy special economic centre of the Pudong and relax on a cruise on the Huangpu River. In the afternoon transfer to the Shanghai airport to fly China Southern Airlines to Guangzhou to join your connecting international flight back to Australia. Morning arrival in Sydney.