China in style

Day 1: Arrival in Beijing

Today you'll have a chance to discover Beijing by car with a driver and an English-speaking guide. You'll be picked up at your hotel around 8:30 in the morning. The first stop is Tian'anmen Square: the gateway to heavenly peace. This famous square is home to the buildings of parliament as well as the entrance to the Forbidden City and Mao Zhedong's Mausoleum and is most likely top of your list of must-see's on the independent China tour. After a stop you'll visit the Temple of Heavenly Peace (entrance fee 35 Yuan, approximately £3.50) and the colourful Lama Temple (entrance fee approximately £2.50).

These are Beijing's most important temples. You'll walk among red pagodas, monks and prayer houses with the scent of incense and sandalwood all around you. Since you will have a guide accompanying you, you not only can ask him everything about Beijing, you can also ask him any practical questions you may have.

The Great Wall should be a part of every independent China tour. A hike over the wall from Jinshanling to Simatai, is the most enjoyable way to get a sense of the vastness of the Great Wall of China.

The 10km hike is quite strenuous; you'll be climbing and descending for about 4 hours over restored and original wall segments. Another alternative would be an excursion to the Great Wall of China at Mutianyu. During this excursion you can walk over the wall for about 3km and simply return to the starting point at the end of the walk allowing you to make your walk as short or as long as you wish. This part of the wall is a bit more commercialized and crowded than the part visited during the 10km hike; there are more souvenir shops and such. The segment of the wall at Jinshanling is quiet and peaceful.

You'll be picked up at 9:00 this morning for a visit to one of the most popular attractions on this independent China tour. The Terracotta Army excavation site is located in a park about 40 minutes from the city of Xi'an. The site was discovered in 1974 by farmers. They found approximately 7000 clay soldiers, clay horses and clay chariots, which were commissioned by the then 14 year old king Zheng for his future royal tomb.

The best way to view the site is to start in hall 3, then to continue on to hall 2 and finally 1. This way you'll save the largest and most impressive part of the site for last. Also try to visit the museum and the souvenir stands offering miniature clay soldiers, horses, weapons and other knick knacks. A visit to the Warriors will take up approximately 2 hours, however including transport you'll be out half a day. At around 13:00 you'll be back in Xi'an.

For those looking for a bit of exercise during the independent China tour, today can be spent bike riding over the approximately 10m wide city wall. The wall is 12km long and is built in a square around the city. If you’re looking to avoid the crowds in the city, this is your best bet. There is a 40 Yuan fee to gain access to the wall, you'll pay 15 Yuan for 1.5 hour bike rental (long enough to circle the wall) and you'll pay a 200 Yuan deposit.

The South Gate is the best place to start your bike ride and your bike will be waiting for you on the wall, so you won't have to carry it up the stairs to the wall. There are several cafés at the various city wall towers that you can stop at for a drink. Bike riding is possible from 8:00 - 22:00. 

You'll be taken to Xi'an airport in the morning, where you'll catch a plane to Chengdu. You'll be awaited by one of our representatives who will take you to a comfortable hotel in the centre of town, within walking distance from several backpacker hostels. This offers you the chance to profit from the know how of the hostels English speaking staff as well as the affordable activities and excursions that they organize. You'll have the best of both worlds.

The area surrounding your hotel has many fine restaurants; you may want to try the areas most popular dish, the Sichuan Hotpot. This is a bowl with boiling hot water that is placed on the table with raw meat, vegetables and herbs served separately for you to cook in the bowling water. Holly's hostel usually offers Sichuan cooking classes to teach you the basics of Sichuan cooking.

You'll be picked up at 7:30 in the morning so that you can arrive at the panda research centre when the pandas are fed. It may be a zoo; however it is a very responsible and well maintained zoo. It's endearing to watch the pandas eating, playing and sleeping and if you visit the instructional panda museum you'll understand more clearly why the panda is an endangered species.

We weren't a big fan of the optional 'red miniature panda hugging' which can be done for a surcharge. It seemed very unnatural and unpleasant for the pandas. After an hour or two you'll have seen all there is to see at the panda research centre and the sight of these giant teddy bears forever engrained in your memory, you'll be back at your hotel around 11:30.

On this morning of the independent China tour you'll go on a bicycle ride through area surrounding Lijiang. You'll ride over a flat road with mountains to the right and left of you together along with your guide. You'll visit the traditional Naxi village Baisha, where you'll park your bike and visit the legendary herbal practitioner Dr. Ho. He's over 80 years old, however when you enter his home he greets you with warmth, friendliness and cup of herbal tea. He may even show you some of his newspaper clippings written about him in foreign newspapers. You'll return to Lijiang around noon where you'll say goodbye to your guide and your bike.

After lunch you can visit the Black Dragon Pool Park (entrance fee 40 Yuan). This park is home to some of the most often photographed areas in China, such as the lake featured in the picture, which when the sun shines reflects the temple and tops of the surrounding mountains beautifully.
 

Today a bike tour and bamboo boat ride are on the agenda. We'll arrange a bike, a boat and an English-speaking guide for you. He will tell you more about life in the area and will bike and sail along with you. You'll travel in a small group today along with other Western travellers.

You'll start off the day with a bike ride along the Yulong River. The scenery here is every bit as beautiful as it is at the Li River and it features a dramatic array of karst mountains on the banks of the river. During your bike ride you'll leave the main roads and peddle over paths along the river, through farmland and rice paddies and you'll have the karst mountains as constant companions during your ride. You'll be able to stop for drinks or snacks in the small villages that you'll pass during your ride. After biking for a while, the bamboo raft will be waiting to take you down the river. You, your guide and other boats will sail through the peaks of the karst mountains. After a few kilometres you'll get back on your bike and peddle towards the 'highlight' of this trek, Moon Hill. You can choose to climb the hill if you wish. In warm temperatures, this could be quite a strenuous climb. However the view from the top will make up for any inconvenience of getting there. Eventually when you return to your hotel you can unwind with a beer or glass of wine on the terrace.
 

Today you’ll have the entire day to spend as you please; there is plenty to do in this area. You can rent a kayak from the hotel, spend another day on a bicycle to explore the area on your own or you can even take Kung Fu lesson for an hour. We'll gladly give you more options.

There's quite a show to see on and along the Li and Yulong Rivers in the evenings. The name Zhang Yimao may not ring a bell, however he is the most well known movie director in China and was also responsible for directing the opening ceremony for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing for instance. He’s created a show here in the outdoors with a backdrop of mountains and the river that attracts about 1000 visitors each and every night. As with most things in China, this show is a large production. No less than 500 actors and actresses in full dress and make-up perform the Chinese love story by San Jie Lu on the banks of the river and on the river itself. The surrounding mountains are part of a magnificent light show every night during the performance. The show can be viewed daily from 20:00 - 21:00. Tickets are on sale on location from £15. After the show you may want to venture out for some souvenir shopping or have a bite to eat in one of Yangshuo's busy streets.
 

On this morning you'll be able to enjoy one last morning of quiet mist surrounding the mountain tops and the tranquillity of the area surrounding your hotel. Go on one last walk or bike ride through the area and check out around lunch time. Have a bite in the restaurant until your transfer picks you up for the two hour drive to Guilin airport. In just an hour you'll fly to the hyper modern airport in the cosmopolitan city of Hong Kong. 

On arrival you'll be awaited in the arrival hall by one of our local representatives and you'll be taken to your accommodation in Kowloon. You'll stay in a 'harbour view' room with a view of the impressive Hong Kong skyline in the luxurious Harbour Plaza Hotel. The hotel is located by the water's edge and you can also enjoy the view from the roof of the hotel where you'll find an open air swimming pool with deck chairs and a Jacuzzi. 

There is an abundance of taxi cabs in Hong Kong and they offer excellent service. The starting rate is 10 HK$ (£1) and a ride within the centre of town should cost no more than £3.

Hong Kong Top 5 Attractions

1. Take the ferry in Kowloon and then the trolley to Victoria Peak on Hong Kong Island. This is where you'll be able to enjoy the magnificent view of the Hong Kong skyline. 
2. Visit the various stands at the Temple Street Market.
3. Spend an evening in Lan Kwai Fong, the hip and happening street to go out in with a mix of Chinese and expat visitors.
4. Visit the beach at the Sai Kung peninsula.
5. Set the alarm on your watch or cell phone to 20:00 and watch the Symphony of Lights, a laser-light show which illuminates all of the buildings along the dock in a multitude of colours.