In Transit: International flight

Afternoon: Arrive at Beijing International Airport where your group leader/national guide will be waiting for you. After check-in and a short rest, get together for a Welcome Meeting at your hotel.

Dinner: at hotel dining room

Evening: at your leisure.

Lodging: Qianmen Jianguo Hotel

Meals Included: Dinner

Breakfast: After optional morning tai ji exercise, enjoy hotel's buffet breakfast.

Morning: Explore the monumental Forbidden City, seat of the Qing rulers whose reception halls and living quarters contain many of the Qing Emperors' treasures.

Lunch: at restaurant nearby

Afternoon: After lunch return to your hotel for a Talk: 'China’s Land and Peoples.'

Dinner: A Welcome Banquet features one of Beijing's culinary delights: Peking Duck.

Lodging: Qianmen Jianguo Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: hotel buffet

Morning: This morning depart for a section of the Great Wall outside of the city. Your walk on the wall affords spectacular views of the Wall climbing and cascading over the surrounding mountains.

Lunch: at a restaurant near the Great Wall.

Afternoon: Before returning to your hotel visit ‘the heart’ of Beijing -- Tian’anmen Square, about 15 minutes from your hotel.

Dinner: hotel dining room

Evening: Get together with your national guide and learn some useful Chinese phrases.

Lodging: Qianmen Jianguo Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: hotel buffet after optional morning tai ji

Morning: Explore a neighborhood of old ‘hutongs’ (residential lanes and alleys) near Beihai Park. While there, visit a local school, families in their homes, and the former residence of Song Qing Ling (political activist and widow of Dr. Sun Yat Sen).

Lunch: Enjoy a simple lunch hosted by neighborhood families.

Afternoon: The rest of the afternoon is at your leisure.

Dinner: at restaurant nearby

Evening: At a nearby theater, enjoy a taste of Beijing opera, a unique art form that uses brilliant costumes, mannerized make-up, acrobatics and martial arts, various types of falsetto singing, and exuberant percussionists. The performance is presented with English and modern Chinese supertitles above the stage. Chinese Opera is an ‘acquired taste’ for Western ears. For an introduction to Beijing Opera and its traditions, try to see the film ‘Farewell My Concubine.’

Lodging: Qianmen Jianguo Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: after morning tai ji, hotel buffet breakfast

Morning: This morning coach to the nearby Temple of Heaven. This architectural masterpiece was begun in the 15th century and symbolizes the relationship between heaven and earth. Walk the extensive grounds to the Temple itself or stay in its environs and enjoy the activities of local people practicing calligraphy and tai ji, playing musical instruments, dancing, or flying silk kites.

Lunch: en route to Beijing airport

Afternoon: Fly to the city of Yichang to board your Yangtze vessel

Dinner: Dinner is at a restaurant in Yichang

Evening: This evening, board your Yangtze vessel and set sail for 3 days cruising upstream on the Yangtze River (known in Chinese as 'Chang Jiang' or Long River). The rest of the evening is at your leisure.

Lodging: Victoria Cruise Lines

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Tai ji on deck followed by ship’s buffet breakfast.

Morning: This morning, take a short coach ride to the Three Gorges Dam site. From an observation deck, you will have a bird's-eye view of the dam, five-step ship lock, diversion canal, and power station. A nearby exhibition displays a dam model; a briefing will explain this project, one of the largest construction ventures ever.

Lunch: ship's buffet

Afternoon: After passing through Gezhou Dam ship lock, enter Xiling Gorge. Though historically Xiling Gorge was the most treacherous, it was made safe during the 1950's when dangerous shoals were dynamited out of the river.

Dinner: Captain's Reception followed by dinner in ship's dining room

Evening: Ship's entertainment or Chinese conversation practice with program leader.

Lodging: Victoria Cruise Lines

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Before breakfast, review tai ji steps you already know and learn new ones. Then, enjoy boat's buffet breakfast.

Morning: This morning, pass through Wu Gorge, the most beautiful of the gorges with 12 famous peaks.

Lunch: ship's buffet lunch

Afternoon: On this afternoon's excursion, cruise in sampans up a mini-gorge on a pristine tributary of the Yangtze where you may catch glimpses of red monkeys amongst the trees, goats clinging to craggy cliffs, and 'hanging coffins' secured in the cliff face by the Ba people centuries ago. After returning to ship, set sail and pass through Qu Tang Gorge.

Dinner: in ship's dining room

Evening: Ship's entertainment or Chinese language practice.

Lodging: Victoria Cruise Lines

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: morning optional tai ji followed by ship's buffet breakfast.

Morning: Today visit a new village for relocated families. Explore their agricultural market and visit with a local family.

Lunch: ship's buffet

Afternoon: Enjoy sailing on the river, ship's presentations, and Chinese language learning with your program leader.

Dinner: Captain's Farewell Banquet

Evening: at your leisure

Lodging: Victoria Cruise Lines

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: ship's buffet

Morning: This morning disembark in the city of Chongqing, an important port on the Yangtze. Coach to the Zoological gardens to view the pandas which are indigenous to this part of China only.

Lunch: in restaurant on the way to Chongqing's Old Town

Afternoon: Explore Chongqing's old town and visit Ming and Qing Dynasty homes. Then, fly to Xi'an in late afternoon.

Dinner: at restaurant

Evening: Join your group leader to practice useful Chinese phrases.

Lodging: Grand Noble Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

'Chinese Cultural History'/Get-together with University Students/ History Museum/Dumpling Banquet

Breakfast: Enjoy optional tai ji before hotel buffet breakfast

Morning: A Talk at Xi'an International Studies University discusses Daoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism as a way of illuminating the Chinese 'character' and world views.

Lunch: at University dining room. After lunch, walk the campus and speak with university students to learn about China's new generation.

Afternoon: Follow Chinese Dynastic history via the exquisite displays of artifacts in China's oustanding Shaanxi Museum of History.

Dinner: Tonight enjoy an array of special dumplings, for which Xi'an is famous. Some come in shapes of tiny animals, fruits and vegetables and with a myriad of fillings from meat to wild mushrooms.

Evening: Join your program leader for Chinese conversation practice.

Lodging: Grand Noble Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: hotel buffet breakfast

Morning: Today experience what many refer to as one of the great man-made wonders of the world -- the army of life-size terra cotta warriors and horses buried with a Qin Emperor 2,200 years ago and uncovered by farmers in 1974.

Lunch: at a restaurant near the warriors site

Afternoon: Return to your hotel about mid-afternoon. The rest of the afternoon is at your leisure.

Dinner: Dinner at restaurant.

Evening: At nearby Xi'an International Studies University, join their 'Thursday English corner' for informal chats with students and local citizens who get together once a week to speak in English.

Lodging: Grand Noble Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: after tai ji practice enjoy hotel's buffet breakfast

Morning: A talk at your hotel discusses the development of modern-day China from 1949 to the present. Then, depart for Xi'an airport to fly to Guilin.

Lunch: lunch will be in a restaurant en route.

Afternoon: After arrival at Guilin, travel by coach (about 2 hrs) to the small town of Yangshuo set amongst the green karst mountains on the beautiful Li River.

Dinner: at a nearby restaurant

Evening: Use the evening to stroll about town or join your program leader for Chinese conversation practice.

Lodging: Sovereign Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: hotel buffet after optional tai ji practice.

Morning: Learn about Chinese landscape painting in a demonstration by a Master at your hotel. Following walk to West Street for lunch.

Lunch: at nearby restaurant.

Afternoon: Depart for the banks of the Li River, a source of much Chinese landscape painting and poetry. Embark on an afternoon's cruise amid this serene and unique landscape.

Dinner: This evening is free for you to explore local fare in a restaurant of your own choosing.

Evening: The evening is at your leisure

Lodging: Sovereign Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Breakfast: Morning tai ji is followed by hotel buffet breakfast.

Morning: Local electric carriages transport you to the nearby countryside where you can explore local villages enveloped by magnificent karst mountains.

Lunch: Enjoy lunch at a riverside restaurant.

Afternoon: The afternoon is at your leisure.

Dinner: Dinner at your hotel

Evening: This evening, enjoy the open-air musical, 'Third Sister Liu,' directed by the renowned Zhang Yi Mou (the director of Beijing Olympics magnificent Opening and Closing Ceremonies). Set amidst the natural scenery of the Li River and surrounding mountains, Zhang's musical Folk Opera uses actors and singers from local fishing families wearing ethnic costume and singing traditional folk songs in an extraordinary setting.

Lodging: Sovereign Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: hotel buffet breakfast

Morning: This morning, on the way to Guilin airport, stop at Guilin Music Institute for an introduction to Chinese music and instruments followed by a private performance.

Lunch: Lunch at airport or en route

Afternoon: Fly to Shanghai.

Dinner: at a local restaurant in Shanghai en route to your hotel.

Evening: The evening is at your leisure.

Lodging: Four Points by Sheraton Daning Hotel Shanghai

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: hotel buffet breakfast

Morning: This morning explore the new state-of-the-art Shanghai Museum, home to China's exquisite and unparalleled collection of ancient ceramics, paintings, sculpture, and bronzes. If you like, join your local guide and travel to the museum via Shanghai's new metro -- or go there by coach.

Lunch: Coach to Shanghai's nearby Xin Tian Di ('New Heaven and Earth') district -- a restoration project that has set a benchmark for Asia. Walk about this renewed and fashionable area; take lunch on your own in one of its many cafes or international cuisine restaurants.

Afternoon: Depart for a walkabout on the Bund and then cross by coach or underground tram to the east side of Shanghai’s busy Huangpu River to the newly developed area of Pudong – until recently undeveloped farmland and now a glittering forest of skyscrapers. From Pudong enjoy views of classic ‘old Shanghai’s’ waterfront whose art deco and neo-classic buildings date from its colonial past.

Dinner: at restaurant

Evening: After dinner at a local restaurant, enjoy an evening of amazing skill and prowess at a performance by the world-famous Shanghai Acrobatics Troupe. Acrobatics has, for thousands of years, been considered one of the 'treasures' of Chinese performing arts and figures in other genres such as Chinese Opera.

Lodging: Four Points by Sheraton Daning Hotel Shanghai

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: hotel buffet

Morning: This morning, explore the 400 year old Ming Dynasty Yu Garden whose classical pavilions, fountains, and arching bridges exemplify traditional Chinese landscaping. After, if time permits, wander through Shanghai's old section and bazaar where you can discover traditional shops or cross a zigzagging bridge to the center of a small pond for a pot of tea at the classic Hu Xin Ting ('Heart of the Lake')Teahouse.

Lunch: Enjoy a delicious vegetarian lunch supervised by monks at the active Longhua Temple. This imaginative and healthy Buddhist cuisine often uses plants, vegetables, mushrooms and tofu to simulate meat and seafood dishes.

Afternoon: Enjoy the afternoon at your leisure.

Dinner: Farewell dinner at restaurant

Evening: at your leisure

Lodging: Four Points by Sheraton Daning Hotel Shanghai

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: hotel buffet

Morning: Depart for Shanghai Airport for international departures or post-program travel

Meals Included: Breakfast