In Transit: International flight Departures

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. Note: Our 'group leaders' are designated 'national guides' and all are university graduates, fluent in English, well-educated in safety and protocol and are supported by offices nation-wide.

Dinner: Dinner will be at your hotel.

Evening: at your leisure

Lodging: Qianmen Jianguo Hotel

Meals Included: Dinner

Breakfast: buffet breakfast at our hotel.

Morning: The 15th century architectural masterpiece, the Temple of Heaven, 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, tai ji, musical instruments, dancing, or flying kites.

Lunch: Lunch at a local restaurant.

Afternoon: This afternoon, explore the Forbidden City – the 250- acre imperial compound that was once the residence and seat of the Qing Emperors and ‘forbidden’ to all others.

Dinner: At your Welcome Banquet, experience Beijing’s famous culinary delight: an authentic Peking Duck dinner.

Evening: After dinner, the rest of the evening is at your leisure.

Lodging: Qianmen Jianguo Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: hotel buffet

Morning: Join our optional tai ji class before breakfast and learn some of the movements of this gentle exercise. This morning, after breakfast, explore a residential neighborhood of 'hutongs' (small lanes and alleys with courtyard homes) where we visit the former residence of Song Qing Ling (political activist and wife of Sun Yat Sen), and meet local families.

Lunch: Enjoy a typical north Chinese lunch of dumplings ('jiaozi') with local families in their homes.

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

Dinner: Dinner is at a nearby hotel.

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: Early buffet breakfast at hotel.

Morning: This morning, after breakfast, travel outside of Beijing city to a green mountain range where you can walk the Great Wall and experience spectacular views as it winds up and down the distant mountains.

Lunch: Lunch is at a restaurant near the Wall.

Afternoon: On the way back to your hotel, visit ‘the heart’ of Beijing -- Tian’anmen Square.

Dinner: Walk to a restaurant near your hotel for dinner

Evening: Join your group leader to learn some useful Chinese phrases.

Lodging: Qianmen Jianguo Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Begin the day with tai ji movements and then enjoy your hotel's buffet breakfast.

Morning: This morning, fly to Xi'an, the capital of China during the golden age of the Tang Dynasty.

Lunch: We'll stop for lunch at a restaurant before checking into our hotel.

Afternoon: Explore Xi’an History Museum, one of China’s finest and which provides an enlightening window into China’s dynastic history.

Dinner: at restaurant

Evening: After dinner, visit the campus of Xi’an International Studies University to join their ‘Thursday English Corner’ – a weekly gathering of students and some local citizens who want to practice spoken English and with whom you can have informal chats.

Lodging: Grand Noble Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Hotel buffet breakfast.

Morning: This morning experience one of the most astounding archeological discoveries of the 20th century -- the huge tomb site of the Qin Emperor, containing an army of life size terra cotta infantrymen, cavalry, horses, and graceful archers.

Lunch: At restaurant nearby.

Afternoon: This afternoon return to your hotel and the rest of the afternoon is at your leisure. If you’d like to do some exploring on your own, your local guide can give you some suggestions.

Dinner: Enjoy a special dumplings dinner, a Xi'an specialty.

Evening: Get together with your group leader to learn number counting and useful phrases.

Lodging: Grand Noble Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Enjoy tai ji class followed by hotel buffet breakfast

Morning: Depart for Xi’an International Studies University for a Talk: Chinese Cultural History. (This lecture discusses Daoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism as a way of understanding Chinese ‘character.’).

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

Afternoon: Depart for Xi'an airport for flight to Guilin.

Dinner: Supper will be served in flight.

Evening: If time permits, get together with your group leader to practice Chinese.

Lodging: Fortune Condominium Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: tai ji exercise followed by hotel buffet breakfast.

Morning: This morning cruise down the magnificent Li River to the town of Yangshuo. Arrive in Yangshuo in the early afternoon and check into your hotel situated near the Li River.

Lunch: Lunch is on board.

Afternoon: This afternoon, we travel by ‘electric car’ to the nearby countryside for a view of Moon Hill and to visit local villages situated amongst the stunning karst mountains of the area.

Dinner: at your hotel.

Evening: Enjoy a demonstration and introduction to classical Chinese music.

Lodging: Sovereign Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: hotel buffet breakfast.

Morning: This morning fly to the port city of Chongqing on the Yangtze River.

Lunch: light lunch in flight

Afternoon: From Chongqing airport coach to a monorail station for a ride to Chongqing's Zoological Gardens to observe giant pandas, which are indigenous to this province (Szechuan) only.

Dinner: Dinner at a restaurant near the Yangtze Piers.

Evening: Board your Yangtze vessel and, as you set sail, view the hill city of Chongqing at night.

Lodging: Victoria Cruise Lines

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Ship's buffet

Morning: Today, learn about the changes in the lives of families who have moved from an ‘old city’ to new housing above the Yangtze waters.

Lunch: Ship's buffet

Afternoon: You will be notified of times for shore visits, cultural programs and talks on a daily basis. Where possible, your national guide will also continue instruction in Tai Ji and Chinese conversation. This evening, the Captain invites you to a welcome reception.

Dinner: On board

Evening: Evening entertainment includes performances of Chinese music and dance.

Lodging: Victoria Cruise Lines

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Ship's buffet

Morning: Today, pass through the magnificent Yangtze Gorges and cruise in sampans up a mini-gorge on a pristine tributary of the Yangtze where you can catch glimpses of red monkeys amongst the trees, goats clinging to the craggy cliffs, and 'hanging coffins' secured in the cliff face by the Ba people centuries ago.

Lunch: Ship's buffet

Afternoon: Free afternoon to enjoy the ship, the river and river towns.

Dinner: On board

Evening: Enjoy an on-board performance of Chinese music and dance.

Lodging: Victoria Cruise Lines

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: ship's buffet.

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

Lunch: Return to your vessel for a buffet lunch.

Afternoon: Disembark at the town of Yichang. Fly to Shanghai.

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

Evening: at your leisure.

Lodging: Four Points by Sheraton Daning Hotel Shanghai

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: hotel buffet.

Morning: Visit the Shanghai Fine Arts Museum. This 'state-of-the-art museum is home to China's finest collection of paintings, ceramics, bronzes and sculptures and is an awe-inspiring testimony to China's long and rich culture.

Lunch: At Longhua Temple, enjoy imaginative vegetarian cuisine prepared by Temple monks.

Afternoon: After lunch, take some time to walk about Longhua, Shanghai's largest and most active temple.

Dinner: at restaurant.

Evening: Enjoy an evening of amazing skill and prowess at a performance by the world-famous Shanghai Acrobatics Troupe. Acrobatics have, for thousands of years, been considered as one of the 'treasures' of Chinese performing arts and figure in other genres such as Beijing Opera.

Lodging: Four Points by Sheraton Daning Hotel Shanghai

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: hotel buffet

Morning: This morning, stroll on the Bund, Shanghai's Huangpu River promenade, to view the busy river activity and the iconic art deco and neo-classic buildings dating from the time of 'foreign concessions' in Shanghai..Then, explore Shanghai's historic old section and the nearby Yu Garden, whose classical pavilions, fountains, and arching bridges exemplify traditional Chinese garden landscaping.

Lunch: Coach to Shanghai’s Xin Tian Di (‘new heaven earth’) district – a restoration project that has set a benchmark for Asia. Walk about this fashionable area; take lunch on your own in one of its many cafes or international cuisine restaurants. The rest of the afternoon is at your leisure. The coach is available for those who want to return to the hotel after lunch time.

Afternoon: This afternoon is at your leisure.

Dinner: Enjoy a Farewell Dinner at a nearby restaurant.

Lodging: Four Points by Sheraton Daning Hotel Shanghai

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Breakfast: hotel buffet

Morning: This morning depart for Shanghai Airport for international departures or post-program travel.

Meals Included: Breakfast