Ancient Capitals And Avatar Peaks – 10 Days

Start at Tiananmen Square, the vast public square at the heart of Beijing, overlooked by the Gate of Heavenly Peace with its famous portrait. Then pass through the gate into the Forbidden City, home to the Ming and Qing emperors and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Walk through its sequence of courtyards and halls, from the great throne rooms used for state ceremonies to the smaller living quarters, gardens and treasure galleries of the inner court. Lunch is at a local restaurant.

Climb to the pavilion at the top of Jingshan Park for the best view of the palace, a long run of golden roofs stretching south towards the square. Return to your hotel with the rest of the evening at leisure.

Drive north into the hills to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall and ride the cable car up to its ramparts. This restored stretch follows a forested ridge between watchtowers, and walking it gives you a real sense of how the wall snakes across the mountains.

Have lunch at a local restaurant near the Wall before heading back to the city.

Explore one of Beijing’s hutongs, the narrow alleys of grey-brick courtyard homes that once made up most of the old city. Your guide shows you the details people often miss: carved door stones, family names above gateways and the small shops and courtyards where neighbourhood life still carries on.

Visit the Temple of Heaven, where Ming and Qing emperors performed rites to pray for good harvests. Locals gather in the park each morning for tai chi, dancing and games, and the circular Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests rises above the trees. The temple complex is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Have lunch at a local restaurant before transferring to the station.

Board the high-speed train to Xi’an, crossing the plains of northern China. Your guide in Xi’an meets you on arrival and takes you to your hotel in Xi’an.

Drive to the Terracotta Army, the life-size clay army created to protect the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor to unify China. Part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site and uncovered by farmers in 1974, the soldiers, horses and chariots stand in vast pits, each figure individually modelled.

See the two bronze chariots and horses found near the emperor’s tomb, intricately cast models displayed in the site museum. Lunch is at a local restaurant.

Walk along Great Tang All Day Mall, a long, lantern-lit avenue that celebrates the Tang dynasty, when Xi’an, then Chang’an, was one of the largest cities in the world. Performers in period dress and illuminated buildings make it a lively place to spend the evening.

Wander through Muslim Street, the heart of the Muslim Quarter, where the Hui community has lived for centuries and stalls sell noodles, lamb skewers and sesame cakes. Step into a traditional courtyard house to watch a shadow puppet show, shared with other guests, an old folk art of the region in which painted leather figures play out stories behind a lit screen.

Try your hand at Chinese calligraphy with a local teacher, learning how to hold the brush and form a few characters. Lunch is at a local restaurant.

Transfer to the airport for your flight to Zhangjiajie. Your guide meets you on arrival and takes you to your hotel in Zhangjiajie, in the mountains of north-western Hunan.

Enter Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, part of the Wulingyuan Scenic Area and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Follow a forest trail through the valleys, where stone pillars draped in pine and mist rise on every side.

Ride an express elevator up the cliff face to the viewpoints above, and have lunch at a local restaurant within the park.

Take a cable car for sweeping views over the peaks, then board the small sightseeing train that runs along a valley lined with rock formations named after figures from local legend. The changing light and drifting cloud mean every view looks a little different from the last. Return to your hotel in Zhangjiajie in the late afternoon.

Take a boat across Baofeng Lake, shared with other guests, a calm emerald lake held between steep green cliffs. Local singers sometimes perform folk songs from the shore as you drift past.

Head to Tianmen Mountain, where a long cable car climbs from the edge of town up to the summit. Lunch is at a local restaurant.

Walk the cliffside paths, some with glass sections that look straight down into the drop, and see Tianmen Cave, a huge natural arch high in the mountain wall reached by a long stairway. Then transfer to the airport for your flight to Shanghai, where your guide meets you and takes you to your hotel in Shanghai.

Walk the Bund, Shanghai’s riverside promenade of grand banks and trading houses, and look across the Huangpu River to the towers of Pudong. Then explore Yu Garden, a Ming dynasty garden of rockeries, carp ponds and pavilions in the old town.

Join locals in Fuxing Park in the former French Concession, where residents dance, sing, play cards and practise tai chi under the plane trees. Lunch is at a local restaurant.

Step into Bugaoli, a historic shikumen community of stone-gated lane houses that mixes Chinese and European styles. Finish at the Shanghai Museum, one of China’s leading museums, with fine collections of ancient bronzes, ceramics, painting and calligraphy.

After breakfast, your guide and driver take you to the airport for your onward flight.