Grand China From Yunnan To The Yangtze – 21 Days

Begin on Tiananmen Square, one of the largest public squares in the world, then walk through the gate beneath the portrait of Mao into the Forbidden City. For nearly five centuries this was the palace of the Ming and Qing emperors, and it is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Your guide takes you through the vast ceremonial halls, the private quarters of the imperial family and the garden at the far end.

Climb aboard a pedal rickshaw for a tour of the hutongs, the alleys of courtyard houses that once made up most of old Beijing. You pass corner shops, bird cages hanging in doorways and neighbours chatting outside, a side of the city that feels far from the palace walls.

The evening is at leisure back at your hotel in Beijing.

Drive northwest of the city to Badaling, the best-known section of the Great Wall. Rebuilt in the Ming dynasty, it climbs steeply along the ridges with wide walkways and strong watchtowers. Walk as far as you like and look out over the mountains guarding the old approach to Beijing. The Great Wall is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Lunch is at a local restaurant on the way back towards the city.

Visit the Temple of Heaven, where the Ming and Qing emperors performed rites to ensure a good harvest. The round Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, with its triple blue-tiled roof, stands on a marble terrace in a park full of ancient cypress trees, and the whole complex is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Visit the Summer Palace, a vast imperial garden of the Qing dynasty set around Kunming Lake and Longevity Hill, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Walk the Long Corridor, its beams painted with thousands of scenes, and, weather permitting, take a boat across the lake for views of the hillside pavilions. Much of what you see was rebuilt for the Empress Dowager Cixi in the late nineteenth century.

Lunch is at a local restaurant near the palace. It is a good moment to rest before the train journey.

Board the high-speed train to Xi’an, about four and a half to six hours. Your Xi’an guide and driver meet you at the station and take you to your hotel in Xi’an. On board, watch the farmland and loess hills of northern China roll past the window.

Drive out to the Terracotta Army, created more than 2,000 years ago to guard the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of a unified China, and found by farmers in 1974. Walk around the pits where thousands of soldiers, archers and horses stand in formation, each figure with its own features.

After lunch, see the bronze chariots and horses unearthed near the emperor’s tomb, made at about half life size with remarkable detail. Back in the city, stroll along the Great Tang All Day Mall, a long pedestrian avenue with statues and buildings inspired by the Tang dynasty.

If you wish, your guide can arrange a Tang dynasty music and dance show, shared with other guests. Otherwise the evening is at leisure in Xi’an.

Spend the morning with a local family, learning to make dumplings and noodles in their kitchen and sharing lunch around their table. It is an easy, friendly way to hear about daily life in a modern Chinese city. Your hosts show you how to roll the dough thin and pinch the edges so the filling stays inside.

Walk into the Muslim Quarter, home to Xi’an’s Hui community for many centuries. Visit the Great Mosque of Xi’an, which looks like a Chinese temple with courtyards, pavilions and a pagoda-style minaret. Then stop at the Gao family courtyard, a restored traditional mansion, for a shadow puppet show and a short calligraphy lesson.

The lanes of the quarter are lined with food stalls in the evening, perfect for a dinner of skewers, flatbreads and local sweets at leisure.

Take a flight of about two and a half hours southwest to Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, known as the Spring City for its mild climate all year round. Your guide and driver meet you on arrival. Kunming sits at nearly 2,000 metres above sea level, so take the first afternoon gently.

Walk around Green Lake Park, where locals gather to dance, sing and play music in the pavilions, and in winter, flocks of black-headed gulls arrive from Siberia. Then browse the Jingxing Bird and Flower Market, a sprawling local market selling plants, flowers, tea, crafts and pets.

Check in to your hotel in Kunming, with the evening at leisure. Try a bowl of crossing-the-bridge noodles, Yunnan’s best-known dish, served with a pot of hot broth and raw ingredients you add at the table.

Drive out to the Stone Forest, a maze of grey limestone pillars shaped by rain over millions of years and part of the South China Karst UNESCO World Heritage Site. Paths lead between the rock towers, through narrow passages and up to viewpoints over the forest of stone. It is the homeland of the Sani people, a branch of the Yi.

Return towards Kunming to board the train to Dali, about two and a half hours. Your Dali guide meets you and takes you to your hotel in Dali, set between the Cangshan mountains and Erhai Lake. From the train window, watch the red earth and terraced fields of central Yunnan.

The evening is at leisure in Dali. The old town’s stone gates and lanes are close by if you would like a short walk before dinner.

Start with a local market, busy with Bai women in bright headdresses selling vegetables, mushrooms and cheese. Then set off on a bike ride along the shore of Erhai Lake, a high mountain lake shaped like an ear, with fishing villages along the bank and the Cangshan range rising behind.

Continue to Xizhou, a Bai town where merchants built grand courtyard homes. Visit the Yan family courtyard, a merchant mansion of carved wood and painted walls, and an embroidery workshop where you see the traditional Bai needlework up close. Try a Xizhou baba, the town’s crisp baked flatbread.

Return to your hotel in Dali, with the evening at leisure. Dali’s old town, with its stone gates and lanes, is a pleasant place for an evening stroll.

The journey north to Lijiang takes about two and a half hours. Your guide meets you and takes you to your hotel in Lijiang. The route climbs north through farmland and hills, and the air grows cooler as you go.

Walk into Lijiang Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site of cobbled lanes, wooden houses and clear streams running beside the streets. Visit Mu Mansion, the former residence of the Mu family who ruled the region for centuries, built in a style that recalls the Forbidden City. Then climb Lion Hill for a view over the tiled roofs of the old town and, on a clear day, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

The evening is at leisure in the lanes of the old town. After dark, lanterns light the canals and lanes, and small restaurants serve Naxi dishes.

Drive out to Baisha, once the capital of the Naxi kingdom before Lijiang, with old murals that blend Buddhist, Taoist and Tibetan styles. Then visit the small museum in the former home of Joseph Rock, the Austrian American botanist and explorer who lived in the area for many years in the early twentieth century and wrote about the Naxi.

Join a Naxi family at home for lunch. You learn about their customs and their Dongba culture, known for its pictographic script, one of the last of its kind still in use.

Return to your hotel in Lijiang, with the rest of the day at leisure. Take a slow walk along the streams of the old town as the day ends, or simply rest after a full morning.

Drive about 85 kilometres to Tiger Leaping Gorge, where the Jinsha River, the upper Yangtze, rushes between Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and Haba Snow Mountain. It is one of the deepest river gorges in the world. Walk down to the roaring water and the rock where, legend says, a tiger leapt across.

After lunch, stop at the First Bend of the Yangtze near Shigu, where the river turns sharply north. Wander through the old town of Shigu before driving back to your hotel in Lijiang. The river here is wide and calm, a striking contrast to the gorge upstream.

The evening is at leisure. It is a good chance to rest your legs after the steps down to the river.

Fly from Lijiang to Guilin, where your new guide and driver meet you. Guilin’s famous karst peaks rise right in the middle of the city. The flight takes you from the high plateau down to the warm, humid south.

Visit Reed Flute Cave, a limestone cave filled with stalactites, stalagmites and stone curtains, lit in bright colours. Its name comes from the reeds that grow at its entrance, once used to make flutes. Walkways lead through a series of chambers, and your guide points out formations named after animals, plants and figures from legend.

Check in to your hotel in Guilin, with the evening at leisure. Guilin is lively at night, with its lakes and pagodas lit after dark.

Board your Li River cruise, shared with other guests, and sail for about four hours past rows of limestone peaks, bamboo groves, water buffalo and fishermen poling their rafts. Lunch is served on board as the scenery slides past. Your guide points out the hills along the way, each with its own name and story.

Arrive in Yangshuo and check in to your hotel in Yangshuo. Wander West Street, the town’s old main street, now full of cafes and craft shops. The town sits on the riverbank among the peaks, and the views start right from your hotel.

If you wish, your guide can arrange tickets to an evening light and music show staged on the river with the peaks as a backdrop, shared with other guests. Otherwise the evening is at leisure.

Explore the countryside around Yangshuo by bicycle or by car, following lanes through rice fields, orchards and small villages with karst peaks on every side. Your guide adapts the route to your pace. Stop wherever the view or a village catches your eye, and photograph rice fields that change colour with the seasons.

Board a bamboo raft for a gentle float along the Yulong River, a quieter tributary of the Li, where the only sounds are the water and the raftsman’s pole. The rest of the day is at leisure in Yangshuo. Life jackets are provided, and the trip is calm enough for all ages.

Your driver takes you to the station for the high-speed train to Chongqing, a big, hilly city built where the Jialing River meets the Yangtze. The line runs through the hills of Guizhou on its way north.

Your Chongqing guide meets you and, after a look at the city, takes you to the pier to board your river cruise ship, shared with other guests. Chongqing is famous for its steep streets, bridges and fiery hotpot.

Settle into your cabin and enjoy dinner on board as the city lights shine on the water. The ship’s staff introduce the cruise and the days ahead. Unpack once and let the river do the travelling for the next three days.

Start the day with a tai chi session on deck as the hills slide past. An instructor leads the session, and no experience is needed.

Go ashore at Fengdu, known as the Ghost City, a hillside of temples and shrines devoted to the afterlife in Chinese folk belief. Statues of judges and demons line the paths, and the stories are as colourful as the architecture. Your guide on board explains the beliefs behind the site.

Back on board, the afternoon is at leisure for lectures, deck time and watching river life. All meals are served on board. Watch terraced hillsides and riverside towns go by from the deck or your cabin.

The ship enters the Three Gorges, where the river narrows and cliffs rise high on both sides. Stand on deck as you pass through the gorges, one of the most famous river landscapes in China. Each gorge has its own character, from steep, narrow walls to wider stretches with villages on the slopes.

Transfer to a smaller boat for an excursion up Shennv Stream, the Goddess Stream, a clear, narrow tributary between steep green cliffs, where the water is calm and the gorge walls close in around you. The excursion is shared with other guests from the ship.

Dinner on board and an evening at leisure. It is your last night on the river, a good time to enjoy the view from the deck.

Go ashore to visit the Three Gorges Dam, the largest hydroelectric power station in the world. From the viewing area you look down on the huge wall of concrete and the ship locks that carry vessels up and down the river. Completed in the early twenty-first century, it controls flooding on the Yangtze and raised the water level upstream, creating the deep, calm river you sailed on.

Leave the ship in Yichang, where your driver takes you to the airport for the flight to Shanghai, about two hours. Your Shanghai guide meets you and takes you to your hotel in Shanghai.

The evening is at leisure. A walk along the Bund after dark is an easy first taste of the city.

Visit the Jade Buddha Temple, home to two statues of the Buddha carved from white jade brought from Burma in the late nineteenth century. Then walk along the Bund, where banks and trading houses of the early twentieth century face the skyline of Pudong across the Huangpu River.

Stroll down Nanjing Road, Shanghai’s best-known shopping street, and stop at a silk workshop to see how silk is drawn from cocoons. Finish at the Shanghai Tower, the tallest building in China, where the observation deck gives you the whole city spread out below.

The evening is at leisure for a riverside walk when the Bund is lit. The skyline across the river lights up in the early evening, and the promenade fills with families and couples taking photos.

The morning is at leisure, depending on your flight time.

Your guide accompanies you to the airport for your flight home.