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Hotline: 400-650-8855

Enquiry: private-tours@tui.cn

For bookings
and more information
please contact us:

 

Tel:      +86 (0)10 8519 8999

Fax:     +86 (0)10 6517 1033

Email:  private-tours@tui.cn

Hotline: 400 650 8855

Hiking the Middle Kingdom

Travel days:  15 days
 /  14 nights

  • 13 nights accomodation in mentioned hotels in double/twin rooms with bath/shower and WC, daily breakfast incl.
  • 1 night on the night train Beijing – Xi’an (Softsleeper, 4 bed cabins)
  • meals as mentioned in the program
  • domestic flights as mentioned in the program in Economy Class, airport tax & fuel surcharges incl.
  • High speed train Hangzhou to Shanghai in Softseat, 2nd class
  • Transfers as mentioned in the program in customary air conditioned cars/coaches
  • sightseeing & hiking as mentioned in the program incl. entrance fees
  • English-, French- or German speaking local guide for all transfers & sightseeing; other languages available on request
  • 24 hours telephone hotline
  • Further information

Tel. +86 (0) 10 85198999
Fax +86 (0) 10 65171033
Email: private-tours@tui.cn
 

  • Tips.
  • Personal expenses.
  • All expenses not mentioned above.

Beijing  Holiday Inn Temple of Heaven****

Xian  Grand Soluxe Hotel ****

Guilin  Bravo Hotel****

Yangshuo  New Century Hotel ***

Pingan (Longsheng)  Guesthouse

Dazhai  Guesthouse

Hangzhou  Best Western Hotel ****

Shanghai  Holiday Inn Vista****

  • All rates are subject to availability
  • The tour can be organized all year, but clients need to be informed about temperatures in winter
  • TUI China reserves the right to forward to its partners all increases of fuel surcharges and airport taxes for the domestic flights

Hiking:

All hiking on this tour is arranged in a way that people in normal physical condition can manage. The duration is between 1.5 and 4 hours and the difficulty does vary, but for the most difficult hike, climbing Hua Shan Mountain, a cable car is available for a surcharge. Please find a description of the hikes below:

        1.  Gubeikou to Jinshanling (approx. 5 h)

This hike offers our clients breathtaking views of the beautiful landscape of Northern China. You start in the small village of Gubeikou to the north of Beijing on the border of neighboring Hebei Province. Not many tourists are known to visit this are and it offers a chance to see the wall in its wilder state. After climbing up to the wall, you follow the partly depleted Great Wall sections through mountain landscape until you reach a point where you need to go down and continue hiking outside of the actual wall’s confines. Snacks and refreshment are offered in a small village before you climb back up to the wall to continue along its path. A further walk takes you to the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall which has been expertly renovated.

2.  Hiking to the Northern Summit of Hua Shan Mountain (Climb approx. 3 h or 7 h depending on chosen means of trasnportation)

Hua Shan Mountain is approx. 120km east of Xian and has an altitude of 2200m above sea level. It is the most western of the holy Daoist mountains in China and has been a pilgrimage destination for more than 2000 years. Views of the landscape from the surroundings of the mountain are dramatic and will more than help to let you forget the steep climb. As with most pilgrim mountains in China, most of the way up is aided by manmade steps and small booths offer snacks and refreshments along the way. Several temples can be visited on the way up. If you consider this hike to be too challenging for you, there is a cable car that brings you directly from the entrance to the northern summit (A surcharge is charged)

3.  Hiking along Yulong River (approx. 4 h)

The Yulong River is a tributary to the Li River in the beautiful landscape of the Karst mountains between Guilin and Yangshuo. You will drive by car/coach to Yulong Village, where you will start hiking at an old bridge. The path winds along the river and through villages, sometimes through the fields or at the foot of a steep hill. As the area is secluded by a range of hills, you will feel the sensation of being transported back in time. The landscape is magnificent, secluded and very quiet. After approx. 7km of hiking you will reach Jiuxian Village, where you can visit some old farmers’ houses and the Li Clan temple which was built in the Qing Dynasty. Lunch will be served in the village. After lunch you will continue hiking along the river to Gongnong Bridge (approx. 6km), from there you return to Yangshuo by car/coach.

4.  Climb Moon Hill in the surroundings of Yangshuo (1.5 h)

The surroundings of Yangshuo are famous for the steep, green karst hills, clear water and the fertile paddy fields. Hiking here is therefore very pleasant. Most of the paths are rather steep, as the hills rise up from the plains abruptly. One of the hills, known as Moon Hill, will be available for you to climb. Its name originates from an almost round hole just below the summit.

5.  Hiking in the terraced paddy fields at Longsheng (2-3 h)

You will reach a parking lot at the foot of the mountains by car/coach. A well maintained path, partly with steps, takes you to the village of Pingan in about 45 minutes, where you will find several small guest houses and restaurants. You will be able to stay in one of these guest houses. From Pingan you will start hiking into the mountains in the afternoon. Several view points on the way offer magnificent vistas of the landscape and the terraced fields. In this remote area you will find many traditional villages of several ethnic minorities of Guangxi Province. You will also visit at least one of those villages and encounter the traditional lifestyle of the people that live there.

Black Out Dates:

-       01-03 May 2012

-       01-07 Oct. 2012

-       09–17 Feb. 2013

-       01-03 May 2013

-       01-07 Oct. 2013

-       30 Jan. – 07 Feb. 2014

Travel content

Strap on your boots for an extended walking tour of the cultural and scenic highlights of the ‘Middle Kingdom’. From the imperial grandeur, monumental architecture and classical beauty of past dynasties to the contemporary skylines and urban hustle of modern China, this tour reveals the modern face of an ancient and distinctive culture in all its majesty.

Travel Itinerary

  • Day 1:
    Beijing
    - Arrival in Beijing
     
    - Prospect Hill Park
     
    - Hutong tour by rickshaw or bicycle
     
    - Stroll the Hutong area
     
    - Visit of a traditional courtyard
     
  • Day 2:
    Beijing (B, L, D)
    - Hiking: Great Wall from Gubeikou to Jinshanling (Transfer approx. 2 hours, Hiking time approx. 5 hours)
     
    - Specialty dinner with Beijing Roast Duck
     
  • Day 3:
    Beijing - Xi'an (B, L)
    - Tian'an Men Square
     
     
    - Lunch
     
    - Temple of Heaven
     
    - Night train to Xian in Soft Sleeper 4 bed cabins
     
  • Day 4:
    Xi'an (B, L)
    - After arrival transfer to the hotel & breakfast at the hotel
     
     
    - Stroll around a market famous for traditional Chinese medicine
     
    - City Wall
     
  • Day 5:
    Xi'an (B, L)
    - Hiking Hua Shan Mountain (cable car is available on request) (Transfer time approx. 2.5 hours. Hiking from cable car station to the Northern summit, approx. 3 hours; hiking on another, steeper but even more beautiful path to the Northern Summit approx. 7 hours. From the Norther summit (1615m above sea level) hiking to the Southern summit (2160m above sea level) or the Western summit (2080m above sea level) is also possible
     
    - Return to the car/coach by cable car
     
    - Transfer back to Xi'an
     
  • Day 6:
    Xi'an - Guilin (B, D)
    - Flight to Guilin
     
    - On the way to the airport in Xian visit the Han Tombs
     
    - Visit Reed Flute Cave in Guilin
     
  • Day 7:
    Guilin - Yangshuo (B, L)
    - Li River Cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo
     
    - Hiking in the surroundings of Yangshuo (2 hours)
     
  • Day 8:
    Yangshuo (B, L)
    - Hiking along Yulong River (3-4 hours)
     
    - Hiking on Moon Hill (380m,1.5 hours)
     
  • Day 9:
    Yangshuo – Ping’an (Longsheng) (B, L)
    - Transfer to Longsheng by car/coach(130km, 2 hours)
     
    - Visit Zhuang ethnic minority villages on the way
     
    - Visit the terraced paddy fields (2-3 hours)
     
  • Day 10:
    Longsheng – Dazhai (B, L)
    - After breakfast, hike from the hotel to Dazhai (10km, approx. 4 hours)
     
    - Visit Yao ethnic minority villages
     
    - Accomodation in Dazhai
     
  • Day 11:
    Dazhai - Guilin – Hangzhou (B, L)
    - Transfer to Guilin airport & flight to Hangzhou
     
    - Six Harmonies Pagoda
     
  • Day 12:
    Hangzhou (B, L)
    - Boat ride on West Lake
     
    - Stroll the areas along the lake and see various parks, bridges, damns
     
    - Ling Yin Monastery
     
    - Hike through a bamboo forest
     
  • Day 13:
    Hangzhou – Shanghai (B, L)
    - High speed train to Shanghai in the morning (Soft Seat, 2nd class)
     
    - Stroll on the Bund
     
    - Harbor Cruise on Huangpu River
     
    - Shanghai Museum
     
  • Day 14:
    Shanghai (B, L)
    - Yu Garden
     
    - Old City Center
     
    - Jade Buddha Temple
     
    - Stroll Nanjing Road
     
  • Day 15:
    Shanghai – Ausreise (B)
    - Transfer to the airport
     
    - Return flight