Tel: +86 (0)10 8519 8999 Fax: +86 (0)10 6517 1033 Email: private-tours@tui.cn Hotline: 400 650 8855
Further information
Tel. +86 (0) 10 85198999
Fax +86 (0) 10 65171033
Email: private-tours@tui.cn
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****
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
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.