8-Day Eastern China Tour

Upon arrival in Shanghai, be picked up and transported to the hotel for check-in and tour orientation. Enjoy dinner at a popular local restaurant before calling it a night back at the hotel or seeing the sights of the city on your own.

Accommodation
Jinjiang Classiq Hotel Nanjing Road or similar
Meals
There're no meals included today

Experience bustling Shanghai on a guided tour from Nanjing Road to the Bund. Along the way, your guide will share the history of the buildings and other structures that line the waterfront area of the Bund. Then see the beauty of Chinese landscape architecture on a visit to the Yu Garden (Yuyuan Garden). Walk around the park and enjoy the tranquil environment formed by the rockeries, pavilions, towers and ponds. Continuing your tour of Shanghai, you’ll feel like you’ve stepped onto the streets of Paris when you visit the former French Concession. This area of Shanghai highlights the push-pull between old and new, local and foreign. Enjoy this unique urban experience as you explore hidden brick courtyards, old French villas and Art Deco structures one minute, and then find yourself in the middle of modern boutiques, galleries and restaurants the next. Tuck into a lunch of xiaolong bao (Shanghai dumplings) and spend your afternoon on a guided tour of the Shanghai Museum. Explore its 10 exhibitions housing a collection of more than 120,000 ancient Chinese pieces of art, from bronze and ceramic sculptures to calligraphy art and paintings. Finally, your day ends at the Shanghai Acrobatic Show! Enjoy a performance filled with gravity-defying acts, contortionism, juggling, unicycling and all-around mind-blowing stunts.

Accommodation
Jinjiang Classiq Hotel Nanjing Road or similar
Meals
Breakfast, Soup Bun Dinner

Board a morning train to Suzhou with your guide for a historical and environmental experience. Admire waterfront views on a boat ride on the Grand Canal and through smaller canals where you will witness how locals live their life by the waterways. Then, follow your guide to one of the largest and most renowned classical gardens in Suzhou – the Humble Administrator’s Garden. Explore its natural landscape of small forests, rock formations, hills and streams, and marvel at the sophisticated temples, pavilions and bridges built in the Ming style. Walk with your guide to the Panmen Scenic Area to see the Pan Men (Coiled Gate), which is Suzhou’s only remaining city gate. Built in 514 BC, it is a pioneering work in the history of architecture, complete with a land gate, a water gate and a gate tower. After the Suzhou tour, it's a 1-hour train journey to Hangzhou.

Accommodation
Zhongshan International Hotel or similar
Meals
Breakfast & Lunch

Today, experience the beauty of West Lake both on foot and on board a small boat. On a guided walk around the lake, discover China’s national treasures in the ancient buildings, stone caves and engraved tablets. Then enjoy the lake itself on a boat cruise, which allows you to admire landscape views of the mountains along the lakefront. The cruise will take approximately one hour and end at the Flower Harbor, where you watch goldfish swimming in the pond – you can even feed them! Take in the colorful sights and wonderful scents of the variety of flowers found around the harbor area. After lunch, your guide will accompany you on a walking tour of Qinghefang Ancient Street. With buildings built in the architecture of the Song Dynasty, it is one of the most well-preserved ancient streets in Hangzhou. The street is lined with shops, restaurants, ancient alleys and courtyards that demonstrate the rich historical and cultural heritage of Hangzhou.

Accommodation
Zhongshan International Hotel or similar
Meals
Breakfast & Lunch

Take a guided visit to the home of a local farmer for the Longjing Tea Plantation, and see how the famed Longjing tea is cultivated. Try newly harvested tea and discover for yourself why it is renowned for its high-quality taste. Then follow your guide on a walk through the plantation and witness the process of farming tea trees and picking tea leaves. Hike up the mountain for about an hour to reach a bamboo forest, where you can admire the dense bamboo groves, remarkable pavilions and beautiful garden scenery. Relax and enjoy the serene natural environment around you. Afterward, visit one of China’s incredible architectural masterpieces – the Six Harmonies Pagoda (Liuhe Pagoda), a seven-story wood and brick building built during the Southern Song Dynasty. As you ascend to the top, look up at ceilings on each floor to see the intricate carvings and paintings of various figures including animals, flowers, birds and others. Once you reach the top, you will be afforded with spectacular views of the nearby Qiantang River. Then you will board a bullet train to Tunxi, a small old town near Huangshan.

Accommodation
A boutique hotel in Tunxi Old Town
Meals
Breakfast & Lunch

Step back in time to ancient China and discover Anhui culture on a guided walking tour of Tunxi Old Street, built in the Song Dynasty and used as a major commodity distribution center for the province. Walk along its granite pavement and marvel at the beautiful Anhui-style architecture of the houses and shops lining the street. Afterward, hop in your private transport for the drive to Village Hong, a UNESCO World Heritage Site surrounded by streams and lakes. With your guide, walk over ancient bridges and see traditional Ming and Qing architecture. Remember the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon? Much of that film was filmed in this picturesque town. Once again, your private transport will take you to Huangshan. Board a bus to the cable car station, where you will board a cable car that will take you up the mountain and to your lodging at the top.

Accommodation
Xihai Hotel or similar
Meals
Breakfast & Lunch

Start early to watch the sun rise behind the peaks and over the clouds – a beautiful way to begin your day! After breakfast, spend the rest of the day with your guide hiking the walking trails from the West Sea where your hotel is to the East Sea. The hike is not a difficult trek as it follows easy trails and steps. Along the way, see some of Huangshan’s mountain peaks (there are more than 70!). Your guide will lead you past several of these peaks, including the Lion’s Peak, so named because it resembles a crouched lion, and the Peach Blossom Peak, decorated by countless peach blossom trees. See Mother Nature at her best as you admire the mountain's fantastic rock formations, striking deep valleys and abundant sprinkling of pine trees. Take the cable car back down to the Yungu Temple, where you will board a bus that will get you back down the bottom of the mountain. mountain. Transfer to the airport to catch a late-night flight with your guide to Shanghai, where a private transfer will be waiting to transport you to your hotel.

Accommodation
Jinjiang Classiq Hotel Nanjing Road or similar
Meals
Breakfast & Lunch

After seven adventure-packed days, end your tour of eastern China with a private transport to the airport for your departing flight. Please note: If requiring transport to a location other than the airport, please advise at time of booking.

Meals
Breakfast