Forbidden City and Summer Palace — Private Day Tour, Beijing

Discover one of the Seven New Wonders of the world on this private 3-day hiking adventure along the Great Wall of China, including accommodation and meals. Hike along famous sections of the UNESCO-listed wall at Gubeikou, Jinshanling, and Simatai, and escape the crowd as you visit nearby villages and discover sections of the original wall. Covering between 4 and 10 miles (6 and 16 km) each day, the hikes are moderate and a backup vehicle is available en-route.

From modern Beijing, travel back in time across scenic countrysides to Tibet on this well-packed overland adventure. Witness the splendor of the Potala Palace and the majesty of remote monasteries and then celebrate the stunning overland journey to Kathmandu. Wake up to views of Everest and enjoys a window into the heart of this remote land. A local guide and Chief Experience Officer will show you to the region’s hidden gems and make sure your trip burns brightly in your memory long after you’ve climbed down from the roof of the world.

Discover the highlights of Tibet- the rooftop of the world, locked away in its Himalayan fortress! Discover enchanting Lhasa – home to the famous Potala Palace and Jokhang Monastery, the spectacular Yam Drok Lake, Gyantse’s kumbum, Tashilunpo Monastery in Shigatse and Yumbulakhang, the oldest palace in Tibet.

China really does have it all- tranquil countryside full natural scenery and hiking trails, supercities boasting incredible, and historic, artistic and cultural discoveries to make at every turn. Get acquainted with this country’s complexity and contrasts with this fascinating lonely planet experience that will have you walking the Great Wall, trekking through the Longji rice terraces, idling the hours away in serene Hongcun, drifting along the Li River and living it up in Hong Kong. Jam-packed with color and culture, China will astonish you with the levels of diversity throughout the country.

Discover the many different parts of China, all in one trip! We carefully selected all the must-see highlights of China for you to explore the soul of this ancient mysterious country. Indulge in the natural beauty, marvel at the rich culture and be awed by the incredible history. The Yangtze river cruise is an experience you can’t miss and seeing cute pandas up close and personal will be a lifelong memory.

Encounter the essence of China in all its wonderful diversity- climb the Great Wall and stare down the Terracotta Warriors before heading down South on this tour of China’s cultural and natural highlights. Rest your gaze on the giant Buddha of Leshan and explore ancient mountainside monasteries at Emei Shan, then float down the world-famous Three Gorges of the Yangtze River before stepping out to experience the vibrant rural life and stunning scenery of Yangshuo. This adventure offers a great combination of must-see highlights and free time to explore on your own.

This 14 days golden tourist route in China and Tibet, with highlights of a once-in-a-lifetime Tibet tour by Tibet train through Qinghai-Tibet railway, the sky road in the world, and a relaxing Yangtze River cruise, will take you to the most beautiful scenery in China and Tibet. In the meantime, you will experience stunning diversity and contrasts of ancient tradition and modern fashion, witness the rapid growth in the golden triangle cities.

During your culinary tour in China, all you need are chopstick skills and our expert guides who scoured this mysterious place for the best regional cuisines. Eat hairy crab and learn how to cook Xiao long bao in your cooking classes in Shangai. Visit China’s most famous tea plantations Dragon Well, in the picturesque mountains of Hangzhou. Beijing dishes up Peking duck dripping in plum sauce and spicy hotspots on a food tour near the Forbidden City. Enjoy a picnic on a secluded spot on the Great Wall. Food stalls in Sichuan make eyes water with chili-laced pork dishes and peppery tofu. Over 5,000 years of history, stunning landscape and a multitude of regional cuisines make this food vacation a once in a lifetime experience.

China is a rare place that looks to the future while embracing its past. Come see where it’s been and where it’s headed on this incredible 12-day adventure through times both ancient and modern. Starting in Beijing, you’ll stop at the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the Great wall, before departing to Xi’an for a summit with the Terracotta Warriors. Later, enjoy three days in the rugged beauty of rural Yangshuo before winding it all up in bustling Hong Kong. In China, the future and the past are now!

Among its many other attractions, Beijing is lucky enough to have access to some of the most scenic and memorable sections of the Great Wall. This tour package combines all the best Great Wall sections around Beijing into a single, unforgettable hiking extravaganza, including the lakeside Huanghuacheng section, the scenic Mutianyu section, the unrestored Gubeikou section, the steep Jiankou section, and the beautiful Jinshanling section. You will even get a chance to spend a night on the Great Wall, camping in the watchtower on the Gubeikou section. In the morning, you will be able to enjoy breathtaking views of the sun rising over the Wall’s ancient ramparts and the surrounding hills.

A journey through time down this ancient trade route is a true adventure for travelers intrigued by the less-frequented parts of the globe. You’ll follow in the footsteps of generations of nomads, visiting some of the most important world heritage sites connected to the East and West. Cross sprawling desert landscapes, visit glittering Islamic monuments and stop at small villages, where you will meet the locals and learn about traditional ways of life. Buckle up for the ride, this is no ordinary road trip.

China holds its past and its present in careful tension, and this twelve-day private journey moves through both with deliberate attention. The route begins in Beijing among the monuments of imperial governance, crosses to the Buddhist carvings at Longmen and the martial traditions of Shaolin, then settles into Xi'an for a close study of the Terracotta Army. Chengdu introduces a quieter, more domestic China before the journey turns south to the terraced highlands of Longji and the limestone landscape of Yangshuo. The itinerary closes with a train connection to Hong Kong. Each stop is chosen for the specific quality of what it shows rather than its general fame.

This journey moves through five distinct cities along one of China's most rewarding north-to-south routes. It begins in Beijing, where the scope of imperial ambition is legible in stone, brick, and rammed earth. A bullet train carries the group east to Shanghai, a city that holds its colonial-era riverfront and its Ming-dynasty garden quarter in deliberate tension with one of the world's most recognisable modern skylines. From Shanghai, a short rail connection leads to Hangzhou, a city that has shaped Chinese aesthetic sensibility for centuries through its lake, its causeways, and its tea-growing hillsides. A flight west to Xi'an shifts the register entirely: this is where China's earliest unified empire left its most literal monument, an army of individually modelled clay soldiers still standing in formation underground. The route then turns south to the karst landscapes of Guilin and Yangshuo, where limestone peaks, river light, and a slower pace of rural life provide a considered counterpoint to the cities that came before. The journey closes in Hong Kong, arriving by train through Shenzhen and ending with an evening walk through a street market that has operated for generations. Private guides and drivers are present at each transition. The pace is measured, with full days in each location and no unnecessary doubling back.

This fourteen-day private journey traces China's most considered overland and river route, moving from the imperial capital through the high plateau of Tibet before descending to the Sichuan basin and continuing east along the Yangtze. The itinerary is structured around meaningful transitions: a night train from Beijing to Xi'an, a flight to Lhasa at 3,490 metres, a separate flight south to Chengdu, and a deluxe river cruise through the Three Gorges to Yichang before the final leg to Shanghai. Each city rewards time on foot. Each landscape shift asks something different of the traveller. The pace is measured, the sequence logical, and the range of experience — from the debating courtyards of Sera Monastery to the sheer limestone walls of Qutang Gorge — is not easily replicated on a shorter circuit.

This full-day private cycling tour moves through Beijing's most historically dense neighbourhoods at a pace that rewards attention. Beginning near Tiananmen Square, the route passes the perimeter of the Forbidden City before threading into the Hutong lanes that surround the Bell Tower and Drum Tower. A stop at a local market inside the Hutongs offers a grounded look at neighbourhood life and the produce that sustains it. The ride continues to the Lama Temple, one of the most significant Tibetan Buddhist sites in China, followed by the adjacent Confucius Temple and Imperial College. The day closes near the open water and tree-lined banks of Houhai Lake. Bikes and safety equipment are collected from a centrally located outfitter. A private guide accompanies the full route.

This single-day itinerary moves between two distinct characters of the Great Wall. The morning begins at Jiankou, an unrestored stretch where original Ming-dynasty stonework survives in various states of weathering and collapse, and where visitor numbers remain low. The route follows the ridge westward to Zheng Bei Lou before turning east toward Mutianyu, one of the Wall's most carefully maintained sections. The full walk covers six to seven miles at a moderate pace, with time allowed for photography and rest. A private vehicle collects guests from central Beijing in the morning and returns them to their hotel by early evening.

This private day tour moves through four distinct layers of Beijing, each representing a different chapter in the city's history. The morning opens at Beijing Zoo, where giant pandas remain the central draw alongside a broad collection of other species. The route then continues to the Olympic Park precinct, where the 2008 National Stadium and the adjacent Aquatics Center stand as permanent markers of a specific moment in modern Chinese civic life. The afternoon shifts to the Summer Palace, the largest surviving imperial garden in China, where covered walkways, lakeside pavilions, and hillside temples occupy a landscape that was shaped over several centuries. The day closes at the 798 Art District, a former state military electronics factory whose decommissioned industrial buildings now house galleries, studios, and cultural institutions. A private vehicle and guide are in place throughout, and hotel pickup and drop-off are included.

Beijing rewards those who move through it deliberately. This one-day private cycling itinerary places you inside the city's historic core, moving through the narrow hutong lanes of old Beijing, across Tiananmen Square, south to the Temple of Heaven, and then north to the edge of the Forbidden City. A guide accompanies you throughout, providing historical context at each site and managing the practical details of equipment and route. The pace is unhurried. The ground covered is considerable.

This full-day private tour moves through two distinct versions of the same city. The morning opens at the 2008 Olympic Stadium, where the scale of contemporary Beijing declares itself plainly. The day then turns inward, passing through a Tibetan-style Buddhist temple, the Confucian Temple, and the Imperial College before arriving in the hutong lanes that have connected ordinary life in this city for centuries. The route concludes at Houhai Lake, where the old neighborhoods open onto water.

This private full-day walk moves through the civic and imperial heart of Beijing in a single unhurried arc. Beginning at Tiananmen Square, the route passes through the Forbidden City — the Ming and Qing dynastic seat that housed 24 emperors across more than five centuries — before continuing north into Jingshan Park and then west to Beihai, one of China's most intact imperial garden complexes. The day closes in the Hutong quarter around Houhai Lake, where the residential grain of old Beijing survives in its narrowest and most legible form.

This private day tour moves through the symbolic core of imperial Beijing in a logical, measured sequence. A dedicated guide provides historical context at each site, and a private vehicle handles all transfers. Entrance tickets are arranged in advance, removing queuing variables from the schedule. The day covers Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Summer Palace — three sites that together form an unusually coherent picture of how successive dynasties chose to inhabit and display power in this city.

This single day in Beijing moves through three distinct layers of the city. The Temple of Heaven offers a morning encounter with one of the capital's most considered ceremonial spaces, set within a park where residents gather daily for music, exercise, and quiet competition. Hongqiao Pearl Market follows, a dense commercial interior where pearls sit alongside clothing, electronics, and craft goods, and where the transaction between visitor and vendor is an experience in itself. The day closes at the Summer Palace, the Qing dynasty's expansive lakeside retreat, where covered walkways, hillside temples, and open water define a landscape built for contemplative movement.

Beijing rewards those who move through it slowly and at street level. This full-day private cycling tour connects the city's most significant sites — Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the hutong lanes north of the imperial axis, and the Lama Temple — in a sequence that reflects how the capital is actually structured, rather than how it is typically packaged. An experienced local guide sets the pace and provides context that shifts the experience from sightseeing to genuine orientation.

This is a full day in Beijing structured around the city's defining historical sites and the quieter residential fabric that surrounds them. Beginning at Tiananmen Square, the day moves into the Forbidden City, the largest surviving complex of ancient wooden architecture in the world. From there, pace slows as the route enters the hutong quarter, the lane-and-courtyard neighborhoods that formed the social architecture of imperial Beijing. The afternoon reaches the Temple of Heaven before the day closes with a return by metro. The guide remains with you throughout, providing context at each site and managing movement across the city. Travel by subway is deliberate, not incidental: it reflects how the city actually functions and keeps the day grounded rather than insulated.

This eleven-day journey moves through the cities and landscapes that define China's breadth as a travel destination. Beginning in Shanghai, the route progresses north to Beijing before continuing west to Xi'an, then south through Chengdu and Guilin to conclude in Hong Kong. Each stop is distinct in character: Shanghai presents the layered contrasts of its concession-era streets and contemporary waterfront; Beijing holds the ceremonial weight of the Forbidden City and the physical scale of the Great Wall at Mutianyu; Xi'an offers the archaeological gravity of the Terracotta Warriors alongside a walled city that remains in daily use; Chengdu provides an encounter with giant panda conservation set against a Sichuan urban backdrop; and Yangshuo opens into a rural karst landscape best understood from a bicycle or a bamboo raft on the Yulong River. Movement between cities is principally by high-speed train, with one overnight soft-sleeper service between Beijing and Xi'an. A private guide and driver are in place at each destination. The journey closes in Hong Kong with an evening at Temple Street night market before departure the following morning.

This three-day private itinerary traces a continuous passage along the northeastern Beijing wall, moving through Gubeikou, Jinshanling, and Simatai in sequence. Each section carries a distinct character: Gubeikou retains the scale and severity of its original 14th-century construction; Jinshanling shows what partial decay over decades looks like from the inside; Simatai presents the contrast between restored and unrestored fabric on a single ridge. Daily distances range from 12 to 12.5 kilometres. A guide accompanies the full route, and a support vehicle travels parallel throughout. The itinerary suits walkers with a reasonable base of fitness who want unhurried access to a less-frequented corridor of the wall.

The sections of the Great Wall within reach of Beijing vary considerably in character. Some have been restored and draw large crowds. Others have been left largely untouched since the Ming Dynasty, their brickwork crumbling back into the ridgelines from which they rose. This itinerary moves through three of the more compelling stretches — Gubeikou, Jinshanling, and Simatai — on foot, over four days, with a private guide and overnight stays in village guesthouses close to the wall. The route covers terrain that rewards steady walkers rather than experienced mountaineers. Each section presents a distinct mood: the steep, intact watchtowers of Wohushan above Gubeikou; the long, partially ruined traverse to Jinshanling where local farming history is written into the missing brickwork; the more technical ascent toward Simatai; and the final climb to Wang Jing Tower, where the mountains open into a wide panorama. The pace allows time to stop, look, and understand what you are standing on.

This eleven-day private journey moves through six cities along a route that traces both the political spine and the culinary breadth of China. Beijing opens the programme with Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Hutong neighbourhoods that preserve the texture of old imperial life. An overnight train carries the group to Xi'an, where the Gao Family Courtyard, the Great Mosque, and the Terracotta Warriors illuminate successive layers of Chinese history. A flight connects Xi'an to Chengdu, the base for a day excursion to the Leshan Giant Buddha and an evening introduction to Sichuan hotpot. Chengdu itself offers time at the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base and the street-food lanes of Jinli. The route then moves east to Hangzhou, where Longjing tea plantations and the causeways of West Lake set a quieter pace before the final leg through the ancient water town of Wuzhen and on to Shanghai. The programme closes in Shanghai with the City God Temple, Yuyuan Garden, and the layered European and Chinese architecture of the former French Concession. Throughout, the itinerary is structured around substantive site access rather than surface-level sightseeing, allowing enough time at each location to read it with some depth.

Hong Kong has always been a Mecca for tourists for its irresistible vibrant city lifestyle and world top skylines. While Beijing, as a renowned capital, holds the deep Chinese historical culture through those awesome ancient architectures, coexisting with the modern and Hi-tech city appearance. Besides all the best popular essences of Hong Kong and Beijing, this tour is particularly designed with the new Hong Kong, Beijing high-speed train savory, therefore, you will totally travel in leisure with sceneries outside the car window from south to north China and have moments to experience China speed!

This fifteen-day private journey follows the Silk Road's eastern spine from the imperial capital of Beijing to the Central Asian frontier city of Kashgar. The route moves through successive layers of Chinese history: Ming-dynasty fortifications at Mutianyu and Jiayuguan, the buried army at Xi'an, the Buddhist cave sanctuaries at Dunhuang, the ruins of Jiaohe and Gaochang in the Turpan basin, and the Uyghur markets and mosques of Kashgar. Overnight trains in first-class sleeper compartments carry the journey westward through landscapes that shift from densely settled northern China to the edge of the Taklamakan Desert. A private guide and driver are present throughout, allowing for considered pacing at sites that reward time and attention.

Mount Kailash is said to be the mythical mount menu, the center of the universe. It is revered in both Hindu and Buddhist legends, while its location, close to the sources of the four main rivers that flow across the Indian sub-continent, contributes to its mystique. Our adventure includes a weeklong journey from Lhasa across the vast Tibetan plateau. We plan to reach mount Kailash at the time of the Saga Dawa festival when many thousands of pilgrims from throughout Tibet gather to pay homage to the mountain. After the celebrations, we will undertake a three-day trek or Kora, around mount Kailash, with inspiring views of one of the world’s most iconic mountains, before the drive back to Lhasa and on to Kathmandu.

This thirteen-day journey moves through three of China's most historically significant cities before ascending by overnight train onto the Tibetan Plateau. Beijing yields its imperial core — Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall, and the narrow hutong lanes of the old quarters. Xi'an holds the buried army of the Qin emperor and a fourteenth-century city wall that still defines the old town's perimeter. The route then shifts westward to Xining for a visit to Kumbum Monastery before the overnight rail crossing into Lhasa. Six days on the plateau cover the city's principal monasteries and palaces, then reach west to Gyantse and Shigatse before the return to Lhasa for departure. A private guide and driver are present throughout, and the rail leg to Lhasa is taken in a first-class soft sleeper.

Mount Kailash occupies a singular place in both Buddhist and Hindu cosmology, identified across traditions as the axis of the universe and the source of four of the subcontinent's great rivers. This fourteen-day journey moves west from Lhasa across the full breadth of the Tibetan plateau, arriving at the mountain during the Saga Dawa festival, when pilgrims from across the plateau gather to renew the Tarboche flagpole and offer prayers at the base of Kailash. The circuit of the mountain, known as the Kora, unfolds over three days of walking at altitude, crossing two high passes and tracing a route shared with pilgrims who have traveled weeks to be there. The return east adds Manasarovar, Rongbuk, and Everest Base Camp before the road descends again through Shigatse and back to Lhasa.

This journey moves from the imperial core of Beijing westward by train across the Tibetan Plateau, reaching Lhasa before continuing overland through monastery towns, high mountain passes, and the flanks of Everest to the Nepal border. The route is unhurried by design. Four nights in Lhasa allow the body to settle at altitude before the itinerary asks anything strenuous of it. A private guide and driver accompany the group throughout China and Tibet, exchanging at the border for a local leader in Kathmandu. The train passage alone — nearly two days crossing the Silk Road corridor and climbing toward the plateau — constitutes a journey worth making in its own right. What follows is a grounded encounter with one of the world's most architecturally and spiritually concentrated landscapes.

This nineteen-day private journey crosses China from north to south, threading together landscapes and cities that rarely appear on the same itinerary. It opens on the Ming-dynasty Great Wall at Gubeikou, where three consecutive days of hiking traverse Wohushan, Jinshanling, and Simatai before the route turns to Beijing's imperial core. A sleeper train carries the group west to Xi'an, where the ancient city wall, the Terracotta Warriors, and the vertiginous ridgelines of Mount Huashan form the central chapter. The journey then flies south into Yunnan, entering Lijiang at 2,400 metres before descending into Tiger Leaping Gorge for two days of trekking. The Shibaoshan grottoes and the Tea Horse trading town of Shaxi mark a quieter passage before a flight connects Yunnan to the rice terraces of Longji. The final arc moves through Yangshuo and the Li River to Shanghai, ending with a walk along the Bund. Throughout, the pace is deliberate, the route is point-to-point, and the experiences are grounded in the physical and historical character of each place.

The improvement and integration of air and rail services in China have enabled this arrangement, combining the great cities (Beijing, Xi’an, and Shangai) with cruises through the dramatic Yangtze Gorges and the stunning scenery of the Li River. Home to the ‘Lat Emperor’ and the nation’s capital, Beijing’s greatest treasures are revealed at the Imperial Palace in the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace. The Great Wall was initiated by the first Emperor and revived during the Ming Dynasty against the invading Mongols. In Xi’an, the life-size Terracotta Warriors stand in formation, with no two faces alike. Sheer cliffs and steep, rugged mountains rise on either side of the turbulent, misty Yangtze, creating one of nature’s most marvelous sights. The river scenes are enlivened by stories and legends and encapsulated by poets and painters, immortalized in particular by the Tang Dynasty.

Want to explore the most recommended highlights of China in a leisure way? This is the ideal trip that takes you to some of the most impressive destinations in China, including Beijing, Xian, Guilin, Shanghai, plus the Yangtze River region. During this tour, you will not only uncover the best collections of historical sites, such as Forbidden, City, Great Wall, Terracotta Warriors, etc. but also embrace the fabulous natural beauty of China, including the tranquil Guilin and the great Yangtze River.

See the highlights of China on this golden route of her key sites from Beijing’s Great Wall, Forbidden City and charming hutong neighborhoods to the Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an, and the modern bustle of Shangai, dine on delectable Chinese cuisine, stay in a stunning accommodation, take walking tours, travel by Pedicab, marvel at the ancient emperor tombs, take in the charm of Suzhou, once the ‘Vernice of the East’, have time for shopping and independent activities, and plenty more.

This nine-day private journey moves through four of China's most historically layered cities, using the country's high-speed rail and overnight sleeper network to connect them without unnecessary backtracking. The route begins in Shanghai, where the Bund and the French Concession offer two distinct readings of the city's past. A bullet train carries the group to Suzhou, where classical garden design reaches one of its most refined expressions at the Master of Nets Garden. An overnight sleeper train then crosses to Xi'an, the former imperial capital, where the Bell Tower, the ancient city wall, and the vast underground army of the Terracotta Warriors anchor two full days of exploration. The final leg transfers to Beijing for visits to the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, the Hutong lanes of old Beijing, and a full hiking day on the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall. The pacing allows each city to be understood on its own terms rather than processed as a sequence of checkboxes.

This fourteen-day journey moves through five distinct regions of China, connecting the cosmopolitan layering of Shanghai with the ancient administrative weight of Beijing, and covering considerable ground in between. The route passes through Hangzhou's cultivated lakeside landscape and its centuries-old tea country before turning south to the karst terrain of Yangshuo. From there, the journey shifts west to board a Yangtze River cruise through the Three Gorges, continuing overland by overnight train to Xi'an and its buried army before the final leg north to the capital. The pace is measured throughout, with full days allocated to places that warrant them and movement handled by private transfer, domestic flight, and first-class sleeper train.

This single-day private journey travels by bullet train from Xi'an to Pingyao, one of the most coherently preserved walled cities in China. The route moves from the monumental Wang Family Compound — a private residential estate completed in 1811 and now a serious museum of decorative and architectural craft — into the layered streets of Pingyao Old Town itself. The afternoon covers the city's civic and commercial core: its ancient government offices, the Rishengchang Exchange Museum housed in China's earliest known financial institution, and the intact city wall that still follows the outline of its Ming-era reconstruction. The return bullet train to Xi'an closes a day that covers considerable historical range without requiring an overnight stay.

This day journey from Xi'an uses the high-speed rail network to reach Luoyang, where two of China's most significant historical sites sit within a short transfer of each other. Shaolin Monastery, set against the forested slopes of Song Shan, is the origin point of Chan Buddhism and the martial tradition associated with it. Longmen Grottoes, carved into limestone cliffs along the Yi River south of the city, represent one of the most concentrated accumulations of Buddhist stone sculpture in the world. The route is efficient without being rushed, and the contrast between the two sites — one defined by living practice, the other by centuries of carved devotion — gives the day a coherent arc.

This thirteen-day private journey moves through five distinct Chinese landscapes by high-speed train, beginning in Hong Kong and ending at the northern edge of the Great Wall. The route is designed around rail travel as the primary mode of transit, allowing the country's geography to change gradually outside the window rather than in the compressed frame of a flight. Yangshuo's karst countryside, Chengdu's panda conservation work, the Buddhist rock carvings at Longmen, the martial heritage of Shaolin, and Beijing's imperial core each represent a different register of Chinese civilisation. The pace is measured throughout, with two or three nights in most locations and a clear distinction between active days and reflective ones. This is a journey for travellers who prefer to understand a country through accumulated detail rather than headline attractions alone.

China resists compression. This eighteen-day journey moves through the country's northern heartland, central river basin, and subtropical south in a sequence that allows each place its own character. Beijing introduces the scale of imperial ambition at the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. An overnight train carries the group to Shanghai, where the Bund's riverside architecture and the lanes of the old city offer a very different reading of Chinese history. Xi'an holds the terracotta army — an archaeological site whose dimensions take time to absorb. A high-speed connection west leads to Chengdu and the panda reserves of Sichuan, then south to the Tang-dynasty Buddha at Leshan and the monastery trails of Emei Shan. The Yangtze cruise through the Three Gorges is a three-day passage through gorge scenery and river culture that no overland route can replicate. The journey ends in the karst landscape around Yangshuo before crossing into Hong Kong.

From modern Beijing, travel back in time across scenic countrysides to Tibet on this well-packed overland adventure. Witness the splendor of the Potala Palace and the majesty of remote monasteries and then celebrate the stunning overland journey to Kathmandu. Wake up to views of Everest and enjoys a window into the heart of this remote land. A local guide and Chief Experience Officer will show you to the region’s hidden gems and make sure your trip burns brightly in your memory long after you’ve climbed down from the roof of the world.

This journey moves from the imperial core of Beijing westward by train across the Tibetan Plateau, reaching Lhasa before continuing overland through monastery towns, high mountain passes, and the flanks of Everest to the Nepal border. The route is unhurried by design. Four nights in Lhasa allow the body to settle at altitude before the itinerary asks anything strenuous of it. A private guide and driver accompany the group throughout China and Tibet, exchanging at the border for a local leader in Kathmandu. The train passage alone — nearly two days crossing the Silk Road corridor and climbing toward the plateau — constitutes a journey worth making in its own right. What follows is a grounded encounter with one of the world's most architecturally and spiritually concentrated landscapes.

Discover one of the Seven New Wonders of the world on this private 3-day hiking adventure along the Great Wall of China, including accommodation and meals. Hike along famous sections of the UNESCO-listed wall at Gubeikou, Jinshanling, and Simatai, and escape the crowd as you visit nearby villages and discover sections of the original wall. Covering between 4 and 10 miles (6 and 16 km) each day, the hikes are moderate and a backup vehicle is available en-route.

From modern Beijing, travel back in time across scenic countrysides to Tibet on this well-packed overland adventure. Witness the splendor of the Potala Palace and the majesty of remote monasteries and then celebrate the stunning overland journey to Kathmandu. Wake up to views of Everest and enjoys a window into the heart of this remote land. A local guide and Chief Experience Officer will show you to the region’s hidden gems and make sure your trip burns brightly in your memory long after you’ve climbed down from the roof of the world.

Discover the highlights of Tibet- the rooftop of the world, locked away in its Himalayan fortress! Discover enchanting Lhasa – home to the famous Potala Palace and Jokhang Monastery, the spectacular Yam Drok Lake, Gyantse’s kumbum, Tashilunpo Monastery in Shigatse and Yumbulakhang, the oldest palace in Tibet.

China really does have it all- tranquil countryside full natural scenery and hiking trails, supercities boasting incredible, and historic, artistic and cultural discoveries to make at every turn. Get acquainted with this country’s complexity and contrasts with this fascinating lonely planet experience that will have you walking the Great Wall, trekking through the Longji rice terraces, idling the hours away in serene Hongcun, drifting along the Li River and living it up in Hong Kong. Jam-packed with color and culture, China will astonish you with the levels of diversity throughout the country.

During your culinary tour in China, all you need are chopstick skills and our expert guides who scoured this mysterious place for the best regional cuisines. Eat hairy crab and learn how to cook Xiao long bao in your cooking classes in Shangai. Visit China’s most famous tea plantations Dragon Well, in the picturesque mountains of Hangzhou. Beijing dishes up Peking duck dripping in plum sauce and spicy hotspots on a food tour near the Forbidden City. Enjoy a picnic on a secluded spot on the Great Wall. Food stalls in Sichuan make eyes water with chili-laced pork dishes and peppery tofu. Over 5,000 years of history, stunning landscape and a multitude of regional cuisines make this food vacation a once in a lifetime experience.

China is a rare place that looks to the future while embracing its past. Come see where it’s been and where it’s headed on this incredible 12-day adventure through times both ancient and modern. Starting in Beijing, you’ll stop at the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the Great wall, before departing to Xi’an for a summit with the Terracotta Warriors. Later, enjoy three days in the rugged beauty of rural Yangshuo before winding it all up in bustling Hong Kong. In China, the future and the past are now!

Among its many other attractions, Beijing is lucky enough to have access to some of the most scenic and memorable sections of the Great Wall. This tour package combines all the best Great Wall sections around Beijing into a single, unforgettable hiking extravaganza, including the lakeside Huanghuacheng section, the scenic Mutianyu section, the unrestored Gubeikou section, the steep Jiankou section, and the beautiful Jinshanling section. You will even get a chance to spend a night on the Great Wall, camping in the watchtower on the Gubeikou section. In the morning, you will be able to enjoy breathtaking views of the sun rising over the Wall’s ancient ramparts and the surrounding hills.

This journey moves through five distinct cities along one of China's most rewarding north-to-south routes. It begins in Beijing, where the scope of imperial ambition is legible in stone, brick, and rammed earth. A bullet train carries the group east to Shanghai, a city that holds its colonial-era riverfront and its Ming-dynasty garden quarter in deliberate tension with one of the world's most recognisable modern skylines. From Shanghai, a short rail connection leads to Hangzhou, a city that has shaped Chinese aesthetic sensibility for centuries through its lake, its causeways, and its tea-growing hillsides. A flight west to Xi'an shifts the register entirely: this is where China's earliest unified empire left its most literal monument, an army of individually modelled clay soldiers still standing in formation underground. The route then turns south to the karst landscapes of Guilin and Yangshuo, where limestone peaks, river light, and a slower pace of rural life provide a considered counterpoint to the cities that came before. The journey closes in Hong Kong, arriving by train through Shenzhen and ending with an evening walk through a street market that has operated for generations. Private guides and drivers are present at each transition. The pace is measured, with full days in each location and no unnecessary doubling back.

This fourteen-day private journey traces China's most considered overland and river route, moving from the imperial capital through the high plateau of Tibet before descending to the Sichuan basin and continuing east along the Yangtze. The itinerary is structured around meaningful transitions: a night train from Beijing to Xi'an, a flight to Lhasa at 3,490 metres, a separate flight south to Chengdu, and a deluxe river cruise through the Three Gorges to Yichang before the final leg to Shanghai. Each city rewards time on foot. Each landscape shift asks something different of the traveller. The pace is measured, the sequence logical, and the range of experience — from the debating courtyards of Sera Monastery to the sheer limestone walls of Qutang Gorge — is not easily replicated on a shorter circuit.

This full-day private cycling tour moves through Beijing's most historically dense neighbourhoods at a pace that rewards attention. Beginning near Tiananmen Square, the route passes the perimeter of the Forbidden City before threading into the Hutong lanes that surround the Bell Tower and Drum Tower. A stop at a local market inside the Hutongs offers a grounded look at neighbourhood life and the produce that sustains it. The ride continues to the Lama Temple, one of the most significant Tibetan Buddhist sites in China, followed by the adjacent Confucius Temple and Imperial College. The day closes near the open water and tree-lined banks of Houhai Lake. Bikes and safety equipment are collected from a centrally located outfitter. A private guide accompanies the full route.

This single-day itinerary moves between two distinct characters of the Great Wall. The morning begins at Jiankou, an unrestored stretch where original Ming-dynasty stonework survives in various states of weathering and collapse, and where visitor numbers remain low. The route follows the ridge westward to Zheng Bei Lou before turning east toward Mutianyu, one of the Wall's most carefully maintained sections. The full walk covers six to seven miles at a moderate pace, with time allowed for photography and rest. A private vehicle collects guests from central Beijing in the morning and returns them to their hotel by early evening.

This private day tour moves through four distinct layers of Beijing, each representing a different chapter in the city's history. The morning opens at Beijing Zoo, where giant pandas remain the central draw alongside a broad collection of other species. The route then continues to the Olympic Park precinct, where the 2008 National Stadium and the adjacent Aquatics Center stand as permanent markers of a specific moment in modern Chinese civic life. The afternoon shifts to the Summer Palace, the largest surviving imperial garden in China, where covered walkways, lakeside pavilions, and hillside temples occupy a landscape that was shaped over several centuries. The day closes at the 798 Art District, a former state military electronics factory whose decommissioned industrial buildings now house galleries, studios, and cultural institutions. A private vehicle and guide are in place throughout, and hotel pickup and drop-off are included.

Beijing rewards those who move through it deliberately. This one-day private cycling itinerary places you inside the city's historic core, moving through the narrow hutong lanes of old Beijing, across Tiananmen Square, south to the Temple of Heaven, and then north to the edge of the Forbidden City. A guide accompanies you throughout, providing historical context at each site and managing the practical details of equipment and route. The pace is unhurried. The ground covered is considerable.

This full-day private tour moves through two distinct versions of the same city. The morning opens at the 2008 Olympic Stadium, where the scale of contemporary Beijing declares itself plainly. The day then turns inward, passing through a Tibetan-style Buddhist temple, the Confucian Temple, and the Imperial College before arriving in the hutong lanes that have connected ordinary life in this city for centuries. The route concludes at Houhai Lake, where the old neighborhoods open onto water.

This private full-day walk moves through the civic and imperial heart of Beijing in a single unhurried arc. Beginning at Tiananmen Square, the route passes through the Forbidden City — the Ming and Qing dynastic seat that housed 24 emperors across more than five centuries — before continuing north into Jingshan Park and then west to Beihai, one of China's most intact imperial garden complexes. The day closes in the Hutong quarter around Houhai Lake, where the residential grain of old Beijing survives in its narrowest and most legible form.

This private day tour moves through the symbolic core of imperial Beijing in a logical, measured sequence. A dedicated guide provides historical context at each site, and a private vehicle handles all transfers. Entrance tickets are arranged in advance, removing queuing variables from the schedule. The day covers Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Summer Palace — three sites that together form an unusually coherent picture of how successive dynasties chose to inhabit and display power in this city.

This single day in Beijing moves through three distinct layers of the city. The Temple of Heaven offers a morning encounter with one of the capital's most considered ceremonial spaces, set within a park where residents gather daily for music, exercise, and quiet competition. Hongqiao Pearl Market follows, a dense commercial interior where pearls sit alongside clothing, electronics, and craft goods, and where the transaction between visitor and vendor is an experience in itself. The day closes at the Summer Palace, the Qing dynasty's expansive lakeside retreat, where covered walkways, hillside temples, and open water define a landscape built for contemplative movement.

Beijing rewards those who move through it slowly and at street level. This full-day private cycling tour connects the city's most significant sites — Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the hutong lanes north of the imperial axis, and the Lama Temple — in a sequence that reflects how the capital is actually structured, rather than how it is typically packaged. An experienced local guide sets the pace and provides context that shifts the experience from sightseeing to genuine orientation.

This is a full day in Beijing structured around the city's defining historical sites and the quieter residential fabric that surrounds them. Beginning at Tiananmen Square, the day moves into the Forbidden City, the largest surviving complex of ancient wooden architecture in the world. From there, pace slows as the route enters the hutong quarter, the lane-and-courtyard neighborhoods that formed the social architecture of imperial Beijing. The afternoon reaches the Temple of Heaven before the day closes with a return by metro. The guide remains with you throughout, providing context at each site and managing movement across the city. Travel by subway is deliberate, not incidental: it reflects how the city actually functions and keeps the day grounded rather than insulated.

This three-day private itinerary traces a continuous passage along the northeastern Beijing wall, moving through Gubeikou, Jinshanling, and Simatai in sequence. Each section carries a distinct character: Gubeikou retains the scale and severity of its original 14th-century construction; Jinshanling shows what partial decay over decades looks like from the inside; Simatai presents the contrast between restored and unrestored fabric on a single ridge. Daily distances range from 12 to 12.5 kilometres. A guide accompanies the full route, and a support vehicle travels parallel throughout. The itinerary suits walkers with a reasonable base of fitness who want unhurried access to a less-frequented corridor of the wall.

The sections of the Great Wall within reach of Beijing vary considerably in character. Some have been restored and draw large crowds. Others have been left largely untouched since the Ming Dynasty, their brickwork crumbling back into the ridgelines from which they rose. This itinerary moves through three of the more compelling stretches — Gubeikou, Jinshanling, and Simatai — on foot, over four days, with a private guide and overnight stays in village guesthouses close to the wall. The route covers terrain that rewards steady walkers rather than experienced mountaineers. Each section presents a distinct mood: the steep, intact watchtowers of Wohushan above Gubeikou; the long, partially ruined traverse to Jinshanling where local farming history is written into the missing brickwork; the more technical ascent toward Simatai; and the final climb to Wang Jing Tower, where the mountains open into a wide panorama. The pace allows time to stop, look, and understand what you are standing on.

This eleven-day private journey moves through six cities along a route that traces both the political spine and the culinary breadth of China. Beijing opens the programme with Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Hutong neighbourhoods that preserve the texture of old imperial life. An overnight train carries the group to Xi'an, where the Gao Family Courtyard, the Great Mosque, and the Terracotta Warriors illuminate successive layers of Chinese history. A flight connects Xi'an to Chengdu, the base for a day excursion to the Leshan Giant Buddha and an evening introduction to Sichuan hotpot. Chengdu itself offers time at the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base and the street-food lanes of Jinli. The route then moves east to Hangzhou, where Longjing tea plantations and the causeways of West Lake set a quieter pace before the final leg through the ancient water town of Wuzhen and on to Shanghai. The programme closes in Shanghai with the City God Temple, Yuyuan Garden, and the layered European and Chinese architecture of the former French Concession. Throughout, the itinerary is structured around substantive site access rather than surface-level sightseeing, allowing enough time at each location to read it with some depth.

This fifteen-day private journey follows the Silk Road's eastern spine from the imperial capital of Beijing to the Central Asian frontier city of Kashgar. The route moves through successive layers of Chinese history: Ming-dynasty fortifications at Mutianyu and Jiayuguan, the buried army at Xi'an, the Buddhist cave sanctuaries at Dunhuang, the ruins of Jiaohe and Gaochang in the Turpan basin, and the Uyghur markets and mosques of Kashgar. Overnight trains in first-class sleeper compartments carry the journey westward through landscapes that shift from densely settled northern China to the edge of the Taklamakan Desert. A private guide and driver are present throughout, allowing for considered pacing at sites that reward time and attention.

Mount Kailash is said to be the mythical mount menu, the center of the universe. It is revered in both Hindu and Buddhist legends, while its location, close to the sources of the four main rivers that flow across the Indian sub-continent, contributes to its mystique. Our adventure includes a weeklong journey from Lhasa across the vast Tibetan plateau. We plan to reach mount Kailash at the time of the Saga Dawa festival when many thousands of pilgrims from throughout Tibet gather to pay homage to the mountain. After the celebrations, we will undertake a three-day trek or Kora, around mount Kailash, with inspiring views of one of the world’s most iconic mountains, before the drive back to Lhasa and on to Kathmandu.

This thirteen-day journey moves through three of China's most historically significant cities before ascending by overnight train onto the Tibetan Plateau. Beijing yields its imperial core — Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall, and the narrow hutong lanes of the old quarters. Xi'an holds the buried army of the Qin emperor and a fourteenth-century city wall that still defines the old town's perimeter. The route then shifts westward to Xining for a visit to Kumbum Monastery before the overnight rail crossing into Lhasa. Six days on the plateau cover the city's principal monasteries and palaces, then reach west to Gyantse and Shigatse before the return to Lhasa for departure. A private guide and driver are present throughout, and the rail leg to Lhasa is taken in a first-class soft sleeper.

Mount Kailash occupies a singular place in both Buddhist and Hindu cosmology, identified across traditions as the axis of the universe and the source of four of the subcontinent's great rivers. This fourteen-day journey moves west from Lhasa across the full breadth of the Tibetan plateau, arriving at the mountain during the Saga Dawa festival, when pilgrims from across the plateau gather to renew the Tarboche flagpole and offer prayers at the base of Kailash. The circuit of the mountain, known as the Kora, unfolds over three days of walking at altitude, crossing two high passes and tracing a route shared with pilgrims who have traveled weeks to be there. The return east adds Manasarovar, Rongbuk, and Everest Base Camp before the road descends again through Shigatse and back to Lhasa.

This journey moves from the imperial core of Beijing westward by train across the Tibetan Plateau, reaching Lhasa before continuing overland through monastery towns, high mountain passes, and the flanks of Everest to the Nepal border. The route is unhurried by design. Four nights in Lhasa allow the body to settle at altitude before the itinerary asks anything strenuous of it. A private guide and driver accompany the group throughout China and Tibet, exchanging at the border for a local leader in Kathmandu. The train passage alone — nearly two days crossing the Silk Road corridor and climbing toward the plateau — constitutes a journey worth making in its own right. What follows is a grounded encounter with one of the world's most architecturally and spiritually concentrated landscapes.

This nineteen-day private journey crosses China from north to south, threading together landscapes and cities that rarely appear on the same itinerary. It opens on the Ming-dynasty Great Wall at Gubeikou, where three consecutive days of hiking traverse Wohushan, Jinshanling, and Simatai before the route turns to Beijing's imperial core. A sleeper train carries the group west to Xi'an, where the ancient city wall, the Terracotta Warriors, and the vertiginous ridgelines of Mount Huashan form the central chapter. The journey then flies south into Yunnan, entering Lijiang at 2,400 metres before descending into Tiger Leaping Gorge for two days of trekking. The Shibaoshan grottoes and the Tea Horse trading town of Shaxi mark a quieter passage before a flight connects Yunnan to the rice terraces of Longji. The final arc moves through Yangshuo and the Li River to Shanghai, ending with a walk along the Bund. Throughout, the pace is deliberate, the route is point-to-point, and the experiences are grounded in the physical and historical character of each place.

The improvement and integration of air and rail services in China have enabled this arrangement, combining the great cities (Beijing, Xi’an, and Shangai) with cruises through the dramatic Yangtze Gorges and the stunning scenery of the Li River. Home to the ‘Lat Emperor’ and the nation’s capital, Beijing’s greatest treasures are revealed at the Imperial Palace in the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace. The Great Wall was initiated by the first Emperor and revived during the Ming Dynasty against the invading Mongols. In Xi’an, the life-size Terracotta Warriors stand in formation, with no two faces alike. Sheer cliffs and steep, rugged mountains rise on either side of the turbulent, misty Yangtze, creating one of nature’s most marvelous sights. The river scenes are enlivened by stories and legends and encapsulated by poets and painters, immortalized in particular by the Tang Dynasty.

See the highlights of China on this golden route of her key sites from Beijing’s Great Wall, Forbidden City and charming hutong neighborhoods to the Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an, and the modern bustle of Shangai, dine on delectable Chinese cuisine, stay in a stunning accommodation, take walking tours, travel by Pedicab, marvel at the ancient emperor tombs, take in the charm of Suzhou, once the ‘Vernice of the East’, have time for shopping and independent activities, and plenty more.

This nine-day private journey moves through four of China's most historically layered cities, using the country's high-speed rail and overnight sleeper network to connect them without unnecessary backtracking. The route begins in Shanghai, where the Bund and the French Concession offer two distinct readings of the city's past. A bullet train carries the group to Suzhou, where classical garden design reaches one of its most refined expressions at the Master of Nets Garden. An overnight sleeper train then crosses to Xi'an, the former imperial capital, where the Bell Tower, the ancient city wall, and the vast underground army of the Terracotta Warriors anchor two full days of exploration. The final leg transfers to Beijing for visits to the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, the Hutong lanes of old Beijing, and a full hiking day on the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall. The pacing allows each city to be understood on its own terms rather than processed as a sequence of checkboxes.

This fourteen-day journey moves through five distinct regions of China, connecting the cosmopolitan layering of Shanghai with the ancient administrative weight of Beijing, and covering considerable ground in between. The route passes through Hangzhou's cultivated lakeside landscape and its centuries-old tea country before turning south to the karst terrain of Yangshuo. From there, the journey shifts west to board a Yangtze River cruise through the Three Gorges, continuing overland by overnight train to Xi'an and its buried army before the final leg north to the capital. The pace is measured throughout, with full days allocated to places that warrant them and movement handled by private transfer, domestic flight, and first-class sleeper train.

This single-day private journey travels by bullet train from Xi'an to Pingyao, one of the most coherently preserved walled cities in China. The route moves from the monumental Wang Family Compound — a private residential estate completed in 1811 and now a serious museum of decorative and architectural craft — into the layered streets of Pingyao Old Town itself. The afternoon covers the city's civic and commercial core: its ancient government offices, the Rishengchang Exchange Museum housed in China's earliest known financial institution, and the intact city wall that still follows the outline of its Ming-era reconstruction. The return bullet train to Xi'an closes a day that covers considerable historical range without requiring an overnight stay.

This day journey from Xi'an uses the high-speed rail network to reach Luoyang, where two of China's most significant historical sites sit within a short transfer of each other. Shaolin Monastery, set against the forested slopes of Song Shan, is the origin point of Chan Buddhism and the martial tradition associated with it. Longmen Grottoes, carved into limestone cliffs along the Yi River south of the city, represent one of the most concentrated accumulations of Buddhist stone sculpture in the world. The route is efficient without being rushed, and the contrast between the two sites — one defined by living practice, the other by centuries of carved devotion — gives the day a coherent arc.

This thirteen-day private journey moves through five distinct Chinese landscapes by high-speed train, beginning in Hong Kong and ending at the northern edge of the Great Wall. The route is designed around rail travel as the primary mode of transit, allowing the country's geography to change gradually outside the window rather than in the compressed frame of a flight. Yangshuo's karst countryside, Chengdu's panda conservation work, the Buddhist rock carvings at Longmen, the martial heritage of Shaolin, and Beijing's imperial core each represent a different register of Chinese civilisation. The pace is measured throughout, with two or three nights in most locations and a clear distinction between active days and reflective ones. This is a journey for travellers who prefer to understand a country through accumulated detail rather than headline attractions alone.

China resists compression. This eighteen-day journey moves through the country's northern heartland, central river basin, and subtropical south in a sequence that allows each place its own character. Beijing introduces the scale of imperial ambition at the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. An overnight train carries the group to Shanghai, where the Bund's riverside architecture and the lanes of the old city offer a very different reading of Chinese history. Xi'an holds the terracotta army — an archaeological site whose dimensions take time to absorb. A high-speed connection west leads to Chengdu and the panda reserves of Sichuan, then south to the Tang-dynasty Buddha at Leshan and the monastery trails of Emei Shan. The Yangtze cruise through the Three Gorges is a three-day passage through gorge scenery and river culture that no overland route can replicate. The journey ends in the karst landscape around Yangshuo before crossing into Hong Kong.