Classic China and the Yangtze
Comprehensive in scope yet briefer in duration than many China tours, this relaxedm well-paced journey combines monumental Beijing, a cruise on the cosmopolitan Shanghai. Traveling in your prized small group, you'll have the good fortune to meet local people and to experience a host of China's highlights, both ancient and of the moment.
Exclusive Highlights
- Beijing touring, including Tiananmen Square, Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven and the Great Wall.
- Beijing hutong tour and home visit.
- Traditional Peking Duck dinner.
- Xian's Terra Cotta Warriors.
- Three-night Yangtze River Cruise including Three Gorges and Smaller Gorges.
- Cruise aboard Premier Ship of Victoria Cruises.
- Included shore excursions.
- Visit the site of the new Three Gorges Dam.
- Shanghai sightseeing: acclaimed Shanghai Museum, the Bund, Children's Palace, Yu Yuan Gardens.
Itinerary
DAY 1: Depart U.S. for Beijing, China
DAY 2: Arrive Beijing
We arrive in the Chinese capital this afternoon and transfer directly to our hotel. After time to relax we have a briefing on the journey ahead. Tonight we enjoy a welcome dinner together at the hotel.
Accommodations: Renaissance Beijing
Meals: Dinner
Day 3: Beijing
This morning we visit a place of both fame and infamy: Tiananmen Square – the Gate of Heavenly Peace – in the very heart of the city. It’s a vast area said by some to be the greatest public square on earth. It’s also the site of infamous uprisings in China’s 20th-century history, including the eight rallies that began the Cultural Revolution in 1966 and the student protests in 1989. Next we move on to the Forbidden City, which operated as the seat of power during five centuries of Chinese dynasties. Imperial and impressive, the Forbidden City boasts three great ceremonial halls and three principal palaces where the extravagant living quarters housed more than 34 successive emperors. We return to the hotel for an afternoon at leisure. Tonight we enjoy a traditional Peking Duck Dinner at a local restaurant.
Accommodations: Renaissance Beijing
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
DAY 4: Beijing/Great Wall
Today we tour the Temple of Heaven, among China’s most beautiful shrines, with two circular ceremonial buildings crowned with blue tile roofs. After the visit here, you have an option to visit a pearl shop featuring a demonstration on fresh water pearls. Those who are not interested in the demonstration can enjoy a walk through a nearby farmers market and park. After a stop for lunch at a local restaurant, we visit the only manmade structure on earth that is visible from space: the Great Wall of China, which stretches some 2,480 miles across the country. It was also one of history’s most time-consuming projects: construction began in the 5th century BC and finished in the 16th century AD. We’ll be concentrating on Mu Tian Yu, a scenic and less crowded section of the Great Wall, where we take a cable car for the brief ride to the highest restored portion. It’s a breathtaking sight, one you won't soon forget. Late this afternoon we return to our hotel, and dinner tonight is on your own.
Accommodations: Renaissance Beijing
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
DAY 5: Beijing
First we enjoy a fascinating small group highlight: a tour of Beijing through the city’s ancient back alleys called hutongs. We’ll travel by rickshaw down these back streets and tiny alleyways to witness a way of life that is fast disappearing in modern-day China. As more and more modern apartment complexes are being built, the communal lifestyle that you’ll see on today’s tour is becoming obsolete – and may soon disappear entirely. Our visit with a Beijing family in their home here offers us a glimpse of this time-honored tradition. After lunch at a local restaurant we travel to the Summer Palace, the former royal retreat that is now one of the loveliest spots in Beijing, a park for both visitors and local citizens, with a large lake, imperial pavilions, and palaces. Dinner tonight is on your own.
Accommodations: Renaissance Beijing
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
DAY 6: Beijing/Xian
Early this morning we depart for the airport for the 90-minute flight to Xian, home of the world-renowned Terra Cotta Army, arriving mid-day. Once among the world’s greatest ancient cities, Xian devolved into a provincial backwater until the accidental discovery in 1974 of the great army of hand-carved warriors that had been buried for centuries. Upon arrival, we enjoy a lunch of traditional Chinese dumplings before touring the impressive nine-mile city wall and moat, one of the largest surviving ancient military defense systems in the world. Following the tour, we visit the Shanxi Provincial History Museum, a striking Tang-Dynasty style pavilion housing a collection of 113,000 historic and cultural artifacts unearthed in nearby Shanxi. This evening we enjoy a Tang Dynasty show and dinner.
Accommodations: Sheraton Xian
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
DAY 7: Xian
Our day begins with a visit to the Wild Goose Pagoda, built in 652 AD and noted as a symbol of Xian, prized especially for its architectural beauty. From here we drive to a store that sells jade. We learn what constitutes good jade and the difference between jade and jadeite, before we are left to browse. For those who do not wish to browse, we return to the Old town and city wall for a time. After lunch at a local restaurant we venture to the site of the astounding Terra Cotta Warriors. Created to guard the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang who ascended the throne in 246 BC, this is one of China’s most memorable sights. Discovered by a fortuitous accident in 1974, the terra cotta soldiers rest in three massive vaults, the largest consisting of more than 1,000 figures in battle formation. The figures each stand about five feet tall; each head and face is different, and the mass-produced bodies are clad in knee-length battle tunics. The soldiers once carried actual weapons, including swords, spears, and crossbows that have long since been plundered. A smaller vault holds four groups including men with crossbows, charioteers, infantry, and cavalry in many positions, including one particularly striking figure of a cavalryman leading a horse. And in the final vault we see what appears to be battle headquarters, with an honor guard and animal bones indicating that the area was used for animal sacrifices. We view the open vaults from above while standing on a series of walkways then visit the remarkable museum nearby which houses the two famed bronze chariots unearthed in 1982 – and which we can see up close here. After returning to our hotel late this afternoon, we enjoy a Western-style buffet dinner there tonight.
Accommodations: Sheraton Xian
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
DAY 8: Xian/Chongqing
This morning we transfer to the airport for the one-hour flight to Chongqing. Called the Mountain City, Chongqing is surrounded by hills in a most scenic setting. After lunch together and if time permits, we visit the Chongqing Zoo to see the beloved pandas. After dinner in a local restaurant, we board our Victoria Cruises premier ship. Tonight we set sail down river – for good luck, as the Chinese do.
Accommodations: Victoria Cruises Premier Ship
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
DAY 9: Yangtze Cruising – Shibaozhai/Qutang Gorge
It’s one of the world’s classic voyages: sailing the fabled Yangtze River. The river’s source is in the mountains above Tibet, and it receives some 700 tributaries during its 3,600-mile course through China. The third longest river in the world, the Yangtze continues to serve as a major waterway for boats, barges, and fisherman, as it has for more than 1,000 years. Early this morning we disembark in Shiboaozhai for the 20-minute walk to visit the Red Pagoda. Considered a gem of Chinese architecture, the 12-story pagoda built in 1816 simply rests against the rocks behind it – it is not secured in any way. After returning to the ship mid-morning, we continue cruising downstream. Late this afternoon we traverse the first of the Yangtze’s fabled Three Gorges, Qutang, known for the sheer, dramatic precipices lining either side of the-five-mile long passageway.
Accommodations: Victoria Cruises Premier Ship
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
DAY 10: Yangtze Cruising – Daning River/Lesser Gorges/Wu Gorge/Xiling Gorge/Three
Gorges Dam
Our ship docks this morning in Wushan, where we disembark and board a smaller ferry boat for an excursion along the Daning River, a Yangtze tributary that is home to the stunning Lesser Gorges. Here we can see rock walls up close, along with monkeys playing in the treetops, and ancient coffins and calligraphy etched into the rocks. We return to our Victoria Cruises ship for lunch and resume cruising; early this afternoon we enter 25-mile Wu Gorge. With precipitous peaks often enshrouded in clouds and rich vegetation clinging to the slopes that flank the water, Wu Gorge is considered the most beautiful of the Three Gorges. Late afternoon we reach the western section of 47-mile Xiling Gorge, known for its swift rapids and churning whirlpools. Partway through our voyage through Xiling Gorge we approach the locks of the Three Gorges Dam; once the lockmaster determines our entry time, we commence our three-hour transit of the world’s largest hydroelectric dam.
Accommodations: Victoria Cruises Premier Ship
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 11: Yangtze Cruising – Three Gorges Dam Site/Xiling Gorge/Disembark/Shanghai
Early this morning we disembark to tour Sandouping, site of the immense Three Gorges Dam currently under construction. We see and learn about this incredible project from an observatory overlooking the site. The idea for this massive (and controversial) dam was born nearly a century ago, though it is only now coming to fruition and will not be complete until 2009. Some five times larger than Hoover Dam, the Three Gorges dam will be the largest of its kind, with walls reaching more than 600 feet high and 6,500 feet in length. Once completed, it will create a lake that will be the world’s largest reservoir,
stretching all the way to Chongqing and providing as much as 10 percent of China’s hydroelectric power. At the same time, it will completely flood this spectacular region, changing the landscape and submerging centuries-old villages. For now, however, you’ve had the opportunity to see this fabled landscape as we cruised, the majestic vertical cliffs reaching toward the sky, a land steeped in mystery and legend. It’s an extraordinary opportunity to look to China's past and future and know that you’ve been here at a crossroads in its history.
Following our tour we return to the ship mid-morning and resume cruising through the eastern section of Xiling Gorge. After lunch we arrive in Yichang, where we disembark again and travel to the airport for our flight to Shanghai. En route to our hotel, we stop at a local restaurant where we dine together.
Accommodations: Hilton Shanghai
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
DAY 12: Shanghai
During the 20th century Shanghai gained notoriety as the “Paris of the East,” the stronghold of European life in Mainland China; a bustling modern metropolis where economics ruled. But after the rise of communism and the expulsion of foreigners, Shanghai slowed down considerably. Now, however, it is thriving once again, and is again among China's, indeed Asia’s, fastest growing cities. Today we tour the city, including the Bund, Shanghai’s bustling riverfront boulevard that once was the center of European influence in the Far East. We also visit the Children’s Palace, where local children study traditional dance, theater and music after school. This afternoon we tour beloved Yu Yuan Gardens, a 400-year-old Ming-influenced complex whose six sections comprise a harmonious whole. After dinner tonight on your own we attend a show of traditional Chinese acrobatics.
Accommodations: Hilton Shanghai
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
DAY 13: Shanghai
This morning we tour the acclaimed Shanghai Museum of ancient Chinese art, known especially for its collections of bronzes, ceramics, paintings, and calligraphy. The afternoon is at leisure to explore on your own or for last-minute shopping, your tour director can offer suggestions. For those interested, you can visit a silk shop demonstration. Tonight we enjoy a farewell dinner together at our hotel.
Accommodations: Hilton Shanghai
Meals: Breakfast, Dinner
DAY 14: Depart for U.S.
You’ll depart for the U.S. today, arriving on the West Coast then connecting with your flight home.
Meals: Breakfast
Faculty Host:
A professor from Bates, Colby or Hamilton College will accompany this trip.
Please
contact the Alumni Office if you're
interested, 207-786-8344 or
lgailey@bates.edu!
