17 Days Adoptee Enlightenment Tour to China: Beijing Xi’an Chengdu Guilin Guangzhou and Hong Kong

Welcome to China. Welcome to Beijing, the iconic city and capital of China! Upon your arrival, meet the guide at the airport arrival hall and go to the hotel with guide’s and driver’s escort. Rest of the day is on your own arrangement.

Meals: No meal, advice freely available

• Hotels: Hilton Beijing Wangfujing, Park Plaza Beijing Wangfujing, Beijing Double Happiness Courtyard Hotel

Double Happiness Courtyard Hotel

Double Happiness Courtyard Hotel

Take a morning tour to Tian’anmen Square, where the flag-raising ceremony is held every day. Move forward to Forbidden City, built in 1420 and it has 980 buildings of different ages and artistic styles. It is a treasure trove for China, even for the whole world.

After lunch, take the afternoon tour to Jingshan Park for a panorama of the Forbidden City and Beijing. Here you will get to know the ‘Fengshui theory’ of China. After visiting the emperor’s home, you will visit common people’s home. Walk around the Hutongs and have a real touch and connection of the local life of Bejingers. Here in Hutong family, take a paper cutting lesson and create your own work with a pair of scissors.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch in Jindingxuan Dim Sum Restaurant with a la carte menu

Feature Dinner option: Peking Roast Duck (Dadong Peking Duck, Qianmen Quanjude Peking Duck), Fangshan Restaurant, Mei Family Restaurant, Bai Family Restaurant)

Optional evening activity: Kungfu Show or Peking Opera

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
• Hotels: Beijing Double Happiness Courtyard Hotel

Paper Cutting

Get up early and you are welcomed to join in the morning Taichi lesson in Temple of Heaven. It used to be a place for emperors offering sacrifices to the gods of Heaven. Your China tour is not completed if you do not visit the Great Wall in Beijing. There are several parts of Great Wall in Beijing. The one you will visit today is the Mutianyu, a less crowded yet well-preserved segment of the Great Wall built in the Ming Dynasty. Cable car, chairlift and toboggan are available here, both for fun or energy-saving. I strongly suggest you to try the toboggan if you want to experience something exciting.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
• Hotels: Beijing Double Happiness Courtyard Hotel

Taichi lesson

Mutianyu Great Wall

On the first day, you visit the residence of the emperors. Today, you will visit the imperial garden, Summer Palace. It is still a nice place to escape the heat of summer. Weather permits, you may have a big boat cruise on Kunming Lake. This is your last attraction in Beijing. Be escorted to the train station and take the bullet train to one of the ancient capital of China, Xi’an.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
• Hotels: Wyndham Grand Xian South

Wyndham Grand Xian South

Wyndham Grand Xian South

In the morning, go see the thousands of sculptures of horses and warriors in full armor standing in battle formation at the Terra-Cotta Warriors Scenic Area. After that, visit a local family at their cave dwelling to learn to make the mini clay warriors

After lunch, drive back to the city area and pay a visit to Muslim Street, where all the shops and restaurants in the street are operated by Muslims. Do not miss the various local snacks here. At the end of the day, appreciate a Shadow Play in the Gao's Family Courtyard.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch in the local restaurant near the Terra-Cotta Warriors with a la carte menu

Feature Dinner option: Defachang Dumpling Restaurant, Lao Sun Jia Muslim Restaurant, First Noodle under the Sun

Optional evening activity: Tang Dynasty Show and Dumpling Banquet

Note: There are souvenir shops at the exit of Terracotta Warriors. Remember this is a non-shopping tour. Just say no if you do not want to buy.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
• Hotels: Wyndham Grand Xian South

Terra-Cotta Warriors

Clay Warriors Making

After breakfast, visit the City Wall, the ancient defense systems to protect the cities or towns. Ride a bike along the City Wall, and you can see the inner part and the outer part of Xi’an. Follow on is the local family visit and dumping making. The dumplings made by yourselves will be served as part of your lunch. Before leaving Xi’an, you will see the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, which used to be a place to collect Buddhist sutras taken from India by the hierarch Xuanzang.

At last, a bullet train travel will bring you from Xi’an to Chengdu, the hometown of the cute giant pandas.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch in the local family

Notes: For the local temple protection, a temple guide will show you in this site. After the sightseeing, the guide will show you the donation or shop area inside the temple. You may decline if you do not like donation or shopping.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
• Hotels: Buddha Zen Hotel Chengdu

Dumpling Making in Xian

Buddha Zen

Buddha Zen

After a good night sleep, today you will get up earlier to head to Dujiangyan Panda Base, where you will take a whole-day panda keeper program. As a Panda keeper, your tasks include feeding the pandas with bamboo and apple and making panda breads with the teachers. You might have to do some cleaning duties in the enclosure, or collect and weigh the panda poop.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch in the panda base

Feature Dinner option: Lao Ma Tou Hotpot, Huang Cheng Lao Ma

Optional evening activity: face changing show and taste the local tea in Shufengyayun Theater

Note: You may need to get up earlier than before as the pandas are more active in the morning. The guide will confirm the time with you the night before.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
• Hotels: Buddha Zen Hotel Chengdu

Panda Volunteer

Panda Volunteer

Panda Volunteer

Today, discover the local life at People’s Park, which is comprehensive garden of a collection of cultural relics and leisure entertainment in a body. Find a local tea shop, sit well and taste the local tea.

Then walk in Jinli Ancient Street, one of the busy trading streets in Chengdu. Here you will be tempted by the aroma of delicious local snacks. Nearby is Wuhou Ancestral Hall, which was a memorial temple with a history covering over one-thousand-years, established as a memorial to the prime minister of Shu (221 - 263) in the Three Kingdoms Period (220 - 280) - Zhuge Liang.

A flight trip will take you from Chengdu to a beautiful world, Guilin.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
• Hotels: Guilin Shangri La Hotel

Shangri La Guilin

Shangri La Guilin

Be ready to savor the natural beauty of this small city by starting the tour to Folded Brocade Hill, where you can get a good view of the Li River, the Duxiu Peak (Solitary Beauty Peak), Fubo Hill (Rippling-Wave Hill), and downtown Guilin. Getting down from the hill top, you will head to Guilin’s largest and most impressive cave, Reed Flute Cave. It is cool in summer and warm in winter.

After lunch, you will visit one of the four most famous ancient towns in Guangxi, Daxu Ancient Town. As you stroll around this town, you will have a real touch of its time-honored history as well as the local life. There are many vendors selling local snacks.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch at Mc Found Restaurant with a la carte menu

Optional evening activity: Night cruise in Two Rivers and Four Lakes Scenic Area

Note:

• Wear antiskid shoe when climbing the hill and visit the cave as the ground can be slippery in the cave.
• Sedan chair is available at the entrance if there are senior having difficulty in moving in the cave with many steps.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
• Hotels: Guilin Shangri La Hotel

Reed Flute Cave

Get up early to catch the Li River cruise by big boat. The Gorgeous Karst peaks give you surprises at each bend of the limpid river under the blue sky. The destination of the cruise is Yangshuo. After disembark, you will have a leisure walk at West Street. Visiting it, you will be surrounded by an array of traditional folk and amazing international elements. Various shops, craftworks shops, painting and calligraphy stores, backpack shops, cafes, and Chinese Kung Fu academies jostle for attention. Stop by a painting shop and learn to paint a Chinese painting with the brush before going to the hotel in Yangshuo.

Meals: Breakfast, Buffet Lunch on the cruise boat

Optional evening activity: Impression Show of Sanjie Liu

Note: Meet the guide at the hotel lobby on time as there is no delay and change for the departure time of the cruise ship.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
• Hotels: Yangshuo Mountain Retreat

Li River Cruise

Chinese painting

Mountain Retreat

Mountain Retreat

Food is a useful card for a city. Tasting may make you feel good, but the memories of making with your own hands will last long. Begin the cooking class with the search of the base ingredients in the local market. Bargaining with the vendors is interesting and having a sense of accomplishment. Learn to cook some local dishes, like beer fish with the teacher and enjoy your own work after the lesson.

Get close to the nature by riding a bike along the Yulong River and Yangshuo countryside. Stop on the road from time to time to immerse yourself into this charming county.

Board a bamboo raft for a peaceful rafting tour in Yulong River. It is a great chance to play water and enjoy the scenery in such a relaxing way.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch in the cooking school with the food cooked on your own

Note: There is age restriction for the bamboo rafting in Yulong River from 10 to 70 years old.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
• Hotels: Yangshuo Mountain Retreat

Biking in Yangshuo

Biking in Yangshuo

After so many days’ travel, enjoy a free morning at the hotel and relax yourselves. The guide will meet you at the hotel lobby later and escort you the train station for the train to Guangzhou. Be met in Guangzhou and transfer to your hotel.

• Meals: Breakfast,
• Hotels: The Ritz-Carlton, Guangzhou

Ritz Carlton

Ritz Carlton

Today, you will take a day tour from Guangzhou to Kaiping, home to one of the most arresting human-constructed attractions in Guangdong - the Unesco-crowned Diaolou. During the day, you will visit Kaiping Garden, Military Watchtower in Zili Village and Majianglong Village in Kaiping.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch at a local restaurant with a la carte menu

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
• Hotels: The Ritz-Carlton, Guangzhou

Kaiping Watchtower

You will be picked up at the hotel lobby and transferred to the orphanage near Guangzhou. Your orphanage visitation typically includes a meeting with the orphanage director and staff, see Children's playroom and the files, the institute will send you some souvenirs. You will have a lunch with them. Then take you to finding site of your child. Finally, transfer you to your hotel.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
• Hotels: The Ritz-Carlton, Guangzhou

Love

Strat the day with a visit to Shamian Island, where you can see lots of well-preserved historical buildings, Catholic Churches and nice walking streets. Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall is built in memory of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the forerunner of Chinese democratic revolution. By visiting it, you will get to know more about this great leader. The whole day tour will end with the visit to the Litchi Bay, a hinterland of the time-honored Xiguan City.

After lunch, you will take the bullet train to Hong Kong, a shopping paradise for shopaholics.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,
• Hotels: The Peninsula Hong Kong

Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall

The Peninsula Hong Kong

Whether this is your first visit to Hong Kong or you are here to refresh your memories, this comprehensive half day tour is quite enough for you to know the Hong Kong Island. This tour will cover the Highlights of Hong Kong Island - Victoria Peak with one-way Peak Tram, Repulse Bay, and Aberdeen with sampan ride or Stanley Market. Go atop to the Victoria Peak by a tram, set your feet on the soft beach of Repulse Bay, floating on Aberdeen with a sampan ride and do some shopping in the Stanley Market. There are lots of interesting things to do during this half day tour. After that, the guide and driver will transfer you back to the hotel. Rest of the day is on your own arrangement.

• Meals: Breakfast,
• Hotels: The Peninsula Hong Kong

Sampan Tour

Do you know well than before about China? I know it is just a simple touch, but today is the end of your China tour. Be ready to pack up your luggage and fly home from Hong Kong. Hope to see you in China next time.

• Meals: Breakfast,

Hong Kong Tour