China Family - Land of the Dragon Itinerary

Travel to China and visit Beijing. Hire a bike and join the locals as they ride through the city or take a rickshaw through the intricate maze of city markets. Enjoy a tour of the alleyways and houses of the hutongs and explore Tiananmen Square and the imperial Forbidden City. Watch a thrilling acrobat performance and walk along the world's most famous wall. Built to keep out the 'barbarians of the north', the Great Wall of China rises high on mountain ridges and stretches more than 6,000 km. See the epic scale of this incredible feat of ancient engineering be unveiled on a cable car ride.

Head to the legendary Shaolin Temple to see amazing kung fu performances and share in ancient wisdom. Why not attend a class for the ultimate Shaolin experience.

This morning you drive out to the incredible Longmen Caves. The site has over 100,000 images of Buddha carved into caves and niches in the rock, which stretches for over a kilometre past the Yi River. In the afternoon you transfer by high speed bullet train to the Imperial city of Xian (approx. 2 hours). Xian is one of the few cities in China to have preserved its city walls virtually intact. Here you are taken by your Group Leader on a walk around the city. You spend your time wandering the back streets of the Muslim quarter, which is home to one of the largest mosques in China.

Xian is of course also famous for its Terracotta Warriors. Imagine thousands of ancient stone soldiers, all standing in battle formation, eternally ready to protect their emperor. These are the Terracotta Warriors who have stood to attention for more than 2,000 years. This afternoon you then transfer to the airport (approx. 1 hour) and fly to Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province.

Chengdu is famous throughout China for many things – the spicy food of the Sichuan province and the endless chatter of the city’s tearooms, but globally it is renowned for the panda research centre, which you will visit this morning. China’s national animal, the giant panda is a rare and increasingly threatened creature. The research centre is home to both giant and red panda bears, and you can marvel at these incredible creatures in a close approximation of their habitat. It’s an early start as the panda only wakes for a few hours of the day to eat and exercise, but the opportunity to get close to this remarkable being is an experience not to be missed. After Take a flight to Guilin (1 1/2 hours), from where you head into the picturesque countryside around Yangshuo.

Thousands of towering limestone karsts rise majestically from lush surroundings in this picture-postcard area of southern China. Choose to explore the magical countryside by bike, try your hand at calligraphy or take a boat ride along the Li River as it winds between the mystical peaks. Visit a local market and learn the craft of Chinese cooking using fresh produce from nearby farms.

Visit vibrant Hong Kong which is jam-packed with things to do - take a tram up Victoria Peak for panoramic views and see the city lit up at night on a cruise across the harbour. There is an option to visit Ocean Park or Disneyland, or to head over to Stanley Market to pick up some mementos of this fantastic Chinese experience.