7 Days Beijing Essence & Yangte River Cruise

Highlights: Welcome to Beijing, the capital of China! Your local guide will escort you to your hotel in a private vehicle. The rest of today is free for you to explore the vast metropolis on your own.

Highlights: Today you will visit Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Summer Palace. Evening is a Kungfu Show for you to learn Chinese martial art culture. 

Tian'anmen Square: Literally means Gate of Heavenly Peace, is great cultural significance as several important events of Chinese history happened here. With 440,000 m² - 880 m by 500 m, the Tiananmen Square is the largest city square in the world . 

Forbidden City: As the seat of Imperial power, the Forbidden City was built between 1406 and 1420 by the 3rd Emperor of Ming Dynasty, it is also known as the Imperial Palace Museum. Being ruined and renovated for many time, what you can see today is the buildings date from the 1700’s and onwards. The complex is totally 183 acres, there are total 9999.5 rooms in the Museum, some of them are not open for visitors yet. 

Summer Palace: As the largest and best preserved imperial garden, the Summer Palace is also known as the Royal Garden Museum. It was used by royal family for 800 years, in 19th century, the famous Empress Dowager Cixi ordered massive renovations and restore by using the funds of Chinese navy. The garden is totally 293 hectares, of which the water takes 220 hectares, the highlights are Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake. 

Kungfu Show: Which a great show telling a story of Chin Yu entering the monastery and making his way through life to finally becoming the Abbott. The show are with many demonstrations of Kungfu and various costumes. The show lasts about 1 hour and 15 minutes, visitors are not allowed to take photos or videos, but DVD of the show are available to be purchased.

Highlights: This morning tour will take you to size up the world-famous Great Wall (Mutianyu section which is less crowded, round-way cable car fee is INCLUDED), the key symbol of China. Flexible visiting time allows you to enjoy a lifetime trekking trip (1-2 hours' hiking). On the way to the Great Wall, you may have a distant view of the Olympic sites--Brid's Nest and Water Cube. Afterwards is a visit to the Changling Tomb and Sacred Road. In the evening, try the flavorful dish of Peking Roast Duck Dinner.

Great Wall of Mutianyu section: In the northern part of Huairou County some 70 kilometers north-east of Beijing City, the Mutianyu (Mu Tian Yu) section of the Great Wall stretches its way for over 2 kilometers. This section is well preserved and is a good alternative for visitors who would like to avoid crowds along the highly popular Badaling (Ba Da Ling) section during holiday and peak seasons.

Bird's Nest:  Which is also known as the National Stadium, due to its iconic design was the key competition venue of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and the 13th Paralympic Games. The opening and closing ceremonies of the two Games have taken place here, together with the football, and track and field competitions. The stadium is the world's largest steel structure

Water Cube: which is also called the National Aquatics Centre, is one of the dramatic and amazing venues to host Beijing Olympics in 2008. This is the first building of its kind in China and it is also an economical and water-saving creation. The structural design is based on the natural formation of soap bubbles which give a random, organic appearance and helping to link the structure to its aquatic function.The swimming pool is deeper than most Olympic swimming pools, allowing swimming at faster speeds, while the gutters to the side of the pool disperse wave energy.  A consequence of this was the breaking of 25 world records during the 2008 Olympics.

Sacred Road: Affiliated with the Ming Tombs, the Sacred Road was originally built to lead to the Changling mausoleum. It was considered to be the road leading to heaven. Chinese emperors were known as the Son of Heaven. During their reign they often passed through the sacred road to the sacrificial altar in order to converse with heaven. After their death, the funeral procession also took the path through the Sacred Road as a symbol of the passed emperor 's journey to heaven in the afterlife.

Changling Tomb: Fifty kilometers northwest from Beijing City lies the Ming Tombs – the general name given to the mausoleums of 13 emperors of the Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644). The mausoleums have been perfectly preserved, as has the necropolis of each of the many emperors. Because of its long history, palatial and integrated architecture, the site has a high cultural and historic value. The layout and arrangement of all thirteen mausoleums are very similar but vary in size as well as in the complexity of their structures.

Peking Duck Dinner: Peking Duck or Beijing Roast Duck is regarded as one of the most delicious dishes throughout the world; It is a must for most visitors coming to Beijing to have a bite.

Highlights: Today you’ll visit the Temple of Heaven where the emperors worshipped heaven and prayed for peace and harvest. Then you will be escorted to the airport for your flight to Chongqing. Welcome to Chongqing! Upon your arrival, our guide will take you to the cruise pier and board your ship. Your lifetime Yangtze cruise starts! (Note: Dinner is not included tonight. The ship usually sail around 20:00-20:30, but the boarding time changes based on the cruise ships, seasons, water level, weather, etc.)

Temple of Heaven: Located in southeastern urban Beijing, Temple of Heaven is a dignified complex of fine cult buildings set in gardens and surrounded by historic pine woods,. The Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties visited the complex annually and prayed to Heaven for good harvest. Now, the Temple of Heaven, as a symbol of the city, is one of the must-see attractions in Beijing and has been listed as an UNESCO'S World Cultural Heritage site in 1998.

Highlights: Today is the shore excursion to visit Fengdu Ghost City. This ancient complex is full of shrines to the gods of the underworld. Surrounded by misty mountains, this area was revered as a crossing-over point, a mix of the material and spiritual worlds. On this day, you will also enjoy Captain’s Farewell Party, Chinese Folk Dance and other cultural activities onboard. 

Note: Some cruise ships make the shore excursions to Shibaozhai Pagoda, a Pearl on Yangtze River. The 12-storey, 100-foot high red pagoda stands in front of a mountainous area full of shrubs and trees. It needs some walk to climb up the pagoda stairs to experience the spectacular scenery from above. (Note: Wear comfortable shoes when visit Shibaozhai ashore.)

Highlights: Today you will take smaller vessel to visit Shennv Stream. Shennv Stream, also called Goddess Stream, is an original virgin valley of Yangtze River where you could not only see the beautiful and legendary gorges, hanging coffins, but also enjoy local sampan trip and Tujia minority culture.   

Note: Some ships go to the Shennong Stream where you could not only see the beautiful and legendary gorges, hanging coffins, but also enjoy local sampan trip and Tujia minority culture. You have the final say on which excursion to make, as we can book any of the cruise ships at great rates!

Highlights: Today you will have a shore excursion to visit the well-known Three Gorges Dam. As the biggest hydropower project in the world, the dam provides tremendous power generation and flood control service. Visit the Tanziling Park, Gorges Exhibition and have close look at the dam to know better of the largest construction projects.  The ship will keep sailing to Yichang Pier for disembarkation; you will arrive in Yichang around 13:00-13:30. Then be met by our guide and escorted to airport for the flight to next city.