Beijing, Xi'an, Zhangjiajie & Shanghai, 9 Nights

The trip opens with your arrival in Beijing, where you are met and transferred to the hotel. The day is otherwise free. This is the Beijing-first version of the route: it runs west to Xi'an, south to Zhangjiajie and then east to end in Shanghai. Tonight is the first of three nights in the capital.

After breakfast you leave the city for the Great Wall at Juyong Pass, one of the historic gateways through the mountains north-west of Beijing. There is time to climb a stretch of the wall at your own speed. The tour's shopping stop in Beijing, a jade factory, is also on today's programme; there is no obligation to buy. The day closes with a photo stop at the Olympic stadium.

Today covers the main imperial sights after breakfast, beginning with Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. From the palace you drive to the Summer Palace and its gardens beside the lake. Free time at Hongqiao Market is set aside for shopping at the end of the day. Overnight in Beijing.

You have breakfast and transfer to the airport or railway station, travelling to Xi'an by flight or by train. On arrival you are driven to the hotel. The one visit today is in the evening, at the Big Wild Goose Pagoda square, for its fountain show. You stay two nights in Xi'an.

Breakfast is followed by a full-day tour to the Terracotta Army, where ranks of clay soldiers stand in the pits in which they were found. A crockery factory is the scheduled shopping stop for Xi'an and is visited on the way. Once back in the city there is a photo stop at the city wall. The day ends with time to shop in Muslim Street.

After breakfast you are transferred to the airport for the flight to Zhangjiajie. You are met on arrival and driven to the hotel. Nothing further is planned, which gives you an easy evening before two active days. Zhangjiajie is in Hunan province, in a landscape of forested sandstone peaks.

The day starts after breakfast at the glass bridge over the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon. You then enter Zhangjiajie National Forest Park for Yuanjiajie, reached by the Bailong Elevator, and for Tianzi Mountain, reached by cable car. Both rides are included. Between them you see the tall stone pillars the park is known for, so wear shoes suited to a lot of walking.

After breakfast you go up Tianmen Mountain by cable car, which is included in the visit. When you come down you transfer to the airport for the flight to Shanghai. You are met on arrival and taken to the hotel. This is the last move of the trip, with two nights in Shanghai to finish.

The Shanghai day begins after breakfast at the Jade Buddha Temple. A silk factory follows as the city's scheduled shopping stop. You then visit the 88th floor of the Jinmao Tower and walk along the Bund beside the river. Free time for shopping on Nanjing Road ends the sightseeing.

On the final morning you have breakfast at the hotel. A private transfer takes you to the airport in time for your exit flight. Services end on arrival at the airport. The package covers nine nights: three in Beijing and two each in Xi'an, Zhangjiajie and Shanghai.