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Early Summer Heritage Tour

"Uncle Louie" Summer Heritage Tour

This time of year is great for China travel – enjoy the iconic sites throughout the country before any summer heat! You will get to climb the Great Wall other Beijing “biggie” spots; then explore ancient wonders in Xian before traveling to experience Chengdu’s pandas, parks and teahouses. This schedule also has family "downtime" coupled with some hands-on activities throughout the journey. Your family will relish the "slice of life" moments, such as a home stay; visiting a rural school; bamboo rafting; making dumplings; receiving a cooking lesson, flying kites and much more! Join a group and let your kids have the time of their life exploring the key culture spots; then have private family time as you explore your child's hometown area and choose your gateway departure city. If your schedule fits this trip timing, it is an IDEAL time to be there! Email us at iris@lotustours.net to request more info today!

Tour Overview
Tour Code: LY-HA20-0516
Trip Duration: 12 days/10 nights
Click below for: Tour Price / Accommodations
Beijing, Xian, Chengdu, Guilin, Yangshuo
Departure Dates: May 16th 2020, May 23rd, 2020
Day 1 : Friday North America/Beijing
meals: N/A
Leave your home city for Beijing today.
Day 2 : Saturday Beijing
meals: N/A
Arrive at the Beijing International Airport. Your private English-speaking guide and driver will take you to your hotel. Soak in your child's birth country while you adjust to your new time zone and surroundings.
Day 3 : Sunday Beijing
meals: B/L
Begin your day with a tour at the Forbidden City. Listed as a world heritage site in 1987, the Forbidden City contains the largest group of intact palace structures in the world. The palace is 720,000 square meters in size and contains 9,999 rooms, numerous pavilions, gardens and courtyards. Then visit the Tiananmen Square. Noted as the largest city square in the world, the square was initially designed for political rallies and important gala events. Today the square is flanked by the Forbidden City in the north, the Great Hall of the People in the west, Mao TseTung’s Mausoleum in the south and the Museum of Chinese Revolution and the Museum of Chinese History in the east. After a special homemade lunch at a local family residence in the Hutong Lane area, you will explore the fascinating Hutong neighborhoods. Beijing’s oldest Hutongs (alleys) were constructed during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Your tour will take you through some of the best-preserved Hutong neighborhoods that represent the history, culture and lifestyle of old Beijing.
Day 4 : Monday Beijing
meals: B/L/D
Begin your day with a tour at the Great Wall. Constructed more than 2,000 years ago by China’s first emperor, the ancient wall is 6,350 km or about 4,000 miles in length. Visit the Peking Duck Restaurant and see how the professional chef roasts Peking duck - Beijing's most famous dish, is traditionally served with Mandarin pancakes, and green onions for brushing on the hoisin sauce. Enjoy your Peking Duck dinner there.
Day 5 : Tuesday Beijing/Xian
meals: B/L/D
This morning you will visit China's largest temple and altar-the Temple of Heaven, which is often depicted as the most recognizable symbol of China. After a bowl of fresh hot noodles for lunch, you will visit the Summer Palace in afternoon. Early this evening, get onboard a luxury express train for your overnight journey to Xian.
Beijing/Xian Soft Sleeper Train Z19 (9:24P/8:25A + 1 day) (Your tour guide has tickets)
Day 6 : Wednesday Xian
meals: L
Arrive early this morning in China's ancient capital city of Xian. Known as ChangAn in ancient times, Xian was the capital city of China for 1,062 years (13 dynasties and 73 different emperors).
Travel on top of the 950-year-old city wall on a bike; be sure to enjoy the panoramic view. Built during the early Ming Dynasty with a core of mud and covered by three layers of bricks. Xian’s city wall is the only city wall that remains intact in China today. After Chinese hot pot lunch, you will visit the Tangbo Art Museum in afternoon.
Day 7 : Thursday Xian/Hu County
meals: B/L/D
Embark on an amazing historical and cultural adventure today beginning with the exploration of the Terracotta Warriors & Horses Museum, a UNESCO world heritage site since 1987. Created 2,000 years ago to guard the tomb of China's first Emperor QinShiHuang, time and the elements have gradually worn away the vibrant painted details from the soldiers and horses to reveal their original earthy terracotta color. Learn making terracotta warriors in one local craft factory. Continue your trip to Hu County famous for its peasant farmer artists who create vibrantly colored peasant paintings and intricate paper cutouts. Visit the local elementary school and have a 45-minutes class with the local children (Please remember to bring some gifts to the children for the school visit).Tonight you will have the rare opportunity to stay at the Donghan Village and learn to make JiaoZi (traditional Chinese dumplings), enjoy a home-made JiaoZi dinner there. After dinner, tonight you will have a dancing party with local farmers at the village grain-sunning ground.
Day 8 : Friday Hu County/Xian/Chengdu
meals: B/D
Enjoy a rare glimpse into China's countryside living through a visit to the workshops and galleries where you can learn about the artist's special techniques, purchase artwork or paper cutouts and even try your hand at creating your own magnificent work of art. Visit the farmer's old village and you will be surprised by the huge difference between the old village and new village where you are staying. After your included Chinese lunch, you will return to the Xian Airport for your flight to Chengdu.
Xian/Chengdu HU7855 (2:15P/3:35P) (E-tickets issued by our China office)
Please meet your local guide and driver at the Chengdu airport exit for transfer to the hotel. As an optional evening entertainment, tonight you will get to enjoy a traditional show at a tea house - it is a favorite one of adults and kids alike and is often a highlight of the trip to China! Get your camera ready and see if you can figure out the art of the local custom of "face changing". It's a fascinating local artistic work.
Day 9 : Saturday Chengdu
meals: B/L
Go on an extraordinary journey to the Panda Breeding Research Base this morning. After lunch, visit the Chengdu old town-JingLi Street, which combines the culture of the Three Kingdoms Period with the folk customs of Sichuan. The tea-houses, stores and hotels are modeled on the architectural style of a traditional old town in western Sichuan Province from the Qing (1644-1911) Dynasty. As you stroll down the narrow streets, you will find local artisan Shu Embroidery, lacquer products, calligraphy work and other local handicrafts. Visiting stores on this street, one feels like you have catapulted back in time and you will appreciate the relaxing and local unique flavor of this ancient street.
Day 10 : Sunday Chengdu/Guilin
meals: B/L
You will be transferred to the Chengdu Airport for your trip to Guilin this morning.
Chengdu/Guilin CA4323 (8:35A/10:05A) (E-tickets issued by our China office)
Meet your tour guide at the Guilin Airport exit for a full day tour in Guilin.
Visit the tea farm this morning. You will have Guilin Rice noodle for your lunch in one of the local famous rice noodle restaurants. More than 700 years ago, the Italian traveler, Marco Polo, introduced spaghetti to Italy, then to all western countries. After your Guilin Rice noodle lunch, you won’t be surprised why local people can have noodles every day, every meal. Explore the Reed Flute Caves in afternoon. Enjoy the gorgeous views of beautiful backdrops created by the cool atmosphere and colorful lighting displays inside the caves as you pass by many fanciful shapes (don’t forget to look for the Monkey King).
Day 11 : Monday Guilin/Yangshuo/Guilin
meals: B/L/D
You will be transferred to Yangshuo this morning by a private bus. This morning, your family gets a “hands on” opportunity with a cooking class in one of the local restaurants. Then relax and enjoy your own cooked Chinese lunch. After the lunch, enjoy a bamboo rafting trip on the Yulong River in afternoon. The Yulong River is a branch of the Li River. Its scenery is even more beautiful than the scenery along the Li River. Your children will love the bamboo rafting on the Yulong River than the tourist cruise on the Li River.
You will be transferred back to Guilin at late afternoon.
Day 12 : Tuesday Guilin/Other destination cities
meals: B
Today you will be transferred to either airport or train station, or bus station for traveling to the next destination city.
Please give us your traveling information including orphanage city and your preferred international gateway city (Guangzhou, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Beijing, etc.). We will create remainder of the trip as a private family tour. You may choose timing for your visit to the orphanage, your child’s hometown city and more. This customized portion of the trip is determined according to your specifications and is not included in the base tour cost.

REMARKS:

    B = Breakfast      L = Chinese Lunch                D = Chinese Dinner
    CA= Air China     CZ=China Southern Airline     MU=China Eastern Airlines
Tour Prices:
USD2,100.00/per adult & USD1,680.00/per child

Accommodations:
City Hotel Deluxe Class Superior Class
Beijing　. Beijing Peace Hotel N/A N/A
Xian　. Holiday Inn Xi'an Big Goose Pagoda N/A N/A
Hu County. Donghan Village N/A N/A
Chengdu　. Tibet Hotel, Chengdu N/A N/A
Guilin　. Guilin Exhibition Int’l Hotel N/A N/A

Hotel Information:
Hotel Indoor Pool Outdoor Pool Gym Safe Box Refrigerator Hair Dryer Kitchen
Beijing Peace Hotel   √     √   √   √   √
N/A            
N/A            
Holiday Inn Xi'an Big Goose Pagoda   √     √   √   √   √
N/A            
N/A            
Donghan Village           √   √
N/A            
N/A            
Tibet Hotel, Chengdu       √   √   √   √
N/A            
N/A            
Guilin Exhibition Int’l Hotel   √     √   √   √   √
N/A            
N/A            

Inclusions

  • Soft sleeper train ticket of Beijing/Xian;
  • Airfare of Xian/Chengdu/Guilin;
  • Airport/hotel/airport (or train station) transfer as listed on itinerary.
  • All listed sightseeing and tour programs with private English-speaking tour guide and private van or bus with driver.
  • Hotels and meals as stipulated on itinerary.
  • All prices are quoted in US Dollars and are subject to change without notice. Please check at time of booking.
  • All prices are quoted per person based on two people sharing a room (double occupancy). Single supplement applies for single travelers.

Exclusions

  • N. America/China/N. America int’l airfare. Please contact us for discount international airfare starting from your city.
  • Passport and/or China Visa Fees
  • Some meals
  • Tips to guides and drivers
  • Expenses of a personal nature;
  • Extending trip to orphanage city or other destination cities after Guilin which can be arranged with extra cost by us;

Notes:

  • For different scheduled tour, please contact us for a price quote
  • A child has to be less than 12 years old to receive a discount.
  • Twin beds in China hotels, about 40 – 50 inches wide, are closer in width to the 54" double size beds in the U.S., and much wider than the 39 inches wide twin beds found in U.S. homes.
  • If your itinerary states "free time" or "free day", no activities would be planned for you and your English-speaking tour guide and driver would not be present.
  • Lotus Travel highly recommends clients to purchase travel insurance. The Travel Plus Plan offered by the Travelex Insurance Company has excellent travel benefits and children 15 and under are free of charge when traveling with an adult.
  • You need to apply for your Chinese visa 3 months before the trip. Please visit our website at http://www.lotustours.net/visas/china.shtml for detailed visa information and contact our visa agent – Apple at apple@lotustours.net for any visa questions
  • Lotus Travel offers a very affordable cell phone rental package to help you stay in touch with families while in China. Please contact our cell phone rental specialist Theresa for more details.
  • A $500.00 per person non-refundable deposit is due at the time of registration.
  • Balance is due 60 days before departure.
Note: Customer Commitment - Each Lotus agent is committed to respond to each email with an acknowledgement of receipt within 24 hours. If you do not receive email acknowledgement within 1 business day, please check your spam box for our agents'response e-mail or send your notice to iris@lotustours.net or call 1-800-956-8873.
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