Lavish China
Including 2 days of feeding and playing with the pandas at the Giant Panda Research Center in Wolong
Available as a private tour only during April, May and October

This lavishly extravagant tour to China is for those who expect the extraordinary. There is no one who can match this ultimately luxurious tour. You can search the internet for "deluxe tours or luxury tours to China" and what you will find will pale in comparison. This tour is not about money, but about an experience you can not find anywhere else. Exceptional sightseeing, exceptional guides and meals, executive floor rooms and business class air on domestic flights, and playing with the pandas make this one of the best travel adventures you have ever encountered. 

ITINERARY

Sept. 8 - Depart USA for your flight to Beijing.

Sept. 9 - Arrive Beijing. Individual private transfer to the Presidential Plaza Hotel where you will be checked into your Executive Floor room. The remainder of the day is at leisure.

Sept. 10 - After breakfast a private boat ride will take you along the ancient Tongho Canal built in 486 A.D. to the Summer Palace while being  entertained by a musician playing on an old traditional instrument. The  Summer Palace is a fairyland of ornate palaces and pagodas set in the hills alongside Kunming Lake in the hills west of Beijing. After a leisurely visit return to Beijing for lunch. In the afternoon visit Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City which after recent restoration work is once more as splendid as it was during the time when it was the Imperial Residence. In the evening enjoy a special dinner in a romantic pavilion on Quionghua Island in Beihai Lake which adjoins the Forbidden City. B L D

Sept.11 - This morning embark on an overnight excursion to the city Chengde, the Mountain Retreat of the Quing Emperors located in the mountains east of Beijing.  And since no trip to China is complete without a visit to the Great Wall we will stop en route visit the Great Wall at Shinshaling one of the more remote location where the Wall can be visited. Consequently this section sees few visitors. After a picnic lunch in the garden of a small restaurant you have time to walk the on Wall. Later on continue to Chengde, a scant hours drive away. After arrival in Chengde check into the hotel after which you are free until a dinner of specialties  for which the region is noted. Afterwards enjoy a relaxing traditional massage, either a body massage or a foot massage. B L D

Sept. 12 - This morning visit the Summer Mountain Retreat, also known as the Imperial Gardens which were first built in 1703, covering an area of about six square miles. Graceful palaces built in the style of the lower Yangtze are spread among pine forests and lakes. Together with 8 temples surrounding the Imperial Gardens, the area was dedicated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1994.  Afterwards visit the intriguing Putuo Temple, a smaller replica of the Portola Palace in Tibet. The temple is a fascinating sight with its massive red and white walls rising from the top of a hill.  Inside is a splendid courtyard where an elaborately painted pagoda is circled by six stories balconied walkways. At noon relax over lunch in a local restaurant before driving back to Beijing on a newly completed express way. After returning to Beijing there is time for a rest before dinner in the city's oldest and most famous Peking Duck Restaurant.  B L D

Sept. 13 - This morning board an express train to travel to the historic seaport of Tianjin. Although Tianjin is a large city it abounds in extraordinary and exotic sites. Before becoming one of the most important sea ports in modern China it was the seat of nine ruling emperors. Lunch will be on Food Street famous for the eight classical Chinese cuisines which can be sampled in various restaurants.  After lunch step out through the ancient Xingge Gate and find yourself in Hotel Street  with buildings modeled after the architectural style of the Quing Dynasty.  Later in the afternoon return by train to Beijing where in the evening an elegant private dinner in a 800-year old temple is a special treat. B D L

Sept. 14 - This morning we leave Beijing to fly to Xian. After arrival at noon enjoy a Xian Hot Pot lunch, a delicious local specialty. Afterwards check into your luxurious executive floor room at the Xian Sofitel where the remainder of the afternoon is at leisure. In the evening take a walk along Xian's massive town wall which still circles the old city. Afterwards drive the short distance to the Xian Theater to enjoy Xian's spectacular Tang Dynasty Dinner Show which can rival any Las Vegas production show. B L D

Sept. 15 - Today you will visit the Terra Cotta Warriors with Ms. Zhang Lin, a VIP guide to visiting dignitaries such as President Clinton for whom she was the guide when he visited China. Ms. Zhang is also the author of the English version of the book "Awakening" the story of Terra Cotta Warriors of which you will receive a copy signed by Ms. Zhang and by the farmers who found the site in 1974. On your visit you will be given VIP privileges which are not available to ordinary tourists. After returning to Xian enjoy a typical Xian Dumpling dinner with a hands-on demonstration in which you can learn how to prepare this delicious regional specialty. B L D

Sept. 16 - This morning you leave Xian to fly to Chengdu. En route to the airport visit the "Tiny Terra  Cottas", an excavation site of small, two foot tall terra cotta figures and animals which were discovered a few years ago at the tomb of another emperor. They figures are exquisite and beautiful, and the underground excavation display which you will view from a glass walkway is an extraordinary experience. Afterwards continue to the airport for the flight to Chengdu. After arrival in Chengdu there is time to relax before we meet for a dinner of "Chengdu Food" in the best restaurant in town specializing in local upscale cuisine. B D

Sept. 17 - This morning you will drive to the  mountains that form the border of the Sichuan Basin and the Tibetan Plateau. Our destination is Wolong where the Giant Panda Bear Research Center is located. Arrive at noon and check into the four star Wolong hotel some 15 minute drive from the Giant Panda Research Center.  After lunch at the hotel you will attend a lecture with one of the directors of the center and receive your keepers uniform, your passport to go in and out of the research facility as many times as you please.  You will be assigned a "Master"  one of the keepers of the center who will assist you and show you what needs to be done.  The facility is open to tourists almost all who are Chinese from neighboring provinces, but who are restricted to certain path that lead along the Panda enclosures. However, you will be one of the staff and you are allowed into all restricted areas, getting in close contact with the bears. The remainder of the afternoon is spend with light volunteer work and feeding the pandas. They are gentle creatures and will take a slice of apple from you without ever touching your hand. After a job well done, there is time to relax before dinner at the hotel. B L D

Sept. 18 - After breakfast drive back to the Research Center for a morning of light volunteer work and feeding the pandas. At noon we return to the hotel for lunch before we take the afternoon to have our pictures taken holding a panda, and to play with all the little ones in the panda kindergarten. In the Evening enjoy a dinner in the company of all your masters at the Panda Inn where you will receive your certificate of having been a volunteer.
B L D

Sept. 19 - This morning we make another stop at the Research Center so that you can bid your panda goodbye before returning to Chengdu. En route visit the intriguing 2000-year old Dujiang Dam where we will take a walk down a mountainside among romantic Ming Dynasty fairytale palaces and temples. Below you walk across a 2000-year old suspension bridge across the Minh River, but beware, the walk is a wobbly one. Afterwards enjoy lunch in a nearby resort hotel before returning to Chengdu where the evening is at leisure. B L

Sept. 20 - Today you will take a day excursion to Leshan to visit the Giant Buddha standing over 200 feet tall and 75 feet wide. The amazing statue is carved into a mountain side where the Minjiang, Qingyi and Dadu rivers meet  facing Emai Mountain on the other side the river. Emai Mountain is famous since the ancient times and temples were built on it as early as the Eastern Han Dynasty between 25 and 220 B.C.  The Buddha was carved in 713 during the early Tang Dynasty and completed in 803, and is now a World Heritage Site. After visiting the Buddha lunch is in a local restaurant before returning to Chengdu. In the evening enjoy a expansive and elaborate western buffet dinner at the hotel. B L D

Sept. 21 - This morning transfer to the airport to fly to Shanghai, China's largest city with a population of 17 million people. After arrival in Shanghai we will be met by a local guide who will take us to the bus to deposit our luggage so that we can take the world's fastest train (up to 430 km an hour) to its city terminus?   Pause for lunch before checking into your executive floor room at the hotel. The hotel is in the very center of Shanghai just a few steps from the pedestrian zone. In the evening a short drive will bring us to the old town of Shanghai for a typical Shanghai Dim Sum dinner.  B L D

Sept. 22 - After breakfast embark on an excursion to Zhujiazui Water Town, an ancient village on the outskirts of Shanghai where you will find a much older China contrasting with ultra-modern 21st century downtown Shanghai. Enjoy a special lunch of Shanghainese cuisine before returning to the hotel.  The remainder of the day it at leisure to pursue your own interests. B L

Sept. 23 - You have the whole day to yourself to go shopping or pursue other interests.  In the evening its dinner in a fine downtown restaurant before enjoying the nostalgic sounds of the Old Men's Band  in the Jazz Bar of Peace Hotel. The Peace Hotel was The Cathay during Shanghai's heyday in the 20's, a place to see and be seenthe OldMen's Band still recalls this time with the tunes of yesterday.

Sept. 24 - It is time to say farewell or "Dzeitje" to Shanghai. This morning individual private transfers will take you to the airport for your return flight to USA.

TOUR COST:  Price on request

INCLUDED: 16 nights deluxe executive floor hotel rooms, all with internet access, daily breakfast buffets, dinners and lunches as per itinerary, all including mineral water, soft drinks and beer, private transportation in air conditioned deluxe buses, private airport transfers, all entrance fees for included sightseeing, volunteer work in Wolong, private VIP guides in all locations, domestic airline tickets in business class where available, tips to guides and drivers and the services of Posh Journeys and Joe Zhou of China Overland Tours, as your hosts.

NOT INCLUDED: International air fare, visa processing fees, trip cancellation insurance, additional drinks and food, and any item not specifically mentioned in this itinerary.

TRIP CANCELLATION AND INTERRUPTION INSURANCE
Go to wwww.poshjourneys.com and click on Travel Guard Insurance. We have been working with this company since 1990 and can recommend them highly. We had some claims over the years, all were paid in a timely and highly professional manner.