Tour description
This tour convenes in Beijing, famous for Tiananmen Square (which is officially associated with ‘heavenly peace’), the beautiful imperial Forbidden City, and the Great Wall (or a small stretch of it). So there’s a lot to see and do. And we allow three days for you to see and do it!
Jingling rickshaws in Pingyao
In the late afternoon of day 4 we’ll take the night-train to Pingyao. Inside the old walled town you will imagine yourself to be in ancient China. Jingling rickshaws work their way through the old dusty alleyways. Real noodles (not the tasteless ones we Europeans get in plastic pots and microwave) are amongst the local culinary delights. We usually dine in one of the attractive former merchant houses, getting to know the locals as well as our fellow travellers.
Terracotta Army
Day 6 sees us taking an overnight train from Pingyao to the city of Xi’an. The latter is a very important town from an historical point of view, not least because of the famous Terracotta Army of China’s first emperor - Qin Shihuang - which is just outside the town and is a must-see. In Xi’an itself you can roam about endlessly in the cosy and lively Islamic section. You will see children receiving lessons in Arabic, and men and women preparing the most wonderful meals in street restaurants. There are many small shops and bric-a-brac stalls, most of which sell wares that will be entirely alien to you. This will be an ideal opportunity for you to souvenir-hunt!
World-famous Karst landscape
On day 8 we’ll take the night-train to Guilin. From there we’ll travel to Yangshuo, a small town in the world-famous Karst landscape of Southern China where the distinctive topography is largely shaped by the dissolving action of water on limestone bedrock. The Karst mountains rise almost perpendicularly from the paddy-fields, and these two features compete, in isolation and in combination, with bamboo woods and small villages for your attention. In the area surrounding Yangshuo you can take magnificent hiking and cycling tours - and local farmers will proudly show you their neighbourhood, their village and their houses. You can also admire the Karst landscape by taking a boat trip on the river Li or a trip in a hot air balloon. In the evening you can join one of the fishermen who lure the fish with bright gas-lights and then catch them with the assistance of trained cormorants.
Guangzhou
As dusk approaches on day 12 we’ll board the night-train for Guangzhou, where we’ll arrive the next morning. In this town you’ll have plenty of time to sightsee and perhaps buy some final souvenirs. It’s also very important to realise that this is a culinary Mecca. Guangzhou is absolutely the best place to enjoy the much-celebrated Guangdong Cuisine. Indeed, it is said of the chefs there that ‘they can cook everything with wings except aeroplanes, and everything with four legs except tables’! (So watch where you’re sitting!)
There’s time to digest everything! We don’t finish up until day 14!