Day 1 West Coast - Beijing
Board your transpacific flight to Beijing.

Day 2 Beijing
Upon arrival in Beijing, China's capital, you will be greeted and escorted to the Capital Hotel (or similar).

Day 3 Beijing (AB,L,SD)
After breakfast, visit Tiananmen Square and the Imperial Palace in the Forbidden City, home of Chinese emperors for more than 500 years. After lunch, visit the Summer Palace, taking a leisure stroll while admiring the thousands of ancient murals along the Long Corridor and a boat ride on Kunming Lake (weather permitting). Enjoy a fabulous welcome banquet featuring the famous Beijing Duck in the evening.

Day 4 Beijing (AB,L)
The highlight today is an excursion to the Great Wall. Enjoy the dramatic vistas and marvel at the Wall as it climbs and descends steep ridges and narrow valleys. Next, visit a cloisonné factory on the way to lunch. After lunch, visit the Ming Tombs starting with a stroll along the Sacred Way, which is guarded by stone statues. Then tour the Chang Ling Exhibition Museum.

Day 5 Beijing – Datong (AB,L,D)
Travel from Beijing to Datong by coach (330km) for about 4 hours or via train. After lunch, visit to the famous Yungang Grottoes. Making the UNESCO World Heritage list, and with a 1,500-year-old history, these 252 caves and 51,000 statues represent the outstanding achievement of Buddhist cave art in China in the 5th and 6th centuries. The Five Caves created by Tan Yao, with their strict unity of layout and design, constitute a classical masterpiece of the first peak of Chinese Buddhist art. Next, visit the Nine-Dragon Wall, which was built in 1392 to conceal the palace of a Ming-dynasty (1368-1644) prince and Huayan Monastery. Overnight at Hongan International Hotel (or similar).

Day 6 Datong - Taiyuan (AB,L,D)
After breakfast, take a scenic drive to Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi Province. On the way, visit the Wooden Pagoda, which is the oldest and the highest wooden pagoda in China. The Wooden Pagoda is made completely of wood and does not have a single nail embedded within it. Then visit the Xuankong (Overhanging) Monastery, a rare alpine complex built 1400 years ago, with 40 or so halls and chambers hanging on the rock face of a sheer cliff. Check into Shanxi Grand Hotel (or similar).

Day 7 Taiyuan – Pingyao (AB, L, D)
Visit Jinci, the shrine of the king of Jin state, is one of China's key cultural-relic reserves. And it enjoys the reputation of being the “Little South of the Yangtze River.” Continue to the Chunshansi, also known as Baimasi, where the provincial Buddism Association is located. En route to Pingyao, visit the Qiao Family Compound, a wellpreserved and exquisite structure, featuring 6 main courtyards and 313 rooms. It was where the movie, Raise the Red Lantern, was filmed. Arrive in the ancient town of Pingyao. Overnight at the Pingyao Yunjincheng Folk Hotel ( or similar).

Day 8 Pingyao (AB,L,D)
Pingyao is the best-preserved of the four ancient towns in China. Inside the intact Ming-dynasty city wall, this town features exceptionally well-preserved buildings dating from the Ming and Qing dynasties. It looks just as it did in centuries past. After breakfast, visit the City Wall. First erected nearly 3,000 years ago, it retains the appearance of its early-Ming Dynasty reconstruction. Next, visit Rishenchang, the first banklike financial institution in China. Then stroll along Ming and Qing Dynasty Street, the old downtown thoroughfare, which is preserved in traditional style.

Day 9 Pingyao – Tianyuan – Xian (AB,L,D)
Transfer to Taiyuan airport for your flight to Xi'an. This afternoon you'll enjoy a tour of the ancient City Wall, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and the Bell Tower. Overnight at the Grand New World Hotel (or similar).

Day 10 Xi'an (AB,L,SD)
Today's highlight is a visit to the Terra-Cotta Warriors and Horses Museum, home to an army of more than 6,000 life-size statues excavated from the tomb of the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty. After lunch, visit the Shaanxi Provincial Museum, renowned for its collection of Han- and Tang-dynasty antiquities. In the evening, enjoy a special dumpling dinner and cultural show at the Tang Dynasty Theatre recreating the music, costumes and dances of that era.

Day 11 Xi'an - Shanghai (AB,L)
Transfer to the airport for your flight to Shanghai, the “Paris of the Orient.” Afternoon sightseeing features the bustling shopping street, Nanjing Road, and the Bund, the famous promenade along the Huangpu River. Check in to the Salvo Hotel Shanghai (or similar).

Day 12 Shanghai (AB,L,D)
This morning, you will visit the Shanghai Museum, China's most up-to-date museum showcasing the country's ancient glory. In the afternoon, pay a visit to the Jade Buddha Temple, renowned for its huge statue of the Buddha carved from a single piece of white jade; and the Yu Garden, famous for its rock gardens, pavilions, halls and ponds, and Old Shanghai Bazaar, with shops filled with all manner of interesting curios.

Day 13 Shanghai (AB)
Spend today at leisure to explore this vibrant city on your own. Perhaps take an optional tour to one of the nearby picturesque water towns, known for their winding canals, arched-stone bridges and well-preserved architecture from Ming and Qing dynasties.

Day 14 Shanghai - West Coast (AB)
Farewell to Shanghai. Transfer to the airport for your flight home.