Tour Code: CN-GRAND-20D
Beijing → Xi’an → Chengdu → Guilin & Yangshuo → Zhangjiajie → Chongqing → Yangtze Cruise → Yichang → Shanghai
Follow the Great Wall across wooded ridges, drift between the limestone peaks of the Li River, and watch the Yangtze unfold from the deck of your cruise ship. This 20-day China private tour connects Beijing’s imperial courtyards with Shanghai’s waterfront, taking in ancient capitals, giant pandas and some of the country’s most distinctive landscapes along the way.
The experience comes into focus through the people who help you discover it: a local guide revealing the details of a Terracotta Warrior, sharing the stories behind Chengdu’s Wuhou Shrine, or finding a viewpoint among Zhangjiajie’s sandstone pillars. Between city visits and mountain walks, Yangshuo’s countryside and three nights on the Yangtze bring a change of pace.
Designed for travelers who enjoy a broad, active introduction to China, the journey combines private land guiding and transfers with scheduled trains, a domestic flight and shared river cruises. Handpicked boutique hotels provide a comfortable base. Your travel designer can tailor the visits, arrange hotel and cabin upgrades, or add nights where you would like to linger.
Welcome to Beijing. Your private airport transfer takes you to your hotel, where the rest of the day is free to settle in after your flight. There are no scheduled visits today, leaving time to rest and adjust to the new time zone.
If you feel like exploring nearby, your local team can suggest a place for dinner or an easy neighborhood walk. Tomorrow, your guide introduces you to the capital’s imperial heart.
Accommodation: Beijing
Hotel: Handpicked boutique hotel (Local 4-Star Standard or above)
Meals: Not included today
Begin at Tiananmen Square before passing through the gates of the Forbidden City. Courtyard after courtyard reveals the scale of the former imperial court, while your guide brings its rituals, rivalries and daily life into focus.
From Jingshan Park, look back over a sweep of palace rooftops and the city’s central axis. Continue to the Temple of Heaven, where emperors once prayed for good harvests, then explore Qianmen’s traditional shopfronts and lively lanes in the evening.
Visits are arranged around admission reservations and opening days. The Forbidden City usually closes on Mondays, with holiday exceptions; your guide can adjust the evening walk to your energy.
Accommodation: Beijing
Hotel: Handpicked boutique hotel (Local 4-Star Standard or above)
Meals: Breakfast included
Travel to Mutianyu, where the Great Wall climbs and curves across wooded ridges. Included round-trip cable-car rides bring you to and from the wall, leaving time to walk between watchtowers and take in the mountain views at a comfortable pace.
Back in Beijing, explore the Summer Palace beside Kunming Lake. Painted corridors, pavilions and garden paths reveal a more intimate side of imperial life. Your guide balances the afternoon visit with your time on the Wall and the return journey.
Accommodation: Beijing
Hotel: Handpicked boutique hotel (Local 4-Star Standard or above)
Meals: Breakfast included
A private transfer takes you to the station for your high-speed train to Xi’an. On arrival, meet your local guide and begin exploring the old city from its broad defensive walls. Walk along the ramparts, or choose an optional bicycle ride for another view of the city below.
Continue to Shuyuanmen and the streets around the Bell and Drum Towers. In the Muslim Quarter, food stalls and busy lanes introduce you to Xi’an’s distinctive flavors, with your guide on hand to help you choose something to try.
The afternoon route follows your train arrival. Bicycle rental and food purchases are optional and at your own expense.
Accommodation: Xi’an
Hotel: Handpicked boutique hotel (Local 4-Star Standard or above)
Meals: Breakfast included
Spend the morning with the Terracotta Warriors. Beyond the scale of the army, the details invite a closer look: an individual face, a carefully modeled hairstyle, the pattern of a suit of armor. Your guide connects these figures with the world of China’s first emperor.
Continue to Huaqing Palace, whose hot-spring setting is closely associated with the Tang imperial court. Later, take the high-speed train to Chengdu, where a private transfer brings you to your hotel.
This is a full sightseeing and travel day. Both visits are planned around the selected train; an additional night in Xi’an is available if you prefer a slower pace.
Accommodation: Chengdu
Hotel: Handpicked boutique hotel (Local 4-Star Standard or above)
Meals: Breakfast included
Begin at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. Follow the paths between enclosures and spend time observing the pandas, whether they are feeding, climbing or resting. Their activity varies, so the visit leaves room to pause where there is something to see.
At Wuhou Shrine, discover the personalities and rivalries of the Three Kingdoms. Nearby Jinli brings a livelier scene of traditional-style streets and snack stalls, where your guide can introduce the local flavors.
Later, explore Chunxi Road and Taikoo Li for a glimpse of contemporary Chengdu, from busy shopping streets to open-air lanes and cafés.
Accommodation: Chengdu
Hotel: Handpicked boutique hotel (Local 4-Star Standard or above)
Meals: Breakfast included
Travel by high-speed train from Chengdu to Guilin, with private transfers at both ends. Your first afternoon takes in Elephant Trunk Hill, the Sun and Moon Pagodas and East-West Alley, introducing a city shaped by limestone hills and water.
After dark, board the Two Rivers and Four Lakes night cruise. Illuminated bridges and lakeside buildings reflect on the water as Guilin takes on a different atmosphere.
This is a substantial rail journey followed by sightseeing. The train and night-cruise schedule are checked together; any change needed to fit the visits is agreed with you before booking.
Accommodation: Guilin
Hotel: Handpicked boutique hotel (Local 4-Star Standard or above)
Meals: Breakfast included
Board your Li River cruise toward Yangshuo. Limestone peaks rise in layers beside the water, with villages and fields appearing between them. From your seat or the open deck, the journey offers a succession of views that change with each bend in the river.
On arrival, explore the countryside around the Ten-Mile Gallery, where narrow roads and paths lead between fields and distinctive hills. In the evening, stroll along West Street for cafés, shops and a lively introduction to Yangshuo after dark, or return to your hotel when you are ready to relax.
The Li River boat is shared with other travelers. Boat category and any included lunch are detailed in your proposal.
Accommodation: Yangshuo
Hotel: Handpicked boutique hotel (Local 4-Star Standard or above)
Meals: Breakfast included
Begin with a bamboo-raft experience on the Yulong River, passing close to fields, village edges and the limestone landscape. From this quieter stretch of water, the scenery feels close enough to notice its smaller details.
Continue to Xingping’s old town and the river views associated with the 20-yuan banknote. An arranged cormorant-fishing demonstration introduces a local tradition before your private transfer back to Guilin for the night.
Rafting is subject to river conditions and the operator’s age and mobility requirements. Demonstration times are arranged in advance; a riverside alternative can be planned if rafting is unsuitable.
Accommodation: Guilin
Hotel: Handpicked boutique hotel (Local 4-Star Standard or above)
Meals: Breakfast included
Take the high-speed rail journey from Guilin to Zhangjiajie, with any required train connection arranged for your travel dates. Your local team meets you on arrival for a private transfer to your hotel.
The rest of the day is free. Settle in, enjoy dinner at your own pace and rest ahead of the mountain landscapes waiting tomorrow.
Accommodation: Zhangjiajie
Hotel: Handpicked boutique hotel (Local 4-Star Standard or above)
Meals: Breakfast included
Enter Zhangjiajie National Forest Park and take the Bailong Elevator to Yuanjiajie. From the viewpoints, slender sandstone pillars rise from the forest, their outlines shifting as cloud moves through the valleys.
Continue to Tianzi Mountain for wider panoramas across the peaks. Your guide connects the viewpoints into a route suited to the day’s conditions and your walking pace. Finish in the Ten-Mile Gallery, where a valley walk offers a closer view of the rock formations and surrounding woodland.
Park shuttles and elevators are shared. The order of visits may change with weather, visibility and queues.
Accommodation: Zhangjiajie
Hotel: Handpicked boutique hotel (Local 4-Star Standard or above)
Meals: Breakfast included
At Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon, cross the glass bridge for a striking view into the landscape beneath your feet. Your guide can help plan an alternative in advance if exposed heights are not for you.
Later, take a shared boat trip on Baofeng Lake, where wooded slopes and rock faces reflect in the water. This gentler afternoon offers a change of perspective after the canyon, before returning to your hotel.
Access depends on operating conditions. Additional canyon activities beyond the scheduled visit are optional.
Accommodation: Zhangjiajie
Hotel: Handpicked boutique hotel (Local 4-Star Standard or above)
Meals: Breakfast included
Explore Tianmen Mountain, where cableways, cliffside paths and the great natural opening of Tianmen Cave reveal a different side of Zhangjiajie. The planned visit takes in the glass walkway, Guigu cliff path and the famous 999-step stairway beneath the cave.
Your guide works with the booked access route and your comfort with heights and stairs. After the mountain visit, a private transfer takes you to the station for your high-speed train to Chongqing, followed by a transfer to your hotel.
Mountain entry and the onward train are coordinated together. Alternative routes, including escalators where available, can reduce stair climbing; another night in Zhangjiajie allows a more leisurely visit.
Accommodation: Chongqing
Hotel: Handpicked boutique hotel (Local 4-Star Standard or above)
Meals: Breakfast included
Discover Chongqing through its changing street levels and riverside neighborhoods. Begin in Ciqikou’s lanes, then watch a train pass through a building at Liziba, one of the city’s most unusual everyday sights.
Explore Jiefangbei, Baixiang Street and Shancheng Lane, where stairways and slopes open onto new views at every level. Guanyinqiao adds a lively glimpse of contemporary city life.
In the evening, see Hongya Cave’s illuminated balconies above the Jialing River. The stacked buildings and waterfront lights make a memorable close to the day.
This full city itinerary involves slopes and stairs. Time in each neighborhood can be adjusted to your interests and mobility.
Accommodation: Chongqing
Hotel: Handpicked boutique hotel (Local 4-Star Standard or above)
Meals: Breakfast included
Enjoy a final morning in Chongqing, exploring Kuixinglou’s surprising street levels and the riverfront around Raffles City. A ride on the Yangtze River Cableway adds a view across the city’s hills, towers and water.
Your private transfer then takes you to the embarkation point for a three-night downstream cruise toward Yichang. Settle into your cabin and enjoy the change of pace as the next part of your journey follows the river.
Cableway operation and boarding arrangements depend on your date and sailing. The Yangtze cruise is shared; your proposal specifies the ship, cabin and embarkation details.
Accommodation: Yangtze cruise
Meals: Breakfast included
Boarding dinner depends on the selected cruise package.
Wake on the river, with time to watch the banks from the deck between the ship’s scheduled activities. The proposed shore program includes a visit to either Baiheliang Underwater Museum, with its historic river inscriptions, or the 816 Underground Project, a vast former nuclear engineering site.
The proposed evening experience is Fengyan Sanguo, an outdoor performance inspired by the Three Kingdoms. Together, these visits offer two very different ways of encountering the region’s history.
The ship has not yet been selected. These experiences remain proposed: availability, the shore-visit choice and included costs will be confirmed with your chosen sailing before booking.
Accommodation: Yangtze cruise
Meals: Breakfast included
Lunch and dinner follow the selected cruise package.
Watch the river narrow between the cliffs of Qutang Gorge, then follow the longer, layered ridgelines of Wu Gorge. Time on deck gives you space to enjoy the changing landscape between the ship’s activities.
The proposed shore visit is White Emperor City or the Peak of the Three Gorges. The former brings history and poetry close to the river; the latter offers a high viewpoint over the gorge. Your travel designer will match the available excursion and its walking requirements to your preferences.
The shore visit and its inclusion depend on the selected sailing. Passage times and daylight views follow the ship’s schedule and river conditions.
Accommodation: Yangtze cruise
Meals: Breakfast included
Lunch and dinner follow the selected cruise package.
After breakfast, follow the ship’s final-morning program in the Yichang area. A Three Gorges ship-lift experience is proposed, offering a closer look at the engineering that moves vessels between different water levels.
Continue by private road transfer to the airport for your flight to Shanghai. A private transfer on arrival brings you to your hotel, leaving the evening free to settle into the final city of your journey.
The ship-lift experience, disembarkation and flight are planned together. Pudong is the proposed arrival airport; the final airport, any flight connection and any necessary overnight adjustment are confirmed before booking.
Accommodation: Shanghai
Hotel: Handpicked boutique hotel (Local 4-Star Standard or above)
Meals: Breakfast included
Begin with the view from Shanghai Tower’s observation deck, where the city spreads out on both sides of the Huangpu River. Then change scale at Yu Garden, following paths between pools, pavilions and carefully composed rockwork.
Continue through Tianzifang’s lanes and along Nanjing Road before reaching the Bund in the evening. Across the river, Pudong’s illuminated towers provide a vivid final contrast to the palace rooftops where your journey began.
The sequence is planned around garden opening days, visibility and your preferred pace.
Accommodation: Shanghai
Hotel: Handpicked boutique hotel (Local 4-Star Standard or above)
Meals: Breakfast included
Enjoy breakfast and any free time your flight schedule allows. Your driver collects you at the hotel for a private transfer to the airport.
Your journey concludes in Shanghai. If you would like a little longer in the city, your travel designer can arrange additional nights as part of your itinerary.
Accommodation: No overnight stay
Your journey concludes in Shanghai.
Meals: Breakfast included
16 nights in handpicked boutique hotels at local 4-star standard or above, plus three nights on the selected Yangtze cruise. Your proposal identifies the hotels, room arrangements, ship and cabin category.
Private local English-speaking guides for the scheduled land sightseeing, with shared cruise services and scheduled shore excursions during the Yangtze section.
Private airport, railway-station and local sightseeing transfers, the intercity rail journeys, the planned Yichang–Shanghai flight and the three-night Yangtze cruise. Travel classes, flight baggage allowance and any required connections are detailed in your proposal.
Breakfast from Day 2 to Day 20, with early-departure arrangements coordinated with your hotel or ship. Any additional meals included with the Li River or Yangtze cruise are specified for the selected package. Other lunches and dinners are at your own expense.
Entrance tickets and sightseeing transport for the scheduled land itinerary, including the round-trip Mutianyu cable car, Guilin night cruise, Li River cruise, Yulong River rafting and Baofeng Lake boat trip. The proposed cruise experiences on Days 16–18 are confirmed with the selected sailing. Optional activities are identified separately, and any necessary itinerary changes are agreed before booking.
Bottled drinking water each day and local support throughout the journey, with destination teams coordinating transfers and arrangements between each stage.
Domestic travel accident insurance for the itinerary, subject to the policy’s eligibility, coverage limits and exclusions. Policy details are available before booking.
International travel to and from China, visa fees and related application costs.
Lunches and dinners outside the meals specified for your cruise packages, drinks and personal food purchases.
Optional bicycle rental, personal activities and hotel, rail, flight or cabin upgrades beyond your agreed arrangements. Any additional paid experiences are clearly identified in your proposal.
Shopping, laundry, minibar purchases and other personal spending.
Guide and driver gratuities, plus any cruise service charges excluded from the selected package. Applicable ship charges are stated in your proposal.
Your own comprehensive international travel insurance, including cancellation, medical or evacuation cover beyond the included domestic policy.
Yes, for travelers who want a broad introduction to China and enjoy an active itinerary. The route combines imperial history, pandas, contrasting landscapes, a Yangtze cruise and Shanghai. It includes several changes of hotel and substantial travel days, particularly on Days 5, 7, 13 and 18. We can add nights or reduce stops if you prefer a gentler pace.
Your land sightseeing is led by private local guides, and local transfers are reserved for your party. Trains, flights, river and lake boats, and transport within attractions are shared services. The Yangtze cruise and its scheduled shore excursions are also shared with other passengers.
Yes. The itinerary includes handpicked boutique hotels at local 4-star standard or above, with upgrades available on request. Share your preferred hotel style and room arrangements with your travel designer, who can also discuss cabin upgrades when selecting your Yangtze sailing.
The tour starts from US$5,668 per person. Your final price depends on travel dates, party size, room arrangements, hotel choices, rail class and cruise cabin. Your personalized proposal sets out the full price and inclusions before you book.
The itinerary includes three nights on a shared downstream cruise from the Chongqing area toward Yichang. The ship and cabin have not yet been selected. The visits, performance and ship-lift experience on Days 16–18 are proposed arrangements, subject to the chosen sailing. Your proposal specifies the available excursions, meals, service charges and any additional costs; any substitutions are agreed with you before booking.
Guilin and Yangshuo feature limestone hills, rivers and farmland, explored from boats, bamboo rafts and countryside paths. Zhangjiajie offers sandstone pillars, mountain viewpoints, a glass bridge and cliffside routes. Including both gives the journey two distinct landscape experiences.
No. Tell us about your comfort with heights, stairs and walking when planning the trip. We can discuss alternative visits or access routes where available. Mountain parks still involve walking and shared transport, while Yulong River rafting has operator requirements that we check for your party.
Yes. This is a customizable itinerary, with May or other dates arranged around cruise departures, attraction opening days and available transport. Your travel designer can help assess the conditions for your dates. Weather and visibility vary across the route, and busy holiday periods may affect hotel availability and sightseeing schedules.
Yes. An extra night in Xi’an allows more time for its historic sites, while longer stays in Guilin or Yangshuo create more time in the countryside. Another night in Zhangjiajie can separate Tianmen Mountain from the onward train journey. We can also simplify the route, extend Shanghai or adapt the visits around your interests.
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20-Day China Private Tour: Iconic Cities, Landscapes & Yangtze Cruise
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