8-day Essence China Winter Tour

Day 1 Arrival in Beijing
Upon your arrival at Beijing's airport, your local guide will meet you and escort you to your hotel. The rest of the day is yours to relax, or explore the city.

Day 2 Beijing
Meals: B, L
Places to visit: Tiananmen Sqare, The Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, Peking Opera, Silk Factory
After having breakfast in your hotel, you will first visit Tiananmen Square followed by the magnificent Forbidden City, home to China's Emperors for over 500 years. After lunch, you will be driven to the Summer Palace, where you will marvel at the opulence of this imperial summer getaway.

Optional Cultural Experience: In the evening you will be mesmerized by a Peking (Beijing) Opera performance in Beijing's famous Liyuan Theatre. The opera will have English and French subtitles.

Day 3 Beijing
Meals: B, L, D
Places to visit: The Mutianyu Great Wall, the Sacred Road, the Changling Tomb, Beijing Duck
The magnificent Great Wall, the Eighth Wonder of the World, is your first stop today. You will be transferred to the Mutianyu Great Wall section,an intact and less touristic part of the Great Wall. Walking along these venerable ramparts provides you a chance to step back in history.After lunch next to the Great Wall you will be driven to visit the Sacred Road, the road leading to the tombs of the Ming Dynasty’s Emperors. You will then visit the Chang Tomb, the imperial Ming Dynasty Tomb.

Optional Recommendation: In the evening you will be taken to enjoy a Beijing Duck Banquet at Quanjuede, the oldest and most famous Beijing Duck restaurant in China.

Day 4 Beijing/Harbin
Meals: B, L
Places to visit: Beijing Hutongs, St. Sofia Church, Central Street, Ice Lantern Art Show
After breakfast, your guide will meet you and you will be taken on a rickshaw ride through the ancient lanes and alleyways of Beijing's Hutongs. After seeing how local Beijingers have been living for centuries, you will be driven to the airport for your flight to Harbin.

Upon arriving in Harbin, you will be driven to the hotel for a short rest. The first site you will visit is the Harbin St Sophia Cathedral Church. With Byzantine style and meaning of 'God's wisdom' for name, the church looks so beautiful as if it had been made by God's hands. It was first built in 1907 and rebuilt into brick and wood structure in 1912. It is the largest Orthodox Church in the Far East.

The Central Street, also known the Zhongyang Street. The Central Street is considered as the architectural art galley: Baroque and byzantine lining both sides, including Russian bakeries, French fashion houses and Japanese restaurants and so on. It's a good place to see architectural styles as well as for shopping and taste different Cuisine.
In the evening, you will visit the Ice Lantern Fair in Zhaolin Park. Ice Lantern Fair, also named the Ice Lantern Show, it is hold every year from 5th January to the end of February in Zhaolin Park. The park located in the downtown, it is a small and peaceful place. Still you can see pretty ice sculptures without many crowded.  Especially at night when the ice sculptures are lit then which looks like a magical world.

Day 5 Harbin
Meals: B, L
Places to visit: Sun Island Snow Sculpture,  Tiger Park, Flood Control Monument, Ice and Snow World
The Sun Island Scenic Area (Tai Yang Dao).  It's a great place for escaping the hot summer with cool weather and nice scenery, flowers, lakes and cute animals in the forest. When it comes to winter the island will be covered by thick snow and there will be a world-famous snow sculpture show: International Snow Sculpture Art Expo. There are various of massive, huge snow sculptures which is so impressive and amazing.

Then you will make an safari-style adventure in the Siberian Tiger Park. Siberian Tiger Park located on the north bank of the Songhua River. It is the largest natural park for wild Siberian tigers of China, even in the world. There are over 500 Siberian tigers this park. Here you can see wild tigers closely and take some fantastic photos.

The Flood Control Monument, built in 1958, commemorates the thousands of people who died in years past when the river overflowed its banks. It's more than a monument and the story behind it will impressive you.

In the evening you will go to visit the Ice and Snow World. Located on the north bank of the Songhua River, the Ice and Snow Amusement World is a major attraction of Harbin Interactional Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival dunging the winter. There are full of awesome ice and snow sculptures created by artists from all around world. Kind note that please wear enough layers of proper clothes and warm shoes to keep you away form the freeze especially when you want to stay there longer to enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Day 6 Harbin
Meals: B, L
Places to visit: Jihua Ski Resort, ice activities. Heilongjiang Provincial Museum
After breakfast in your hotel, your guide will meet you and you will be taken to Jihua Ski Resort, also called Jihua Changshou Mountain Ski Resort. It sits in Binxi National Forest Park as the nearest SSSSS-level national ski resort to Harbin downtown (38km).This national ski resort is built in a natural basin and surrounded by mountains, the towering peaks snake around and enclose the resort forming a natural wind-sheltered heaven. The resort has 15 different ski slopes, which in total cover a distance of 30 km, cater for beginner, medium and advanced-level skiers. The resort has a ski school, which offers more than 100 professional skimeisters. The resort is the only training base for National Youth Skiing Team. The resort area gets heavy snowfall, with about 150 days of snow every year. It can receive 5,000 people at the same time. It is an ideal place for cross-country skiing.

Day 7 Harbin/Shanghai
Meals: B, L
Places to visit:  Oriental Pearl TV Tower, The Bund, Nanjing Road
In the morning after having breakfast in your hotel, your guide will meet you and you will be driven to the airport for your flight to Shanghai. Upon your arrival in Shanghai, your local guide will meet you and escort you to your hotel. After lunch you will get a bird's eye view of Shanghai from the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. After, you will be driven to The Bund, known as a museum of Western architecture, and Nanjing Road, known as China’s No.1 Shopping Street.  In the evening you will go to appreciate Chinese Acrobatic Show at the Shanghai Centre Theatre.

Day 8 Shanghai/Departure
Meals: B, L
Places to visit: the Shanghai Museum, Yu Garden, Yuyuan Market
In the morning after having breakfast in your hotel, your guide will meet you and you will be driven to the the Shanghai Museum, arguably the most comprehensive museum in China which will let you explore China’s colorful history. You will then pay a visit to the Yu Garden. This stunning example of traditional Chinese garden design is the only surviving ancient garden in Shanghai. You will then be taken to the neighboring Yuyuan Market. This is an extremely fun place, with its traditional architecture, fun shops, and performances. In the late afternoon your local guide will escort you to the airport for your flight to next destination.

Service Ends