Eastern Images

Here are the holiday photos!

• Yangcheng Lake and Suzhou (courtesy of Wolfgang)
  

• Shanghai (including Suzhou)
  

• Beijing (incorporating the Great Wall)
  

• Guilin & Yangshuo
  

Our China Odyssey

Having left Shanghai, we set off on a tour of China, with an itinerary designed by Mr Rein Wei of China Odyssey Tours:

"Final itinerary

Day 1 Sat 27-May-06: Shanghai/Beijing

Upon your arrival at Beijing airport, our local guide will meet you and escort you to your hotel. The rest of the day is free at your own leisure.

Accommodations: Peixin Hotel***on our arrangement
Add: 5, Jia, Peixin Street, Chongwen Area


Day 2 Sun 28-May-06: Beijing

Today you will first visit the historic Tiananmen Square, and then the magnificent Forbidden City. In the afternoon, you will marvel at Beijing's splendid Temple of Heaven. Enjoy the Peking Opera Show at Liyuan Theatre in the evening.

- The Tian'anmen (Gate of Heavenly Peace) Square: the largest city square in the world and the spiritual heart of China, where the national flag is raised exactly at sunrise everyday.

- The Forbidden City: located in the center of Beijing, used to be the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties with a history of around 600 years, it is the grandest integral palace complex still remaining in China.

- The Temple of Heaven: the place which was visited yearly by the emperors who performed intricate rituals to insure a good harvest for the whole nation at ancient times.

- The Peking Opera: a kind of singing drama which is an ingenious and colorful combination of elements from many sources:traditional music, poetry, singing, recitation, dancing, acrobatics, and martial arts.

Accommodations: Peixin Hotel***on our arrangement

Day 3 Mon 29-May-06: Beijing

Today's full-day excursion will take you to the majestic Great Wall (Badaling section), the Ding Tomb of Ming Tombs and Sacred road. Enjoy a famous Peking Duck Banquet for dinner.

- The Great Wall: the most famous symbol of China and one of the world's most remarkable architectural wonders, it was built over 2,000 years ago and stretching about 6,700km.

- The Great Wall at Badaling: the most outstanding representation of China's Great Wall, located 70km northwest of Beijing, at an elevation of 1000m, this section was first built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD) and heavily restored in the 1950s and 1980s.

Standing at the strategic highest point from northwest of Beijing and giving access to every direction, Badaling section is the important pass for protecting Beijing City.

Badaling section is composed of Guan City and its affiliated Wall, with city platforms, wall platforms and watchtowers along the Wall. The Wall is 8.5 meters high, 6.5 meters wide at the bottom and 5.7 meters wide on the top, which makes it possible for 5 horses or 10 people march abreast on the top. And the surrounding scenery is magnificent and impressive.

- The Ding Tomb: the burial site of the emperor Wanli, the 13th emperor of the Ming Dynasty who ruled for 48 years until his death in 1620, it is the only underground tomb of the thirteen Ming tombs of the emperors ever excavated.

- The Sacred Road: the path lined with stone statues of animals, mystical beasts and officials who serve the emperor in his afterlife, through which the sitting emperors would go to perform memorial rituals for the ancestors once a year.

Accommodations: Peixin Hotel***on our arrangement

Day 4 Tue 30-May-06: Beijing/Guilin

After breakfast, you will visit Hutongs by rickshaw, lunch will be served in one of the local people's home during the tour, when you can learn how to make dumplings. And then take the afternoon flight to Guilin.

Upon your arrival at Guilin, the most scenic city in China, our local guide will meet you and escort you to your hotel. The rest of the day is free at your own leisure.

- Hutongs: the old narrow paths with lots of courtyard homes where common people are living, they are like villages within megalopolis, through the hutongs' teeming maze of alleyways, you will see the old houses and learn about the daily life of ordinary Beijing citizens.

Accommodations: Guilin Park Hotel****on our arrangement
Add: 1, Luosi Hill, Guilin, Guangxi, China 541001
www.glparkhtl.com

Day 5 Wed 31-May-06: Guilin

After breakfast, drive to Zhujiang Pier (about 40-minute drive) to start the boat cruise along the tranquil Li River which is the highlight in Guilin until you get to Yangshuo County. Along the river, you will be inspired by breathtaking views of peaks and pinnacles, crystal-clear water and reflections in the water together with the serene pastoral views of rice paddies and water buffaloes, you are certainly walking into a traditional Chinese painting by cruising on it. Free time in the afternoon after checking in the hotel in Yangshuo.

- Yangshuo County: founded in 590 AD, Yangshuo County has been booming because of tourism. With so many grotesque mountains surrounding, it is described as "the world of green lotus and jade bamboo shoots".

Accommodations: New Century Hotel ****on our arrangement
Add: Yangshuo, Guilin, 541900, China

Day 6 Thu 01-Jun-06: Guilin

After breakfast, you will experience an interesting and enjoyable cycling tour to the Moon Hill by taking the countryside road partly along the picturesque Yulong River. Pay a visit to one of the local farmers'home en route.

- Yulong River: A tributary of Li River, it is like a green ribbon winding peacefully through the rice fields and small villages. The unique-shaped pinnacles, the bamboo groves, the rice fields and the roaming water buffalos are combined to form a charming picture in front of you.

- Moon Hill: viewed from different places, the moon takes on different shapes, sometimes full moon, sometimes half-moon and sometimes crescent, forming a marvelous spectacle in Yangshuo, climbing about 800 steps up to the very top, you will have a fantastic view of the whole county.

Accommodations: New Century Hotel ****on our arrangement

Day 7 Fri 02-Jun-06: Guilin/Shanghai

Today, drive back to Guilin (1.5-hour drive) and have a city tour of the Elephant Trunk Hill, the Fubo Hill and the Reed Flute Cave before your transfer to the airport for your flight to Shanghai.

Upon your arrival at Shanghai ,the most prosperous city in China, our local guide will meet you and escort you to your hotel. The rest of the day is free at your own leisure.

- Elephant Trunk Hill: the symbol of Guilin, which resembles a giant elephant drinking water from the Li River.

－ Fubo Hill: where you can see lots of statues of Buddha left about 1000 years ago in the Returned Pearl Cave and have birds'eye view of the whole city after climbing up to the very top.

- Reed Flute Cave: 5 kilometers away from the city center, famed as "A Natural Palace of Art", in which you can see lots of stalactites & stalagmites illuminated by the lights of different colors and learn how they were formed.

Accommodations: Jiulong Hotel***on our arrangement
Add ：No.601 Liyang Road Shanghai China 200030
Website: http://www.Jiulonghotel.net

Day 8 Sat 03-Jun-06: Shanghai/Exit

Free in this day, until our local guide meet you at Jiulong Hotel and escort you to the airport for your onward international flight to your sweet home."