Chinese Architecture, Old & New Tour
Traditional and Cutting-edge Architecture Make China the Center of the World

Duration: 11 day tour • 1 domestic flight
Priced From:   $5,990 pp, do.
Single Sup Fee: $2,270
Visits: Beijing, Suzhou, Shanghai

Beijing - An ancient capital for 1000 years, Beijing has been the center of political and economic changes for three decades and the seat of power for the Chinese Central Government as well as all multinationals. Some of the activities we will explore include:

• Visit the Museum of the Imperial City in Beijing
• Experience traditional courtyard architecture in Beijing’s picturesque Houhai district
• Explore the Beijing Urban Planning Exhibition Hall
• Meet artists at the 798 Dashanzi Art an Culture District and learn about the booming contemporary Chinese art  scene.
• Visit the Bird’s Nest and Water Cube at the Olympic Greens
• Visit the National Center for the Performing Arts, one of the great contemporary building designs in the world
• Be amazed by the grand halls of the Forbidden City & Temple of Heaven

Suzhou - Suzhou is called the “Venice of the Orient” for its myriad canals and delightful ambience.  It is also the heart of south China’s traditional garden culture.  The elegance and sophistication associated with Chinese design finds its realization in the many gardens here.

• Delight in the whimsical and lovely garden architecture of Suzhou’s Master of the Fishing Nets, Humble Administrator, Lion’s Grove
• See I. M. Pei’s acclaimed design for the Suzhou Museum

Shanghai - As we all know, Shanghai is the center of Chinese finance and high technology, but it is also leading China into the future with stunning cutting-edge architecture in the Pudong District as well as moderating the winds of change by preserving the charming Bund with its colonial buildings. This is where China’s movers and shakers, as well as contemporary artists and museum curators, create the new Shanghai.

• Explore the new Shanghai Urban Planning Museum designed by a French architect
• Walk through Xintiandi—a stylish restaurant and shopping district designed by MIT architect Ben Wood
• Learn of China’s colonial past at the Bund on the Huangpu River
• See what everyone’s talking about at the Pudong Economic Zone, where spectacular skyscrapers reshape the horizon

Over the last decade, the culinary arts of China have been rediscovered in spectacular fashion.  We can say without exaggeration that Chinese cuisine is the world’s most refined and complex cooking tradition.  Our tour itinerary features the finest restaurants in both north and south China, each one renowned for its lovely interior and distinctive culinary style.   In our view, fine touring means a feast for the palate as well as for the eyes. Below are some of the restaurants we will enjoy and their culinary specialties:

Beijing Restaurants

Da Dong            Peking duck and northern delicacies style
Ken de Rouge    Chinese fusion style   
Shanglinyuan     Imperial style

Suzhou Restaurants

Songhelou          Suzhou style

Shanghai Restaurants

Dingxiang           Shanghai style     
Lu Bo Lang         Shanghai dim sum style

The key for a successful tour is to choose the best hotel locations.  In our view hotels should be located in historic districts where city life is so rich.  A few steps outside the lobby, we enter a completely new world.  We have selected hotels with this idea in mind; and below you’ll find some of the highlights you’ll enjoy during free time:

Grand Hotel in Beijing  - So much to explore here, including: Tiananmen Gate (you can ascend to the observation deck) • Tiananmen Square and Mao’s Mausoleum • lovely Changpuhe Park • shopping on neon-lit Wangfujing Street • Legation District and fine western dining • new Qianmen culture street with old-time cable cars • National Performing Arts Center and 3 world-class theaters

Sofitel Hotel in Suzhou - Explore:  Southern canal life and quaint walkways of old Suzhou • Xuanmiao Daoist Temple and temple fair • family-owned arts and antiques shops • enchanting southern teahouses • tiny off-the-beaten-track gardens

Ritz Carlton in Shanghai - Explore:  Huangpu River and Shanghai lovers’ lane • colonial Bund and its old cosmopolitanism  • audacious Pudong skyscrapers • city life at People’s Park

Day 1-2 • U.S. – Beijing
Independent departure from the U.S. on a flight to Beijing. Cross the international dateline and arrive in China the next day. Transfer to the Grand Hotel, located in the heart of Beijing.  This evening is a good time to adjust to Beijing life with a stroll to nearby Tiananmen Square or Wangfujing street.

Day 3 • Beijing
Old and new China beckon outside our hotel and nearby is the imperial architectural axis that runs from Qianmen Gate, to the grand halls of the Forbidden City, to Jingshan Hill. This line demarcates the center of the Chinese universe–which is to say, all things cultural, social, political, and spiritual find their source here.  For the next few days we will experience the immense power of the city that radiates from a layout designed years ago in the Ming dynasty.

We first visit the Museum of the Imperial City and examine a model of old Beijing to get a sense of the basic structure of the city.

Later, explore Beijing’s picturesque Houhai district, where well-preserved courtyard homes and narrow hutong alleys border tree-lined lakes. Tour the district by “pedicab” for a closer and more engaging experience of traditional Chinese life. We enjoy lunch at the home of a local family.
 
Afterwards, visit the beautiful grounds of the Summer Palace. The Palace was built in 1888 for the Empress Dowager Ci Xi, using funds originally intended for the Qing Imperial Navy. Saunter through the exquisite royal gardens and cruise on lovely Kunming Lake. Also walk the Painted Gallery, the longest garden walkway in China, famous for its lake views.

On the way back, visit the Olympic Village to marvel at the new stadiums made famous by the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Herzog & de Meuron designed the National Stadium–the “Bird’s Nest;” and the firm PTW designed the National Swimming Center–the “Water Cube.”

This evening, savor the imperial city’s most famous delicacy, Peking duck, at the renowned Da Dong Restaurant. (b,l,d)

Day 4 • Beijing
An optional early-morning walk to Changpuhe Park offers an opportunity to observe local residents practicing taiji and qigong.   This newly-constructed park features numerous traditional buildings and pavilions facing onto a variety of Chinese gardens, one of the most successful landscape creations in the country.

After breakfast, visit the Beijing Urban Planning Exhibition Hall to learn how modernization and preservation pose countless challenges that tax Chinese ingenuity.   Tour the museum with its high tech displays showcasing old and new Beijing.

Next, head north from Beijing for the Great Wall of China. Encounter this extraordinary rampart at Mutianyu, a rugged section of the wall that offers easy access by foot or cable car. As is usually the case, the Great Wall presents a visual experience that dramatically exceeds visitors’ expectations. Construction of a few miles of the wall on such jagged peaks seems near miraculous, but the rampart stretches for 3,700 miles and passes through 16 provinces.

This evening is at leisure with dinner on one’s own. Your guide can assist with recommendations and arrangements.

After dinner, you may choose to attend a performance at the new National Grand Center for Preforming Arts, lovingly dubbed the “Big Egg.” Designed by French architect Paul Andreau, the building took ten years to construct. This complex is built with 25,000 titanium plates and 15,000 glass panels and houses three state-of-the-art theaters.  Not unexpectedly, it is the most expensive theater facility ever built in the world. (b,l)

Day 5 • Beijing
In the morning we enter the gate of the immense complex of the Forbidden City, the abiding symbol of imperial China. Truly one of the great achievements of civilization, its construction employed hundreds of thousands of workers between 1406 and 1420. Marvel at its expansive architecture, magnificent imperial gardens, and many museums of Chinese antiquities and treasures.

Enjoy a fabulous lunch at Ken De Rouge Restaurant featuring fine fusion cuisine.

After lunch, we explore the Temple of Heaven, one of the finest creations of the Ming Dynasty. This stunning architecture realizes the great Chinese desire to incarnate heaven in material form, and represents the most advanced principles of mechanics and geometry of the time.

Later, visit the 798 Dashanzi Art and Culture District. This renovated factory area is known as the “Soho” of Beijing.  More than 80 gallery spaces as well as artist studios, fashion boutiques, and design ateliers make the Chinese contemporary art scene one of the most exciting in the world. Exhibitions feature an international range of established and emerging artists, providing a concentrated glimpse of the “new art” of China.
    
Tonight, we enjoy a special banquet at the Shanglinyuan Restaurant in lovely Beihai Imperial Park. (b,l,d)

Day 6 • Suzhou
After breakfast we fly to Shanghai.  Upon arrival transfer to Suzhou–a one hour drive–and check in the Sofitel Hotel. 
    
Suzhou is called the “Venice of the Orient” for its myriad canals and delightful ambience.  It is also the heart of south China’s traditional garden culture.  The elegance and sophistication associated with Chinese design finds its realization in the many gardens here.
    
After lunch, visit Lingering Garden, Suzhou’s most famous garden, with its eccentric architecture and winding paths leading to unexpected views.

In the evening, attend a classical music show at Master of Fishing Nets, Suzhou’s smallest garden, though one that creates the illusion of a vast universe.

Dinner is on one’s own tonight. Your guide can assist with recommendations and arrangements. (b,l)

Day 7 • Suzhou
Today we visit the Humble Administrator’s Garden, an immense effort at garden ingenuity, with countless pavilions offering views onto tranquil lakes and greenery.  Woodcarving and architectural forms compete with trees and shrubbery in exuberant detail.

Then, walk to nearby Lion’s Grove Garden, once owned by the family of world-famous Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei.  The fantastic rockeries and grottos here create an aesthetic never before seen in the world.
    
Afterwards, visit I. M. Pei’s latest creation, the new Suzhou Museum.  In this building the architect blends classical Suzhou architecture with contemporary style to create something totally new.  Later, sit back and enjoy a ride on the Grand Canal, an ancient engineering project that is still central to the life of numerous watertowns in south China.
    
In the evening, enjoy Suzhou cuisine at the traditional Songhelou Restaurant. (b,l,d)

Day 8 • Shanghai
After breakfast, drive to Shanghai and transfer to the Ritz Carlton, located in the heart of the city.

What strikes everyone about Shanghai is its vitality.  Nothing restrains Shanghai in its immense ambition to achieve world-class status; and in only a few short years it has surpassed Hong Kong as the leading Chinese city.  Our time here will be spent absorbing this special energy, a worldly cosmopolitanism for the up-and-coming Chinese empire. 

Visit the new Shanghai Urban Planning Museum designed by a French architect and view the detailed models of old and new Shanghai.

In the afternoon, take a walking tour along the historic Bund, famous for its colonial buildings of ‘20s and ‘30s vintage, but it also serves as a looking glass onto China’s dynamic future.

Dinner is on one’s own.  (b,l)

Day 9 • Shanghai
This morning, we divert ourselves among the wonderful collections of the Shanghai Museum, including its world-class displays of Chinese bronzes, jade, pottery, ceramics, furniture, paintings, and calligraphy.

After lunch, step into new China at the Pudong Economic Zone, with its spectacular skyscrapers reshaping the horizon.  A who’s who of multinationals have taken up residence here, turning the former marshland into a center of world commerce.

The arrival of the “future” is confirmed by the magnetic levitation train, or “maglev,” which links Pudong to the international airport at speeds of 260mph.  We jump aboard for the ride, which lasts only a matter of minutes. (b,l,d)

Day 10 • Shanghai
After breakfast, tour Shanghai’s old Jewish Establishment and the Jewish Museum.  Shanghai opened its arms to Jewish refugees during WWII, where they prospered through commerce and real estate development.  The Peace Hotel and Shanghai Children’s Palace are examples of fine architecture built by Jewish developers.

At lunch time, explore Xintiandi—a stylish restaurant and shopping district designed by MIT architect Ben Wood.  Filled with restaurants, clubs, and fashion boutiques, Xintiandi exudes artistic sophistication and is widely imitated throughout China today for chic redevelopment projects.  Enjoy lunch on one’s own here.

The afternoon is free for shopping and exploring the city.
    
In the evening, we bring our journey to a memorable close with a farewell banquet at Dingxiang Garden Restaurant, famous for Shanghai cuisine.

After dinner enjoy a final walk on the Bund, taking a last look at the European-styled bank buildings and trading houses on one side of the river and the brand new contemporary Pudong skyline on the other. (b,d)

Day 11 • Shanghai – U.S.
Today transfer to the airport for your flight home.  Arrive in the U.S. on the same day.  (b)

**Breakfast (b), Lunch (l) and Dinner (d) are included in the day’s program.

This tour features both pre- and post-tour extensions.

Our tour extensions are based on the travel principle of focusing on distinctive regions of China to absorb their individual character.  Rather than rushing through the country, we prefer to spend an extended period in one place and get to know the nuances of its culture and natural environment.  China lends itself to this kind of touring for its regions vary immensely from each other, and so reward the traveler interested in the subtle beauties to be found there.

Pre-tour extensions include the 1-day What’s New in Beijing Day Tour & the 3-day Imperial Grandeur at the Chengde Imperial Resort.

Post-tour extensions include the 5-day Grand Mountains and Ancient Villages in Anhui & the 5-day Elegance of South China in Guilin. 

Please see promotional literature for each of these extensions.

12/09