The Experience

While retracing the footsteps of ancient warriors along the Great Wall, you realize you’re onto something. You want to get into the heart of the Middle Kingdom and our guides will take you ‘over the wall’. Handpicked for their expertise, they’ll bring you deep into China and walk backward in time with you to Tibet where you’ll reconnect with ancient ways long forgotten by the modern world. You’ll have the chance to visit and have lunch at the village where the Terracotta warriors were unearthed, and experience a tea tasting in Shanghai. You won’t just experience China’s arts and culture, you’ll become a part of it. What’s Included Arrival transfer. Visit to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. Tour of Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven. Bike ride along the Xian city wall. Orientation walk in Xi’an Muslim Quarter and street markets. Tour of the Terracotta Warriors and visit the village where they were found for a local lunch. Orientation walk in Barkhor square. Tour of Jokhang Temple, Potala Palace and Sera Monastery. Visit the Tibetan Medicine Institute. Take a Tibetan cooking class and enjoy a local lunch. Tour of the Panda Breeding Center. Yangtze River Cruise with excursions to Fengdu Temple, and the Lesser Three Gorges or Shennon Stream (depending on the season). 14 breakfasts, 4 lunches, 5 dinners. (Allow USD300-450 for meals not included.) Comfort hotels (10 nts), soft-sleeper overnight train (1 nt), Yangtze riverboat (3 nts). Train, minibus, cruise boat, small canal boat, ferry, plane, walking. English-speaking Chinese Chief Experience Officer (CEO), local guides. Small group experience; Max 15, Avg 10.

The Route