Jasmine's China Adventure Tours - Ancient Capitals and Scenic Wonders

Bicycling country roads near Yangshuo.
(Photo courtesy of David Harrigan, Pembroke, New Hampshire)

Ancient Capitals and Scenic Wonders

Beijing--Xi'an--Guilin--Yangshuo--Kunming--Dali--Lijiang--Zhongdian
Three weeks
April 7-29, 2007
October 6-28, 2007
$3,650 USD per person, double occupancy
Land cost only; does not include international airfare

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Special note from Jasmine: The April 2007 departure is the last one I will guide personally until 2010. I am booked for private tours this fall, and in 2008 and 2009 I will be concentrating on my solar eclipse tours. I will still offer this tour at least twice each year through my cooperating agents in China

Zhongdian grasslands

Zhongdian grasslands

This is probably my favorite among my tours, and the most popular with my customers. Combining China's most significant historical and cultural sites with some of its most spectacular landscapes, it is the perfect introduction to China for the first-time visitor. You'll see the famous monuments and the "big" sights, but you'll also go beyond them to discover the real life of the Chinese people. And for 2005 and 2006, I will offer a very special option: the chance to stay at my local friend's beautiful courtyard home in Lijiang. Even experienced "China hands" may find that my approach to travel brings them into contact with Chinese life in a new and deeper way.

Buddhist monk in the kitchen of a Tibetan home

Buddhist monk in the kitchen of a Tibetan home

A special highlight of the tour is our visit to Zhongdian, a Tibetan cultural area in the remote highlands of Yunnan Province. This is an area that only recently opened to foreign visitors. Local people like to say that this is the land that inspired the myth of Shangri-La. Be that as it may, it is a breathtaking landscape of broad grasslands and towering snow mountains where prayer flags flutter over whitewashed Tibetan houses and monasteries teem with red-robed monks chanting prayers amid smoldering incense sticks and bowls of flaming yak fat. Our visit there will be a wonderful climax to a tour that I believe brings you the best of China.

We start in Beijing, which holds the major monuments of the Chinese Empire: Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace and, above all, the Great Wall. But it is also a city of hidden residential alleyways where families live quietly in ancient courtyard homes, city parks where elderly people gather to do morning exercises, crowded street markets bursting with unusual produce, and night food streets offering unsuspected culinary treasures. We'll experience all these aspects of Beijing and gain a special feeling for its people by visiting local families in the courtyard homes of the ancient hutongs and in a quiet farming village at the foot of an unrestored section of the Great Wall.

Naxi man with his grandson, in Yuhu Village near Lijiang.

Night market food vendor, Xi'an.

Xi'an, of course, offers the world-renowned terra cotta army. But the city also holds an intriguing Moslem Quarter, where the traveler can find traces of Xi'an's Silk Road past in the colorful and aromatic spice markets and the Central Asian faces of their vendors. Dinner at the night food street under the massive city walls lets you taste a variety of regional cuisines, from delicate steamed dumplings to the fiery Sichuan hotpot. And we'll visit my local friends in their village of traditional "cave houses" that are a unique feature of the Shaanxi plains.

For centuries, poets and painters have tried to capture the fairy-tale landscape of Guilin and Yangshuo. Our boat cruise down the Li River through the heart of this magnificent scenery is one of the highlights of China. Most group tours spend a day on the cruise, stop in Yangshuo for no more than an hour and then head back to Guilin by road and on to their next destination. They miss one of the most enjoyable experiences in China. Yangshuo is a fascinating small town where the timeless rhythms of rural life mingle with the sounds of jazz from the international cafes on "Foreigner's Street". We spend three days in Yangshuo, walking and bicycling into the surrounding countryside past Ming Dynasty stone bridges and farmers plowing with water buffalo to visit nearby market towns and farming villages. A highlight is the easy bicycle ride to Moon Hill Village, where my local friend will welcome us to her courtyard home while her husband cooks a delicious multi-course lunch including such local specialties as stuffed chili peppers and fermented beans. You can even try their home-made rice wine!

Naxi women in traditional dress, Old Town Lijiang

Naxi women in traditional dress, Old Town Lijiang

From Guilin, the tour continues to one of the most fascinating parts of China, the rugged mountain landscapes and colorful minority cultures of Yunnan Province. Located in China's far southwest, bordering on Vietnam, Laos, Burma and Tibet, Yunnan is a land of shining snow peaks and deep river gorges. In spring, the fields glow with the bloom of yellow rapeseed flowers; in autumn, the stone and mud-brick farm houses dress themselves up with garlands of corn and red chili peppers. Blue skies and abundant sunshine make Yunnan one of the most photogenic parts of China. Our tour visits Dali, the home of the Bai minority people, where we will visit a local fisherman's family for lunch and a boat ride on beautiful Lake Erhai. From there, we continue up-country to Lijiang, home of the Naxi people.

Naxi man with his grandson, in Yuhu Village near Lijiang.

Naxi man with his grandson, in Yuhu Village near Lijiang.

Old Town Lijiang has been named as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations, and the entire province is a treasure house of ancient architectural styles. Among the scenic wonders on our itinerary are the sweeping First Bend and the tremendous Tiger Leaping Gorge of the upper Yangtze River. North of the Gorge, on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau, lies Zhongdian, where we'll visit remote monasteries and meet the local Tibetan families in their homes. We'll even observe their traditional craft industries, such as brewing the potent barley wine or making delicate wooden bowls by hand.

Tibetan-style house in Shangqiaotou Village, near Zhongdian.

Tibetan-style house in Shangqiaotou Village, near Zhongdian. (Photo courtesy of Sue Wright, Toronto, Canada)

If you are looking for a tour that will introduce you to China's historic monuments, its magnificent landscapes and its fascinating people, this is a perfect choice. Designed to give you adventure without sacrificing comfort, it's a tour fit for people of all ages, for novice adventurers and "old hands" alike. Although we get close to local life, all accommodations are in clean, comfortable modern hotels. All of our bicycle and walking excursions can be done by anyone of reasonable fitness. Please read the detailed itinerary that follows, and contact me for more details on this tour.

More Photos!

Sue Wright of Toronto, Ontario traveled with me on this tour in April, 2000. Sue is a wonderful photographer--click here to visit her Web site and see her China photos along with many others from her travels in Vietnam, Thailand and Bali.

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1 (Saturday): Depart from the United States or Canada.

Day 2 (Sunday): Arrive in Beijing. Transfer to hotel.

Day 3-5 (Monday-
Tuesday-Wednesday): Sightseeing in and around Beijing. Walk on a restored section of the Great Wall and climb to an unrestored section of the "Wild Great Wall" where we will also visit my farmer friends' home at a nearby village. Visit the workshops of a cloisonne factory to see workers practice this unique art. Walk through the Liu Li cultural street, and explore the ancient alleyways (hutongs) on the way to the Forbidden City. Take an excursion to the Summer Palace to stroll along its lakeside arcades. In the morning, get up early to take part in local people's morning exercises at the park--you will be surprised how many people there are! In the evenings, observe the senior people's street dancing groups, enjoy a performance of Chinese traditional music or Chinese acrobats and taste the famous Beijing Roast Duck in a neighborhood restaurant--where the local people enjoy it.

Day 6 (Thursday): Fly from Beijing to Xi'an in the morning. Take a walk to get to know the Moslem Quarter of this ancient city, including the Great Mosque, and try some hot steaming dumplings in the open-air food markets under the ancient city walls.

Day 7 (Friday): Sightseeing in and around Xi'an, including a full-day excursion to the terra cotta army, and a visit to a family living in a village of unusual Shaanxi-style "cave homes".

Day 8 (Saturday): Fly from Xi'an to Guilin. Balance of day for a city tour of Guilin to see the parks along the Li River with their views of karst peaks. In the evening, enjoy local people's street dancing by the riverfront. (You may even join them!)

Day 9 (Sunday): Boat cruise on the picturesque Li River through the stunning landscape, stopping along the way to visit an underground cavern; arrive in the small town of Yangshuo in the afternoon and have the balance of the day to explore the town.

Day 10-11 (Monday-Tuesday): Sightseeing in and around the beautiful countryside of Yangshuo, including a bicycle ride on country lanes and paths to a village for lunch at my farmer friends' home; a visit to nearby market towns and villages by bicycle or local transportation to see local produce fairs and traditional farming methods where rice cultivation is done by hand or with the aid of water buffalo.

Day 12 (Wednesday): Drive from Yangshuo to Guilin and visit the Guilin Traditional Medicine Hospital, where my friend Dr. Jiang will explain ancient acupuncture techniques and take us to visit the herbal pharmacy. Afterwards, fly from Guilin to Kunming. Transfer to the hotel and explore this growing city if time permits. In the evening, enjoy a Yunnan culinary treasure, the famous "across the bridge" noodles in a neighborhood restaurant.

Day 13 (Thursday): Fly from Kunming to Dali in the morning (about 1 hour); balance of day sightseeing in Dali, an ancient walled town set between sparkling Lake Erhai and the 12,000-foot Cangshan Mountains.

Day 14 (Friday): Sightseeing in and around Dali, including the fishing villages of Lake Erhai and a visit to an ancient Bai minority people's town to see the traditional stone buildings. We'll visit my local friends' home in this lakeside village for a wonderful meal featuring shrimp and fish fresh from the lake. Later, the father of the family, a fisherman, will take us out on Lake Erhai in his fishing boat to see the local fishermen netting shrimp and practicing the traditional art of using trained cormorants to catch fish. In the late afternoon, drive north to Lijiang (about 3 hours).

Day 15-17
(Saturday_Sunday-
Monday): Sightseeing in and around Lijiang, the home of the Naxi minority people. The centerpiece of our visit is the wonderful Old Town, recently named a World Heritage Site by the United Nations. Visit the beautiful Jade Spring park, with its splendid view of 18,000-foot Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, stopping at the small Naxi Culture Museum to learn about their distinctive Dongba pictographic characters and religion. Walk in the nearby countryside through the beautiful Naxi people's villages to a Lama Temple, visiting my local friend's home and his root sculptures on the way. Enjoy a performance of the Naxi ancient music orchestra in the evening. Monday, Day 17, is set aside for you to have a free day to relax or to discover the Old Town Lijiang on your own. As a special option while we are in Lijiang, I can arrange for any of our group to stay at my local Naxi friends' beautiful traditional-style home, with a courtyard full of blooming flowers, and to have a traditional Naxi breakfast there. If you are interested in this option, please contact me for more details.

Days 18 (Tuesday): Drive from Lijiang to Shigu Village to see the sweeping First Bend of the Yangtze River; then visit the tremendous Tiger Leaping Gorge, where the river forces its way between Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and Haba Snow Mountain. Continue upcountry to Zhongdian, on the edge of the Tibetan plateau.

Day 19-20
(Wednesday-
Thursday): Explore Zhongdian and the surrounding Tibetan cultural areas. One highlight is the short trip to the large Songzanlin Monastery, where you can see the daily life of the monks. On the way, stop at a nearby village to visit my local Tibetan friend Mr. Jiang at his traditional home. Take an all-day excursion on the Tibetan Highway to Benzilan, a small farming town on the Upper Yangtze River, stopping along the way at a riverside village of traditional Tibetan-style homes to visit my local friend Mrs. Kong and her small home "factory" where she makes beautifully painted wooden bowls by hand, then going on to the very remote Dongzhulin Monastery. In the evening, visit my friend Mrs. Ma's home in Zhongdian's Old Tibetan Quarter and her family barley wine-making barn--and how about trying her delicious barley wine-flavored fish afterwards? You can even try a famous Tibetan specialty, too--yak butter tea!

Day 21 (Friday): Fly from Zhongdian to Kunming, about 1 hour. Explore the city on foot in the afternoon, including the Green Lake Park some of the old neighborhoods and the bird/plant market in the city center.

Day 22 (Saturday): Fly from Kunming to Beijing, a flight of three hours. In the evening, enjoy a farewell banquet.

Day 23 (Sunday): Depart from Beijing and fly to Canada or the United States, arriving home the same day.

C.S.T. Number 2034611-40

Web Design by Brian H. Day

Day 1 (Saturday):	Depart from the United States or Canada.
Day 2 (Sunday):	Arrive in Beijing. Transfer to hotel.
Day 3-5 (Monday- Tuesday-Wednesday):	Sightseeing in and around Beijing. Walk on a restored section of the Great Wall and climb to an unrestored section of the "Wild Great Wall" where we will also visit my farmer friends' home at a nearby village. Visit the workshops of a cloisonne factory to see workers practice this unique art. Walk through the Liu Li cultural street, and explore the ancient alleyways (hutongs) on the way to the Forbidden City. Take an excursion to the Summer Palace to stroll along its lakeside arcades. In the morning, get up early to take part in local people's morning exercises at the park--you will be surprised how many people there are! In the evenings, observe the senior people's street dancing groups, enjoy a performance of Chinese traditional music or Chinese acrobats and taste the famous Beijing Roast Duck in a neighborhood restaurant--where the local people enjoy it.
Day 6 (Thursday):	Fly from Beijing to Xi'an in the morning. Take a walk to get to know the Moslem Quarter of this ancient city, including the Great Mosque, and try some hot steaming dumplings in the open-air food markets under the ancient city walls.
Day 7 (Friday):	Sightseeing in and around Xi'an, including a full-day excursion to the terra cotta army, and a visit to a family living in a village of unusual Shaanxi-style "cave homes".
Day 8 (Saturday):	Fly from Xi'an to Guilin. Balance of day for a city tour of Guilin to see the parks along the Li River with their views of karst peaks. In the evening, enjoy local people's street dancing by the riverfront. (You may even join them!)
Day 9 (Sunday):	Boat cruise on the picturesque Li River through the stunning landscape, stopping along the way to visit an underground cavern; arrive in the small town of Yangshuo in the afternoon and have the balance of the day to explore the town.
Day 10-11 (Monday-Tuesday):	Sightseeing in and around the beautiful countryside of Yangshuo, including a bicycle ride on country lanes and paths to a village for lunch at my farmer friends' home; a visit to nearby market towns and villages by bicycle or local transportation to see local produce fairs and traditional farming methods where rice cultivation is done by hand or with the aid of water buffalo.
Day 12 (Wednesday):	Drive from Yangshuo to Guilin and visit the Guilin Traditional Medicine Hospital, where my friend Dr. Jiang will explain ancient acupuncture techniques and take us to visit the herbal pharmacy. Afterwards, fly from Guilin to Kunming. Transfer to the hotel and explore this growing city if time permits. In the evening, enjoy a Yunnan culinary treasure, the famous "across the bridge" noodles in a neighborhood restaurant.
Day 13 (Thursday):	Fly from Kunming to Dali in the morning (about 1 hour); balance of day sightseeing in Dali, an ancient walled town set between sparkling Lake Erhai and the 12,000-foot Cangshan Mountains.
Day 14 (Friday):	Sightseeing in and around Dali, including the fishing villages of Lake Erhai and a visit to an ancient Bai minority people's town to see the traditional stone buildings. We'll visit my local friends' home in this lakeside village for a wonderful meal featuring shrimp and fish fresh from the lake. Later, the father of the family, a fisherman, will take us out on Lake Erhai in his fishing boat to see the local fishermen netting shrimp and practicing the traditional art of using trained cormorants to catch fish. In the late afternoon, drive north to Lijiang (about 3 hours).
Day 15-17 (Saturday_Sunday- Monday):	Sightseeing in and around Lijiang, the home of the Naxi minority people. The centerpiece of our visit is the wonderful Old Town, recently named a World Heritage Site by the United Nations. Visit the beautiful Jade Spring park, with its splendid view of 18,000-foot Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, stopping at the small Naxi Culture Museum to learn about their distinctive Dongba pictographic characters and religion. Walk in the nearby countryside through the beautiful Naxi people's villages to a Lama Temple, visiting my local friend's home and his root sculptures on the way. Enjoy a performance of the Naxi ancient music orchestra in the evening. Monday, Day 17, is set aside for you to have a free day to relax or to discover the Old Town Lijiang on your own. As a special option while we are in Lijiang, I can arrange for any of our group to stay at my local Naxi friends' beautiful traditional-style home, with a courtyard full of blooming flowers, and to have a traditional Naxi breakfast there. If you are interested in this option, please contact me for more details.
Days 18 (Tuesday):	Drive from Lijiang to Shigu Village to see the sweeping First Bend of the Yangtze River; then visit the tremendous Tiger Leaping Gorge, where the river forces its way between Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and Haba Snow Mountain. Continue upcountry to Zhongdian, on the edge of the Tibetan plateau.
Day 19-20 (Wednesday- Thursday):	Explore Zhongdian and the surrounding Tibetan cultural areas. One highlight is the short trip to the large Songzanlin Monastery, where you can see the daily life of the monks. On the way, stop at a nearby village to visit my local Tibetan friend Mr. Jiang at his traditional home. Take an all-day excursion on the Tibetan Highway to Benzilan, a small farming town on the Upper Yangtze River, stopping along the way at a riverside village of traditional Tibetan-style homes to visit my local friend Mrs. Kong and her small home "factory" where she makes beautifully painted wooden bowls by hand, then going on to the very remote Dongzhulin Monastery. In the evening, visit my friend Mrs. Ma's home in Zhongdian's Old Tibetan Quarter and her family barley wine-making barn--and how about trying her delicious barley wine-flavored fish afterwards? You can even try a famous Tibetan specialty, too--yak butter tea!
Day 21 (Friday):	Fly from Zhongdian to Kunming, about 1 hour. Explore the city on foot in the afternoon, including the Green Lake Park some of the old neighborhoods and the bird/plant market in the city center.
Day 22 (Saturday):	Fly from Kunming to Beijing, a flight of three hours. In the evening, enjoy a farewell banquet.
Day 23 (Sunday):	Depart from Beijing and fly to Canada or the United States, arriving home the same day.