Itinerary

Day 01 Hometown / Tokyo
Begin your “Splendid China” adventure either by departing for Tokyo directly from Vancouver or by connecting with Japan Airlines from your hometown at either Vancouver or Chicago.

Day 02 Tokyo / Beijing
Arrive Tokyo in the afternoon, connect to the same day flight to Beijing.  Upon arrival, meet your local guide and transfer to your hotel. 
Hotel: 5* International or similar

Day 03 Beijing
Hotel breakfast.  Visit The Imperial Palace - the “Forbidden City” - the elaborate, sequestered world of China’s final emperors.  After an imperial lunch (Fangshan) at Beihai Park, your tour takes you to The Temple of Heaven, established on the site that feng shui masters determined was the place where Heaven and Earth meet (perhaps because it is on Beijing's highest hill).  This is where emperors presided over prayers and rituals for good weather and bountiful harvests.  Western Dinner at the hotel.   (B/L/D)

Day 04 Beijing
Head to the northwest of Beijing to marvel at The Great Wall and, if you're feeling energetic, take the opportunity to scale its heights.  After lunch, visit one of the thirteen Ming Tombs laid out in a valley north of Beijing in strict accordance with the rules of feng shui. This evening you will feast on a Peking Duck Dinner followed by a brilliant Martial Arts Kung Fu spectacular.  (B/L/SD)

Day 05 Beijing
Hotel breakfast. Take a morning stroll around Tian’anmen Square.  This vast square and its periphery are home to some of the grandest monuments and government edifices in China.  Your tour coach will then take you off to the Summer Palace, which is much as it was when the Empress Dowager Cixi retreated to this rolling, regal landscape of lake, pagodas, and pavilions while she oversaw Imperial China's demise.  You'll get a good view of it all on a boat ride on Kunming Lake.  Back to Beijing.  Afternoon free at leisure or optionally join a very enjoyable bicycle rickshaw tour of a “Hutong” – one of Beijing’s traditional old neighbourhoods. Lunch and dinner at own expense.  (B)

Day 06 Beijing / Xi’an
Morning flight to Xi’an.  Xi'an served as the capital of eleven dynasties.  After lunch, visit the Wild Goose Pagoda and Shaanxi Provincial Museum.  Western buffet dinner at the hotel.  (B/L/D)
Hotel:  5* Hyatt Regency Hotel or similar

Day 07
Full day tour of Xi’an.  Tour one of the most amazing archaeological finds of the 20th Century - the burial grounds of Emperor Qingshi Huangdi with its thousands of life-sized terra-cotta warriors and horses assembled to guard his afterlife.  After lunch, visit the Ancient City Wall.  Tonight, you will be treated to a traditional (and yummy) Xi’an special Dumpling Banquet followed by a very colourful Tang Dynasty Show.  (B/L/SD)

Day 08 Xi’an / Shanghai
Morning flight to Shanghai.  In Shanghai you'll visit Yu Garden, The Bund, People's Square, and the Nanjing Road shopping precinct.  Dinner at a local restaurant.  This evening you'll enjoy an amazingly skilful Chinese acrobatic show.  (B/L/D)
Hotel: 5* Sky Fotune Hotel or similar

Day 09 Shanghai
Free time at to explore this fabulous city by yourself or join the optional tour.  Lunch and dinner at own expense.  (B)

Day 10 Shanghai / Tokyo / Hometown
After breakfast, transfer to the airport for your homebound flight.  (B) 

Bon Voyage!