Chengde: A real jewel, overlooked by most foreign tourists in favor of the sights in Beijing, Chengde was a sleepy village until just over 300 years ago, when Emperor Kangxi decided to build a summer villa in the mountains to escape the bustle and heat of the city. The charms of the hills, lakes and gardens were not lost on Kangxi’s successors, who were also interested in promoting Lamaism (Tibetan and Mongolian Buddhism) and who received envoys here from these far-flung tributaries of the empire. Therefore, samples of religious architecture from these ethnic regions were constructed on the hills around the palace compound. By the time the great emperor Qianlong completed his additions, the walled compound was bigger than Beijing’s Forbidden City and Summer Palace combined and was surrounded by a dazzling array of magnificent temples. We will stay in a charming, traditional-style courtyard hotel adjacent to Puning Monastery.

Xi’an: Long before Beijing became an important city, Xi’an was the center of the Chinese world for many centuries. It certainly rivaled Rome and Constantinople as the greatest and most cultured city in the world. It is the only large Chinese city with nearly intact city walls, which date originally from the Tang dynasty about 1500 years ago and were reconstructed during the Ming Dynasty. More than 2000 years ago, Emperor Qin Shihuang unified all China for the first time and ruled from here. (Film buffs should see Zhang Yimou’s movie Hero, which fictionalizes events surrounding the ascent of this emperor.) Near the mound covering his vast and still unexcavated tomb complex, a peasant digging a well in 1974 made one of the 20th century’s most important and amazing archeological discoveries-the buried army of at least 8,000 to 10,000 life-size warriors and horses, fashioned of terra cotta and outfitted with arms and even chariots.

Guilin: In and around Guilin, we will begin to experience the lush southern reaches of China. The entire region, especially along the Li River, is studded with incredible karst peaks which jut vertically from landscapes of rice paddies, scenic villages, and farmers driving their water buffalo ahead of them. At every turn, the scenes are like classic Chinese paintings, come to life. One day, we will also drive through the bamboo forests in the mountains to see amazing vistas of rice terraces like steps to the clouds and to visit some of the many ethnic minorities of the region such as the Zhuang, Dong and Miao people and especially the charming women of the Yao villages with floor-length hair and rich musical and handcraft traditions.

The fantastic landscape along the Li River, Guangxi Region

Lijiang: Yunnan Province in the Southwest of China is amazingly varied. It includes many minority nationalities and vastly different landscapes, from jungles along the Burma border to high mountains near Tibet. It is impossible to see everything in one trip, but we will take time to explore carefully one of the most beautiful regions. Lijiang lies in the far northwest of the province and is the home of the Naxi people, an ancient and strongly matriarchal group descended from Tibetan tribes. The old city is a maze of winding, cobbled lanes, gushing canals, stone bridges and low-slung wood-and-tile houses. This area may have inspired the fictional “Shangri-La,” and you will venture out to see some of the towering peaks, deep valleys, and mountain meadows where yaks are the local livestock.

Shanghai Option: You may extend your stay for 1, 2, or several days in the amazing city of Shanghai. Once it was seen as the exotic, mysterious and lawless city of adventurers, gamblers, dandies, tycoons, missionaries, pimps and international intrigue. Now it is a stunning modern metropolis of skyscrapers and high finance, but it still retains some vestiges of its past. We will be happy to arrange for a hotel in the city center and will help you organize your time to enjoy this fascinating city. You may want to ascend to the top of the tallest buildings, take a cruise on the Huangpu River to see the stunning cityscapes, visit one of the most interesting museums in China, or go shopping in the maze of the Yu Garden market or in the modern malls!

Shanghai, Suzhou and Tongli Option (5-day extension with 3 nights in Shanghai and 2 nights in Suzhou): The first “Grand Canal” was in China, not in Venice! And it was really grand…almost 1800 kilometers linking Beijing in the North and the Hangzhou/Suzhou area in the Yangtze River delta! Parts were constructed already in the 5th century BC, but the major construction was a massive undertaking over less than 5 years at the beginning of the 7th century AD; it was refurbished again in the 13th century. This transportation route brought much wealth to trading and manufacturing centers, and Suzhou became one of the most elegant of those prosperous cities, praised by Marco Polo when he arrived in 1276. Like most of the area’s river cities and towns, it was laid out on a network of canals. The following centuries saw the height of Suzhou’s glory. As it became the leading silk producer in China, wealthy and talented people flocked there, constructing villas and beautiful private gardens for themselves. These classic Chinese gardens such as the Humble Administrator’s Garden are still among the highlights of the modern city. An interesting new feature is a nearby museum, designed for Suzhou by the famous Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei (Louvre pyramid, New Building of the National Gallery in Washington, etc.), who was born here in Suzhou and spent his childhood in these gardens, since one of the most famous was owned at the time by his grandfather.

To get a feel for the water towns of an earlier age, we will spend a day at the nearby village of Tongli. In the heart of this village, little seems to have changed and we can explore the alleys, gardens and canals on foot and by boat…a romantic step back through the centuries. Shanghai will bring us back to the 21st century in a very big way! Although it is among the most populous cities in the world studded with skyscrapers in every direction Shanghai has also retained a sense of human scale. It is filled with lovely public spaces parks, squares and pedestrian areas. The old Western colonial buildings along the riverfront (the Bund) are integrated into the high-rise cityscape around them. It is a city that pulses with business during the day and with nightlife in the evening. You will enjoy the lights of Nanjing Road and of the Pudong district, one of the fastest growing forests of skyscrapers in the world. You can ponder Chinese art and history in one of China’s best museums, or you can shop in the markets and stores.
[Cost will depend on the number of participants.]