Nature of China
15-Day Private Tour: Beijing, Xi'an, Zhangjiajie, Shanghai and Yangtze River Cruise
Pandora is far, but Zhangjiajie is near. Movie Avatar makes the floating Hallelujah Mountain famous, so Zhangjiajie becomes popular among westerners in recent years. A book named River Town published in 2012, written by American writer Peter Hessler records life changes in a town on the Yangtze River, which reflects China's development in the passed 20 years.
This 15 days private tour brings these two places close to you and shows you the essence of China in Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai, Enjoy the beauty of China with stunning natural views.
Highlights
- Be amazed at the Great Wall of China, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is viewable from outer space
- Experience over 8,000 majestic and well-preserved sculptures of the Terracotta Army
- Soak up the beauty of pillar-like formations and mysterious Avatar's Hallelujah Mountains
- Feel your heart almost jump up at Suspended Glass Walkway —a mile high!
- Observe the three gorges and the big dam from the relaxing Yangtze River Cruise
Discover real reviews of Highlights Travel Family's best-rated service across trusted platforms.
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Zhangjiajie/ Spectacular scenery and great taste of local culture.
Zhangjiajie immediately went to the top of our list of natural attractions in the world. The landscapes are fascinating and unique. We really valued the guidance by China Highlights. Roger was good accommodating to our needs during the planning phase. In the actual trip Linda provided us with knowledgeable and passionate guidance. She was very personable and respectful at the same time. Her advice was critical to be able to see so much - as in every park or area there are multiple buses to move around. She showed us the best spots at the best time.Local restaurant selection was good. One piece of advice- make sure to specify how much spice you enjoy in your food. Local food can be quite spicy. more
Jan 2024, Raul C Mexico city
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An Unforgettable Experience
China Highlights and the local guide Linda deserve special kudos for making this trip happen for my family. Linda was very knowledgeable and passionate about the area and the subjects we cared about. She went above and beyond to accommodate extra activities for us and to assist with choosing the food so that we get to try the local cuisine. more
Jan 2024, Diana G
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Great experience in Zhangjiajie
Our trip to Zhangjiajie was fantastic. We had Terry as our tour guide for a few days and we loved all the experiences. He is a very capable guide and knows a lot about history. We needed him to translate many things in the city and he was very patient with us. He speaks very good English and is punctual. He took many pictures to us more
Jan 2024, shinemasla
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ZhangJiaJie Exploration with China Highlights
Bree (Xiao Hong) is our guide in ZhangJiaJie; she is very experience in handling our itineraries and always managed to work out our travel route to minimize the crash with big crowd; it really makes our visit more relaxing and joyful. Also, able to take extra care on my family meal preferences and diet constraints. Special thanks to Bree. more
Jan 2024, Kenneth C
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China Three (3) Cities Tours
To the tour guides, Ethan, Jason and Tony, you guys have made my visit an awesome and memorable experience. All the tour guides spoke english and communicated very effectively. They are knowledgeable about all the sites visited including, Great Wall of China, The Forbidden City, Panda Breeding and Research Center, Leshan Giant Buddha, Hallelujah Mountains, Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon and Glass Bridge, and Tianmen Mountain. more
Nov 2023, Kadar
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Family trip
During our extended trip in China, we spent three days in Zhangjiajie with our fantastic guide, Tutu. She speaks English fluently, is always polite, and extremely proactive. She took us to visit less crowded places, where we could enjoy the views undisturbed. more
Nov 2023, Kamila1123
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Spectacular Zhangjiajie National Forest
My Guide Li Wen Jing’s English was perfect. I took a Soft Sleeper train to Xhangjiajie. The most exciting part of my visit to Xhangjiajie was the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park (Avatar Mountain) and the Grand Canyon of Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge. Liking excitement and technology Xhangjiajie has one of the most spectacular cable cars in the world. I don’t visit many places twice, but Zhangjiajie will be on my list. more
Nov 2023, BillWalton2
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Amazing experience in Zhangjiajie
We had a great time in Zhangjiajie thanks in no small part to our excellent guide, Apple, who took us to all of the major attractions throughout the region. He was very personable and his English is very good. Best of all, he took us off the tourist beaten path to some of his favorite places to visit with unique views and to restaurants with great food.Our trip to the Grand Canyon and the Glass Bridge was particularly memorable with taking the slide instead of the second down escalator. The day was capped off with a tour through the caves. Lots of steps! The trip to the top of Tian Men Mountain was quite memorable. more
Nov 2023, Pennie B
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Best 2 day tour in Zhangjiajie
We booked a 2 day tour in Zhangjiajie and had a wonderful experience visiting the Zhangjiajie National forest park where the avatar movie was inspired from, and on our second day we went the Tiamen mountain. Our Guide Wendy is very knowledgeable and took us to places unknown by tourists and she showed us the best spots for the best views. Thanks to Wendy for making our visit such a wonderful and memorable experience. more
Nov 2023, annenguyen2016
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An amazing experience at the avatar park
My friend and I really enjoyed our 3 days in Zhangjiajie! We had a great enthusiastic tourguide Tony who is a local of the city and knew the nature and city so well. We were so lucky with the weather and because of Tony we could also avoid the crowded areas. The views were beautiful and we made a lot of pictures. Oh and Tony could make beautiful pictures as well. Overall an amazing experience with china highlights! more
Oct 2023, Sümeyye S
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Super customized guided experience
Zhangjiajie is a beautiful and truly special place for nature lovers. Be forewarned that it's super busy though, so we were really glad to go as early as possible (the park opens at 7), and we were glad to book with China highlights as they helped us with all of the ticketing and helped us dodge the lineups and many of the crowds. Our guide Lee was knowledgeable and with great English, and they gave me a number of great hiking recommendations to make sure I got the outdoor experience I was dreaming about. I traveled here with an aging parent, and I'm super grateful to Lee for juggling both our needs and being super flexible with our schedule to make sure I got in some solo hiking time while also catching all the most important sights inside the park. more
Sep 2023, Stephanie N
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Highly Recommend Zhangjiajie Tour
Had a great tour of Zhangjiajie with our guide,Tony. Each day was filled with activities that smoothly flowed from one to another with little to no wait time. We saw everything that was advertised and more. Lunches were delicious and filling. Tony is very engaging with tremendous local knowledge. He knew the best spots to take pictures and how to get away from the crowds. He was also very good about taking photos of our family and sending them to us. more
Sep 2023, Pat S
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Wonderfull and memorable experience!
The natural scenery is majestic and wonderful in Tienmen and Zhangjiajie. Fenghuang guzhen is also well worth a visit.We also thank our tour guide David, who did his job very well: understanding local history and culture. he also helped us buy tickets to great shows: the Fox Fary….High recommend for this tour and service! more
Sep 2023, Thu? N
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Unforgettable tour!
Myself and my boyfriend spent 4 days in Zhangjiajie exploring the amazing scenery. The tour was seamless and we would not have navigated the parks without our tour guide Chris, who took us on the best routes through the parks and showed us the best places to take pictures. more
Aug 2023, Declan O
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Fantastic private tour
We had an excellent trip; we did the 3 day (4 nights) tour and our guide Wendy made it an exceptional experience. She was so informative and planned our itinerary so well - even though the attractions are very busy in the summer season, Wendy made sure that we did our best to avoid the crowds. The sights are beautiful and it is absolutely worth travelling from the bigger cities. Tianmen mountain was the highlight of the trip! We are so glad we booked a private tour. Hotel was also excellent. more
Aug 2023, Ailin C
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Beautiful scenery with and without local tourists
Another excellent 3-day section of our 3-week tailor made China Highlights tour, this time with Pan Hon (Bree). On the first day we saw the beautiful karst peaks in the Zhangilajie national park with - and completely without - local tourist crowds thanks to Bree. On the second day we did the Grand Canyon, a zip line descent over it and traversed the longest glass bridge in the world where we added an impromptu 260m bungee jump to our itinerary! Day three we ascended Tianmen mountain via the world’s longest cable car, walked on top of it and then took seven escalators and the stairs down from Heaven’s Gate before coming back via the other cable car. This way we encountered less queues and also made the ascent easier for us, especially since Bree managed to get us VIP tickets on the first and third day (for an additional Y100 per person) which meant we queued for half an hour instead of the usual two hours plus during China’s school holiday peak season. Bree is a caring, friendly, efficient, extremely flexible guide who thinks of everything and is very attentive of what her clients’ needs are. We couldn’t have wished for a better guide! Thank you Bree. more
Aug 2023, Axel R
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Marvelous
We visited Zhangjiajie for 3 days as part of our China trip. We spent unforgettable 3 days due to our perfect guide - Lee from China Highlights. The timing was great, the food- so delicious. We saw everything as planned in the itinerary. Lee is the best guide! We had great time, unforgettable moments with the amazing nature. more
Jul 2023, Viki B
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Rated 5 out of 5 stars
We had a wonderful time in Hunan. All sites we visited were spectacular. The Nature around Zhangjiajie is perhaps most beautiful on the Planet. The trip was prepared perfectly, and we were very lucky with the weather. Our personal guide, ToNy, was perfect: he is a very nice person, very responsive, with full head of ideas of making the trip nicer than in the itinerary. I would recommend him as a personal guide to everybody. more
May 2023, Pawel from Warsaw
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Zhangjiajie magic
Our tour guide Tony was very friendly and enthusiastic about sharing his magical hometown. We really enjoyed our trip with him, and especially appreciated his ordering recommendations at lunch (which were all delicious), taking us to the ‘secret’ quiet spots, great photography skills and sharing facts about the local people and customs. We would recommend a trip to Zhangjiajie with China highlights and Tony to other travellers. more
Apr 2023, Rhiannon E
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Spectacular landscapes
Our guide David from China Highlights was awesome and showed us the best spots and also some secret spots off the beaten track. He was always helpful with restaurant recommendations and make sure we have a pleasant stay. Thanks David. more
Mar 2023, Steffen Wet
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Suggested Itinerary
Hotel: Crowne Plaza Hotel Beijing Chaoyang U-Town (Superior Room)
Whenever your flight lands your tour guide will be waiting for you at the arrival hall of the airport, greeting you with a smile and name plate. Transfer to your hotel by private van and driver.
Hotel: Crowne Plaza Hotel Beijing Chaoyang U-Town (Superior Room)
Meals Provided: Breakfast & Lunch
You will visit iconic sights of the city: Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City.
Tian'anmen Square at the heart of Beijing is the largest city square in the world, the witness of many major historical events. Walking northward from the square you will enter the Forbidden City, the imperial palace where treasures are hidden and history happened.
Have lunch at a popular local restaurant, where your guide will help you order dishes to ensure an authentic Chinese flavor.
In the afternoon hop on a rickshaw to explore the charming hutongs ('lanes') — traditional Beijing neighborhood areas.
Hotel: Crowne Plaza Hotel Beijing Chaoyang U-Town (Superior Room)
Meals Provided: Breakfast & Lunch
This less-crowded Mutianyu section of the Great Wall offers superb views, as it snakes across mountains. After driving for about 2½ hours from Beijing city center, you will take a shuttle bus to the foot of the mountains. Cable cars are available to take you to a good section (avoiding climbing on steep steps), where you can walk along the wall and enjoy the view. You can descend by cable car, or walk along the wall for about an hour to descend by chairlift.
After lunch at a nearby restaurant, drive back to the city and visit the Temple of Heaven, where ancient emperors held grand ceremonies to pray for good harvests. You will see local people enjoying leisure time inside the park, singing, dancing, and playing chess or musical instruments.
Hotel: Wyndham Grand Xian South (Deluxe Room) (TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence 2015)
Meals Provided: Breakfast & Lunch
In the morning walk through the Summer Palace, an enormous park with pavilions, vividly-painted corridors, temples, and lakes surrounded by hills.
After lunch, transfer to the airport for your flight to Xi'an. Upon arrival in Xi'an, meet your guide at the arrival hall and go to your hotel by private van and driver.
Hotel: Pullman Zhangjiajie (Superior Room) (Rank No. 1 in Zhangjiajie on TripAdvisor)
Meals Provided: Breakfast & Lunch
Drive about one hour to the outskirts of Xi'an and admire the formidable underground army of Terracotta Warriors, which has been guarding 'First Emperor' Qin for over 2,000 years. Back in the city, walk on the ancient city wall, which divides the city into its inner and outer parts. Riding a bike on the massive wall is recommended.
Dinner is according to your own arrangement. Feel free to ask your tour guide for some insider recommendations. Transfer to the airport for your evening flight to Zhangjiajie. Upon arrival, meet your guide at the arrival hall for your transfer to a Zhangjiajie city hotel.
Good to Know:
- To avoid waiting in long queues, your Zhangjiajie guide might suggest you get up early or alter your attraction schedule. Please kindly understand and cooperate.
Hotel: Pullman Zhangjiajie (Superior Room)
Meals Provided: Breakfast & Lunch
Breakfast at a 4-star hotel at Zhangjiajie is very basic, so our guide will prepare bread, coffee, and fruit for you.
Tianzi Mountain and Yuanjiajie are the most classic and popular sights of Zhangjiajie.
Take the cable car up Tianzi Mountain, and see through the glass below large areas of grotesque sandstone peaks thrusting up from the ground.
Have a simple lunch on the mountain.
If you prefer, we can arrange to have lunch at a McDonald's on the mountain, and have a break in the air-conditioned building.
The namesake and inspiration of Avatar's Hallelujah Mountain is located in Yuanjiajie Scenic Area, which you will visit in the afternoon after taking a shuttle bus from Tianzi Mountain.
Alternative: For getting back to the foot of the mountain, besides taking the cable car, there is also an option of taking Bailong Elevator, a glass elevator built on the side of a cliff, taking only 2 minutes. If you are interested, tell your tour guide in advance so that he/she can arrange to avoid long queues, which might take you 2 hours.
Hotel: Pullman Zhangjiajie (Superior Room)
Meals Provided: Breakfast & Lunch
Yangjiajie Scenic Area is a relatively recently developed area in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. With less people and pristine natural beauty, it takes a bit of an adventure to climb up and down the steep and sometimes narrow steps for the superb view. You will need to climb for about one hour, besides taking a cable car, to get up and down.
After visiting the National Park, let's head to Baofeng Lake to enjoy crystal clear water.
Alternative: If you do not want to walk so much, we recommend Gold Whip Stream for a pleasant stroll along the stream, surrounded by grotesque rocks. You might see some monkeys there. Please don't touch or scare them for safety reasons, but giving them food is ok.
Hotel:Zhangjiajie Sunshine Hotel (Superior Room)
Meals Provided: Breakfast & Lunch
Tianmen literally means 'Heaven's Gate', and Tianmen Mountain does match its name. With an altitude of 1,518 meters (4,980 feet), its scenery is often locked in mist in the morning. Besides its beautiful scenery, it will make your heart beat fast as you walk across its glass walkway, suspended 1,430 meters up; ride the world's longest cable car from city to mountain top; and take a vehicle down the curvy mountain road of '99 Bends'.
Tianmen Cave, a 30-meter-high, doorway-like hole in the mountain, can be reached by climbing 999 steps, if you'd like the challenge.
You will get back to the foot of the mountain at around 2 pm in the afternoon. After a late lunch enjoying local specialty mushroom hotpot.
Then we move to Yellow Dragon Cave stretches a total length of 7.5 kilometers with four layers. It's home to an impressive collections of stalactites and stalagmites, illuminated in a variety of colored lights.
Good to Know: Show Opportunity: Tianmen Foxy Fairy is an outdoor musical telling an old Chinese love story, with Tianmen Mountain and its deep valleys as the backdrop. It has received good reviews on TripAdvisor. The show is on every night. If you are interested, please ask your guide to book tickets for you, at extra cost.
Hotel: Century Ledgend (Deluxe Cabin)
Meals Provided: Breakfast
Transfer to the train station for your Yichang-bound train (K1474, departing at 09:15 and arriving at 14:18). To ensure the most comfort for your China train experience, we book soft-sleeper carriages, where 4 people share a cabin.
Upon arrival at Yichang Train Station, meet your local guide for your port transfer, and board your Yangtze River Cruise, which embarks at 21:00.
Hotel: Century Ledgend (Deluxe Cabin)
Meals Provided: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Tai chi exercise led by a teacher is offered in the early morning every day.
Sail through the first gorge — Xiling Gorge, and pass through the five-step ship lock and have a shore excursion to the world-famous Three Gorges Dam site. In the evening, a welcoming banquet is held, hosted by the captain. There's no dress code for the Yangtze River cruise; wearing comfortable clothing for traveling is completely fine.
Hotel: Century Ledgend (Deluxe Cabin)
Meals Provided: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Take a shore excursion to visit Shennong Stream in small wooden boats, and see the mountain and water scenery more intimately. The cruise proceeds through Wu Gorge and Qutang Gorge.
You have the option of visiting White Emperor City (CNY280 per person extra), the source of inspiration for many ancient Chinese poets. Enjoy some interesting performances presented by the ship crew in the evening.
Hotel: Century Ledgend (Deluxe Cabin)
Meals Provided: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
You will have a shore excursion to Shibaozhai, a craggy hill by the Yangtze with a red pavilion and a walkway to the temple at the top of the hill. The Captain's Farewell Banquet is held in the evening.
Hotel:Les Suites Orient Bund Shanghai (Bund Studio River View)(TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence 2017)
Meals Provided: Breakfast
The cruise will dock at Chongqing port at around 9 am. Your local tour guide will pick you up from the port for your airport transfer and flight to Shanghai. Upon landing in Shanghai, your Shanghai tour guide will meet you at the arrival hall for your hotel transfer and a good rest.
Hotel:Les Suites Orient Bund Shanghai (Bund Studio River View)
Meals Provided: Breakfast & Lunch
Shanghai's charm of mixed cultures will be unveiled during your visit to the essential highlights of the city — the classical landscape garden of Yu Yuan; the Shanghai Tower with a history museum on the lower floor; and the Bund, where architecture of various Western styles are gathered.
Lunch is at a famous Old Shanghai Restaurant, where authentic Shanghai flavor is served in an old-fashioned dining environment.
Trip Notes
Extend the tour:
- Guilin: add 3-4 days — Li River Cruise, Yangshuo countryside, Longji Terrace Field
- Chengdu: add 2–3 days — visit a Panda Research Center, the Giant Buddha, and Mt. Emei
- Suzhou and Hangzhou: add 2–4 days — visit scenic gardens, West Lake, and water towns
- Hong Kong: add 2–3 days — visit Victoria Peak, Disneyland, and day-tour Macau
Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge
The Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Bridge is reopened on September 28th, 2016! The other attractions in the Grand Canyon Area are still closed, so people can only visit the glass bridge at presen. If you are interested in the bridge, feel free to ask your travel advisor to add it.
About Accommodation in Zhangjiajie
Star-rated hotels in Zhangjiajie might not be up to the standard of those in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai. The hotels we use in the tour are carefully selected based on criteria like hotel environment, location, service, and previous customer feedback.
There are some hostels in the national park, with very basic facilities. If you would like to stay in a local guesthouse, we can arrange it. In this way you can save time on transportation, avoid tourist groups, and also cut the cost.
About Food in Zhangjiajie
Restaurant and cuisine choices are very limited in the national park. We will find the best available, but it is also suggested that you bring some snacks. Local villagers sell water and food like fruits and corn on the mountains, which are good to try while you climb the steps.
Breakfast at a 4-star hotel at Zhangjiajie is very basic, so our guide will prepare bread, coffee, and fruit for you.
Tour Price
Price includes: