Ancient China Heritage Trip
9-Day Beijing, Xian, Shanghai and Suzhou Tour
A trip to heritage sights in two ancient capitals of China: Beijing and Xi'an, enjoy unique beauty of Jiangnan gardens and water town in Suzhou and Shanghai. Get insight of China's history and ancient life.
Tour Highlights
- Deeply discover of the royal Forbidden City
- Stand up on the Mutianyu Great Wall
- Surprised by the Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses
- Appreciate exquisite Humble Administrator's Garden
- Leisure cruise in Tongli Water Town
China Highlights, Asia Highlights, and Global Highlights collaborate to provide families and couples with personalized and stress-free experiences in diverse destinations.


![]() ![]() |
Olivia Tian, a sunshine tour guide!
In October, my friend Amy booked a tour with Chinahighlights, Olivia Tian was our guide in Beijing, she is such a sweet n happy person to be around, not only she gave us the best guide service, also very accommodating, alter the plan as per our interest, took us to very local shopping n food district. Above all, she takes awesome pics, very patient!! Thank you so much for such pleasant 5 days in BJ, look forward to see you when we are back in China, Olivia!! more
Dec 2023,
Venture216019
|
One whole of a good experience !
Kevin was always making flexible arrangements for us making sure we meet our needs. Kevin also walked us to our desired restaurant daily making sure all are well before he left. Kudos to the whole team. Highly recommend ? more
Dec 2023,
Cornelius C
|
China is Amazing Wonders that do not stop coming at you.Great country
Great job,Loved every minute of it,Ethan did an amazing job,True Ambassador of China,Just like the Chinese people,Friendly, dignified and hardworking,Very happy.China Highlights exceeded expectations and then some,I will never even think of travelling with another company. more
Dec 2023,
Philip Sardar /Maps10321171537
|
Wonderful trip to Beijing and Xian
Had a great trip to bejing n xian. Our guide lily liu is so well versed in english and we have no worry here at all. We managed to dine in great halal restaurants though out our trip. Highly reccomended to all muslims travellers. more
Dec 2023,
Efen Reyes
|
Great experience, highly recommended!
Additionally, she helped me with all my personal needs like getting a SIM card, finding an ATM, shopping, dining, checking in at the train station, hotel, suggested a couple additional very entertaining art events. Was also punctual and spoke good English. more
Nov 2023,
Wayne S.
|
Excellent tour with Tom from China Highlights
We used China Highlights for the 3 days of our Beijing trip. Tom was a fantastic guide. Very knowledgable with excellent English. He was able to accommodate changes to our tour at short notice, allowing us to make the most of our limited time. Couldn’t recommend highly enough more
Nov 2023,
Ross
|
Magical Adventure
Wow this tour was honestly the best tourI have ever taken! Our guide Simon Yao was simply superb! His English was excellent and he was very easy to talk to. He was personable and friendly but not overpowering or overbearing. Very knowledgeable about history. Thankfully the weather was good so we were not super hot !Finally at the wall we were amazed by it's beauty and grandeur. It really is something and pictures don't do it justice. more
Nov 2023,
Annika M
|
Excellent two day visit to Great Wall
Our guide ‘Mark’ was incredible. So friendly, knowledgable and funny. The itinerary was perfect, we got to see two different parts of the Great Wall (one of which at night which was magical) and our hotel stay in Gubei was wonderful. Highly recommend to anybody visiting Beijing more
Nov 2023,
James_Wolstenholme
|
Great Experience from start to finish!
Jack was my guide and his local knowledge and English skills were fantastic. He was punctual, friendly and willing to flex as we went about our tour. Couldn’t recommend China Highlights more! more
Nov 2023,
Scott Smith
|
Family tour
Helen in Beijing - thanks for paying great attention to details, for your small surprises for the children every day, for selecting amazing restaurants, and leading wonderful walking tours. Your cheerfulness added to our enjoyment. more
Nov 2023,
Kamila
|
Great day out with Mark, thanks China Highlights!
We did a 1 day private tour with China Highlights to see Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, and the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. Communication was great throughout - from trip planning/booking with Roger and from our guide Mark who contacted us the day before to confirm meet up time/location. Avoided a lot of the queues and definitely learned quite a bit of history from our guide Mark…thanks again! No language barriers/issues…highly recommended. more
Nov 2023,
ykeezy
|
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. The tour guides ensured I got the most out of my time I stayed in the various cities Beijing, Chengdu and Zhangjiajie. more
Nov 2023,
Kadar
|
13 days in China
We booked a 13 day’s tour of China with China Highlights. Our travel advisor, Ms Leah Zhou organised an itinerary that suited what we wanted. She was really helpful and patient will all our needs. Leah helped us organised our 30th Wedding Anniversary Dinner and my 60th Birthday celebration?? in Beijing. For this to be possible, she had to liaise with our guide in Beijing. The flowers and cake were a real surprise. My husband and I, were really touched at the good service provided by China Highlights and Ms Leah Zhou. Thank you China Highlights and Ms Leah Zhou for your constant care of your customers. I will certainly recommend China Highlights to my friends. more
Nov 2023,
Eda Adams
|
Perfect Beijing experience
Covering all major sights our exploration of Beijing and surroundings was flawless guided by Lily, along with her knowledgeable and balanced information on Chinas culture and history. In particular, Lily was able to adjust the tour according to personal preferences, e.g. focus on photography, as well as suggesting additional activities like an impressive authentic artistic show. I highly recommend China Highlights as China tour operator and Lily Liu as excellent guide regarding the Beijing area. more
Nov 2023,
Perfect Beijing experience
|
Our first trip to Beijing
Our tour guide was Lucy Yubo. She was awesome. Very friendly, informative and passionate about her job. We really enjoyed her company and guidance. more
Nov 2023,
Sreelatha Reddy
|
Anne and Bob’s tour of Beijing
We did the China Highlights tour of Beijing with our excellent guide Mark and his driver. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing the Beijing highlights including the Lama Temple, the Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Lama Temple. The Summer Palace with the boat ride and the Garden of Virtue and Harmony were memorable also and the Mutianyu Great Wall was a highlight. We were impressed with Mark as a guide. He knew his history and he was kind and thoughtful. He took us to some excellent restaurants and we were introduced to some beautiful food. We enjoyed his company and will always remember him. more
Nov 2023,
BendigoBob
|
Excellent end to end service
Helen is a positive, full of knowledge, experienced guide.She provided us an implacable service abd experience for 3 days .Highly recommended more
Nov 2023,
Sariel Engel
|
Amazing Beijing Tour with Risa!
Risa gave us a wonderful tour of the city! She thoroughly explained the cultuaral importance of each exhibit while also educating us on the Chinese culture. Appreciated having this wonderful Beijing trip with Risa:) more
Nov 2023,
Angelica M.
|
Amazing Beijing Tour With Risa!
We were very kindly received in Beijing by our tour guide Risa. She gave us a very thorough tour of the city and showed us wonderful places, while also explaining the important history/culture of China! Very beautiful city filled with many things to do and full of culture! This was very well planned and made it very easy for us to visit the city and foreigners:) Thank you Risa! more
Nov 2023,
Angelica M
|
Do Beijing like a local
They organised my trip very quickly and efficiently. On the day, Anna was very friendly to me, my mum and my baby. Very accommodating to our needs. The car was immaculately clean and very comfortable. We visited everything we initially wanted and more. Also, Anna took us to the best meal we had in China. It makes a difference to have a local choosing the dishes! more
Nov 2023,
Natali A
|
Suggested Itinerary
Your private guide and driver will be waiting for your arrival in the airport. Enjoy a trouble-free transfer with a comfortable and non-smoking car. Your guide will assist you with hotel check-in. Have a good rest, get ready for your exciting journey next day.

A comfortable car will transfer you and your guide to historic Tian'anmen Square where the famous chairman mao's portrait is hang on the wall of the Gate of Heavenly Peace. Like the Times Square in New York, Red Square in Moscow and St. Peter's Square, Tiananmen Square is a must-visit place for traveler to Beijing and is the largest public square in the world. Your guide will provide you commentary to the history, architecture, and anecdotes of the square, you will have around 20 minutes there for taking photos.
Walk north, and after going through the middle gate of Tian'anmen rostrum, there will be a huge red gate awaiting you. Start to enjoy the highlight of the day - the Forbidden City, the world's largest imperial palace with 9,999½ forbidden imperial chambers, home to 24 emperors in the Ming and Qing dynasties (1420–1911). You'll be marvelled by the gorgeous Chinese ancient style architectures and interesting history and lives of those Chinese emperors.
Visit Hutong by rickshaw, explore Beijing unique local charming lanes. Visit a local family who is still live in the Hutong after generations. Listen to their stories and know more about the local.
Good to know:To ensure the quality of half-day presentation, David Yang only does it once a day. All China Highlights customers who have arrangement to the Forbidden City on the same day will take the presentation together. The maximum number of customers is 10 people. Our audio equipment will ensure you hear clearly.

The Mutianyu section of Great Wall and the Temple of Heaven are on your list. After a western breakfast in the hotel, you will be taken to Mutianyu Great Wall, the number 1 attraction to see on the trip advisor. This section is travelled by less people but with beautiful scenery. Plus there are cable cars to offer you maximum time on the Great Wall. Have your lunch at the foot of the wall.
View the magnificent Temple of Heaven, one of the best places to feel ancient China. Along the long corridor, you will see local people playing cards, chess, Jianzi(a traditional game), or some traditional Chinese music.

See royal Summer Place with a beautiful lake and corridors, take a peaceful stroll along the Kunming Lake, admire its lovely scenery, walk through the long corridors with many beautiful Chinese paintings. A great place to experience the opulence of the Chinese empire, glance at the royal life of the Qing Dynasty. On the way to/out of the Summer place, you can exteriorly visit of Beijing Olympic Stadiums(Bird's Nest and Water Cube). Take some photos of the new international sites from the outside. Take a flight in the afternoon to Xi'an. Your guide and driver will take you to the airport with enough time, see you going through the security check.
Good to know:The Summer Palace is a year round place to visit. Summer is a good time to see numerous lotus flowers opening on the lake

Start an amazing exploration after a western breakfast in the hotel, appreciate the magnificent and miraculous historic site. With the help of your guide, learn more about archeological discovery and culture about the Qin Dynasty. Enjoy the study of the wonder of the world. Terra-cotta Warriors and Horses is one of the most representative pictures of ancient China. It's a must see on anyone's bucket list. A large scale of well-preserved workmanship stand for thousands years.
Experience Chinese Buddhism culture by visiting Big Wild Goose Pagoda. A great view of the pagoda sticking up into the skyline. Some temples are not allowed to photograph, however, you can take photos in this temple.

Get a splash of history through a lot of exquisite ancient pottery and metals in the Shaanxi History Museum. As a culture dripping in history of the Tang Dynasty, you will be amazed by the collection of artifacts on display. Get fascinating insights on Chinese scripts at Forest of Stone Steles Museum(Beilin Museum). You will see a huge collection of stones with inscriptions. Understand more Chinese history with these calligraphy arts with your guide's help
Later, ride a bike along the ancient City Wall, get a much different perspective of the city, and stop at any places to take photos or enjoy its surroundings. After the tour, you will take a flight to Shanghai.

Get an overall idea of Shanghai's development at Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall. You will get en detailed introduction of this city including its history, present and future. After you have an idea about Shanghai, you will start an exploration at the Yuyuan Garden. An exquisite ancient Chinese garden that full of marvelous rocks, various window patterns and doorways.
Stroll along the Bund to see numerous exotic and modern architecture clusters along the Huangpu River. Stand on the 100 floor of Shanghai World Financial Center to overlook at the city. An interesting and exciting experience during your trip of China. You will be surprised by Shanghai's modernization

Take a morning train to Suzhou, a place famous for its gardens and water towns. You will visit the most famous Suzhou garden-Humble Administrator's Garden. The garden is an exquisite and typical private garden in the center of old Suzhou. A garden with a good mix of pavilions, water ponds and rocks. Understand more about the garden and its owners with the help of your guide. Take a boat along the Grand Canal(a section between Humble Administrator's Garden and Pingjiang Road). Take a rickshaw ride to explore city, know more about the locals

Have a western breakfast with no hurry, Visit one of China's top 6 water towns, Tongli Water Town. Walk along the paths through the ancient town with old houses, Take a gondola ride along the water to enjoy a leisure trip. Chinese water towns are reputed as the Venice of China. Tongli is a charming canal town in the Yangtze Delta. A good place to get insight of ancient China.
After the water town tour, you guide will take you to the airport with enough time. Have a trouble free transfer to catch your flight.
Trip Note
1. What's the unique of in Suzhou?
Suzhou Garden- listed in UNESCO World Heritage site. A peaceful and unique place to see traditional ancient Chinese houses with poetry ambience. Humble Administrator's garden , Lingering Garden and the Master-of-Nets Garden are popular gardens on everyone's must visit list.
China Water Towns stand for the local life of Jiangnan (the south region of the Yangtze River). Taking a gondola along the ancient canal town should not to miss. Wuzhen, Tongli, Zhouzhuang, Xitang, Luzhi and Nanxun water towns are top 6 water towns of China.
Tour Price
Price includes:
Your 1:1 travel consultant will reply within 1 working day.