A Culinary Adventure
8-Day Beijing, Chengdu and Guangzhou Tour
One popular summary of Chinese food is "sour in the south, salty in north, spicy in the west, and sweet in the east". During this culinary adventure combined to the best sights your will experience salty in Beijing, spicy in Chengdu, and sweet in Guangzhou.
Suggested Itinerary
It's our aim to make travel less stressful. Your dedicated private guide, driver and car will ready to handle the luggage, transfer and check-in, and ensure your holiday begins in arrivals. The rest of the day is yours to explore or rest. Please ask your guide for suggestions for which of the myriad of restaurants to go to for dinner.
Tiananmen Square is a very impressive place: south and north sides are adorned with magnificent gates, and east and west have a colossal government building and a museum. The Forbidden City continues the imposing proportions; it was built to make the subjects of the emperors feel small.Have lunch at Courtyard 7 Restaurant, whose dishes are a fusion of eastern and western flavor.
After lunch, Summer Palace is a wonderful place to walk it off in its stunning gardens. The nature and the ancient buildings connected by the lake are a very pleasing combination. For dinner, you will taste imperial court cuisine in ancient Chinese garden style Baijia Dayuan Restaurant.
The Mutianyu Great Wall is much less-crowded section than Badaling, but has actually got more dramatic scenery. There is also a lovely ride through the countryside to reach it, and there is a cable car. Enjoy farmhouse dishes for lunch at Xinshuangquan Restaurant near the Great Wall.
Temple of Heaven was the stunning setting for annual ceremonies for good harvests, and now the vast park surrounding it is a meeting place for the locals, coming here to practice taichi, among other things. A special treat is offered for dinner - Beijing Roast Duck at famous Quanjude Restaurant.
The morning starts with a cookery class at Beijing High School, where you will first learn about the ingredients and then how to cook in Chinese style before tasting the end results.
Your afternoon flight takes you to Chengdu in time. Have dinner at Qinshanzhai Restaurant, serving light-flavored and healthy dishes in garden style decoration.
The Panda Breeding and Research Center is a safe haven for these delightful creatures and other endangered species. You get to visit the nursery and see the panda babies.
The Panda Breeding and Research Center has a donation program which allows you take pictures with holding a panda one minute by donating RMB 2,000 Yuan (for reference only). Only 20 tourists are allowed to hold pandas a day. If you want to hold a panda, please tell your travel advisor or tour guide in advance because you must book it at least one week in advance.This program is subject to the availability of pandas on that day. Please bring enough RMB cash as payment by credit card is not accepted there.
After lunch at Baguo Buyi Restaurant enjoying authentic Chengdu food, continue your tour. Sanxingdui Museum is a beautifully presented exhibition of the cultural relics found in sacrificial pits of the mysterious Shang Dynasty (from 16th-11th century B.C.), unlike anything else found in China. Have hotpot for dinner.
Good to Know
Hotpot is a Chengdu specialty and each restaurant has their unique recipe for the broth; Morals Village is especially well known for theirs. Do try the spicy and numb flavor, but we warn you: it can be an addictive experience.
Jinli Old Street is a lively shopping area restored in Sichuan style to continue its history as a commercial center. Wu Hou Temple is not only a shrine to a revered Marquis of Wu but also a delightful garden.
In the afternoon, your guide will take you to the airport to catch a flight to Guangzhou. You will be picked up and taken to your hotel before dinner.
Chen Ancestral Shrine is nearly 150 years old and celebrated for the traditional Guangdong style architecture and decoration, displaying beautiful craftsmanship. Qing Ping Market is the largest street market in Guangzhou, still very authentic place to buy your Chinese medicines, such as live scorpions and flowers, among other weird and wonderful things. Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall celebrates this founding father of the Republic of China.
Guangdong cooking is considered unique among other Chinese styles; especially the use of herbs and spices is done in a more delicate way. Your guide will be happy to introduce Cantonese cuisine culture to you.
Price includes:
What Our Customers Said
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GREAT Forbidden City tour!
We took a guided tour with Ivy through the Forbidden City. She had everything perfectly organised, knew all the amenities and explained the most important facts around history and design of the palace in an enticing manner. Can absolutely recommend her as a guide, we had a great day! moreOct 2022, Adam A
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Beautiful Day at Great Wall in Mutianyu
We had a wonderful day visiting the Great Wall together with our guide, Ivy. The organisation - from the pick up to the return - was excellent, we had nothing to worry about. So It was a lovely and relaxed day profiting from the experience to the fullest without having to trouble about transport or tickets. Ivy explained well the history and knew about all nice parts of the part of the wall that we visited. She is very nice company. We had a very good experience. moreOct 2022, Nina
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Excellent time in Beijing
Ivy was a true professional who spoke excellent English and engaged us with stories of the very rich Chinese cultural heritage and history. We went away with so much more knowledge with her as our guide giving us a live commentary as we walked around. She brought us to the off the beaten track spots, less crowded corners of the attractions and very importantly, knew which toilets were clean and more foreigner friendly. Highly recommend Ivy to any future visitors to Beijin moreOct 2022, JCCEBJ
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Excellent service
Our travel planner Monica is kind, very attentive, and there is no pressure or "hard sale". Great service and highly recommended! moreSep 2022, Julia
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A great tour
Our trip to Beijing was brilliantly organised and stress free. As usual with China Highlights our guide Ivy was really well prepared, knowledgeable and dealt with all the security, covid checks and tests etc. It made the trip really easy. moreAug 2022, Peter F
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Trip to Beijing
I spent a couple of excellent days in Beijing thank to this agency and my private guide Ivy! An adorable journey, I swear! If you want to immerse yourself in the atmosphere of historical Beijing, here’s the place to address! I can’t recommend it enough. Ivy was just adorable, she woke up my curiosity with her methods of leading me through the historical time line by challenging my imagination and rationality at the same time. All the facts were given in the context which I especially appreciate, she had the answers to all of my questions, and moreover she knew what made me ask them! The service was 10/10. The driver and the guide were both very patient, resourceful and attentive to their clients problems and little suggestions. It literally took them 1 day to organize everything for me as I decided to go to Beijing at the very last moment; every single member of the China highlights team was attentive to my needs and wishes. moreAug 2022, Take_the_money
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Successful Trip to Beijing from Shanghai Shortly after Lockdown
As always, Monica has helped us with all the travel arrangements, planned our trip and followed up with us during the whole travel. It was challenging coming from Shanghai to Beijing shortly after the massive lockdown so we appreciated this attention a lot. It was too hot, so first day in the Forbidden City was a challenge but Ivy was helping us find as much shade as possible. We also visited Mutianyu Great Wall section, Temple of Heaven, Universal Studios, Summer Palace, Olympic Site and went on Hutong tour. Even though it might seem a lot, our small children managed well and loved everything about this trip. Ivy was very flexible with the length of explanations and rerouting our travel depending on temperate and tiredness. Overall, it was a success and we will for sure travel again with China Highlights. moreJul 2022, ondrej1980
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