5-Day Shanghai, Suzhou, and Hangzhou Bullet Train Tour

Meet your local guide at the airport. A trouble-free transfer in a comfortable, non-smoking car awaits you.

Start to discover Shanghai from the iconic Bund. Follow your local guide's lead and go into historical buildings — when you touch the old items you will be immersed in the beauty of its golden age.

Go into the little lanes to find an unnoticeable restaurant, which is popular among locals. You will never have known that it is a Michelin-starred restaurant if we didn't tell you! Try a shengjian (pan-fried bun) and learn the proper way to eat it.

Hop on a public ferry and say hello to the locals as you cross the Huangpu River to reach Pudong, which is the economic engine of Shanghai.

Take the fastest elevator to the top of Shanghai in the Shanghai Tower and learn about the building's special design and structure.

Hotel options:
Sunrise On The Bund
Les Suites Orient, Bund Shanghai, Bund view

Go into historical buildings on the Bund

Have a bird's view of Shanghai on Shanghai Tower

You will experience Shanghai's historical past, from the 16th century Yu Garden to the 19th century former French Concession, and you will learn a lot of interesting stories about the buildings.

Go with your local guide to enjoy a traditional Chinese garden and find out what almost killed Yu Garden's former owner.

Learn about Shanghai's colonial past by walking through the former French Concession, and see the gap between the living conditions of those in the most expensive residential area and those living in old shikumen.

Geriatric choir practice every morning in Fuxing Park

After lunch, you will be driven to Suzhou where you will explore a quaint night garden.

Take a night tour of the Master of the Nets Garden. While walking in the garden at night, you will not only enjoy the night view but also hear Pingtan and Kun opera.

Hotel options:
Holiday Inn Jasmine Suzhou
Pan Pacific Suzhou

Cultural performance in night garden

Experience Suzhou's elegant and vivid charm as you explore the bonsai garden in Tiger Hill. Learn about the basic types of bonsai and discover Chinese life aesthetics.

Sit back on a rickshaw and let the rickshaw driver take you into the little lanes so you can peek at the locals' lifestyles. See people bargaining in a wet market, go past a noisy primary school, and see cars parked in extremely narrow lanes.

Walk along Pingjiao Road, which is the epitome of Suzhou's old town. See elderly people sitting by the canal and chatting with their neighbors, and listen to your guide telling stories about ancient wells.

After lunch, take the bullet train to Hangzhou. Your local Hangzhou guide will assist you with your hotel check-in.

Hotel options:
Zhejiang International Hotel
Sofitel Hangzhou Westlake

Lotus pool in the Tiger Hill

Dragon Well tea is the most popular green tea in China. You will visit an original tea village and learn about a tea farmer's lifestyle. Take part in our exclusive experience as you carry a bamboo basket and step into the tea plantation. Your guide and tea farmer will tell you how to choose and pick tea leaves. Have a break in the tea farmer's home, learn how life is different in a tea village, and learn how to make tea.

Later, have lunch in a tea-themed restaurant and see how tea influences dishes in Hangzhou.

Zhujiajiao Water Town

Then visit the iconic West Lake where you can rest in a rowing boat to enjoy a relaxing afternoon. Listen to interesting stories about West Lake and Hangzhou that you will never find in any guidebook. You will also have the chance to learn more about Hangzhou by visiting Hu Qing Yu Tang — Museum of Traditional Chinese Medicine. An herbal experience is waiting for you.

Hangzhou was the 2016 G20 Summit's host city, and we have arranged a G20-style ladies' afternoon tea for you as a nice end to the day. You will sit in a roof garden and taste the same snacks that the G20 first ladies had in 2016.

Relax on a rowing boat on the West Lake

Enjoy G20 first lady afternoon tea in a roof garden

After breakfast at your hotel, prepare to learn about some culture and to have a relaxing boat ride in Nanxun Water Town.

You will be driven for 1½ hours from Shanghai. Although it is less famous than other water towns near Shanghai, Nanxun Water Town is the most original and unique of them. It is full of life and culture, and is less commercial than other water towns.

At Liu's Garden (Xiaolianzhuang), you will see the traditional procedure for making Chinese writing brushes, and you will have the chance to make your own writing brush. Learn to write your name in Chinese. Then take a rowing boat to visit the Former Residence of Zhang Shiming, a superrich man from the past.

Have lunch at a local restaurant by the canal in the water town. Take a break and observe the life there — you might see local women washing clothes by the canal or preparing lunch, and children chasing each other.

There will be a wedding performance on the water, showing how a traditional wedding was once conducted in the water town. If you like, you can take part and play the part of the bridegroom!

After the fantastic experience in Nanxun Water Town, we'll drive you to Shanghai and your guide will help you check in at your hotel.

Nanxun Water Town