*Splendours of the Yangtze

B: breakfast    L:lunch    D:dinner

Day 1 Shanghai D
On arrival in Shanghai transfer to the smart and confortable 4*Lansheng Hotel for a two-night stay. Enjoy a welcome dinner tonight.

Day 2 Shanghai B/ L/ D
At Yuyuan Garden admire a perfect example of a Chinese garden with enchanting views of pools, rockeries, trees and elegant pavilions. Continue to the Jade Buddha Temple where two milkywhite statues are decorated with jewels, and visit Shanghai Museum. Here are ancient, precious artworks such as furniture and handicrafts from remote villages, sculptures, exquisite calligraphy and paintings, bronze vessels and porcelain. Later stroll along the Bund, Shanghai’s riverside promenade.

Day 3 yangtse cruise B/ L/ D
The morning is free. Later this afternoon board the luxurious Victoria Empress for a wonderful eightnight Yangtze River cruise. Unpack in your spacious stateroom and relax on your private balcony as the ship slowly departs upstream on one of the world’s greatest journeys.

Day 4 Yangtze Cruise B/ L/ D
The ship calls at Nanjing, one of China’s four ancient capitals. Tour Nanjing and see the Ming museum, a Qing bazaar and Confucian temple.

Day 5Yangtze Cruise B/ L/ D
Scenic shore excursion to Mount Huang, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This jagged, pine-clad mountain is named the Yellow Mountain after the legendary Yellow Emperor who ascended to heaven from here, and there are ancient steps hewn into the rock to prove it. Inummerable paths reward you with glorious views at every turn.

Day 6 Yangtze Cruise B/ L/ D
Visit the Rare Stones Museum at Wuhan this morning, or take a walking tour.

Day 7Yangtze Cruise B/ L/ D
A free day, with lectures, fine dining and time to unwind.

Day 8 Yangtze Cruise B/ L/ D
Disembark to see the Three Gorges Dam, the largest hydroelectric power station ever. Progress through the five locks to cruise onwards through the once notoriously dangerous Xiling Gorges, myths and legends lurking around every rocky corner.

Day 9 Yangtze Cruise B/ L/ D
Enjoy the morning in Wu Gorge, the Witches’ Gorge, before exploring a tributary today on a scenic excursion by small boat either through Dragon Gate to the Lesser Three Gorges, or to Shennong Stream. Rejoin your ship to sail beneath the forbidding, misty cliffs of Qutang Gorge, the shortest and narrowest of them all.

Day 10 Yangtze Cruise B/ L/ D
The ship continues her leisurely progress upstream, with a shore excursion to Fengdu, called the city of ghosts after a couple of hermits whose names said together sounded like ‘king of the underworld’.

Day 11 Chengdu B/ L/ D
Disembark after breakfast at Chongqing and drive to Chengdu. En-route admire the extraordinary religious sculptures at Dazu, home to many caves and grottoes in which are thousands of Buddha statues, most dating from between the 9th and the 13th centuries. Continue to Chengdu for an overnight stay at the 4*Minshan Lhasa Hotel.

Day 12 Chengdu, Guilin B/ L/ D
Visit the Giant Panda Research Base, an institution that aims to protect the wild pandas of the region and increase the numbers of captive–it is home to over 80 pandas. Back in the city see the traditional  courtyard houses of Kuanzhai Lanes, preserved from the Qing dynasty, before flying to Guilin for an overnight stay at the 4* Park Hotel.

Day 13Yangshuo B/ L/ D
Cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo along the Li River, through romantic, dreamy landscapes of mountains and mist, phoenix-tailed bamboo shrouding the river banks, farmhouses and fishing villages dotting the fields. Explore Yangshuo and this evening attend an open air son et lumiere show on a lake, with the mountains as a stunning backdrop. Stay two nights at the 5*Yangshuo Resort.

Day 14Yangshuo B/ L/ D
Explore the rural charms of Yangshuo today, first climb Moon Hill for fantastic views, and see the 1,400-year-old Big Banyan Tree. Also visit Jiuxian Garden Village, undergoing a unique conservation and regeneration project to preserve its culture and Ming-dynasty architecture.

Day 15Xian B/ L/ D
Fly to Xian for a 2-night stay at the 4* Bell Tower Hotel. This afternoon visit the first class Shaanxi Provincial Museum where 300,000 objects from every era of Chinese civilisation are displayed.

Day 16 Xian B/ L/ D
7,000 terracotta soldiers have stood guard over China’s first emperor for over 2,200 years, and they still stand in battle formation in giant exhibition halls erected around the pits where they were discovered in the 1970s. Return to the city centre to visit the immense city wall, complete with towers and  attlements. Tonight attend a performance of Tang dynasty music and dance.

Day 17 Beijing B/ L/ D
Fly to Beijing for three nights at the 5*Capital Hotel. This afternoon visit the magnificent red and gold Temple of Heaven that represents the meeting point of heaven and earth. Tonight enjoy a Kung Fu show, an enthralling performance of skill, drama and special effects.

Day 18 Beijing B/ L/ D
Walk the Great Wall of China at Mutianyu, a well-restored and less-crowded section with granite battlements and watchtowers looking over dramatic mountain ridges. Returning to Beijing, admire the manicured gardens of the imperial Summer Palace, their elegant bridges and pavilions and the astonishing Marble Boat constructed with no expense spared. Peking Duck dinner.

Day 19 Beijing B/ L/ D
Tour Tiananmen Square, then enter the Forbidden City, the great palace that housed 24 successive emperors and their thousands of courtiers, eunuchs, concubines and slaves. Continue to Jinshan Park, the imperial gardens, for panoramic views.

Day 20 Home
See off at Beijing Airport.