Real China

Intrepid Travel Premier
Has very high quality customer experiences and demonstrated commitment to responsible travel practices. read more
4.6 . Excellent
94%
Travel Style: Array Mixed
Physical Level: Walking or physical activity half to most of day - no carrying equipment. Easy
Lodging Level: You'll stay in no-frills, but clean and comfortable, hotels or guesthouses. A 'Basic' trip might also involve a few nights of camping. Basic (2*)
12 days
From: $ 1,680 $ 140 / day
Checking price

Overview

Highlights (Bullets)

  • Eat your way through China from Beijing duck to Sichuan pepper, and challenge yourself with authentic local delicacies like silk worms, spicy rabbit head and beer fish.
  • Walk the walk on the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall, watching the stones snake as far as the eye can see. If you’d like, you can even toboggan back down!
  • Join your locally-based guide to see highlights like the Terracotta Warriors in Xi'an, be wowed by the Temple Street night markets in Hong Kong and chill out sipping tea with residents in People’s Park in Chengdu.
  • Watch rolly polly baby pandas playing, munching bamboo and generally doing their cute ol' thing at the Panda Breeding Centre.
  • Take a scenic cycling tour through farms and villages in Yangshuo’s karst-dotted countryside. Every turn in the road brings you to another postcard-perfect spot before riding to Moon Hill and taking a short hike that leads to panoramic views of the area.

Short Description

You could travel for a lifetime in China and there would still be more to explore, taste and experience… but this 12-day tour does a pretty good job of narrowing it down to the essentials. That means big hitters like the Great Wall, the Terracotta Warriors and baby pandas. But it also means sipping tea in People’s Park, tasting street food in Xi’an and chilling in the misty countryside of Yangshuo. Ni hao baby!

Style Small group tour
See all the highlights and popular spots on a classic tour.
Itinerary Focus Classic Highlights
You'll stay in no-frills, but clean and comfortable, hotels or guesthouses. A 'Basic' trip might also involve a few nights of camping.
Lodging Level Basic (2*)
Flight & Transport Inclusions All internal ground transport
Start City Beijing
End City Hong Kong

Theme

18 - 30's

Destinations

China

Attractions & Cities Visited

Beijing Chengdu Guilin Hong Kong Yangshuo

Activities & Interests

Culture

Age Requirement

18-29

N/A
See more

Itinerary

Day 1 Beijing

Nimen Hao! Welcome to China. Your adventure begins with a welcome meeting at 6 pm on Day 1. If arriving early there is loads to do in this amazing city. Get acquainted with Beijing on your own before joining your group and leader for the welcome meeting, then head out for an optional first night dinner. Go nuts and order your Peking duck for your first meal in the country. First the skin is carved and served in pancakes, next the carcass is chopped and cooked up into a soup. Don't forget to grab your doggy bag (ducky bag?) of leftovers.

Day 2 Great Wall / Beijing

Head out to the Great Wall at Mutianyu on public transport (approximately 2 hours) – one of the best-preserved and easily accessed sections from Beijing. Take in the surrounding amazing views (provided that it is a clear day!). A truly epic piece of engineering, the wall stretches 6000 km westwards from the mountain ridges north of Beijing. It was originally constructed to protect Chinese empires from invaders in the north and even though it failed in this purpose, it's still without a doubt one of the country's most amazing achievements. There’s an opportunity to take a thrilling toboggan ride to the base of the Great Wall (at your own expense), which is a unique way to rest your legs after all the ups and downs on the Wall.

Day 3 Beijing / Overnight Train

Spend the morning exploring Tiananmen Square and follow your leader through the zigzag lanes that's called hutong locally. Hutong area is one of the most special areas in Beijing because these lanes and courtyard houses are the root of old Beijing city and is now a special area to peek into real local life. In the afternoon, enjoy free time to explore as you wish, maybe visiting the Forbidden City, the 798 Art District, jumping on a bike and riding through the hutongs, hanging out in the Temple of Heaven park or visiting the Lama Temple. This evening we board the first overnight train from Beijing to Xi'an in six-berth, air-conditioned cabins (hard sleeper class). Train travel in China may not be entirely luxurious but it's certainly one of the best ways to come face-to-face with the country and its people as it's the main form of transport for locals. We use hard sleeper-class trains for most of our overnight train journeys. These are not as rough as they sound - compartments are open-plan and clean with padded three-tiered berths (6 to a compartment). Sheets, pillows and a blanket are provided. We recommend bringing your own sleeping sheet as the quality/cleanliness of sheets may not be what you are used to. Safe hot drinking water is always available for making coffee, tea or instant meals. It is a good idea to bring a mug, spoon, knife and fork if you will be preparing your own hot drinks or food on the train (as these are not provided in cabins). Basic bathroom facilities are situated at the end of each carriage with toilets and washbasins. As toilet paper isn't always available it's advised to carry some of your own, keep in mind general train cleanliness may not be to the same standards you are accustomed to. Most trains have a dining carriage where meals are available three times a day, and there are often snacks available on the train along the way. You may wish to purchase extra snacks of your choice before the journey to supplement food available on the train.

Day 4 Xi'an

In the morning arrive in Xi'an. The imperial centre of China for 2000 years, Xi'an is now a vibrant, modern city dotted with loads of interesting historical sites. A monument pays homage to the fact that this was the start of the famous ancient trading route of the Silk Road and the city is still surrounded by city walls. Begin with a walking tour of the Muslim Quarter, a neighbourhood that is almost 1300 years old. The Muslim Quarter is famous for its food, and along the walk your leader will buy some dishes for you to sample. Some local specialties include persimmon cake, lamb skewers and sticky rice cakes, though exactly what you eat will depend on the season. Enjoy a free afternoon, perhaps paying for bike hire and riding to the top of Xi'an City Wall, the only intact ancient city wall in China. In the evening, your leader will take you to the lively square near the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Seeing the 600-year-old temple ablaze with lights is pretty amazing and it’s a great place to mingle with locals in the square.

Day 5 Xi'an

Visit Xi'an's most famous site, the Terracotta Warriors. Travel by public bus (approximately 2 hours) to reach the site, and spend a few hours exploring. Hear all about this incredible archaeological find (it was discovered by farmers digging a well in 1976 after being buried for thousands of years). These clay statues of soldiers, horses and chariots all standing in battle formation were commissioned by the emperor of the Qin dynasty as part of his mausoleum and a number of pits are now on view to the public. The rest of the afternoon and evening is free time. Dont miss out on some of the many tantalising local specialities such as pao mo (lamb broth that you break flat bread into), hand-pulled noodles, hot pot or barbecued meat skewers.

Day 6 Xi'an / Chengdu

Hop on the efficient high-speed train from Xi'an to Chengdu (approximately 3 hours). Chengdu has a very casual vibe, and the locals tend to value pleasure more than work, so mahjong and tea are two of the most crucial parts of living. Go on a walking tour with your leader to downtown Tianfu Square, where a giant statue of Chairman Mao stands. Continue to the lively People's Park and sit down in a tea house to sip a brew and take advantage of the other services on offer like ear cleaning and massages. Make the most of your time here and immerse yourself in local life by joining a group dance or martial arts practice. Feeling a little foolish is all part of the fun, and we can almost guarantee you’ll get lots of encouragement from the locals.

Day 7 Chengdu

Prepare for the fuzzies this morning as you get up close with the adorable pandas at the Panda Breeding Centre in Chengdu. Learn about the conservation efforts being made to repopulate this ancient species. And of course you'll see them being fed, playing, sleeping or just being plain cute in their playgrounds. Enjoy some more downtime in the afternoon, maybe checking out the hip Kuanzhai Lane or searching for some spicy Chengdu snacks on Jinli Street.

Day 8 Yangshuo

Embrace a full day of travelling from Chengdu to Yangshuo today. You'll hop on the bullet train from Chengdu to Guilin (approx. 7hrs), then transfer to the hotel in Yangshuo. Surrounded by limestone karsts, Yangshuo is super popular with both international and domestic tourists, which isn't a bad thing if you're into your cafes and bars. It's one of the best places in the country to get a feel for local culture and traditions while having plenty of fun at the same time. Take a walk through the town with your leader on arrival and head down to the Li River to get a feel for a landscape immortalised in plenty of Chinese paintings.

Day 9-10 Yangshuo

Hop on a bike and follow your leader on a cycling tour through the picturesque countryside of Yangshuo. Cycle past karst hills that rise from rice paddies and tiny villages, watching locals working the fields with water buffalo for company. Visiting this stunning region is a trip highlight for lots of travellers, and every turn in the road brings you to another postcard-perfect spot. Ride to Moon Hill and take a short hike on the famous archway for panoramic views of the area. Return to Yangshuo for a free afternoon and evening.

Day 11 Hong Kong

Leave Yangshuo and continue your journey to the final stop, Hong Kong. You'll be transferred to Guilin and then hop on the high-speed train (approximately three hours) to Shenzhen. From there, cross the border into Hong Kong and head to your centrally located hotel. Go on a walking tour with your leader, then check out the Temple Street night market or the light show at Victoria Harbour. Take the chance to celebrate your final night with the group in this awesome city.

Day 12 Hong Kong

Your adventure comes to an end today and there are no activities planned.

Availability

Checking price
Price From $ 1,680
Price Per Day: $ 140 per day
Checking price
Start DateFinish DateBase PriceAvailability 
Apr-10-2024Apr-21-2024$ 1,68014 spots left Reserve
May-22-2024Jun-02-2024$ 1,68016 spots left Reserve
Jul-10-2024Jul-21-2024$ 1,68016 spots left Reserve
Aug-14-2024Aug-25-2024$ 1,68016 spots left Reserve
Sep-18-2024Sep-29-2024$ 1,68016 spots left Reserve
Oct-09-2024Oct-20-2024$ 1,68015 spots left Reserve
Nov-06-2024Nov-17-2024$ 1,68016 spots left Reserve

4,320 Intrepid Travel Travel Reviews & Ratings

94%
4.6 out of 5 (100+ reviews)
Excellent 3,248
Great 675
Average 140
Disappointing 77
Terrible 180
Value
4.6
Guide
4.6
Activities
4.6
Lodging
4.6
Transportation
4.6
Meals
4.6

Real China

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Company Reviews

Sardines in a can

3.0
Details
Value3.0
Guide3.0
Activities3.0
Lodging3.0
Transportation3.0
Meals3.0
Love adventures but the size of the cabins on our trip to the Cyclades Islands are extremely cramped . We have three mature adults in one cabin with no space to move and no space to hang or store anything ( including wet towels ).
If any of us had been physically inflexible or overweight we could not have coped with the sleeping arrangements . It is impossible to sit on the top bunk and even turning over in bed requires considerable planning .
An adventure does not mean cutting back on basic essentials …
In our view there were too many people in too small a space .
Two complete strangers were also asked to sleep together in an extremely small double bed , which meant that one of them decided to sleep on deck or in the living space .
The only redeeming factor was our Skipper who is professional, friendly , informative and skilled .
I would recommend this trip if the numbers were reduced .
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I feel totally cheated

2.0
Details
Value2.0
Guide2.0
Activities2.0
Lodging2.0
Transportation2.0
Meals2.0
I feel totally cheated. Just finished the Spain and Portugal 14 day trip. The itinerary does not match the actual experience and is I feel deliberately miss leading. When I says a “local bus” and an approx 3 hour journey the reality is a 6 hour trip door to door in the middle of the day. You miss valuable time at the actual destination in favour of being jammed in a bus with dozens of people traveling on a freeway with nothing worth seeing at all. The bush are not even express so you stop in the industrial outskirts of a number of towns and even the airport. By the time you finally reach the destination you are tired and frustrated. I want my money back. It’s a cheap experience that you pay a lot of money for.
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Have not even started and not impressed

2.0
Details
Value2.0
Guide2.0
Activities2.0
Lodging2.0
Transportation2.0
Meals2.0
Booked a premium tour to Israel and paid in full. Once I paid Intrepid changed the tour, not because of operational or safety reasons but on the basis of previous customers feedback. We asked them to keep the tour as it was advertised originally and they suggested we ask our group to see if we can persuade them to go to the original destination once we had arrived in Israel which is simply ridiculous and then I complained so they offered my money back. Not exactly the best resolution now that I already paid for my flights and booked time off separately. Hopefully the tour will be better than my experience so far.
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No help when things go wrong (seriously ill on trip)

1.0
Details
Value1.0
Guide1.0
Activities1.0
Lodging1.0
Transportation1.0
Meals1.0
Unfortunately, Intrepid is a company I would recommend being wary of. They are fine as long as everything is going ok, but if anything goes wrong? Don't expect any help or decent customer service. I made the mistake of booking two trips, and both times I ran into problems:

Trip 1- I was taken very ill while in Vietnam and had to drop out of the tour. I had no help from the guide- no help with getting to a doctor (I don't speak Vietnamese and was too ill to get out of bed anyway), he didn't even assist with arranging a hotel room.

Trip 2- I've had to cancel an upcoming (2024) trip, but haven't received the refund despite phoning the customer service line several times. The people I talk to are nice, but don't seem to be able to actually get anything done. They just suggest waiting a bit longer- not sure how long they think is acceptable to hang on to someone's money really.
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Check for other companies offtering the same trip

3.0
Details
Value3.0
Guide3.0
Activities3.0
Lodging3.0
Transportation3.0
Meals3.0
I would think carefully before doing business with Intrepid Travel again. In May I went on 2 one-week guided cycle tours in France with Intrepid. They were both great cycles and I enjoyed the cycling very much. However, I had several complaints about the company and some of the guides (not all of them).
Once I had paid for my trips, it was very difficult to get in touch with Intrepid to ask a question.
During the trips, several times I was told something one day only to have the info change without any good reason. The guides need proper training about dealing with the heat. Some of use suffered from dehydration and heat stroke and the guides were quite flippant about it. I was told that the guides would not leave anyone behind, but it happened several times.
There was one guide (a trainee) who really took some of the pleasure out of my cycle tour. She spoke to me with a tone used for a child. This tone and her attitude to me almost bordered on harassment.
I went on a third cycling tour with a different company after my 2 with Intrepid and it was much better than my experience with Intrepid.
As the demand for ebikes rises, tour companies such as Intrepid need to increase their fleet of ebikes. They also don’t need to charge the huge amount to rent these ebikes. We only want to rent them, not buy them. As the cost of ebikes comes down, if should reflect in the rental price.
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Ecuador guide Eitel made the tour…

5.0
Details
Value5.0
Guide5.0
Activities5.0
Lodging5.0
Transportation5.0
Meals5.0
Our Ecuador guide Eitel made the tour exceptional! He has encyclopedic knowledge of Ecuador and Latin America. Because he has traveled the world, Eitel placed this information within contexts that we could appreciate. That says a lot because we were a diverse group of travelers. The experience deepened my appreciation for the country's marvelous people, history, cultures, and resources.
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Details

Flight & Transport Inclusions

All internal ground transport Overnight Hard Sleeper Train,Public bus,Private vehicle,High-speed Train,Subway,Taxi

Group Size

Small Group - 24 max

Maximum Number of People in Group: 16

Accommodations

Hotel (10 nights),Overnight Hard Sleeper Train (1 night)

Guides

All group trips are accompanied by one of our group leaders. The aim of the group leader is to take the hassle out of your travels and to help you have the best trip possible. Intrepid endeavours to provide the services of an experienced leader however, due to the seasonality of travel, rare situations may arise where your leader is new to a particular region or training other group leaders. Your leader will provide information on the places you are travelling through, offer suggestions for things to do and see, recommend great local eating venues and introduce you to our local friends. While not being guides in the traditional sense, you can expect them to have a broad general knowledge of the places visited on the trip, including historical, cultural, religious, and social aspects. At Intrepid we aim to support local guides who have specialised knowledge of the regions we visit. If you are interested in delving deeper into the local culture at a specific site or location then your leader can recommend a local guide service in most of the main destinations of your trip.

Age Notes :

Min. Age: 18

Max Age: 29

Additional Information

Finish point

  • West Hotel 偉晴軒
  • No.39 Wai Ching Street,Kowloon 地址 : 香港九龍佐敦偉晴街39至47
  • Kowloon
  • Hong Kong
  • CHINA
  • Phone: +852 27707718
  • Fax: 85227707718

Trip ID#:

intrepid-CBYC

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