The Best of China

12 days
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4.9/5 Excellent
100+ reviews  
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Overview

Trip type
Group Tour
Lodging level
Standard - 3 star
Physical level
Easy
Trip pace
Balanced schedule

Highlights

    • Visit Beijing
    • Visit intriguing Tang Art Museum
    • Explore Shanghai

What's this trip about?

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Details

Itinerary focusClassic Highlights
Group sizeIntimate group - 12 max
Age rangeNo age restrictions
Flights and transportN/A
Start CityBeijing
End CityShanghai

Travel Themes

  • Cultural

Destinations

  • Asia
  • China

Attractions

  • Beijing
  • Chengdu
  • Shanghai
  • Suzhou
  • The Forbidden City
  • Xian

Activities

  • Culture
  • Historic sightseeing
  • History
  • Wildlife viewing

Trip includes

    • Round-trip airfare from San Francisco (+$149 for New York)
    • Airfare taxes, fees & fuel surcharges
    • All intra-China flights and ground transportation
    • Accommodation at deluxe and first class hotels
    • Sightseeing tours as described in itinerary
    • English-speaking Tour Director and local guides

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Itinerary

Travel Map
Day 1: Depart USA
Your magical journey with our Best of China tour package begins this afternoon as you depart on your wide-body jet flight bound for Beijing.

Day 2: Arrive Beijing
Accommodation: Beijing Capital Hotel After crossing the International Date Line you arrive late this afternoon in Beijing, China’s lively capital and recent host to the Summer Olympics. You’ll be greeted at the airport and travel to your upscale hotel centrally located...
Day 3: Beijing
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Today, visit the Forbidden City, the former seat of the emperors throughout the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is a true architectural masterpiece and is home to the National Palace museum. After lunch, proceed to the Summer Palace, a fo...
Day 4: Beijing
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch On today’s exhilarating excursion, venture outside the city to the legendary Great Wall, which extends nearly 4,000 miles. Time to view and mount the well-preserved ramparts of this ancient wonder before proceeding to the Ming Tombs, burial s...
Day 5: Beijing/Xian
Meals: Breakfast Accommodation: Golden Flower Hotel Enjoy the morning at your leisure. You may join an optional excursion to Beijing’s ancient back alleys (Hutong) by rickshaw and witness the way the Chinese have lived for centuries, and then proceed to the Temple of Heaven. Later today, fly to Xian, ancient capital of China for eleven dynasties and historic gateway to the old silk trading route.

Day 6: Xian
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch On a guided morning excursion visit one of the world’s most amazing archaeological discoveries: a life-size Terra Cotta Army of soldiers and horses guarding the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi. It was unearthed in 1974 after being buried with the fir...
Day 7: Xian/Chengdu
Meals: Breakfast Accommodation: Tibet Hotel Chengdu Today you’ll travel to the train station where you’ll take a high-speed train from Xian to Chengdu, the capital of the Sichuan province and once the capital of the Shu Kingdom. Upon arrival in Chengdu, you’ll travel to your hotel.

Day 8: Chengdu
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch Start the day with a visit to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding for a truly memorable experience. The research base has created a perfect ecological environment for the breeding of pandas and other precious and rare wild anima...
Day 9: Chengdu/Shanghai
Meals: Breakfast Accommodation: Crowne Plaza Shanghai Fudan Hotel Today, fly to Shanghai, often described as “Paris of the East”. An intriguing, dynamic city, today’s Shanghai weaves the seaport legacy of its past with impressive new 21st century architecture.

Day 10
Meals: Breakfast Embark on a guided orientation drive and stroll down the Bund, the bustling and exciting waterfront along the Huangpu River. Next, enjoy a guided walk amidst the scenic ponds, colorful pavilions and walkways of the 16th century Yu Yuan Garden, a deligh...
Day 11: Optional Suzhou Excursion
Meals: Breakfast and Dinner A full day at your leisure to explore Shanghai as you wish. We recommend an exciting optional excursion to the charming, canal laced Suzhou, often called “Paradise on Earth”. Here you embark on a boat ride on the ancient “Grand Canal” and vi...
Day 12: Shanghai/USA
Meals: Breakfast

Today, transfer to the airport for your return flight to the USA. Your memorable journey of your China Tours come to an end as you arrive back in the U.S. later today.

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Dates & Availability

Price From $2,199
Price per day$183
Single supplement (single occupancy)$499
Last Updated: 12/2/2019

Check Current Availability, prices, specials with SmarTours.

The total tour cost includes the tour price (regular or promotional) and the compulsory local payment. The promotional price is subject to change. Check directly with the operator for the latest price offer. The tour operator requires you to pay only the tour price to purchase your travel. The compulsory local payment will be paid when you join the trip. All prices are based on double, twin or triple share occupancy. Solo passengers will be accommodated in a double, twin or triple room according to availability with a passenger(s) of the same gender. Single supplement only needs to be paid if the passenger does not want to share and requests their own room. Discounts can only be applied at the time of booking and cannot be added at a later date, regardless of any changes made to the original booking.

Prices may vary due to local taxes and trip seasonality. Click "Request Info" to inquire directly with the tour operator for the final trip price.

SmarTours Reviews & Ratings

4.9/5  Excellent
Excellent
995
Great
111
Average
1
Disappointing
1
Terrible
4
L

Larry

Mar 2020

Written on

Nice Trip

With Smarttours, my wife and I booked a trip called “The Best of China”. The price of the trip seemed reasonable. However, they failed to warn about the cost of gett...

J

Jose

Mar 2020

Written on

Great Tour

Great tour‼️ The best tour guides, very helpful and...

P

Penelope

Mar 2020

Written on

Wonderful tour

Our guide was wonderful as well as the different guides who...

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SmarTours

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smarTours was founded in 1996 with one goal in mind: to provide high quality, exciting group tour packages to some of the most fascinating countries in the world at the lowest possible price.  The team at smarTours believes deeply that high quality international travel should be affordable, and we work tirelessly to deliver affordability.

At smarTours, most of our travelers in any given year are repeat customers – they had such great experiences with us before that they decided to travel with us again.  And many of our customers are so happy with smarTours that they have made traveling with us an annual tradition, reaching 5, 10, even 15 trips with smarTours!  In other words, we must be doing at least a few things right.

Unbeatable Value: We provide exceptional value for your money, and it does not take that much time visiting our website to figure that out.  However, it can be difficult to compare the value provided by different tour operators because the tours are so intricate and multifaceted.  If you take the time to really peel back onion and evaluate the tours offered by smarTours, we are confident that you would come to the conclusion that our loyal customers have – that smarTours provides unbeatable value.

Phenomenal Tour Guides: If you ask anyone who has been on an escorted tour, they will tell you that the tour guides are an essential ingredient to making the trip a success.  The importance of tour guides is not lost on us at smarTours, which is why we are relentless in our pursuit and retention of the very best tour guides.  We are proud to say with confidence that our tour guides are phenomenal, and many of them have become celebrity-like figures within the smarTours community.

smarTours Price Protection: We have had a price protection policy since we started in 1996, and we thought it was time to share it with you.  If you reserve a spot on a tour and we later lower the price, we will make up the difference for you!  We do not penalize you for booking early, so you can reserve your spot with confidence that the price will not get any better (lower) for that particular date.  Also, to be clear, if you reserve a spot on a tour and we later increase the price, we will not raise your price to match the new price!

Focus: Unlike most of our competitors, we focus exclusively on providing affordable group tours to foreign, largely exotic destinations.  In the travel business, it is particularly easy to get distracted by new trends and themes, but we have chosen to focus on what we do best.  We are extremely deliberate in introducing new tours because we have set a standard that our loyal customers have come to rely on, and we are committed to meeting and exceeding your expectations.

What they’re known for
Low-cost international tours to bucket list destinations for travelers looking to maximize their holiday budget.

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Logistics

Cancellation policy
Cancellation charges per person are: Up to 75 days before departure: $300 74-45 days before departure: $600 44-30 days before departure: $1000 29-10 days before departure: $1500 9 days or fewer before departure: No refund. All cancellations must be received in writing.
Travel Insurance
We strongly recommend purchasing travel insurance alongside your travel package to safeguard against unforeseen circumstances such as medical expenses, trip cancellations, and other contingencies. It offers you peace of mind and ensures you are prepared for unexpected events that may occur before or during your journey
Visa requirements
Visa requirements vary depending on your country of origin and your country of destination. It is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with the relevant requirements. For a handy tool that can help you quickly find the requirements, please visit this link .
Meals Included
10 Breakfasts, 4 Lunches and 2 Dinners
Age Requirements
No age restrictions
Optional Activities
Customize your trip with these optional tours. Beijing - Evening Peking duck dinner banquet and kung fu performance: From approx. $50 per person Beijing - Full-Day Hutong (Old Beijing) & Temple Of Heaven Tour With Lunch: From approx. $65 per person Xian - Dumpling dinner and tang dynasty show: From approx. $45 per person Shanghai - Afternoon Shanghai Tower And Jade Buddha Temple Tour With Lunch: From Approx. $38 per person
Trip ID
smartours-CH

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