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Huangshan

Eastern China by Rail

14-day rail journey from £2,720 pp

Summary

Short description

Between Beijing and Shanghai, take in the mountain wonders, rural villages and ancient cities of China’s heartlands

Highlights

  • Travel on bullet trains, with private transfers throughout
  • See the megacity sleek and Great-Wall icons of Beijing and Shanghai
  • Showcase the rural splendour of mountain villages and tea plantations
  • Enjoy everything from canal cruises to rickshaw rides
  • Bring it all to life with private tours (and lunches) included throughout

In Brief

  • 4 Nights Beijing
  • 1 Night Huangshan
  • 1 Night Huangshan Mountain
  • 1 Night Tangmo village
  • 2 Nights Hangzhou
  • 3 Nights Shanghai

About

Recommended for:
City | History & culture | Natural world | Rail holidays

Travelling first class on hi-speed trains and with private transfers included throughout, this curated itinerary will see you sweep between two city greats, taking in both eastern China’s storied highlights and lesser-known gems. Indeed, in Beijing and Shanghai, you’ll enjoy the likes of Tiananmen Square alongside hidden gardens and rickshaw rides through old-town laneways. Then, plunging into rural China, you’ll take in everything from ancient villages and tea plantations to the great mist-clad peaks of Huangshan mountain. It’s all brought to life by the services of private guides throughout, bringing you on canal cruises, cable-car rides and cultural workshops. The included lunches each day don’t hurt, either.

Day by day itinerary

Day 1
Depart UK

Make the most of your complimentary airport lounge access before boarding your overnight flight to China.

Days 2-5
Beijing

On arrival, a private driver will see you to your central accommodation. Then, over the next three days, you’ll begin your programme of private, expert-led tours, beginning with the imposing gates of Tiananmen Square and the world’s largest palace complex – the Forbidden City. And, alongside the imperial Summer Palace, the royal family’s 15th-century Temple of Heaven and the Great Wall itself, you’ll also discover the city’s lesser-known jewels. Indeed, after visiting the Sacred Way’s imperious Ming Tombs, you’ll be treated to a rickshaw ride through the old town’s hutong alleyway maze, admiring the centuries-old timber architecture and pausing to try your hand at traditional Beijing paper art and opera makeup.

Stay: Capital Hotel (Superior) or Grand Hotel (Deluxe)

Meals: B L

Day 6
Beijing to Huangshan

After a private station transfer, you’ll board the first of your first-class train rides, sweeping through the Chinese heartlands to Huangshan – the Yellow Mountain. Here, you’ll get your introductions with a private tour of its historic centre, where cobbled streets and timber architecture date to the 13th-century Song Dynasty. You’ll end the day in the contemporary sleek of your chosen accommodation.

Stay: International Hotel (Superior) or Crowne Plaza (Deluxe)

Meals: B L

Day 7
Huangshan Mountain

Today you’ll start to explore the great “Yellow Mountain” range proper, where dramatic rock formations are shrouded in mist and dense vegetation. You’ll begin with UNESCO-listed Hongcun village, perhaps admiring its thousand-year-old charm on a lake-side bike ride before a visit to a local family brings it all to life. Your private tour will then see you up into the mountains with a private transfer and a cable-car ride, admiring such stunning (and whimsically named) viewpoints as “Fairy Maiden Peak” and “A Monkey Gaping at the Sea of Cloud”. It all concludes with a night in your welcoming, lodge-style accommodation, making the most of the gorgeous mountain views.

Stay: Shilin Hotel (Superior) or Xihai Hotel (Deluxe)

Meals: B L

Day 8
Huangshan Mountain to Tangmo

This morning, you’ll be perfectly placed for a spectacular sunrise of Huangshan, before your private guide brings you on to secret pavilions and viewpoints over great canyons. It’s then time to descend on the cable car, before your private tour continues with the village of Lingshan, famous for its bamboo houses, canal-side beauty and its “Ancient Water Street” – three miles of gorgeous blue flagstone. You’ll end the day with the drive to Tangmo, an idyllic stone village of historic gates.

Stay: Tang Die Roaina Hotel (Superior)

Meals: B D

Day 9
Tangmo to Hangzhou

You’ll centre on Tangmo village today, wandering its thousand-year-old lanes to uncover hidden pavilions and pretty water-side houses. It all culminates with the chance to learn some traditional papercraft and make your own stone-tablet rubbings. Private transfers will then bookend your first-class trip to Hangzhou, where you’ll check into your central accommodation; our marbled Deluxe option is a particular highlight. 

Stay: Holiday Inn CBD (Superior) or Sofitel West Lake (Deluxe)

Meals: B L

Day 10
Hangzhou

Today, you’ll see just why historic Hangzhou has long been an artist’s favourite, taking in its spectacular, willow-lined lake with a serene cruise before pausing at its hidden pagodas and temples – ranked among the country’s most sacred. As always, it’s all brought to life by your expert private guide.

Stay: Holiday Inn CBD (Superior) or Sofitel West Lake (Deluxe)

Meals: B L

Day 11
Hangzhou to Shanghai

You’ll have some further time around Hangzhou, your expert guide bringing you to the rolling Dragon Well Tea Plantation before heading on a walk through the green countryside to Yellow Dragon Cave’s twisting rock formations. A stop at a traditional Chinese medicine shop will then see you on to your last train sprint to Shanghai. Here, you’ll be met at the station by a private driver and brought to your central accommodation.

Stay: Sunrise on the Bund (Superior) or Yangtze Boutique (Deluxe)

Meals: B L

Days 12-13
Shanghai

With two full days in Shanghai, your private tour will showcase both its megacity skyscrapers and hidden charms. It all begins with the world-class Shanghai Museum and its historic art collection before you take in the exotic Yu Garden and the ornate Jade Buddha Temple. The next day, your private driver will bring you out to Suzhou – an ancient town famed for its pretty waterways and for being the home of one of China’s four major gardens. You’ll also enjoy a cruise along its Grand Canal, admiring the pagoda-dotted banks and hump-back bridges.

Stay: Sunrise on the Bund (Superior) or Yangtze Boutique (Deluxe)

Meals: B L

Day 14
Depart for UK

After a final breakfast, a private transfer will see you to the airport for your day flight home.

Meals: B

Map

Pricing

Any element of this itinerary can be adjusted to suit your needs. Just contact us to find out more.

Accommodation rating: Superior Deluxe

14-day rail journey
from £2,720 pp

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At Wexas, we specialise in bespoke travel experiences. Our itineraries are just samples of what we can arrange, and can be changed depending on your precise needs, finances and ideas by our experienced destination specialists.

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