Eastern China by Rail

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

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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)

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