China small group holiday, a food adventure
Highlights
Chengdu | Chengdu market vsit | Sichuan cooking class | Giant Panda Breeding Research Base | Emei tea farm visit | Xi’an | Terracotta Warriors |Noodle-making demonstration | Beijing | Tian'anmen Square & Forbidden City | Mutianyu section of Great Wall | Shanghai | Dumpling cooking classDescription of China small group holiday, a food adventure
Welcome to enigmatic China, where culture, history and cuisine all combine to create a truly mesmerising travel experience. This small group holiday focuses on the food of four of the country’s great cities – from the imperial cuisine of Beijing, to the Muslim-influenced food of Xi'An, the spicy Sichuan flavours of Chengdu (a UNESCO City of Gastronomy) and the international melting pot of Shanghai.Spend 12 days on a real food adventure. Taste the peppery treats of Sichuan in Chengdu’s spice market, then enjoy a visit to a small tea-farming village to discover the secrets of this most famous of Chinese beverages. Stay in a monastery in the lofty heights of Emei Shan. Travel to Xi’an to be awed by the magnificent Terracotta Warriors and learn the art of noodle-making. Explore Beijing’s ancient hutongs to search out some of the city’s best street food. Discover Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City before seeing another side of China’s gastronomy at the Donghuamen Night Market. Wander along the Great Wall of China, then board a train to Shanghai, one of the world’s most vibrant cities, where you’ll have a hands-on experience with everyone’s favourite Chinese specialty, dumplings!
This trip travels on overnight hard sleeper trains between Xi'an and Beijing and Chengdu and Xi’an, bringing you face-to-face with the country and its people. Be prepared for some long journeys between some of China’s biggest cities and key highlights, with lots packed in at each location. If you have some time to spare, consider adding on a few days in Shanghai and Beijing but however long you spend, come with an open mind and open mouth, and you won’t be disappointed!
Travel Team
If you'd like to chat about this holiday or need help finding one we're very happy to help. The Travel Team.
01273 823 700 Calling from outside the UK? rosy@responsibletravel.com
Check dates, prices & availability
Food Adventures
What is a small group adventure?It's a great way to travel! Whether you are travelling on your own, with a partner or with friends, a small group trip is a fantastic way to see the world. You'll travel on a fixed itinerary that has been designed to help you discover the best of region. From the known highlights, the hidden gems that you won't find in the guidebooks.
Itineraries run on set departure dates, accompanied every step of the way by an English speaking local group leader. You chose the itinerary and the date that suits you best and you book on.
Why travel on a small group adventure?
Small groups allow us to explore where larger tour groups can't. Our maximum group size of 16 travellers allows us to use local transport to get from A to B, to visit rural villages, spend time with the locals and even stay at a local home overnight, and it allows us to give our travellers genuine, real life experiences of the countries we are visiting; what you'll be doing and how you'll travel depends entirely on your chosen itinerary.
Is an adventure right for me?
The word adventure means something different to everyone, and our range of trips reflects that. Whether you want to explore local markets, visit out of the way temples and meet local people or go on an early morning safari drive searching for the 'big five', we'll have a trip for you. If you are looking for a physical challenge such trekking the Kokoda Track or summiting Kilimanjaro, we can help with that too.
So what makes a Food Adventure different?
Our focus on these trips is exploring our destination through regional specialities, eating where the locals eat, learning to cook traditional dishes and refreshing your palate with the local tipple! Our usual grass roots style of travel is still very much in evidence and you'll still get to explore a region's highlights as well as more out of the way places under the guidance of your group leader, but there will be a lot of focus on the unique flavours of the region you are visiting.
Can I book my flights with you?
Yes! We are a fully ATOL bonded tour operator meaning that we can book flights from the UK as part of your holiday package. Just ask us for a quote including flights when you make your enquiry.
Responsible tourism
As the pioneers of responsible tourism, we screen every trip so you can travel knowing your holiday will help support conservation and local people.
As a global operator, we take our role in the tourism industry very seriously. We recognise the impact that tourism has on local communities and the environment, and we plan and operate all our tours with this front of our minds. We believe that every tour operator must be responsible in the way they conduct their business, to ensure the welfare of all people and the conservation of the environment.We are committed to operating in a responsible manner, incorporating the principles of sustainable development in the way we provide our travellers with real life experiences. These values are more than just words on a page; they are ingrained in our culture and the daily operations of every office and every trip. In addition, we expect our staff and travellers to demonstrate the principles of responsible travel - respecting people, cultures and local environments; in the distribution of wealth; in good will and cross-cultural sharing; and in contributing to sustainable development.
As company our responsibilities don’t stop when our tours end. Our own in house foundation has been in operation for over 10 years; a not-for-profit fund that has distributed over AU$3 million to more than 70 non-government organisations since 2002, from health care, education, human rights, child welfare, sustainable development and in environmental and wildlife protection. Donations come from our travellers and are then matched by us dollar for dollar.
Projects supported in China include, Beijing Huiling which offers innovative services to youths and adults with learning disabilities and teaches people to respect what those with disabilities can do, rather than what they can't. Their activities and training facilitate independence and improve daily living and employability skills in a family-like group home environment. Secondly the Xi'an Huiling project provides adults with learning disabilities opportunities to develop their personal abilities and life skills, enabling them to achieve independence as a fully integrated member of the community.
The Impacts of this Trip
We believe that responsible travel is about the attitude you take with you and the choices you make when travelling - to respect and benefit local people, their cultures, economy and the environment. On trips like this through Asia for example, dress standards are conservative, and we recommend loose, lightweight clothing so as not to offend, particularly outside of the major cities.
This tour follows a number of specific responsible travel guidelines. We take care to use local transport throughout including sleeper trains and stay in small, locally owned hotels and guesthouses. This trip also includes a stay with local hosts in a homestay in the village of Jinbo. Where you will get to share a meal home-cooked by the local family you are staying with, sampling the local seasonal fresh vegetables and homemade smoked meat. You will also get the opportunity to pitch in and practice your cooking skills. We source produce locally throughout the trip, eat at local restaurants and encourage our travellers to purchase souvenirs from local artisans and recruit our on the ground team from the local community. This not only gives a fantastic insight into the country and a snap shot of day to day life, but it also puts valuable financial resources back into the local economy, creating jobs and supporting local businesses. We encourage our travellers to reduce their excess waste using a reduce, re-use and recycle policy. We also in avoidance of animal cruelty never visit places known to use cruel practices in rearing and/or slaughtering of livestock. We also make sure that foods from the endangered species list are not served on the trip.
As a global operator, we take our role in the tourism industry very seriously. We recognise the impact that tourism has on local communities and the environment, and we plan and operate all our tours with this front of our minds. We believe that every tour operator must be responsible in the way they conduct their business, to ensure the welfare of all people and the conservation of the environment.We are committed to operating in a responsible manner, incorporating the principles of sustainable development in the way we provide our travellers with real life experiences. These values are more than just words on a page; they are ingrained in our culture and the daily operations of every office and every trip. In addition, we expect our staff and travellers to demonstrate the principles of responsible travel - respecting people, cultures and local environments; in the distribution of wealth; in good will and cross-cultural sharing; and in contributing to sustainable development.
As company our responsibilities don’t stop when our tours end. Our own in house foundation has been in operation for over 10 years; a not-for-profit fund that has distributed over AU$3 million to more than 70 non-government organisations since 2002, from health care, education, human rights, child welfare, sustainable development and in environmental and wildlife protection. Donations come from our travellers and are then matched by us dollar for dollar.
Projects supported in China include, Beijing Huiling which offers innovative services to youths and adults with learning disabilities and teaches people to respect what those with disabilities can do, rather than what they can't. Their activities and training facilitate independence and improve daily living and employability skills in a family-like group home environment. Secondly the Xi'an Huiling project provides adults with learning disabilities opportunities to develop their personal abilities and life skills, enabling them to achieve independence as a fully integrated member of the community.
The Impacts of this Trip
We believe that responsible travel is about the attitude you take with you and the choices you make when travelling - to respect and benefit local people, their cultures, economy and the environment. On trips like this through Asia for example, dress standards are conservative, and we recommend loose, lightweight clothing so as not to offend, particularly outside of the major cities.
This tour follows a number of specific responsible travel guidelines. We take care to use local transport throughout including sleeper trains and stay in small, locally owned hotels and guesthouses. This trip also includes a stay with local hosts in a homestay in the village of Jinbo. Where you will get to share a meal home-cooked by the local family you are staying with, sampling the local seasonal fresh vegetables and homemade smoked meat. You will also get the opportunity to pitch in and practice your cooking skills. We source produce locally throughout the trip, eat at local restaurants and encourage our travellers to purchase souvenirs from local artisans and recruit our on the ground team from the local community. This not only gives a fantastic insight into the country and a snap shot of day to day life, but it also puts valuable financial resources back into the local economy, creating jobs and supporting local businesses. We encourage our travellers to reduce their excess waste using a reduce, re-use and recycle policy. We also in avoidance of animal cruelty never visit places known to use cruel practices in rearing and/or slaughtering of livestock. We also make sure that foods from the endangered species list are not served on the trip.
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