China highlights tour
Highlights
Shanghai | Xitang | Xi'an | the Great Wall of China | Beijing |Description of China highlights tour
Nine days in China will fit in a lifetime of memories and fascinating cultural encounters as this classic China highlights tour goes to prove.Travelling by overnight sleeper train and high-speed train allows you to experience China highlights on tour from Shanghai to Beijing with the likes of Xi’an and the Great Wall of China providing just a couple of talking points in between.
You’ll do much more than scratch the surface of life in China during your time away with a whole host of culinary encounters and cultural traditions enabling this China highlights tour to truly shine.
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Small group adventure
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 can I expect on this trip?
This is a classic style of small group adventure. You'll find your trip combines a good mix of included activities and free time, with some meals included as per your itinerary. We don't want you to feel chaperoned, it's your holiday not ours. Your group leader will be on hand to assist with organising anything you might wish to do in your free time, but how you spend it is up to you. Anything listed as included in your itinerary will be included in trip price; whereas anything listed as optional will be at an additional cost should you wish to take part.
These trips are great value, including things that you would struggle to organise independently, such as a night at a homestay in a remote village, or local guides around a remote place of interest. Transport will be a combination of private vehicle and public transport, whichever is the most appropriate for the route we are travelling; this might include train, plane, camel, tuk tuk, bicycle, boat…
On a majority of these trips you'll stay in 2-3 star accommodation, locally owned and reflective of the region you are travelling through. All solo travellers will be automatically roomed on a twin share basis with another group member of the same sex, unless you opt to pay for your own room at time of booking. There are no compulsory single supplements for solo travellers willing to share. Single rooms aren't available on camping trips, and you will be expected to help out with camp tasks such as setting up and breaking down your camp.
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
Responsible tourism: China highlights tour
Environment
On this trip, we provide all travellers with reusable bags and chopsticks in order to avoid waste. We encourage the use of “tea flasks” for drinking water (or tea, like the locals do!). All travellers in the group will be encouraged to travel with refillable water bottles and purification tablets rather than purchasing water in plastic bottles to minimise waste and your group leader will also be on hand to advise on the responsible discarding of rubbish throughout the trip, recycling wherever possible.
We prefer that our passengers don’t purchase plastic water bottles, however any bottles that are purchased are given to the community of waste collectors who rely on this for an income.
Wherever possible we take local transport. This can mean anything from public bus, trolley bus, tram or subway. We also have the opportunity to explore on bikes and on foot and travel overland on all our basic trips.
Community
We stay in a family run guesthouse in Gubeikou, a less popular area of the Great Wall. This enables travellers to experience rural China as well as major sites like the Great Wall and it supports the local economy by keeping guesthouses up and running in lesser-known parts of China. Travellers are welcomed with great hospitality plus dinner and breakfast are included, a great chance to sample local produce and delicious home style cooking. All entrance fees to the Great Wall are included in the price of the trip and this contributes towards the upkeep of the wall, a UNESCO World Heritage-listed site, so that generations to come can also enjoy visiting the Wall.
We also support Xi’an Huiling (meaning ‘wise spirit’) – a special supported project for young people with intellectual and learning disabilities and travellers can enjoy a performance of singing and dancing by the students, plus have a chance to see their artwork and handicrafts. Don’t be surprised if you’re asked to join in the dancing!
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