China with a Difference


The China with a difference itinerary takes you on a ride through some of the most unique areas of China and is a must for travelers wanting to explore the cultural and ancient land that China has to offer. In just under two weeks (ideal for anyone short of time) you will experience China’s true beauty which will undoubtedly stay with you for a life time.

Your trip will begin in Beijing where you will have the opportunity to wander across the infamous Great Wall and really get a feel for the city with a private tour of the Forbidden City and many other fascinating historical sights.  You'll get to stroll past the beautiful historic temples and quaint museums during your stay in Pingyao, an ancient well-preserved city dating back to the Ming dynasty. From Xi'an, you can wonder at the mystery of the terracotta army and then perhaps go for a bike ride over the city wall or climb the Drum Tower in the heart of this city. Your journey will also take you to the wonderful Panda research centre in Chengdu, a true highlight of any trip to China. Chengdu is also known for its excellent local cuisine, Chengdu cuisine is one of China's four most famous food styles! 
Duration: 12 days/ 11 nights Departure: Daily
Comfort Level (1-5): 3 (see accommodation) Accommodation: Comfortable and characteristic hotels and 1 night in a night train
Price: From AUD$1179 per person - based on 2 people sharing  Included: Transport, accommodation, transfers and excursions as described below
Transport: As described below Excluded: International flight, (airport) taxes, meals and drinks, entrance fees, transfers not described in itinerary

Day 1: Arrival in Beijing

Upon your arrival into Beijing you will be greeted by one of our local representatives who will be waiting for you in the arrival hall holding a sign with your name on it; our representative will then take you to your hotel. There is an ATM in the arrival hall where you can secure your first Yuans. The airport is about an hour drive away from the centre of Beijing. In keeping with local style, you'll stay in a traditional courtyard hotel with fruit trees, magnolias and flowers. The small scale and architecture of these hotels is quite charming. The staff at the reception area is quite well versed in English, very helpful and very friendly. There are several large streets next to the hotel filled with stores. Be prepared for a very hard bed, unfortunately all beds are in China. The rest of the day is yours to spend as you wish; either by relaxing in your traditional hotel or start exploring the surrounding areas. 

Day 2: Beijing - City tour

Today you will have time to explore Beijing by car with a driver and an English speaking guide. You'll be picked up at 8:30 in the morning, your first stop is Tian'anmen Square: Gate of Heavenly Peace. This famous square where buildings of parliament are found as well as the entrance to the Forbidden City and Mao Zhedong's mausoleum is most likely the first place you'd want to visit. After a rest stop you'll visit the Temple of Heavenly Peace (entrance fee 35 Yuan, approximately $7 and the colourful Lama Temple (entrance fee $5). These are Beijing's most important temples. You'll walk among red pagodas, monks and prayer houses with the scent of incense and sandalwood all around you. Since you will have a guide accompanying you, you not only can ask him everything about Beijing, you can also ask him any practical questions you may have. For instance, when you're visiting Tian'anmen around 12:30 when your driver sends you on your way you can ask your guide to give you tips on the best places to visit for lunch.

In the afternoon you'll walk along with your guide into the Forbidden City where you'll have a look at the 18th century residence of the emperor (open until 16:00, entrance fee approximately $15). Once you've seen all you wish to see, your guide will help you find a taxi cab back to your hotel ($3). While travelling in China, be sure to always bring along a business card from the hotel you'll stay at in China.... taxi drivers may not always understand you and a business card can get you back to your hotel.

Day 3: Beijing - Great wall of China walking tour

Most travellers will agree that the Great Wall of China should be a part of every China trip; however many parts of the wall are magnets for mass tourism. You'll leave Beijing early in the morning and you'll head towards a quiet part of the wall, about three hours from Beijing. Here you'll walk over the wall for about 10km; it's quite a vigorous walk and not appropriate for people with fear of heights. It should take you about four hours to complete the entire course. First you'll walk over a long stretch of wall going upwards and later you'll descend for a quite a bit. Many parts of the wall are still the original wall segments which have not been restored. Since this area is less frequently visited and you'll be spending such a long time on the wall, you'll really get a feel for the sheer size of the Great Wall. At the end of the route you'll encounter the busy Beijing streets once again; arrival will be around 18:30.

If 10km is a bit much for you to walk during your holidays, we can make reservations for you to visit a part of the wall where you'll begin and end at the same part of the wall. This will enable you to walk as little or as much as you would like to. This part of the wall is a little more crowded than the other part of the wall that the 10km walk will originate from. There are more souvenir stores and more Chinese tourists.

Day 4: Beijing - Pingyao

Today you will have the majority of the day in Beijing either relaxing or getting last minute gifts before your next journey on the overnight train from Beijing to Pingyao. We’ll make reservations for a transfer to take you to the train station at round 17:00. This will give you some time to have a bite to eat and buy some snacks for in the train while waiting at the train station.

At 18:45 you’ll pass through the gate and on to the platform where the ticket inspector will show to your railway carriage. Before you know it you’ll become acquainted with your fellow travellers (often Chinese) and the night train will depart from Beijing’s West Station at 19:30. You’ll have sleeping bunks waiting for you after you’ve spent some time talking to your fellow travellers and you’re ready for bed. Click here for more information on China train trips.

Day 5: Pingyao

As the sun climbs in the sky and night turns to day the night train will pull into the train station at Pingyao around 7:00. Our representative will be waiting to take you to your hotel in the city centre which is surrounded by a city wall; the drive will only take about 5 minutes. You’ll stay at a traditional courtyard hotel. As most courtyard hotels in China, this hotel was built in local (folk) style with many little staircases, vistas and a patio. Courtyard hotels are somewhat noisy since all rooms face the same patio. The hotel rooms are small, but have all necessary amenities such as a fan, air conditioning, shower and toilet (very close together), a TV and a refrigerator. Your double/ queen sized mattress lies on an elevated Stone platform called a kang. Once your room is ready you can freshen up and have some breakfast.

Then it’s time to stroll through the small streets in the compact city centre. You could rent a bike, but it really isn’t necessary. You’ll see far greater detail by walking through the city: small entrance gates, small gardens, temples and vistas (with entrance fees) all of which decorated with colourful red Chinese lanterns. Don’t miss the central clock tower; you’ll have an aerial view of the entire city from the top of the tower. If you’re planning on having dinner in the town in the evening, you may need to eat early. We noticed during our stay that most restaurants close early; however the diner at the corner of the two most important streets was open later in the evening.

Day 6: Depart Pingyao for Xian

In the area surrounding Pingyao we recommend you visit the the ancient Buddhist Zhenguo Lotus Temple. The temple is extremely charming and peaceful; allow yourself to dream away from the tourists and the crowds of Pingyao and to achieve a sense of peace and calm. According to the local tourist brochures for the temple: 'Its calmness makes it a temple'. When you enter the temple, keep an eye out for the unique construction of wooden Lotus support beams and the 1000 year old tree.

Combine a trip to the temple of Zhenguo with a trip by car to the Family Qiao’s courtyard-house, with its 25 courtyards and 300 rooms. These days the residence is a museum and it lies about 2 hours north of Pingyao. The blockbuster hit ‘Raise the Red lantern’ was filmed here. The estate is somewhat touristy; however the house itself and the attributes on display are quite interesting. If you’d like to arrange a rental car to use during these day trips, be sure to add this to your quote request. Car rental costs around $130 for rental between 8:30 - 12:30.

If you’re looking for some peace and quiet during your trip, don’t make any plans for the rest of the day and just do some shopping and have a long lunch (lunch starts around 11:30 in China). At the end of the afternoon you'll be picked up at your hotel and taken to the train station for your trip to Xian.

Day 7: Arrival Xian

You’ll arrive at the train station in the morning, and your hotel is perfectly located just across the street. Small, charming hotels were hard to come by in this area and the three star hotels we visited were not that well maintained. Therefore we’ve selected a number of larger, centrally located, comfortable four-star hotels for you to stay at and these are still quite affordable.

After arrival, you’ll have some time to freshen up from your train. We recommend a visit to the Bell Tower Hotel for a wonderful lunch buffet with a great variety of dishes for only about $16 per person. The names and descriptions of each dish are indicated and you’re sure to eat more than your fill. Be sure to reach the hotel at 12:00 since the Chinese have early lunches. Afterwards you can stroll through the city and across the large boulevards. The heart of the city is the large Bell Tower in the middle of the traffic intersection.

Day 8: Xian - Terracotta army excursion

You’ll be picked up at your hotel at 9:00 this morning for a visit to one of China’s top attractions. The best way to see this attraction is by private tour without a guide and this is exactly how we’ve arranged this excursion for you. The excavation site is approximately 40 minutes from the city and is located in a large park. The Terracotta Leger was discovered by farmers in 1974. They stumbled upon approximately 8000 clay soldiers, horses and chariots that were once built at the request of the then fourteen year old King Zheng for his future royal tomb.

Start in hall 3, then visit hall 2 and finally hall 1. This way you’ll save the largest and most impressive part of the excavation site for last. Visit the museum and the souvenir stands with kitsch clay soldiers, horses, weapons and other trinkets. The replicas are made in all types and all sizes and shipped all over the world. Despite the crowds all of this is more than worth the visit.

Day 9: Xian - Overnight train to Chengdu

Today you will have the day free to wonder around, pick a few more souvenirs and of course to relax in a nearby cafe. This evening you will say good bye to Xian and board the overnight train from Xian to Chengdu. The train departs at 8:10pm and arrives the following day into Chengdu at 6:30am with plenty of time to get to your hotel and start exploring the magical city of Chengdu and home to the famous Panda bears.

Day 10: Arrival Chengdu

You will arrive into Chengdu in the early hours of the morning, our hotels in Chengdu are centrally located in town and within walking distance from the backpacker guest houses unique to this area, but your own accommodation will be more comfortable than the guest houses. You’ll spend the night in a comfortable mid-class hotel with a shower, toilet, telephone, refrigerator and air conditioning in your room. However, if you like you can still benefit from the know-how and English-speaking staff in the nearby guest houses who arrange many affordable excursions for their guests. Enjoy the best of both worlds! Visit Jinli Street in the afternoon; a charming, pedestrian district next to the Wuhou temple. This is a great area to visit and you’ll enjoy walking through small, traditional streets, having a bite to eat on ‘Snack Street’ and having a drink at one of the lantern lit bars or Chinese tea houses. You won’t know where to look, there’s so much to see…

Day 11: Chengdu - Panda research centre excursion

If you would like to experience a panda encounter while in China, the best place to see them is at the Panda Research Centre. If you go on a day trip outside of Chengdu to the Wolong National Park to see pandas in the wild, it would be quite an expedition to reach the area and the chance that you’ll actually see the pandas is slim (even for professionals) since the animals are extremely shy. The research centre is a large bamboo filled park with a swan lake where pandas can be seen in large fenced in enclosures. We really enjoyed our visit here, especially because it’s the only opportunity to see these mystical creatures up close. Of course it’s still a zoo; however it’s a very responsible and well maintained zoo. Seeing these funny, eating, sleeping and playing giant pandas is extremely moving. The panda museum located at the centre is very informative. You’ll learn a lot about these animals, their breeding habits, their heritage and you’ll even see panda embryos.

Although you may be tempted, we suggest not hugging the red mini pandas (which is possible for payment). We really felt that it caused the timid pandas a great deal of stress and uneasiness. You may also want to avoid the busiest times at the park. Your excursion is planned for early in the morning, you’ll be picked up at your hotel at 7:20 and you’ll be at the park in time to see the pandas being fed. After about 3 hours in the park most people are ready to head back, and you’ll be back in your hotel by 11:30.

Day 12: Departure Chengdu

Your China with a difference itinerary comes to a end today in Chengdu.

If you are still in the mood for adventure and unique experiences we suggest our module Ice Mountain Horseback Trek which will take you to Songpan a town filled with Tibetan influences and of course the amazing surrounding mountains. Or from Chengdu you can fly to your next destination, ask the staff at the reception area to call you a taxi cab to the airport. It will take approximately 20 minutes to get there and it will cost you 50 Yuan. If you rather that we arrange your transfer for you, just let us know and we’ll add it to your travel plan.
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