Author's tour "Ancient-new capitals"

Breakfast in the hotel. Excursion to Tiananmen Square (Square of Heavenly Peace) - the world's largest city square. The Forbidden City of Gugong is the Winter Imperial Palace, where 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties lived. Peking duck lunch. The Temple of Heaven is a cult ensemble of sacrifice to the God of Heaven. Tea ceremony. Return to the hotel.

Breakfast in the hotel. The great Wall of China. Lunch at a restaurant outside the city. Visit to a pearl factory. The Yiheyuan Summer Garden is the largest and oldest garden and park ensemble. External inspection of the 2008 Olympics venues: the Nest and Water Cube stadiums. Return to the hotel.

Breakfast in the hotel. Excursion to the Yonghegong Lamaist Temple - one of the famous Buddhist Lamaist monasteries in China. Lunch at a Chinese restaurant. Free time. Seeing off to the station. Transfer by train to the city of Xi'an (4-seater compartment), overnight by train.

Arrival in Xi'an. Meeting at the station, transfer to a 4* hotel, breakfast at the hotel. Meeting with the Terracotta Army from the tomb of Qin Shihuang - the first emperor of a united centralized China (in 221 BC). Dinner. Visit to the Art Ceramic Factory along the way. City Wall. Evening program for an additional fee: dinner “dumpling banquet” (traditional cuisine of Shaanxi province) with a show of songs and dances of the Tang dynasty. ($60 per person) Return to the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel Big Wild Goose Pagoda - a 7-tier structure (65m), built in the 7th century to store the first Buddhist shrines and manuscripts that were brought from India. The Small Wild Goose Pagoda (without lift) is the largest monument of Chinese architecture, built of brick in Chang'an at the time when it was the capital of the Tang Dynasty and the most populous city on the planet. Around the pagoda is the Xi'an Museum, which preserves numerous exhibits about the history of the city and the dynasties of Chinese history. Dinner. Walking tour along the Street of Culture. Transfer to the station. Transfer to Luoyang by train (soft seat second class). Meeting in Luoyang, transfer to a 4* hotel.

Breakfast in the hotel. Excursion to the Longmen Grottoes (Dragon Gate Grottoes) - one of the three treasure troves of stone sculptural art in China. Dinner. Shaolin Monastery (495) is the center of Buddhism and martial arts in China. Forest of Pagodas - tombstones in the cemetery. Performance: Shaolin Wushu Show. Transfer to the station, departure to Suzhou by train (4-seater compartment), overnight by train.

Arrival in Suzhou, meeting with the guide. Excursion with lunch to Suzhou (an ancient city on the water, rightly called the “Venice of China”): Garden of the Humble Official, Fisherman’s Garden. Visit to the Silk Museum. In the evening, transfer to Shanghai, accommodation at a 4* hotel.

Breakfast in the hotel. Tour with lunch in Shanghai: Yuyuan Garden of Joy and Jade Buddha Temple (1882). Exterior view of the Oriental Pearl TV Tower in the Pudong New District. Walk along the Wai-Tan Embankment and Nanjing Pedestrian Street. Return to the hotel. Evening program for an additional fee: Cruise on the Huangpu River or Shanghai Circus ($40 per person).

Breakfast in the hotel. Free time. Check out from the hotel before 12:00. Transfer to the station. Transfer to Beijing by high-speed train (5.5 hours travel, speed up to 300 km/h, soft second-class seat). Arrival in Beijing. Meeting and transfer to a 4* hotel, accommodation.

Breakfast in the hotel. Check out from the hotel before 12:00. Transfer to the airport, departure from Beijing.