Depart Hong Kong this evening by air for the marvelous destination of Guilin and environs.
This morning you embark on a wondrous 5 hour cruise down the winding turns of the beautiful Li river, surrounded on either bank by the verdant landscape and fascinating shapes of the karst formations, those serenely majestic and ever varying limestone structures which thrust up their unique conical, craggy outlines (given names like Elephant Trunk Hill, Old Man Mountain and Folded Brocade Hill) into the ever-changing mists and hues of the sky above or which hollow out into spectacular grottos and caves of stalactite and stalagmite formations of unending profusion and subterranean beauty. Return in afternoon from Yangshuo to Guilin by motorcoach.
Morning visits to three attractions in Guilin and vicinity: Ludi Yan (Reed Flute Cave), discovered over a thousand years ago northwest of the present day city and most famous of the many caves in the area; Xiangbi Shan (Elephant Trunk Hill) which you viewed afar yesterday from the river; and Fu Po Shan (Fu Po Hill) replete both with ancient artifacts and numerous intriguing legends and folktales. Afternoon flight due north to Xian.
Capital of today's Shaanxi province and the ancient capital city of China for 11 dynasties, Xian is a true treasure trove of relics and monuments. The highlight of them all is the recently discovered 7498 terra cotta statues of soldiers, horsemen and chariots of China's first emperor, the iron willed despot and unifier Qin Shi Huang. Your full day tour also visits the Big and Little Wild Goose Pagodas, delightful Hua Qing royal hot springs (with its tragic tale of the emperor's concubine too beautiful for her own good) and Banpo Neolithic Village of 8000 year old artifacts. Evening entertainment of Tang dynasty dance show with dinner of local specialities.
Morning visit to attractions of downtown Xian: Great Mosque, Ming Dynasty City Wall, Bell Tower, Drum Tower and other nearby points of interest, including trying to see as much as possible of the extremely rich and well labeled collection of the Shaanxi Provincial Museum.inside the city's southern wall -- not to be missed by lovers of art, history and archaeology. Afternoon flight to Beijing.
Beijing (Peking, "Northern Capital") is a 3000 year old city which has been a prime center of advanced Chinese civilization going back at least 8 centuries to the era of Kublai Khan and is today the political and cultural hub of an immense nation: 1.2 billion souls spread out over a territory of 3,700,000 square miles and administered from this teeming capital which itself had by the mid-1990s more than 10 million residents (plus 5 million bicycles!) Full day excursion to the famed Great Wall, an engineering triumph of which 3750 miles still survive, then traverse the Sacred Way and Avenue of the Animals to view the fabulous Ming tombs -- of the 13, the 2 so far excavated reveal them to be in effect subterranean palaces.
Today is spent visiting 100 acre Tiananmen Square, the Imperial Palace (the Forbidden City as it was called) and the Summer Palace -- the actual shooting sites for the resplendent vistas in Bertolucci's epic film "The Last Emperor" -- followed by the local chef d'oeuvre of cuisine, a Peking Duck dinner. Since 1651 the Square has witnessed many events central to China's history; and none more pivotal than the 1st October 1949 proclamation of the People's Republic of China -- the date when, as Mao said, "China stood up."
Depart for Hong Kong by morning flight.
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