Morning flight from Hong Kong to Beijing, the city which preeminently embodies the power and agnificence of Imperial China in its immense palaces, temples, pavilions and statuary, all constructed for the exaltation of the "sons of heaven" and their absolute power when these Mongol, Ming and Manchu emperors ruled what they considered their rightful realm: "tian xia," or "everything under heaven." Your afternoon tour visits the soaring Temple of Heaven where the emperors appealed for agricultural bundance in the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests.
Full day excursion takes you to where American Presidents, Secretaries of State, legions of reporters and TV camera crews and countless tourists have had their picture taken since the Nixon/Kissinger "breakthrough" in 1974: the famed Great Wall at Badaling, an engineering triumph comprising stone, bricks and earth of which 3750 miles still survive. Then you visit the nearby Sacred Way and Avenue of the Animals to view the fabulous Ming tombs -- of the 13, the 2 so far excavated reveal the tombs to be in effect subterranean palaces.. In the evening you will enjoy a performance of the Beijing Opera, a lively and colorful mixture of song, dance, pantomime and acrobatics.
Today you visit the heart of Beijing: Tiananmen Square, the world's largest such public area and scene of much modern Chinese history, from the youthful demonstrators of the reformist, anti-imperialist May Fourth Movement (1919) to the l949 Proclamation of Communist victory and the People's Republic, the 1976 massive memorial rally for Chou Enlai and the tragic, bloody supression of the students and their Goddess of Liberty statue in 1989. Pass through Tiananmen (Gate of Heavenly Peace) to view the exotic riches of the Forbidden City, then view the lakes and pavilions of the Summer Palace. Enjoy Beijing Duck banquet in the evening.
Morning city tour may allow shopping at the Friendship Store, Main Department Store or shopping districts like Wangfujing and Liulichang for craft items associated with the capital's traditions such as jade, cloisonne, carved ivory, lacquerware, lanterns, embroidery, antiques and folk crafts; the Wangfujing Seal-engraving Store is a unique and fascinating time-honored skill. Afternoon flight to Shanghai.
Once a minor fishing village, Shanghai was developed from the mid 19th century onwards mainly as an enclave for western (and later Japanese) commercial interests symbolized by the tall buildings of the Bund, the promenade along Zongshan Road and the Huangpu River. In the 1920s the city was a focus of agitation and revolt, from the 1st Communist Party National Congress held there in 1921 to the bloody suppression by Guomindang nationalists of the abortive Communist uprising in 1927, events grippingly portrayed in Andre Malraux's novel "Man's Fate." Besides the Bund, visit Yu Garden, Jade Buddha Temple , Children's Palace and Arts & Crafts Exhibition. Acrobatic show in evening.
This morning you depart from Shanghai for your two hour flight down to Hong Kong.
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