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18 Day Shanghai to Shanghai, China

This jam-packed tour includes lots of Chinese highlights - the pandas in Chengdu, the Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an, bamboo rafting in Yangshuo and camping under the stars on the Great Wall. 

Why we rate it

  • See most important highlights of China under 3 weeks
  • Cruise down the Yulong River on these Chinese style Gondolas – Bamboo Rafts
  • See the Pandas at the world’s main, and biggest, Giant Panda Breeding & Research Center
  • Get amazed by the world’s largest stone Buddha
  • Terracota warriors in Xi'an
  • Mandarin lessons
  • Witness sunrise on The Great Wall
  • Test your bargaining skills in the Fake Goods Market

 

Day 1 : Shanghai
day 1: Shanghai Meet group at the rooftop bar of the Pheonix Hostel. leave luggage at the hostel if neccessary. Transfer to Shanghai South Station to board a night train to Guilin. One guide will put you on the train and an
Meals :None

Day 2 : Day 2-5
day 2-5: Yangshuo Try your hand at cooking up some traditional Chinese foods at this friendly and practical local cuisine institute Group Lunch Unmissable Activity: Cruise down the Yulong River on these Chinese style Gondolas – Bamboo Rafts! Bikes included to ride around! (please make sure you wear a helmet at all times when you are riding your bike!) Optional: Cormorant Fishing Optional: Bike Ride to Moon Hill and a cave complex including mudbaths and hot springs Optional: Enjoy Deep Water soloing or Rock- Climbing, both highly recommended! Optional: Experience Chinese traditional therapies such as Hot Cupping Optional: Enjoy kayaking on the Li River (must be back by 13.00!) Optional: A true treat, experience what life is like on a farm by visiting your Adventure Leader’s home village Board minibus to North Bus Station and then board your bus to Guilin Say goodbye to your second Adventure Leader and board train to Chengdu
Meals :None

Day 3 : Day 6-8
day 6-8: Chengdu Arrive in Chengdu and meet your next Adventure Leader, before transferring by metro to your hostel Optional: Massage from blind Masseuse Mandarin Lesson 1: Have a Mandarin Lesson with your Adventure Leader Optional: Watch a traditional Sichuan opera performance Unmissable Activity: Gather up to go see the Pandas at the world’s main, and biggest, Giant Panda Breeding & Research Center. Optional: Leave to Leshan to see the world’s largest stone Buddha. Optional: Wander Jinli street and the Tibetan districts independently. (Chengdu is right next to Tibet, or Xizang in Mandarin, so there is a large ethnic community here) Optional: Sample the famous Sichuan Hot Pot if you dare!(Legendary Spice!) Have a night out in Chengdu Optional:Visit Wenshu Monastery, Sichuan Province Museum, People’s Park and a traditional Tea House Take bus or metro to Chengdu North Railway Station Say goodbye to your Adventure Leader and board your train to Xian
Meals :None

Day 4 : Day 9-10
Arrive in Xi’an and meet your next Adventure Leader Check-in to your hostel Optional: Explore the Bell Drum towers, Muslim Quarter and Great Mosque to learn about the history of the Silk Road, towers , mosque and some local legends. Enjoy a dinner of local street foods at the Muslim Quarter. Relax after dinner by visiting the local Silk Road market nearby. Optional: Volunteer at a the Star Sun Home Un-missable Attraction – Terracotta Warriors – Free Optional: Bike Ride on Ming Dynasty City Walls. Please make sure you wear a helmet!
Meals :None

Day 5 : Day 11-12
Board a private minivan then a bus to DengFeng, the closest village to the Shaolin Temple Arrive in DengFeng Optional: Kungfu Lesson & Show at a local Children’s Home run by the Shaolin Temple where the monks teach these children to be Kungfu masters. All proceeds go directly to the Children’s Home. Dinner in the Guesthouse Mandarin lesson: Have your second Mandarin lesson Optional: Visit the flagship of Kung Fu, The Shaolin Temple Optional: Hike to Dharma Cave, a spiritual spot for Buddhist pilgrims, and be rewarded by beautiful views of both the shrines/temples in the area and the views of the area Have a late lunch at the guesthouse then pack and check out Depart to Zhengzhou to board your train to Beijing Arrive at the train station and have some food before your train leaves
Meals :None

Day 6 : Day 13-16
Arrive in Beijing and meet your next Adventure Leader. Transfer by minibus to hostel. You won’t be staying the night here, so you won’t be able to get into rooms, but can use the shower rooms, and common areas to relax before heading to the Wall in the afternoon Mandarin lesson: Have your 3rd Mandarin Lesson It’s time for the Mandarin Challenge! Use your freshly learned Mandarin to complete challenges around Beijing’s ancient streets and alleyways. The winning team earns a prize. Mandatory meal at a local farm to obtain permission to access the locals only sections of the unrestored Great Wall Unmissable Attraction – Hike on totally unrestored sections of the Wall before setting up camp on a deserted section of the wall to watch the sunset on one of the Wonders of the World (Please note, due to cold weather before end of April and after September, we stay in a guest house near the Wall instead of camping, but still return to the Wall to watch sunrise in the morning) Unmissable Attraction – Sunrise on the Wall Return to Beijing Optional: Visit the Olympic Bird’s Nest stadium designed by one of the most controversial figures in modern China Optional:A stunning Chinese Acrobatics Performance performed by young talents recruited from around China Enjoyed exclusively by royalty in ancient times, taste Beijing’s signature dish Peking Roast Duck Optional: Take a walk through the globally recognized, Tiananmen Square Optional: Visit the Forbidden City. The largest palatial complex in the world, the grounds boast 980 buildings, and a history of housing 24 different Chinese royalty Optional: Go to Jingshan park for a bird’s eye view of the three palaces: Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace and Tiananmen Square. Test your bargaining skills in the Fake Goods Market! Push your taste buds to the limit at the WangFuJing night market where you can sample most foods you’ve never tried, like scorpion, dog, cat, bugs and more Optional: Go to the Temple of Heaven, the largest complex dedicated to heaven worship in the world and where ancient sacrifices were made to bring bountiful harvests Board night train to Hangzhou
Meals :None

Day 7 : Day 17-18: Hangzhou & Moganshan
After breakfast the group will take a minivan from Hangzhou railway station to Moganshan, famed for it’s bamboo forests Optional: Hike to Moganshan Peak Dinner Have breakfast then check-out, but you can leave your bags at the hostel Unmissable Activity: Bike Trek Lunch at the hostel Travel to Hangzhou East Train Station to take your bullet train to Shanghai Arrive in Shanghai and transfer via metro to your hostel Optional: Set off for the Shanghai Drunken Dragon Pub Crawl – a big favourite with our fun-loving travellers! Say goodbye to your friends as they continue on their journey.
Meals :None

start + finish

Shanghai, China

Meet in Phoenix Hostel

Extras

Accommodation is not provided the night before Day 1 of your trip or for the night of the last day of your trip

Flights to and from China

Aside from the many free un-missable activities The Dragon Trip offers you, we also offer some extra activities which are great value for money, safe and fun.

Food and Drink – Eating and drinking is incredibly cheap in China, but even so, the Dragon Trip still gives you access to a great range of discounts on food and drinks in the liveliest bars in town.

Any train/bus tickets for journeys made after the trip- we provide a booking service at a cost of 30 RMB per ticket booked, on top of the price of the ticket.

Any hostels for after your trip has ended- we recommend that you use Hostel World for booking hostels. We can book hostels for you, however we will charge a service fee of 150 RMB.

Please bring details of your travel insurance along with you to the meeting. In the event of an accident, we may need contact your insurance company on your behalf, so we will need the insurance company’s name and phone number and your policy number

Optional Activities

HONG KONG

o Victoria Peak Walk (free)

YANGSHUO

o Bamboo rafting (unmissable)
o Chinese cooking class (¥120.00)
o Yulong River bike ride (unmissable)
o Hot cupping (¥35.00)
o Deep water soloing (¥150.00)
o Rock climbing (¥170.00)
o MoonHill and the Water Buddha Caves (¥85.00)

o Cormorant fishing (¥45.00)
o Kayaking (¥150.00) 

o Sally’s home village visit (¥80.00)

CHENGDU

o Blind massage (¥60.00)
o Pandas (unmissable)
o Jinli Street and Tibetan district (free)
o Hot Pot dinner (Approx¥80.00)
o Leshan Buddha (Approx ¥80.00)
o Sichuan opera (¥140.00)
o Wenshu monastery,Mao’s statue,People’s Park and traditional teahouse (free)

XI’AN

o Citywalls bike ride (¥100.00)
o Great Mosqueand Muslim Quarter tour (¥25.00)

o Terracotta Warriors (unmissable)
o Soup kitchen or Star Sun Home (Charity/Optional)

SHAOLIN

o Shaolin Temple (¥120.00)
o Hike to Dharma Cave (free)
o Kung fu lesson& show at children’s home (¥150.00)

BEIJING

o Tiananmen Square (free)
o Forbidden City (¥60.00)
o Fake market (free)
o JingShan Park (¥15.00)
o Great Wall (unmissable)
o Great Wall lunch when the group camps (¥40.00)

o Olympic Park (free)
o Temple of Heaven (¥40.00)
o Acrobatic performance (¥140.00)
o WangFujing Market (¥10.00)
o Peking duck dinner (¥70.00)

 

MOGANSHAN

o Moganshan peak hike (free)

o Bike ride (unmissable)

SHANGHAI

o Pub Crawl (¥180.00/¥200.00)
o French Concession Tour,Propaganda museum and Market (¥40.00)

o Karaoke (approx.¥35.00–dependent on group size)
o Zhuijiao Water Town (¥25.00)
o Yuyuan Garden (¥30.00/¥40.00)
o Tour of Peoples Square (free)
o Vuebar (¥100.00)

FUJIAN

o Stay overnight in a mudroundhouse (unmissable)
o Walking tour around the UNESCO world heritage site (unmissable)

o Tea plantation (unmissable)
o Bike tour around the roundhouses (unmissable)

MACAO

o Tour the ruins of St Pauls and the OldFortress(unmissable)

o Macao Tower bungee jump (approx£350/USD$420)
o Trip to the Venetian Hotel (unmissable) 

Visas

A visa is required for China, so once you’ve made your booking with us, we will send you detailed instructions on applying for your visa, a visa invitation letter and a detailed itinerary, and a number of other items in your booking packet.

You will need at least six months validity on your passport to get your visa. If this means getting a new passport then we will need to have a copy of your most recent passport as well as the one you booked with. You will need to follow the instructions of your countries embassy on applying for your visa and we suggest allowing two weeks for this to be processed. You should apply for your visa within three months of your travel start date. For more information prior to booking you can check the China Visa Application Service Center or the website of your local Chinese consulate. You can also find information regarding visas for Macau and Hong Kong here.

Travel insurance

We require all our customers to have backpackers travel insurance when coming on the trip.

Please bring details of your travel insurance along with you. In the event of an accident, we may need contact your insurance company on your behalf, so we will need the insurance company’s name and phone number and your policy number.

Accommodation

All of the hostels are clean, air-conditioned or have fans, are safe, have good showers, internet, washing machines and most importantly, have real Chinese character. People who stay at hostels are usually young people aged 18 to 35 who are travelling on a smaller budget than people staying at hotels. So it is easy to make friends and fun to hang out at the bar (all the hostels we stay at have cool bars and lounging areas to hang out). If you would like to stay in a private room though, that is absolutely possible as well as we have room upgrades available at the time of purchase.

Upgrade to a private room

Yes! If you’d like to upgrade to a private room the prices are listed below. Just email us at least three weeks prior to departure to let us know you’d like to upgrade. The upgrade fee is for the room, not per person- i.e. if you are a couple upgrading, then you split this price between the two of you.  Room upgrades include single, double and twin rooms.

HK-HK 25 days = $780

BJ-BJ 18 days = $380

HK-HK 16 days = $350

SH-SH 18 days = $380

HK-BJ 15 days = $350

Packing

If you are starting and finishing in the same location you are able to leave luggage at the hostel for only 300 HKD/CNY approx. We advise a rucksack of 50 – 70L but a suitcase is also fine. If necessary absolutely, arrangements can also be made to send things domestically, for an extra fee.

  • Passport with China Visa
  • Chinese yuan or credit/debit card
  • Student card if you have one, as there are a few student deals on the trip
  • Travel insurance policy
  • Photocopies of insurance policy, bank cards, passport photo page, visa
  • Flipflops
  • Sensible walking shoes
  • T-shirts
  • Shorts/skirts
  • Swimming costume
  • Lightweight waterproof
  • Towel
  • Washbag
  • Books and other entertainments for the night trains
  • Mosquito repellent, sun-screen and after-sun
  • Camera and charger – China is a photographer’s dream!
  • Small first aid kit with medicine for diarrhea, paracetamol, disinfectant etc.
  • If travelling before May or after September, please bring a hat, gloves, coat, hoodie and warm trousers with you
  • A big bag and a small rucksack. We sometimes get separated from our big bags, so you’ll need to keep your valuables with you in a small bag.

If you are starting your trip in Hong Kong you can leave a bag in Hong Kong for the duration of your trip for HK$300.  Bring electronic products at your own risk. Some customers choose to travel with iphones, tablets and laptops, but although theft is extremely rare on the Dragon Trip there is petty crime in some areas we visit.