Price - US$1890
Tour Length - 14 nights/15 days
Starting Point - Shanghai
Ending Point - Hong Kong
Departure Date** - 6/13/2010, 7/18/2010, 8/22/2010
Highlights - Delicious Chinese cuisine! Shanghai Bund and Yuyuan Gardens Hike along Jinshanlin to Simatai portion of the Great Wall the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square the Terracotta Warriors the Giant Panda Research Center Yangshuo Guangzhou and Hong Kong
** specific dates can be arranged upon request

See elegant Shanghai, the Great Wall, the pandas of Sichuan, ride bicycles through the gorgeous rural karst landscapes of Yangshuo, and tug around the harbors of Hong Kong, all the while eating delicious food. Meals are not just another time of the day on this tour where you will experience such delicacies as Beijing duck, Sichuan hot pot, and Cantonese dim sum. See how China's incredible diversity and local influences come together to form the four main cuisines: Northern, Shanghai, Sichuan, and Cantonese.

Shanghai: The tour begins in Shanghai, which has its own unique cuisine. Here we will visit the Bund and Yuyuan Gardens among other sites in this metropolis mix of old and new.

Beijing: Then we are off on an overnight train to Beijing where we will walk along a lesser visited section of the Great Wall and visit Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Northern cuisine has different influences than southern cuisine, one of which is that wheat is grown here, and many dumplings, pastries and pancakes are wheat-based. We will enjoy a traditional Beijing duck dinner.

Xian: Here we will see the terracotta warriors, along with the Great Mosque and the Muslim Quarter. We will have a chance to sample jiaozi dumplings and Chinese Muslim snacks such as kebobs, all for which the city is famous.

Chengdu: Then, off to Chengdu where we will visit the Giant Panda Research Center and sample Sichuanese cuisine, famous for it's emphasis on chili pepper.

Yangshuo: A land of rice paddies, small villages, and otherworldly karst peaks in the heart of southern China. We will visit a local market where we will choose fresh ingredients to prepare local specialties in a cooking course. There are options to take excursions by bicycle or otherwise into the surrounding countryside.

Guangzhou: We will then take an overnight train to Guangzhou, in the center of the Cantonese food region. Here we will visit a street market selling all manner of exotic food, before we have a dim sum lunch.

Hong Kong: The tour finishes in Hong Kong where you are free to wander and sample more Cantonese cuisine or other cuisine influences in this cosmopolitan crossroads of cultures from around the world.

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