19 Days China Tour to Anhui, Henan & Mount Huangshan

Take the train/flight from your city to Hefei, we will meet you at the airport or train station with a welcome board. Then transfer to the downtown hotel check in.

After breakfast, you will visit Lord Bao's temple (Lord Bao's Memorial Temple, with a history about 1,000 years which was built to commemorate the famous upright and clean official, Bao Zheng. As "key Relics Unit" protected by Anhui Province, it has kept a lot of historical records and relics of him and his family). Then you will visit Anhui Museum of Historical Notables (Anhui Museum of Historical Notables is an exhibition hall of Anhui celebrities. It applies sound and light high-tech scenario showing styles and characteristic culture of more than 800 Anhui celebrities from the ancient times, Qin, Han, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties to the Republican era and Chinese modern times). In the afternoon visit Sanhe ancient town (The Sanhe Ancient Town, which has a history of more than 2,500 years, is a typical "ancient town full of rivers and lakes, together with small bridges, flowing water and local dwellings.")

After breakfast, drive to Mt. Jiuhuashan (2.5 hours). You will visit the large open-air bronze statue of the Tibetan King Bodhisattva at the height of 99 meters. After that drive to the Transfer Center, take the shuttle bus (30mins ) up to the Mountain. Check into your hotel. After a rest, you will walk along the Jiuhua Street. 

After breakfast, you will visit the ancestor temple—Huacheng temple and Incarnation hall , Ksitigarbha temple, Shangchan hall , Zhantan temple. In the afternoon, you will visit Baisui palace; 500 arhat halls, Dongya temple.

After breakfast, you will take shuttle bus to Phoenix pine station, You will visit Heavenly Terrace Scenic Area. Visit Ancient worship and Tiantai temple. After that, you will visit thousands years old tree---Phoenix pine. After lunch,  descent the Jiuhuashan by Shuttle bus. Drive to Yixian County (2.5h) and check in to your boutique. You can walk or ride a bike to visit one of most famous Bookstores In China. It is Bishan bookstore which is built in a traditional ancestral Temple.

After breakfast,You will visit the Hongcun Village & Nanping Village. They are charming traditional Huizhou villages, and best known as the film sites of the Oscar-winning film “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”. You'll be able to walk around the village with your guide and also visit a local family where you'll have the chance to gain a better understanding of the life and traditions of the local people living around Mount Huangshan.

After breakfast, drive to the World Cultural and Natural Heritages Site- Mt. Huangshan ( 50 mins) .Arrvie in the Tangkou transfer center and take the shuttle bus (20 mins) to the Yungu Cable Way Station. Take Yungu Cable Car up the mountain( 10mins ). From here you will embark on a memorable trip to the peak of this magnificent mountain.

The craggy rock faces, hanging mists and clustered pines of Huangshan create a lovely and distinctly Chinese landscape, one instantly recognizable from countless images on silk, paper and porcelain. The mountain range, consisting of some 70 peaks over 1,000 m (3,300 ft), spills across the southern province of Anhui in an exquisite jumble of scenic highlights — twisted lone pines clinging to stony spires, seas of clouds filling rugged valleys, and crystalline mountain spring-fed pools.

You will visit Black Tiger Pine , Flower Scaterring Valley, Pentip Brush , Untiy Pine,etc. Check in and stay overnight on the Mountain. In the late afternoon, you will enjoy the sunset at the Cloud-dispelling Pavilion.

Meet with your guide in the early hours to enjoy a breath-taking sunrise over Huangshan (Purple Cloud Peak). Though dependent on the weather, this is an unforgettable experience that comes highly recommended. After breakfast, you'll visit the West Sea Grand Canyon using the new Xihai Cable Car.

This is a relatively new scenic area opened in 2000 that has been dubbed "Heaven on Earth" and "A Fantasy World" for its unique and beautiful scenery. Some argue that West Sea Grand Canyon is the most impressive section of Huangshan, fully embodying the mysterious and intriguing aesthetic that has made the area such a famous destination.

In the afternoon, you’ll enjoy the scenery from another one of Huangshan's marvelous viewpoints, including Turtle Peak, Brightness Top, etc. Watch the sunset on the Flying Over Rock platform. Back to your hotel. 

Meet with your guide in the early hours to enjoy a breath-taking sunrise over Huangshan (Cooling Terrace).You will visit Lion Peak, Stone Monkey Gazing at the Sea of Cloud, Flying dragon pine,Dawn Pavilion,etc. After breakfast, you will continue to visit Beginning to Believe Peak、Crouching Dragon Pine, Exploring Sea of Clouds Pine, Lianli Pine, etc. Then you'll descend the mountain via the Yungu Cable Car ( 10 mins) and the Shuttle bus ( 20 mins). Drive to Tunxi (1hour) which is the downtown of Huangshan City. After a rest, you'll visit Tunxi Old Street: a strip of traditional Huizhou-style shops and residences. This street dates back to the Song Dynasty. Along the way you'll be able to learn more about the city.

After breakfast, drive to the China's Historical Town- Shexian County (1 hour). Visit the No.1 Chinese Fengshui Village- Chengkan. The Baolun Hall is renowned for its well preserved ancient architectures and colorful paintings with a history of over 500 years. Then you will visit the Tangyue Memorial Stone Archways. There are a total of seven arches here, three of which are from the Ming Dynasty, and four of which originate from the Qing Dynasty. Behind each archway is an interesting and touching story. Your will also explore the Bao Family's Garden, formerly the private garden of BaoQiyun, a famous Hui merchant. Presently this space is home to China's largest private garden and exhibition of bonsai trees. In the afternoon , drive to the Huangshan North Railway Station and take the train to Zhengzhou.

Driving on the highway to our today's destination Sanmenxia. Visit the Shanzhou Silo-Cave, it is the special cave dwellings which is located in Miaoshang Village and Beiying Village, Shanzhou County, Shanmenxia City. It is the courtyard below ground level, using koess soil as the material to keep it cool in summer and warm in winter. So it is one of the best place for people to spend summer holiday.

After the visiting, we will explore the mysterious Guo State Museum, a specialty museum built on the site of the Guo State cemetery from the Western Zhou period and a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level in China.

Full day sightseeing in Luoyang. Journey will begin from Longmen Grottoes, one of the well-known grottoes along the silk road. The grandiose cave filled with immense Buddha decorated with intricated designs is a testament to the skill and wealth of the people who inhabited Luoyang and their devotion to Buddhism. The caves are divided into West Mountain and East Mountain. Dongshan Grottoes are mostly works of the Tang Dynasty, and the West Mountain Grottoes were excavated in the Northern Dynasty and the Sui and Tang dynasties. 

Then continue the tour to Yingtianmen Gate, built in Sui Dynasty, The Yingtianmen Gate was the main entrance of the Sui and Tang Palace Complex, and it was used continually during the Song Dynasty. The site of the Gate is presently located between the two work units of the Luoyang Daily Newspaper and the Capital City Museum.

Evening walk around the Luoyang Old City to experience the lifestyle of Luoyang and taste various local delicacies.

Morning depart from the hotel and you will enjoy a tour at the White Horse Temple, it was built in Yongping 11 years of the Eastern Han Dynasty (A.D. 68). It has always been respected as the "The Cradle of Chinese Buddhism". According to legend, the name of the temple was derived from the allusion of "White Horse Fu Sutra". Continue to visit, you will see the "Treasure of the Town Temple" and the only "statue of dry lacquer in storage" of Yuan Dynasty inside of the Daxiong Hall. The statues of "Ramie Dry Paint" in the palace are all made of silk and linen, each statue's weighs is between 3 to 5 kilograms. Which is surprised that the statues have not been repaired since the Yuan Dynasty for more than 700 years, but it still have bright colour. 

Then head to Yanshi, where you will visit the Erlitou Site Museum Of the Xia Capital(Closed on Monday), The Erlitou culture was an early Bronze Age urban society and archaeological culture that existed in the Yellow River valley from approximately 1900 to 1500 BC. As the capital site of the Xia Dynasty, which was recognized as the earliest dynasty of China, Erlitou relic has a history of about 3,800 years and it was the largest capital settlement in China and even in East Asia at that time. The main features of the museum are as follows: Preserving the existing ambiance of the historic site. The concept of the architecture originates from a photograph that captured the winding and irregular extending state of the Erlitou archaeological discovery site.

Tonight we will stop at Dengfeng for an overnight stay.

Spend another whole day to explore the charming city-Dengfeng. The first site we will visit today is the Songyang Academy. At the foot of Mt Taishi sits, it is one of China’s oldest academies, the lush and well-tended Songyang Academy, a building complex that dates from AD 484 and rises up the hill on a series of terraces. In the courtyard are two cypress trees believed to be around 4500 years old – and they’re still alive.

Then we will pay a visit to the famous Shaolin Temple, also known as Shaolin Temple, is a renowned temple recognized as the birthplace of Chan Buddhism and the cradle of Shaolin Kung Fu. Here you can experience a unique set of fitness skill, which is called Baduanjin in Chinese, and learn to write the Buddhist scriptures.

In the evening, you will have an opportunity to visit an amazing live show - Shaolin Zen Music Ritual, the important part of Chinese Zen Culture.

After having a breakfast, we will drive to the next stop Gongyi and visit the Mausoleums of Song Dynasty, The mausoleum is 15 km long from south to north, and 10 km wide from east to west.There were seven emperors and eight mausoleums.The concept and consciousness of the Song Mausoleums are different from the mausoleums of the Han and Tang Dynasties. The organization and layout of all the mausoleums are basically the same, each covering an area of 120mu(15mu= 1 hectare). The mausoleums are surrounded by walls built of rammed earth. Divine gates are opened in the center of the four walls, and turrets are built in the four corners. The model of the stone statues is simple and powerful, bold and unconstraint, reflecting the artistic style of stone carving in the Northern Song Dynasty.

Thereafter, proceed the tour to Gongyi Grottoes, located in the northeast of Gongyi City. The Gongyi Grottoes were a cave built by the royal family of Northern Wei Dynasty. Here Emperor Xiaowen established a monastery. When the Xuanwu Emperor began to chisel the stone into a grotto, he engraved the Buddha's image. Later in the Wei, Tang and Song dynasties, some small reliefs were carved here. The Gongyi Cave Temple was built after the Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang. It combines the external influences of Buddhist art with the Han art of the Central Plains.

In the evening, enjoy your leisure time at the CBD Square, located in Zhengzhou Zhengdong New District. It is an urban circular building integrating business, office, residence, sightseeing, leisure and research, etc.

Today we will take you to visit the Henan Provincial Museum(Closed on Monday), was founded in 1927, one of the earliest museum in China. The Museum has a collection of 170,000 pieces (sets) and is particularly famous for prehistoric artifacts, bronzes from Shang and Zhou dynasty, ceramics and jade wares in its collection. Central plain area is a major cradle for Chinese civilization to thriving, and the precious and exquisite cultural relics excavated here witnessed the development trace of Chinese civilization and also demonstrate the historical development of China.

Next, travel with the car to Anyang and bring you to National Museum of Chinese Writing, a post-modernist building cluster combining the modern architecture style and the Shang Dynasty’s court design. The building both implies the connotation of Chinese character culture and highlights the critical position of character throughout the great civilization history of China. The brilliant appearance of the main hall unites itself with the picturesque surroundings, showcasing a great harmony between culture and nature.

The journey today will begin from the historical site - Yinxu, Yinxu is the site of one of the ancient and major historical capitals of China. It is the source of the archeological discovery of oracle bones and oracle bone script, which resulted in the identification of the earliest known Chinese writing. The archeological remnants known as Yinxu represent the ancient city of Yin, the last capital of China's Shang dynasty which existed through eight generations for 255 years, and through the reign of 12 kings. Yinxu was discovered, or rediscovered, in 1899. It is now one of China's oldest and largest archeological sites, and was selected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006.

After then, drive to Kaifeng and stroll around the Song Dynasty Imperial Street, a duplicate Song Dynasty commercial street made to remake the style of the Song Dynasty. Then pay a visit to Drum Tower, It used to be the commercial and cultural center of Kaifeng. The square in front of the Drum Tower is the place of the night market in Kaifeng, you can enjoy a gourmet feast in local Night Market. 

Another day in Kaifeng. Morning we will travel to the Iron Pagoda, a Chinese Buddhist pagoda built in 1049 during the Song dynasty. The pagoda is so-named not because it is made of iron, but because its color resembles that of iron. it is seen as a masterpiece of Song dynasty architecture with Liuhe, Lingxiao, Liaodi, Pizhi and Beisi Pagodas.

Then head to the Dragon Pavilion, It is said that it was a temple for worshipping the emperor of the Qing Dynasty. The red base and especially the white stairway leading up to it is reminiscent of a Central American or Mexican stepped pyramid. It is said that the current park sits on the site of the imperial palaces of 6 different empires. The last dynasty with a palace here was that of the Jin Empire (1115-1234). Other than the building, the main attractions are the big ponds, a Song Dynasty wax museum, and a flower show.

We will go to The Millennium City Park, a large-scale historical cultural park featuring Song culture, built according to the famous painting Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival. It boasts numerous wonderful scenic spots, including the Rainbow Bridge, a Wall painting of Qingming Festival by the Riverside, and the Kissing Cloud Pavilion, all of which are full of Song elements. The Rainbow Bridge is considered one of China's ten famous ancient bridges. In the evening, you will enjoy a grand live-action show on water in the park, which uses a lot of technology and more than 700 performers to bring the audience's minds back to the Northern Song Dynasty 1000 years ago. The 70 minute theatrical performance  takes inspiration from  nine poems and the painting, Qingming Festival by the Riverside,  fully using a lake, pavilions, terraces and buildings to create a highly acclaimed live-action show.

Say farewell to the historical Henan, then we will drive you to the train station/airport. You will catch the flight/train back to your sweet home.