Panda Heritage Tour

This is a tour specially designed to meet the interests for every member in your family and to ensure a balance of special hands on cultural activities, sightseeing and the leisure time the whole family needs.

Youngsters will have the rare opportunity to meet, hug, feed and care for a baby panda under the instructions of a professional panda caregiver at the Wolong Panda Reserve in Chengdu and learning traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy at the Children's Palace in Beijing. Parents will enjoy the scenic cruise on the Li River in Guilin and the explorations at various cultural and historical sites throughout the trip. Furthermore, all travelers will learn how to make traditional Chinese dumplings (Jiaozi) with their family members.

Two percent of the standard tour cost would be donated to Lotus Travel's Orphans Improvement Program to improve the quality of life of orphans in China. By joining our China Homeland Heritage Tours, you help improve the lives of Chinese orphans!

Itinerary

Day 1: U.S. - Guangzhou
accommodations: n/a
meals: n/a
Depart US for China to begin your Panda Heritage Tour. Get your journal ready to record your weeks of 'once- in-a-lifetime' memories!
Day 2: Guangzhou
accommodations: Guangzhou White Swan Hotel
meals: n/a
Arrive at Guangzhou New BaiYun International Airport. Your private English-speaking guide and driver will bring you to the hotel upon your arrival. Have a good rest tonight to adjust to your new time zone and surroundings.
Day 3: Guangzhou - Guilin
accommodations: Guilin Ming Garden Apartment Suites
meals: B/L/D
After breakfast, tour around Shamian Island: stop at the medical clinic where adoption medical exams are conducted and visit the photo shop where your child's visa photo was taken. In the afternoon, take another trip down memory lane when you visit the American Consulate. Your guide will escort you to a local park where you can linger and relax while enjoying a story-time of traditional Chinese folktales to deepen your understanding of the rich cultural heritage of your child. Take the late afternoon flight to Guilin. Tonight you will stay at the Ming Garden Apartment Suites, which is located among local Chinese residents' apartment complexes. Each unit is decorated in the Ming Dynasty Style with beautiful Ming furniture, an air-conditioning/heating unit, a private western-style bath, a kitchen equipped with microwave, refrigerator and cooking utensils; free Internet access, television and telephone. The apartment units are rated above five-stars and guests can also enjoy free late checkouts until 6:00 p.m. (all hotels request checkouts before 12:00 noon). In this authentic cultural experience you will have the rare chance to live among local residents within the same wonderful apartment complex. We can even arrange an assistant to make traditional Chinese meals for your whole family or to assist you with your children.
Day 4: Guilin/Yangshuo/Guilin
accommodations: Guilin Ming Garden Apartment Suites
meals: B/L/D
After breakfast, embark on a scenic cruise along the Li River and enjoy a delicious lunch onboard. The landscape of Guilin is noted as the most gorgeous in China, with sparkling clear waters and magnificent green hills; you will see fishermen fishing with their trained cormorant birds occasionally as well. Your children will be excited to watch water buffalos either grazing along the riverbanks or taking lazy afternoon swims. Visit the ShiWaiTaoYuan water garden on the way back to Guilin from Yangshuo.
Day 5: Guilin
accommodations: Guilin Ming Garden Apartment Suites
meals: B/L/D
Begin your tour with a visit to the Reed Flute Caves (Ludi Yan). Enjoy the spectacular views of beautiful backdrops created by the cool atmosphere and colorful lighting displays inside the caves as you pass by many fanciful shapes (don't forget to look for the Monkey King). After lunch, visit the DuXiu Peak and Elephant Trunk Hill. Enjoy some downtime with your family by doing a local game of mahjong or relax your feet with a foot massage while drinking hot tea at an authentic Chinese tea house.
Day 6: Guilin/Chengdu
accommodations: deluxe hotel
meals: B/L
After breakfast, your local guide and driver will bring you to the airport and arrange for your flight to Chengdu. After your arrival in Chengdu and a tasty lunch, explore the Silk Embroidery Institute and the People's Park with Tea House and Garden.
Day 7: Chengdu
accommodations: deluxe hotel
meals: B/L
Embark on an extraordinary journey to the Panda Breeding Research Base this morning. A professional panda caregiver will give you a brief insight of the panda research work and everyone will have the rare opportunity to hold and hug a baby panda; something the whole family is sure to enjoy. After lunch, visit the fascinating SanXingDui Museum. Little is known about the mysterious cultural and religious beliefs of the people of SanXingDui, yet visitors will gain a sense of the culture through intriguing displays of ancient and rare artifacts used in daily life and religious ceremonies.
Day 8: Chengdu/Province
accommodations: n/a
meals: B
Depart Chengdu and travel to the capital city of the designated province for an orphanage visit. Lotus guides will sensitively and carefully assist your family as you embark on this most meaningful portion of your return trip. On this initial day of the city visit, one can spend time strolling around the area and absorbing a sense of the city and locale.
Day 9: Province
accommodations: n/a
meals: n/a
Your orphanage visitation typically includes a lunch meeting with the orphanage director and staff. If your family wishes to be in touch with the foster family, Lotus can also arrange a time for you to reunite if contact information is available. After lunch, you may explore your child's finding site. Record the day's events in your journal or just relax with your family this evening.
Day 10: Province/Xian
accommodations: Deluxe Hotel
meals: n/a
Today you will fly from your child's Province to Xian, which is a cultural treasure trove of Chinese history. This evening, just relax and walk around the city, journal about your family's connections and insights regarding the last couple of days or cuddle up in the hotel with some food. Tonight take a preview of the next day's agenda, which includes the opportunity to see Emperor Qin's Mausoleum in Xian, which took 700,000 labors 36 years to build.
Day 11: Xian
accommodations: deluxe hotel
meals: B/L
Explore the breathtaking Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum today. Discovered by several local farmers in 1974, the 2,000-year-old lifelike warriors are known as the 8th world wonder. Learn to make Chinese traditional JiaoZi (dumplings) in the local restaurant and have a JiaoZi lunch there. In the afternoon, visit Xian's ancient city wall and enjoy the panoramic views of the city. This is the only intact city wall in China. Enjoy walking, exercising and riding a bike as a family.
Day 12: Xian/Beijing
accommodations: Overnight Express Train
meals: B/L/D
After breakfast, you may visit the Shaanxi Provincial History Museum, where antiques from the Prehistoric era through the Qing Dynasty are on display. After lunch, get your camera set for some wonderful child-centered activities with traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy at the local Children's Palace. Tonight, have a wonderfully fun excursion as you get onboard an overnight express train to Beijing. While others take care of travel, cozy up in your train berth for a peaceful night's rest.
Day 13: Beijing
accommodations: deluxe hotel
meals: B/L
Arrive in Beijing this morning. Your local tour guide and driver will meet you at the train station exit; they will bring you to your hotel after breakfast. Begin your day's exploration at the Forbidden City. Listed as a world heritage site in 1987, the Forbidden City contains the largest group of intact palace structures in the world. The palace is 720,000 square meters in size and contains 9,999 rooms, numerous pavilions, gardens and courtyards. In the afternoon, visit China's largest temple and altar-the Temple of Heaven, which is often depicted as the most recognizable symbol of China.
Day 14: Beijing
accommodations: deluxe hotel
meals: B/L
Visit two UNESCO world heritage sites today. Begin your day with a tour at the Great Wall. Constructed more than 2,000 years ago by China's first emperor, the ancient wall is 6,350 km or about 4,000 miles in length. Stop at the Beijing's Cloisonné (Jingtailan) Factory to learn about the intricate cloisonné making process after your Great Wall experience. Cloisonné originated in 1426 and became popular during the reign of Ming Emperor Jingtai. In the afternoon, explore the imperial gardens of the Summer Palace originally built in 1750 and later rebuilt in 1886. Located in the western outskirts of the city, the Summer Palace is the leading classical garden in China and a UNESCO world heritage site.
Day 15: Beijing
accommodations: deluxe hotel
meals: B/L
Explore the fascinating Hutong neighborhoods. Beijing's oldest Hutongs were constructed during Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Your tour will take you through some of the best-preserved Hutong neighborhoods that represented the history, culture and lifestyle of old Beijing. After a special homemade lunch at a local family residence in the Hutong Lane area, you and your children can learn to make your own kites under professional instruction. Then kick back, relax and fly your handmade kites with the others at the Tiananmen Square. Noted as the largest city square in the world, the square was initially designed for political rallies and important gala events. Today the square is flanked by the Forbidden City in the north, the Great Hall of the People in the west, Mao TseTung's Mausoleum in the south and the Museum of Chinese Revolution and the Museum of Chinese History in the east.
Day 16: Beijing/U.S.
accommodations: n/a
meals: B
Please meet your private English-speaking tour guide and driver at the hotel lobby and travel to the Beijing International Airport for your international flight back to the United States. Cross the International Dateline and arrive home on the same day.

Inclusions

  • Prices listed above include Super Deluxe hotels.
  • Please contact Lotus Travel for tour customization.
  • Tour price includes sightseeing and meals as indicated on the itinerary, intra-China airfare, private transfers and ground transportation, hotel accommodations and the services of an English- speaking guide and driver.
  • All prices are quoted in US Dollars and are subjected to change without notice. Please check at the time of reservation.
  • All prices are quoted per person based on two people sharing a room (double occupancy). Single supplement applies for single travelers.

Exclusions

  • Passport or China Visa Fees.
  • International airfare
  • Tips to guides and driver.
  • Expenses of a personal nature.
  • Side trips to the designated provinces
  • Provincial Civil Affair Bureau orphanage visit filing fee
  • Costs associated with side-trip to orphanage

Important Remarks

  • An extra $330.00 will be charged for traveling on dates marked with **
  • An extra $100.00 will be charged for traveling on dates marked with *
  • Lotus Travel highly recommends clients to purchase travel insurance. The Travel Plus Plan offered by the Travelex Insurance Company has excellent travel benefits and children 15 and under are free of charge when traveling with an adult.
  • A Chinese visa issued at the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles is good for 6 months. We recommend applying for travel visas at least two months before your departure. For detailed information, please visit the Web page at http://www.lotustours.net/promo/visas/index.shtml
  • Lotus Travel offers a very affordable cell phone rental package to help you stay in touch with families while in China. Please contact our cell phone rental specialist Theresa for more details.

Lotus Travel Terms and Conditions

Tour Overview
  • Tour Code:
    PHT-06
  • Trip Duration:
    16 days/15 nights
  • Price:
    Adult: $1,999 Oct 2007 - Mar 2008
    Adult: $2,100 Apr 2008 - Mar 2009
  • Single Supplement:
    $660
  • Departure Dates:
    2007: 10/3, 10/10, 10/31, 11/7, 11/14, 11/21, 11/28, 12/5, 12/12, 12/19, 12/26

    2008: 1/2, 1/9, 1/16, 1/23, 1/30, 2/6, 2/13, 2/20, 2/27, 3/5, 3/12, 4/2, 4/9, 5/14, 5/21, 5/28, 6/4, 6/11, 6/18**, 6/25**, 7/2**, 7/9**, 7/16**, 8/20, 8/27, 9/3, 9/10, 9/17, 9/24, 11/5, 11/12, 11/19, 11/26, 12/3, 12/10, 12/17, 12/31

    2009: 1/7, 1/14, 1/21, 2/11, 2/18, 2/25, 3/4, 3/11

  • For more information, please contact our Homeland Heritage Tour expert Louie.

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Resources

Ming Garden Apartments - Guilin