Our five nights at Guilin Ming Garden were great as well! It is certainly our favorite place in China. The apartment is remodeled, extremely clean and has a great view; having internet access is a nice touch and there is plenty of room for our entire family. After a long day of fun, it was relaxing to come home to delicious home cooked meals prepared by our nanny Mrs Huang.She made us feel right at home with her traditional Cantonese home cooked dinners: her normal dinner consist of soup, two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes; very much like the meals our Cantonese parents made for us when we were younger and the meals had brought back fond memories.
-Helen Lee
European Homeland Heritage Tour D
Enjoy shopping and modern exploration in Hong Kong, relax in scenic spots in Guilin and Yangshuo, and then start your meaningful trip to orphanage visit, which can be customized according to your preferences. After such wonderful experience, travel to Shanghai and Suzhou for even more! Shanghai, known as Pearl of the East, is a modern metropolis and the financial center of China, while Suzhou is very famous for its fine gardens and embroidery. Join us and enjoy the beauty!
Tour Overview
Tour Code: CHHT-EHHTD
Trip Duration: 14 days/13 nights
HongKong, Guilin, Shanghai, Suzhou, Shanghai
Departure Dates: Every Friday Day 1 : Depart for Hong Kong En Route
meals: n/a
Take flight to Hong Kong.
Day 2 : Hong Kong
meals: n/a
Arrive in Hong Kong. Take taxi to hotel on your own.
Day 3 : Hong Kong
meals: D
Please meet our local guide at hotel lobby at 2:30PM, begin half-day Hong Kong Island Tour: Victoria Peak, Repulse Bay, Aberdeen Fishing Village & Stanley Market. End of the tour drop off at boarding pier for boarding Harbour Cruise- Bauhinia. Enjoy Harbor Cruise with buffet dinner, after end of the cruise arrange your own transfer back to the hotel.
Day 4 : Hong Kong/Guilin
meals: n/a
Free activity on your own. Take taxi to airport. Hong Kong/Guilin by air Your English-speaking tour guide and driver will transfer you to hotel.
Day 5 : Guilin
meals: B/L
After breakfast, visit to the Reed Flute Caves (Ludi Yan). Inside the caves, the cool atmosphere and colorful lighting displays provide a beautiful backdrop as you pass by many fanciful shapes (don't forget to look for the Monkey King). In the afternoon, visit Children's Palace or the art gallery in NanxiShan park where you can learn the basic techniques used for centuries to create Chinese calligraphy and landscape painting, making this a fun activity for all.
Day 6 : Guilin/Yangshuo
meals: B/L
Enjoy Li River Cruise. The landscape surrounding Guilin is noted as being the most beautiful in China with sparkling clear waters, magnificent green hills, and the occasional fisherman fishing with his trained cormorant birds. Your children will be excited to watch for water buffalo either grazing along the riverbanks, or perhaps taking a lazy afternoon swim. Arrive in Yangshuo this afternoon and check into your hotel. The day of balance is free activity on your own.
Day 7 : Yangshuo
meals: B/L
Day 8 : Yangshuo/Guilin/Province
meals: B/L
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 the area and absorbing a sense of the city and locale.
Day 9 : Province
meals: B/L
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/Shanghai
meals: B
This morning take some final glimpses around your child's province to capture your special memories. Then depart for Shanghai.
Day 11 : Shanghai
meals: B/L
Begin your adventure with a relaxing walk along the Bund near the Huang Pu River. Then visit the Yu Yuan Garden and enjoy its intricately designed pathways, pavilions, koi stocked pools and quiet courtyards; then pass by the shops and restaurants in YuYuan Bazaar on your way to lunch. In the afternoon, visit the Jade Buddha (Yufo) Temple. As you enter the temple grounds, you might hear prayers of the monks and glimpse the smoke of incense curling toward the sky.
Day 12 : Shanghai/Suzhou
meals: B
Shanghai/Suzhou by train Tour the Master of Nets Garden (WangShi Yuan), perhaps SuZhou's finest garden. This afternoon visit the Embroidery Research Institute. As one of the four major schools of Chinese embroidery, SuZhou embroidery has a history of more than 2,000 years. You will have the opportunity to observe and purchase the delicate work of the artists as they embroider on silk in intricate patterns.
Day 13 : Suzhou/Shanghai
meals: B/L
Explore the Humble Administrator's Garden (ZhuoZheng Yuan) located at the Loumen Gate of SuZhou and regarded as one of the four major gardens in all of China. Continue on to the Taoist Temple of Mystery (XuanMiao Guan), founded in the third century AD. Return to Shanghai by train. Suzhou/Shanghai by train
Day 14 : Leave Shanghai
meals: B
Meet your private English-speaking tour guide and driver at the hotel lobby and transfer to the airport for your flight back home.
Valid: Apr 01, 2011- March 31, 2012
 | 2-5 Persons | 6-9 Persons | 10 Persons | Hotel Single Supplement |
| Standard Class | $1729.00  | $1569.00 | $1469.00 | $360.00 |
| Deluxe Class | $1949.00 | $1789.00 | $1579.00 | $540.00 |
| Superior Class | $2359.00 | $2199.00 | $1999.00 | $830.00 |
| City | Standard Class | Deluxe Class | Superior Class |
| Hongkong . | Stanford Hillview Hotel | The Salisbury YMCA Hotel | The Royal Garden |
| Guilin . | Vienna Hotel | Guishan Hotel | Lijiang Waterfall Hotel |
| Yangshou . | West Street Hotel | Yangshuo New West Street Hotel | Yangshuo New Western Street International Hotel |
| Shanghai . | East China Hotel | Holiday Inn Vista Shanghai | Huating Hotel & Towers Shanghai |
| Suzhou . | Overseas Chinese Hotel | Suzhou Bamboo Grove Hotel | Suzhou Sheraton Hotel |
| Hotel | Indoor Pool | Outdoor Pool | Gym | Safe Box | Refrigerator | Hair Dryer | Kitchen |
| Stanford Hillview Hotel | |||||||
| The Salisbury YMCA Hotel | |||||||
| The Royal Garden | |||||||
| Vienna Hotel | |||||||
| Guishan Hotel | √ | √ | √ | √ | |||
| Lijiang Waterfall Hotel | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | ||
| West Street Hotel | |||||||
| Yangshuo New West Street Hotel | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | ||
| Yangshuo New Western Street International Hotel | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | ||
| East China Hotel | √ | √ | √ | ||||
| Holiday Inn Vista Shanghai | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ | ||
| Huating Hotel & Towers Shanghai | √ | ||||||
| Overseas Chinese Hotel | √ | √ | |||||
| Suzhou Bamboo Grove Hotel | √ | √ | √ | √ | |||
| Suzhou Sheraton Hotel | √ | √ | √ | √ |
Inclusions
- Hong Kong/Guilin air ticket
- Shanghai/Suzhou/Shanghai train ticket
- Airport (or bus station) /hotel/airport (or bus station) transfer as listed in itinerary.
- All listed sightseeing and tour programs with private English-speaking tour guide and private van or bus with driver.
- Hotels and meals as stipulated in itinerary. (B = Breakfast, L = lunch, D = Dinner)
Exclusions
- International Airfare.
- Some meals.
- Tipping to tour guide and driver.
- Chinese visa.
- Expenses of a personal nature.
- Orphanage visit filing fee to the Provincial Civil Affair Bureau.
- Side trips to the designated provinces on Day 8-10 and the airfare of Guilin - province city - Shanghai which can be arranged with extra cost by us
Important Remarks
- To qualify for a child discount, a child has to be under 12 year old on last day of tour.
- In China, a child over 3'10" tall is charged adult fare for admission tickets, transportation fare (except for airfare) and meals in restaurant. Lotus Travel's assumes all children under 12 years old to be under the height of 3'10" and quotes you a child's fee. If your child exceeds this height limit, you might be asked to pay for transportation fare and admission ticket difference by your tour guide while in China.
- Twin beds in China hotels, about 50 inches wide, are closer in width to the 54" double size beds in the U.S., and much wider than the 39 inches wide twin beds found in U.S. homes.
- A soft sleeper train compartment is equipped with two bunk beds and sleeps four. If there are less than four people in your party, Lotus Travel highly recommends purchasing the extra seats in the compartment to ensure privacy.
- If your itinerary state "free time" or "free day", no activities will be planned for you, neither will you have a tour guide or driver.
- It might be worthwhile purchasing travel insurance; the Travelex plans we recommend covers children under 16 for free with an adult coverage. Please see attached document for detail.
- A Chinese visa is good for 3 months only. We can apply about 2 months before your departure. If you want our service, a regular visa-processing fee is $100, which include consulate application fee and express mail fee.
- Lotus Travel offers a very affordable cell phone rental package to help you stay in touch with families while in China. Please contact us for detail.
Notes:
- Deposit: 20 percent of the total tour cost deposit is due at the time of registration
- Balance: Balance is due 60 days before departure
- Terms & Conditions: Our terms and conditions are listed on
Note: Customer Commitment - Each Lotus agent is committed to respond to each email with an acknowledgement of receipt within 24 hours. If you do not receive email acknowledgement within 1 business day, please check your spam box for our agents'response e-mail or send your notice to iris@lotustours.net or call 1-800-956-8873.