Experiencing Beijing & Shanghai

If you want to plan a one-week luxury China tour from Hawaii, Honolulu USA, we would like to recommend you avail of the convenient direct flights to visit Beijing and Shanghai, both of which are the hottest destinations. The Air China flight CA838 2330/0455+2 flies for about 13.5 hours from Hawaii to Beijing 3 to 5 times a week. The Hawaiian Airlines flight HA897 2355/0530+2 flies for 11.5 hours from Hawaii to Beijing 2 to 3 times a week. If neither of the two flights is available on your travel date, you can take flight HA459 1345/2000+1 to Seoul, wait for 3 hours & 10 minutes there, and then transit to the Korean Air flight KE857 2310/0025+1 to Beijing. In this case, your whole flights journey will take 16 hours & 40 minutes.

Beijing time is 18 hours earlier than Hawaii time, so you will not reach Beijing until the next early morning. Also, as the normal check-in time for hotels in China is after 14:00, I would like to suggest you reserve the accommodation for today. In this case, you can check in the hotel right upon your arrival the next morning and get over the jet-lag.

When you land in Beijing, our guide will be waiting for you in the arrival hall and then transfer you to the downtown 3-star hotel for a three-night stay. On the way, the guide will give you basic information about Beijing City and teach you some daily expressions in Chinese. The remainder of the day is left for you to have a good rest.

Every morning at sun rise on Tiananmen Square, the guards raise China's national flag and thousands of Chinese citizens will come to see the solemn ceremony. If you are interested, you can sign up to see the ceremony tomorrow morning.

Meals: No meals
Accommodation: Holiday Inn Express Beijing Temple of Heaven

Today's student group tour from Honolulu of USA includes the Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City and a martial art school. After breakfast, you'll visit the Tiananmen Square, the world's largest city square. Then follow your guide across the square to the Forbidden City. Strolling through this Ming and Qing Dynasty imperial palace, you will see magnificent royal architecture and countless artworks and cultural relics. Around noon, we will transfer you to a nice restaurant for lunch. You may have seen Jacky Chen and Bruce Lee in movies and have been amazed by their Chinese Kung Fu skills. This afternoon we will provide you a chance to have a close encounter with Chinese Kung Fu - a visit to a martial arts school to learn some of the martial arts with the students. The students of the school will present a small Kung Fu show to welcome you and then teach you some of moves.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Today you have a full day hiking tour at the China Great Wall, Jinshanling Section. When driving by the Olympic National Stadium, you will have a photo stop. The guide will give you some information about the construction features of the huge Bird's Nest. 

After arrival at the Jinshanling Great Wall, you will take a cable car up the mountain and start to hike along the wall. As the existing best-preserved Ming-dynasty Great Wall, Jinshanling stretches for 10.5 km along mountain ranges from the Longyukou in the west to Wangjing Tower in the east. On the wall, there are 67 watch towers, two beacon towers and five passes; the majority has not been restored and retains the original appearance from 400 years ago. The cable car takes us up to the Great Wall for a hike lasting about 2 hours. Another 2 hours bring us back to the cable car terminal. You can either walk or take the cable car to get down the mountain (the fare of downward cable car is not included, you need to pay cash). We will provide lunch box for you during the trip. Remember to wear a pair of comfortable shoes and have a big breakfast.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

The morning visit takes you to meet a lovely friend, the Giant Panda at the Panda House in Beijing Zoo. The pandas are very active in the morning, when you will be lucky to see them eating and playing with each other. Then continue to visit the Summer Palace. On the way, the guide will teach you some Chinese greetings, such as Hello (ni hao), How old are you (ni duo da le), What is your name (ni jiao shen me ming zi), I'm from…(wo lai zi…), etc.. In the royal garden, Summer Palace, you may find some locals practicing Chinese Calligraphy on the ground with a huge brush. You can take photos and also try you hand at drawing a character.

In the afternoon, take the high-speed train to Shanghai. The distance from Beijing to Shanghai is about 1,300 km, and the bullet train, running at a speed of 250-300km/h, reaches Shanghai in only 5 hours. Your guide will tell you about the current development of high-speed rail in China on the way. Upon arrival, the guide will help you check in at the 3-star Golden River-view Hotel.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Golden River-view Hotel

Visit the Shanghai Museum and the Yuyuan Garden in the morning. The museum is one of China's finest and houses thousands of cultural relics. Should you be interested in the Chinese culture and history, you can rent an audio guide to learn more about the relics (the rental charge is not included). About 10 minutes' drive away from the museum, the Yuyuan Garden has a history of over 400 years. It is a small but elegant garden here in the south of China and is quite different from the large royal gardens in Beijing.

After lunch, you will continue to visit the famous Bund area. The different styles of the buildings along the Bund indicate the city's development in the past hundred years. You will have some free time to explore the area on your own. The next destination is a famous art zone in Shanghai, Tianzifang. It was once an old residential area with outdated buildings and narrow alleys, but now becomes a modern art zone with artistic centers, exotic restaurants and bars. This evening, a fabulous acrobatics show is in store. Chinese acrobats are renowned as among the best in the world, and the Shanghai acrobatic troupe has gained many awards in international competitions. Tonight, you will have a chance to see one of their best performances.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Your enjoyable China student tour from USA ends today. We will see you off at the airport for the flight back home. According to the present flight schedule, China Eastern Airlines flight MU571 1620/0810 is scheduled from Shanghai to Hawaii every day. Its flying time is about 10 hours, and you will return Hawaii the same day. We wish you a safe journey and hope to welcome you to China again in the future!

Meals: Breakfast