10_day_PT10D-1

Peregrine Travel Tour 10-day Package
10days 9nights Beijing/Kunming/Lijiang/Shangri-La
(PT10D-1)
USD:$3,898 Double Occupancy
USD:$4,395 Single Occupancy

As the capital of China, Beijing is one of the world's truly imposing cities, with a 3,000-year history and 11 million people. Covering 16,808 square kilometers in area, it is the political, cultural and economic center of the People's Republic of China. Situated in northeast China, Beijing adjoins the Inner Mongolian Highland to the northwest and the Great Northern Plain to the south. Five rivers run through the city, connecting it to the eastern Bohai Sea. Administratively, the Beijing municipality equals the status of a province, reporting directly to the central government. Rich in history, Beijing has been China's primary capital for more than seven centuries. China's imperial past and political present meet at Tiananmen square, where the Forbidden City palace of the emperors gives way to the Great Hall of the People congress building and the mausoleum of Chairman Mao Zedong. The old city walls have been replaced by ring roads, and many of the old residential districts of alleys and courtyard houses have been turned into high-rise hotels, office buildings, and department stores. Beijing, a dynamic city where the old and new intermingle, remains a magnet for visitors from inside and outside China.

Nicknamed the 'City of Eternal Spring', Kunming enjoys a pleasant year-round climate. It is also known as a city which plays host to the many minority cultures which inhabit Yunnan. Around twenty-six ethnic groups can be found living in or around the city. The unique landscape of Kunming featuring attractions such as the Stone Forest attracts millions of visitors each year.

The Old Town of Lijiang was first built in Southern Song Dynasty and in 1253, which is surrounded by Lion Mountain in the west and by Elephant and Golden Row Mountains in the north. The streets are paved with the local stone slabs, which do not get muddy in the rainy season and are free of dust in the dry season. Many stone bridges and arches in the city were built during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The ancient traditional culture of the Naxi ethnic group is the Dongba culture, which is based on the Dongba religion. Most believers are skilled in medicine and the culture is passed on through literature and art. The most delicious traditional food is called Lijiang round cake. The Old Town of Lijiang was included in the UNESCO world heritage list in 1997.

For many years the debate went on to determine where is the Shangri-La as described in James Hilton's Book Lost Horizon. It was not until few years ago that the international debate ended and confirmed that Diqing of Yunnan Province was indeed what James Hilton was writing about. As a result, Diqing is now officially named Shangri-La and has been designed a UNESCO destination.

	Schedule:
	Day 1	Arrive at Beijing. Transfer to Days & Suites Beijing Hotel for 2 nights stay. (D)
	Day 2	Badaling Great Wall & Summer Palace. (B,L,D)
	Day 3	Full day City Tour (Forbidden City & Temple of Heaven) & Evening flight to Kunming. Transfer to Kunming Bank Hotel for 2 nights stay. (B,L,D)
	Day 4	Full Day Stone Forests (B,L,D)
	Day 5	Fly to Lijiang, Transfer to Lijiang Treasure Harbour International Hotel for 2 nights stay. Afternoon visit Lijiang Old City. (B,L,D)
	Day 6	Full Day Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (B,L,D)
	Day 7	Drive to Shangri-La pass by Tiger Leaping Gorge, then transfer to Shangri-La Paradise Hotel for 2 nights stay. (B,L,D)
	Day 8	Pudacuo Nation Park & Songzanlin Monastery & Old Town & Women's Handicraft Center. (B,L,D)
	Day 9	Fly from Shangri-La to Kunming then connecting flight to Beijing. Transfer to Days & Suites Beijing Hotel. (B,L,D)
	Day 10	Departure from Beijing. (B)

The Forbidden City

Forbidden City was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties which is the largest palace complex in the world. It surrounded by 10-meter high walls and a 52-meter wide moat. It covers 74 hectares and has 9,999 rooms. In the forbidden city, you can get more knowledge about the eastern architecture, splendid painted and beautiful craftwork.

Temple of Heaven

Temple of Heaven was built in 1,420 in the Ming Dynasty, which is the most holy of all Beijing's imperial temples. This is where the Emperor came every winter solstice to worship heaven and to solemnly pray for a good harvest. True to the Chinese saying, "Round Heaven, Square Earth." The park is in a square shape and the temple in a round shape which symbolizes that the emperor had to leave the Earth (represented by the square) for Heaven (represented by the round-roofed building).

The Great Wall

The Great Wall is perhaps China's most famous and most mythologized site. Several sections are conveniently visited from Beijing, including at Badaling, the most popular site, about 70 km (43 mi.) northwest of Beijing and at Mutianyu, 90 km (56 mi.) northeast of Beijing. These impressive brick and earth structures date from the Ming dynasty, when the wall was fortified against Mongol forces to the north. The Ming wall is about 26 feet tall and 23 feet wide at the base, and could accommodate up to six horsemen riding abreast. Watch towers, built on high points every 200-300 meters or so with small garrison forces, used fire signals or fireworks as a means of communication. These stretches of the wall are part of a system that extends from the Shanhaiguan fortress on the Bohai Gulf in the east to the Jiayuguan fortress in the west, altogether some 6000 km (3700 mi).

The Summer Palace

The Summer Palace landscape, dominated mainly by Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake, covers an area of 2.9 square kilometers, three quarters of which is under water. Its 70,000 square meters of building space features a variety of palaces, gardens and other ancient-style architectural structures. The Summer Palace is a monument to classical Chinese architecture, in terms of both garden design and construction. Borrowing scenes from surrounding landscapes, it radiates not only the grandeur of an imperial garden but also the beauty of nature in a seamless combination that best illustrates the guiding principle of traditional Chinese garden design: " The works of men should match the works of Heaven ".

The Stone Forest (Shilin)

The world-famous Stone Forest lies within Lunan County. Owing to the weathering process through the millennia there finally came into being a typical karst physiognomy-a most enchanting sight of fantastic stone pillars, and reputed as the "Number One Grand Spectacle on earth". Many beautiful legends originate in this magical place, passed along by the native people known as Sani, a branch of the Yi ethnic group. One particular story about the faithful love of Ashima, a beautiful, clever and warm-hearted Sani girl, is the most popular and has been told for thousands of years. The Sani people celebrate their national festival - the Torch Festival - every lunar year on June 24. They take part in traditional performances such as wrestling, bull fighting, pole-climbing, dragon-playing, lion-dancing and the Axi Moon Dance. During this time, the Stone Forest is alive with a particularly joyful, festive atmosphere, making the area even more attractive than usual. However, the Stone Forest - with its sculptures engraved by nature, herself - is always a true miracle for visitors to behold.

The Old Town of Lijiang

The Old Town of Lijiang, a well-preserved old city of ethnic minorities with brilliant culture, is a central town of the Lijiang Autonomous County of the Naxi Ethnic Minority in Yunnan Province. Located on the plateau which is 2,400 meters (7,874 feet) above the sea level and embraced by the tree-covered Lion Mountain in the west, Elephant and Golden Row Mountains in the north, vast fertile fields in the southeast and crystal clear water running through, the old town looks like a big jade ink slab, hence, got the alias name, the Town of Big Ink Slab (Dayanzhen).

Jade Dragon Snow Mountain ( Yulong Mountains)

Locating between 100

04'-100

16'east longitude and 27

03'-27

40' north latitude, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (Yulong Mountain) is the southernmost glacier in the Northern Hemisphere. Consisting of 13 peaks, among which Shanzidou is the highest one with an altitude of 5,600 meters (18,360 feet), Jade Dragon Snow Mountain stretches a length of 35 kilometers (22 miles) and a width of 20 kilometers (13 miles). Looking from Lijiang Old Town in the south which is 15 kilometers (nine miles) away, the snow-covered and fog-enlaced mountain resembles a jade dragon laying in the clouds, hence, the name Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

Tiger Leaping Gorge

Tiger Leaping Gorge is no doubt an independent hiker's first choice in China . This magnificent gorge holds several peaks at both sides up to 6000 meters. Around 15 km in length, the gorge is located where the river passes between 5,596 meters Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and 5,396 meters Haba Xueshan in a series of rapids under steep 2000 meter cliffs. Legend says that in order to escape from a hunter, a tiger jumped across the river at the narrowest point (25 meters wide), hence the name.

Pudacuo National Park

The Nature Conservancy has helped China achieve a conservation landmark: the establishment of that country's first national park, which will also serve as a model for a new Chinese national park system. The new park — Pudacuo National Park in China's Southwest Yunnan Province — is located in one of the most biodiversity regions of the world. While the region comprises only 0.7 percent of China 's land area, it contains more than 20 percent of the country's plant species, about one-third of its mammal and bird species and almost 100 endangered species. By any standard, Pudacuo qualifies as a natural wonderland. It contains endemic species of fish found no where else in the world, rare and beautiful orchids, black-necked cranes and a yew whose extracts are indispensable to the creation of many cancer drugs. While there are more than 2,300 nature reserves in China , only a fraction are in areas of critical biological importance, and an even smaller number are well-managed. Pudacuo will meet the standards for national parks established by The World Conservation Union (IUCN) — and also advance both protection and sustainable development of this ecologically significant section of Yunnan Province.

Songzanlin Monastery

Being the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Yunnan near Shangri -La County, Songzanlin Monastery, also known as Guihua Monastery, is situated in the high altitude region over 3,300 meters (about 10,827 feet) high. The monastery is located, at the foot of Foping Mountain . Construction began in 1679 and was completed in 1681. It is said that the Fifth Dalai Lama chose the site of the monastery through divination and named it "Gedan Songzanlin Monastery."

During its time of greatest prosperity, there were more than 3,000 monks in the temple. Built along the mountains with a magnificent facade, the present monastery is a faithful imitation of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. Two main lamaseries, Zhacang and Jikang, command the highest position in the architectural complex. They are both Tibetan-style watchtowers and are surrounded by eight sub-lamaseries and the dormitories or the lamas.

A five-story Tibetan-style building serves as the main hall in this monastery. Seen from the distance, the gilded copper stupa at the top of the structure and the gilded copper tiles seem to shine eternally in the plateau sunlight. Brightened with numerous butter-oil lamps, the hall can hold 1,600 lamas sitting in meditation or chanting the Buddhist scriptures. The monastery has many treasures. The most famous are the eight gold-covered sculptures of Sakyamuni, fashioned between the time of the Fifth and Seventh Dalai Lamas.

Women's Handicraft center

Shangri-La Women's Handicraft Center is located in the heart of the old town which is supported by Yunnan Mountain Heritage Foundation, a non-profit community based organization. Summer is the busiest time for women in rural areas around Shangri-la with the harvest of mushrooms in full swing, yaks out to pasture, fields to be tended. At the Women's Handicraft Center , visitors can see weaving demonstrations of carpets and other handicrafts done on looms.

Days & Suites Beijing Hotel (Chang An Grand Hotel)
27 Hua Wei Li Chaoyang District Beijing China

Offering comfortable accommodation and various facilities, the Chang An Grand Hotel is an ideal travel destination for both business and leisure travelers visiting Beijing. The hotel has 373 rooms.

Hotel Amenities:

Airline reservation desk
Beauty shop
Car Rental
Babysitting
Bar & Lounge
Concierge desk
Foreign exchange
Restaurants
Housekeeping service daily
Laundry on-site

Hotel Description

Guest Rooms: Guests are provided with the comfort of tastefully decorated rooms that are spacious and facilitated with numerous in-room amenities. The hotel also offers 24-hour room service for your convenience.

Location: The Chang An Grand Hotel is located in the southeast corner of Beijing City, adjacent to Beijing Curio City, China's largest curio and folk artwork market. It is also close to the Central Business District and downtown.

Restaurant: Guests can savor delicious western cuisine in the relaxed atmosphere of the onsite restaurant and later chill out with a refreshing drink at the cocktail bar.

Bank Hotel, Kunming
No. 399Youth Road, Kunming , China

It is one of the best hotels in Kunming with best location in downtown. Guests may also enjoy being at the company of the Red-beak seagulls from Siberia by the beautiful Pan Long River ,just a step outside of Bank Hotel.

Hotel Amenities:

Western Restaurant
Music Lounge
Bank Banquet Hall
Clinic
24-Hours Security Service
Tennis Court
Bowling Stadium
Sauna & Massage
Karaoke
Drug Store
Fitness Center
Business Center
Baby Room
Beauty Saloon

Hotel Description

Guest Room: Hotel guest rooms are large sized, fully appointed to present the luxurious atmosphere. All guest rooms are in exceptional condition. Broadband internet connection is available in each room.

Location: Bank hotel is located in downtown Kunming, about 15 minutes drive from Kunming International Airport .

Restaurants: Besides luxurious grand ballroom style banquet hall, hotel also has superior international and local flavour restaurants ready to meet your demand. Hotel provides the best choice for its harmonious blend of tradition and modern style.

Treasure Harbour International Hotel, Lijiang
Shangri-La Road, Lijiang, Yunnan, P. R. China

Hotel Amenities

Babysitting
Beauty parlour
Boutique
Business center
Car rental facilities
Disabled facilities
Early check-in
Gymnasium
Laundry facilities
Lifts Lobby
Outdoor pool
Porterage
Room Service
Sauna
Shop
Travel agency facilities

Hotel Description

Guest Room: The hotel is the masterpiece of the distinguished designer, MO & Associates which is enjoying the great prestige all over the world. The hotel has 435 spacious and comfortable rooms and suites with elegant interior design and floor area of over 45 square meters. You can enjoy the poetic charm of the nature through the spectacular views of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

Location: Located in the Shangri-La road, which is the main street of the city. The Airport is 30 minutes driving distance away and 10 minutes driving distance to Dayan ancient town which was called The World Cultural Heritage.

Restaurants: Chinese Restaurant serves several kinds of cuisine including Cantonese, Huangyang , Hunan cuisine and local snacks. International food and daily buffets also are served as well.

Paradise Hotel (Tian Jie Shen Chuan Hotel),Shangri-La
Changzheng Middle Road, Shangri-La County, Zhongdian, Yunnan, China

The Five-Star Paradise Hotel, completed in 2004, is, at the time of writing the biggest hotel in town. An amalgamation of about six or seven different interior design styles, it features rooms overlooking a courtyard with a (cold) pool, a sauna, and other greenery. The beauty of nature is, literally, right in front of you. The rooms are spacious and bright and are decorated with a soothing palette of colors and warm lighting. There's also an oxygen at the hotel's nurse station

Hotel Amenities

Business Center
Laundry
Beauty Salon
Restaurants in hotel
Parking Health Club
Chess Room
Karaoke Billiards
ClubMassage
Tennis
Sauna

Hotel Description

Guest Room: This 200 superbly appointed guest rooms and suites offer fine quality furnishings and a contemporary feel. Generously proportioned glass windows allow natural light. Hotel is located in downtown area, with beautiful environment and comfortable rooms.

Location: 15 minutes from the Zhongdian Airport. 7km's far from Zhongdain airport.

Restaurants: The hotel has Chinese Restaurants, Western Restaurants, Tea Restaurants, Tibet-Style Wine Bar, Tibet-Style Flavor Restaurant and 12 private rooms with different minority features.