Your Treasures of Japan & China vacation begins in Tokyo, Japan’s capital city, with wonders that include the Meiji Shrine, a 20th-century Shinto monument set in a man-made forest, Imperial Palace Plaza, and Asakusa Kannon Temple. Also, enjoy a walking tour among the dazzling neon lights of Tokyo. From Tokyo, your tour heads south for Hakone and a cable car ride with panoramic views of spectacular Mount Fuji (weather permitting). Then, a thrilling ride on Japan’s bullet train delivers you to Kyoto. Established in 1964, Japan’s bullet trains were the world’s first high-speed trains and now travel in excess of 185 miles per hour. In Kyoto, the former imperial capital of Japan, visit Nijo Castle, completed in 1603 as the official residence of Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. You also visit Kinkakuji, the Temple of the Gold Pavilion, and the Heian Shrine & Garden. A full day of leisure in Kyoto gives you time to enjoy the many temples, shrines, palaces, and pagodas at your own pace. In Japan, you not only visit the famous sights, you also have an opportunity to try on a traditional kimono and enjoy a tea ceremony. The next part of your trip takes you to China. Fly to Shanghai, China’s most populous city and center of trade and industry. On your Shanghai sightseeing tour, experience the Shanghai Museum; Yu Yuan Gardens, built in the Ming Dynasty; and the Children’s Palace, one of China’s famous kindergartens. Then travel to Guilin for vistas of unique limestone mountains during a leisurely Li River cruise. After a short flight to Xi’an, enjoy “The Tang Dynasty” dinner show and see the enormous tomb of China’s first emperor with its legion of Terracotta Warriors. Finally, fly to Beijing, China’s capital. Enjoy a sightseeing tour that includes the Forbidden City’s Imperial Palace, once the sacred home of China’s great emperors, and Tian’anmen Square, the largest public square in the world and where the People’s Republic of China was proclaimed in 1949. Your sightseeing tour also includes the Beijing Zoo to see pandas and the former Imperial Summer Palace, a complex of pavilions, temples, and galleries situated around Kunming Lake. No vacation to China is complete without seeing the Great Wall of China, and on this tour, you get a chance to walk along the wall to enjoy sweeping vistas of this mammoth fortress. After lunch in a local restaurant, take a leisurely walk down the Sacred Way of the Ming Tombs. Your adventurous vacation to China and Japan concludes with a delightful Peking duck dinner in Beijing.
Similar Vacations that may interest you: