Connoisseurs Experience

April 10 2018 Hangzhou (B/L)
This morning, enjoy a leisure cruise on the West Lake,. Lap, lap, lap. Lean
back, let the paddle lick the water behind you. Let the boatsman take the
strain as the zither reverberates through the mist, around the lake.
Afternoon is free at leisure..
April 8, 2018 Shanghai (B/L)
A morning walking tour along the Bund, admire its outstanding architectural
landmarks including the neoclassical Customs House and the
China Merchants Bank building. Afterwards, take a tour of Shanghai’s
Old Quarter, the beautiful Yu Gardens with its traditional red walls and
tile roofs. Lunch is served in a local restaurant at Old Town
April 11 2018 Hangzhou - Wuzhen - Suzhou (B/L)
Leave by coach the picturesque Hangzhou as we come to Wuzhen, an
ancient canal town and a hidden gem in fast changing China. Visit the
traditional houses, a wine brewery and a bamboo weaving workshop.
Lunch at a restaurant on the bank of the Grand Canal and watch sampans
and barges jostle for space. Continue to a Taoist shrine and its opera
stage, where we enjoy a shadow puppet show. Stroll through the ancient
town with its black tiled, amber colour painted wooden houses that
contrast sharply with its white walls and gray flagging, brings to mind a
Chinese ink and wash painting before continuing to Suzhou.
Pan Pacific Suzhou or similar
Visit Shanghai’s street markets and tour the famous Shanghai Museum,
its selection of 120,000 historic artifacts may not be the most comprehensive,
but it is easily the most tastefully displayed and well lit, with
explanatory signs in both English and Chinese.
Explore historical French Concession features distinctive Europe architecture,
and Xiantiandi, a vibrant, recently restored neighbourhood for
dinner this evening or return to our hotel.
April 9, 2018 Shanghai - Hangzhou (B/L)
This morning, about an hour high speed train brings us to Hangzhou.
No city in China is more celebrated by poets, painters and emperors.
Backward baby Shanghai was little more than a smelly fishing village
when Hangzhou was “without doubt the finest and most splendid city
in the world,” as Marco Polo put it. Capital of China from 1127 until
the Mongol invasion of 1276, Hangzhou was once the largest city in the
world, a “paradise on earth” for reputedly about 1 million residents, beloved
by scholars, writers and calligraphers obsessed with the essence of
a perfect brush strike, rain droplet or cup of tea.
April 12 2018 Suzhou (B/D)
Once upon a time, Suzhou had 200 private gardens, many of which survive
today in the old town that anchors this burgeoning modern industrial
city of 10 million people. Visit the Humble Administrator’s Garden
and the Master of Nets Garden both were recognized by UNESCO as
symbols of the city’s magnificent architectural heritage. In the afternoon,
tour the Suzhou Museum, designed by the Pritzker Prize-winning
Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei and has created a meaningful new
language for architecture in China.
Visit the Lingyin Temple and look out for the Laughing Buddha, known
as the Maitreya or the Buddha of the Future: “his belly is big enough to
contain all intolerable things in the world; his mouth is ever ready to
laugh at all snobbish persons under heaven.”
Afternoon, visit the Longjing Tea Plantation, China’s best known green
tea, Longjing (Dragon Well) is extensively cultivated on the terraced hills
overlooking Hangzhou. To conclude the day, we visit the Hefang Street
and Museum of traditional Chinese medicine .
Lake View Hotel Hangzhou or similar
Stop at the Silk Factory to see the process of the fabric from moth cocoons
and enjoy leisure time and farewell dinner tonight.
April 13 2018 Suzhou - Shanghai (B/L)
This morning, transfer back to Shanghai and the balance of the day enjoy
a Cooking class to learn how to make Shanghai Dim Sum and some
dishes. You will taste the dishes that you cooked on your own as lunch.
Sunrise on the Bund Shanghai or similar
April 14 2018 Shanghai (B)
This morning, transfer back to Shanghai airport for your onward flight.
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