Imperial China, Tibet & the Yangtze River (2012)

Beijing • Xian • Chengdu • Lhasa, Tibet • Yangtze River • Wuhan • Hong Kong
  • 21 days
  • from only:
  • $2745
  • $131 per day
    Small Ship Adventure Only
  • 22 days
  • from only:
  • $4145
  • $189 per dayIncludes international airfare and government taxes
IN THIS SECTION:
Detailed Itinerary
Is this Adventure Right for You?
It's Included
Unique Accommodations
Extend Your Adventure
Optional Tours
Local Team & Insider Tips
Grand Circle Foundation
Your Travel Handbook
Air information
LearnMore
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CT

Customize your trip

Learn how to customize your adventure, or view standard air routing and travel times. The choice is yours with our True Choice program.

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CT

Customize your trip

With our True Choice Program, you can choose to stay longer before or after your trip on your own, or combine two adventures to maximize your value. Here are more ways to create the OAT adventure that’s right for you:

  • Choose our standard air routing, or work with us to select the airline and routing you prefer
  • Make your own international flight arrangements directly with the airline, applying frequent flyer miles if available
  • Stay overnight in a connecting city before or after your trip
  • Request to arrive a few days early to get a fresh start on your adventure
  • Choose to “break away” before or after your trip, spending additional days or weeks on your own
  • Extend your adventure with our optional pre- and post-trip extensions
  • Combine your choice of OAT adventures to maximize your value
  • Upgrade to business or premium economy class

The air options listed above will involve an additional fee of $100 per person for confirmed requests (as well as incremental airfare costs based on your specific choice). This service fee will be waived for Inner Circle/Sir Edmund Hillary Club members.

Or, when you make your reservation, you can choose our standard air routing, for which approximate travel times are shown below.

GATEWAY

TRAVEL TIME*

Atlanta, Dallas, Newark, Portland, OR

18hrs

Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco

19hrs

Denver, Orlando

20hrs

Houston, Washington, DC (Dulles)

21hrs

New York (JFK), Phoenix

22hrs

Los Angeles

17hrs

Seattle

12hrs

* Estimated total time, including connection and layover. Actual travel time may vary.

The information above reflects approximate flight times from the gateway cities listed to Beijing, China. Routing is based on availability and subject to change. You will receive your final air itinerary approximately 14 days prior to departure.

REFER and EARN

Earn increasing rewards as a Vacation Ambassador

REFER and EARN as a Vacation Ambassador with
the BEST referral program in the industry

Inspiring new travelers to join the OAT family is a rewarding experience—both for you and your new travelers.

Share your love of travel with others and, for each referral who embarks on an OAT trip, you will earn $100 in CASH or credit. With your 4th referral departing on a 2012 departure, your reward increases to $200 in CASH or credit per person. And once you refer 8 travelers departing in either 2012 or 2013, you'll earn a FREE trip valued up to $4,500 per household—which will bring the total value of your earned rewards up to $5,600.

And you are also passing along savings to your new traveler: We'll instantly deduct $100 off the cost of their reservation when they mention your name and Customer Number while reserving.

To learn more about the benefits of our Vacation Ambassador Referral Program, please call us toll-free at 1-800-955-1925 or click here.

ALSO SEE:
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Your Travel Handbook
Solo Friendly Travel
Frequently Asked Questions
View all Trip Leaders, read Insider Tips, and more
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Optional Tours

Expand your discoveries with our optional tours

Select an Itinerary:
Day 4:
 Acrobatic Performance with Dinner $65 per person
G9963

Join an optional tour to a dazzling acrobatic performance by local acrobats, with an included dinner.
Day 10:
 Changing Faces Opera with Backstage Visit $50 per person
G23529

Experience the Changing Faces opera. Face changing (bian lian) is an ancient Chinese dramatic art. Performers wear brightly colored costumes and move to quick, dramatic music. But what is most impressive is their ability to change from one vividly colored mask to another in quick succession. Before the performance, we'll meet the performers backstage and try another Chinese art: hand shadow play done with a sophistication you have probably never witnessed.
Day 14:
 Sera & Papungka Monasteries $60 per person
T3183

Join this afternoon tour to experience more of Tibet's Buddhist culture, beginning with a visit to the Sera Monastery, one of the region's largest. Built in 1419. this monastery features a Tsokchen (main assembly hall) four stories high, with nearly 11,000 square feet of floor space. The monastery's chanting halls, chapels, statues, and murals are carefully cared for. The tapestries, scroll paintings, and scriptures written in gold powder still glow, as you’ll see. We’ll also visit the Papungka Monastery, a smaller, off-the-beaten-path retreat with an excellent view over Lhasa. Here we may be able to view a platform of the kind used for a traditional Tibetan "sky burial."
Day 20:
 Hong Kong by Night & Asian Cuisine $85 per person
T21502

After dinner at a local restaurant, we’ll stroll through the Temple Street night market, where you can browse the many interesting shops that feature inexpensive clothing, novelties, and fortune-tellers. Then we’ll take the Star Ferry across the harbor to Central Pier, where we’ll be driven up Victoria Peak to gaze at the amazing night view. After returning to Causeway Bay, we’ll enjoy a streetcar ride through Wan Chai, the famous red light district.
Day 4:
 Acrobatic Performance with Dinner $65 per person
G9963

Join an optional tour to a dazzling acrobatic performance by local acrobats, with an included dinner.
Day 10:
 Changing Faces Opera with Backstage Visit $50 per person
G23529

Experience the Changing Faces opera. Face changing (bian lian) is an ancient Chinese dramatic art. Performers wear brightly colored costumes and move to quick, dramatic music. But what is most impressive is their ability to change from one vividly colored mask to another in quick succession. Before the performance, we'll meet the performers backstage and try another Chinese art: hand shadow play done with a sophistication you have probably never witnessed.
Day 20:
 Hong Kong by Night & Asian Cuisine $85 per person
T21502

After dinner at a local restaurant, we’ll stroll through the Temple Street night market, where you can browse the many interesting shops that feature inexpensive clothing, novelties, and fortune-tellers. Then we’ll take the Star Ferry across the harbor to Central Pier, where we’ll be driven up Victoria Peak to gaze at the amazing night view. After returning to Causeway Bay, we’ll enjoy a streetcar ride through Wan Chai, the famous red light district.