P a g e | 1 *** NOTE: SOME PRICES STILL SUBJECT TO MINOR ADJUSTMENT *** Itinerary for 2014 Shanghai Tourism Festival with Optional Extension Tours to Suzhou / Hangzhou and Beijing Note: Blue underlined items are live links that you can follow for more information. Sept 10 Depart U.S. for Shanghai. Cross International Dateline and lose one day. Sept 11 Arrive in Shanghai in late afternoon, where we will be met by our tour guide. Transfer to hotel and check in. Sept 12 Visit People’s Square and Shanghai Museum in the morning. The Museum, located in People’s Square, has a collection of over 120,000 pieces, including bronze, ceramics, calligraphy, furniture, jades, ancient coins, paintings, seals, sculptures, minority art and foreign art. 7:30 PM: Arrive at Shanghai Biyue Middle School and prepare for rehearsal. 10:00 PM: Rehearsal (sorry, can’t tell whether this is beginning or end – I think it’s the end) Meals: B, L, D Sept 13 A chance to sleep in and rest up for the parade! 4:30 PM: Arrive at Shanghai Biyue Middle School and prep for parade 7:30 – 9:30 PM: Opening Ceremony and Grand Parade of Shanghai Tourism Festival Meals: B, L, D Sept 14 Public show (time and location TBD) Visit the Jade Buddha Temple in the morning. After lunch visit Silk Museum for an educational tour of the entire process from growing and feeding the silkworms to collecting the silk threads and the factory production of silk textiles. Night cruise on Huangpu River. From Rose Zhou: “Huangpu River, the Mother River of Shanghai, is also regarded as the symbol of Shanghai. The best sceneries of Shanghai are just located on the two shores of Huangpu River. It is a very nice experience to have a night visit of Shanghai on the cruise.” See photo section at end of this document. Meals: B, L, D Sept 15 Public show (time and location TBD) Visit the ancient city of Chenghuangmiao (City God Temple). Chenghuangmiao was built in the fifteenth century during the Ming Dynasty and was originally a temple built to honor the Han P a g e | 2 statesman Huo Guang (68 B.C.). One hundred years ago, as more and more pilgrims came to worship in the temple, many peddlers began to open shops nearby. Today, around the temple and in a circumference of one-third of a mile there are more than one hundred small shops and restaurant. Shanghai residents enjoy shopping here; they can find things unobtainable elsewhere and they dine at their favorite restaurants. Enjoy one of the famous acrobatic shows of Shanghai in the evening. From Rose: “There are many famous acrobatic shows in the cities of China, what I have to say is that the Acrobatic show of Shanghai is the best one in China. It is amazing!” Meals: B, L, D Sept 16 Public show (time and location TBD) Visit the Bund, one of Shanghai’s most famous tourist destinations. The Bund is the waterfront area lying along the Huangpu River and contains dozens of historical buildings. Nearby, visit the popular pedestrian shopping district of Nanjing Road, one of the world’s busiest shopping streets. Meals: B, L, D Sept 17 DEPARTURE for home if you are on the basic itinerary. CONTINUE below if taking the Suzhou / Hangzhou extension. From Rose: “There is a famous saying: ‘Paradise in Heaven, Suzhou and Hangzhou on earth.’ Both cities are regarded as the paradise on earth.’” See the additional “Introduction” pages below for more detailed information about the Suzhou and Hangzhou attractions. Sept 17 Head to Suzhou in the morning by bus. Visit the Master-of-Nets Garden (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and New Su-Zhou Museum, designed by architect I. M. Pei. Overnight in Suzhou hotel. Meals: B, L, D Sept 18 Head to Hangzhou in the morning by bus. Visit the Lingyin Temple and a Tea Plantation. Overnight in Hangzhou hotel. Meals: B, L, D Sept 19 Morning: Cruise on the West Lake, famous for its picturesque landscape. Sept 19 Afternoon DEPARTURE for home if not taking Beijing extension: P a g e | 3 Charter bus to Shanghai Pudong International Airport in afternoon, return to U.S. CONTINUE below if taking Beijing extension: Catch afternoon flight from Hangzhou Airport to Beijing Capital International Airport. Meet Beijing tour guide and transfer to hotel. Overnight in Beijing Hotel. Meals: B, L, D Sept 20 Visit Tian’an Men Square and Forbidden City, the largest open plaza in the world, accommodating half a million people at one time and the former Imperial Palace for the 24 Emperors of the Mind and Qing Dynasties. Beijing’s Forbidden City is known as the largest palace in the world, and its ancient walls now serve as an enormous entrance for visitors, leading to one of the most fascinating displays of Chinese cultural history, and the best- preserved Chinese classical architecture. After lunch, visit a teahouse to sample tea and partake in a Chinese tea ceremony. In the afternoon, we will have a Hutong Tour to learn more about the life of the common people. From Wikipedia: “Hutongs are a type of narrow streets or alleys, commonly associated with northern Chinese cities, most prominently Beijing. In Beijing, hutongs are alleys formed by lines of siheyuan, traditional courtyard residences. Many neighbourhoods were formed by joining one siheyuan to another to form a hutong, and then joining one hutong to another. The word hutong is also used to refer to such neighbourhoods.” For dinner, enjoy the famous Beijing Duck Dinner, a traditional dinner enjoyed by the emperor of China. Overnight in Beijing hotel. Meals: B, L, D Sept 21 Morning drive to the Great Wall of China, one of the eight wonders of the world. The Great Wall was build more than 2000 years ago. In the afternoon, visit the 800 year old Summer Palace, the largest garden in China. Here the royal family of the Qing dynasty came to spend relaxing summers and handle government affairs. As we drive back to the city, visit the Birds Nest where the opening ceremony for the 2008 Olympic Games was held. Overnight in Beijing hotel. Meals: B, L, D Sept 22 Airport transfer and return to U.S. Cross International Dateline and regain our lost day. Meals: B Suzhou As one of the key cities in the Yangtze River Delta, Suzhou is a renowned cultural, historic and tourist city. The city is located in the southeast of Jiangsu Province, bordering Shanghai on the east, Zhejiang Province on the south, the Taihu Lake in the west and the Yangtze River in the north. The geographical coordinate of the city proper is at the northern latitude of 31 ° 19' and East longitude of 120 ° 37'. Suzhou has a history of over 4000 years, which entitles the city one of "24 Cultural and Historic Cities ".It is well known as the “paradise on the earth.” Suzhou Museum In the modern architectural field, I.M.Pei earns a high reputation and is a well-known architect. He is the only world-class Chinese architect as well as one of the most important architectural artists in the 20th century. New museum, as his last design in his career, is completed in October 2006, covering over 10700square meters and located at the cross of Dongbei Street and Qimen Road. It is divided into three sections. It not only has the character of Suzhou style garden, but also contains the simple geometric form of modern art as well as the exquisite structural layout with full function. Lingering Garden is located outside the Changmen gate of Suzhou. It was commissioned by Xu Taishi, an impeached and later exonerated official in 1593 CE (Wanli 21st year Ming Dynasty).[1] Stone master Zhou Shicheng (designed and built the "East Garden" as it was initially called. The East Garden became famous in its day when the magistrates of Wu and Changzhou County both praised the design of Shi Ping peak, a rockery constructed to resemble Tiantai Mountain in Putao. Ownership passed to Liu Shu, another official in 1798 CE (Jiaqing 3rd year, Qing Dynasty).[1] After extensive reconstruction, he renamed it "Cold Green Village" after a verse "clean cold color of bamboo, limpid green light of water" by (poet?). Keeping with that theme, he added pine and bamboo groves. He was an avid collector of Taihu stones and added 12 more to the garden housing them in the "stone forest". It was also at this time the "Celestial Hall of Five Peaks" was built. The garden soon acquired the nickname "Liu Yuan" from the owner's surname. From 1823 CE (Daoguang's 3rd year), the garden was open to public, and became a famed resort. Ownership passed to Sheng Kang, a provincial treasurer of Hubei (father of Sheng Xuanhuai) in 1873 CE (Tongzhi 12th year). He repaired the damaged caused to the garden by the chaos of the Taiping. After three years the reconstruction was complete in 1876 CE (Guangxu 2nd year), and the garden was renamed to Liu Yuan.[1] The name, while homophonous to an older name, connotes leisure and is thus pays tribute to the former owner as well as the resort period of the garden. It was at this time the "Auspicious Cloud Capped Peak" stone was moved to its current location. During Sino-Japanese War, the garden was abandoned again, and it even degenerated into breeding zone for army's horses. After establishment of the People's Republic of China, Suzhou government took over and renovated the garden. It was reopened to the public in 1954 Hangzhou Hangzhou is one of the important tourism cities in China, famous for its natural beauty and historical and cultural heritages.