China Highlights Express
The essential first-time itinerary: imperial Beijing, the Terracotta Army in Xi'an and futuristic Shanghai, linked by high-speed rail.
From US$1,290 US$1,490/per person
Guided tours & packages
Every itinerary below runs privately or in a small group with a licensed local guide, and every price is itemised before you pay anything.
The short version
Filter by destination or length. Prices are per person, twin share, land only.
The essential first-time itinerary: imperial Beijing, the Terracotta Army in Xi'an and futuristic Shanghai, linked by high-speed rail.
From US$1,290 US$1,490/per person
The three great capitals plus a morning with the pandas of Chengdu — the trip we recommend to seven out of ten first-time visitors.
From US$1,690/per person
View tourDesigned around the 240-hour visa-free transit window: three days that actually work with your flight times rather than against them.
From US$460/per person
View tourWalk the restored battlements of Mutianyu, then camp overnight on a wild, unrestored stretch of the wall at Jinshanling.
From US$890/per person
View tourThe sandstone pillars that inspired the floating mountains of Avatar, plus the glass elevator, Tianzi Mountain and the longest cableway in Asia.
From US$1,190/per person
View tourThe Potala Palace, Everest Base Camp and prayer flags over the plateau — entered gradually by rail so the altitude does not hit you all at once.
From US$2,490/per person
View tourXi'an to Dunhuang along the Hexi Corridor: desert fortresses, camel treks at Mingsha Shan and the caves of a Thousand Buddhas.
From US$2,690/per person
View tourNine days eating across four regional cuisines, with cooking classes, market walks and a Chengdu hotpot night that goes late.
From US$1,780/per person
View tourFive days in Sichuan with a half-day volunteering at a panda centre — cleaning enclosures, preparing bamboo and meeting the keepers.
From US$980/per person
View tourTwelve days built for children: panda mornings, dumpling classes, a Great Wall toboggan, karst rivers and no 5 a.m. wake-ups.
From US$1,980/per person
View tourBeijing, four nights afloat through the Three Gorges, and Shanghai — the classic river journey with shore excursions included.
From US$2,190/per person
View tourFive regions, one journey: imperial north, panda country, the karst rivers of Guilin and the skyline of Shanghai, with Hangzhou's West Lake.
From US$2,580/per person
View tourNo tour matches those filters, but we can build one. Design a tailor-made trip →
A private 8-day trip costs US$1,600–2,600 per person for two travellers, roughly US$200–325 per day, including hotels, guide, transport and most meals. A 14-day journey runs US$3,200–5,400. International flights are not included.
Included are 4- and 5-star hotels with breakfast, a private vehicle and driver, a licensed guide, all entrance tickets, domestic flights or high-speed rail, and one main meal daily. Not included are international flights, visas and drinks.
Our departures are private: just your party, usually 2 to 8 people, in a vehicle sized to fit. We never merge strangers into a group. Larger families of 9 to 16 travel in a minibus with a second guide from day four.
Yes; most itineraries absorb one extra city without changing shape, because high-speed rail covers Beijing–Xi'an in 4.5 hours and Shanghai–Hangzhou in 1 hour. Adding a city costs roughly US$220–380 per person per day.
Peak season is April–May and September–October; low season is January–February and late November. The same itinerary can differ by 15–25% between the two, almost entirely hotel rates. National holidays in early May and early October add 10–20%.
Most days involve 4 to 7 km of walking on flat, paved ground at your own pace. Two itineraries are genuinely strenuous: the Great Wall ridge walks and Zhangjiajie's 5- to 6-hour mountain days. We grade every route and offer a shorter alternative.
Breakfast is included daily; we arrange one main meal a day, chosen with you, and leave the rest open. Allergy and dietary notes go to the restaurant in Chinese before you sit down. Vegetarian, halal and gluten-free are all workable.
Yes. About one traveller in six is solo and pays the single supplement plus a solo rate roughly 30–40% above the per-person price for two. We never add strangers to your vehicle, your room or your restaurant table.
Free itinerary design, a revised plan within one working day, and nothing charged until you approve the final version.