7 Days Best Beijing & Shanghai Local Food Culture Tour

Summary

Day1 Beijing Arrival: Airport--Hotel Transfer, Wangfujing Food Street
Day2 Beijing: Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, Peking Roast Duck Dinner
Day3 Beijing: Mutianyu Great Wall, Beijing Hutong Family Cooking Class, Hutong Rickshaw Tour
Day4 Beijing-Shanghai: Take high speed train to Shanghai, Nanjing Road & The Bund, Huangpu River Night Cruise
Day5 Shanghai: Yu Garden, City God Temple, Nanxiang Steamed Bun Lunch, Old French Concession
Day6 Shanghai: Shanghai Street Breakfast & Wet Market, Zhujiajiao Water Town Tour
Day7 Shanghai Departure

Day 1 Beijing Arrival

Make your own flight arrangement to Beijing. Pick up service is arranged at Beijing International Airport, our Beijing local guide will meet you at the exit of airport with a welcome "China Private Tour". Enjoy a comfortable vehicle transfer to your hotel in Beijing, our guide will help you to check in your room.

After a short break, our guide will take you to explore the local snack food culture at Wangfujing Food Street. The Street is situated on the south side of the Wangfujing Haoyou Emporium. It is the best place to enjoy and experience the famous snacks from all over China. It boasts a traditional Beijing architectural design. At the entrance, there is a stunning antique archway which stands at 10 meters tall. The booths and shops are running along the two sides of the street and each stall displays decorative flags and signboards. 

After the tour, you will be taken back to your hotel in Beijing.

Day 2 Beijing

After breakfast, our guide will take you to visit the famous Forbidden City, also named "Palace Museum". It served as the home of emperors and their households and was the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government for almost 500 years. It is one of the world’s largest imperial palaces in the world. It has a grand scale. The width of it from east to west is 753m, and the length from south to north is 961m. It encompasses an area of 720,000 square meters. The entire palace consists of several dozen courtyards. The total construction area of the palace is approximately 160,000 square meters. You will spend around 2 hours here.

Today, you will have chance to taste the authentic Beijing Fried Sauce noodle (Zha Jiang Mian) at a local noodle shop. So famous in China that the mere mention of it immediately makes people think of Beijing. It’s sold everywhere—from street vendors to restaurants in five star hotels.

In the afternoon, you will visit Temple of Heaven, one of the most famous tourist attractions in Beijing. A large religious complex in the old outer city of Beijing, considered the supreme achievement of traditional Chinese architecture. Its layout symbolizes the belief that heaven is round and earth square. The three buildings are built in a straight line.

Continue your tour to visit Summer Palace, it is an imperial garden in Beijing and famous for it's landscape. The palace is stunning and truly a work of art. It is bright and beautiful. Each part of the architecture is colorful and has unique detail. The combination of lakes, gardens, and palaces give the Imperial Garden a serene and peaceful feeling.

After the tour, you will enjoy the famous Peking Roast Duck dinner before back to your hotel. Peking roast duck is a typical dish in Beijing and a must try food when you travel here. The popular and delicious Beijing Roast Duck surely has a long history in the country’s cuisine, culture, and even customs. No visit to this beautiful city would be complete if you haven’t gone to the Great Wall or feast on the delicious roasted duck.

Day 3 Beijing

After breakfast, start your day to visit the famous Great Wall of China at Mutianyu section. There is an old saying goes "He who does not reach Great Wall of China is not a true man" and "A Beijing Tour without Great Wall is not completed". It is one of the best-preserved sections of the Wall close to Beijing. Being a scenic section but with fewer tourists than Badaling, Mutianyu Great wall is an ideal introduction to this ancient wonder and especially favored by foreign travelers. Once you arrive there, our guide will show you the best part of the wall and take round way cable car up and down to save you energy.

Transfer you back to Beijing city for your Hutong food culture tour, you will have chance to take the cook class at a local family. You will have chance to try the best local food in the city at places where only locals go that are truly off the beaten path. You won't see any other tourists, these are family-run restaurants that you can't find on your own. You'll learn how it's made and what makes it so special to Beijing locals and eat the best hand-made noodles in Beijing, and wrap delicious dishes in freshly made Beijing pancakes. 

Then, you will experience the traditional rickshaw ride get through the zigzag and narrow alleys to visit the Hutong. Hutong is where the old Beijing locals lived, rickshaw ride is a great and interesting way to explore hutong in Beijing. 

After the tour, you will be taken back to your hotel in Beijing.

Day 4 Beijing-Shanghai

After breakfast, transfer to Beijing train station for your train to Shanghai. It takes around 5 hours from Beijing by high speed train, you can enjoy the scenery difference between north and south. Once you arrive in Shanghai, our guide will meet you at the exit of the train station with a welcome sign. You will be taken to your Shanghai hotel, check in your hotel and take a short rest.

You will visit the Nanjing Road at first. For visitors to Shanghai, Nanjing Road is an absolute must-see, on par with a visit to the Bund itself. If ever there was a silver lining to an unhappy event, the London-inspired, Nanjing Road shopping mall is it! 

Next, walk along the Bund to appreciate the modern buildings of Shanghai. It is a mile-long stretch of waterfront promenade along the Huangpu River. To the west of this stretch stand 52 buildings of various architectural styles, including Gothic, baroque, and neoclassical styles. It is often referred to as "the museum of buildings". 

In the evening, enjoy a relaxing 40-minute night cruise along the longest river passing through the city of Shanghai, the vast Huangpu River. Dividing the city of Shanghai into two sections, with the what the locals call the Pudong district to the east, and the Puxi district to the west, cruises along the Huangpu River provide some of the most dramatic views of the city and its many amazing monuments.

After the cruise, you will be taken back to your hotel in Shanghai.

Day 5 Shanghai

After breakfast, our guide will take you to visit the famous Yu Garden. It is a must visit place and the most celebrated classical Chinese Garden in Shanghai downtown area. It also enjoys the reputation of “ the crown of beauty in Southeast China ”, offering charming and pleasant views. The garden is unique in its design. It perfectly blends decorative halls, elaborate pavilions, glittering pools, zigzag bridges, pagodas, archways, and impressive rockeries.

Next, pay a visit to the City God Temple, it is a Taoist temple which is composed of many halls such as the Grand Hall, Middle Hall, Bedroom Palace, Star Gods Hall, Yama Palace, Xuzhen God Hall. Especially when the Sanxun festival, nearly all people will come to the Temple to burn incense and worship the God, while all shops inside or close by would hang red lanterns to celebrate the festival.

You will have the famous Shanghai Nanxiang Steam Bun for lunch. It is a franchise from Shanghai and has won numerous award over the years. Their speciality Xiao Long Bao is supposed be the most authentic Shanghai Styled. 

In the afternoon, you will explore Shanghai Old French Concession for the whole afternoon. It lined with trees is a bustling area, combined with a growing number of trendy boutiques and restaurants. Changle Road and Xinle Road are rapidly becoming the places to find small designer clothing shops. Interesting architecture built with French and Belgian venture investments and showing mixed Chinese-European styles. 

After the tour, you will be taken back to your hotel in Shanghai.

Day 6 Shanghai

Our guide will meet you in your Shanghai hotel lobby and take you to experience the Shanghai local breakfast. Start your tour with a street breakfast arranged by your guide, you will be taken to a popular local breakfast shop to taste the authentic steamed buns, soy milk, noodles, pancakes and others. Taste the simple but common food as breakfast by locals in Shanghai.

Then, make a short visit to a local Shanghai Wet Market where you will stroll among vendors hawking a variety of fresh produce, fish and meat. From here, you can see how locals buy the daily food for their families.

Continue your Shanghai tour to Zhujiajiao Water Town where you will meets various authentic snacks. Zhujiajiao is one of famous water towns around Shanghai city, attracts a lot of tourists because of the interesting things which can be done in this place. Since there are plenty of waterways, riding the canal gondolas is a famous activity. Despite the modernizations which were adapted by the town, it has still successfully kept its traditional beauty which is seen with the antique bridges, age-old willow trees and houses with traditional architecture. 

After the tour, you will be taken back to your hotel in Shanghai.

Day 7 Shanghai Departure

Free on your own to explore Shanghai city until transfer to Shanghai Airport for your next destination or fly back home.

Price Per Person in US Dollars

Price Includes 1. All transfer and city transportation 2. Air-conditioned car or van 3. Hotels specified in the itinerary, all based     on two persons sharingone standard room; 4. Meals specified in the itinerary: Western     breakfast in hotels Chinese lunch and     dinner in local restaurants 5. Sightseeing: All arrangements mentioned     in the itinerary will be covered All first     admission/entrance fees in the itinerary 6. Tour guide: Conducted by a professional     tour guide

Price Excludes 1. International air-tickets 2. Airport departure tax. 3. International or domestic air tickets which     are not listed in the itinerary. 4. Insurance coverage of personal loss, illness     or damages incurred during your trip 5. Tips to the tour guide and driver 6. Meals not specified in the itinerary. 7. Personal expenses: phone bills, laundry,     optional tours, postage, excess baggage     charge, entertainment fees out of the     itinerary. 8. Single Room Supplement.