Beijing, China’s capital city offers a tremendous concentration of ancient and historic artifacts and edifices. The Imperial Palace or "Forbidden City", is a huge walled complex adjacent to the massive Tien’anmen Square in the very center of the city and houses a spectacular collection of treasures. The delicately crafted Temple of Heaven provides an exquisite example of feng shui (geomancy, a high art in old and new China). The Summer Palace is a lovely remnant from the days of the deliciously infamous Empress Dowager Cixi. Of course there is the Great Wall. The Wall extends from China’s east coast, thousands of miles to the country’s center, trickling into the desert sands of Gansu Province. There are two portions within an easy day’s excursion from Beijing that are intact and marvelously evocative. The Badaling section fits conveniently with a stop at the Ming Tombs, but the lesser-known Mutienyu section is the real gem, and can be combined with a visit to a Buddhist monastery en route. The history and culture of Beijing can be found in the 700 year-old Hutong District. A hutong is an ancient city alley or lane and the number in Beijing rounds into thousands. Most are close to the Forbidden City and most of the original residents were people of imperial kinsmen and aristocrats. Other hutongs, further north of the Forbidden City were simple and crudely built and lived in by the merchants and ordinary people of the city. A tour of the Hutongs of Beijing is best seen by old-fashioned rickshaw or by bicycle.

Guilin offers some of China’s most beautiful serene landscapes, karst limestone formations, wonderful caves and mist-covered hills. Reed Flute Cave nicknamed the Art Gallery of Nature features fantastic stalactite and stalagmite formations. No trip focusing on the highlights of classical China is complete without a ride down the Li River outside Guilin. This day’s excursion is truly like drifting through the middle of a traditional scroll painting: a quintessentially Chinese landscape unfolds as the boat cruises alongside weathered boatmen poling their solitary craft against a backdrop of misty limestone crags dotted with pagodas amidst lush subtropical greenery. The journey meanders down streams and through lush green valleys, bamboo groves and hundreds of fairy-like rock formations. Along the way you are rewarded with scenes of a multitude of waterfront and farming activities and the fascinating sight of fishermen using cormorant birds to catch fish. The journey ends 40 miles southeast of Guilin at Yangshuo, a town famous for its handicrafts. This 2,400-year old town boasts one of the area’s most colorful local markets. Yangshuo is a delightful place to overnight if time allows and provides the opportunity to enjoy a bike ride through this beautiful scenery and to explore the local streets and market.

Shanghai is a bustling port with a pronounced European flavor that lingers from its heyday earlier this century as one of the world’s great maritime crossroads. A walk through Shanghai’s neighborhoods reveals a surprising mix of European architecture and old and new Chinese facades. The Children’s Palace once the home of a Shanghai millionaire is today a school were children come to study performing arts, calligraphy and ancient handicrafts as well as science and modern technologies. Some time in Shanghai is best left unstructured, to allow afternoons to enjoy the manicured Yu Gardens, strolling along the Bund, and browsing Shanghai’s countless antique shops.

Suzhou - A short car or train ride from Shanghai is the town of Suzhou. The Chinese have a saying, "Above there is Heaven, below there is Suzhou". Founded in 500 BC, Suzhou offers an intimate pocket of old-world charm with its narrow cobblestone streets, silk shops and teahouses. Suzhou is known as the Venice of the East because it is built around a network of canals and 300 crisscrossing bridges. But it is Suzhou’s 60 classical gardens and famous silk industry that inspired the Chinese to name this area "paradise on earth". Most famous of the gardens is the Humble Administrator’s Garden (1522 AD). Suzhou is the home of the National Embroidery Institute that has a 1000-year history of producing exquisite embroideries.

	Xian is the capital of eleven dynasties from the 11th century BC to the 10th century AD and has been pivotal throughout China’s history. The city’s great claim to fame in modern times however, is the legendary league of terra-cotta warriors that has stood guard over Emperor Qin Shi Huang Di’s tomb for two thousand years. Nearby are the remains of an 8,000 year-old Bonpo village. East of Xian lies the Hua Qing Hot Springs, an oasis of lush greenery and red-roofed pavilions where, in 1936 Chiang Kai-Shek was captured by his own troops and forced to negotiate with Mao Zedong.

Yangtze River Cruise - To sail through the famous three Gorges of the Yangtze is to feel the power, majesty and timelessness of perhaps the world’s greatest river. Imagine the scene as sheer cliffs of rock close in around you, drawing you deeply into a scene of almost unspeakable beauty. Fishermen brave the rushing waters to catch their livelihood. Birds dart swiftly between the clouds, eyeing the treasures that swim below. The journey passes through the narrow passages of the Qutang, Wu, and Xiling gorges, excursions may be made through the Little three gorges of the Daning River with shore excursions to ancient towns like Fengdu, Wanxian, Wushan, Yichang and Jingzhou all reveal the colorfulness of river life.

Wuhan marks the halfway point in the Yangtze River’s long stretch from Chongqing and Shanghai. East Lake offers several old pagodas and temples and a memorial to Qu Yuan, an immortalized ancient poet and patriot. Guiyuan Temple dates from the late Ming Dynasty, and enshrines a 105-ton white stone Buddha.