China Off the Beaten Track

/5 935 Latest reviews

Tour Code: ODY-CN-447

Destination:Shanghai, Huangshan, Hangzhou, Kunming, Dali, Lijiang, Shangri-La, Chengdu, Xi'an, Beijing

Duration

21 Days

Tour Type

Private & Bespoke

Tour Style

Classic

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About This Trip

Explore China's classic sights and off-the-beaten tracks in 21 days. You will visit the highlights in the major cities, including the grand buildings in the Bund of Shanghai, the mysterious Terracotta Warriors of Xi'an, the ancient winding Great Wall of Beijing, and the cute giant pandas of Chengdu. Deep into China, you will explore the magnificent Mt. Huangshan in Huangshan and the mesmerizing West Lake in Hangzhou. Besides, discover the essential parts of Yunnan: the UNESCO-listed Kunming Stone Forrest, the elegant Dali Erhai Lake, the Lijiang hiking paradise - Tiger Leaping Gorge, etc.

Itinerary Summary

DAY PLACE HIGHLIGHTS
1 - 2 Shanghai The Bund, Yu Garden, Yuyuan Market, Peace Hotel, Former French Concession
3 - 5 Huangshan Mt. Huangshan Scenic Area, Hongcun Village
6 Hangzhou West Lake, Tea Plantation
7 - 14 Yunnan Kunming: Stone Forest
Dali: Erhai Lake Biking Tour, Bai Minority Villages
Lijiang: Trekking along Tiger Leaping Gorge
Shangri-La: Free Time
15 Chengdu Giant Panda, Wenshu Temple, Tea House, Jinli Old Street
16 - 17 Xi'an Terracotta Warriors, Ancient City Wall, Muslim Street, Great Mosque
18 - 21 Beijing Jinshanling Great Wall, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven
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Itinerary

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Day 1: Arrival, Shanghai

Welcome to Shanghai, the most cosmopolitan city in China! Your personal tour guide will meet you at the arrival hall and escort you to your hotel in downtown. The rest of the day is yours to relax.

Shanghai

Day 2: Shanghai

Start your Shanghai tour with an in-depth exploration of the Bund to get a microcosm of old Shanghai and its spectacular international architectures. The Bund tour includes a heritage tour in the historic Peace Hotel. After that, head to Yu Garden to appreciate the traditional Chinese garden and lounge around the bustling Yuyuan Market outside it, and then visit a silk workshop to see how small cocoons be transformed into elegant silk. Finally, finish today's tour with a relaxing roam around the former French Concession.

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Shanghai

Day 3: Shanghai - Huangshan

After breakfast, take the high-speed train departing from Shanghai. Arrive in Huangshan after 3 hours, be picked up and led to visit Hongcun, one of the most charming ancient villages that has been listed in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Overnight in a characteristic countryside hotel nearby.

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Huangshan

Day 4: Huangshan - Mt. Huangshan

Have some leisurely time in the morning and then proceed to Huangshan Scenery Area (the Yellow Mountain). Take a cable car up and then walk around 30 minutes along the stone path to get to the hotel. Settle down at the hotel and visit the West Sea Area in the afternoon.

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Mt. Huang Shan

Day 5: Huangshan - Hangzhou

Get up early and have a chance to catch the spectacular sunrise. Later, check out the hotel and explore the Beihai Area before taking the cable car down for the 3 hours' high-speed train to Hangzhou. Arrive in Hangzhou in the late afternoon, be greeted and transferred to your hotel by the local tour guide.

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Hangzhou

Day 6: Hangzhou

It is an easy day for you to discover the enduring beauty of Hangzhou with its poetic West Lake, fabulous green tea plantation, and the affable Hu Qingyu Traditional Chinese Medicine Drugstore. Here, you can see a busy scene that is closely related to the lives of ordinary people for hundreds of years ago.

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Hangzhou

Day 7: Hangzhou - Kunming

Leisure morning to do further exploration in the city on your own. In the afternoon, take 3.5 hours' flight to Kunming, meet local tour guide and then move to the hotel near downtown.

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Kunming

Day 8: Kunming - Dali

Today, you will firstly visit the famous Stone Forest - a bizarre rock formation created over millennia erosion of rain and wind, and then take the high-speed train to Dali. Get to Dali in the early evening, and then be welcomed by local tour guide and driver.

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Dali

Day 9: Dali

A cycling day along Erhai Lake today! The biking tour will take around 5 hours, and you will pass through beautiful farmlands and many Bai minority villages, such as Yangbo, Zhongzhuang, and Haishe. Stop here for taking photos or tasting local food. Finally, ride back to the old town along the coming road, or another way along the National Highway 214.

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Dali

Day 10: Dali - Shaxi - Lijiang

Drive 3 hours forward the northwest for a visit of Shaxi Ancient Town, an important stop on the ancient tea-horse road, which still maintains the oldest features. After the tour in Shaxi, drive to Lijiang by another 2 hours. After arriving in Shuhe Old Town of Lijiang in the late afternoon, check into the hotel and relax on your own.

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Lijiang

Day 11: Lijiang

It is a free day for your own exploration.

You may just ramble around in the old town, or take an optional tour to the Jade Snow Mountain or Baisha Village. Whatever is necessary, please feel free to ask for advice with your travel consultant.

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Lijiang

Day 12: Lijiang

Today, you will have a trekking tour in the countryside north of Lijiang and enjoy the stunning scenery of the Tiger Leaping Gorge.

Firstly, drive to Qiaotou where you will start the trekking until the Tea Horse Guesthouse. The trekking tour will take around 4 to 5 hours, depending on your physical strength.

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Lijiang

Day 13: Lijiang - Shangri-La

Continue trekking about 2-3 hours to Tina's Guesthouse where your private driver will pick you up and transfer you to Shangri-La (3 to 4 hours will be needed on the road), which will easily evoke your imagination of the mysterious Orient. Being so high with the average elevation of 3,200 m, you may feel some altitude sickness while in Shangri-La. Good rest and slow paces are highly recommended.

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Shangri-la

Day 14: Shangri-La - Chengdu

Free time for you to refresh from the previous days' trekking and get adjust to the high altitude. Late in the afternoon, take a flight to Chengdu. After arrival, be transferred to the downtown hotel by your Chengdu guide.

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Chengdu

Day 15: Chengdu

Today, you will visit the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding firstly to see the adorable pandas, followed by a trip to the Wenshu Temple where you can spend some time sitting in its tea house and enjoying a cup of traditional Chinese tea and absorb the special atmosphere of Chengdu. Your tour today will end by Jinli Old Street.

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Chengdu

Day 16: Chengdu - Xi'an

Head to Xi'an by the high-speed train. When arriving in Xi'an after 4 hours, your private guide will pick you up and escort you to the hotel. Take a short break at the hotel and then have a bicycle tour on the top of the Ancient City Wall to enjoy the old city panorama.

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Xi'an

Day 17: Xi'an

This morning, drive about one hour to visit the legendary Terracotta Warriors and marvel at the thousands of vivid life-size clay armies. In the afternoon, get back and explore the city by exploring Muslim Street and the Great Mosque.

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Xi'an

Day 18: Xi'an - Beijing

Say goodbye to the ancient capital of Xi'an and then take the high-speed train to Beijing - China's present capital and another historical city of China.

After arriving in the early afternoon, be met and escorted to visit the imperial Summer Palace. Later on, check into the hotel.

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Beijing

Day 19: Beijing

Your discovery in the city will start from Tiananmen Square, the badge of the Chinese political centre. From there, you can proceed to the Forbidden City. Walk from the Meridian Gate to East Flowery Gate, you will not only feel the mysterious ambience in the royal palace, but also see the Imperial Ancestral Temple where royal members worshiped their ancestors. Afterward, go on with a tour to the Temple of Heaven, which is a holy place the emperor would visit annually to pray for good harvest for his empire.

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Beijing

Day 20: Beijing

Today's journey will take you to the magnificent Great Wall - a must see site in China.

To avoid the crowds and get a better view, Jinshanling Great Wall is recommended for you and it will take about 2.5 hours to drive from the city. This is one of the best-preserved sections which keeps many original features. You can do a hike on it for around 3 to 4 hours according to your interests.

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Beijing

Day 21: Beijing, Departure

Farewell time now! When you are ready, the guide and driver will transfer you to the airport for your international flight back home.

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What Our Clients Say

"Great Customized Service", "Trip of A Lifetime", "Exceed All Expectations"

Richee Family Adventures

05 Aug 2025

Second Honeymoon My wife and I celebrated our 20th anniversary by spending a few weeks touring around Asia. We loved how Odynovo worked with us to craft a tour of what we wanted to see and how we wanted to see it. This was our first time traveling with a private tour guide, and it was truly amazing. they took care of all transportation, tickets, and everywhere we went we had someone who not only spoke our language, but was also very well-versed in the places we were visiting. We saw Beijing and then took a bullet train to Xi'an. In both cities we had tour guides who had done this "a thousand times," and as a result knew all the tricks on where to take the best pictures, what lines to stand in, where to eat, and what not to waste your time seeing. At one point our guide pulled out ponchos from her backpack when it started to rain, while another helped us haggle for a good price on a new suitcase. We were surprised by how much we loved China, and it is safe to say that is because of the quality of service we got from Odynovo. Oh, and the hotels were great, too! In our first hotel my wife fell in love with her breakfast soup that she had to have every morning, while in Xi'an we were right around the corner from the Muslim Night Market and were able to get to it in less than 5 minutes of walking.We are already looking to see what tours we will be doing next through Odynovo, as the service was amazing, the quality was remarkable, and the cost was very worth it for what we received.
Shannon V

05 Aug 2025

Fabulous! We had a fabulous experience with our guide and Odynovo walking the Great Wall of China, and all other sites in Beijing. We loved our Peking duck dinner. It was fabulous. Thank you, Sammie/Jing for a great experience.
domotic d

05 Aug 2025

Beijing Beauty It started off with a friendly face at the airport, with Roy, our tour guide.The week has been such a pleasure and a treat. From adventures to The Great Wall, Temple of Heaven and the Forbidden City, to local markets, delicious Beijing food and roof top tea houses.Roy and our driver, Mr. Zhou, were prompt in picking us up and driving us around safely.The knowledge and fact about history and Beijing that Roy knows and explains is amazing and the fact he could answer my weird and inquisitive history questionsnwoth ease was a treat.He made it so easy to enjoy ourselves and absorb all that was around us, he even takes great photos too! 😊Polite, kind and thoughtful and ever patient in letting us take our time with things that interested us.I would highly recommend this tour and Roy again and again.
Zarah B

05 Aug 2025

Amazing travel experience My name is Zarah M. Babangida a Nigerian and i visited Beijing with my colleagues from the office. During our 5 day stay in Beijing, Ms. Eva Ma, was our Tour guide and from the minute we came through the Arrival Gate of the Airport, we were embraced by her alluring smile and warm welcome. She remained consistent with her warmth, a kind and intelligent professional who exuded unique passion not just for her job as a tour guide but, even more so as a proud Chinese woman. Her outstanding insight and knowledge of the sweet Chinese history and heritage left us in awe. I couldn't be more proud and thankful that she was assigned to our group and she made our stay exciting, fun-filled effortless and knowledge packed. I absolutely commend her dedication to work which she depicted throughout our stay. I recommend her to every visiting tourist because to know Eva, is to love her. If it were up to me, i will increase her bonuses or upgrade her salary as i am sure most tourists would want or revisit for her sake first and then perhaps other reasons.Thank you Eva and keep the passion up🙌.

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