Beyond the Golden Triangle
9-Day Beijing – Pingyao Ancient Town – Xi'an – Shanghai Private Tour
This 9-day private tour includes not only the route to Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai which is called the golden triangle, but also has a smart combination with Pingyao by high-speed train.
In Beijing and Xi'an, immerse yourself into the glory history and stories of imperial family, while in Pingyao, touch the ordinary life of merchant in Ming and Qing Dynasty. It is the best preserved ancient city with people has residing in for generations. This is the China as you imagine: red lantern, elegant courtyard, ancient city wall built by gray bricks.
Beyond the gold triangle tour, you can travel the same destinations in three different styles. Which travel style meets your needs?
Highlights
- Experience our exclusive in-depth Forbidden City trip with our expert guide in history.
- Go over a less-crowded area of the Great Wall by combining effort-saving cable car rides and moderate hiking.
- Stroll the unique contemporary Chinese galleries of the famous 798 Art District of Beijing.
- Experience high-tech HSR and authentic ancient city Pingyao with over 2700 years history.
- Gaze amazed, confronted by the Terracotta Warriors.
- Savor the modern and traditional cityscapes of Shanghai.
98.8% positive customer reviews among 10,000+
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Great tours!
I had an amazing two trips on the Great Wall and the Forbidden City with the guide Ivy during my stay in China. She was very helpful and answered all of our questions with an enthusiastic approach. I have nothing to say but to highly recommend the trips they offer on the Great Wall hiking/camping and also the in-depth Forbidden City tour! Thank you Ivy and China Highlights. more
May 2023,
Serhat Altay
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Amazing First Time to Beijing with China Highlights
Tom, my private tour guide was there when I landed and accompanied me all the way through to sending me off at the airport after check-in at the end of my trip. Zhao the driver, who also did all the driving during my trip, was calm, confident and knowledgeable in taking us around. Both Tom and Zhao were punctual too. The Great Wall of China Hike I wanted to do started in a very remote, unrestored part of the wall. This would not had been possible without Tom problem solving many issues we had on the way up and I could not have done this on my own a a foreigner. It was well worth the effort and probably the highlight of my trip.The remainder of the tour around Tiananmen Square, Forbidden Kingdom and The Temple of Heaven was paired with a detailed commentary by Tom of which I learnt a lot. more
May 2023,
Munsie
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Beijing - city of surprises
A fantastic guide was waiting for us - Jack, who told all the stories with passion and commitment. He also fulfilled those wishes that were not in the plan. I highly recommend visiting Beijing with this guide. more
May 2023,
Joanna i Piotr Kuzebscy
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Liu Yuan was a superb guide and a lot…
Liu Yuan was a superb guide and a lot of fun to spend time with during my first visit to Beijing. It was a wonderful intensive three days. more
May 2023,
Pam S.
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Great weather and a good trip out with Lily!
Many thanks to my guide Lily for customising the trip to make it as efficient and enjoyable as possible. She arranged to start an hour earlier to beat the crowd and I got to enjoy the Great Wall before the crowd streamed in and while the weather was cool. I requested to switch the next attraction to visit from Temple of Heaven to Ming Tomb and she not only accommodated the prompt request, but made all the necessary arrangements even before the trip coordinator managed to reply! Kudos! Our driver was jovial and friendly, always on top of traffic conditions and took detours to beat slow moving traffic. Hassle free day and I wouldn’t have been able to cover the two attractions so easily and comfortably without them! more
May 2023,
Meibao
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This was our first time traveling to Beijing
This was our first time traveling to China, so we really wanted to experience some of the major historical sights of Beijing together with a tour guide. Our itinerary was very carefully planned out according to our interests and tailored to our needs. First, we went camping on the Great Wall and hiked from Jiankou to Mutianyu, and the next day we got an in-depth tour of the Forbidden City as well as a tour of the Temple of Heaven and a taiji experience in the gardens. Our tour guide, Ivy, was truly wonderful in preparing and organizing our personalized itinerary. She is very friendly and knowledgeable, and she was always able and willing to answer all of our questions. Ivy provided us with a truly amazing first visit to China and I would warmly recommend China Highlights for everyone who wishes to travel to China and I would especially recommend Ivy as a tour guide for your trips! more
May 2023,
Annalina Wheeler
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Tom is the BEST tour guide EVER!
Just had the most AMAZING tour with Tom. He was beyond knowledgeable, so generous with his time and made me feel so at ease which was super important as I am travelling by myself. Thank you Tom for the best day-you have totally made my China trip a fabulous experience, one I will never forget! more
May 2023,
SHARRYN HINCHLIFFFE
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Superb service and wonderful time in Beijing
Superb service from Jack who were with us for 4 wonderful days in Beijing. Jack was clearly knowledgeable about the history and able to deliver insight information to us about places. He was also kind and accommodating to my mother who has bad knees. Both China Highlights and Jack were flexible about the itinerary to ensure that we enjoy the best of Beijing. We'll definitely use China Highlights' services again for our next trip to China. more
May 2023,
Chani
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Amazing Trip
First time booking a trip with China Highlights and was fortunate to have Sunny as my private tour guide. We went to the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall, then arrived and walked around Gubei Water Town, and then visited the Simatai portion of the Great Wall at night. Was a very enjoyable trip as we were able to see a night time drone show in the sky, ride a private boat through the canals of the Gubei Water Town, and eat a delicious lunch at a local restaurant along the way. Sunny is super knowledgeable when it comes to the history of the Great Wall and took the time to explain various interesting facts and stories which made the trip very meaningful. The driver we had was also a very nice man who was always on time and eager to help. Was an unforgettable experience and would highly recommend Sunny and China Highlights :) more
May 2023,
Allen C
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Tour to the great wall from the airport
My guide Tom was ver kind and knowlegable, he explained everything to me about the great wall and even went out of his way to help me the next day at Bejings downtown! amazing service!!! thank you so much Tom! more
May 2023,
Fer Villasefior
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Great tour, fantastic guide!
This tour was fantastic! I loved hearing about the history of the Forbidden City and admiring the views at the Great Wall. William was a fantastic tour guide. We were a group of families with several young children, and he was very accommodating and flexible with timing and arrangements. I totally recommend this tour and William as a guide! more
May 2023,
Ryan Corless
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Four excellent sightseeing days in Beijing
We had wonderful four days in Beijing. The entire trip was tailored exactly to our wishes. From experiencing local food, to exploring the major sites of the city up to hiking the great wall of China. Additionally, we had two amazing guides Ina and Fan taking care of all the tickets and coordination required. Also, they could not only tell us everything about the sights we visited and give us an insight to local customs and traditions, but they did so in perfect German. The chauffeur service from Mr Chang was also excellent, getting us from A to B without any hazzle. The past couple of days were one of the most carefree trips we have had so far. more
May 2023,
Katha
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Great tour from William
Great tour organized by China highlights, our tour guide was William - his knowledge was impressive, his English was great and he was always on time. We did the four day tour including the wall and forbidden city - would definitely recommend to anyone looking for an English tour guide. more
Apr 2023,
Lawrence
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Beijing 2 day private tour
The tour itself was great, private driver to and from, my guide Ivy was great English speaking guide. She was very knowledgeable and passionate about her country. Was a great time exploring the Great Wall of china and then my second day did a city tour (forbidden city, hutong tour, summer palace). Felt extremely safe, and was confident having an English guide. Thank you china highlights. (Provide them what you want and they’ll make it happen). Prices are reasonable as I looked at a few places but for private tour, my own schedule, and confidence of getting around safely you can’t go wrong. more
Apr 2023,
Mark
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Very enjoyable
Everything was to the vest standard, the history all very well explained by the Tour Guide in Beijing, Ivy. Really enjoyed it, and appreciated the time. more
Apr 2023,
Jonathan
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Amazing Beijing Experience
I had an amazing time in Beijing and glad Tom was my tour guide. He went above and beyond and I’m truly grateful. Tom did all that he could to ensure my stay in Beijing for two days was pleasant and thanks to him, I say that it was. The driver was also nice and courteous, I called him Jon. The company is blessed to have a good tour guide like Tom on their team so if you are planning to come down to Beijing, make sure you ask for Tom. Thank you Christy and Kimmy for replying all my emails with questions that I had. more
Apr 2023,
Pedro V
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Great experience
We had a great experience with China Highlights and Roger was highly efficient and helpful planning our itinerary exactly how we needed. more
Apr 2023,
Brenda Sarmanho
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Excellent service and tour guide!!
Excellent service and communication from the travel agent Roger Li and amazing tour and experience of Great Wall of China from our tour guide Amber. Highly recommended! more
Apr 2023,
Evangelos Athanasopoulos
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Maggie was such a tremendous help for…
Maggie was such a tremendous help for our recent Beijing trip. Very prompt and helpful in helping us plan and adjust/amend to our requests. more
Apr 2023,
Hi
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HK-Beijing-Wuhan-Guilin-HK
We travelled first to Beijing for a few days before moving on to Wuhan for the wedding and then for a few days in Guilin along with my son and daughter in law. It was a great trip and all went smothly with the help of the guides we had along the way. William in Beijing and Jenny in Guilin were excellent. Chas in HK was also very helpful in getting us to the right place and the right time to fly home. more
Apr 2023,
Alan Harris
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Suggested Itinerary
Hotel:Crowne Plaza Hotel Beijing Chaoyang U-Town (Superior Room)(TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence 2015)
Private Airport Transfer (Beijing)
Your local tour guide, driver and private car will be waiting for you upon arrival in Beijing. Your guide will assist you with your luggage at the airport and take you to your hotel.
Enjoying a Leisure Recovery
Your afternoon or evening is free for you to recovery and relax. Feel free to ask your guide what there is to do nearby, if you want to take a walk or discover parts of the area on your own.
Hotel:Crowne Plaza Hotel Beijing Chaoyang U-Town (Superior Room)
Breakfast & Lunch
A buffet breakfast & real fresh coffee will kick start your day. The expert escort you 5 hour in the emperors' house and show you some interesting places you would never find by yourself in the Forbidden City and guide you away from the noisy parts and crush of other tour groups. What you can see no longer only empty rooms in the Forbidden City but also pictures of emperors, concubines and eunuchs in the expert's ipad, stories brings it to life.
In the afternoon, the expert accompany you to visit the Tian'anmen Square that is very close to the Forbidden City and have a easy climbing to the Jinshan Hill in Jinshan Park to take a birds' eye view of the golden roofs, see it from a new angle.
Good to know
To ensure good timing, the local expert does the day tour once a day. So on this day, you have a small group tour with maximum of eight people. Interaction with the expert and group members add more fun. According to previous customers' feedback, people who love history and family with kids who are over 7 years old are like the tour.
Did you know …
That the Square can hold up to one million people!
Hotel:Crowne Plaza Hotel Beijing Chaoyang U-Town (Superior Room)
Breakfast & Lunch
An early start and chance to exercise or stroll with locals among the 60,000 ancient trees in the Temple of Heaven's Grounds. Watch locals exercise, practice martial arts, play traditional instruments, and other activities that you may never see in your country.
The Temple of Heaven provided a place for emperors to pray to 'the most high God in heaven' for a good harvest. The Round Altar, Echo Wall and Imperial Vault of Heaven are the rated as key sights; we will cover these and more.
In the afternoon, we avoid crowd and move to Mutianyu, this less-crowded section of the Great Wall is about 2.5 hours' drive from downtown Beijing. A cable-car takes you to a good section (avoiding a very steep climb), where you can walk along the wall, through the watch towers and enjoy superb views as it snakes across the hills and mountains. You can return by cable car, walk down or walk along the wall for about an hour to descend by chairlift or toboggan. Wear good walking shoes and protection from the weather.
Good to Know:
If hiking is your thing, or three hours of hiking is your choice, you are also able to enjoy a hiking from Jinshanling to Simatai west, just tell your travel advisor which one you prefer.
Hotel:Crowne Plaza Hotel Beijing Chaoyang U-Town (Superior Room)
Breakfast & Lunch
Continue exploring highlights of Beijing. The Summer Palace is an enormous park with pavilions, vividly painted corridors, temples, among lakes and surrounded by hills. It was originally the imperial courts summer retreat, and still makes a nice place to escape the heat of the summer. Climb the hill or take a scroll in the gardens, this is a charming place to explore before taking a dragon styled boat tour on Kunming lake.
In the afternoon, take a look at traditional hutongs where present local culture. It is an opportunity to look into ordinary people's life. We will stop at a private Chinese baijiu museum that is hidden in hutong. Thousands of bottles strong liquid tell you story in different decades of China.
Let's change into the modern part, Mingle with Artists at 798 Art District. You will be addicted to a variety of Chinese galleries set in some abandoned factories at the 798 Art District, which is the largest and most popular place for Chinese artists.
Good to know
If you like Chinese Kung Fu, ask your guide to book night show tickets. The show tells a story about how a boy monk grows up to a Kung Fu master.
Hotel: Yunjincheng Folk Hotel (Rank No.2 of Hotels in Pingyao on Tripadvisor)
Breakfast & Lunch
HSR to Pingyao and Exploring History in Pingyao Ancient Town
Today you get opportunity to experience smooth China's high-speed railway. Depart from Beijing at 07:58 and arrival in Pingyao at 12:09. Your guide, driver and private car will take you to the local restaurant and taste local food and take a short break before visiting the ancient town.
As a tiny ancient city with a history of nearly 3,000 years, Pingyao is one of the four best-preserved ancient cities. Walk along the Ancient City Wall, built with rammed earth inside and brick and stone outside, the ancient city walls measure 10 meters high and 6162.7 meters long with 3-5 meters wide tops, and afterwards head to Mingqing Street. One of the earliest banks in China, The Rishengchang Draft Bank established in 1823 will give you some ideas about its development.
Hotel: Wyndham Grand Xian South (Deluxe Room) (TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence 2015)
Breakfast & Lunch
Visiting Wang Family Compound
Take your time to enjoy your breakfast, while your guide and driver will wait for you in the lobby. Today, you will see a representative of North China folk house in the Qing Dynasty-Wang Family Compound that is considered has much less tourists. The architecture has a magnificent scale with five alleys, five forts, and five ancestral temples. Besides, the courtyard layout of the five ancient forts were respectively compared to designs of five lucky animals of “dragon, phoenix, tortoise, kylin and tiger”.
Your guide and driver escort you to the station to take the HSR to Xi'an in the late afternoon and arrive at Xi'an at about 7:30 pm.
Hotel: Wyndham Grand Xian South (Deluxe Room)
Breakfast & Lunch
Visit Xi'an's Treasure – the Terracotta Warriors
The Terracotta Warriors is definitely a unique highlight of Xi'an. This incredible army of more than 7000 soldiers, archers, horses and chariots are unique and buried underground for more than 2000 years. Learn more about this imperial army and the once ancient capital of China.
Have lunch at A Wa Shan Zhan Restaurant after your visit to the Terracotta Warriors.
View the City of Xi'an from the Big Goose Pagoda
Visit the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, built from bricks without cement. Climb up to the top of the pagoda for a bird's eye view of the city center. A great place to get a photo shot of the city.
Biking on the Ancient City Wall is one of highlights. Slow down your pace and enjoy the overview of the whole city.
Good to know
It is pleasant to have a stroll at the Muslin Quarter and the Bell Tower area at night or enjoy a Tang dynasty dancing and singing show.
Hotel: Les Suites Orient Bund Shanghai (Bund Studio River View) (TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence 2017)
Breakfast & Lunch
Xi'an to Shanghai Transfer
Your flight departs Xi'an and arrives in Shanghai in the morning. A comfortable private car will take you to the airport at right time to avoid traffic jam.
See Shanghai's Classics – A blend of East and West
Shanghai's landmark - the Shanghai Tower offers wonderful views of the Bund. It has a revolving teahouse, if you want to sit back and enjoy local tea culture. Explore old Shanghai among Shikumen - traditional classical local houses and visit a typical Jiangnan style garden - Yuyuan Garden built in 1559 during the Ming Dynasty. Taste some local Shanghainese food at Home's Restaurant.
Did you know …
Shanghai is the largest city in China by population, with around 24 million!
Good to know
Highly recommend Huangpu Evening Cruise or Era Acrobatics show.
Trip Notes
Extend the tour:
- Yangtze River Cruise: add 4–5 days (Chongqing to Yichang or vice versa)
- Chengdu: usually add 2–4 days —visit a Panda research center, the Giant Buddha, Mt. Emei, Panda Keeper Program and Jiuzhaigou natural scenery. Choose your favorite.
- Guilin: add 3-4 days —enjoy the Li River cruise, Longsheng terrace field, relax at Yangshuo
- Suzhou and Hangzhou: add 2–3 days — visit scenic gardens, West Lake, and water towns
- Hong Kong: add 2–3 days — visit Victoria Peak, Disneyland, and day tour Macau
Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong are China's major entry cities.
Optional Activities
It must be clearly understood that enjoying these extras is your own decision. They are not included in the itinerary or tour price, so you will need to pay separately. The ticket price depends on seating. Ask your guide to book tickets if you want to see any of the following.
- Beijing — Legend of Kungfu Show
- Xi'an — Tang Dynasty Cultural Show plus Dumpling Banquet
- Pingyao —Synopsis of the Dance Drama Wild Jujubes
- Shanghai — Chinese Acrobats Show
Price includes:
Start planning your tailor-made tour now. Your 1:1 travel consultant will reply within 1 working day.