A Culinary Adventure
One popular summary of Chinese food is "sour in the south, salty in north, spicy in the west, and sweet in the east". During this culinary adventure combined to the best sights your will experience salty in Beijing, spicy in Chengdu, and sweet in Guangzhou.
Suggested Itinerary
It's our aim to make travel less stressful. Your dedicated private guide, driver and car will ready to handle the luggage, transfer and check-in, and ensure your holiday begins in arrivals. The rest of the day is yours to explore or rest. Please ask your guide for suggestions for which of the myriad of restaurants to go to for dinner.
Tiananmen Square is a very impressive place: south and north sides are adorned with magnificent gates, and east and west have a colossal government building and a museum. The Forbidden City continues the imposing proportions; it was built to make the subjects of the emperors feel small.Have lunch at Courtyard 7 Restaurant, whose dishes are a fusion of eastern and western flavor.
After lunch, Summer Palace is a wonderful place to walk it off in its stunning gardens. The nature and the ancient buildings connected by the lake are a very pleasing combination. For dinner, you will taste imperial court cuisine in ancient Chinese garden style Baijia Dayuan Restaurant.
The Mutianyu Great Wall is much less-crowded section than Badaling, but has actually got more dramatic scenery. There is also a lovely ride through the countryside to reach it, and there is a cable car. Enjoy farmhouse dishes for lunch at Xinshuangquan Restaurant near the Great Wall.
Temple of Heaven was the stunning setting for annual ceremonies for good harvests, and now the vast park surrounding it is a meeting place for the locals, coming here to practice taichi, among other things. A special treat is offered for dinner - Beijing Roast Duck at famous Quanjude Restaurant.
The morning starts with a cookery class at Beijing High School, where you will first learn about the ingredients and then how to cook in Chinese style before tasting the end results.
Your afternoon flight takes you to Chengdu in time. Have dinner at Qinshanzhai Restaurant, serving light-flavored and healthy dishes in garden style decoration.
The Panda Breeding and Research Center is a safe haven for these delightful creatures and other endangered species. You get to visit the nursery and see the panda babies.
The Panda Breeding and Research Center has a donation program which allows you take pictures with holding a panda one minute by donating RMB 2,000 Yuan (for reference only). Only 20 tourists are allowed to hold pandas a day. If you want to hold a panda, please tell your travel advisor or tour guide in advance because you must book it at least one week in advance.This program is subject to the availability of pandas on that day. Please bring enough RMB cash as payment by credit card is not accepted there.
After lunch at Baguo Buyi Restaurant enjoying authentic Chengdu food, continue your tour. Sanxingdui Museum is a beautifully presented exhibition of the cultural relics found in sacrificial pits of the mysterious Shang Dynasty (from 16th-11th century B.C.), unlike anything else found in China. Have hotpot for dinner.
Good to Know
Hotpot is a Chengdu specialty and each restaurant has their unique recipe for the broth; Morals Village is especially well known for theirs. Do try the spicy and numb flavor, but we warn you: it can be an addictive experience.
Jinli Old Street is a lively shopping area restored in Sichuan style to continue its history as a commercial center. Wu Hou Temple is not only a shrine to a revered Marquis of Wu but also a delightful garden.
In the afternoon, your guide will take you to the airport to catch a flight to Guangzhou. You will be picked up and taken to your hotel before dinner.
Chen Ancestral Shrine is nearly 150 years old and celebrated for the traditional Guangdong style architecture and decoration, displaying beautiful craftsmanship. Qing Ping Market is the largest street market in Guangzhou, still very authentic place to buy your Chinese medicines, such as live scorpions and flowers, among other weird and wonderful things. Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall celebrates this founding father of the Republic of China.
Guangdong cooking is considered unique among other Chinese styles; especially the use of herbs and spices is done in a more delicate way. Your guide will be happy to introduce Cantonese cuisine culture to you.
Your guide will pick you up at the hotel and take you to the airport to catch your onward/return flight. We hope you have enjoyed your adventure and savored this taste of China.
Price includes:
Discover real reviews of Highlights Travel Family's best-rated service across trusted platforms.

![]() |
Beijing in a day
![]() My partner found this company and booked with ease and no hassle. From start to finish we have been so looked after, upon arrival in Beijing after a train from Shanghai we were met by our guide Selinda. She has been amazing through out the day, flexible with times. She showed us the best place to get some food and then taking us to and from the Great Wall was filled with information and little facts. Plenty of time was given to explore the wall and then we were taken for some dumplings to revive us. Selinda made sure we were looked after and ensured we got back on the correct train. She made this trip so much less stressful and much more enjoyable. Would highly recommend this company for future use. more
Jan 2025, French-Biscuit14
|
Great way to tour Beijing
![]() My daughter and I toured Beijing with Selinda. She was prompt, professional, friendly, and helpful. We saw Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Mutianyu Great Wall section. At each site she shared the history and offered suggestions of good places for pictures. She was attentive to us and made sure we had everything we needed. The driver was helpful and having him drop us off and pick us up was immensely helpful. We toured the Summer Palace with Jason and he also did a stellar job sharing interesting facts and information which gave us context and a greater appreciation of what we saw. Jason, like Selinda, did a splendid job suggesting good photo spots and always happily offered to take our picture for us. I highly recommend these two tour guides and the driver. This was a great way to see some of the tourist attractions in Beijing. more
Jan 2025, Chris
|
Epic time in Beijing with Selinda Zhang
![]() A huge shoutout to our most awesome tour guide Selinda Zhang!!! She is a walking talking encyclopaedia with a wealth of knowledge both historic and current. She made our visits to well preserved historical sites all the more interesting sharing architecture, literature, Chinese penmanship and poems to highlight the significance of each site we visited! She engages both adults and children and usually reticent kids were asking questions and learnt heaps about Beijing history this trip. We had an epic time in Beijing thanks to Selinda!! more
Jan 2025, Hwei ling C
|