➤ Arrival Shanghai - Transfer to your hotel - Meet your guide:

➤ Itinerary: We will be greeting you at the airport from where you will be transferred by private car and English speaking guide to your hotel. The approximately 1 hour journey to your hotel is a perfect opportunity to ask the guide any initial questions you might have. The guide will provide assisstance with checking in to the hotel. The rest of the day is free to relax from the long flight or start to explore the city with the help of your personalised Trip Guidebook we send you before the trip.

Shanghai aims to be a vision of China's future and is hurtling towards it's goal of being China's financial capital and eclipsing its rival Hong Kong. There are few cities that are such a testament to China's phenomenal growth of the last few decades and what it perhaps lacks in historical sites it more than makes up with sheer energy and dynamism giving you a taste of the New China that is making it's mark on the world stage.

The area around your hotel is perfect for an introductory walk to soak up the local atmosphere.

➤ Overnight at the Renaissance Yu Garden Hotel 4*. Located in the heart of Old Shanghai this hotel combines modern comforts with a good atmospheric location.

➤ Meals included: None.

➤ Shanghai - Yuyuan Garden - Old Shanghai - Shanghai Museum - The Bund - Acrobats:

➤ Itinerary: Today you will be visiting some of Shanghai’s most famous sights. We will start with the Yuyuan Garden located in the heart of the Old City. The garden was established in 1559 by the son of a Ming Dynasty official who spent 20 years building it up in an effort to please his father. Today the garden showcases the architecture of this period with its pavilions, ponds and rock formations.

Surrounding the garden is Old Shanghai, an area that has been a vibrant commercial centre for over a century and which historically very much represented the “Chinese” part of Shanghai in comparison with the more European areas such as the Bund and the French Concession. Your afternoon finishes with a walk down the Bund along which the Huangpu River runs and where stands some of Asia’s finest colonial European architecture. Across the river rises Shanghai’s ultra modern Pudong Financial district whose skyscrapers dwarf the once dominant buildings of the Bund. All in all a superb introduction to Shanghai.

We round the day off with a visit to the world famous Chinese Acrobats for a show filled with colour and excitement. Return to your hotel and with the rest of the evening free.

➤ Overnight at the Renaissance Yu Garden Hotel 4*.

➤ Meals included: Breakfast and Lunch.

➤ Shanghai - Full day private tour by car to the canals and gardens of Suzhou:

➤ Itinerary: Today you leave Shanghai but just for the day. You will travel north by private car to the city of Suzhou, these days almost part of an every expanding Shanghai. Suzhou has over 2,500 years of history as a major trading city due to it’s location along the Yangtze and shores of Taihu lake. It was in the last 1,000 years that it really rose to wealth and prominence as a centre for the production of silk. The wealth generated from this led to it becoming a flourishing cultural centre particularly famous for its gardens and it is some of those that you will see today including  the Humble Administrators Garden and the Master of Nets Garden. Late afternoon return to your hotel in Shanghai to overnight.  

➤ Overnight at the Renaissance Yu Garden Hotel 4*.

➤ Meals included: Breakfast and Lunch.

➤ Shanghai - free day to further explore this exciting city:

➤ Itinerary: Today will be a free day to further explore Shanghai. The city is China’s shopping capital and a good place to stock up on souvenirs. Another option is to wander the French Concession stopping at cafes and restaurants - another favourite activity!

➤ Overnight at the Renaissance Yu Garden Hotel 4*.

➤ Meals included: Breakfast.

➤ Shanghai - Maglev train to Pudong Airport - Departure from China:

➤ Itinerary: Your day is free until a transfer to the Maglev station for a ride on the world’s fastest train to Pudong airport to catch your flight out of China. Your transfer guide will buy a standard class Maglev ticket for you and make sure you get on the train which takes just 8 minutes to cover the 30km to the airport reaching a top speed of 430 km/hour (300km/hour before 9am). End of services on arrival at the airport.

➤ Meals included: Breakfast.

 ✘ International flight tickets are not included in this itinerary. We can arrange these for you if you wish.

 ✔ Maglev ticket to Pudong airport standard class (8 minutes reaching 430km/hour)

 ✔ 4 nights Shanghai - Renaissance Yu Garden Hotel 5* (deluxe room with breakfast)

 ✔ Shanghai - Airport to Hotel / Hotel to Train Station for the Maglev train to Pudong Airport

 ✔ Shanghai - Full day private tour to the Yuyuan gardens, Shanghai Museum, Old City and the Bund.
 ✔ Shanghai - Evening visit to the Chinese Acrobats including transfers.
 ✔ Shanghai - Full day private tour by car to the canals and gardens of Suzhou.

 ✔ Meals - As indicated in the itinerary.
 ✔ Support - Emergency numbers and contacts for each destination.
 ✔ Guidebook - Our exclusive Trip Guidebook personalised to your trip.
 ✔ Financial Peace of Mind - All monies paid to us are legally protected under UK law.

✘ International Airfare to and from China (we can book these flights on request).
✘ The Chinese visa (we can advise as to how best obtain this visa).
✘ Travel insurance to cover medical treatment in China.
✘ Discretionary gratuities to drivers and guides.