eGlobal Education: The Best of China--from our 30 years of travel there

Forbidden City, Beijing

Great Wall of China outside Beijing

Our actual itinerary is on our website, www.eglobaleducation.com, but here is a summary of the trip, which we think is the best of China. We've traveled all over China over the last 30 years, visiting about 20 times. In this itinerary, the only place we haven't been is Dunhuang to see the magnificently painted Mogao Caves, created by Buddhist monks traveling the ancient Silk Road.

one of the Mogao Caves, Dunhuang, Western China

We will depart for Beijing on Thursday, May 4, arriving late on May 5 and transfer to Beijing's Hilton Wangfujing, in the heart of the city. Our three days in Beijing will be filled with the best tourist sites, from the Great Wall (at a place slightly less crowded than the usual tourist stops--but still crowded. There are 1.3 billion Chinese who love to visit their most famous places, after all), the Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square with its Great Hall of the People, and several slightly off the beaten path markets.

some of Xi'an's terracotta soldiers

From Beijing, we will take the train to Xi'an, starting point of the Silk Road, and home to the famous terracotta warriors, far more extensively excavated than when we first saw them in 1987. We'll ride bikes around the city on its ancient wall and spend time at the Wild Goose Pagoda, now a heavily restored and "shopped" tourist stop, but, 30 years ago, a bedraggled pagoda with a garden of weeds and few visitors.

riding bikes on Xi'an's wall

Next to Dunhuang to see the Mogao Caves and the surrounding Gobi Desert. We'll spend 2 days touring the caves, where now access is heavily restricted, and the nearby desert oases and geological features.

mother panda resting, Chengdu

Chengdu, with its wonderful panda breeding center, temples, Muslim quarter and 2000 year old Dujiangyan flood control project is our next stop. Chengdu has become a major Western China hub for Western companies who want to manufacture their products in China.

After 2 days in Chengdu, we'll depart for the ancient city of Lijiang, in a beautiful mountain valley on the Tibetan Plateau, right under the 18,300 foot high Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. Besides touring the old city of Lijiang, we'll spend a day on the magnificent mountain, hiking and visiting villages on its massive slopes.

Lijiang's Black Pool

A highlight of this trip will be our day crossing the Tibetan Plateau from Lijiang to Shangri La, with stops at Tiger Leaping Gorge, a deep gorge cut by the Yangtze River. We'll pass through Tibetan villages and farmlands in the midst of snowy mountains. Once in Shangri La, we'll enjoy staying at the beautiful Banyan Tree Hotel, with each room created from a Tibetan house moved to the location and renovated into a luxurious hotel. Our leisure day in Shangri La will let some of us hike across a 12,000 foot high pass, stopping for lunch in a typical Tibetan house, while others can use the spa or visit a Tibetan farm.

Tibetan woman in field

On to Shanghai from Shangri La, where we'll spend 3 days seeing the city's excellent museums, including the private collection in the Long Museum, and a day in Suzhou to visit the I.M. Pei Museum there. An evening walk along the Bund, time for strolling the streets and alleys and shopping at Old Shanghai--and then we'll finish with a trip to the airport for our flights home, May 21, on the maglev (magnetic levitation) train that reaches speeds of nearly 300 mph and arrives at the airport in 7 minutes (as opposed to the taxi ride of at least an hour).