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Overview

Weekend of Discovery in Shanghai

Let your imagination run wild for a moment and picture yourself resting peacefully on an oriental mat in the corner of an ancient Chinese boudoir, surrounded by lacquered walls, as small puffs of opium languidly fill the air around you…next thing you know, you find yourself dancing the Charleston during a reception at the governor’s mansion on the Bund: you are in colonial Shanghai! Flash forward to the 21st century: steel needles pierce the skies, fluorescent lights reflect in Pudong’s immense glass skyscrapers, and the streets are lined with posh Western boutiques – a shopper’s paradise. Dive further into this cosmopolitan world and discover delicate gardens more sophisticated than the finest jewels of Asia: varnished wood, modern and ancient sculptures, and merry canals bathing in the pleasantly haunting sounds of a zither. A few more steps and you enter a workshop where technique and craftsmanship haven’t changed in centuries…

Sounds like a nice change of scenery, wouldn’t you say? And yet, this is but a brief glimpse of what awaits you on this weekend of discovery of Shanghai, this vibrant, gigantic, and fascinating metropolis at the other end of the world, where postmodern design lives side by side with the ancient traditions of a culture unlike any other you have seen.
With a stop in the picturesque village of Tongli on your last day, this great weekend of discovery in Shanghai will present you with a whole new definition of what it means to travel!

Contact Uniktour’s China expert for more information on this fantastic weekend of discovery in Shanghai.

Itinerary

Day 1| Shanghai
Arrival in Shanghai, the largest, most prosperous, and liveliest city in the Middle Kingdom. No other Chinese city can compare to Shanghai. The towering silhouette of its skyscrapers would make almost any Western city blush, and this is one of the world’s best shopping destinations. Your guide will meet you at the airport and take you to your hotel. Get some rest and enjoy dinner in a local restaurant. Overnight in a hotel.

Day 2| Shanghai
Take a stroll on the “Bund”: once an administrative and commercial center, it now offers the best views of the port from its riverside promenade. Take the public ferry across the Huangpu River. Head to the Grand Hyatt for panoramic views of the city. Enjoy a traditional dinner in the old town at Lubolang, one of Shanghai’s most famous restaurants. Head to Old Shanghai and visit Yuyuan Gardens (16th century), in the heart of the Old Town, surrounded by a maze of pedestrian alleys lined with traditional shops. Then take a walk in the French Concession and Xintiandi, and visit Shikumen Open House Museum. Dinner in the city and overnight in the hotel.

Day 3| Shanghai
Enjoy breakfast at your hotel and visit Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall, where you’ll learn about the radical changes that took place in this city in recent years. Then you visit Shanghai Museum, next to People’s Square. Sample some typical Shanghai noodles at Wuyuerenjia, then enjoy an afternoon visit to Jade Buddha Temple, the oldest in the city. Enjoy some free time during which you can go shopping on Nanjing Street, the city’s liveliest commercial strip. Dinner in a local restaurant. Overnight at your hotel.

Day 4| Shanghai – Suzhou - Tongli
Breakfast at your hotel, then set off for Suzhou and discover its two most famous gardens: the Garden of the Master of the Nets, and Yipu Garden. Lunch in town. You’ll then visit a silk workshop where live silk worms are hard at work. Take the road to the village of Tongli, whose network of canals and stone bridges has managed to preserve its traditional charm. Take a stroll in the old town and hop on a boat ride in Tongli. Enjoy dinner at NanyuanChashe. Overnight in hotel.

Jour 5| Suzhou - Shanghai - Departure
Breakfast, followed by a transfer to Shanghai airport for your return flight.

Budget

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Other fees

Lodging

Overview

China is forever linked to its ancient civilization, friendly people, and many of the world's most revered treasures, such as The Great Wall, Terra-Cotta Warriors & Horses and the Yangtze River.
Today, one can also find spectacular architecture and towering skylines in Shanghai
and Beijing (site of the 2008 Summer Olympics), a wealth of luxury accommodations – and as always – exquisite cuisine.

Come and see why China is drawing millions of visitors from all over the world. And, why each and everyone of them returns home smiling :)

Source ; china tourism office (http://www.cnto.org )

Tourism

Visitors are often surprised to find out how modern China really is.
Since the early 90's China has been in the middle of a building boom and infrastructure upgrade that has brought its tourism industry up to Western standards almost overnight.

Tourist facilities and transportation in large cities are almost on the same level as of the United States. All major cities and tourism centers have undergone a total metamorphosis in visitor comfort and transportation facilities. Complaints of poor facilities, service or transportation have all become memories of the past.

Today you can tour China with ease and safety (the crime rate is very low there), stay in comfortable 4 & 5-star hotels, try new Chinese delicacies, enjoy familiar Western cuisine, shop in modern designer boutiques, or explore centuries-old markets and shopping arcades. You can tour the countryside in modern motor coaches, relax in first class train compartments, or speed to the next destination by jet while exploring one of the oldest cultures of the world, and seeing some of the most extraordinary sights any where and there is much to see in this vast country of 1.3 billion people.

Geography

China's land drops off in the escarpments eastward to the ocean, letting in humid air currents and leading many rivers eastward.
Among the rivers totalling 220,000 kilometres in length in China; the Yangtze and the Yellow are the two major ones.

China has a diversity of land formations including mountains, hills, highlands, plains and basins. The highlands and hill regions account for 65 percent of the country's land mass. The highest mountain peak is Qomolangma (Everest), 8,848 metres above sea level; the lowest point is the Turpan Basin, 154 metres below sea level.

Culture

China is the most populous country in the world, with 1.25909 billion people at the end of 1999, about 22 percent of the world's total.
This figure does not include many Chinese in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Taiwan Province and Macao Special Administrative Region. The population density in China is 130 people per sq km. This population, however, is unevenly distributed. Along the densely populated east coast there are more than 400 people per sq km; in the central areas, over 200; and in the sparsely populated plateaus in the west there are less than 10 people per sq km. The population in cities and towns makes up 30.4 percent; and that in rural areas, 69.6 percent. The male population is 50.8 percent; and the female population is 49.2 percent. People 14 years or younger make up 25.7 percent; those from 15 to 64, 67.6 percent; and those 65 or older, 6.7 percent.

Climate

China is characterized by a continental climate.
The latitudes span nearly 50 degrees, its southern part is in the tropical and subtropical zones, and its northern part near the frigid zones. The northern part of Heilongjiang province has long winters but no summers; while Hainan Island has long summers but no winters. The Huaihe River valley is marked by distinctive seasonal changes, but it is spring all year round in the south of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. China's high tundra zone is situated in Qinghai-Tibet, where the temperature is low in all four seasons.