DAY    1            DEPARTURE FROM NORTH AMERICA
Enjoy full meal service on your scheduled wide-bodied flight to Beijing.

DAY    2            ARRIVE BEIJING (4 NIGHTS)
Our English-speaking guide will meet us at the airport and accompany us on our transfer by private coach to our hotel in central Beijing. We will enjoy dinner in a local restaurant.

DAY    3            BEIJING
Our morning commences in Tian'an Men Square, the world's largest public square (the size of 90 American football fields). In the center of the square stands the Monument to the People's Heroes (Renmin Yingxiong Jinian Bei), a 124-ft.granite obelisk erected in 1958, engraved with scenes from famous uprisings. We will visit the massive Great Hall of the People, one of the world's architectural marvels, where the thousands of representatives that make up China's governing body, the People's Congress, meet for most of the year. We continue with a visit to the Forbidden City, a massive complex of red-walled buildings and pavilions topped by a sea of glazed vermilion tile. It is by far the largest and most intricate imperial palace in China and receives more visitors than any other attraction in the country. Our visit will include the Inner Court, where only the emperor, his family, his concubines, and the palace eunuchs were allowed; the Hall of Mental Cultivation, where emperors lived after Yongzheng moved out of the Qianqing Gong; the Nine Dragon Screen, an 11 1/2-ft-high wall covered in striking glazed-tile dragons depicted frolicking above a frothing sea, built to protect the Qianlong emperor from prying eyes and malevolent spirits; the Hall of Jewelry, with all 25 of the Qing imperial seals, ornate swords, and bejeweled mini-pagodas; Cixi's Theater, an elaborate green-tiled three-tiered structure with trap doors and hidden passageways to allow movement between stages; and the Hall of Clocks, a collection of elaborate timepieces, many of them gifts to the emperors from European envoys. Our afternoon concludes with a visit to the Temple of Heaven, an enormous park and altar to Heaven directly to the south of the Forbidden City. Each winter solstice, the Ming and Qing emperors would lead a procession here to perform rites and make sacrifices designed to promote the next year's crops and curry favor with Heaven for the general health of the empire. This evening we will enjoy a Peking Duck Dinner.

DAY    4            THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA & MING TOMBS
This morning we will journey outside of the city for a visit to the Great Wall of China, one of the world's most awesome and impressive sights. The Great Wall snakes its way from east to west for nearly 4,000 miles, and has been in existence for over 2,600 years. This afternoon we visit the Ming Tombs, where 13 of the 16 emperors who ruled China during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) are buried in a box canyon at the southern foot of Tianshou Shan. This is the most extensive burial complex of any Chinese dynasty and the tombs are constructed in conventional fashion, with memorial halls at the front and burial chambers to the rear. This evening we will enjoy an Acrobat Show.

DAY    5            BEIJING
This morning we visit the Summer Palace, the grandest imperial playground in China. The compound is an expanse of elaborate Qing-style pavilions, bridges, walkways, and gardens, scattered along the shores of the immense Kunming Lake. We will enjoy a tour of the park, which covers roughly 716 acres, with Kunming Lake in the south and Longevity Hill in the north. We will also have the opportunity to take slow electric-powered Boats on the Lake and stroll along Suzhou Street, which is filled with interesting shops. This afternoon we will enjoy a Beijing Hutong Tour. A hutong is a unique form of community with a small street or a lane between two courtyards. There are thousands of hutongs in Beijing, most of which were built in the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. We will enjoy a fascinating tour by Rickshaw, which will include visits with local families, as well as a magnificent glance into residential Chinese life. After dinner this evening we can explore Lotus Lane.

DAY    6            BEIJING - FLIGHT TO XI'AN (8 NIGHTS)
Today we will take a flight from Beijing to Xian, a former capital of 11 dynasties, including the Tang Dynasty, during China's "Golden Age." Upon our arrival, we will check into our hotel, before embarking on a Bicycle Tour of the Xian City Walls. The magnificent and grandiose Xian City Wall was constructed in the early Ming Dynasty, and based on the Imperial City of Chang An (Everlasting Peace) of the Tang Dynasty. The Xian Wall is one of the best-preserved ancient walls around a city anywhere in the world, and the best example of a walled city in China. In addition to the ramparts, the wall contains watchtowers, moats, city gates and tower entrances. Our day will conclude with a visit to the Bell Tower, originally constructed in the 17th year of Emperor Hong Wu's reign of the Ming Dynasty, and moved to its current location in the 10th year of Wanli. The architecture is grand and the art is superb, however the highlight of our visit will be the ascent of the tower, which offers a magnificent panoramic view over the city.

DAY    7-11       LANGUAGE CLASSES
After breakfast in the hotel, we will take the school bus to the Xi'an International Studies University, where we will enjoy Chinese Language Classes. After lunch at the school, we will enjoy afternoon Chinese Arts Classes, including calligraphy, fine arts, and shadow boxing. We then take the bus back to the hotel. Dinner will be buffet style each evening, in the hotel. The evenings will be free for studying.

DAY    12          XI'AN
This morning we will visit the Qin Terra Cotta Army Museum. In 1974 a group of peasants digging a well, made what was to become the greatest archaeological find of the 20th century when they unearthed fragments of a life sized Terra Cotta Warrior. Excavation of the vault revealed thousands of warriors and their horses, an entire army designed to follow its emperor into eternity. The site is located one mile east of the Qin Mausoleum, and the emperor's Terra Cotta Army was found in three underground timber lined vaults. We will have the opportunity to view the thousands of life size soldiers, standing in military formation with their vivid facial expressions frozen for eternity, some of which are being fully restored to display their original rich coloration. Our day continues with a visit to the Huaqing Hot Springs, located at the northern foot of Mt. Lishan. The Dynasties of Zhou, Qin, Han, Sui and Tang, built a temporary imperial abode on the sight. In the 6th year of Emperor Xuanzong's Reign in the Tang Dynasty (747), it was expanded on a massive scale by turning the hot springs into bathing pools, and by building the palace buildings, protected by an outer circular defensive wall. Today, the Huaqing Pools are fascinating for their exquisite and picturesque scenery, characterized by pink peach blossoms, green willows, dense foliage, beautiful pavilions, terraces, magnificent halls, rolling towers, winding corridors and long verandas. We will explore the springs and the grounds, and we will have the opportunity to experience a traditional Chinese Foot Massage. Our day concludes with a visit to the Banpo Museum and Excavation Site. This site was discovered in the spring of 1953, and today is one of China's most important cultural heritage sites. Archeologists uncovered a village from the Neolithic period (6,000 years ago), which at its height spanned some 50,000 square meters. We will explore the excavation site, as well as the museum, featuring approximately 10,000 pieces excavated from the site. This evening we will attend a Tang Dynasty Music and Dance Show.

DAY    13          XI'AN
This morning we begin with a visit to the Ba Xian An (Temple of the Eight Immortals), which is tucked away in a narrow alley and is the most charming temple in Xi'an. The walk into it is half the adventure, with a flea market out front in some of the temple's old buildings. Inside the temple, monks, their hair tied up in traditional Daoist fashion, play chess and are always keen for a chat. The folk legend of the Eight Immortals is said to have originated here during the late Táng dynasty. Our morning begins with a visit to the Shanxi Lìshi Bówùguan (Shanxi History Museum), one of China's top museums, which features an unrivalled collection of treasures. Items are displayed chronologically, starting with the Shang dynasty and the Zhou dynasty, including items that speak to eating, drinking, and merriment in the Western Zhou. The Qín dynasty exhibit features bronze swords and rusting iron weapons, as well as a striking exhibit on a tiger-shaped tally covered in characters, which gave its owner, one General Dù, imperial authorization to mobilize over 50 soldiers at will. The Táng dynasty exhibits show the influence of Buddhist art from the Silk Routes, and carvings are more sophisticated, and bright colors are introduced. Perhaps the most startling exhibits are the frescos relocated from the Táng tumuli around Xi'an. Our day continues with a visit to the Wild Goose Pagoda, situated at the Benevolence Temple to the south of Xi'an City. The Pagoda, built after the translation of the Buddhist scriptures, is square in shape, and stands 64 meters high, with a spiral staircase leading to the top. Bodhisattva images are delicately carved on the lintels on four sides, and the lower part of the Pagoda features two stone tablets, engraved with the Preface of the Holy Teaching and the Narration Record of the Holy Teaching by Chu Suiliang, the calligrapher of the Tang dynasty.

DAY    14          XI'AN - FLIGHT TO BEIJING (1 NIGHT)
This morning we fly back to Beijing. This afternoon we will stroll and shop along Wangfujing Dajie, the grandest shopping area in Beijing. The street was overhauled in 1999, and the south section was turned into a pedestrian-only commercial avenue lined with clothing outlets, souvenir shops, portrait studios, fast-food restaurants, and the city's top two malls -- the Sun (Xin) Dong An Plaza and Oriental Plaza (Dongfang Guangchang). This evening we will enjoy either a Gala Dinner or the Beijing Opera.

DAY    15          DEPARTURE FROM BEIJING
Our enjoyable and rewarding tour will come to an end as our guide accompanies us to the airport for the return flight home.