“VIKING EMERALD”  ~ (“SHI JI BAOSHI”)
China Cruise ~ Itinerary

Tour Escort:  Tom Tang
Captain:  Huang Xin Bin
Hotel Manager:  Wilhelm Steinbrunner
Maitre d’Hotel:   Dominik Schwemmer
Assistant Hotel Manager:   Billy Xie
Program Director:   Ben
River Guide:  Noah
Tea Master:   Brian

SHANGHAI,  CHINA

Old Shanghai & Yu, (Yuyuan Garden Tour---"Traditional China Tucked Away in a Bustling Metropolis."  The Yu Garden with its carp-filled ponds "is the best garden in southeastern China."

Bund & Shanghai Museum Tour include the cities’ colonial architecture (both pre and post 1949), along the Bund.   Promenade along the Huangpu River and experience the cities' colonial Shanghai.   Continuing through Shanghai, you will come across the splendid Yu Garden.  Dating back to the Ming Dynasty, these five acres contain pavilions of winding rockery of caves, ancient gardens and grottoes.   After a dim sum lunch, check out a nearby embroidery silk workshops where magnificent silk-stuffed comforters can be purchased.  The afternoon concludes with a visit to the spectacular Shanghai Museum.

Hotel (Ritz and Westin Hotels)-

Flight from Shanghai to Wuhan- (May 15, 2016)

Wuhan is one of China's most important cities of the Republican Revolution.   It's the capital of Hubei Province and the gateway city to the Yangtze Gorges.

Hubei Museum Visit & Bells Performance.  The museum contains over 140,000 pottery and porcelain and jade artifacts as well as ancient musical instruments.

Viking River Cruises School Visit- (Scheduled)

Three Gorges Dam Tour.   The world’s largest hydroelectric power station (producing 1/9 of the nation's electricity), was originally envisioned by China's first president, Sun Yat-den and completed decades later (2011).

For the next 150 miles you will travel the most scenic stretch of the Yangtze River through a spectacular series of limestone ridges known as the Three Gorges: Xiling, Wu and Qutang (pictured on the back on the Ten Yuan note.  Along this cliff-bound course, you will pass misty mountains, spectacular canyon-like walls lush bamboo groves and serene lagoons.

Goddess Stream Excursion.   In a small sampan, you will sail through the gorgeous Thee Lesser Gorges with towering peaks containing the unique hanging coffins of the Ba People.

Shibaozhai Pagoda Visit-

Chongqing Zoo Visit-

Flight from Chongqing to Xi'An- (May 20, 2016)

Terra Cotta Army Visit-

Xi'An Hilton Hotel-

Flight from Xi'An to Beijing- (May 22, 2016)

Great Wall Tour & Sacred Way of the Ming Tombs Tour-

Tiananmen Square & Forbidden City-

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OPTIONAL SHORE EXCURSIONS:

Sunshine Lido Dumpling Dinner & Show- Xi’An, China  (May 20, 2016)
Peking Duck Dinner- Beijing, China  (May 23, 2016)
The Legend of the Kung Fu- Beijing, China  (May 24, 2016)