Luxury holidays in China
Walk the Great Wall at Mutianyu as the mist lifts, with a private guide who speaks for you. Tell us your dates and we book every train, hotel and table around them.
It comes off your final price, and is refunded in full if you don't go ahead.
Your first morning on a quiet section of the Great Wall tells you how this trip will feel. A private guide meets you in Beijing, and the day is timed so you reach the watchtowers while the hills are still misty, then sit down to Peking duck in a courtyard restaurant. Many travellers expect China to be hard work. With the right guides and hotels, it is the opposite.
Shanghai is where most travellers relax into it, with the Bund lit up across the river and long dinners that run late. Xi'an and its Terracotta Army are an easy high-speed train journey from Beijing, and Chengdu adds giant pandas and the heat of Sichuan cooking. On the Yangtze, a river cruise through the Three Gorges lets you unpack once and watch the cliffs pass.
China
4 days · 3 nights
Beijing
A short private stay in Beijing built around one full guided day: the halls and gardens of the Forbidden City in the morning and a long walk on the Mutianyu Great Wall in the afternoon. Around it you have an arrival afternoon and a whole free day to explore, or to add a guided tour.
China
13 days · 12 nights
Beijing → Xi'an → Chengdu → Chongqing → Yangtze River → Yichang → Shanghai
You start in Beijing with the Forbidden City and the Great Wall, then fly to Xi'an for the Terracotta Warriors. A bullet train takes you to Chengdu and its pandas, and from Chongqing you cruise three nights through the Three Gorges before finishing in Shanghai.
China
13 days · 12 nights
Beijing → Datong → Pingyao → Xi'an → Nanjing → Shanghai
A private journey across six cities linked by high-speed train. After three nights in Beijing you head west to the Buddhist grottoes of Datong and the walled town of Pingyao, then south to Xi'an for the Terracotta Warriors, before Nanjing and two final nights in Shanghai.
China
9 days · 8 nights
Beijing → Xi'an → Overnight train → Shanghai
Three cities across nine days. You begin with three nights in Beijing for the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the Great Wall, take the fast train to Xi'an for the Terracotta Warriors, then ride the overnight sleeper to Shanghai for its old town, the Bund and the canal town of Zhujiajiao.
China
7 days · 6 nights
Beijing → Xi'an → Beijing
A private week that pairs Beijing with Xi'an. You spend three nights in the capital for the Forbidden City, the hutongs and a quieter stretch of the Great Wall, ride the high-speed train to Xi'an for its walls, food streets and the Terracotta Warriors, and return to Beijing for a last night.
China
4 days · 3 nights
Guangzhou
A short private stay in Guangzhou, the old trading city on the Pearl River. One full guided day covers the view from Canton Tower, the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, the carvings of the Chen Clan Academy and the tomb museum of the Nanyue King; the next day is free for the city or a guided trip out.
China
4 days · 3 nights
Shanghai
A short private stay in Shanghai, where a Ming dynasty old town sits inside one of the world's great modern cities. One full guided day covers Yu Garden, the Jade Buddha Temple, Nanjing Road and the Bund; the next is free for the city or a guided trip to a canal town or the gardens of Suzhou.
China
4 days · 3 nights
Suzhou
A short private stay in Suzhou, the canal city known for its UNESCO-listed gardens. One guided day takes in the two most celebrated gardens, Panmen City Gate and a cruise on the Grand Canal, and the day after is yours.
China
4 days · 3 nights
Taiyuan → Pingyao → Taiyuan
Fly or take the train into Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province, then drive south with a private guide to the walled city of Pingyao. A night inside one of China's best kept old towns sits between temple gardens, a carved merchant compound and a hall of painted clay statues.
China
4 days · 3 nights
Xi'an
A short private stay in Xi'an, the old imperial capital at the start of the Silk Road. One guided day takes you to the Terracotta Warriors and back for the ancient city wall, and the next day is yours for pagodas, museums and the market lanes of the Muslim Quarter.
Guided days that show the great sights at their quietest, with the everyday life around them.
Climb a quieter section of the Great Wall with your guide and follow it along the ridgeline, with time to take in the views without the tour groups.
Ride a pedicab through the lanes of old Beijing, where courtyard homes, small shops and neighbourhood life carry on much as they have for generations.
Walk among the clay warriors of the first emperor of China, each face different, and hear how farmers stumbled on them while digging a well in 1974.
Visit the Chengdu panda breeding centre with a guide in the morning, when the pandas are most active, and learn how the species was brought back from the brink.
Cycle through old farming villages among the karst peaks, then drift down the river on a bamboo raft as the hills slide by.
Climb into the Potala Palace, winter home of the Dalai Lamas since the 17th century, and see the chapels, murals and golden tombs inside.
Sail the Yangtze through its gorges over four days, with morning tai chi on deck, talks on Chinese medicine and shore visits along the way.
Spend an afternoon among the galleries and working studios of M50, where artists have turned old riverside warehouses into Shanghai's creative heart.
Beijing and Xi'an suit a first visit, and Chengdu or the Yangtze make a fine second week.
The Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and quiet sections of the Great Wall, with old hutong lanes to explore in between.
The Terracotta Army, the old city walls you can cycle along the top of, and the Muslim Quarter's food stalls at dusk.
The Bund's colonial waterfront facing the Pudong skyline, with classical gardens and canal towns such as Zhujiajiao a short drive away.
One of China's best kept walled towns, with Ming and Qing era courtyard houses, plus the Yungang Grottoes near Datong.
Sichuan's capital, home to the giant panda breeding centre, teahouses in the parks and some of China's most fiery cooking.
A river cruise through the Three Gorges between Chongqing and Yichang, passing steep cliffs, riverside temples and the Three Gorges Dam.
Guests travel China on city breaks, private and small group tours, Yangtze river cruises and, now and then, a private jet journey.
Your own guide and driver, with Great Wall walks timed before the coaches arrive.
Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai by fast train, with a guide who handles every ticket.
A few nights in Shanghai or Beijing, with a private guide for the old lanes and the sights.
Yangtze voyages through the Three Gorges, with a balcony cabin chosen for you.
Spring and autumn are the most comfortable seasons, and national holidays are worth steering around.
Cold and dry in Beijing and Xi'an, with quiet sights and Chinese New Year in some years.
Still cold in the north, and Chinese New Year travel fills the trains, so book well ahead.
Spring arrives, with blossom in Shanghai and mild days in Xi'an and Chengdu.
Mild and clear across Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai, a fine month for the Great Wall.
Warm, green and mostly dry, but avoid the May Day holiday week at the start of the month.
Heat builds, and the plum rains begin around Shanghai and the Yangtze.
Hot and humid with summer rain, though the Yangtze runs high for cruising.
Still hot and wet in the east and south, with Beijing's summer at its peak.
Heat eases and skies clear, one of the best months for the whole route.
Crisp autumn days on the Great Wall, avoid the national holiday in the first week.
Cool and dry in the north, still mild in Shanghai, Chengdu and on the Yangtze.
Cold in Beijing and Xi'an but quiet, with clear winter light on the Great Wall.
Beijing and Shanghai have direct flights from Europe, the Gulf, North America and Australia, so many travellers arrive without a connection.
The high-speed train reaches Hong Kong from Guangzhou in under an hour, which makes it a natural last stop.
Tell us when you want to go, for how long and who is travelling. Your travel expert replies in writing with a trip shaped around you.
