China: Health & Wellness-Inspired Tour
$3190
per person
When International Experiences vows that your body and soul will be individually served, they mean it. One of the most amazing and undiscovered countries, China offers a wealth of travel experiences unlike any other place on earth — and this tour surely includes healthy doses of kung fu and tai chi. This unique Chinese health and wellness tour brings you to ‘real China’ that will wow you as we uncover experiences most tourists cannot access and will never see. And the spa, oh yes, the spas!
Walk where emperors reigned, taste the broad range of its local cuisine, immerse yourself in the culture of this beautiful land, all while traveling in comfort through our extensive network of highly curated experiences with the best accommodations, transportation, and cuisine, all in the good hands of our ultra-capable partner tour operators. Don’t predict your future, invent it!
Highlights
- Behold the famous Tian’anmen Square, the world’s largest city-center square.
- Inside the Forbidden City, a Kung Fu Master will teach you Chinese Kung Fu.
- We’ll scale the Great Wall, one of the world’s great wonders.
- Enjoy a spa experience like no other where the options include massage, facials, and deep-soaking tubs.
- Get a tai chi lesson from a trained expert at Shanghai’s famed Bund area.
- Destination
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Included
AccommodationsActivities as SpecifiedEnglish Speaking GuideGovernment taxesMeals as SpecifiedTransportation
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Not Included
Domestic AirfareInternational AirfareTips For Tour GuidesTravel InsuranceVisa Processing
From our gallery
Our decades of experience working in China have not only allowed us to build some of the most unique itineraries that you’ll be talking about for years, but we also insist on working only with the best tour operators on the ground, which we know through many years of working with them all.
1
Arrival in Beijing
- Our guide will be awaiting your arrival at Beijing International Airport. He'll meet you in the arrivals lounge and then transfer you to your hotel.
- Overnight in Beijing (rest, or head out into buzzing Beijing -- your call!)
2
Beijing - Kung Fu in Forbidden City- Cooking Class
- Today you'll behold the famous Tian’anmen Square, the world's largest city center square. From there, you'll enter the Imperial Palace, known as the Forbidden City, where 24 emperors ruled China for 600 years. And, right here inside the Forbidden City, a Kung Fu Master will teach you Chinese kung fu. With a number of movement sets, boxing styles, weapon skills, and fighting stunts, kung fu keeps its original function of self-defense, yet recognizes kung fu as a serious fitness option.
- After the vigor of Kung Fu and a short break, we'll then have the unique experience of a cooking class (approximately 3 hours), which provides an opportunity to learn about the importance of healthy eating in Chinese culture via cooking techniques and regional cuisine. Under the guidance of an expert chef, you'll have a chance to prepare local delicacies inspired by ancient recipes. Of course you'll feast on the delicacies you create as you dine with your hosts during this unforgettable culinary experience. (Note: If you have less than 6 in your group, we may merge with another group).
- Overnight in Beijing
3
Beijing - Hiking the Great Wall – Hot Springs
- After lunch, we'll take you to the Great Wall, one of the great wonders of the world, where you'll be dazzled by the majesty of this unfathomable feat of human engineering. This is a moment to imagine the lives and culture of a proud people many generations before ours. We'll visit the Simatai section of the Great Wall near Gubei Water Town. You'll have opportunity to hike along the wall and escape to a world that once protected emperors and dynasties for hundreds of years. After the hike, we'll transfer to Watertown, a mesmerizing combination of mountains, waterfront, and ancient villages.
- The town is characterized by the history and culture of the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). We'll stay in a hotel in Water Town this evening. After checking in and a short break, we'll go to the amazing Hot Springs in the town to relax.
- Overnight in Beijing
4
Beijing - Chongqing
- After lunch, you'll take a flight to Chongqing, one of the undiscovered historical and traditional cities of central China that's home to 34 million inhabitants. This ‘off the beaten path’ destination provides a unique lens into the real culture of Chinese urban living, while also offering access to the world’s largest hot spring region via the amazing Sheenjoy resort in the BeiBei region, which is approximately 30 minutes from the city center.
- After settling into the hotel, we'll visit the dynamic Jiefangbei region of the city. Often referred to as the Times Square of Chongqing, this bustling area of the city offers high-end shopping, great restaurants, and nifty nightlife!
- Overnight in Chongqing
5
BeiBei Region - Hot Springs - Cupping Therapy
- After breakfast, you'll travel to the world's largest hot springs region, BeiBei. This relatively untouched landscape is home to some of China’s most renowned relaxation destinations, hot springs, and spas. Upon arrival at Sheenjoy Resort, one of the area’s most amazing hot-springs resorts, you'll be transported to a healthy and holistic environment for an instant escape from the fast-paced city. Go ahead, immerse yourself into the tranquility of these natural, warm-water springs.
- During your stay, you'll enjoy a spa experience like no other, where the options to indulge include massage, facials, deep-soaking tubs, and much more. In addition to optional spa treatments, we've arranged a traditional cupping therapy (approximately 15-minutes), an ancient form of alternative medicine where a trained therapist puts special cups on your skin to create suction, with the aim of alleviating pain and inflammation, increasing blood flow, and inducing relaxation and well-being. It's also resembles a deep-tissue massage. Enjoy some free time this evening to explore this beautiful resort and enjoy dinner on your own as a guest of the attentive Sheenjoy team.
- Overnight in BeiBei.
6
BeiBei and Sheenjoy
- After breakfast, we'll enjoy a traditional tea ceremony (approximately 45-minutes) and visit Sheenjoy’s beautiful Arts Center, where history and the beauty of Chinese culture merge. At a very basic level, tea ceremonies are a formalized way of making tea using a process that's been refined over generations to create a most unique experience. A traditional Chinese lunch will follow and guests are then invited to embark on a hiking experience to explore the resort's mountainous region -- but feel free to return at any time to further enjoy Sheenjoy's variety of hot springs and spa experiences.
- After your hike, we've prepared a traditional Moxibustion (approximately 90-minutes) for you. This traditional Chinese medicine therapy consists of burning dried mugwort on particular points on the body. It plays an important role in the traditional medical systems of China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Mongolia. Suppliers usually age the mugwort and grind it up to a fluff; practitioners burn the fluff or process it further into a cigar-shaped stick. They can use it indirectly, with acupuncture needles, or burn it on the patient's skin. Give it a whirl!
- Overnight in BeiBei.
7
Chongqing-Guilin
- Today we'll transfer you to the airport to catch a flight to a magical place called Guilin, where pinnacle-like limestone peaks jut out of an otherwise flat landscape, and the Li River valley supports endless glorious rice paddies -- the multiple shades of this green flat-and-mountainous landscape will be unlike anything you've seen before. Upon arriving to Guilin airport, our expert guide will be waiting for you at airport for your hotel transfer.
- Once you arrive at the hotel, you'll have some free time to explore and relax before further exploring this amazing region.
- Lunch and dinner today will be on your own, but we're happy to point you in the right direction!
- Overnight in Guilin.
8
Guilin - Hike and Cruise Along the Li River
- This morning, we'll pick you up from your hotel and drive to Yangdi Pier for a once in lifetime hike along the Li River (approximately 4 hours). This hiking tour will start from Yangdi Pier and end at Xingping Town, where we'll board a one-hour cruise to further experience the highlights and majesty of Guilin's glorious river.
- After the hike and cruise, we'll drive you back to city center to have dinner, then back to hotel to rest and reflect on your wonderful day.
- Overnight in Guilin.
9
Guilin-Shanghai
- In the morning, you'll first visit Reed Flute Cave, a brilliant karst miracle that got its name from the verdant reeds growing near it, which people used to make flutes.
- Next, we'll visit Elephant Trunk Hill, one of Guilin's great landmarks.
- After lunch, we'll transfer you to the Guilin airport for your flight to Shanghai. Our guide will be waiting for you at the airport and transfer you to the Bund, also known as Waitan, one of the most well-known areas of the city. This is a famous waterfront walking area on the west bank of Huangpu River and regarded as the shining symbol of Shanghai.
- Next, our guide will take you to walk along the Nanjing Road, China's ultimate and premiere shopping street. The 3.5-mile-long Nanjing Road starts at the Bund in the east and ends in the west at the junction of Jing'an Temple and West Yan'an Street. This is not to be missed. Don't forget your shades!
- Overnight in Shanghai.
10
Shanghai - Tai Chi - Tea Ceremony
- Today, we'll first go to the famed Bund area for a tai chi lesson (approximately 90-minutes) from a trained expert. A kung fu-style and sports discipline, tai chi is a perfect combination of Chinese dialectic ideology, art, and martial arts. It bears a close relation to Chinese ancient Taoism, as a series of practiced methods that were formed for learning martial arts. It's characterized by attacking, by accumulating strength, by conquering the unyielding with the yielding skills, and defeating the dynamic with the static. Moreover, this kung fu style is a good regimen method to cultivate the shape, breath, strength, quality, and spirit of the human body.
- In Chinese culture, nothing represents the concept of wellness more than tai chi, as it focuses as much on the spiritual well-being as it does the physical strength of its practitioners. Due to these distinctions, it's considered to be a quintessential icon of Chinese culture. After lunch, you'll have a chance to experience the tea ceremony in one of the most prosperous yet historical places near Yuyuan Garden, a classical Chinese garden that represents tranquility and harmony. For centuries, tea has been used in alternative medicine and recent studies have shown that tea may protect against heart disease, Alzheimer's and many types of cancer. After this, you'll stop by Shanghai Old Street, historically called Miaoqian Dajie, which has a combination of tourist attractions, shops, entertainment and cultural exhibits. You're in the mix -- go for it!
- Overnight in Shanghai.
11
Shanghai - Departure
- We will transport you to the airport for your flight home. We hope you've enjoyed the ultimate heath and wellness-inspired tour of China!
Dates
Unlike most tour operators, you are not required to choose a fixed date or travel with a group. You can choose to begin your private tour on any date. These are EVERYDAY DEPARTURES.Tour Price
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- Prices are per person based on double occupancy.
- Single supplement price for single room as part of a group of 2 or more.
- One person traveling alone will incur a higher price due to private tour.
- All prices and fares are quoted in U.S. dollars and subject to change.
- Prices for 5 & more travelers available upon request.