18-Nights Signature: China from the Great Wall to Shangri-La - National Geographic Signature

Shanghai

Shanghai is a teeming metropolis of 11 million, bustling with energy, towering skyscrapers, art deco buildings, honking traffic, and shopping crowds. Once here, visitors will find Eastern ways abound: Tai Chi along the Bund, the serenity of exquisite ponds and gardens, and an endless flotilla of sampans edging along the Huangpu River. Explore Shanghai old and new: the busy bazaars and alleyways of the Old Town, Yu Garden, Wuxingting Tea House, Long Hua Temple and more.

Yangshuo

Yangshuo has become a mecca for travelers in recent years.

Ironically, amid magnificent natural beauty, Yangshuo's main pedestrian street, West Street, has the feel of the Las Vegas Strip, with hawkers trying to coax tipsy travelers into noisy clubs. Unless they have state-of-the-art earplugs, guests at hotels within a block of West Street will likely have difficulty sleeping before 2 am.

The highlight in Yangshuo for many, though, is an evening performance of Impression Liu Sanjie, co-directed by Zhang Yimou (known internationally for creating the opening ceremony production at the Beijing Olympics), Wang Chaoge and Fan Yue. The 70-minute, open-air musical on the Li River runs March-December and features a cast of more than 600 performers wearing traditional Zhuang, Miao and Yao dress.

Daylight activities include river cruises on and hikes along the Li River and its tributaries. The stunning landscape will look familiar to those who saw Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith since much of the movie was filmed there. In fact, the route from Yangdi to Xingping has a view that is so breathtaking that the scene has been engraved on the 20-yuan banknote.

One of the most popular hikes is on Moon Hill, starting approximately 5 mi/8 km south of Yangshuo, on the road to Wuzhou. Spectacular views of the entire Guilin and Yangshuo area reward intrepid hikers who make it to the top.

For those who are not content to walk along or hike in the mountains but want to hang on their dramatic facades, Yangshuo has more than 400 climbing routes, and there are many well-supplied climbing shops in the area. The annual Yangshuo Climbing Festival takes place there in December. http://www.ysclimbfest.com.

After a day of hiking, climbing or floating along the river, a variety of restaurants and regional dishes await. Both Yangshuo and Guilin cuisine are known for their use of spices, especially chili. Beer fish (pijiu yu) is a local specialty cooked with several species of fish. Whichever fish is used is cooked whole, so diners need to be aware of bones. For those who want to delve deeper into the local cuisine, a number of cooking schools in Yangshuo and Guilin offer classes.

Lijiang

Lijiang is a popular tourist destination in Yunnan Province. The town is culturally rich with it's Old Town District, 800 year old bridges and waterways.  The views atop Jade Dragon Snow Mountain are breathtaking, and the Dongba cultural center of Jade Water Village is worth visiting. 

Chengdu

The main inland access city to Tibet, Chengdu is the capital of the "Heavenly State". Most known for its natural habitat and research center for giant pandas, this sprawling city boasts a population of over 11 million.

Xi'an

Xi'an - with five million inhabitants and capital of Shaanxi Province - is one of the more pleasant of Chinese cities, more prosperous than any other city in inland China except Chengdu, with streets full of Japanese cars, stores flooded with temptations, and stylish locals in new discos. It's far richer than the surrounding area, a fact which becomes clear after a bus ride into surrounding plains. The city is also a primer in Chinese history, as between 1000 BC and 1000 AD it served as imperial capital for eleven dynasties. Find a wealth of important sites and relics hereabouts: Neolithic Banpo, the Terracotta Army of the Qin emperor, the Han and Tang imperial tombs, and in the city itself, the Goose Pagodas of the Tang, the Bell and Drum towers and Ming city walls, as well as two museums holding a treasury of relics from the most glamorous parts of Chinese history. The city is very popular with foreign residents, and many come to study, as the colleges are regarded as some of the best places to learn Chinese.

Dunhuang

The national, historical city of Dunhuang is a renowned tourist city famous for the Mogao Caves. It is situated in the common boundary of Gansu Province, Qinghai Province and Xinjiang Province. Dunhuang, long ago referred to as 'Sha Zhou' (beautiful desert oasis), was the hub of middle and eastern silk routes in ancient times. The city landmark is an attractive statue, the idea of which comes from the mural in Mogao Caves, a shrine to the culture and arts of Dunhuang. From Mt.Qilian in the south, Mt. Mazong in the north and desert from east to west, the landform of Dunhuang City is a declining basin-plain from west to northeast, high in the north and south, and low in the middle. The western cities of China, especially those in the desert, are known for their sandstorms, so tourists should protect themselves with glasses, hats and gauze kerchiefs, etc.

Beijing

Beijing is the country's economic, cultural and transportation center as well as a famous historical capital of China. Located in northwest North China Plain, Beijing is the second largest city in China with a population of more than 11 million and is ideal to visit all year. There are numerous museums and libraries with the largest collection of books in the country. It also serves as a center for science and technology. It is a hub of communications, with good railroad and air links with all parts of China and with major cities of the world, thus facilitating the rapid development of tourism as an important industry in Beijing. Beijing is an ancient city with a long cultural history. The four feudal dynasties--Jin, Yuan, Ming, and Qing had all set up their capital here and it became a most concentrated place of the country's scenic spots and historical sites. The best known are the Palace Museum, the Summer Palace, the Great Wall and the Temple of Heaven. Beijing aims to develop into a modern international metropolis..