Bryn Mawr College

Highlight of China:

Progress and its Price

Guilin Extension
November 11 - November 22, 2008

Highlights of China

Progress and Its Price

Post Tour Itinerary

Shenzhen • Longsheng • Guilin/Li River • Yangshuo • Shanghai

Day 1 (11/18) • Shenzhen - Longsheng
Morning flight from Shenzhen to Guilin. Upon arrival, take an hour bus ride to Longsheng. Longsheng is famous for rice terraces cut into precipitous hills that farmers have cultivated since the Yuan dynasty (13th ADE). Spring is a particularly beautiful season as the paddies fill with water and reflect the changing panorama of the sky. A little later, skeins of luscious green rice plants create remarkable views throughout the valley. Longsheng is the home of Yao and Zhuang minorities who both continue to don colorful dress and carry on their traditions. We will explore the village market and delightful craft shops.

• Accommodations at Li An Lodge.

Li An Lodge is a wonderful boutique inn with 16 rooms created by an American-Chinese artist. (It took eight years to build and has just opened for business.) The lodge is a work of art itself, using Vietnamese hardwoods and the owner’s art and crafts collection in every room. Situated above the rice terraces with a commanding view of the valley, Li An Lodge will provide a memorable experience of bucolic China. All three meals will be prepared by the chef of the lodge with the freshest produce he personally picked from the farmer’s market that morning.

Day 2 (11/19)• Longsheng - Guilin
We continue to explore the paths and life of Longsheng until early afternoon. Then, motorcoach to Guilin. Guilin is world famous for its spectacular karst limestone formations, vertical mountains thrust up from the seabed some 300 million years ago. Eroded over the millennia by water and winds, these picturesque mountains, immediately recognizable to anyone familiar with Chinese painting, have provided inspiration for countless Chinese artists. Dinner is at the Green Tea Restaurant.

• Accommodations at the Lijiang Waterfall Hotel

Day 3 (11/20)• Li River - Yangshuo
This morning, we cruise down the Li River, winding past Mural Hill, Folded Brocade Hill, Crescent Moon Hill, and many more. The four-hour cruise navigates some of the region’s most stunning karst formations. After disembarking, we check in our hotel. Then take a ride to Yongcun Village & Lexiang Village, a gorgeous agricultural valley and surrounded by distant karst scenery. Walk into the fields to enjoy another experience of rural China, this time in the middle of a visual paradise. In the evening explore lively Xijie (West Street) filled with restaurants, shops, and local inns. Xijie is the home away from home for numerous Westerners and so exudes a cosmopolitan air as well as an invitation for a rollicking good time.

• Accommodations at the Paradise Hotel

Day 4 (11/21)• Yangshuo-Shanghai
This day, continue our exploration of the natural beauty of Yangshuo, including a walk by the beautiful Yulong River,( this link is really fun use your mouse or arrows on your keyboard to view the beautiful panorama) tributary of Li River. Saunter along the riverbank of scenic villages, water buffalo, farmland, and playing children. In the evening, fly to Shanghai and transfer to our hotel.

Day 5 (11/22)• Shanghai-San Francisco or New York
At mid-day we leave for the airport. Our flight arrives in US the same day.