Sample Itinerary

This is a specially designed concert and cultural exchange program. This  sample itinerary offers the chance for your group to be “music ambassadors” from the West. You’ll bring American music and culture to the East and share your friendship with the people in China. In exchange, you’ll explore Chinese history, arts, and culture, and take home a new view of the world and memories to treasure for a lifetime. Travel through three of China’s ancient capitals, Beijing, Kaifeng, and Luoyang, and visit the famous Shaolin Temple: the birthplace of Kung Fu, the mother of all forms of martial arts.  

Day 1: International Flight, U.S. to Beijing, Cross the International Date Line

Days 2 - 4: Beijing (Peking Duck Dinner, Acrobatic show, or Peking Opera)

Day 2: Arrive in Beijing, the capital city of China, dating back 3,000 years.  Visit Tiananmen Square, the biggest square in the world, and exercise your photography skills.  For your welcome banquet: enjoy a delicious Peking Duck Dinner held for you by the Chinese Cultural Exchange Committee and Travel Service Company.

Day 3 (Performance): After a buffet breakfast, you will walk along the 4,000 mile-long Great Wall, the only man-made structure that can be seen from the moon.  You’ll also journey to the magnificent Temple of Heaven to marvel at the wonders of the Ming and Qing dynasties.  This is where the emperors prayed to heaven and for good harvests.

Day 4: Tour Beijing’s Forbidden City, whose ancient walls now serve as an enormous entrance for visitors, leading to one of the most fascinating displays of Chinese cultural history, and remaining probably the best-preserved site of Chinese classical architecture.  This once-forbidden palace houses 9,999 rooms and halls filled with millions of priceless relics.  The number 9 in Chinese is a homonym of the character jiu, meaning eternity; this was meant to indicate the imperial reign would be as eternal as heaven and earth. 

The 800 year-old Summer Palace boasts the largest garden in China. Here the imperial family of the Qing Dynasty relaxed at their summer residence and managed government affairs.  Walk the long corridor along the river and enjoy the beautiful overhead paintings.

Days 5-6: Luoyang (Water Feast, Handed Down from Tang Dynasty)

Day 5:Travel to historic Luoyang, the capital of thirteen dynasties. This city is home to the first Buddhist temple in China, the 900 year-old White Horse Temple.

The most spectacular site in Luoyang is the Longmen Grotto.  Carved from a solid rock mountain over 1,500 years ago, this site has over 2,345 caves and more than 100,000 statues of Buddha.  Chinese noblemen sponsored the creation of most of these statues, ranging in height from miniature (1 inch high) to giant-size (57 feet).

Day 6 (Performance): Nearby Luoyang, you will visit the ruins of the Royal Palace of the Zhou Dynasty where Confucius came to learn the Zhou rites from Laotse. The Chinese believe this to be the most important meeting in their cultural history.

At night, relax and enjoy the delicious delicacies of the Water Feast, a banquet handed down by the Tang Dynasty empress.  Be delighted by the sights and sounds of ancient Chinese instruments, played for you as you end your feast.

Day 7: Shaolin Temple (Amazing Kung Fu demonstration by Shaolin monks).

Take a break from performance as you travel to the 1,500 year-old Shaolin monastery, the birthplace of Kung Fu, the original form of all martial arts.  This temple is situated at the western edge of the Songshan Mountains.  In the Thousand Buddhas Hall, you can still see the footprints of the monks stamped into the floor, a reminder of the intensity of their practice.  Here, you will be amazed by a live Kung Fu demonstration performed by the Grandmasters and monks.

Denfeng is also the home of the earliest astronomical observatory. Here a Chinese astronomer, Mr. Guo, invented an official calendar based on his celestial observations. Predating the Roman calendar by two hundred years, his was accurate within one second of the Gregorian calendar.

Days 8-9: Zhengzhou

Zhengzhou, the capital of the Henan Province, is a prime example of the changing face of China. Here you will see modern buildings and shopping malls contrasted against a background of ancient civilization.

Day 8 (Performance): You’ll visit Dahe village, an archeological site dating back 8,000 years, and you’ll witness thousands of recent discoveries from a New Stone Age civilization. Visit a local high school or university for cultural exchange in the afternoon.  Make friends and exchange emails. (Performance in the evening).

Day 9: The Henan National Museum, whose modern architecture  resembles a Mayan Pyramid, is the repository for 160,000 historic and prehistoric national treasures, including the world's earliest musical instrument, an 8,000 year old, perfectly tuned bone flute. Wander through the fascinating exhibits and then relax and listen to a musical performance on ancient Chinese instruments dating back over a 1,000 years.

Day 10: Kaifeng  (Traditional Baozi Banquet)

On your last day in China, you will enjoy an excursion to Kaifeng, the ancient capital of seven dynasties. During the Song Dynasty 1,000 years ago, Kaifeng was the richest and most culturally diverse city in the world.

You’ll be transported back to that time when you visit the historical recreation of a Song Dynasty city at Riverside Park. You’ll experience daily Song life as you board an ancient boat, explore the narrow streets, cross the rainbow bridge, try your hand at traditional crafts, participate in ceremonies, and meet “officials” and “residents” in period costumes.

At noon, you can enjoy the traditional dishes of the Baozi Banquet.  This banquet features many different flavors of the local cuisine.

Kaifeng has a wealth of historical sites. The Buddha of A Thousand Hands and A Thousand Eyes stands in the 1,000 year old Xiang Guo Monastery. The famous Dragon Pavilion was built on the ruins of the Song Palace. It is also called the small forbidden city. You’ll visit the thirteen story high Iron Pagoda, made entirely of wood with a brick exterior.  It is called “iron” because this pagoda has miraculously survived many earthquakes and floods for almost one thousand years. (Perform at night, travel back to Zhengzhou). 

Day 11: Return Flight to U.S.