Golden Triangle & Tibet by Rail — 25 Days

Arrive in Beijing and transfer to your hotel. The day is free to rest after the flight or take a first walk nearby; Beijing has been China's principal capital for much of the past eight centuries, since the Yuan dynasty.

Begin at Tian'anmen Square, the vast ceremonial centre, then enter the Forbidden City, the Ming- and Qing-dynasty palace of twenty-four emperors. Climb Jingshan Park for the view and finish at the Summer Palace, the Qing court's lakeside retreat around Kunming Lake.

Travel to the Great Wall at Mutianyu, a Ming-dynasty section (1404) of watchtowers along the ridgelines. Your guide explains the wall's defensive role. On the return, view the Bird's Nest — the 2008 Olympic stadium — from the outside.

Visit the Temple of Heaven, where Ming and Qing emperors made annual harvest rites within the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, then walk Beihai Park, a Yuan-dynasty imperial garden around a white-dagoba island. Later explore the Qianmen hutong.

Take the high-speed train west to Xi'an, the Tang capital and Silk Road terminus. Visit Daci'en Temple and the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, raised in 652 to house Buddhist scriptures from India, then stroll Tang Paradise Never Night City.

Stand before the Terracotta Army, the clay guard buried about 210 BCE for China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang. Walk the Xi'an Ancient City Wall, a Ming rampart of 1370, browse the Muslim Quarter, and see the Bell and Drum Towers from the outside.

Board the high-speed train southwest to Chengdu, the Sichuan capital on the fertile Chengdu Plain. The day is free to rest or explore the city's teahouses and street life at your own pace before the panda visit tomorrow.

Visit the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding to watch the pandas and learn about conservation. Sip gaiwan tea in People's Park, then walk Jinli Ancient Street, a Qing-style lane of shops and snacks beside the Wuhou Shrine.

Fly to Lhasa, the Tibetan capital set at about 3,650 metres. The rest of the day is kept free so you can rest and acclimatise to the high altitude, avoiding exertion while your body adjusts to the thinner mountain air.

Visit the Potala Palace, the winter residence of the Dalai Lamas built from the 7th century and expanded in the 17th, perched above the city with its white and red palaces. Then enter the Jokhang Temple, the holiest shrine in Tibetan Buddhism, founded in the 7th century.

Walk Barkhor Street, the devotional circuit around the Jokhang lined with stalls and pilgrims, then visit Sera Monastery to watch the monks' afternoon debate. In the evening fly to Chongqing and transfer to your hotel.

Wander Ciqikou Ancient Town, a Ming-Qing riverside lane of teahouses, then watch the Liziba light-rail train pass through a building. Cross the Yangtze on the cableway, view Kuixinglou's elevated walkway, and finish at Hongyadong, the stilt-house quarter lit along the cliff.

Drive to Wulong to see the Three Natural Bridges, three limestone arch spans strung through a karst valley and used as a filming location for period dramas. Then walk the Longshuixia Rift, a narrow gorge with waterfalls, before returning to Chongqing.

Take the high-speed train to Zhangjiajie, then drive to Furong Ancient Town, a Tujia riverside settlement built around a waterfall and backed by stilt houses. The evening is free to walk the lanes and watch the illuminated falls.

Drive back to Zhangjiajie and ascend Tianmen Mountain by cable car to the glass skywalk on the cliff, then pass through Tianmen Cave, a natural arch worn through the rock face. Your guide explains the karst geology of the massif.

Enter Zhangjiajie National Forest Park and ride the Bailong Elevator, a 326-metre outdoor glass lift, to the sandstone pillars. Your guide points out Avatar Hallelujah Mountain, the peak whose form inspired the film's floating rocks, and explains how erosion shaped the columns.

Take the high-speed train south to Guilin, a city celebrated since the Tang dynasty for the limestone peaks rising from the Li River plain. The rest of the day is free to rest or walk the riverside at your own pace.

Drive into the Longji Rice Terraces, where the Zhuang and Yao peoples carved stepped fields into the mountains over roughly eight hundred years. Your guide explains the terracing and harvest cycle as you walk among the paddies and wooden villages.

Cruise the Li River past karst peaks long favoured in Chinese landscape painting, reaching Yangshuo. Continue through the Yulong River and the Ten-Mile Gallery of pinnacles, then stroll Yangshuo West Street, a pedestrian lane of cafés set against green hills.

Fly to Hangzhou, the historic capital of the Southern Song and long praised as a paradise of lakes and gardens. The remainder of the day is free for you to rest or take a first walk near the lake at your leisure.

Visit West Lake, the scenic lake celebrated in poetry since the Tang dynasty, then climb Feilai Peak to see its carved Buddhist grottoes. Finish at Lingyin Temple, one of China's oldest and richest monastic establishments, founded in 326.

Drive north to Suzhou, the Jiangnan city famed for its classical gardens and canals since the Song dynasty. The rest of the day is free to settle in and perhaps take an early walk along a riverside lane.

Tour the Humble Administrator's Garden, the largest of Suzhou's classical gardens and a model of Song-Ming design with pond, pavilion and scholar's stone. Walk Shantang Street and the canals of Tongli Water Town, then drive back to Shanghai.

Tour Yu Garden, a Ming-dynasty scholar's garden of rockery and pavilions, then walk Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street and the lane workshops of Tianzifang. Visit Xintiandi's restored shikumen houses and finish at the Riverside Greenbelt for the open view across the Huangpu.

Transfer to the airport for your departure flight, closing the twenty-five-day journey. Your driver and guide see you through to check-in, and you leave from Shanghai with the capitals, the Tibetan plateau and the southern karst all behind you.