Classic China with Hong Kong — 15 Days

Arrive in Hong Kong and transfer to your hotel. The rest of the day is free to settle in and take in the harbour skyline at your leisure.

Today is yours to explore Hong Kong independently — its markets, trams and waterfront — or simply to rest. No scheduled touring is arranged.

Take the high-speed train to Guilin, the Guangxi city famed for its karst scenery. On arrival visit Elephant Trunk Hill, a rock outcrop shaped like a trunk dipping into the river, and the Sun and Moon Pagodas standing on Ronghu Lake.

Cruise the Li River past the rounded karst peaks that have inspired Chinese landscape painters for a thousand years, then continue to the Yulong River and the Ten-Mile Gallery of rural scenery. The day ends in Yangshuo West Street, a lively lane of cafés and shops beneath the mountains.

Fly to Xi'an, the capital of the Tang dynasty more than a thousand years ago. The rest of the day is free for you to rest or wander the city on your own.

Begin at the Xi'an Museum, which presents the city's long history, then see the Small Wild Goose Pagoda, a 7th-century Tang pagoda built to store translated Buddhist texts. Walk the Ming-dynasty City Wall and the Muslim Quarter, and finish with an exterior view of the Bell and Drum Towers, the city's former timekeeping centre.

Stand before the Terracotta Army, the thousands of life-sized warriors buried since 210 BCE to guard Qin Shi Huang's tomb. Continue to Daci'en Temple and its Big Wild Goose Pagoda, the 7th-century tower raised to hold Buddhist scriptures from India, then stroll the Tang Paradise Never Night City.

Ride the high-speed train north to Beijing. The remainder of the day is free for you to rest or explore the capital at your own pace.

Begin in the Forbidden City, the Ming and Qing imperial palace of twenty-four emperors, whose courtyards and throne halls occupy the heart of the city. Cross the road to Jingshan Park for a view back over the rooftops, then drive to the Summer Palace, the Qing rulers' lakeside retreat built around Kunming Lake.

Travel out to the Great Wall at Mutianyu, a well-preserved Ming-dynasty section first built in the 6th century and rebuilt under the Ming, where you walk the ramparts between watchtowers. On the way back, pause for an exterior view of the Bird's Nest, the steel lattice stadium built for the 2008 Olympic Games.

Spend the morning at the Temple of Heaven, the Ming emperors' circular altar complex where they prayed for good harvests, set in a large walled park. Later drift through Shichahai's lakeside lanes and the Qianmen Street area, ending in a hutong to see how Beijingers have lived in courtyard homes for centuries.

Take the high-speed train to Shanghai, China's commercial centre. The afternoon is free for you to rest or take a first independent look at the city.

Explore Yu Garden, a refined 16th-century Ming private garden of pavilions and rockeries, then walk the Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street. Continue through the former French Concession and the lanes of Tianzifang, and finish at the Bund, the riverside frontage of colonial-era buildings, with an optional Huangpu River night cruise.

Take a day trip to Suzhou, long celebrated as the 'city of gardens' south of the Yangtze. You visit a classical garden of pavilions and water, walk the old Shantang Street and follow the canals that give the town its gentle, slow character.

Transfer to the airport for your departing flight, concluding the journey.