Imperial China & Yangtze River Cruise

The Great Wall, the Forbidden City, Terracotta Warriors and Giant Pandas - China's iconic sights need little introduction and we visit them all on this comprehensive and varied journey. Equally inspiring are China's great scenic attractions including the breathtaking Three Gorges on the Yangtze River and the serene limestone mountains around Yangshuo. China remains one of the world's 'must-see' destinations; from ultra-modern Shanghai to the wizened faces of ancient Chinese villagers, this trip reveals a country as fascinating and beguiling as ever.

On this trip, you will spend 13 nights in comfortable hotels, four nights on a cruise boat with two-berth air-conditioned cabins, all en suite, and one night on a sleeper train.



Nearly all the hotels are locally rated as at least three-star and, wherever possible, located as near to local attractions as possible. The overnight train is in ‘soft sleeper’ cabins, which are four-berth (bunk beds) private cabins. The train itself is of a good standard, although facilities such as washrooms and toilets are shared with other passengers and the cleanliness can never be guaranteed – there is one Western-style toilet and one Asian-style squat toilet per carriage, plus a washroom for brushing your teeth, and a water heater for making tea/coffee or instant noodles. Bedding is provided but we recommend you consider taking a thin sleep sheet. While we make every attempt to place passengers together in cabins, sometimes this is impossible; however, we will never place a solo traveller in a cabin by themselves (they will always be either with another passenger on the trip or with the leader). If you are travelling in a pair, it may be possible to upgrade to ‘deluxe soft sleeper’ two-berth private cabins on the overnight train, please request this with your sales representative in advance. This is subject to availability and only possible for clients travelling in pairs due to new regulations.



For the Yangtze River cruise, we usually use the Gold Number 5 Cruise which has a local rating of 5 stars, approximately equivalent to 4 star by international standard. The well-appointed rooms are equipped with air conditioning and all have en suite bathrooms. There is ample deck space to watch the magnificent scenery drift by, plus a fitness centre, spa, bar, lounge and restaurant. The ship carries around 500 passengers.











If you prefer to have your own room, it is possible to book a single supplement subject to availability – please request this at the time of booking. The single supplement does not apply to the overnight trains.