Day 1 Yuyuan Garden, Shikumen Area in French Concession, World Financial Center, Shanghai Museum, the Bund

09:00: Shanghai hotel pick up and start your Shanghai tour.

09:20 - 11:00: Visit Yuyuan Garden and the local bazaar area. Dating back 400 years ago, Yuyuan Garden was a private garden. It was built in the style of most of the classic Jiangnan gardens. You will see Yu Linglong - a unique stone listed as one of the 3 famous stones in Jiangnan. The other two refer to Guan Yunfeng in the Liu Garden of Suzhou and Zhou Yunfeng in the Zhusu Garden of Hangzhou. Our guide will also brief you about the local cuisines you may come across.

11:10 - 12:30 p.m: Stop at the Shikumen Area in the French Concession. Shikumen is a kind of new architectural style that fuses western culture and eastern traditional dwelling features. It is also the most featured building style in Shanghai. You can still found some traces of the lives of foreigners who lived here many years ago.

12:30 - 13:30: Enjoy a typical Shanghai lunch.

14:00 - 14:50: Travel to the top of the World Financial Center and enjoy a view of the whole city. With the height of 492m, the Shanghai World Financial Center is ranked as the 3rd tallest building in the world.

15:00 -16:30: Visit the Shanghai Museum. As one of the renowned ancient art museums, the Shanghai Museum has collected about 140,000 cultural relics. There are 10 classes of relics currently displayed. To appreciate the most spectacular relics in such a limited time period, our tour guides will introduce to you some of the historic ones. You will see ceremonial wares like a battle-axe and tripod, daily necessities in ancient life like pottery and porcelain, calligraphy works like the Oracle, and various jade ornaments.

16:30 - 17:10: Take a stroll along the Bund. You will see a lot of locals enjoying leisure time singing, dancing, or just walking around. Here, you are able to mingle with the locals whilst enjoying breathtaking views.

17:30: Return to your hotel.



    

Day 2 Zhujiajiao Water Town, Tianzifang, take train to Huangshan

09:00: Start this day tour by meeting your guide in your hotel lobby.

10:10 - 12:00: Today we will take a side trip away from the bustling city to visit the quaint and elegant Zhujiajiao Water Town. It would be quite a contrast to experience this old and ancient part of China. Drive for about one hour to reach the water town, where you may take time to wander through the narrow streets, stroll across the various bridges, discover interesting handmade articles in the street shops and appreciate the traditional architecture of the houses.

12:00 - 13:00: Enjoy lunch a nice local restaurant.

14:10 - 15:00: Stroll along Tianzifang Street. Situated in a small street of Dapuqiao area, Tianzifang was an abandoned warehouse. The Shanghai government began to renovate the street around 1988 and ever since, it has become a street of culture. You will come across some artistic shops, clothing shops, cafe houses and galleries.

16:00: Drop off at Shanghai Hongqiao Train Station and take train G7305 (17:27 - 20:41).

20:41: Your Huangshan driver will hold a welcome sign with your name on and be waiting for you upon your arrival. You will be dropped off at your Huangshan hotel.




    

Day 3 Cloud-dispelling Pavilion

09:00: Meet your guide to start your day.

09:30 - 17:30:  You will spend the whole day on Mt. Huangshan. There is a famous poem, in which a great traveler Xu Xiake said that “ there is no need to climb other mountains if a man has been to five great mountains in China (Mt. Taishan, Mt. Huashan, Mt. Songshan, Mt. Heng in Datong, and Mt. Hengshan in Hengyang); while there is no need to visit these five great mountains if a man has already been to Mt. Huangshan.” From this, you can see how magnificent and great Mt. Huangshan is. In fact, Mt. Huangshan has collected all the essential elements of the five great mountains in China. It’s famous for its magnificence and steepness. Besides the towering peaks, there are also many rare trees and oddly-shaped rock formations. Your tour guide will give you the back story to each peak and view.

You will enjoy one the highlights here - the Cloud-dispelling Pavilion. In front of the pavilion, there are thousands of deep precipices covered in cloud. From a distant view, hundreds of faint peaks rise above the thick fog, like many small islands in the sea. You will understand why it is called the “sea of clouds”.

17:30: Mountain hotel drop off.




    

Day 4 Xihai Grand Canyon, Hongcun Village

08:00: Start your last day tour and continue your exploration of Mt. Huangshan.

08:00 - 10:30: You will visit the Xihai Grand Canyon. Looking down into the canyon, you will find the clouds are very thick. While looking upwards, you will feel as though you are walking on clouds. With the guidance of your tour guide, you will discover a lot of beauties. After the tour, you will take the cable car down the mountain.

12:20 - 14:00: Visit the local village - Hongcun Village. The whole village was built upon the river with mountains as a backdrop. Featured in model Hui-style architecture, Hongcun Village is shaped like an ox. You can find both forest views and the river landscape here, making it a revered village in Chinese Painting. It’s also a great place for photography.

15:30: Drop off at Huangshan North Train Station, you will head back to Shanghai by train G1510 (16:31 - 19:00).

19:00: Shanghai Hongqiao Train Station pick up and Shanghai hotel drop off. Your trip comes to an end.