Day 1:  Departure for China.
Flight from the nearest major airport to your home and departure from San Francisco gateway.

Day 2:  Beijing (D) 
Arrive Beijing.  Settle into the four-star Holiday Inn Downtown Hotel or comparable four-star hotel.

Day 3: Great Wall  (AB, L, SD)
The highlight of this day is a walk on the Great Wall.  Also we will visit the Ming tombs, the burial grounds for 13 Ming Dynasty Emperors.  Upon return to Beijing, we will savor a special dinner of Peking Duck.

Day 4:  Beijing (B,L,D)
Our tour will visit the Forbidden City, the residence of emperors for more than 500 years.  We will proceed to the Summer Palace, built as a resort for Empress Dowager Ci Xi.

Day 5:  Beijing/Xi'an (AB,L,D)
We will begin the day with a tour to the Temple of Heaven.  Then we will fly to the ancient city of Xi'an.  Check into the four-star Xi'an Garden Hotel.  Before dinner we will be able to stroll around the top of the city wall, the only totally intact city wall in China.

Day 6:  Xi'an (AB,L,SD)
A full day tour recalls the glories of ancient Xi'an as we visit the burial site of an incredible army of 8,000 lifelike terra cotta soldiers.  Then we go to the neolithic Banpo Village and the majestic Big Wild Goose Pagoda.  Finally, we will enjoy the scrumptious 20-course Dumpling Dinner followed by the Tang Dynasty Show.

Day 7:  Xi'an/Lhasa  (AB, L,D)
Fly to the holy city of Lhasa, capital of the mystical Buddhist Kingdom of Tibet.  Locked away in its mountain fortress of the Himalayas, Tibet has long had a unique hold on the imagination of the West.  You will be at leisure this afternoon at the hotel with time to relax and adjust to the high altitude.  Accommodations at the Lhasa Hotel, Tibet Hotel or Holiday Inn.

Day 8:   Lhasa  (AB,L,D)
We will start off our tour of Tibet with the 15th Century Drepung Monastery and the Norbulinka, formerly the summer palace of the Dalai Lama.

Day 9:  Lhasa  (AB,L,D)
Today's sightseeing includes the overwhelming Potala Palace, home to the Dalai Lama, and the 1300 year-old Jokhang Temple, Tibet's holiest temple.  Finally we will have time to browse and shop in a fascinating market.

Day 10:  Lhasa/Chengdu/Guilin (AB, L, D)
Fly to Chengdu in the morning.  Upon arrival have lunch and connect to aour flight to Guilin.  With its thousands of limestone outcroppings, Guilin has inspired generations of silk scroll painters.  Visit the Reed Flute Caves where spectacular stalactites and stalagmites and a mirror lake dazzle visitors.  Accommodations at the four-star Guishan Hotel.

Day 11:  Guilin/Guangzhou/Hong Kong (AB, L,)
Fly to Guangzhou.  After a city tour and a visit to the ornate Chen Family Temple and the Memorial Hall of Dr. Sun Yat Sen, we will transfer to the train to Hong Kong.  Settle in at the luxurious Marco Polo Hotel.
Dinner on your own.

Day 12:  Free day in Hong Kong.  Set your own schedule and choose from numerous places to go and see.  Arrangements for tours can be made at the hotel or take public transportation or taxi to the locations of your choice.  The Lonely Planet tour guidebook for Hong Kong will be supplied as part of your tour package to inform you of all there is to do and see in Hong Kong.

Day 13:  Flight back to the United States.