7 Days Beijing to Xian Tour with Great Wall and Mount Huashan Hiking

This morning, you will be picked up by your tour guide at hotel, then drive about 2.5 hours to Jiankou Great Wall which is one of the most recommended walls for Great Wall hiking and photography. Its walls and towers are very authentic because there is no any restoration has been done yet. You will start the hike from Xizhazi Village. It then takes about 1 hour to hike along a bushy mountain path from the village up to Zhengbei Tower, the highest watch tower on the Great Wall Jiankou where you can enjoy a panoramic view of how the Great Walls crumbling on the ridges of the steep and narrow mountains. After short rest at Zhengbei Tower, you will keep hiking about 2 hours eastward ups and downs on the rugged wall, passing through 8 wild and crumbling towers at Jiankou, to get to Mutianyu Great Wall which is not crowded yet well-preserved and pretty. Hiking on this section of Great Wall is much smoother and easier compared with Jiankou Great Wall hiking. You will hike about 1 hour on the well-paved steps of Mutiany and pass 9 towers. Lastly, descend the Mutianyu Great Wall. You have 3 choices to come down: 1.Cable car 2.Walk way 3.Tabbogan. Lastly, drive back Beijing downtown. Have a good rest. 

Other available Great Wall hikings: A. 1 Day Jinshanling Great Wall Hiking; B. 1 Day Gubeikou Great Wall to Jinshanlin Great Wall Hiking; C. 1 Day Mutianyu Great Wall Hiking; D: 1 Day Huanghuacheng Great Wall Hiking; E: 1 Day Simatai Great Wall Hiking. Different hikings have different prices. Feel free to let your travel consultant know your idea.

Important tips: 1) You'd better wear hiking boots and clothings, and bring trekking sticks, backpack, sun-glasses, sunscreen, snacks, gloves for this hiking tour; 2) Traveler who is not fit or having arthritis, heart disease, hypertension, asthma are not recommended to take this hiking; 3) Kids less than 3 years old and travellers over 80 years old are not recommended to take this hiking; 4) You'd better not wear short pants because some paths are bushy; 5) Please go to toilet at the entrance of the wall before the hiking because there is no toilet on the Wall. Toilet paper should be brought by yourself; 6) This hiking is not available during rainy days, snowy days and strong-wind days, etc.

After breakfast, drive to the imperial site of the Temple of Heaven. Originally a site used to pay homage to Heaven and pray for good harvests, it is now a bustling place where locals take part in traditional activities such as Tai Chi, dancing, kite flying, water calligraphy, and others.

Then get back to the central city to hop on a rickshaw to experience the Beijing Hutongs - small alleys made by neighboring quadrangle dwellings. Shuttle among different Hutongs to get a feel of the old Beijing lifestyle, visit various antique shops and small boutiques, and truly feel the historical changes of Beijing, also pay a visit to a local family's home in the traditional Hutongs.

Your Beijing tour is now about to end. Your tour guide will see you off at the Beijing West Railway Station for a high speed train trip to Xian (about 5 hours). You will be picked up by your tour guide at Xian North Railway Station and escorted to your hotel in Xian. The rest of the day is on your own to explore this ancient capital of China.

After breakfast, drive about 40km to discover one of the greatest man-made wonders in the world - the Terracotta Warriors and Horses, built by the first emperor of China Qin Shihuang to protect him in his afterlife. Over 8,000 life-size warriors, horses and chariots, buried in 3 pits for more than 2,000 years until uncovered by a local farmer in 1974, form an ancient military army with complete battle units of infantry, cavalry, etc. Standing in front of these figures, one can’t help being amazed not only by the ambition of Emperor Qin Shihuang but also by the fabulous artistic skills of ancient Chinese artisans.

After lunch, return back to Xian take a wonderful stroll on the Ancient City Wall, the largest and best-preserved ancient city wall in China. Enjoy panoramic views of modern Xian while you leisurely examine this well-maintained city wall which is 12 meters high and 18 meters wide with a total circuit of nearly 14 kilometers. This visit is followed by a relaxing wander around bustling and lively Muslim Quarter, a place where you can try different local snacks and explore Muslim culture.

Optional activities: 1) Take a relaxing cycling on the Ancient City Wall; 2) Enjoy a wonderful Tang Palace Dance Show (usually from 8pm to 9pm) after a hearty dumpling dinner at a local restaurant.

After breakfast, your tour guide will pick you up from your hotel. Then you will be escorted to Mount Hua (Huashan) by car, which will take you two hours on the way.

After arrival, take a park bus from the tourist center to the foot of the North Peak of Mount Hua (about 20mins). To save energy and time, you will take cable car up to the North Peak directly (about 10mins). At North Peak, you can get the first views of other four peaks, and watch far away. And only the fourth side of North Peak is the entrance path to other peaks which is named “Ear Rubbing Cliff” for tourists have to climb further up only by pressing the ear close the cliff. Then you will hike about 2 hours to get to the East Peak. On route, you will visit the Heavenly Ladders, Riyue Cliff, Canglong Ling, Golden Lock Pass. Spend some time to view the breathtaking landscape on the East Peak. Continue hiking about 1hour to the South Peak. You will firstly get to Nantian Gate, then get to the famous Plank Road in the Sky which is seen as the most dangerous path in the world. Well, it is dependent on you to take this fearsome path or not. It is a more than 100 meters long, 0.3 meters wide plank road built along the surface of a vertical cliff, which usually takes about 30~45 minutes to walk through and back. Keep walking about 20mins from the Plank Road in the Sky, you will get to the South Peak which is the highest peak on Mount Hua. From South Peak, you can see other four lower peaks. Then take the last hiking about 40 minutes to the West Peak. The West Peak is also called Lotus Peak because of its unique shape. This peak is formed by a huge rock. Hence, it's very steep.

Lastly, walk about 20mins from West Peak to the West Peak Cableway station to take a cable car to descend the mountain. Hanging over 900 meters above the valley, West Peak Cable Car offers breathtaking view of the peaks and valleys of Mount Huashan, which is a highlight you can't miss out.

Transfer back to your hotel in Xian. 

Tips: 1) you can pack some favorite foods and drinks with you because there is not much food you can buy on the mountain; 2) it usually needs to queue up (possibly up to hours during crowded days) to enter the Huashan Plank Walk, so it's very important to depart from Xian early and control well your hiking pace on the mountain.

After breakfast, head to Da Cien Temple, a famous Buddhist sutra translation site during the Tang Dynasty. Big Wild Goose Pagoda is the most famous building in the temple. The pagoda, rising to a height of 64.5 meters, was built by the famous Buddhist master Xuanzang to preserve classic scriptures he bought back from India during the early Tang Dynasty. Xuanzang was the prototype character for Tang Seng in the famous Chinese novel “Journey to the West”. (Note: It costs an extra 30 RMB if you want to climb up the Big Wild Goose Pagoda)

Next is an educational visit to the Shaanxi History Museum where you can ramble in the modern exhibition halls to appreciate historic relics such as porcelains, paintings, and currencies dating from the Zhou to the Tang dynastic periods (1100BC to 907 AD). (Note: Shaanxi History Museum may be replaced with other activity or attraction because of crowding tourists during July ~ early September and China’s National Day during Oct.1-Oct.7. You may check details with your travel consultant.)

After the tour, you’ll be escorted to Xian North Railway Station for a high speed train to Chengdu (about 3.5~4 hours). Welcome to Chengdu, the Hometown of Giant Pandas! Upon your arrival at Chengdu East Railway Station, you will be met by local guide and then transferred to your hotel in Chengdu downtown. The rest of today is free on your own to explore this laid-back city.

The rest of today is free until you get escorted to catch your flight/train to next destination.