Chinese Savory Food Tasting Tour

Our tour guide will welcome you at the airport upon your arrival in Beijing, and you will be accompanied to check in your hotel.

Stay overnight in Beijing.

Meals:

We will travel to [Mutianyu Great Wall] , 80 kilometers northeast of Beijing. Mutianyu Great Wall is characterized by many watchtowers on overlapping mountain ranges. The wall, built with slabs of stone, is crenellated on both sides with bricks. After the visit, we are going to have a taste of [Peking duck dinner].It is said that trying the crispy and tasty Peking duck dinner will perfect your Beijing journey. Therefore, we will experience the special flavor of Peking duck in Quanjude restaurant. Due to its unique and delicate cooking way, the taste of the duck would make people unforgettable for a long time. After the duck is roasted and dried, it looks dark red, shining with oil and crisp skin. Can you resist the temptation to taste it once you see the attractive duck.

When served, the chef will show you the whole duck. Then, he will slice it into thin pieces with both skin and meat on. You can wrap duck slices, onion, and sauce in a pancake or a sesame bun. Other parts of the duck are served as either cold dishes or hot dishes. The bones can even be decocted together with Chinese watermelon and cabbage.

Stay overnight in Beijing.

Meals: (B, L, D)

[Hutong](Chinese word for alleys in Beijing) is the place where we will start our China gourmet tour in Shichahai area. [Shichahai area] is adjacent to second ring road, and we will drive there. Once you step into the Hutong, you cannot help yourself to surprising at the authentic traditional culture in the old Beijing. Tourists from all over the world travel here to appreciate the Hutong either by sitting in a rickshaw or walk around them. Beijing is a fabulous cultural city famous for its eating culture, and there is famous saying that "a good restaurant never worries about its remote location". The one we are going to explore is family feast of the Mei Mansion Restaurant. This mansion is the former residence of Mr.Mei lanfang- the famous Beijing opera performer who is well-known around China. You may curious about the distinguishing feature in the family feast there and the particular taste of the dishes. There are three major principles in cocking the dishes, that is to say firstly the food should not be fatty and greasy; secondly the food should be good to the protection of people’s throat and voice; thirdly the food should be beneficial to skin. As you see, the food in Mei Mansion Restaurant is really good to people‘s health. The Mei family feast successively combined Huaiyang dishes in south and Beijing Tan family dishes, and especially famous for its unique cooking of fish. The highly recommended dish is the "Seven Color Shredded fish". It is said that chicken conjee is a daily dish for Mr. Mei, and it is a dish elegantly made with thick fragrance of chicken soup and vegetable juice to the conjee when cocking. So it is the exquisite prepared way make it a delicate and tasty dish.

It is good to take a walk along the Hutong or take a rickshaw to run through the area after lunch at the Mei Mansion. Hutongs in Shichahai area are former residences of many influential officials in the past. Twisty and peaceful Hutongs can best represent the culture and history of ancient Beijing.

The courtyard in Prince Gong Mansion is one of the best preserved courtyards in the capital, and we will have dinner in somewhere place nearby. It is a meal that cares for the way of keeping good health and combining primes of all Chinese dishes, and it is delicately-presented meal with deluxe flavors.

Stay overnight in Beijing.

Meals: (B)

[Tian'anmen Square] has perfect location on the central axis of old Beijing, one of the largest city squares in the world. So we will take a walk there after breakfast to enjoy the especial sightseeing in the morning there. In the center of Tian'anmen Square stands the Monument to the People's Heroes. Our next stop will be the [Forbidden City] which is the majestic palaces for the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The city contains 800 ceremonial buildings, 9,999 rooms, and a courtyard that can hold 100,000 people. You can appreciate the best ancient Chinese architectural styles that are well preserved here, giving you an imposing view.

Fortune Street is our next destination for sightseeing after lunch, a fantastic street gathering gourmet and tasty foods from all over the world. You are free to choose and look around, try different snacks and dishes. There are lots of restaurants for your choice of dinner, and we highly recommend an Australian Jack Restaurant that famous for its drunk kangaroo cook with red wine. Meanwhile, there is also an Italian restaurant with its bizarre shape pizzas welcomes you. A Thailand restaurant is famous for its golden crab in thick soup. Of course, there are more and more nice foods for you to explore and enjoy.

Stay overnight in Beijing.

Meals: (B, L)

When we finish our breakfast, we will take a flight to Nanjing- one of the eight great ancient capitals in China. And the tour guide will welcome you at the airport at your arrival and then you will move to your hotel. Later, we will gather in the hotel in the afternoon and go to the [Nanjing Confucius Temple] (Fuzimiao in Chinese). It is a temple that honors Confucius who is the greatest ancient Chinese philosopher and thinker. The temple was first constructed in 1034 during the Song Dynasty to complement the Jiangnan Examination School (see below), where the imperial examinations were administered. Scholars came to the temple to pray for success and demonstrate their humble respect for Confucius. Nowadays it remains a street distinguished for its tasty food streets, and has become one of the four snack representative streets in China. Here you can find flavor snacks of every area in China, such as the eight peerless snacks made by eight long history shops, including salty and sweet flavors, with delicate shapes and wraps. Certainly, there are other snacks that can bring you persistent aftertaste. The bright lights and river scenery of Confucius Temple will definitely a wonderful part of your journey to Nanjing.

Stay overnight in Nanjing.

Meals: (B)

This morning we will drive to Yangzhou and it is a journey about one and half hours and when arriving there, we will be received by a nice tea shop. Yangzhou is a highly developed city in Tang and Song dynasties, and now it is still famed for its temperament of slowing tasty food and elegantly life attitude. Local people like to drink morning tea to express their peaceful mind to life, and Huaiyang refined snacks are primary features of morning tea. There are many dishes you should try such as steamed dumplings filled with soup of crab’s roe and five tin dumplings. Drinking the morning tea can really refresh your mind, and later we will take a walk to appreciate the beautiful small city. And you can also choose to take a boat to view the Slim West Lake. At lunch time we gather at the Daming Temple, our first mission is to eat a vegetarian meal because this kind of meal is only available for visitors at noon. No matter how similar those dishes are look like meat, don't be misguided by your eyes, they are one hundred percent made of vegetables, such as lotus root, mushroom, bean curd, and so on. We will visit [Daming Temple], which is famous for the unique garden scenery. And we will have the well-known Wensi bean curd as our dinner at a local restaurant. It is a monk named Wensi that made this dish and his cocking talents were appreciated by the emperor, and the dish became popular in that place from then on after it was tasted by the emperor. Finally we will drive back to Nanjing.

Stay overnight in Nanjing.

Meals: (B)

Today, we will go to another destination-Shanghai by train and we will reach Shanghai at lunch time. After a short rest at the hotel, we set out to the Laozao Restaurant to savor the elegant Shanghai Benbang dish. The cookers in the restaurant are talented so much that they retain original taste of the material in every dish, showing you extraordinary cooking art. After lunch, we will pay a visit to the [Jade Buddha Temple], an exquisite structure famous for its Buddha statue which is carved of solid white jade and decorated by jewels. And [Outer Bund] will offer you a grand view of Shanghai and you may marvel at how modern this metropolis is while still containing its old traditions. We highly recommend you to take a walk on the [Nanjing Road], the most prosperous commercial street. As for dinner, you can choose to eat western food or Chinese food as you like, lots of wonderful western restaurant can be found in the city.

Stay overnight in Shanghai.

Meals: (B)

In the morning, we will go to visit the [Yuyuan Garden] after enjoying a leisurely breakfast; Yuyuan Garden is not only a famous classical garden in south China, but also a major historic and cultural site under state protection. There are more than 500 kinds of snacks gathering here for you to choose, we highly recommend the Nanxiang Steamed Bun Stuffed with Pork and Crab Roe and Spring Rolls. Then we will go to Huangshan by plane.

We will arrive Huangshan by dinner time. The food of Huangshan Mountain featured with Hui cuisine style, which is one of the eight famous cooking styles in China. Temperature in cooking, good braising and stewing are well represented in Anhui Cuisine. Often hams will be added to improve taste and sugar candy added to gain. We will have our dinner in a local restaurant to savor the Huangshan food, especially the dish of strange flavor fish, stone chicken, sesame seed cake and others.

Stay overnight at Huangshan City.

Meals: (B)

Early this morning we [take cable to climb the Huangshan Mountain], enjoy the incredible view on the way to the top mountain. Mt. Huangshan is featured by the four wonders, namely, odd-shaped pines, grotesque rock formation, seas of clouds and crystal-clear hot springs. There is famous saying China goes “you won't want to visit any other mountains after visiting wu yue (Five Great China Mountains), and you won't wish to see even wu yue after returning from Mt. Huangshan.” From the slam we can see that how unique and beautiful Mt. Huangshan is. In the afternoon, we will take cable downwards and take our car/van/bus going back to Huangshan City. After that we will take a flight to Shanghai In the evening.

Stay overnight in Shanghai.

Meals: (B, L)

Your morning time is up to your own arrangement, but we will go to Chengdu by plane in the afternoon. Upon arrival, be met by the guide and transferred to the hotel. There are markets and street hawkers fill the streets dealing in everything you could possibly imagine, ranging from snakes and snails to fortunes and foot scrubs, therefore, you can have leisure walk the street and explore the markets as much as you want. And you can do lots of many other things in Chengdu: feast on some great food and soak up some of the mellow atmosphere in one of the thousands of tea houses dotted about the city.

Stay overnight in Chengdu.

Meals: (B, L)

We will go to explore the Chengdu City, a famous Chinese cultural city, endowed with unique natural conditions, beautiful environment and profound history, after a leisurely breakfast. [People’s Park] and [Kuanzhai Alley] enable you to experience local people’s leisure life, and feel the relaxing pace of this southwestern city that boasts “Heaven of Abundance”.

Sichuan Cuisine is considered as the four major style of cooking in China, it's excellent for the spicy taste. Your trip to Chengdu should definitely include sampling the Sichuan cuisine. The typical tableware -- hotpot dinner will let you know what real Sichuan spicy food is. More than 400 kinds of dishes such as Sautéed Pigeon Breast in XO Sauce, Stir-Fried Duck Tongues with Sichuan Chili, Kung Pao Chicken, as well as 2000 kinds of snacks such as Sichuan Style Wonton, Tangyuan (Glutinous Rice Balls) are included in Fermented Glutinous Rice Soup. Since the food is spicy you should make sure that your stomach can undergo that. Besides, Sichuan brocade, embroidery and lacquer ware are well- known souvenirs.

Stay overnight in Chengdu
 

Meals:(B)

[Chengdu Giant Panda Researching and Breeding Base] is our first destination in this morning ad we will take a private bus to get there. The center is located on the mountain of Futoushan in the northern suburbs of the city. The best time to visit those pandas is in the morning, between 8.30 and 10am, during feeding time when the cute black and white bear may bring you great fun. If you go there at other time, you will find that the bears will be indulging in their favorite pastime, sleeping! Then we go to a local restaurant to feast on various delicious foods. And this afternoon we will take a flight to Guilin.

You can take rest in the hotel once you arrival in Guilin, but if you are still energetic enough you can walk around downtown of the small city for a brilliant night view.

Stay overnight in Guilin.

Meals: (B)

Today, we are going to start one of the highlight journeys -- [Li River cruise]. Li River, also known as, the Lishui River, this waterway feeds the lush, green vegetation that offers people such perfect scenery. For many visitors, taking a cruise down the Li River should be at the top of your list for things to do. On either side of the river are sheer limestone cliffs that enhance the overall experience. You can also use your digital camera to take photos of the picturesque landscape. When we get off the ship, we will walk to the West Street, which has received countless international visitors from all over the world and reputed as "Earthly Village in China". Now there are over 300 cafes, restaurants, hotels art crafts and tourist stores, foreign language clubs, internet centers and Kungfu schools in the600 meters long street.

This afternoon we participate in a [cooking class], carry forward your talent and bring out some delicious three Chinese dishes for a [DIY dinner].

Stay overnight in Yangshuo.

Meals:(B, L, D)

Guilin rice noodles are the number one breakfast choice for the local people of the Guilin area. These noodles are snow white, delicate, soft, smooth, and tasty. There are many cooking methods of Guilin Rice Noodle and they are characterized by the making of a spicy soup. So it is a good chance for you to taste rice noodles in Guilin. After a [lunch with some Rice Noodles] in Guilinese Restaurant, we depart for a city tour. As we all known that [Elephant Trunk Hill] is the symbol of Guilin, and it looks like an elephant drinking water from the river. The [Reed Flute Cave] is one of the most spectacular caves displaying karst geographical formation in various shapes. After the above visits, we will continue to the nearby [South China Sea Pearl Museum], where we can learn some knowledge of pearls and real sea pearls are available to you at competitive prices. Dinner is at Zhengyang Soup City, where we sip the Duck Soup with Gingko en Casserole. In the evening, we recommend you to take a cruise in the city's central area on a water system, making you have more deep impression of beautiful Guilin.

Stay overnight in Guilin.

Meals: (B, L)

In the morning, we drive to the airport for a flight to Guangzhou. Guangzhou City is not only famous for its flourishing economies and opened trade business but also famous for its foods and attractions. So Guangzhou will be the first stop on any gastronomic tour of China. Guangzhou food, also known as Cantonese food (Yue Cai) is celebrated as the king of Chinese cuisines. The famous Cantonese dishes include whole roast pork, steamed fish, roast pigeon, poached chicken, Chinese broccoli with oyster sauce, and a wide range of crispy green vegetables and so on. After a short rest, we head to a local restaurant famous for its Guangdong style : Wenchang chicken, fish maw and mushroom soup, stewed abalone with fish maw. [Ancestral Temple of the Chen Family] and the [Museum of Nanyue King's Tomb] are our destinations after we finish our lunch. The Ancestral Temple of the Chen Family, built between 1890 and 1894 during the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, is the greatest, best preserved, and best decorated ancient architecture existing in Guangdong province. Your dinner is on your own choice, and we suggest you to din in a seafood restaurant, where you can go to the glass bowl to choose swimming fish, crab, lobster, and others and the waiter will take them to the kitchen, you can drink tea while waiting, and then feast yourself on the juicy and delicious seafood.

Stay overnight in Guangzhou.

Meals: (B)

Guangzhou is not only famous for the highly developed moderns full of vigor and current fashions but also boats for its traditional customs. After breakfast, we will go to visit the [Yuexiu Park] where we can see the [Statue of Five Goats], the symbol of Guangzhou City. And then we will move to the top of the [Guangzhou Tower], which is the highest TV tower in Asia. [Shangxiajiu commercial street] is also includes in our destinations, a very long street with fashion clothing and various commodities displaying in shops on each side of the street. It is also a place where you can see the traditional building style-Qi building. There is a famous saying that can fully represent the popularity of Guangzhou foods: where there are Chinese, there are Cantonese; where there are Cantonese, there is Cantonese cuisine".

A later lunch named Xiawucha is arranged in Tao Tao Ju Restaurant, locating at the Shangxiajiu Street or Panxi Restaurant which is in a garden. Both of these two restaurants are thought as greatest places for dim sum that is the most typical and outstanding Cantonese snack.

Stay overnight in Guangzhou.

Meals:(B)

You can rest in your hotel in the morning or do whatever you like to arrange your journey until you have prepared well to be transferred to the next destination or for departure to Hong Kong.

Meals: (B)