Pacific Delight Rolls Out Post-Olympic Tours
Pacific Delight Tours is unveiling four autumn 2008-spring 2009 SuperValue China packages that enable travelers to explore the country's ancient and historic attractions, but without having to grapple with post-Olympic crowds, which will have departed by the end of August. The 12- to 19-day locally guided tours offer guests an easy and affordable way to see the Imperial cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Xi'an, as well as a host of other destinations, with land-only prices ranging from $1,588 to $3,638 per person double. The three longer programs include Yangtze River cruises aboard Victoria Cruises Premier Series of five-star ships, in outside staterooms with balconies and private baths; on land, guests stay in deluxe and superior first class hotels. Air is available at competitive rates. Government-imposed taxes and fees of up to $60 are additional. Prices are subject to change.
In Beijing, guests visit the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City's Imperial Palace, which for nearly five centuries served as the home of the Emperor. Other highlights include an excursion to the Summer Palace to see the largest and most complete Imperial garden in existence, and a cruise on Lake Kunming. A visit to ancient Xi'an provides guests with the opportunity to witness one of the most significant archeological excavations of the 20th century, the unearthing of life-size terra-cotta warriors and horses arranged in battle formations, buried in the first Emperor of China's mausoleum. For its part, cosmopolitan Shanghai features innumerable shopping opportunities, with visits to Nanjing Road, considered the premier commercial road in Shanghai; and HuaiHai Road, boasting stores with top-end designer brands. Cultural attractions include the Bund, or embankment, boasting dozens of historic buildings that stretch a mile down the Huangpu River.
The 12-day Golden Route, beginning in Beijing and ending in Shanghai, adds a visit to Guilin, considered the pearl of China's tourism industry. Travelers enjoy a cruise along the placid Li River, enjoying lunch aboard and breathtaking landscapes featuring dramatic cone-shaped peaks. A stop is made at Yangshuo, whose landscape is dotted with karst peaks, caves, pristine lakes and traditional villages adhering to long-held customs. Prices range from $1,648 to $1,818.
The 13-day Historic China Cities & Yangtze River Cruise package adds a four-night upstream cruise from Yichang, visiting San Dou Ping, the site of the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydroelectric dam, and Wu Gorge, thought to be the most beautiful section of the Yangtze. A Fengdu excursion visits the Mingshan Hill temples, with statues of ghosts and devils. Travelers disembark in Chongqing, visiting the Stilwell Museum and its collection of World War II memorabilia. The program is priced from $1,588 to $2,128. Six nights of downstream cruising on the 17-day Grand Yangtze River Cruise & Huangshan Mountain vacation calls at Wuhan, the capital of the Hubei province, and an amalgamation of three smaller cities -- Hankou, Hanyang and Wuchang. Travelers visit the Hubei Provincial Museum, housing more than 200,000 cultural relics; the Guichi area, including an excursion to Huangshan Mountain; and Nanjing, for visits to a Qing Dynasty-style bazaar and Dr. Sun Yat-Sen's Mausoleum. Rates are set at $2,518.
In addition to a three-night downstream Yangtze cruise, the 19-day Scenic China & Yangtze River vacation adds two nights in Hangzhou, which in the 13th century Marco Polo declared "the most beautiful and elegant city in the world." The land portion also visits Guangzhou and the ancestral Chen Clan Temple, now the Chen Clan Academy. A three-night stay in Hong Kong includes excursions to Stanley Market, Repulse Bay, Aberdeen's floating community and an excursion up Victoria Peak. Prices range from $3.258 to $3,638. The programs include pre-confirmed hotels; all intra-China air/land transportation, most meals, sightseeing, local tour escort, hotel taxes, service charges and baggage handling. Government-imposed taxes and fees of up to $60 are additional. Prices are subject to change. For more information, call RiverDiscounts.com 800.640-4899