September 4 Depart NZ 11:15 pm (to be confirmed)
Day 1 Arrive Shanghai, transit to Xiamen, check in, relax, light activity, stay in Xiamen.
Day 2 Visit Gulangyu island , Shuzhang Garden, Piano Museum and other sites on the island by foot, Xiamen.
Day 3 Bullet train (2.5 hrs) to Wuyishan, drift on 9-bend stream , stay in Wuyishan.
Day 4 Whole day walking on Tianyou peak area for Mount Wuyi, evening, enjoy a show depicting the famous tea of the region: “Impressions of Dahongpao” Wuyishan
Day 5 Walking in the Dahongpao valley, visit tea plantations, taste the tea, learn about tea culture. Evening, wander the old streets of the town Wuyishan
Day 6 Bullet train to Huangshan (1hr 45), visit Hukaiwen ink factory, view ink production and learn about inks for different uses in calligraphy and for painting. Stay in Huangshan.
Day 7 Bus to the foot of the mountain, cable car to the top, wander between summit peaks Beginning-to-believe Peak, Brush Pen Peak and Xihai Grand Canyon and enjoy the sunset glow at the Cloud-dispelling Pavilion in the evening. Stay on the summit of Huanghsan.
Day 8 Up early for the sunrise, walk past more peaks and descend a different route, return to Huangshan, visit Huangshan museum to appreciate the local Hui culture and architecture. Stay in Huangshan
Day 9 A day trip to the UNESCO cultural heritage villages of Hongcun and Xidi. Huangshan
Day 10 Bullet train (5.5 hrs) to the the Song dynasty capital. Kaifeng
Day 11 Explore the sites in Kaifeng. Visit an art gallery, enjoy an introduction to symbolism in traditional art, try your brush skills. Stay in Kaifeng.
Day 12 Bus to Yuntai Mountain, walk in red valley , billion years old water- eroded feature, explore further, look for a large family of monkeys. Stay in Yuntaishan.
Day 13 Take a shuttle bus on a spectacular mountain road , walk a glass plank path, if you dare! Late afternoon, bus 2hrs to Denfeng .
Day 14 Drive one hour to Shaolin monastery, the ancestral home of all martial arts. Enjoy the scenery, attend a performance. Later, drive to Luoyang.
Day 15 Luoyang is a very important site in Chinese social history. Visit Longmen Buddhist grottoes. Listed by UNESCO Cultural Heritage for an ‘outstanding manifestation of human artistic creativity.’ Later take bullet train to Huashan
Day 16 Cable car up to the 5 peaks of Huashan (lotus flower peak). Spectacular and dramatic scenery, walk the trails according to ability, descend by cable car. Huashan
Day 17 Bus to Xi’an (2 hours) stopping off at Terracotta soldiers on the way. Stay in Xi’an.
Day 18 Visit farmers ‘naïve painting’ studio outside Xi’an, eat in a farmer’s restaurant, afternoon, fly to Shanghai.
Day 19 Visit an Art Gallery and have free time in Shanghai.
Day 20 Depart to Pudong airport for 2:30pm departure.
September 25 Arrive Auckland airport 6:45 am
