Eight-day landscape and historic site tour in Hebei Arrive in Shijiazhuang

Day 1: Shijiazhuang - Shitou village - Cangyan Mountain

Leave for Shitou village of Jingjing county after dinner, and visit Shitou (stone) village after breakfast. Shitou is a well-preserved extant ancient village of the Ming Dynasty. Visually fascinating, the ancient village is made entirely of blue stone—stone streets, stone houses, stone archways, and stone ancestral temples. Next visit the well-preserved Cangyan Mountain. As a scholar of the Ming Dynasty once commented, "It's enough to see one of the spectacular and beautiful Five Famous Mountains, and it's enough to see Cangyan among the peaks of Taihang Mountain." Also see the Qiaolou Hall, one of China's three suspended buildings, the Princess Memorial Hall, and the Fuqing Temple. Then return to the hotel after dinner.

Day 2: Shijiazhuang - Zhao county [Dharani Sutra Pillars of the Tang Dynasty/Zhaozhou Bridge] – Zhengding [Longxing Temple] – Baoding

Leave for Zhao county after breakfast, visit Dharani Sutra Pillars of the Tang Dynasty at Wanglong village of Gu'an county. Then visit Zhaozhou Bridge, a miracle of world bridge building history, and the stone arch bridge with the largest arch span in the world in its time. Then visit Longxing Temple of the Sui Dynasty, which is one of China's top ten temples. The temple has China's largest bronze statute of “Thousand Hands” Avalokitesvara (Kwan-yin), China's most beautiful statue of Avalokitesvara sitting upside down (Mr. Lu Xun called it an "Oriental Venus"), China's earliest Sutra Depository, China's first tablet of the Sui Dynasty, and the statues of a thousand Buddhas surrounding Vairocana. Then return to the hotel after dinner.

Day 3: Baoding [Ancient Lotus Pond / Zhili provincial Governor's Office] – Mancheng [Mancheng Tombs of the Han Dynasty] - Laiyuan

Visit the Ancient Lotus Pond after breakfast, which ranks among China's top ten historical gardens. The present architecture of the Ancient Lotus Pond integrates the styles of the buildings south of the Yangtze River and buildings in North China. Then visit Zhili Provincial Governor's Office, which is China's only extant provincial-level government office from the Qing Dynasty. The office was put into use in the seventh year of Yongzheng Emperor, and was abandoned after the demise of the Qing Dynasty. It has a history of 182 years. As a saying goes, "a governor's office equals half volume of a history book on the Qing Dynasty.” Then leave for Mancheng to visit Mancheng Tombs of the Han Dynasty. It's China's the most well-preserved and the largest palace-like cave imperial mausoleum, where the "national treasure" - level cultural relics like "Jin Lu Yu Yi (Gold Wire and Jade Garment),” "Chang Xin Gong Deng (Changxin Palace Lantern),” and "Cuo Jin Bo Shan Lu (Gilt Hill-pattern Incense Burner)" are housed. Then return to the hotel after dinner.

Day 4: Laiyuan [Baishi Mountain Resort] -Yi county

Leave for Baishi Mountain Resort by bus after breakfast. It's located 20 kilometers to the south of Laiyuan County, and it has been divided into four resorts, among which Little Huangshan Mountain Resort and Shipuxia Resort have been opened up to the tourists. (1) Little Huangshan Mountain Resort received its current name because its mountain shape, sea of clouds and grotesque rocks are similar to those of Huangshan Mountain, and it is little. Little Huangshan Mountain Resort has over 40 scenic spots, including the well-known mountain slope of wild flowers, Xianrenyou (tour of immortal), and Huangshanding (mountaintop of Huangshan). The gentle mountain slope of wild flowers is close to the mountain parking lot, and has an area of two square kilometers. There are nearly a hundred sorts of colorful wild flowers, including cloves, roses, Chinese roses, and chrysanthemums, giving off intoxicating fragrances all three seasons. Yuanyang stones are scattered among the flowers and the tourists can take a rest on them. The highest peak is Guijianchou (even a ghost would be afraid of it) with a height of 2092 meters above the sea level. You can appreciate the vast sea of clouds and spectacular sunrise there. Little Huangshan Mountain is a natural zoo. In its forest, there are wild plants like daylily, mushroom, tree mushroom, fern, and kiwi fruit, and wild animals and birds like marten, wolf, fox, wild goat, squirrel, and pheasant. (2) Shipuxia Resort is a 20 kilometers drive along Laibao Highway from Laiyuan County. It has over 20 scenic spots, complete with canyons, towering gigantic rocks, flying waterfalls and flowing springs. A clear stream runs down from a high place 1,700 meters above sea level. Along the canyon there are over ten waterfalls, and under each water fall there is a pool. Some of the pools are clear all the way to the bottom, and some are unfathomably pleasant. Grotesque rocks in different styles are scattered over the whole mountain. There is a way to Little Yellow Mountain from here. The most spectacular scenes of Shipuxia are Shuanglongxi (Double-dragon creek), Feilongpu (Flying dragon waterfall) and Wolongpu (Sleeping dragon waterfall), and Lianhuafeng (Lotus Flower Peak) and Fuxing Stone are also fascinating. Then return to the hotel after dinner.

Day 5: Yi county [the Western Royal Tombs of the Qing Dynasty/Tai Mausoleum/Chong Mausoleum] - Anxin [Baiyangdian]- Baoding

Leave for Yi county after breakfast, and visit the World Cultural Heritage - The Western Royal Tombs of the Qing Dynasty. It is the mausoleum of four emperors of the Qing Dynasty, including 14 mausoleums, 3 back mausoleums and those of the princesses and concubines. It is quiet and beautiful, and had the largest forest of old pines in North China. It is said that all the trees had been transplanted for the construction of the West Mausoleum. With the decoration of numerous pines and cypresses, the area becomes pretty, verdant, but simple and plain. Tai Mausoleum is the main building of the Western Royal Tombs of the Qing Dynasty, and was constructed between the eighth year of the Yongzheng Emperor and the second year of the Qianlong Emperor. It consists of the mausoleums of Yongzheng Emperor, Xiaojing Empress, and the emperor's favorite concubine, Dunsu. Next visit Baiyangdian, which is known as the Bright Pearl of North China. Take a boat trip into tens of thousands of acres of reed marshes of Baiyangdian. Tour the lotus flower garden and appreciate complete sorts of lotus flowers which are well-known in North China.

Day 6: Baoding - Wuqiao [Wuqiao Acrobatics World] - Shijiazhuang

Leave for Wuqiao of Cangzhou city after breakfast, and visit Wuqiao Acrobatics World. Wuqiao, the Land of Acrobats, has exploited acrobats as a kind of unique tourist resource. Wuqiao Acrobatics World occupies an area of 200 hectares, and it is a large-scale and very splendid resort. It boasts of ten scenic spots, and condenses the thousand-year culture of acrobatics into one park. It integrates tours, entertainment, culture, museum, folk customs, acrobatics training, contests and communications, and displays mysterious, wonderful, novel and unique features of folk culture. It also gives the tourists a glimpse of the ancient folk cultures of the Land of Acrobats, and has become a unique tourist resort of oriental acrobatics in the world. One feature of Wuqiao Acrobatics World is that the acrobatics performances go on throughout the year. You will view one scene and you will wonder with each step forward, and even the dinning halls are full of the ambience of acrobatics and magic. Then return to Shijiazhuang by bus, and return to the hotel after dinner.

Day 7: Leave Shijiazhuang