7 Days Shangxi Highlights Tour including Hukou Waterfall

Meals: No Meal
Accommodation: In Datong

Arrive in Datong, you will be greeted at the train station by your tour guide and transferred to the magnificent Yungang Grottoes (about 2 hours) - with 53 caves containing over 51,000 stone carvings of Buddha and Buddhist.

Afterwards, you will be transfferred to check in hotel in Datong, enroute, have a short stop in Nine Dragon Wall - the oldest and largest glazed screen in China. 

In ancient China, Datong was a place of strategic importance and a place where the Han people frequently exchanged with the ethnic minority peoples in north China.

Yungang Grottes

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: In Datong

Today after leisure breakfast, meet your tour guide at the lobby of your hotel and drive to Yingxian Wooden Pagoda - regarded as one of the three pagodas in the World. Then drive for another 1 hour to visit the Hanging Temple - the masterpiece of ancient wooden constructions.

Drive back to Datong,  pay a visit to Huayan Monastery - the largest and best preserved monastery of the Liao Dynasty in Datong downtown. After that, drive you back to the hotel and have a rest of this day.

Hanging Temple

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: In Pingyao

After breakfast, check out from the hotel, you will be transferred to Datong railway station for a high speed train to Pingyao Ancient City.

Your guide will greet you at the exit of Pingyao railway station and escort you to visit Shuanglin Temple, well known for its collection of colorful 2,000 clay statues dating back to the Song and Yuan dynasties. It's also an inspiration for natural scenes in black Myth: Wukong. After that, drive you to check in the hotel in Pingyao Ancient City for rest.

Shuanglin Temple

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: In Pingyao

Today is a leisure walking day for you to explore Pingyao Ancient City with the guidance of your guide. Pingyao Ancient City is listed as UNESCO World Heritage in 1997, not only famous for its antiquity of ancient city walls, exquisite courtyards, temples and streets, but also for being the merchant center with the nation’s earliest bank established in the 19th century, and furthermore it was once served as the financial center of the Qing government.

Rishengchang Exchange Shop and Ming Qing Street are two main attractions in this city. The former one shows you the original bank system in the past.

Ming Qing Street is the South Avenue of Pingyao Ancient City. Buildings and houses of the Ming and Qing Dynasties are preserved quite well, and it is the bustling area and axis of the ancient city. Over 100 shops, restaurants and bars line on this 800-meter-long ancient street. You will be guided to walk on the Ancient City Wall to enjoy a panorama view of the layout of this city.

Pingyao Ancient City

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: In Chongning Castle

After breakfast and 2 hours driving, you will be escorted to visit the Little West Heaven, a scenic spot steeped in Taoist tradition, well known for its thousands of delicated clay statues of immortals and Buddhas. It's also an inspiration for natural scenes in Black Myth WuKong.

Lunch will be arranged nearby the scenic area. Then continue 2.5 hours driving to magnificent HuKou Waterfall, the largest waterfall on the Yellow River and the second largest in China. Yellow River, as the mother river of Chinese, is a very unique existing in Chinese mind. Its magnificence, roaring, never been stopped represent Chinese moral virtues like diligence, braveness, never giving up spirit.

At the end of today, we'll drive to Lingshi and check in the Chongning Castle for overnight. The night view of Chongning Castle is also especially beautiful with the red lanterns and green lights on, and it is very relaxing to walk on the castle's wall.

Hukou Waterfall

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: In Taiyuan

After breakfast, you will visit Wang Family Courtyard nearby, which is a large ancient building complex consisting of 54 courtyards and 1,052 rooms in an antique flavor, occupying a total area of 250,000 square meters. It has been said that it is the “Forbidden City in Folk” in Shanxi Province. Engjoy your lunch time at a local Chinese restaurant.

In the afternoon, drive to Zhangbi Ancient Castle, which is a series of tunnels dug to hide out in times of war in over 1380 years ago. You will be amazed by the fabulous feat of architecture and engineering in ancient time.

Afterwards, drive to Tainyuan for ovenight.

Zhangbi Ancient Castle and Wang Family Courtyard

Meals: Breakfast

Today, enjoy a leisure breakfast and check out from hotel, you will have a visit to Jinci Temple, walk into this large garden like wooden complex, you will find out that there are more than 10 ancient architectures, and you will be attacted by the quiet environment, charming scenery, marvelous buildings, and the lively article statures. It is a historic relic integrating gardening art, carving art and stele stones art.

After the tour, be transferred to the airport for your flight to next destination.

Jinci Temple