Tour Fare*: $3950 + tax $550 + Chinese Visa fee $150 (Deposit $500/per person)

Price includes: Int’l tickets (SFO-Beijing, Shanghai-SFO), all China domestic air tickets specified in the itinerary, 5 star hotels or the local best hotels, 3 meals daily, transportation in China, admission tickets, English speaking tour guides and travel insurance in China.

Price does not include: Tips (approximately $8 per day for 19 days).

Room and Meals: Standard double room. Single room charge extra $700 on land, $350 on boat. Three meals a day provided (American & Chinese Breakfast, Chinese lunch and dinner).

Itinerary:

Day 1 - Beijing
Board an international flight bound for China. Cross the International Date Line.

Day 2 Beijing
Arrive in Beijing, have dinner and transferred to hotel.

Day 3 Beijing
Visit and sketch Forbidden City in morning and Summer Palace afternoon. Enjoy Beijing Duck dinner.

Day 4 Beijing – Xi’an
In the morning visit and sketch the Great Wall. At afternoon fly to Xi’an. Enjoy dumpling dinner and see stage opera of Tang Dynasty.

Day 5 Xi’an - Guilin
After breakfast, drive to Huoxian, a county whose villagers have created a unite style of painting named “Farmers Painting”. Visit the artist studio and have dinner at her family. In afternoon, explore Xian’s Shanxi Museum which displays the 5-thousand-year Chinese civilization.

Day 6 Guilin
In the morning explore the Terra Cotta Warrior Museum where 6,000 life-size, individually featured terra cotta solders were discovered. Fly to Guilin.

Day 7 Guilin
Visit Zhuang Minority in the mountains. Explore the magnificent landscapes and the minority culture. Sketch the beautiful scenery.

Day 8 Guilin - Li River - Yangshuo – Chongqing
Cruising down the Li River, experiment the real lives of Chinese landscape paintings’ gallery. Disembark at Yangshuo and walk through a colorful local market. Visits and sketch the Gaotian scenic area. Fly to Chongqing at the evening.

Date 9 Chongqing – Dazu-Yangtze River
Tour and sketch the Dazu Stone Carving on the cliff, one of the four major Buddhism grottoes in China. After enjoying hot pot dinner, board the cruise ship and embark on the Three Gorges adventure.

Day 10 Yangtze River Cruise
First shore excursion at the mysterious town of Fengdu, or at the town of Wanxian. Onboard, do sketches and/or free to enjoy shipboard entertainment such as feature films, Chinese medicine lessons and live performances.

Day 11 Three Gorges
This morning pass the mighty Qutang Gorge and then the rushing waters and jagged turns of the Wu Gorge. Arrive at Wushan and board small motorized sampans which afford access to the Shennong Stream via the Daning River. At the afternoon sail through the western section of Xiling Gorge that stretches over 60 miles.

Day 12 Three Gorges - Yichang - Wuhan
After breakfast, disembark and board motor coaches head for Sandouping Village, site of the mammoth dam project. Return to the boat and pass through eastern section of the Xiling Gorge. Upon arrival at Yichang drive to Wuhan.

Day 13 Wuhan – Jing De Zhen
Visit the Provincial Museum where we can entertain the chime music performance. After lunch take coach to Jing De Zhen, the Pottery Capital of China.

Day 14 Jing De Zhen – Wu Yung – Mt. Huangshan
Visit the Pottery Museum in the morning and then drive to Wu Yung. Explore and sketch the well-preserved historical village of a unique Chinese architecture. Arrive at the City of Mt. Huangshan at evening.

Day 15 Mt. Huangshan
Mt. Huangshan is the only mountain listed among the China's Top Ten Scenic Spots,
extolled for its “Four Ultimate Beauties”: unusual rock formations, beautiful shape pin trees, sea of clouds and hot spring. Take a cable car up to the top of the mountain for sightseeing and sketching. Back to the City of Mt. Huangshan after dinner.

Day 16 Mt. Huangshan – Wu Zhen
Explore and sketch the Tunxi Old Town in the morning at the Mt. Huangshan City. After lunch take coach to Wu Zhen. Enjoy night life of the old town famous for its nature setting: canals, traditional houses and stone moon shape bridges – so called Venice of China.

Day 17Wu Zhen – Suzhou
Sightseeing and sketch in Wu Zhen in morning. In afternoon visit and sketch the Master Fishnet Garden in Suzhou. Take coach to Shanghai.

Date 18 Shanghai
In the morning visit Shanghai Museum of Art that houses an outstanding array of paintings, bronzes, minority customs, historical coins and ceramics. Have half-day free time.

Date 19 Shanghai -USA
After breakfast, we fly back home and arriving in San Francisco the same day.

* Remark:
1. Itinerary and all the listed fees may be changed slightly. Participants should be able to carry approximately 12 lbs (painting materials and personal items), walk two mile and climb 5 fly of stairs continually. In case one can’t climb the Mt. Huangshan, she/he can hire sedan chair (do not feel bad because you provide job opportunities to the local people).
2. Maximum number of participants is 32 and the minimum is 16. Non-artists such as spouse and friends of the artists are welcome to join.
3. Each sketch (watercolor) will take approximately 1 ½ hour and about once per day. Instructions of Chinese painting on accordion book also include in the trip (will buy the materials in China). While artist are doing sketching the non-artists have free time for exploring.
4. Contact Charlie Zhang at CYTS for sing up the trip and let Lian Zhen know your participation. See the contact information bellow.

Group Leader and Teacher: Lian Zhen Tel: 510-685-2654. Email: lianzhen@yahoo.com.

Tour agency: China CYTS Tours (USA), Inc.
Mr. Charlie Zhang, Manager, Address: 605 Market Street, Suite 1300 San Francisco, CA 94104, Tel:(800) 930-3677, (415) 732-7100, Fax: (415) 732-9578
Email: charlie@cytstours.com

Lian Zhen took the first group of artists from US to visit and sketch in China in 1997. Then in 2001 he led two groups, again one group each year from 2002 to 2010.