Day 1

Fly from London Heathrow non-stop to Beijing with Air China.

Day 2

Beijing

Upon arrival, private transfer to the very central located Dong Fang Hotel for two nights. En route visit the quirky 798 art street located among 1950s disused factories that has been transformed into contemporary artistic and cultural centre.  Walk through the maze of avante-garde art galleries, shops and small restaurants. L

Day 3

Beijing

Visit the remarkable Capital Museum.  After Lunch to visit the magnificent red and gold Temple of Heaven that was built for the Emperor, the son of Heaven used this place to make sacrifices for a good harvest. Drive to the Olympic Park and take photos of National Stadium-Bird Nest and Water Cube from outside. Enjoy a traditional Beijing Opera show later today. Back to Hotel afterthe show. BL

Day 4

Beijing/Harbin

Transfer to the airport for a flight to Harbin, and on arrival, transfer to the 4* New Gloria Plaza Garden Hotel for a three-night stay. Visit the Ice International Snow sculpture Art Expo. BL

Day 5

Harbin,

Once a remote fishing village, lies in the north eastern corner of China and grew up around the terminus of the China Eastern Railway that brought international trade and foreign settlers. Nowadays, it is a dynamic and prosperous centre with a unique blend of European and Oriental architecture along Central Street which you will see on your tour, and also St Sophia Cathedral, a Russian Orthodox cathedral that is now a museum. This afternoon, visit the Snow and Ice festival where replicas of some of the most famous buildings in the world have been faithfully recreated in ice, and as darkness falls, multi-coloured lights inside them blaze forth. Harbin is the twin town of Anchorage in Alaska and Edmonton in Canada, and every year it partners with another country to give a new theme to the festival.  BL

Day 6

Harbin

Today visit a unique zoo, one where the visitors are in cages rather than the animals! The reason for this is that the animals in question are Siberian Tigers, around 500 of them roaming the 350 acre park, and you may also see Bengali tigers, white tigers, lions, lynx and leopards here too. Feeding time is not for the faint-hearted as it is usual for live prey to be fed to the animals. This evening visit the Ice Lantern Festival at Zhaolin Park with artistic and novel ice sculptures of dragons, flowers, waterfalls – everything is magical after dark!  BL

Day 7

Harbin/Beijing

Take fast bullet day train from Harbin to Beijing. Overnight at the Pingan Fu Hotel. B

Day 8

Beijing/London

Fly back to London. B

Key:

B=Breakfast    L=Lunch    D=Dinner