Southern China

Fly from Hong Kong to Guiyang (approximately 1.5 hours) and have lunch onboard. Upon arrival, transfer to Kaili on the new freeway (2 hours drive).

Meet your guides and check in to your hotel.

In the afternoon, tour a village nearby. Dinner is at the hotel. After dinner, walk the nearby market square.

Accommodations: Grand Metropark Hotel
Meals Included: B,D

Visit minority villages outside Kaili: Jidao Miao Village, Datang Miao Village, and Paika Village.

In the afternoon, visit Taiyanggu, a Dong & Miao Minority Costume Museum. Meet Ms.Yang Jian-hong, director and owner of the first private museum in the region. Enjoy a private guided tour of the stunning 110 pieces of Dong and Miao minority costumes she has collected over 10 years. The museum has 3 stories with beautiful exhibit rooms and precious clothes, some over 100 years old. Yang earned her master degree in minority fashion design from Beijing Central Minority Institute. Currently she is launching a reproduction effort by hiring local minority women to preserve the traditional handicraft technique. They are carefully making reproductions of each costume. Her hope is to take the reproductions outside of China on a tour, so the rest of the world can see their beautiful traditional crafts. It takes one year and over 10,000 yuan ($1800) to re-create one piece.

Return to Kaili (15 minutes drive) for the evening.

Accommodations: Grand Metropark Hotel
Meals Included: B,L

 

In the morning, drive to Yangjia ( approximately 1.5 hours). Tour Gaoyao village, a 10-minute walk to the top of the hill for a bird’s-eye view of the rice terraces and the distant villages on the hillside–just stunning! Spend 30 minutes here.

Drive along the highway to Rongjiang (approximately 1 hour 15 minutes) and take in the picturesque countryside. Have lunch in Rongjiang at a local restaurant.

Continue on to Huanggang (approximately 1.5 hour drive on the highway) to visit the Huanggang Dong Village. 300 households (1600 people) live in this ancient village with 800 years of history. There are 5 drum towers and traditional architecture all around. The village is one of the best-preserved Dong villages in the region. Immerse yourself in the traditional ways of life and folk customs.

 Drive to Zhaoxing (approximately 1 hour on the highway) and check into your hotel. Enjoy a village tour with dinner at a local restaurant.

Accommodations: Zhaoxing Indigo Lodge 
Meals Included: B,L,D

In the morning, drive up to Tangan Village. Go on a hiking tour of Tanganzai through rice terraces to Xiage Village. For a more rigorous hike, walk back to Zhaoxing (3-4 hours). Those who prefer a more leisurely hike, can explore for two hours and take the bus back to Zhaoxing for lunch.

Lunch is at a local restaurant in Zhaoxing.

In the afternoon, explore local villages and meet with local families. Wander Jitang Village, Dengjiang Village and Nongbang Village. Meet the locals, visit their homes, buy clothes and hand made fabrics from local women and play with the children–make sure to bring candies as kids love them!

Accommodations: Zhaoxing Indigo Lodge 
Included Meals: B,L,D

 

Drive to Longsheng (approximately 4 hours) along the beautiful river and scenic mountains. Spend two nights at the lovely Li An lodge. Longsheng is famous for rice terraces cut into precipitous hills that farmers have cultivated since the Yuan dynasty (13^th ADE). Spring and summer are a particularly beautiful seasons as the paddies fill with water and reflect the changing panorama of the sky. A little later, skeins of luscious green rice plants create remarkable views throughout the valley. Longsheng is the home of Yao and Zhuang minorities who both continue to don colorful dress and carry on their traditions. Hike the rice terraces and explore the village markets and delightful craft shops.

Accommodations: Li An Lodge
Meals Included: B,L,D

Continue to explore the paths and life of Longsheng until early afternoon, then drive to Guilin (approximately 1 hour). Guilin is world famous for its spectacular karst limestone formations, vertical mountains thrust up from the seabed some 300 million years ago.  Eroded over the millennia by water and winds, these picturesque mountains, immediately recognizable to anyone familiar with Chinese painting, have provided inspiration for countless Chinese artists. Dinner is at the Zuoan Restaurant.

Accommodations: Shangri-La Hotel 
Meals Included: B,L,D

This morning, cruise down the Li River, winding past Mural Hill, Folded Brocade Hill, Crescent Moon Hill, and many more. The four-hour cruise navigates some of the region’s most stunning karst formations. After disembarking, check in to your hotel. Then take a ride to Liugong & Mushang villages, a gorgeous agricultural valley surrounded by distant karst scenery.  Walk into the fields to enjoy another experience of rural China, this time in the middle of a visual paradise.

In the evening explore lively Xijie (West Street) filled with restaurants, shops, and local inns. Xijie is the home away from home for numerous Westerners and so exudes a cosmopolitan air as well as an invitation for a spirited, good time. After dinner on your own, enjoy Zhang Yi-mo’s show “Impressions of Sister Liu.” Zhang is a world famous movie director with Oscar nominated movies like “Raise the Red Lantern”, “Hero” and “House Full of Daggers”. He was the director of the opening of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

After the show, transfer back to your hotel in Guilin. Dinner is on your own.

Accommodations: Shangri-La Hotel 
Meals Included: B,L

In the morning, transfer to the Guilin train station for a high-speed train to Shenzhen (approximately 3 hours, 1^st class seats). Cross the border into Hong Kong and transfer to your hotel.

The rest of this day is at leisure.

Accommodations: Kowloon Metropark
Meals Included: B

Explore Hong Kong at your leisure. Your Asia Sublime experts can supply you with recommendations. A guided exploration can be arranged upon request.

In the morning, depart for the Hong Kong International Airport on your own. Board your flight back to the USA.

Meals Included: B, Meals Aloft