8-Day Spirit of the Qinling: Xi'an, Hanzhong, Foping & Mianxian

Morning — Arrival at Xi'an Xianyang International Airport
Your guide and driver meet you in the arrivals hall with a name sign and take you by private vehicle to your hotel in the city centre. The early arrival means the whole day is still ahead of you, but a long-haul flight deserves some rest first.

Afternoon — Check-in and Rest
Settle into your 4- or 5-star hotel and recover from the journey. Your guide confirms the programme for the coming days and is on hand for anything you need.

Evening — The Muslim Quarter
Dinner is in the Muslim Quarter, a grid of lanes where Hui families have sold food since the Tang dynasty: hand-pulled biangbiang noodles, cumin lamb skewers, roujiamo and sweet persimmon cakes. Afterwards walk to the Bell and Drum Tower square, where the two Ming towers are floodlit against the modern city.

Meals
Breakfast, Dinner included.

Morning — The Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum
Drive east to Lintong and stand at the edge of Pit 1, where more than six thousand life-sized soldiers face east in battle formation. Each face is different; the bronze weapons were still sharp when they came out of the ground. Your guide walks you through Pits 1, 2 and 3 and the Bronze Chariot hall, and explains how a workforce of artisans produced an army on an industrial scale in the third century BC.

Afternoon — Huaqing Palace
Continue to Huaqing Palace at the foot of Mount Li, where Emperor Xuanzong built thermal baths and pavilions for his consort Yang Guifei. The same courtyards later became the setting for the 1936 Xi'an Incident, so the site carries both the most famous love story and one of the decisive political moments of modern China.

Evening — The Grand Tang Mall
After dark, walk the Grand Tang Mall, a 2.1-kilometre pedestrian avenue of Tang-style architecture, light installations and street performance that recreates the night market of Chang'an at the height of the dynasty.

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner included.

Morning — South Over the Qinling
Board the coach for the 260-kilometre drive south to Hanzhong, crossing the Qinling mountains — China's most important geographical and ecological divide. Roughly four hours, through a remarkable number of tunnels and viaducts.

Afternoon — Hanzhong
Arrive in Hanzhong, an ancient city in the Han river valley known as the cradle of the Han dynasty, because it was here that Liu Bang established the base from which he founded four centuries of Han rule.

Evening — A Slow City
Check into your Hanzhong hotel and experience what locals consider the most relaxed pace of life in the province.

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner included.

Morning — Into the Reserve
Drive about 130 kilometres northwest into the heart of Foping Nature Reserve, 28,000 hectares of misty mountains and dense bamboo.

Afternoon — Foping Panda Valley
Explore Foping Panda Valley, where elevated walkways and observation platforms let you look for wild pandas without disturbing them. Sightings can never be guaranteed with wild animals, but this is one of the best places in China to try, and the forest is worth the walk regardless.

Evening — In Foping
Overnight in Foping county, surrounded by mist-shrouded mountains, in an eco-friendly boutique hotel built to sit lightly in the landscape.

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner included.

Morning — Golden Monkey Valley
Visit Foping Golden Monkey Valley, where you can look for the endangered golden snub-nosed monkey — one of China's most spectacular primates, unmistakable with its blue face and golden mane.

Afternoon — The Crested Ibis
Drive about 80 kilometres east to Yangxian and the Crested Ibis Ecological Park. This is one of conservation's great recoveries: the species was down to a handful of birds in the wild and has been brought back through decades of patient protection.

Evening — Return to Hanzhong
Return to Hanzhong for the night and a relaxed dinner.

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner included.

Morning — The First Wuhou Shrine
Drive about 50 kilometres to Mianxian, forever associated with Zhuge Liang, the strategist of the Three Kingdoms whose name is still a byword for cleverness in Chinese. Visit the First Wuhou Shrine, the earliest and most historically significant shrine to him.

Afternoon — Ma Chao's Tomb
Visit the tomb of Ma Chao, one of the Five Tiger Generals under Liu Bei, founder of the Shu Han kingdom, renowned for his ferocity in the saddle.

Evening — A Hanzhong Farewell
Return to Hanzhong for a relaxed farewell dinner: tea-smoked duck, river fish cooked with local herbs, steamed glutinous rice.

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner included.

Morning — Over the Qinling Again
Depart Hanzhong for the five-hour drive north back to Xi'an, crossing the Qinling once more and watching the landscape turn from lush subtropical south to arid northern plain.

Afternoon — The Forest of Steles
Visit the Forest of Steles, where more than three thousand inscribed tablets span two thousand years of Chinese history, literature and art — a 'stone library' of calligraphy, historical record and Buddhist scripture.

Evening — Farewell Dinner
A farewell dinner of Shaanxi's finest dishes, toasting new friendships and a journey through the cultural and natural heart of central China.

Meals
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner included.

Morning — The Wall at Its Best Hour
Walk the last stretch of the city wall in the morning light, when the bricks glow and the moat reflects the gate towers. Fourteen kilometres of rampart enclose the old city; even one gate to the next is enough to say goodbye properly.

Afternoon — Shopping and Packing
Free time for souvenirs and a final bowl of noodles. Your guide remains on call for anything arranged at short notice.

Evening — Departure
Your private vehicle transfers you to Xi'an Xianyang International Airport for your onward flight.

Meals
Breakfast included.