Imperial China: Great Wall, Forbidden City & Li River

The greatest journey of your life begins at 12:30 PM at Casablanca Mohammed V Airport. Meet for check-in procedures for your direct Royal Air Maroc flight to Beijing — a long-haul flight that will transport you across the sky to the Middle Kingdom. Departure at 4:05 PM, arrival in Beijing the next day at 11:25 AM (local time, +1 day). Settle in comfortably on board — in a few hours, China will open its doors to you.

🌙 End of day — Overnight flight | Royal Air Maroc — Direct flight Casablanca → Beijing

Arrival at Beijing Capital International Airport. Over 19 million Chinese live in this city — and from the first moments, you feel the weight and energy of a capital that has ruled an empire for millennia. Warm welcome by your French-speaking guide and transfer by air-conditioned vehicle to your New Yunnan Crown Plaza 5★ — one of the most prestigious and best-located addresses in the capital. Check into your luxurious rooms. Evening at leisure for a first contact with Beijing — its ancient hutongs, its night markets, its scents of incense and grilled skewers. Tonight, dinner is included for your first taste of Beijing's gastronomy.

🌙 End of day — Overnight in Beijing | New Yunnan Crown Plaza 5★ | Meal Plan: Dinner

Today, Beijing reveals its most grandiose monuments — those that have summarized the very idea of Empire for centuries.

After breakfast, depart for Tiananmen Square — the largest public square in the world, the geographical and symbolic center of Beijing for centuries, where the immense portrait of Chairman Mao watches from the Gate of Heavenly Peace over a space that can accommodate a million people. Just behind, the gates open onto the Forbidden City — a 72-hectare imperial palace comprising over 900 rooms and 9,000 pieces, the residence of 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties for nearly six centuries. The Hall of Supreme Harmony where the Emperor received his ministers during official ceremonies, the Palace of Perfect Harmony, the Throne Room, the Residences of the Empresses, and the Imperial Gardens — a labyrinth of gold and crimson whose immensity continues to amaze even the most prepared visitors.

Lunch at a local restaurant. In the afternoon, visit the Temple of Heaven — a masterpiece of 15th-century Ming architecture whose majestic triple-roofed blue rotunda symbolizes the union between Heaven and Earth. It was here that the Emperor came twice a year, at the solstices, to intercede with Heaven for good harvests for his people. A place of contemplation and absolute architectural beauty.

🌙 End of day — Overnight in Beijing | New Yunnan Crown Plaza 5★ | Meal Plan: Breakfast & Lunch

Some days mark a traveler forever. This one undoubtedly is one of them.

After breakfast, depart for the most anticipated excursion of this trip — the Great Wall of China at Juyongguan. En route, your guide will introduce you to the Chinese language with a 30-minute mini-lesson — a few essential words, a few polite phrases, which will transform each of your interactions with the locals into a moment of authentic connection. The Great Wall is known to everyone — but seeing it in person, touching it, walking on it, is an experience of a completely different nature. You will have 3 hours on this extraordinary site to soak in its magic — walk on its ramparts that snake over the surrounding hills in a breathtaking panorama, feel the stones worn by centuries of passage, and realize that this 6,000-kilometer structure was built by hand, stone by stone, by millions of workers over more than 2,000 years of history. The section you visit dates from the Ming Dynasty and offers a panoramic view of the crenellated wall undulating over the hills like a sleeping stone dragon.

Lunch at a local restaurant. Return to Beijing for a visit to the Summer Palace — a vast imperial complex in the outskirts of Beijing, with its pavilions bearing poetic names — "Ordered Clouds", "Jade Waves" — its lakeside gardens, and its covered galleries of 728 meters adorned with thousands of paintings. Dinner at leisure.

🌙 End of day — Overnight in Beijing | New Yunnan Crown Plaza 5★ | Meal Plan: Breakfast & Lunch

Today, Beijing reveals its most unexpected and endearing faces.

After breakfast, morning at the Olympic Park — legacy of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, where the legendary Bird's Nest and the Water Cube stand in all their contemporary architectural splendor, testaments to the power and ambition of 21st-century China. Then, an introduction to Tai Chi — the ancient Taoist gymnastics practiced every morning by millions of Chinese in the city's parks, in a ritual of slowness and balance that perfectly embodies the Taoist philosophy of body and mind in harmony.

A unique moment awaits you next: lunch with a local family in the Hutongs of Beijing — these narrow, ancient alleyways that form the authentic heart of the old city, far from the tourist avenues. You will be welcomed by a Beijing family to share a traditional home-cooked meal — and a lesson in preparing authentic Chinese dumplings will be offered. A human and culinary immersion of rare authenticity and warmth. Walking tour through the hutongs with your guide. Visit the Lama Temple — Beijing's most important Tibetan Buddhist temple, famous for its impressive 26-meter giant Buddha sculpted from a single sandalwood trunk 8 meters in diameter. Purchase of freshwater pearls in the shop. Optional: Chinese circus show.

🌙 End of day — Overnight in Beijing | New Yunnan Crown Plaza 5★ | Meal Plan: Breakfast

This morning, China transports you to one of its great historical capitals — aboard one of its famous high-speed trains.

After breakfast, transfer to Beijing station to board the High-Speed Train Beijing → Xi'an — approximately 5 hours journey in 2nd class aboard one of the world's fastest trains, across the vast plains of Northern China. Arrival in Xi'an — one of China's oldest capitals, the cradle of the Qin Dynasty (221 BC) and the historic starting point of the legendary Silk Road that once connected China to the Mediterranean. Check into your Grand Mercure 5★. In the afternoon, stroll through the old quarters of Xi'an and visit the splendid Great Mosque — a rare masterpiece of Islamic architecture in traditional Chinese style, a testament to the presence of the Hui Muslim community in Xi'an for over 1,300 years. Dinner at leisure.

🌙 End of day — Overnight in Xi'an | Grand Mercure 5★ | Meal Plan: Breakfast

Today awaits you one of the most moving experiences of this trip — and one of the greatest archaeological discoveries in human history.

After breakfast, early departure for the site of the Great Terracotta Army Excavations — the funerary army of Emperor Qin Shi Huang Di, the first unifier of China. In 1974, peasants digging a well accidentally discovered what would turn out to be one of the most extraordinary discoveries of the 20th century: 6,000 life-sized warriors in terracotta, with their horses, chariots, and weapons, buried for 2,200 years to protect the Emperor in the afterlife. Each face is unique, each posture different — officers, infantrymen, archers, generals — an army frozen in eternity whose contemplation leaves one in a state of absolute stupefaction and admiration.

Return to the city. In the afternoon, stroll on the Big Wild Goose Pagoda Square — a monumental esplanade from the Tang Dynasty surrounded by musical fountains and gardens. Visit a jade factory where artisans perpetuate the art of carving this precious stone revered in China for 7,000 years. Exceptional optional: Dumpling Dinner followed by the "Tang" show — a grand reconstruction of the dances and music of the Tang Imperial Court in a staging worthy of the greatest world productions.

🌙 End of day — Overnight in Xi'an | Grand Mercure 5★ | Meal Plan: Breakfast & Lunch

This morning, your journey enters its most poetic and enchanting dimension.

After breakfast, transfer to Xi'an airport for your flight to Guilin. Upon arrival, welcome by your local guide and transfer to Yangdi for one of the most extraordinary experiences of this tour — a raft cruise on the legendary Li River between Yangdi and Limahuashan, aboard a raft for a maximum of 4 people. The Li River is renowned for offering the most photographed and painted landscape in all of China: karst peaks with fantastic shapes rise on either side of the water in a misty and mysterious atmosphere that exactly recalls the ink paintings of the Song and Tang Dynasty masters. A vision of such perfect beauty and serenity that it seems unreal — and which is precisely featured on the Chinese 20 yuan banknote. Disembark at Xingping by electric buggy and walk through this preserved ancient village. Drive to Yangshuo. Dinner at leisure.

🎭 Optional: the "Impression of Liusanjie" show — a grandiose staging on the Li River with 600 actors and the karst peaks as a natural backdrop. One of the most spectacular open-air shows in the world.

🌙 End of day — Overnight in Yangshuo | Greenlotus Hotel 5★ | Meal Plan: Breakfast & Lunch

Yangshuo is one of those small Chinese towns that make you understand why travelers from all over the world return year after year.

After breakfast, a full day at leisure to experience Yangshuo at your own pace — rent a bicycle to explore the surrounding rice paddies and villages, take local cooking classes, practice Chinese calligraphy, or simply wander through the famous West Market — a bustling commercial artery overflowing with stalls offering clothing, handicrafts, medicinal herbs, tropical fruits, and all the typical souvenirs of the Guilin region. A day of freedom and authentic discovery in one of the world's most beautiful natural settings.

🌙 End of day — Overnight in Yangshuo | Greenlotus Hotel 5★ | Meal Plan: Breakfast

This morning, before leaving the region, Yangshuo offers you a final gift — an immersion into the art of tea.

After breakfast at the hotel, drive to Guilin for a visit to the tea plantations with a guided tasting of different varieties of tea — green, black, white, pu-erh — presented according to the rituals of the Chinese tea ceremony, an ancient art of delicate and profound symbolism. Walking tour of Guilin: the Sun and Moon Pagodas reflecting in the Banyan Lake, the Banyan Lake itself framed by ancient trees, and the bustling pedestrian street of Guilin. Lunch. Transfer to the airport for your flight to Shanghai. Upon arrival in China's most cosmopolitan metropolis, welcome by your local guide and check-in at your The Yangste Boutique Hotel 5★ — a charming and elegant address in the heart of the city. Dinner at leisure.

🌙 End of day — Overnight in Shanghai | The Yangste Boutique Hotel 5★ | Meal Plan: Breakfast & Lunch

Shanghai — and here, everything changes once again. Welcome to China's most electric, ambitious, and contradictory city.

After breakfast, stroll along the legendary Bund — a 1.5-kilometer riverside promenade along the west bank of the Huangpu River, lined with 52 neoclassical, Gothic, and Art Deco colonial buildings that bear witness to the presence of foreign powers in Shanghai between 1842 and 1949. This Victorian-style district contrasts sharply with the east bank — Pudong and its forest of futuristic skyscrapers representing 21st-century China. Cross the Huangpu River by public ferry to access Pudong and admire up close the Oriental Pearl Tower, the Shanghai Tower, and the World Financial Center — an architectural trio that forms one of the most impressive skylines in the world.

In the afternoon, discover Old Shanghai and its lively alleyways, then visit the Yu Garden — a masterpiece of classical Chinese garden dating from the 16th century, with its wooden pavilions, zigzag bridges over lotus ponds, and rockeries sculpted by water. Lunch at a local restaurant. Walk through the former French Concession and Fuxing Park — a French-style garden that perfectly represents the French cultural influence in Shanghai in the early 20th century. Dinner at leisure.

🌙 End of day — Overnight in Shanghai | The Yangste Boutique Hotel 5★ | Meal Plan: Breakfast & Lunch

Today, Shanghai takes you to discover two jewels that time has miraculously spared.

After breakfast, depart for Tongli — an ancestral village with ancient buildings and customs where generations follow one another without time seeming to pass. The canals and stone bridges of Tongli, its black and white facade houses reflected in the water, its inhabitants going about their age-old occupations — everything here breathes a rare authenticity and a gentle way of life. Mini-cruise on the small canals of the village by traditional boat — another image of the Chinese Venice, more intimate and even more preserved than Suzhou. Lunch.

Drive to Suzhou — a classical city of imperial China preserved in its millennial beauty, famous for centuries for its classical gardens inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list and for its prestigious silk mills. Visit the Master of the Nets Garden — one of the most beautiful and harmonious classical gardens in China, where every viewpoint has been designed according to the principles of traditional painting. Stroll through the preserved Shantanjie district — a UNESCO heritage site where canals, stone bridges, and wooden houses compose a tableau of eternal China. Purchase authentic Suzhou silk products at a silk shop. Return to Shanghai. Dinner at leisure.

🌙 End of day — Overnight in Shanghai | The Yangste Boutique Hotel 5★ | Meal Plan: Breakfast & Lunch

This morning, enjoy a free day in Shanghai for your last moments in this extraordinary city — a final stroll on the Bund, a last coffee in the former French Concession, a last look at the Pudong skyline from the west bank of the Huangpu.

In the late afternoon, transfer to Shanghai station to board the High-Speed Train Shanghai → Beijing — a high-speed train that covers the 1,318 kilometers separating the two metropolises in about 4.5 hours, at over 300 km/h, across the plains of central China. Arrival in Beijing in the evening, transfer to the hotel. Dinner at leisure — your last evening in the imperial capital.

🌙 End of day — Overnight in Beijing | New Yunnan Crown Plaza 5★ | Meal Plan: Breakfast

This morning, after breakfast at the hotel, transfer to Beijing Capital International Airport for your Royal Air Maroc flight back to Casablanca — departure at 1:25 PM, landing in Casablanca at 7:25 PM. In the boarding lounge, images continue to flash by — the Forbidden City in the morning mist, the ramparts of the Great Wall snaking over the hills, the 6,000 terracotta warriors in their dark pit, the Li River and its karst peaks in the golden light, the lights of the Bund reflected on the Huangpu. China has offered you something few other countries in the world can give — the physical and emotional awareness of having traversed 5,000 years of an uninterrupted civilization.

🌙 End of day — Return flight | Royal Air Maroc · Beijing → Casablanca

Landing at Casablanca Mohammed V Airport. End of our services.

Imperial China will never truly leave you. Yanis Travel thanks you for your trust and looks forward to your next adventure.

🌙 End of program — Casablanca | Yanis Moroccan Experience