China · Beijing · Xi'an · Guilin · Shanghai · Yunnan
The Great Wall, the Terracotta Army, the Li River and the Bund with a private English-speaking guide in each city, a private vehicle with driver and central 4★ hotels. Or cross from Yunnan into northern Vietnam by land, with one team handling both sides of the border.
In short
A private 12-day tour of China with Metta Voyage starts at US$3,000 per person for 12 days on Classic China: Beijing, Xi'an, Guilin and Shanghai in 12 Days, with central 4★ hotels, a private English-speaking guide in each city, a private vehicle with driver, the high-speed train to Xi’an and a Li River cruise. A shorter 8-day route through Beijing, Xi’an and Shanghai starts at US$2,000. Prices are per person, 2 travellers sharing, excluding international flights, and confirmed in your written tailor-made quote.
Metta Voyage is an Asia destination management company (DMC) based in Hanoi. In China your trip is operated by local partner teams we have selected, city by city, while our Hanoi office designs the route, holds the contract and remains your one point of contact 24/7. Your guide speaks English (confirmed at quote stage, subject to availability in peak weeks).
Because Hanoi is only a few hours from the Chinese border, we also run China and Vietnam as one journey: Yunnan to Northern Vietnam Overland: Kunming, Lijiang, Sapa and Halong Bay in 14 Days, from US$2,730 for 14 days.
Updated 28 October 2026 · Metta Voyage, Asia DMC based in Hanoi
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Each programme is a private tour for your group only, with an English-speaking guide in each city and a private vehicle, adapted to your dates and hotel choice. Prices are per person, 2 travellers sharing in 4★ hotels, excluding international flights, and confirmed in your written quote.
| Trip | Days | Route | From (per person) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classic China: Beijing, Xi'an, Guilin and Shanghai in 12 Days | 12 | Beijing – Xi'an – Guilin – Yangshuo – Shanghai | US$3,000 |
| China Essentials: Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai in 8 Days | 8 | Beijing – Great Wall – Xi'an – Shanghai | US$2,000 |
| Yunnan Discovery: Kunming, Dali, Lijiang and Shangri-La in 10 Days | 10 | Kunming – Stone Forest – Dali – Erhai Lake – Lijiang – Tiger Leaping Gorge – Shangri-La | US$2,500 |
| China's Great Landscapes: Zhangjiajie, Guilin and Yangshuo in 10 Days | 10 | Zhangjiajie – Tianmen Mountain – Guilin – Longji Rice Terraces – Li River – Yangshuo – Xingping | US$2,500 |
| Yunnan to Northern Vietnam Overland: Kunming, Lijiang, Sapa and Halong Bay in 14 Days | 14 | Kunming – Stone Forest – Dali – Lijiang – Hekou – Lao Cai – Sapa – Hanoi – Halong Bay | US$2,730 |
| China and Japan in 13 Days: Beijing, Shanghai, Kyoto and Tokyo | 13 | Beijing – Great Wall (Mutianyu) – Shanghai – Zhujiajiao – Kyoto – Nara – Hakone – Tokyo | US$3,250 |
"From" prices are per person, based on 2 travellers sharing a twin or double room in 4★ hotels, excluding international flights. Every price is confirmed in your written tailor-made quote before you pay anything.
| Days | Typical route | From (per person) |
|---|---|---|
| 8 days | Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai | US$2,000 |
| 10 days | Yunnan, or Zhangjiajie and Guilin | US$2,500 |
| 12 days | Beijing, Xi'an, Guilin, Yangshuo and Shanghai | US$3,000 |
| 13 days | China and Japan | US$3,250 |
| 14 days | Yunnan overland to Sapa, Hanoi and Halong Bay | US$2,730 |
Four nights in Beijing, the bullet train to Xi’an, a flight to Guilin for the Li River and two nights in Yangshuo, then Shanghai to finish. A private guide meets you in each city.
| Day | Programme | Overnight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arrive in Beijing | Beijing |
| 2 | Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and Jingshan Park | Beijing |
| 3 | The Great Wall at Mutianyu | Beijing |
| 4 | Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace | Beijing |
| 5 | High-speed train to Xi'an and the city wall | Xi'an |
| 6 | The Terracotta Army and the Big Wild Goose Pagoda | Xi'an |
| 7 | Xi'an to Guilin | Guilin |
| 8 | Li River cruise to Yangshuo | Yangshuo |
| 9 | Yangshuo countryside and the Yulong River | Yangshuo |
| 10 | Fly to Shanghai, Yu Garden and the Bund | Shanghai |
| 11 | Shanghai and the water town of Zhujiajiao | Shanghai |
| 12 | Depart Shanghai | — |
Our China programmes are priced at around US$250 per person per day at 4★ level. China is vast, so a large part of the budget goes on moving between regions comfortably: high-speed trains and domestic flights, plus a private vehicle and driver waiting at each station or airport. The other main items are the private guide in each city, central hotels, and entrance fees, cable cars and boat trips named in the programme.
Every line of this appears in your quote, so you can see exactly what you are paying for before confirming.
Classic China: Beijing, Xi'an, Guilin and Shanghai in 12 Days is our classic first visit, built for travellers who want the great names at a comfortable pace. Four nights in Beijing give you time for Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, a full day on the Great Wall at Mutianyu (with the cable car, a less crowded and better restored section than Badaling), then the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace.
The high-speed train takes you to Xi’an for the city wall and the Terracotta Army. A flight south brings you to Guilin, where a cruise down the Li River ends in Yangshuo, among the karst peaks, with a bamboo raft on the Yulong River the next day. The trip ends in Shanghai, between Yu Garden, the Bund and the canal town of Zhujiajiao.
If you have less time, China Essentials: Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai in 8 Days covers Beijing, Xi’an and Shanghai in 8 days from US$2,000. If you prefer landscapes to cities, China's Great Landscapes: Zhangjiajie, Guilin and Yangshuo in 10 Days and Yunnan Discovery: Kunming, Dali, Lijiang and Shangri-La in 10 Days start at US$2,500 for 10 days.
This route needs a team on both sides of the border, which is one of the reasons travellers book China with a DMC in Hanoi.
Yunnan to Northern Vietnam Overland: Kunming, Lijiang, Sapa and Halong Bay in 14 Days, from US$2,730 per person for 14 days, starts in Kunming with the Stone Forest, continues by train to the old towns of Dali and Lijiang and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, then returns to Kunming. On day 8 you take the train to Hekou, cross the border on foot to Lao Cai, and our Vietnamese team is waiting with a private vehicle to drive you up to Sapa. Two days among the rice terraces and villages of the Muong Hoa valley follow, then Hanoi and a night on a 4★ cruise boat in Halong Bay.
The whole journey has one contract, one quote and one consultant. In Vietnam you travel with our own English-speaking guides. Other ways to pair China with a second country:
In China a guide makes more difference than almost anywhere else in Asia. Few signs and menus outside the big hotels are in English, ticketing for the main sights is by timed reservation with passport details, and the size of places like the Forbidden City can be tiring without someone who knows the quieter routes.
On our programmes a private English-speaking guide meets you in each city on sightseeing days, together with a private air-conditioned vehicle and driver for all transfers. The guide handles reservations, queues and payments, and explains the history behind what you see. When you change city by train or plane, the next guide is waiting on arrival.
We confirm guides when we send the quote. In the national holiday weeks and in April, May, September and October, good English-speaking guides are in high demand, so we recommend booking at least four to six months ahead for those dates.
April to May and September to October bring the most comfortable weather in Beijing, Xi’an, Guilin and Shanghai. Summer is hot and humid, with heavy rain around Guilin in June. Winter is cold and dry in the north but quiet at the main sights. For Yunnan and the overland route to Sapa, March to May and September to November are the most pleasant, and Sapa’s rice terraces turn golden in September and early October.
China’s entry rules depend on your nationality and have changed often in recent years, including visa-free and transit schemes for some passports. Please check the official information from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, and the UK government or US Department of State travel advice. If you continue into Vietnam, it has its own entry rules. We send a checklist with your quote; visas remain each traveller’s responsibility.
Metta Voyage is an Asia destination management company (DMC) based in Hanoi, licensed for international travel in Vietnam under licence 01-1167/2023/CDLQGVN-GP LHQT. Since late 2019 we have handled more than 2,000 bookings for over 10,100 international travellers, with a Tripadvisor rating of 4.9/5. We work with 869 partners across Asia: hotels, local guide teams, cruise operators and transport companies. Outside Vietnam, your trip is run on the ground by local partner teams we have selected and coordinated by our Hanoi office, so you have one point of contact, one contract and one written quote for the whole journey, with 24/7 support while you travel. You pay a 30% deposit and the balance 45 days before departure, and nothing before you have confirmed your quote. Hotline and WhatsApp: +84 812 247 572 · US +1 929 491 2828 · UK +44 7520 660929.
Yes, we run it. Yunnan to Northern Vietnam Overland: Kunming, Lijiang, Sapa and Halong Bay in 14 Days goes from Kunming, Dali and Lijiang by train to the border at Hekou, then by private vehicle to Sapa, Hanoi and Halong Bay, in 14 days from US$2,730 per person. One contract and one consultant cover both countries, and our own team meets you on the Vietnamese side.
Yes, a private English-speaking guide meets you in each city on sightseeing days, with a private vehicle and driver. We confirm the guides at quote stage; for April, May, September and October we recommend booking four to six months ahead.
Because our strength is the multi-country trip. China plus Vietnam overland, or China plus Japan, comes with one contract, one quote and one contact. In China we work through selected local partner teams, coordinated from Hanoi, and we say so in the quote. For a short city break in Beijing alone, a local Chinese agency is a sensible alternative.
Eight days is enough for Beijing, Xi’an and Shanghai at a calm pace. Twelve days adds Guilin and Yangshuo, which most guests consider the scenic highlight. With two weeks or more, consider Yunnan and northern Vietnam, or China and Japan.
You receive a day-by-day programme and written quote within 24 hours of your request and pay nothing until you approve it. A 30% deposit then secures hotels, guides and trains, and the balance is due 45 days before departure.
Page updated on 28 October 2026. Prices and itineraries are taken from the tour pages linked above; entry rules change, so always check the official sites below before you travel.
Your private China trip, tailor-made
Tell us when you would like to travel, how many of you there are and what interests you most. A consultant sends you a programme and a written quote within 24 hours, with no obligation.
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WhatsApp / Tel: +84 812 247 572 · US +1 929 491 2828 · UK +44 7520 660929