Know Before You Go
• There is no tour guide for arrival & departure transfers.
• Keep your passport on you constantly. It might be needed to buy entrance tickets.
• Meals (lunch & dinner) are not included. Please feel free to ask your guide for recommendations.
• Add us on WeChat (+86-18309280878) or WhatsApp (+86-18309280878) to reach GGC service staff at anytime.
• Before getting to Zhengzhou you will receive driver's contact information by WhatsApp, Wechat or email.
• You will be greeted by driver holding GGC welcome sign with your name at the airport or train station arrival hall.
Day 1 Arrival in Zhengzhou, Airport/Train Station Pick-up
Meet your driver at Zhengzhou airport or train station and transfer to your hotel in a comfortable private vehicle. After getting settled at the hotel, you may explore the downtown area on your own. Zhengzhou is the capital and largest city of Henan Province in the central part of China. It lies on the southern bank of the Yellow River. Zhengzhou is also known as "iPhone City," for the large Foxconn factory that employed as many as 350,000 people and made half of the world's iPhones.
Meals Included: No meals
Hotel: 4-star Hotel Zhengzhou or similar
Day 2 Drive to Kaifeng, Prime Minster Temple, Iron Pagoda, Dragon Pavilion, Imperial Street of Song Dynasty
Drive out of Zhengzhou to Kaifeng (65 km, about 1 hour driving). Kaifeng was the Northern Song Dynasty capital from the 10th to 12th centuries. Visit the Prime Minster Temple upon arrival. Considered as the top ten famous temple in China, the Prime Minster Temple was first founded in AD 555. During the Northern Song Dynasty when Kaifeng was the Capital city, the temple covered a massive 34 hectares and housed over 10,000 monks. This temple was rebuilt during Qing dynasty and it is noted for a 7m-high bodhisattva statue with approximately 1,000 hands. Next, visit the Iron Pagoda, a 55m-tall octagonal structure built in 1049 considered to be a masterpiece of Song dynasty architecture. Continue with a visit to the Dragon Pavillion, the only surviving structure of the many buildings of the former Song Dynasty imperal Palace. Afterwards, wander along the Imperial Street of Song Dynasty, a restored street made to look like the scene on the painting of Along the River During Qingming Festival.
Meals Included: Breakfast at hotel
Hotel: 4-star Hotel in Kaifeng or similar
Day 3 Drive to Guoliang Village, Guoliang Tunnel Road, Drive to Yuntai Mountains
Drive to Guoliang Village (195km, about 3 hours driving). The village of Guoliang was named after a fugitive rebel during the Han Dynasty, who had fought an overwhelming imperial force to a standstill utilizing the extreme local terrain. Before the tunnel was constructed, access to the village of Guoliang was restricted to a difficult path carved into the mountainside. The village is nestled in a valley surrounded by towering mountains cut off from outside civilization. To ease the villagers' access to outside world, the villagers made plans in 1972 to carve a road into the side of the mountain. They sold their livestock to raise funds to buy tools and materials. Thirteen villagers began the project, with one dying during construction. Without access to power tools, they undertook construction mostly with hammers and chisels. At the most difficult stage, the tunnel progressed at a rate of one metre every three days. It is 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) long, 5 metres (16 ft) tall and 4 metres (13 ft) wide. The tunnel opened to traffic on 1 May 1977. Its creation has turned the village into a tourist attraction. Drive to Yuntai Mountains (105km, about 1 hour driving).
Meals Included: Breakfast at hotel
Hotel: 4-star Hotel at Yuntai Mountains or similar
Day 4 Yuntai Mountains, Drive to Luoyang
Located in the southern foothills of Taihangshan Mountains, Yuntai Mountain UNESCO Global Geopark is characterized by its rifting tectonics, and spectacular landscapes formed by hydrodynamic processes, in combination with its natural ecologic and cultural relic scenery. Covered with lush original forests, Yuntai Mountain has several deep valleys and ponds, myriads of waterfalls and springs, picturesque perilous cliffs and peaks. The Geopark is home to China's highest waterfall and consists of a series of geological relics that have unique scientific significance and aesthetic values as the record of local geological history. The Yuntaishan Geopark is divided into five unique scenic areas. Tourist attractions include the hanging springs and waterfalls of the Yuntaishan area, the gorges and mountain streams of the Qinglongxia area, the towering rock walls of the Fenglinxia area, the crystal clear waters of the Qingtianhe River, the Dragon Crest Ridge of the Shennongshan Mountain. All of these provide the spectacularly scenic views for tourists to enjoy during their visit to the Yuntaishan UNESCO Global Geopark. The Geopark also serves as a nature reserve for China’s northernmost population of macaque monkeys. Drive to Luoyang (168km, about 2 and half hours driving).
Meals Included: Breakfast at hotel
Hotel: 4-star Hotel in Luoyang or similar
Day 5 Longmen Grottoes, Shaolin Temple, Drive to Zhengzhou
Visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Longmen Grottoes in the morning. Longmen Grottoes are Buddhist cave complex consisting of more than 2300 caves and niches carved into the steep limestone cliffs over a 1km long stretch. These contain almost 110,000 Buddhist stone statues, more than 60 stupas and 2800 inscriptions carved on steles. Created over the course of approximately five centuries beginning in the year 493, these grottoes, along with the statues and inscriptions carved within, provide a window into the political, cultural, and artistic circumstances of the late Northern Wei and Tang Dynasties. Contine with a visit to the Shaolin Temple. Shaolin Temple is the origin temple of Chan Buddhism and cradle of Chinese Kungfu. First built in 495 AD, this temple was a royal temple built to accommodate Indian Buddhist monk Master Batuo. Later it became the center of Buddhism in China, where holy monks gathered, emperors and high-ranking officials came to visit and pay homage, and poets and scholars came to admire the beauty of this scenic place. Shaolin Kungfu is one of the ways that monks of Shaolin Temple study Chan Buddhism. Being the single most outstanding representative of ancient Chinese martial arts culture, Shaolin Kungfu is a vivid legend in the history of the human being’s civilization. Drive to Kaifeng (196km, about 2 & half hours driving). Drive to Zhengzhou (136km, about 2 hours driving).
Meals Included: No meals
Hotel: 4-star Hotel Zhengzhou or similar
Day 6 Departure from Zhengzhou, Transfer to Zhengzhou Airport or Train Stations
Private transfer (without guide) to Zhengzhou airport or railway stations for your departure flight/train. Wish you a pleasant journey and thank you for traveling with GoGrandChina.
Meals Included: Breakfast at hotel
Friendly Tips
• Please feel free to contact your GGC service staff if you want to book discount flight & train tickets.
