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Day 1 Arrive in Shijiazhuang
Day 2 Shijiazhuang-Xibaipo [Former headquarter of the Central Committee of the CPC] - Tiangui Mountain [Tiangui Mountain Scenic Spot]
Take the bus to Pingshan county after breakfast, and visit Xibaipo, the birthplace of New China, beginning with the former site of the Central Committee of the CPC. Visit former residences of Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De and the command center of the CPC during the three major campaigns of Liaoshen, Huaihai and Pingjin. Then visit the Xibaipo Memorial Museum, and get to know and experience the history of the past 60 years. Then see the beautiful scenery of Baipo Lake. Take the bus to Tiangui Mountain Scenic Spot, which is known as Northern Wudang Mountain. Here you can see China's sole royal Taoist temple — Qinglong Taoist Temple of Chongzhen Emperor of Ming Dynasty, White-haired Girl Cave, and China's largest scale outdoor stone inscriptions, and experience the elegance and beauty of the famous peaks of Taihang Mountain. Here are typical karst landforms with high mountains, sheer precipice, numerous springs, widely spread karst caves, dense forest, well-preserved vegetation, and magnificent natural scenery. It's also known as “the Guilin of the North.” Check in hotel and rest after dinner.
Day 3 Shijiazhuang-Zhao county [Dharani Sutra Pillars of Tang Dynasty/Zhaozhou Bridge] - Luquan city [Baoduzhai Mountain, including round trip cable car]
Leave for Zhaoxian county after breakfast, and visit Dharani Sutra Pillars of Tang Dynasty at Wanglong village of Gu'an county. Then visit the world's No. 1 bridge: Zhaozhou Bridge. This bridge is a miracle of world bridge building history, and is a stone arch bridge with the largest arch span in the worldin its time. On the deck of the bridge are left the hoofprints of Zhang Guolao's (one of the eight immortals in Chinese folklore) old donkey. It’s a combination of the crystallization of the wisdom of ancient Chinese people and the fascinating folklore. Then visit Bolin Temple, the cradle of Zen Buddhism. Leave for Luquan city after lunch, and visit Baoduzhai Mountain, which is known as "a point of battle for the military strategists, a fairyland on the earth, a heaven in illusion, and a haven of peace and happiness beyond the tumultuous world". On the top of the mountain there are China's largest mountaintop archway-Nantian Archway, China’s first mountaintop underground stone sculptures-500 Arhat Hall, Hanxin Memorial Hall with China's largest golden lacquer fresco decoration, and the rampart of the Great Wall, etc. The 1800-meter long newly opened Xiyuan-Lianhuashan-Baoduzhai passenger ropeway has become a scene of Baoduzhai Mountain. Return to Shijiazhuang after lunch, and return to hotel after dinner.
Day 4 Shijiazhuang - Jingjing county [Cangyan Temple] - Shijiazhuang [Pilu Temple]
Leave for Jingjing county after breakfast to see Cangyan Mountain. As a scholar of Ming Dynasty commented, "It's enough to see one of the spectacular and beautiful Five Famous Mountains, and it's enough to see Cangyan among the peaks of Taihang Mountain". Also see the Qiaolou Hall, one of China's three suspended buildings, the Princess Memorial Hall, and the Fuqing Temple. Then visit the China's famous Buddhist temple-Pilu Temple of Tianbao years of Tang Dynasty. It's known for exquisite ancient frescoes. In the front court of the temple there is a Sakyamuni Hall with a statue of Sakyamuni. The four walls of the Hall are decorated with frescoes, featuring Buddhist stories and popular legends. The frescoes are drawn skillfully in rich colors, and are invaluable treasures in China's ancient frescoes. Return to hotel after dinner.
Day 5 Shijiazhuang - Baiyangdian-Baoding
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| Baiyangdian |
Leave for Anxin county, Baoding city after breakfast and visit Baiyangdian, which is known as Bright Pearl of North China. Take a boat trip into tens of thousands of acres of reed marshes of Baiyangdian. Tour the lotus flower garden and appreciate complete sorts of lotus flowers which are well-known in North China. Then leave for Baoding, and visit Chiang Kai-shek's Alma Mater - Baoding Military Academy, which is as well-known as Whampoa Military Academy. It's China's first formal military academy. Over a hundred generals had graduated from the academy, including Chiang Kai-shek, Chen Cheng, Bai Chongxi, Ye Ting, Gu Zhutong, and Xue Yue. Then return to hotel after dinner.
Day 6 Baoding - Mancheng Tombs of Han Dynasty
Visit Ancient Lotus Pond after breakfast, which ranks among China's top ten historical gardens. The present architecture of Ancient Lotus Pond integrates the styles of the buildings south of the Yangtze River and buildings in North China. Then visit Zhili provincial Governor's Office, which is China's only provincial-level government office of Qing Dynasty still in existence. The office was put into use in the seventh year of the Yongzheng Emperor, and was abandoned after the demise of the Qing Dynasty. It has a history of 182 years. As a saying goes, "a governor's office equals half a volume of history on the Qing Dynasty." Then leave for Mancheng to visit Mancheng Tombs of Han Dynasty. It's China's the most well-preserved and the largest palace-like cave imperial mausoleum, where the "national treasure"-level cultural relics like "Jin Lu Yu Yi (Gold Wire and Jade Garment)", "Chang Xin Gong Deng (Changxin Palace Lantern) ", and "Cuo Jin Bo Shan Lu (Gilt Hill-pattern Incense Burner)" are housed. Then return to hotel after dinner.
Day 7 Baoding -The Western Royal Tombs of the Qing Dynasty - Shijiazhuang
Leave for Yi county after breakfast, and visit a World Cultural Heritage site: The Western Royal Tombs of the Qing Dynasty! It is the mausoleums of four emperors of the Qing Dynasty, including 14 mausoleums of Tai Mausoleum of Yongzheng, Chang Mausoleum of Jiaqing, Mu Mausoleum of Daoguang and Chong Mausoleum of Guangxu, 3 back mausoleums and those of the princesses and concubines. It is quiet and beautiful, and had the largest forest of old pines in north China. It is said that all the trees had been transplanted for the construction of the West Mausoleum. With the decoration of numerous pines and cypresses, the area becomes pretty, verdant, but simple and plain. Drive back to Shijiazhuang, and return to hotel after dinner.
Day 8 Leave Shijiazhuang
After dinner, leave by bus for Zhengding, the historical and cultural city of the state, and visit Longxing Temple of the Sui Dynasty, one of China's top ten temples. The temple has China's largest bronze statue of a Thousand Hands Avalokitesvara (Kwan-yin), China's most beautiful statue of Avalokitesvara sitting upside down (Mr. Lu Xun called it an "Oriental Venus"), China's earliest Sutra Depository, China's first tablet of the Sui Dynasty, and the statues of a thousand Buddha surrounding the Vairocana.
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