Southern China and the Avatar Mountains in 8 Days

Make your own way from Guangzhou Airport to the hotel using the address provided in advance; arrival through Shenzhen is also possible. Check-in begins from 2:00 pm, subject to room readiness. Meet the group and walk along Beijing Road, visit a Buddhist temple, continue through Huacheng Square and ascend Canton Tower for evening views over the city. A Cantonese welcome dinner completes the first day.

Travel from Guangzhou to Yangshuo by car for groups of up to five or by high-speed train for six or more. Rise by funicular to a scenic summit, where a glass bridge and observation deck open broad views across the karst peaks and valleys. Check in at the hotel among the cliffs. In the evening, optionally attend Impression Liu Sanjie, an outdoor production that uses the river and surrounding mountains as part of its stage setting.

Travel to Xingping and board a boat for a journey through the Li River's tower-karst landscape. Pause for the scenery associated with the image on China's 20-yuan banknote, then walk through Xingping Old Town among narrow lanes and traditional façades. At sunset, watch a visitor demonstration of the historic cormorant-fishing technique on the river, presented as a cultural encounter rather than a commercial fishing trip.

Travel to Dazhai and check in at a hotel overlooking the Longji Rice Terraces. Walk through the village and terraced slopes while learning about local life and Red Yao culture, including the long-hair custom associated with a coming-of-age haircut at 18. Continue to a second viewpoint on the far side of the terraces for another angle across the mountains. Rice fields are green or gold in the growing and harvest seasons; at other times, the sculpted contours remain the focus.

Visit a neighbouring village for a Yao cultural performance featuring traditional dress and the celebrated long-hair custom. Continue by road to Fenghuang and enter the riverside old town in the evening. Follow cobbled lanes past timber stilt houses reflected in the Tuojiang River and watch wooden boats move beneath the bridges. As lights appear along the waterfront, cafés and food stalls bring a lively finish to the day.

Leave Fenghuang early for the approximately three-and-a-half-hour drive to Zhangjiajie. Enter Zhangjiajie National Forest Park and walk among the quartz-sandstone pillars of the wider UNESCO-listed Wulingyuan landscape, scenery associated with the visual inspiration for Avatar. Ride the 326-metre Bailong Elevator to the upper viewpoints; Guinness World Records recognises it as the tallest outdoor elevator. Continue along panoramic trails before transferring to the hotel.

Cross the 430-metre glass bridge spanning Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon, with the gorge and sandstone cliffs stretching below. Continue to Yellow Dragon Cave, also called Huanglong Cave, and walk through spacious limestone chambers shaped by stalactites, stalagmites and stone cascades. A sightseeing boat carries visitors through part of the underground route, creating a vivid contrast with the open canyon crossing earlier in the day.

Ascend Tianmen Mountain by cableway and follow the high-level route through its summit landscape. Walk beside the cliffs, step onto a glass walkway when conditions allow and visit the Buddhist temple on the mountain. Continue to Tianmen Cave, the natural arch known as Heaven's Gate, reached on one route by a staircase of 999 steps. After the excursion, meet the vehicle for the transfer to Zhangjiajie Airport.