Guangzhou, Yangshuo and Chongqing Discovery

Meet the driver at Guangzhou Airport and transfer to the hotel for check-in. At approximately 5:00 pm, set out for an introductory city walk. See the 600-metre Canton Tower, follow Beijing Road above its protected pavement layers, and visit Dafo Temple, whose present main hall dates from the seventeenth-century rebuilding. Return to the hotel after the evening programme.

Travel by high-speed train towards Yangshuo and meet the guide on arrival. Take the scheduled boat trip through the Li River's tower-karst scenery, then stop for the landscape associated with the image on China's 20-yuan banknote. A fisherman presents the historic technique of working with cormorants as a visitor demonstration. Check in at the hotel afterwards, with free time for an independent evening walk through Yangshuo.

Use the day to relax or explore Yangshuo independently. An optional excursion to Ruyi Peak uses a cableway to reach elevated viewpoints across the karst landscape, with a glass walkway adding another perspective in the summit area. In the evening, you may separately book Impression Liu Sanjie, an outdoor production that incorporates the river and surrounding peaks into its stage setting. Both experiences are optional and ticketed separately.

Transfer to the station for the high-speed train to Chongqing. A guide will meet you on arrival and accompany the transfer to the hotel. After check-in, take an evening walk among illuminated towers, riverfront spaces and steep, lively streets for a first impression of the city's unusual vertical geography.

Visit Luohan Temple and its arhat figures before continuing to Kuixinglou, where streets connect at dramatically different heights. At Liziba, see a Chongqing Rail Transit train pass through the station building. Walk on through Xiahaoli, a restored section of the Longmenhao historical block, then ascend to Huixianlou Skyview at Chongqing WFC. Its upper floors open a 360-degree perspective over the dense centre, bridges and the confluence of the Yangtze and Jialing rivers.

Check out after breakfast and meet the driver for a private transfer. Depending on your onward booking, travel to Chongqing Airport or the railway station, where the six-day programme concludes.