5Days Tour to UNESCO’s World Natural Heritage - Ancient City of Ping Yao & Yungang Grottos, Mt.Wutaishan, Hanging Temple, Qiao Family’s Mansion

From RMB3880/person
Destinations: Shanghai → Taiyuan → Mt.Wutaishan→ Datong → Taiyuan → Ping Yao City → Taiyuan → Shanghai   
Departure Dates:  You Deside !

Attractions:  Mt.Wutaishan (one of the 4 saint Buddhist Mountains in China), Hanging Temple(Built on a sheer precipice in Mt.Heng around 1400 years ago. Mt.Heng is one of the 5 Sacred Mountains in China.), Yungang Grottos(World Culture Heritage), Ancient City of Ping Yao(World Culture Heritage), Qiao Family’s Mansion(magnificent ancient walled residences with multiple courtyards and hundreds of rooms)

Detail Itinerary:

Day 1

Place & Transport:  Flight from Shanghai to Taiyuan(capital of Shanxi Province - a northern province in China),

Detailed Itinerary:  Flight from Shanghai to Taiyuan, our local guide will meet you and transfer you from the Taiyuan Airport to our well-chosen hotel, or explore the nearby streets yourself.

Stay at 4-star hotel in Taiyuan

Day 2

Place & Transport:  Taiyuan/Mt.Wutaishan by car

Today's Activities:  Xiantong Temple, Pusading Temple, Tyuansi Temple, Shuxiangsi Temple
Meals:  Breakfast

Detailed Itinerary: After breakfast, take car to Mt.Wutaishan (230km, 4 hours). Mt.Wutaishan is one of the 4 saint Buddhist mountains in China. You will visit Xiantong Temple(the largest and longest historical temple in the mount), Pusading Temple (said as little Potala Palace), Tyuansi Temple(the landmark of Mt.Wutaishan), Shuxiangsi Temple
Stay at 4-star hotel in Mt.Wutaishan

Day 3

Place & Transport:  Mt.Wutaishan/Datong City by car

Today's Activities:  Wanfo Temple(10000 Buddhas Temple), Hanging Temple

Meals:  Breakfast

Detailed Itinerary: After breakfast, you will visit Wanfo Temple(10000 Buddhas Temple) in Mt.Wutaishan. Then take car from Mt.Wutaishan to Datong city(250km, 4 hours). On the way, you will visit an architectural miracle: the Hanging Temple - a temple built into a steep cliff in Mount Heng around 1400 years ago (Mt.Heng is one of the 5 Sacred Mountains in China).
Stay at 4-star hotel in Datong City

Day 4

Place & Transport:  Datong/Taiyuan by car

Today's Activities:  Yungang Grottos
Meals:  Breakfast

Detailed Itinerary: After breakfast, you will visit the UN World Culture Heritage-Yungang Grottos, Yungang Grottos, with its 252 caves and 51,000 statues, represent the outstanding achievement of Buddhist cave art in China in the 5th and 6th centuries. Then Drive back to Taiyuan (around 3.5 hours) On the way, you can enjoy the Inner Great Wall, Yanmen Pass and the second longest highway tunnel(5650 meters long).
Stay at 4-star hotel in Taiyuan

Day 5

Place & Transport:  Taiyuan/Shanghai by flight

Today's Activities:  Ancient City of Ping Yao, Qiao Family’s Mansion
Meals:  Breakfast

Detailed Itinerary: After breakfast, take car to the UN World Culture Heritage - ancient City of Ping Yao(around 1.5 hours). Then drive for around 30 minutes to Qiao Family’s Mansion-built in 1756, this mansion covers some 4,220 square yards and consists of six main courtyards and twenty minor ones. Then take one hour car back to Taiyuan.

Take flight back to Shanghai in the evening

Price of the Tour (per person based on 2 people share one room):

* Price are in Chinese CNY, for one person. Price are for references only, may vary according to your travel time.  Click here to change prices to your Currency

Price Include:

1. Flight between Shanghai and Taiyuan (Air fare is calculated at the 50% discount basis. Normally we can get this kind of discount.)

2. 4 Star hotel with breakfast in Taiyuan, Mt.Wutaishan and Datong

3. 1^st Gate Entrance fee to the listed attractions.

4. English speaking guide

5. Private car

Price not include:

Lunch and dinner, tips, insurance, other personal expenses

We strongly suggest you to buy the Tour Insurance.

Mt. Wutaishan is actually a cluster of flat-topped peaks from which the mountain takes its name (Five Terraces). The highest peak is 10,033 ft (3,058 m) above sea level. It is particularly famous as one of the great holy places of Chinese Buddhism. Great numbers of temples, including some of the oldest wooden buildings surviving in China, are scattered over the mountain; the largest temples—such as the Xiantong Temple, Tayuan Temple, Pusading Temple, Shuxiangsi Temple are grouped around the town of Taihuaizhen in the middle of the mountain.

Mt. Wutaishan appears first to have become a holy mountain to the Taoist adepts of the later Han dynasty (AD 25–220) but came into prominence in the 5th century under the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534/35) when, because of its shape, it became identified as the dwelling place of Manjusri Bodhisattva (a heavenly being who voluntarily postpones his Buddhahood in order to work for worldly welfare and understanding). The cult of Manjusri was intensified under the Tang dynasty (618–907). In early Tang times Mount Wutaishan was closely associated with the patriarchs of the Hua-yen Buddhist school, becoming the principal centre of their teaching. During this period it attracted scholars and pilgrims not only from all parts of China but also from Japan, who continued to visit and study there until the 12th century.

Under Mongol rule in the late 13th century, Tibetan Buddhism (Lamaism) was first introduced to Mt.Wutaishan. During the Qing dynasty (1644–1911), when the Tibetan Buddhist religion was an important element in relations between the Chinese court and their Mongol and Tibetan vassals and when the state gave lavish support to monasteries inhabited by lamas (monks), Mt.Wutaishan was one of the principal monastic centres.

Few of the present buildings are very old, but the main hall of the Hua-kuang Temple, dating from 857, is the oldest surviving wooden building in China.

The Hanging Temple is a wooden temple clinging to the cliff side in Mount Heng, appearing to defy gravity with only a few wooden posts as support. Built more than 1400 years ago, this temple is unique not only for its location on a sheer precipice but also because it includes Buddhist, Taoist, and Confucian elements.  There are 40 wooden halls and structures linked by an ingenious system of pillars, posts and walkways.

All buildings in the temple were hung on the crag at the slope of Hengshan Mountain. The buildings stand vertical to the cliff, and the peak of the cliff seems upside down. Seen from upwards, the whole building seems that it just sticks to the cliff. Facing south to Hengshan Mountain, the temple is under the crags and on the cloughs, with red walls and gray tiles. Strew at random and spread in the air, it just like a flying little phoenix. The buildings are arrayed in a line from the south of the cliff to the north, and heightened gradually like a dragon pronating on the cliff. More than forty halls, rooms and pavilions in the temple are divided to three groups. Statues of Confucius, Laozi (a scholar in ancient China) and Sakyamuni the founders of Confucianism,Taoism and Buddhism respectively, are enshrined in the highest hall in the temple. Different cultures directly encounter one another here. This building is a perfect combination of religion and culture of Chinese feudal society.

There are all sorts of inscriptions, poems and another 78 statues of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism made of copper, iron, clay and stone, which are valuable cultural craftworks.

The Yungang Grottoes, in Datong city, with their 252 caves and 51,000 statues, represent the outstanding achievement of Buddhist cave art in China in the 5th and 6th centuries. The Five Caves created by Tan Yao, with their strict unity of layout and design, constitute a classical masterpiece of the first peak of Chinese Buddhist art. Hence it is in the World Culture Heritage list.

Justification for Inscription:

The assemblage of statuary of the Yungang Grottoes is a masterpiece of early Chinese Buddhist cave art.

The Yungang cave art represent the successful fusion of Buddhist religious symbolic art from south and central Asia with Chinese cultural traditions, starting in the 5th century CE under Imperial auspices.

The power and endurance of Buddhist belief in China are vividly illustrated by the Yungang grottoes.

The Buddhist tradition of religious cave art achieved its first major impact at Yungang, where it developed its own distinct character and artistic power.

More about Yungang Gorttos, please click here.

Ancient City of Ping Yao is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a traditional Han Chinese city, founded in the 14th century. Its urban fabric shows the evolution of architectural styles and town planning in Imperial China over five centuries. Of special interest are the imposing buildings associated with banking, for which Ping Yao was the major centre for the whole of China in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Hence it is in the World Culture Heritage list.

Justification for Inscription:
The UNESCO Committee decided to inscribe this property on the basis of criteria (ii), (iii) and (iv), considering that the Ancient City of Ping Yao is an outstanding example of a Han Chinese city of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (14th-20th centuries) that has retained all its features to an exceptional degree and in doing so provides a remarkably complete picture of cultural, social, economic, and religious development during one of the most seminal periods of Chinese

You can find more about Ancient City of Ping Yao here.

Qiao Family’s Mansion covers some 4,220 square yards and consists of six main courtyards and twenty minor ones. There are 313 rooms set on a north-south axis. An 80 meter (87 yards) long passageway runs from east to west, dividing the complex in halves. At the western end stands the ancestral temple of the Qiao family.

The family enjoyed a prestigious status during the reign of the Emperor Qianlong (1735-96), one of its patriarchs having been a famous trader, whose travels had taken him far off into foreign lands. The family included banking among its activities and this meant their commercial influence spread beyond Shanxi Province, their private banks being a nation-wide enterprise. The compound's inner courtyards and passageways were designed inthe shape of the Chinese character for the double happiness' (shuang xi). The architecture has virtually an encyclopaedic range, with a vast array of contrasting roof styles that vary from gentle slopes to high peaks swooping down in elegant curves.

You can find more pictures on Qiao Family’s Mansion here.

Please Note: 
1. If it is because of force majeure this tour can not be accomplished as scheduled, our side does not honor the liability. Any expenses caused by force majeure will be paid by customers. But our side will do our best to help our customers to solve the problem.

2. The sequence of the activities in the itinerary maybe will be changed according to the situation, but all of the above scenery attractions will be visited.  If it is because of force majeure some attractions can not be visited, we will only refund the entrance fee to the customers. 

3. In principle the service time of the guide and driver is 9 hours per day at most. The itinerary of the car we used is according to what we have listed above.
4. The free baggage allowance in the flight is 20kg per person.

Enquires and Reservation:

Tel:     (0086-21) 53062060, 53069239, 63587910, 63586997

Fax:     (0086-21) 63722508

E-Mail:  elitetor@hotmail.com
*Please e-mail me your booking request. Thanks!