Activities and Free Time

We offer many activities beyond site seeing and shopping. You can enjoy a Chinese acrobat show, Beijing opera, special dining events and more. From the Panda gardens, to museums and excursions such as a tour of a silk factory, we make sure that your trip will be enjoyable as well as educational. We can also arrange personal itineraries. Let us know what you want to do and we can set up the details for you. All you have to do is sit back, relax and enjoy your vacation.

Tang Dynasty Show in Xian: The Tang Dynasty Dinner Show is a combination of Chinese traditional dumpling banquet and the fabulous Tang Dynasty dance and music. Experience ancient music and dance that originated during the dynasty's reign more than a thousand years ago. Tang Dynasty (618 - 907AD) was the most prosperous dynasty in Chinese history and also the climax of China's development in music and dance. You begin with a dumpling banquet before the show. Dumplings come in various artistic shapes and sizes, all handmade, and filled with different combinations of meat and vegetables. If you've ever experienced dim sum in the west then you might want to give this variation a try.

Kung Fu Show in Beijing: Enjoy a spectacular Kung Fu show for evening entertainment. Chinese Kungfu, also called "martial art", is a traditional Chinese sport. Developed over a thousand years ago, it has become a precious cultural treasure displaying the art of attack and defense with a series of intricate hostile body movements..

Silk Factory Enjoy various items made from silk! Learn the whole life cycle of the silkworm. Silk is a delicate fabric elaborately made of natural protein fibrin of pods. The fascinating silk-making process consists of the silkworm creating its cocoon out of a single silk thread that is continuous for approximately 3,600 feet. China is the earliest country to raise silkworms and weave silk with a history spanning more than 6,000 years.

Panda Gardens Visit the world-famous Giant Panda Research Center, which is a non-profit research and breeding facility for giant pandas and other rare animals. Founded in 1987, it all started with six giant pandas that were rescued from the wild. By 2008, the center had 124 panda births. Since then, the captive panda population has grown to 83. Its goal is to "be a world-class research facility, conservation education center, and international educational tourism destination".

Sichuan Opera Experience an animated theatrical performance. It is said that ancient people painted their faces to drive away wild animals. Watch artists in traditional costumes, dancing around changing the thin painted masks over their face. The Sichuan Opera features vibrant, vivid, humorous narration, singing and acrobats. Enjoy the Chinese classical novels, mythologies, legends and folk takes. Sichuan Opera performances are always full of wit, humor, lively dialogues, and pronounced local flavors. To portray special characters, the opera incorporates a series of stunts, including the famous "face-changing." In Chinese opera, facial makeup is usually painted, but in Sichuan Opera, the performer can change his or her facial makeup in the snap of a finger right on stage. Watch this incredibly creative performance!

OPTIONAL ENTERTAINMENT:

Shanghai River Cruise: Enjoy the colorful nightlife of the Shanghai metropolis on land and water! Experience Huangpu Park and the Bund while cruising around Shanghai Harbor on a relaxing boat ride. Sit back and discover the contrast between new and old Shanghai.

Shanghai ERA Show: As a multimillion-dollar stunning acrobatic extravaganza, the first of its kind in China, ERA - Intersection of Time - is a multimedia odyssey whose inspiration is a direct result of the combination of traditional Chinese acrobatic arts and modern technology. Just like Shanghai , ERA evolves through a constant collision between the past and future. Not only will the audience be amazed by the acrobats' control and precision, they will be enchanted by the world that is created through the use of multimedia, technology, lighting and sound effects, elaborate costumes, original live music and a lot more.

As such, ERA can remain universal, without language or cultural barriers. A thousand-year-old gesture is worth a thousand emotions, a thousand images, a thousand words.