Our journey begins in Beijing, a city where imperial grandeur sits beside contemporary energy. Upon landing, make your way through immigration, collect your luggage and meet your travel expert just outside the arrivals hall. A private transfer brings you to the city, where your hotel offers space to rest and settle in. The afternoon is left open for adjustment, allowing time to ease into China’s atmospheric capital. 

As dusk approaches, we head into Beijing’s historic hutongs, where a quiet courtyard tea house awaits. The setting is tranquil; lantern light and wooden screens create soothing warmth. Here, a tea master leads a traditional ceremony, sharing the foundations of gongfu tea. We learn how water temperature, aroma and movement shape expression, using jasmine or pu’er tea as our guide. The ceremony is not simply about flavour but about presence. 

After tea, we stroll through nearby Beihai Park, once an imperial space where scholars, monks and emperors found respite. The lake reflects temple pavilions and willow branches, offering a peaceful introduction to China’s sacred landscapes. The walk encourages slow observation — a moment to absorb place and stillness.

Returning to your hotel, the city’s hum fades, and the evening concludes gently. This arrival sets our tone — unhurried, reflective and curious, attuned to both ritual and space. The journey ahead will weave together body, landscape and living practice as we step further into China’s spiritual heritage

Your travel expert meets you at your hotel this morning and transfers you to Beijing West Railway Station. There, you board a high-speed train bound for Zhengzhou, passing through plains, river valleys and quiet rural towns. The journey is smooth and reflective, offering time to relax after Beijing’s intensity and ease into a slower rhythm as we head deeper into Henan Province. 

Upon arrival in Zhengzhou, you are met off the train by a local travel expert and transferred to your hotel. After settling in, we visit a traditional calligraphy studio, an ideal setting to connect with Chinese cultural roots. Here, brush, ink, paper and posture become more than tools—they are a practice in focus and calm. A master calligrapher shows us how pressure and movement affect the line, encouraging precision, patience and fluidity. As we try writing characters ourselves, guided by breath and deliberate motion, we begin to appreciate calligraphy as both an art and a philosophy. 

Later, we travel to the banks of the Yellow River, often known as the “Mother River” due to its role in sustaining Chinese civilisation. The river is broad and steady, its muted colour shaped by centuries of silt. Sitting with light snacks and refreshments, we watch the current move at its own pace. The landscape feels both vast and grounding, offering a quiet space to reflect. Here, the river becomes a simple reminder of continuity, a natural thread linking past and present. 

As the light fades and the air cools, we return to your hotel. The day has been gentle but meaningful, setting a thoughtful tone for what lies ahead. Tonight, we rest in preparation for a deeper exploration of China’s spiritual heritage—where traditions endure, and reflection plays as important a role as discovery.

Today we return to Songshan, this time with a focus on Taoist traditions. Our first destination is Zhongyue Temple, one of China’s most significant Taoist temples, dedicated to the mountain god. What stands here is more than architecture — it is a spatial expression of harmony, where stone gates, carved beams and age-old cypress trees create a poetic balance. 

We walk through its courtyards slowly, letting the senses adjust to the quiet, the air and the implied teachings. Harmony in Taoism is not declared but sensed — through proportion, shadow and breath. 

From the temple, we set off along a mountain path. The walk is gentle but immersive — stone steps, cool air, evergreen branches rustling overhead. At a quiet lookout point, tea and light snacks are laid out. The combination of mountain air and silent tea offers space to reconnect with natural rhythms. 

In the afternoon, we visit Songyang Academy. Once a scholarly centre where Confucian, Taoist and Buddhist thinkers overlap, it now stands as a reminder of how philosophy, education and nature intertwined in classical China. The setting — modest halls, stone tablets, ancient gingkos — encourages thoughtfulness rather than display. 

We return to Zhengzhou with a sense of stillness retained from the mountain. Today’s experiences unfold across landscape and learning, showing how Taoism values alignment with nature rather than mastery of it. It’s a different kind of practice — one where patience communicates more than words, and where feeling becomes a pathway to knowledge.

Today, we journey to the Longmen Grottoes, one of China’s most remarkable achievements in Buddhist art. Carved into limestone cliffs along the Yi River, these thousands of statues and grottoes date from the Northern Wei to Tang dynasties, representing centuries of devotion and artistic evolution. 

Our visit begins at the impressive Fengxian Temple, home to a colossal seated Buddha framed by bodhisattvas and guardian figures. Despite its monumental scale, the expression is calm and dignified, inviting quiet contemplation. Close inspection reveals intricate drapery and detail — a testament to the skill and dedication of ancient artisans. 

We continue along the cliffside path, stopping to view smaller niches and reliefs that depict myriad figures in various poses. Some are weathered, softened by time, while others are remarkably preserved — each one offering insight into the era’s spiritual and cultural life. The repetition of images, carved by countless hands, gives a sense of collective devotion across generations. 

Crossing the bridge to the opposite bank, we take in the panoramic view of the grottoes reflected in the river. From here, the site takes on a grand sense of scale and setting — art in direct dialogue with the landscape. The river flows gently below, adding a natural rhythm to the stillness of stone and sky. 

After our visit, we return to the hotel. The remainder of the day is free, allowing time to relax or explore Luoyang at your own pace. You may wish to revisit the riverfront, spend time in the city’s quieter neighbourhoods or simply unwind.

We begin our day at the Red Gate, located at the base of Mount Tai. This mountain is one of China’s Five Sacred Peaks — a place of ritual, pilgrimage and reflection for more than three thousand years. Emperors once climbed these slopes to make offerings to heaven and earth, seeking auspicious favour for the empire. Poets and scholars followed, chasing inspiration among the cliffs and pine forests, each adding their own voice to the mountain’s legacy. 

Our ascent follows the traditional pilgrimage route, a path of carved stone steps that unfold gradually through ancient groves of pine. Red Gate signals the start of this time-honoured climb. Along the way, small shrines, carved inscriptions and weathered waypoints appear, marking moments of devotion left by generations of seekers. The pace is measured, allowing for breath, conversation or quiet observation. The higher we go, the more the landscape shifts — from village outskirts to the rugged spine of the mountain. 

After a steady climb, we arrive at the South Heavenly Gate, a symbolic threshold between the earthly world and the sacred summit. From here, the view opens dramatically, with clouds often drifting below us and distant peaks cutting across the horizon. The air is lighter, the stillness more palpable. For many, this point marks both a physical and spiritual breakthrough. 

We spend time exploring the summit, where ancient altars and temples are set amidst rocks shaped by centuries of wind and worship. Stele carved with imperial decrees honour the mountain, while ceremonial sites speak to Mount Tai’s role in the rituals of state and spirituality alike. Here, we have time to reflect, take photographs, or simply sit and appreciate the vastness around us — a space where the natural and the divine seem to meet. 

Our descent is by cable car, offering a gentle glide back through the layers of pine, stone and movement we traversed earlier. Returning to Tai’an, there is a sense of quiet accomplishment. The climb becomes part of our story — a moment of physical exertion, cultural encounter and inner grounding.

We begin the day with a private transfer from the hotel to Qufu Railway Station, marking the start of a notable shift in our journey. Boarding a high-speed train, we travel eastward toward Shanghai — a city synonymous with modern China, known for its dynamic pace, glittering skyline and cultural diversity. As the train accelerates, we watch the quiet foothills of Mount Tai fade into rolling plains and eventually the urban sprawl of one of the world’s most energetic metropolises. 

The journey itself is a reflection of China’s varied terrain and history. It is a passage that connects the ancient centre of ritual and reflection with a global hub of commerce, creativity and reinvention. This movement becomes symbolic — a transition from the stillness of sacred heights to the rhythm of a city that never seems to pause. It’s a moment to reflect on the contrasts that define the country: geography, belief systems, and the aspirations that shape its modern identity. 

Upon arrival at the bustling Shanghai Hongqiao Station, we are met by a local travel expert who escorts us to the hotel. Once checked in, the rest of the day is free. You may choose to head to the Bund, where colonial-era architecture stands against luminous towers across the river — a visual dialogue between past and future. Or perhaps wander through the leafy boulevards of the French Concession, a neighbourhood filled with boutique shops, quiet cafes and Art Deco villas that carry the imprint of another era. 

For those drawn to culture, Shanghai’s museums and galleries offer insight into contemporary art, design and history. Alternatively, you might prefer to step into a hidden tea room or browse a market where old Shanghai still whispers in between the souvenir stalls. 

Tonight is open-ended, offering time to dine at leisure — perhaps sampling local delicacies or enjoying international cuisine — or simply to relax and absorb the shift in energy, from the contemplative calm of Mount Tai to the vivid pulse of Shanghai’s cityscape.