Upon arrival in Beijing, you will be met by your travel expert and transferred to your hotel. The drive into the city offers a first sense of the vast scale and ordered geometry that have defined the Chinese capital for centuries. Long boulevards align with precision, hinting at the legendary grid that continues to shape movement across the metropolis. Throughout the journey, architects join us on select days, guiding us through the stories and design principles embedded in China’s built environment. 

After settling in, we begin with an introduction that places Beijing in its architectural context. The capital is one of the world’s most complete expressions of axial city planning. Its historical layout follows a disciplined north to south line symbolising imperial authority and cosmic order. This axis shaped everything from palace arrangements to city gates, creating a coherent urban diagram that survives even amid modern growth. 

We make our way to Jingshan Park for an elevated panorama over the Forbidden City. From here the palace unfolds in perfect symmetry, its rhythmic courtyards revealing a rare clarity of planning. The relationship between direction, hierarchy and ritual becomes visible in a single sweeping view. Our architect begins to explain how successive dynasties added layers to this order while maintaining the core structure that defined Beijing through time. 

As the afternoon softens, we explore neighbourhoods around the central axis, tracing how imperial planning influenced surrounding districts. Conversations emerge naturally as we move between viewpoints, laying the foundations for the coming days. What becomes clear even now is that Beijing is not merely a city but a physical expression of philosophical ideas translated into form.

Today we shift from imperial order to the bold experimentation that defines modern Beijing. Our architect joins us to explore the landmark buildings that have challenged conventional ideas of structure, form and identity, revealing how the city has become a major arena for global architectural innovation. 

We begin at the CCTV Headquarters, a building that redefined the typology of the skyscraper. Instead of rising vertically, it loops across space in a continuous geometric gesture. Its two leaning legs support a vast suspended section that appears to defy gravity. Our architect explains how this radical form required new structural strategies, particularly for load paths and wind resistance. Standing beneath the dramatic overhang, the tension between mass and openness becomes a defining experience. 

From here we continue to Galaxy SOHO, designed by Zaha Hadid. The flowing, interlinked domes and bridges present a stark contrast to Beijing’s traditional grid. Everything here suggests movement: there are no corners, no abrupt separations, only seamless transitions between volumes. Our architect highlights how this approach shifts the architectural language of the city, offering a vision shaped by fluidity rather than rigidity. 

In the afternoon we travel to the foothills outside Beijing to visit the Commune by the Great Wall. This collection of villas, designed by leading Asian architects, forms an open air exhibition of early twenty first century residential design. Each villa responds differently to the landscape, using varying strategies of transparency, anchoring, framing and elevation. Together they reveal the breadth of contemporary architectural thinking across the region. 

We return to Beijing in the early evening with a renewed appreciation for the city as a place where traditional order meets experimental ambition, creating one of the most dynamic architectural landscapes in Asia.

We travel by high speed rail to Xi’an, entering a city whose influence on East Asian urbanism extends far beyond its walls. After settling in, our architect joins us to explore how the city’s Tang dynasty plan became a blueprint for capitals across the region. 

We begin with the ancient city walls, among the most complete defensive systems still standing. Their strict rectangular alignment reflects the geometry that defined Tang Chang’an, a city that once covered a footprint far larger than modern Xi’an. Walking along the ramparts, our architect explains how this plan influenced the layout of Nara and Kyoto in Japan, as well as major Korean capitals. Xi’an’s impact lies in urban order rather than individual buildings, offering a model of how power, ritual and daily life could be structured across a capital. 

Descending into the city, we trace the still legible logic of the grid: broad avenues separating residential wards, markets, temples and administrative zones. This pattern reflects not only practical needs but also symbolic ones, positioning the emperor at the centre of a precisely organised diagram of authority. In the old town, we explore the Drum and Bell Towers area where traditional timber buildings combine classical proportions with later adaptations. Raised platforms, axial alignments and bracket systems reveal the enduring principles of Chinese architecture, even as the surrounding district has modernised. 

By the end of the day, Xi’an emerges as a city shaped not only by its monuments but by an urban vision that influenced centuries of planning across East Asia.

This morning we depart Xi’an by high-speed rail, travelling east across wide plains and river valleys towards Shanghai, a city where architectural ambition shapes one of the world’s most recognisable skylines. The journey allows time to absorb the ideas explored so far, from imperial planning to vernacular ingenuity. We arrive in Shanghai by mid-afternoon and transfer to your hotel to check in and refresh briefly. 

As the late afternoon light begins to soften, we make our way towards the Bund for our first encounter with the city’s iconic riverfront. Rather than a full daytime exploration, we experience the Bund at a moment when the façades start to glow and the skyline begins to shift into its evening rhythm. To mark the occasion, we head to one of the Bund’s rooftop bars for sundowners, a perfect elevated vantage point from which to absorb the city’s architectural dialogue. 

With the Huangpu River below and the historic buildings at eye level, our architect begins to introduce the story of the Bund. Neoclassical banks, beaux arts consulates and art deco towers form a monumental frontage that once symbolised Shanghai’s power and global reach. From above, their proportions, rooflines and decorative details become clearer, revealing the intentional grandeur embedded in their design. 

As the sun sets, the lights of Pudong rise across the water. The glass towers and sculpted silhouettes of the Lujiazui skyline illuminate in sequence, transforming the view into one of the most dynamic architectural compositions in Asia. Our architect highlights how this interplay between historic solidity and futuristic verticality defines Shanghai’s identity as a city of contrasts. 

After sundowners, we take an unhurried stroll along the riverfront as the city lights deepen before returning to your hotel with the first impressions of a city where history and innovation coexist in luminous balance.

Today we slow the pace and explore one of Shanghai’s most distinctive urban forms: the lilong neighbourhoods of the former French Concession. These communities blend European façades with Chinese spatial logic, forming a typology found nowhere else in China. Our architect leads the day, helping us read the lilong not only as architecture but as a living social system. 

We begin along streets shaded by old plane trees, a legacy of early French planning. Townhouses with brick façades, balconies and shuttered windows hint at European influence. Yet as we step into the narrow lanes beyond the façades, the atmosphere shifts. Homes face one another across intimate alleyways, gateways open into small courtyards, and the organisational rhythm feels distinctly Chinese. 

Our architect explains how the lilong emerged in response to rapid population growth in the early twentieth century. These neighbourhoods balanced density with liveability, using lanes, courtyards and graduated privacy to maintain strong social ties. The hierarchy from street to gateway to lane and finally to home creates a gentle choreography of movement and interaction. This human-scaled structure continues to inspire architects seeking alternatives to vertical urbanism. 

We explore both restored lilong compounds and lived-in residential clusters. In revitalised areas, cafés, boutiques and studios occupy ground floors, showing how heritage architecture adapts to contemporary life. In quieter lanes, everyday scenes—neighbours talking, plants hanging from balconies, bicycles resting against brick walls—reveal how these environments nurture community over generations. 

Our architect draws attention to brickwork patterns, timber frames, drainage tiles and the design of staircase houses once shared by multiple families. Each detail adds to the story of practicality, resilience and stylistic charm. 

By day’s end, the lilong stands out as one of Shanghai’s most meaningful contributions to urban design, expressing a city that blends influences while sustaining intimacy, connection and identity.

Our final morning in China is devoted to Yu Garden, a classical masterpiece that offers a gentle and contemplative close to the journey. Situated within the old city of Shanghai, the garden represents one of the most refined expressions of traditional Chinese landscape design. Created during the Ming dynasty, it embodies the belief that architecture and nature should exist in continuous dialogue. With our architect guiding the visit, we begin to understand how each space is not simply decorative, but part of a carefully choreographed sequence intended to evoke emotion, memory and introspection. 

We move through pavilions, courtyards and covered walkways, each framing the landscape in a different way. Windows shaped like fans, vases and flowers turn the outside world into composed scenes, allowing the garden to unfold as a series of connected moments rather than a single view. Our architect highlights how the rockeries, bridges and ponds are arranged to mimic mountain and water landscapes on an intimate scale. The use of contrast creates balance: enclosed chambers open suddenly to expansive ponds, while quiet corners lead to dramatic rock formations. This interplay reflects a philosophical approach to space where beauty is revealed gradually rather than all at once. 

As we explore, we appreciate how Yu Garden captures the essence of Chinese architectural thinking. It offers a counterpoint to the monumental geometry of Beijing, the vast spatial order of Xi’an and the vertical dynamism of Shanghai. Here, architecture is contemplative, human scaled and deeply connected to nature. The experience provides a graceful conclusion to our exploration of China’s varied design traditions. 

After our visit to Yu Garden we transfer to the airport for your onward flight. The drive offers a final glimpse of Shanghai’s layered skyline, from historic masonry to sculpted towers, reminding us of the remarkable architectural diversity encountered over the past eleven days. It is a fitting farewell to a journey shaped by conversation, curiosity and the enduring power of design.

PROGRAM CONCLUDES