Confucius said "the masses regard food as their prime want."
Confucius said "For your dinner, you can never cook your food too fine, nor mince your meat too well."
Confucius said, "Only wine drinking is not limited, but not so much as to make you confused."
Confucius said, "Do not eat too much and do not talk at meals,"
Confucius also said: "I do not eat if I do not get the proper soy sauce."
Mencius said: "Fish is what I like as well as bear's paw
Laozi said:"Governing a great nation is much like cooking a small fish."

China is a vast country and it is therefore no surprise that there are many regional variations in Chinese cuisine. In general one can say that the Southern Chinese, Cantonese, cuisine puts more emphasis on fish and seafood and the Northern Chinese, Peking, cuisine includes more meat. Of all meats pork is most common in all Chinese cuisines. Actually the pig is so respected by the Chinese that the Chinese character for "home" is a combination of the characters for "roof" and "pig".

There are four main types of cuisine. In the north, the cooking is drier and saltier than in the south and dishes are accompanied by noodles or various types of bread roll. The best-known dish is Peking Duck. Southern Chinese cuisine is fattier and spicier and goes well with rice. Dishes from the Shanghai and Nanjing region mostly contain seafood and shellfish and are often sweeter. Finally, the Sichuan and Hunan regions are famous for their very spicy food.
The one thing all regional Chinese cuisines have in common is the care that goes into presentation. A dish must be attractive to look at, must smell good, and, of course, it must taste good too. All the ingredients are carefully chopped and judiciously combined.

Sichuan and Hunan have the spiciest food in all of China. Garlic as well as chili is extensively used. Mao Zedong who was Hunanese once claimed that the more chilies one eats the more revolutionary one becomes. It was meant as a joke (most probably) but the statement is in accordance to the Chinese belief that diet makes a great difference in the well-being of a person. It's commonly known that the Chinese invented chopsticks as a set of instruments to be used when eating but the reason behind that is not commonly known. Actually, the Chinese where taught to use chopsticks long before spoons and forks were invented in Europe (the knife is older, not as an instrument for dining but as weapon). Chopsticks were strongly advocated by the great Chinese philosopher Confucius (551-479 BC). He reasoned that, as a matter of advancement in civilization, instruments used for killing must be banned from the dining table. Therefore, knives cannot be permitted, and that is why Chinese food is always chopped into bite size before it reaches the table.

This Chinese Culinary Tour will take us to experience all the major cuisines that it has offered since the last thousands of years including Peking, Shangdong, Sichuan, Cantonese and Huaiyang cuisines. It is a great challenge for our tongues as we fly from one place to another to taste the different flavors of local food.

Culinary Highlights of the tour:
Mongolian Hot Pot ** Imperial dinner at Fangshan Restaurant at Beihai Park ** Peking Duck at the Quan Ju De Restaurant ** Tanjia Cai (Tan Family Cuisine) ** Confucius' Family's Residence Banquet ** Dumplings Banquet at Defachang restaurant in Xian ** Sichuan Hot Pot in Chengdu ** Vegetarian Banquet in Guilin ** Dim sum breakfast in Canton ** Typical Cantonese food in Canton ** Huaiyang cuisine in Shanghai ** Night food markets in Beijing, Xian, Chengdu and Guilin

World Heritage Sites:
The Great Wall of China ** The Forbidden City ** The Ming Tomb ** The Summer Palace ** The Terra Cotta Warriors of Emperor Qin Shihuangdi ** The Dujiangyan Irrigation System

Entertainments:
Peking Opera in Beijing ** Tang Dynasty Show in Xian ** Acrobatic Show in Shanghai

ITINERARY

Day 1 Beijing
Welcome to Beijing. Upon arrival at Beijing's Capital airport, you will be met by you guide and transported to your hotel. Beijing has been the capital of China for 850 years. Emperors of different dynasties all had the best cooks at their service. Thus, Beijing cuisine is inevitably influenced by the imperial cooking school. With the change of dynasties and diverse population inflow from other parts of the country, many different styles of cooking were introduced into Beijing. For this reason, Beijing cuisine is diverse in nature. All in all, combining variety and quality, Beijing cuisine is among the best in China. Welcome Dinner at the Mongolian Hotpot Restaurant overlooking the Tian'an men Square. BLD.

Day 2 Beijing
We will start to explore Beijing from the largest square in the world, the Tian'anmen Square where you can feel the heartbeat of China. Bordered by the Great Hall of the People, Mao's Mausoleum and the National Museum of China, Tian'anmen Square has witnessed many of the historical events happened in China since 1911. We then walk to the Forbidden City, the complex of imperial palaces, which were home to the Emperors for over 500 years. Grand halls and courts gradually give way to more intimate domestic quarters, giving an insight into the pampered isolation of the emperors. After lunch, we will visit the charming Prince Gong's Palace while we tour the Hutong Alleys in rickshaws, for a glimpse of traditional Beijing local life. Before we conclude our Hutong tours we will enjoy a relaxing cruise on the Houhai Lake with traditional Chinese musical accompaniment. Tonight we will eat like a Qing Dynasty emperor for his imperial dinner at Fangshan Restaurant inside the Beihai Park. Founded in the park in 1925, the restaurant was the first imperial style restaurant established in Beijing. The name "fang shan" actually means food following the style used for the imperial family. Careful selection of ingredients, elaborate preparation and exquisite decoration are key components of imperial cuisine. One of the features the restaurant is famous for is "Man Han Quan Xi" (the complete Manchu and Han nationality food), a banquet served on the most important occasions. A look at the full menu of this famous banquet gives you an idea of the sheer variety of dishes available to Chinese emperors and empresses. It includes six banquets, each comprising up to 36 dishes. It takes three days to finish them all. BLD.

Day 3 Beijing
Today is the highlight of our China tour, the climbing of the Great Wall of China, which was first built in the Warring States period (475-221BC) as a series of earthworks erected by individual kingdoms as a defense against each other as well as from invasions from the north. Stretching almost 4500 miles from the Baohai Sea to the sands of Central Asia, the Great Wall of China is crowned one of the wonders of the world. The present day wall was left from the Ming dynasty. After lunch we will visit the Ming Tomb. Dinner for the day is the most famous Peking Duck at the Quan Ju De Restaurant which was established 130 years ago. To achieve the prized crisp skin, the duck is air-dried, then coated with a mixture of syrup and soy sauce, immersed in condiments unique to the restaurant and are roasted directly over flames stoked by fruit tree wood. The best roasted duck is date-red, shining with oil, but with a crisp skin and tender meat. The chef cuts the meat into thin slices at table. The slivers of skin are wrapped in thin pancakes with spring onions or leeks, cucumber, turnip and delicious plum sauce. Peking Opera at night. BLD.

Day 4 Beijing
Morning visit to the Summer Palace, the largest imperial garden in China. The Summer Palace was first built in the Qing emperor Qianlong's time in 1751 and burned down in1860 by the French and British army and restored by the Dowager empress Cixi for her own enjoyment. It became a favorite haunt of Cixi, who preferred it to the Forbidden City, and named it Yihe Yuan meaning the garden of health and harmony. After lunch we will visit Temple of Heaven, a masterpiece of Ming Dynasty architecture, where the Emperors performed annual sacrificial rituals for good harvests. Tanjia Cai (Tan Family Cuisine) is our dinner today. Tanjia Cai is a famous Chinese cuisine with a history of over 100 years. It was named after Tan Zunzun, a talented chef who has a lifelong romance with a single beloved--food. The cuisine successfully combined the flavor of several cuisines and developed its own characteristic. Tanjia Cai has two principles: First, only the finest ingredients may be used; second, the taste should reflect the essence of Tanjia Cai. The dishes taste soft and original, not too sweet and not too salty. Typical dishes include stewed shark's fin and fish maw in jar, stewed abalone in delicious sauce, sauted and fried prawn. After dinner we will visit the local night food-market at Wangfujing. BLD.

Day 5 Beijing/Qufu
We leave Beijing in the morning to board our soft seat train to Qufu, the hometown of Confucius (551-479 B.C.), the celebrated thinker, philosopher and educator of the Spring and Autumn Period. For twenty-five centuries, he has exerted profound influence on Chinese society with his ideas right up to the present century. As the para-religious cult which came to embrace his thinking grew, shrines and temples were erected to his memory in Qufu. Among more than three hundred historical sites here, the most famous are Temple of Confucius (Kongmiao), Confucius Mansion (Kongfu), and Forest of Confucius (Konglin). BLD.

Day 6 Qufu
Full day visit to the Temple of Confucius, Confucius Mansion and Forest of Confucius. Tonight's dinner is Confucius' Family's Residence Banquet which was originally the special high-grade banquet for receiving distinguished guests. As many of the ladies in the Confucius' Family's Residence came from the distinguished families of various places in China with their own cookers, Confucius' Family's Residence banquet could be renovated continuously by combining different features of various schools of cooking. One of the most famous examples of Confucian Cuisine was a dish with an impressive sounding name of "The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea Gamboling around the Arhat." This dish typifies the fresh, fragrant, pure taste that made Confucian cuisine so memorable. From the time of the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD) until the late Qing Dynasty (161 - 1911 AD) chefs would prepare the dish for celebrations within the Confucian family, and when important dignitaries such as high officials, scholars and even Emperors came to visit. Qian Long of the Qing dynasty was a particularly frequent visitor, giving the Confucian family many opportunities to entertain with traditional family dishes such as this one. BLD.

Day 7 Qufu/Xian
Fly to Xian in the morning. Upon arrival we will have a city tour of Xian including the history museum. Today's special dinner is the Dumplings Banquet at Defachang restaurant. Xi'an Dumpling Banquet is brought forth new ideas in its color, fragrance, taste and style; meanwhile, ancient Chinese culture has been added. Thus, the dumpling is no longer one kind of simple flour food. Pork, beef, mutton and vegetable are used as its filling, chicken, duck, fish, pork, meat, egg, delicacies from land and sea and fresh vegetable are added into the filling as well. They make out various pretty and lovely styles such as flower, bird, grass and fish. Any way this restaurant can prepare more than 200 different styles of Dumplings to challenge your tongue. After dinner we will visit the local night food-market at Beiyuanmen. BLD.

Day 8 Xian
Morning visit to the Terra Cotta Warriors of Emperor Qin which is considered to be the greatest archaeological discovery in the 20th in the world. Today's lunch is the specially prepared local noodles. Noodles occupy an important position in Chinese cuisine. Actually, the Chinese were the inventors of noodles, and they were brought to the European noodle country, Italy, by Marco Polo who learnt the technique of making noodles here in Xian only in the 13th century. Unlike the Italians who can't explain why their spaghetti are impractically long the Chinese do have a seemingly very logical reason why the longer the noodles are the better; to the ever superstitious Chinese long noodles mean long life. Making noodles the traditional Chinese way is an acrobatic art. The dough is pulled and whirled through the air in order to stretch it through centrifugal force. After lunch we will visit the 1300 year old Tang Dynasty built pagoda, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. Tonight's dinner is at a Las Vegas styled theatre restaurant, the Tang Dynasty where we will sample the Tang Dynasty imperial food while enjoying Tang Dynasty music and dances live on stage. BLD.

Day 9 Xian/Chengdu
Fly to Chengdu in the morning. Centrally located in the western Sichuan Plain, Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, is renowned for its fertile land and agricultural wealth, which have earned the city the nickname "Storehouse of Heaven". Besides the local teahouses, snack bars and bazaars (also known as free markets) are still the popular places to experience the local life. Visit Du Fu Thatched House in the afternoon. Located beside the Huanhua stream in west suburbs of Chengdu, it is the former residence of the well-known poet Du Fu of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), who came to live here to escape war. The cottag, in the style of Qing Dynasty architecture, has been well preserved. Tonight we will try the most famous Sichuan Hot Pot. The Sichuan hot pot, like the rest of that humid and populous province's cuisine, tastes very spicy. The broth is flavored with chili peppers and other pungent herbs and spices. The main ingredients include hot pepper, Chinese crystal sugar and wine. Slices of kidney, chicken breast, beef tripe, goose intestines, spring onion, soya bean sprouts, mushrooms eel, duck and sea cucumber form the meat content of the dish. We will try the hot pot that is divided into two sections-one containing a spicy broth, the other a milder, white stock. BLD

Day 10 Chengdu
Visit Dujiangyan Irrigation System in the morning. This system represents ancient China's superb science and technology, and is a milestone in the world history of water harnessing and irrigation technology advancement. Built around 256BC, Dujiangyan project is the world's only and oldest diversion project without a dam. Still in use, it feeds a grid of irrigation canals watering 670,000 hectares of farmland, nurturing the Sichuan into China's famous "land of rice and dish" since ancient times. After lunch, we will see the lovely Panda at the Wolong Panda Reserve. We will try Sichuan Cuisine tonight at a local restaurant. Bursting with flavor, Sichuan food includes some of the spiciest dishes in China. Chilli, garlic and the unusual "strange sauce" enliven many dishes. Mustard sauce complements duck's tongues, and minced bean paste forms a pungent and powdery coating for fish or scallops. Honey sauces are favored for desserts such as water chestnut or cassia-flower cakes. Not all Sichuan cuisine is spicy. Common cooking methods include smoking and simmering, which allow peppers and aromatic seasonings time to infuse food with unforgettable tastes and aromas. Traditional dishes include crispy beef, deep fried with tangy kumquat peel, and duck, the premier Sichuan specialty. The duck is flavored with peppercorns, ginger, cinnamon, orange peel and coriander, marinated in Chinese wine for 24 hours, steamed for two hours, then smoked over a charcoal fire with camphor-wood chips and red tea leaves added. BLD.

Day 11 Chengdu/Guilin
Fly to Guilin in the morning. Guilin is a cultural city with a history of over 2,000 years, is world famous for its serene landscapes and mysterious limestone formations mist covered hills and bamboo groves. The region boasts some of the most beautiful scenery in the world, and is one of the most photographed areas of China. The city of Guilin is located on the Li River, surrounded by the exotic geographic formations that seem to evoke a mystical feeling in all who travel here. It is the breathtaking beauty, peacefulness, and tranquility in such a magical setting that rewards those who visit Guilin. Visit the Reed Flute Cave upon arrival. We will try local rice noodles for tonight's dinner. The rice noodle is white glistening, thin, smooth, gentle but strong. It's flavorless it self so it needs to be mixed with secretly made gravy and side dishes. The formula is highly confidential for businessman. The noodles can be assorted as Soup Noodle, Gravy&Vegetale Noodle, Sirloin Noodle, Sour and Spicy Noodle. BLD.

Day 12 Guilin
Li River Cruise for the day. The cruise from Guilin to Yangshou, following an 83 km long belt of strange landforms, is like traveling along a traditional Chinese Painting. We may be also in luck and seeing the ospreys catching fish on the river. We will try vegetarian food for tonight's dinner. Vegetarian Food has been an important food in the Chinese culture for a long time. It has been a popular choice of food since the Song Dynasty and was developed further in the Ming and Qing dynasties. The main characteristic of this type of food is that they are uniquely cooked and healthy. The main ingredients are green leafy vegetables, fruits, mushrooms and bean-curd products. Vegetable oil is usually a condiment, as it is not only delicious and nutritious; it also helps the digestion process and prevents cancer. Some of the famous dishes include Vegetarian "Chicken", Braised Vegetarian "Meat" with Bean Sauce, Vegetarian "Pork Tripe", Vegetarian "Ham", Hot-and-sour bean-curd Slices, Vegetarian "Shrimps" and Chinese Toon "Fish". All the dishes are not real "meat", but are generally processed Soya products and cooked to look and taste like the real thing. BLD.

Day 13 Guilin/Guangzhou
Fly to Guangzhou in the morning. Upon arrival visit the local market of Qingping where almost everything good for cooking can be found and purchased. We will try typical Cantonese food tonight in Canton. Cantonese is the best-known style of Chinese cooking worldwide. The fresh, natural flavors of Cantonese cuisine are designed to tantalize the taste buds. Ingredients are purchased and prepared the same day and cooked just before serving, using few spicy seasonings. BLD.

Day 14 Guangzhou/Shanghai
Try Dim Sum for breakfast. Dim sum is more than just a category of dishes; it's an eating habit. Dim sums are small dishes taken for snacks or tea time (in Chinese: yam cha); they are served in restaurants on a trolley. Most of the dim sum dishes are steamed but they may also be fried or braised. Common to all dim sums is that they are small portions, in bite size, and normally strongly flavored. Dim sum is of Cantonese origin and very popular not only in Guangzhou but also in Hong Kong. Visit the Ancestral Temple of the Chen Family in the morning. This temple is now the site of the Guangdong Folk Art Museum. The 100-year-old temple was once the ancestral temple and study of 72 Chen families in Guangdong in the Qing Dynasty. It is now the largest and best preserved and decorated ancient architecture existing in Guangdong Province. Covering an area of 15,000 square meters, the temple, having a rectangular structure as its main building, comprises 19 buildings. It is known for its beautiful decoration, which combines wood- carving, brick carving, stone carving, clay sculpture, ash sculpture, brass and iron foundry, grotto, new year painting and other art forms. The special historical, art and scientific values have made it an important attraction in Guangzhou. Fly to Shanghai in the afternoon. Acrobatic show at night. BLD.

Day 15 Shanghai
This morning we go to the Shanghai Old Town, with its history dating back some 400 years. People love this area due to the variety of commodities and shops available. We will also visit the Yuyuan Garden. Located in the north of the Chenghuang Miao (Town God Temple area) of Shanghai, the Yuyuan Garden was built in 1559 by a high official of the Ming dynasty intending to entertain his parents. The exquisite layout, beautiful scenery, and the artistic style of the garden architecture are where the charm of Yu Yuan lies. The garden is acknowledged as "an architectural miracle in the region south of Yangtze River", "an elite of garden in southeast China", and "the mountain and forest in the embrace of the bustling city". After Shanghai snack lunch in the old town of Shanghai we will visit the Jade Buddha Temple. Construction of the temple began in the late 1800s, after a monk brought with him to Shanghai from Burma two amazing pure jade statues of Sakyamuni, the historic Buddha. The more famous of the two statues is nearly 7 feet tall and jewel-encrusted, portraying the Buddha at the moment of his enlightenment. The other shows the Buddha lying on his side, a crooked arm supporting his head, the position of repose he took when he left this world for Nirvana. Tonight we will experience the sensationally rich, sweet flavors of Shanghai cuisine. Shanghai does not have a definitive cuisine of its own, but refines those of the surrounding provinces. Its flavors are heavier and oilier than Cantonese cuisine, featuring preserved vegetables, pickles and salted meats. Lime-and-ginger-flavored "1,000-year-old" eggs are perhaps Shanghai's best-known culinary creation. Beggar's Chicken is a legendary dish wrapped in lotus leaves, covered in clay and oven-fired to steamy, tasty perfection - in olden times; it was baked in the ground. Other popular dishes include hairy crab, "eight treasure" duck, "drunken" chicken, braised eel and yellow fish. BLD.

Day 16 departure
We have already tried most of the famous dishes in China at the original place, from Street food to Imperial food, from hot and spicy Sichuan Hot Pot to delicate and tasteful Xian Dumplings Banquet. Meanwhile we have visited some of the greatest places that China is famous for, such as the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Terra Cotta Warriors, Pandas and the breathtaking scenery of Guilin. We are sure that this Chinese Culinary Tour will leave you a life long memory. Transfer to the airport to board your flight back to USA.

Level: easy to moderate

Prices & Departures for 2004

Available	16D/15N On Request
Per Person in Double
2-5 participants	$3980
Single Room Supplement	$460
6-9 participants	$3480
Single Room Supplement	$400
10 or more participants	$3280
Single Room Supplement	$330

We reserve the right to substitute any of the mentioned hotels in the itinerary with properties of the same or similar class should the circumstances require us to do so.

(Subject to change)