Tours
Panda Route for Families
Twelve days built to the rhythm of the children, not to the rhythm of the map.
At a glance
- Days
- 12
- Nights
- 11
- Who it suits
- Families with children aged 6 to 14
- Price per person
- US$ 3.400 a 4.600
Day by day
Twelve days between Beijing, Xi’an, Chengdu and Yangshuo, on timings designed for people who tire before the guide does and get hungry at fixed hours. This is not a childish version of the classic circuit: it is a different design, with fewer monuments a day and more things to do with your hands.
The rule here is one activity a day and a break after each. A morning in the Forbidden City is too long for a seven-year-old; a morning at the Panda Base, with pandas eating bamboo four metres away, is too short. That is why the order of the visits does not follow geography: it follows attention span. And that is why this is a private tour, family only, which lets you bring lunch forward or cut an afternoon short without answering to anyone else.
Three things tend to surprise parents. The first is that a family trip to China is simpler than expected: bilingual signage, pushchairs everywhere, and meals that solve any refusal — plain rice, simple noodles, eggs and fruit exist in every city. The second is the food: in Sichuan we always serve a non-spicy alternative. The third is the Chinese interest in foreign children, which in Xi’an and Yangshuo translates into requests for photographs and short conversations in the street.
The distances are covered by high-speed train, where there is a table to play on and space to stretch legs, and by one domestic flight.
How we organise it
As a travel agency for China, what we handle on this route is above all documentation and logistics: every child travels on their own passport and their own visa, babies included, and the time that takes is frequently underestimated. We provide a car seat or a heavy-duty pushchair on request, and there are children’s life jackets on the Li River rafts.
The guide is the same person from the first day to the last and is used to cutting a visit short when patience runs out. Every day has an indoor alternative for days of rain or tiredness, and the order of meals does not depend on the restaurant: you eat lunch when there is hunger, at the hours the child is used to.
What the price includes
- English-speaking guide used to children, with real breaks and real meal times
- Private driver and vehicle throughout, with car seats on request
- Eleven nights in four-star hotels, in family or connecting rooms
- High-speed trains Beijing–Xi’an and Xi’an–Chengdu in first class and the Chengdu–Guilin flight
- Entrance to every monument and activity listed, including the cooking class and the kite workshop
- Eight meals besides breakfast, adapted for children
- Local data SIM card and permanent phone support in English
- Heavy-duty pushchair and car seat on request, at no extra cost
- Allergies and dietary restrictions card translated into Chinese and handed to each restaurant
What the price does not include
- International flights to and from China
- Chinese visas for every family member and consular fees
- Meals not listed, drinks and snacks outside meal times
- Tips for guide and driver (at your discretion; we suggest US$ 8 to US$ 12 per person per day)
- Travel insurance, personal expenses and optional activities not booked
01Day 1
Arrival in Beijing
Afternoon and evening. Pick-up at the airport by your English-speaking guide and private transfer. No programmed day, light dinner at the hotel and an early bedtime, to beat the jet lag on the first day.
Meals: none on this day; tomorrow’s breakfast is already included.
02Day 2
Hutongs and the city seen from the ground
Morning. Rickshaw ride through the hutongs, with a stop to make paper kites at a workshop that has been making them for three generations. Then the Bell Tower square. Afternoon. Forbidden City with entry at 2pm, once the morning groups have left — with children the afternoon works better than dawn. Treasure hunt through the side courtyards. Evening. Peking duck dinner, carved at the table. It is usually the dinner children talk about most on the way home.
Meals: breakfast and dinner.
03Day 3
The Great Wall
Morning. Departure at 6:30 for Mutianyu. Cable car up and toboggan down, which is the part that makes the day worth it. Afternoon. Lunch at a farmhouse by the wall and back to Beijing mid-afternoon. Evening. Dinner at leisure. We suggest a street with skewers and ice cream, near the hotel.
Meals: breakfast and lunch.
04Day 4
Beijing to Xi’an
Morning. Temple of Heaven at 8am, to watch the adults practising tai chi and playing cards under the cypresses, and to let the children run in the park. Afternoon. Train to Xi’an, 4h30 to 6h in first class, with reserved seats and a table. Evening. Arrival and dinner of yangrou paomo, the bread everyone tears by hand into the bowl before it goes back to the kitchen.
Meals: breakfast and dinner.
05Day 5
Eight thousand clay soldiers
Morning. Terracotta at 8:30, at opening. Short visit concentrated on Pit 1, where the main force stands, with the guide explaining the hairstyles and the armour. Afternoon. Lunch, rest at the hotel, then bicycles along the top of the Xi’an city wall, with a tandem for anyone who wants one. Evening. Muslim quarter at dusk: skewers, juices and the stalls of liangpi, cold noodles with vinegar, which children usually like because it is fresh.
Meals: breakfast and lunch.
06Day 6
Xi’an to Chengdu, panda country
Morning. Giant Wild Goose Pagoda and a shadow puppet session for children, beside the temple. Afternoon. Xi’an–Chengdu train, 3h to 4h. Arrival and check-in beside the Taikoo Li complex. Evening. First visit to a teahouse, to see the face-changing of Sichuan opera: a one-hour session, with no expectation of staying longer.
Sichuan opera is popular precisely because it is not erudite: face changes in a second, fire spitting, loud music and clowning between numbers. For children it is the show of the trip, and backstage before the session you see the painted masks lined up and the actors dressing.
Sichuan opera masks hanging backstage, before a session at a Chengdu teahouse. These are the ones that allow the change of expression that happens in a second. Meals: breakfast and dinner.
07Day 7
The Panda Base
Morning. Departure at 7am and at the gates of the base by 7:30, at opening. First the adult pandas eating bamboo, then the nursery of cubs, which come out of the maternity enclosures at 9:30.
Going early is not an organisational detail: pandas eat a lot and sleep a lot, and anyone arriving mid-morning finds them lying on their backs. At 7:30 the adults have fresh bamboo in front of them, and that is when everything happens.
At the Chengdu base, an adult panda sits in the bamboo grove and peels the stalk with its paws. It is the picture you get between 7:30 and 9am. Afternoon. Lunch, rest, and a Sichuan cooking class: each child cooks their own dish in the wok and then eats it. Evening. Dinner at leisure. We recommend the Taikoo Li complex, with plenty of choice in open space.
Meals: breakfast and lunch.
08Day 8
The Giant Buddha of Leshan
Morning. Fast train to Leshan and a boat on the river to see the 71-metre Buddha whole, from the water. It avoids the queues on the staircases and is far less tiring. Afternoon. Back to Chengdu and a visit to the Wide and Narrow Alleys, with ice cream and courtyard bookshops. Evening. Farewell dinner in Sichuan: two-broth hotpot, one mild for the children and one for the brave adults.
Meals: breakfast and dinner.
09Day 9
Flight to Guilin and Yangshuo
Morning. Chengdu–Guilin flight, about two hours. Transfer of 1h15 to Yangshuo, already among the karst peaks. Afternoon. Check-in and a short bicycle ride through the rice fields, with a stop at the eight-hundred-year-old stone bridges. Evening. Dinner on the bank of the Li River and early to bed: tomorrow’s sunrise is at 5:30.
Meals: breakfast and dinner.
10Day 10
Raft and climbing
Morning. Bamboo raft on the Li River, on the stretch from the 20-yuan note, four people per boat and at the group’s pace.
The rafts go down without a motor, which lets you hear the birds and breathe without the smell of diesel; there are life jackets for children and the boatman knows the stretch by heart. For a family, this is usually the favourite of the twelve days.
A bamboo raft on the Li River, on the Yangshuo stretch. You sit low in the water and pass close to the fields, with the karst peaks always ahead. Afternoon. Introductory climbing on the karst rock of Yangshuo, one of the best natural schools in the world, with instructor and own equipment. Alternative: a walk along the bank. Evening. Dinner of beer fish and rest.
Meals: breakfast and lunch.
11Day 11
Rice fields and farm cooking
Morning. Bicycle on flat roads to the villages of the Yulong River, with a stop at the Fuli market. Afternoon. Meal at a family farm, with vegetables picked that moment, and a free afternoon for the pool or to repeat whatever the family liked most. Evening. Walk along the jetty and a light dinner. For anyone with energy left, West Street after 9pm.
Meals: breakfast and lunch.
12Day 12
Return
Morning. Transfer to Guilin airport, 1h30, or an overland extension to Guangzhou for international flights later in the day.
Meals: breakfast.
Three things you will not repeat
01
Chengdu Panda Base at 7:30, when the animals are eating
02
Bamboo raft on the Li River and cycling through the rice fields of Yangshuo
03
Teahouse with puppets and Sichuan opera, at a child's pace
Price
US$ 3.400 a 4.600
Per person · 12 days · 11 nights
Land portion in China, double room, excluding international flights. From 2 travellers.
What's included
- Land transport in China: high-speed rail and domestic flights as listed
- Portuguese-speaking guide from the first day to the last
- 4-star hotels, double room
- Entry tickets to the monuments listed in the itinerary
- Daily breakfast
What's not included
- International flights to and from China
- Visa and consular fees
- Meals not listed in the itinerary
- Tips and personal expenses
Frequently asked questions
Do the children need their own documents?
Yes. Each child travels on an individual passport, valid for more than six months, and needs their own Chinese visa regardless of age — babies included. We handle the paperwork for the whole family in one block and warn you in advance of what needs to be sent.
How physically demanding is it?
Moderate, and always adjustable. Every day has one outdoor activity and one indoor alternative. At the Wall there is a cable car and a toboggan; in Yangshuo the cycling is on flat roads. We provide a car seat or a heavy-duty pushchair on request and there are children's life jackets on the Li River rafts.
Do we travel privately or join other people?
It is always a private tour, with your family only, from two people. It lets you stop when the child wants to stop, bring lunch forward and change the order of visits without depending on a group's timings.
Is there a single room supplement?
For adults travelling alone, yes, between US$ 520 and US$ 780 depending on season. In families the most common arrangement is triple or connecting rooms, reserved subject to availability and at no cost when two children share the same room.
Can the dates be changed or postponed?
Yes. No cost up to 30 days before departure; between 30 and 15 days we retain hotel expenses and tickets already issued; under 15 days each supplier's own conditions apply. Postponing to the following year's school holidays is a common option and carries no penalty.
Will the food be a problem?
No. In Sichuan we always serve a non-spicy alternative; everywhere there is plain rice, simple noodles, eggs and fruit. We carry a written note in Chinese of allergies and restrictions, and the guide confirms the menu before ordering.
Cities on this tour
This tour is a starting point
It is not a fixed package.
We can add days, swap cities or drop stages. Tell us what you want and what cannot be left out.
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