CHINA SPLENDID HOLIDAY TRAVEL

Day1 -BEIJING
Welcome to Beijing.

Day2 BEIJING
In the political heart of China's capital we visit the Forbidden City, home of the Ming and Qing emperors, and Tiananmen Square, the scene of so much recent hope and grief. Then we drive north into the hills, to walk the Great Wall at Mutianyu. This is one of the best preserved, and steepest, sections of the wall. Dinner tonight is a traditional Beijing Duck feast at the Quanjude Restaurant, where this succulent dish was perfected centuries ago. Our dinner guests are some of the capital's most interesting plantspeople.

Day3 BEIJING
Visit the Summer Palace, the former imperial retreat, with its lake and incomparable gardens. We'll amble through the grounds, soaking up atmosphere, and then, as the sun sets, we will enter an imperial dining hall for a formal banquet. Every delicacy on tonight's menu is from a recipe once enjoyed by Cixi, the last Dowager Empress.

Day4 BEIJING-YANJI
fly to the city of Yanji, in the foothills of the Changbaishan mountain range in northeastern China. We are now in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Region of Jilin Province, where Korean language and culture are prominent.

Day5 YANJI-CHANGBAISHAN
Today we enter the vast Changbaishan Biosphere Reserve -- at 2,000 square km., the largest nature reserve in China -- and climb by bus to the lower North Slope of Changbaishan. This entire mountain range was formed by volcanoes. More than 1,400 species of plants, 280 species of birds and 50 species of other animals live inside the reserve. We begin to enjoy the mountain flora, hiking gently through dense woods to visit waterfalls, hotsprings, pools cradled in dormant craters, and the temple of the medicine god. Tonight we stay at the Yundongyuan Hotel.

Day6 CHANGBAISHAN
This morning we board Jeeps and climb out of the montane forest to the alpine tundra, where many of the hardiest and most interesting wildflowers grow. We visit Tianchi (Heavenly Lake), the most stunning of the many crater lakes on Changbaishan. It is 4,400 meters long, 3,370 meters wide and more than 370 meters deep -- a perfect mirror, a sublime jade, an opportunity for poets to pull out all the stops. There are legends that Tianchi, like Loch Ness and Lake Okanagan, harbors a monster. We are now at altitude 2,189 meters, not far from the absolute summit. North Korea begins on the far shore. Changbaishan is also sacred to Koreans, who call it Paekdu. Tonight we stay in Erdao at the Xianda Hotel. Amenities are simple, but the best in town.

Day7 CHANGBAISHAN-YANJI-SHENYANG
Today we drive back down to Yanji, where we say goodbye to our local guide and catch our flight to Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning Province. Shenyang is a big, bustling city with lots of history,

Day8 SHENYANG
Today we catch our breath, paying leisurely visits to Dongling Park and the Shenyang Arboretum, famed for its programs to conserve the germplasm of woody plants native to Northeast China. In addition to propagation facilities and a herbarium, the Arboretum has about 450 taxa of trees and shrubs growing outdoors, and 500 taxa of flowering shrubs under glass.

Day9 SHENYANG-BEIJING
It's time to fly home. Our driver and local guide will see us off at the airport. Until then, after breakfast we're each on our own for last-minute sight-seeing and shopping.