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This was my first (and currently still only) completely organized tour, arranged by China Focus Travel. It had both its advantages (able to see a LOT more in a short amount of time; having local guides & translators) as well as its disadvantages (limited time at any give place). Overall I enjoyed it immensely, mostly from the people I met. The original tour (which had included Tibet) had to be changed due to travel restrictions to Tibet by the Chinese government in March 2008. The substitutions included Guilin and Yangshuo.
In Beijing we visited the Summer Palace, Tian'anmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall and the Temple of Heaven. We flew to Wuhan and began a 5-day cruise up the Yangtze River. We saw the rock carvings in Dazu and the pandas in Chengdu. Next came Xi'an with the Terracotta Warriors. We flew down to Guilin and toured an impressive cave and watched some cormorant night fishing. We took a boat down the Li River to Yangshuo and enjoyed a tour of the countryside and rice fields. Our last couple of days were in Shanghai.
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