Fly to Shanghai from USA/Canada.

Upon arriving at Shanghai International Airport, you will be greeted by your tour guide and then transferred to hotel. The rest of the day is free to relax. 

Enjoy a morning city tour of Shanghai, the country's biggest city and a global financial hub. Explore 【The People’s Square】 and 【Nanjing Road】, the main shopping street of Shanghai and is one of the world's busiest shopping streets. Transfer to Suzhou, referred to as the "Venice of the East".  Visit 【Lanli Garden】 where you could treasure the exotic silk embroidery history. Explore 【The Garden of Master of the Nets】, among the finest gardens in China and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Visit the 【Silk Spinning Factory】 for a silk making demonstration. Transfer to Wuxi, an ancient city richly endowed with nature due to its pleasantly warm and moist climate – it boasts a reputation of being the “Land of Fish and Rice”.  Explore the 【Lingshan Grand Buddha and Mt. Lingshan Scenic Area】 – a Buddhist paradise area of 30 hectares (74 acres). The park is famous for the world’s largest bronze Buddha statue and other attractions including the Brahma Palace, Five Mudra Mandala, Nine Dragons Bathing Sakyamuni, Xiangfu Temple and many other Buddhist sites. Visit the 【Teapot Museum】 and famous 【Nanchang Street】.

 (Recommended Options:)

Boat ride on the Grand Canal with walk around the local market. USD 30

After breakfast, enjoy the scenery as we pass by 【Lake Tai】, the third-largest freshwater lake in China.  Visit the 【Lihu Park】, and the largest Fresh Water Pearl Center. After lunch, transfer to Hangzhou, one of China's seven ancient capitals. With its beautiful lakes, mountains and many attractions, it has become a world-famous tourist destination and one of China’s top attractions. Marco Polo once called Hangzhou the most enchanting city in the world. Take a 【boat tour of West Lake】, the most famous attraction in Hangzhou. Last stop, 【Liuhe Pagoda】, Hangzhou Six Harmonies Pagoda, on the foot of 【Yuelun Hill】, facing the 【Qiantang River】. 

Morning educational stop for a taste of Dragon Well Tea at the 【Meijiawu Tea Village】. Later drive back to Shanghai on China’s central coast, the country's biggest city and a global financial hub. Appreciate scenery by walking along【the Bund】, a mile-long stretch along the 【Huangpu River】. This area is the best place to capture the western influences of the old days.

(Recommended Options:)

Cruise on the 【Huangpu River】, while on the cruise, you can take an outside view of the 【Oriental Pearl Tower】, the modern symbol of Shanghai City.  USD 45

Enjoy a day of leisure or you may choose an optional day-tour of Shanghai highlights.

(Recommended Options:)

【Shanghai maglev train】is the fastest train in the world with the unbelievable top speed of 431km per hour. It is the only super high-speed bullet train with Magnetic technology in operation all over the world. Take in some last minute shopping at the【Knock-off Market】before exploring the famous【Xintiandi】, a stylish pedestrian street made up of Shikumen and modern architecture. Explore 【Tianzifang】, a touristic arts and crafts area that has developed from a renovated traditional residential area in the French Concession area of Shanghai, into an area of boutique shops, bars and restaurants. Explore【Jin Mao Tower】, an 88-story landmark skyscraper, standing at 420.5 metres tall it’s one of the tallest buildings in the world. USD 100

(Recommended Options:)

Shanghai Permanent Show-【ERA-Intersection of Time】USD 45

Fly to Osaka Kansai Airport. Upon arrival, you’ll be greeted by your tour representative and escorted back to your hotel by an airport shuttle.  Please note that while we are doing our best to accommodate early arrivals, hotel check-in time is generally not before 3:00 pm. Baggage storage can be arranged at the hotel. Free at leisure time for the duration of the day.

Visit the famous landmark Osaka Castle Garden. Surrounded by greenery, the garden commands a beautiful view of the castle tower and the stone wall of a moat. Enjoy free time in Shinsaibashi, the premier shopping area in Osaka. Around 600 meters long, it’s filled with trendy boutiques, retail chains, and luxury department stores like Daimaru, UniQlo, H&M, Bulgari, and Zara. Crossing the street and out of the covered arcade, you’ll walk into this open area and see that large Glico man sign. That’s when you know you’re in Dotnobori. Originally installed in 1935, the giant Glico Man is Dotonbori’s most iconic landmark. It’s a symbol for the Glico candy company, makers of caramel candy, and Pocky.

In the afternoon, you will proceed to Nara, a city shrouded in legend and thronged with significant sites. Make a special visit to Nara Deer Park, home to the freely roaming deer. Considered in Shinto to be messengers of the gods, Nara's nearly 1200 deer have become a symbol of the city and have even been designated as a natural treasure. Nara's deer are surprisingly tame, although they can be aggressive if they think you will feed them. Deer crackers are for sale around the park, and some deer have learned to bow to visitors to ask to be fed.

In the afternoon drive to Kyoto and visit Yasaka Shrine and Gion. Yasaka is a Shinto Shrine (jinja) located in the heart of the famous district of Gion in Kyoto. In fact, it so much is that you can also refer to it as the "Gion Shrine", its former name. Built during the seventh century, it was modified in the seventeenth to reach its present form. Yasaka-Jinja is dedicated to Susano, the god of the oceans, one of the Japanese mythology protagonists.

The shrine is located east of the district, at the end of Shijo-Dori shopping avenue. Yasaka-Jinja is particularly famous for hosting the path of the famous Gion Matsuri every summer in July, as well as celebrations of new year's eve. The Japanese also go through Yasaka during April to get to Maruyama Park, in order to attend Ohanami (sakura cherry blossoms).

Today you will be free at your own leisure to explore this historical city. Alternatively, you can join an optional in-depth tour of Kyoto. 

(Recommended Options:) Kyoto City In-Depth Tours: USD 79 Per Person:

Highlights:

Nijo Castle: (http://nijo-jocastle.city.kyoto.lg.jp/)

Kiyomizu Shrine: (http://www.kiyomizudera.or.jp/en/)

Kinkakuji Temple: (http://www.shokoku-ji.jp/k_access.html)

Fushimi Inari: (http://inari.jp/en/)

The optional tour will first make a stop at Nijo-jo Castle is one of Kyoto’s most popular and impressive sights. It shows the power that the Shoguns wielded over the emperors throughout the Edo Period. Nijo Castle is Kyoto's largest and best-preserved castle. It consists of two fortifications (kuruwa) in Japanese. The Ninomaru Palace, the main fortification of the castle, and the ruins of the Honmaru Palace, the second fortification, as well as support buildings and gardens. The castle is surrounded by stone walls and moats. It is one of the seventeen Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto which have been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion), a Zen temple in northern Kyoto whose top two floors are completely covered in gold leaf. Formally known as Rokuonji, the temple was the retirement villa of the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, and according to his will, it became a Zen temple of the Rinzai sect after his death in 1408. Kinkakuji was the inspiration for the similarly named Ginkakuji (Silver Pavilion), built by Yoshimitsu's grandson, Ashikaga Yoshimasa, on the other side of the city a few decades later. Kinkakuji is an impressive structure built overlooking a large pond and is the only building left of Yoshimitsu's former retirement complex. It has burned down numerous times throughout its history including twice during the Onin War, a civil war that destroyed much of Kyoto; and once again more recently in 1950 when it was set on fire by a fanatic monk. The present structure was rebuilt in 1955.

Then visit the Kiyomizu Shrine, one of the most celebrated temples of Japan. It was founded in 780 on the site of the Otowa Waterfall in the wooded hills east of Kyoto and derives its name from the fall's pure waters. The temple was originally associated with the Hosso sect, one of the oldest schools within Japanese Buddhism, but formed its own Kita Hosso sect in 1965. In 1994, the temple was added to the list of UNESCO world heritage sites.

Fushimi Inari Shrine, famous for its thousands of vermilion torii gates, which straddle a network of trails behind its main buildings. The trails lead into the wooded forest of the sacred Mount Inari, which stands at 233 meters and belongs to the shrine grounds. Fushimi Inari is the most important of several thousands of shrines dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice. Foxes are thought to be Inari's messengers, resulting in many fox statues across the shrine grounds. Fushimi Inari Shrine has ancient origins, predating the capital's move to Kyoto in 794.

This morning, first visit Yokohama Harborland before traveling to Tokyo, the capital city of Japan, where over 11 million people live, making the population one of the largest in the world. Tokyo is not only the political and economical centre of Japan but also a centre of the world economy and culture. Tradition and modernity co-exist in today’s Tokyo. 

Enjoy an orientation tour of Tokyo. First visit Meiji Shrine, a key Shinto religious site that was dedicated to the Imperial Family in 1926. Walk around the serene gardens that surround the shrine as you listen to more details about its importance from your guide. Then visit Nakamise Shopping Street, a brightly-colored thoroughfare of food vendors and souvenir stores that leads to Asakusa Kannon Temple (Senso-Ji), one of Japan’s most important Buddhist sites. Stay with your guide as you check out the elaborate gardens, architecture, and shrines that surround the site.

Make a stop at DUTY-FREE Shop and Ameyoko, a busy street market. On the way back to the hotel drive-by Shibuya and enjoy the colorful night view of Tokyo Tower, the landmark of Tokyo.