Geography Trip to Beijing and Shanghai

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On a geography school trip to Beijing and Shanghai your students will explore the ancient and modern sides of the world’s most populous country!

By visiting both Beijing and Shanghai, your students will be able to compare two very different cities. They’ll experience the old China, which developed from one of the world’s earliest civilisations to a powerful empire with its influence stretching as far as Europe and Africa along the Silk Road. And they’ll also experience modern China, which is home to one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.

There will be plenty of opportunities to see how the Chinese have exploited natural features for human use. And you’ll see how Old China’s reliance on agriculture led to the power being centred inland, around the fertile northern plains. And how economic power has since shifted to ports such as Shanghai, as exports have become increasingly more important.

Geography Trip to Beijing and Shanghai

From

£1269PP

8 days, 6 nights

Need something bespoke?

Suggested Itinerary

Day 1

Evening

Flight to Beijing
Day 2

Morning

Arrive in Beijing Meet guide and transfer to accommodation

Afternoon

Visit the Summer Palace with optional boat ride on the lake

Evening

Free evening
Day 3

Morning

Visit the Temple of Heaven and Tiananmen Square

Afternoon

Visit the Forbidden City

Evening

Free evening
Day 4

Morning

Full-day tour starting with a photo stop at the Beijing Olympic Stadium

Afternoon

Continue on to the Great Wall of China and the Ming Tombs

Evening

Free evening
Day 5

Morning

Visit Beijing Zoo to see the Panda House

Afternoon

Visit the Lama Temple and take a ride through the Hutongs of Beijing

Evening

Overnight train to Shanghai
Day 6

Morning

Arrive Shanghai Meet guide and transfer to visits

Afternoon

Visit the Yuyan Garden and Jade Buddha Temple

Evening

Visit the Bund
Day 7

Morning

Visit the Oriental Pearl TV Tower and the Shanghai Museum

Afternoon

Visit the People Square and Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall

Evening

Free evening with optional river cruise on your last night in China
Day 8

Morning

Return flight to the UK

Afternoon

Arrive back in the UK
  • 6 nights' half-board accommodation (breakfast and lunch daily)
  • Airport taxes and passenger duty at current rates
  • Airport transfers in resort
  • ATOL protected return flights from the UK
  • Comprehensive travel and medical insurance
  • Detailed information pack
  • English-speaking guide
  • Free staff place ratio 1:10
  • Itinerary planning service
  • Overnight train between Beijing and Shanghai
  • Vamoos travel app - giving you access to all your trip documents on your phone or tablet
  • VAT at current rates to tour operators
  • Visits and entrance fees as per the sample itinerary

Curriculum

A Level
  • Urban growth and change
  • Environmental and social challenges
  • Sustainable urban development
  • World trade and access to markets (TNCs)
GCSE
  • Urban growth and change
  • Management of urban resources
  • Gaps in global development
  • Emergence of megacities
  • Sustainable tourism

Accommodation

Beijing Feitian Hotel

The Feitian Hotel is located close to the city's central business district, approximately 6km from the Forbidden City. The Jingsong subway station is close to the hotel, offering easy access to the rest of the city. There are two restaurants - one specialising in Chinese cuisine and the other in Western cuisine. There is also a teahouse, coffeehouse and bar.

Dongfang Hotel

The Dongfang Hotel offers 288 rooms in a refurbished 1918 historic building of four connected wings. There is an indoor swimming pool and tennis court, fitness room and sauna. Restaurants offer a range of International and Asian cuisine.Guestrooms are clean and spacious, with plenty of natural light. Amenities include private balconies, cable/satellite TVs, minibars with refrigerators, air conditioning, desks with direct-dial phones, and complimentary high-speed Internet. All rooms also have coffee/tea makers, bottled water, and in-room safes. Bathrooms provide slippers, hair dryers, and shower/tub combinations.

Holiday Inn Putuo Shanghai

The Holiday Inn Putuo offers comfortable guestrooms and suites. The rooms are reasonably spacious and certain rooms have a wonderful view of the city skyline from this hotel. Facilities available include colour television with cable connection, International Direct Dialing telephone, work desk with lamp, mini bars and coffee making facilities amongst others.

Tour highlights

Visit Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square is named after the Gate of Heavenly Peace (Tiananmen in Chinese) which links the square to the Forbidden City, and which is famous for displaying a portrait of Chairman Mao. Despite its name, the square has seen turbulent times, making it a key site in Chinese history, particularly during the 20th century. As well as the Tiananmen itself, the square contains a number of other important sights, including the Monument to the People’s Heroes, the Great Hall of the People, the National Museum of China and the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong.
Did you know?

Every day at sunrise a flag-raising ceremony takes place. Soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army march through the Gate of Heavenly Peace across Dong Chang An Jie at approximately 108 paces per minute, with each pace measuring around 75cm!

Explore the Forbidden City

This spectacular palace complex lies at the heart of Beijing and consists of 980 surviving buildings. The largest building in the complex is the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Once the tallest building in the city, it was used for state occasions, such as the emperor’s birthday. The focal point of the building is the impressive Dragon Throne, which sits on a 2m high white jade dais and is backed by carved gilt screens. The world’s largest collection of well-preserved medieval wooden structures, the Forbidden City is a magnificent example of traditional Chinese architecture and is rich in symbolism, with plenty of dragons, phoenixes and lions on roofs of the most important buildings for prosperity and good fortune.
Did you know?

The Forbidden City is the largest palace complex in the world and is three times the size of the Louvre!

Visit the Summer Palace

One of the most beautiful royal parks in the world, Beijing’s Summer Palace is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is home to 3,000 man-made structures. The tallest building in the complex, the Tower of Buddhist Incense stands atop Longevity Hill, looking out over Kunming Lake. Other well-known attractions include the impressive Marble Boat, a lakeside pavilion in the shape of a European-style paddle steamer, and the colourful Long Corridor, constructed to provide the Emperor’s mother with a covered walkway to ensure she could enjoy a walk in the gardens while protected by the elements.
Did you know?

The Four Great Regions, a series of temples that are architecturally quite different to the rest of the park, were modelled on the Samye Monastery in Tibet, the first gompa (Buddhist monastery) built in the country.

Educational Activities

Huangpu River Cruise

The Huangpu River (Huangpu Jiang) is the city's shipping artery both to the East China Sea and to the mouth

Shanghai Museum

The Shanghai Museum is located in People’s Square and, although a modern building, encompasses some of the symbolism prevalent in

The Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China stretches 5,500 miles across northern China, from Shanhaiguan in the eastern province of Hebei, to

Yuyuan Garden

Yuyuan Garden, a place of peace and comfort in the heart of bustling Shanghai, dates back to the fabled Ming

Cultural Activities

Forbidden City

The Forbidden City stands in the centre of Beijing as a monument to the city’s imperial history and rich cultural

Jade Buddha Temple

Although not a particularly old temple (it was re-built in 1928 after the first temple was destroyed in the revolution

Oriental Pearl TV Tower

The Oriental Pearl Tower is Shanghai’s most recognisable landmark and sits opposite the Bund in Pudong Park. A TV and

Summer Palace

Beijing’s Summer Palace is one of the loveliest royal parks you are ever likely to set your eyes on. Created

Temple of Heaven

The Temple of Heaven is a stunning complex of religious buildings located to the south of the Forbidden City and

The Bund

The Shanghai Bund has dozens of historical buildingslining the Huangpu River, that once housed numerous banks and trading houses from

Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square is instantly recognisable to all as a symbol of the People’s Republic of China. The gate, after which

Supporting you every step of the way

Creating your perfect trip

Your quote will be put together by an experienced Tour Adviser who’ll be an expert in the subject area and will know the destination really well too. They’ll work with you to create a trip to suit your group’s needs and meet your learning objectives.

Launching your trip to parents and students

The next step is to get your trip approved and then get students signed up to it. Our ‘Trip Launch Pack’ will help you with this step. This is full of resources (all free to download) designed to make your life easier at this crucial point in the trip planning process.

After you’ve booked

Once you’ve booked, your dedicated Itinerary Coordinator will start work on the finer details. They’ll make sure your itinerary makes the most of your time and they’ll take on most of the admin tasks for your trip (freeing you up to do what you do best – teach).

Support while you’re away

From lost property to properly lost, we’ll always be on the end of the phone while you’re out on the trip. You’ll get a final info pack before you go, as well as access to all your trip documents via the Vamoos app.

After your trip
We’ll ask you for feedback, so we can improve our service. Let’s start planning your next trip too, so parents have plenty of time to pay (and so it’s less stressful for you). And don’t forget to head to our resources hub to continue the learning back in the classroom.

Let's chat!

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Your trip will be fully financially protected

Your group's safety will be prioritised

Your trip will be a quality educational experience

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