Historical & Cultural Heritage
Dynasty Trail │ Chengdu · Chongqing
Choose your path through China’s extraordinary past with two immersive Dynasty Trail routes. Explore the ancient capitals of Xi’an, Luoyang, and Kaifeng, or experience the imperial landmarks and living traditions of Beijing.
Trip Overview
Region 1 │ Xi'an · Luoyang · Kaifeng
Follow the thread of Chinese civilization along three millennium-old capitals - Xi'an, Luoyang, and Kaifeng - seats of the Qin, Han, Tang, and Song dynasties. Stand before the legendary Terracotta Army. Walk the 14th-century Xi'an City Wall. Watch Shaolin monks perform live. Then, after dark, step into Tang Dynasty street life at Datang Night City, or watch the Song-era river pageant come alive at Qingming Riverside Park. This is history you can touch, taste, and wear.
Destination
Xi'an, Luoyang, Dengfeng, Kaifeng
Duration
12 days, including international travel
Price
$2,500 per person (international flights not included)
Group Size
Departs once 35 travelers have signed up, or with a school/group of 35+
Suitable for All
Open to students, families, individuals, and groups
Itinerary Highlights
Tang Dynasty Style
Change into boutique Tang costumes and experience a day as a Tang person. Visit the Ming city Wall, the Bell and Drum Tower Square, the ancient street of Chang’an Twelve Hours Street, and fully enjoy the Tang style and charm. Enjoy the night scenery of the Great Tang dynasty, Yanbei Square Street, and Bostin Xi’an.
Cultural Exchange Day
Students meet their Xi'an counterparts at a local school: sitting in on class, trading questions, and covering the things textbooks never do.
The Terracotta Army
Stand before the Terracotta Army: thousands of individually carved soldiers. Then Lishan Garden's bronze chariots, a DIY pottery workshop where you shape a figure of your own, and an XR journey down into the Qin Mausoleum.
Tang Dynasty Immersion
Tour the Shaanxi History Museum dressed in Hanfu, then step into "Chang'an 12 Hours," an immersive recreation of Tang Dynasty street life. After dark: Datang Night City and the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, both lit up.
City Wall & Yongxingfang
Walk or cycle the 14th-century Xi'an City Wall, then eat your way through the historic Yongxingfang quarter. A shadow puppetry show and hands-on craft session follow, before the ride to Luoyang.
Longmen Grottoes
Tour the UNESCO-listed Longmen Grottoes - more than 100,000 Buddhist figures carved straight into the limestone cliffs across four centuries. Travel on to Dengfeng.
Shaolin Temple
Visit the Shaolin Temple, birthplace of kung fu, and watch the monks perform. Then travel on to Kaifeng.
Dream of the Eastern Capital
Spend the day at Qingming Riverside Park, a living recreation of Song Dynasty city life, then watch "Dream of the Eastern Capital" after dark: an epic pageant staged on the water itself.
Free Time in Kaifeng
A free morning and afternoon, last markets, last dumplings, last photographs, before heading toward the airport.
Trip Overview
Region 2 │ Beijing
Six centuries of imperial power, all inside a single city. From the palace halls of the Forbidden City to the watchtowers of the Great Wall at Badaling, Beijing is China's political and cultural heart, and this route pairs its grandest monuments with the everyday texture of hutong life. Paint a Peking Opera mask. Shape your own "rabbit god" clay figure. Make dumplings by hand in a courtyard neighborhood that has been there for centuries. Imperial history and the living folk culture that grew up around it, side by side.
Destinations
Beijing
Duration
12 days, including international travel
Price
$2,500 per person (international flights not included)
Group Size
Departs once 35 travelers have signed up, or with a school/group of 35+
Suitable for All
Open to students, families, individuals, and groups
Itinerary Highlights
Cultural Exchange Day
A full day of China–U.S. cultural exchange activities, plus the China Printing Museum and a hands-on printmaking session where you pull a print of your own.
Forbidden City & Jingshan Park
Tour the Palace Museum, "the Forbidden City", 180 acres of imperial palace, then climb Jingshan Park for the view back across every rooftop. Afternoon: a DIY Old Beijing "Rabbit God" clay-craft workshop.
Confucius Temple & Summer Palace
The Confucius Temple and Imperial Academy Museum, where scholars sat the imperial exams for 700 years, then the lakes and painted corridors of the Qing-dynasty Summer Palace.
Temple of Heaven & Peking Opera
Morning at the Temple of Heaven, where emperors once prayed for the harvest. Then paint your own Peking Opera face, and an evening acrobatics performance that will make everyone in the group flinch at least once.
Prince Gong's Mansion & Sanlitun
Prince Gong's Mansion, the best-preserved aristocratic residence in the city, and neighbouring Beihai Park. Then free time in Sanlitun - modern Beijing, shopping included.
Great Wall & Hutong Dumplings
The Badaling Great Wall in the morning: the climb, the view, the photograph everybody came for. Afternoon: a dumpling-making session in the historic Shichahai hutong district, and yes, you eat what you make.
Tianqiao & Qianmen
Tianqiao folk-art performances plus hands-on sugar art and paper-cutting, then Tiananmen Square and the shops and snack stalls of Qianmen historic street.
Free Time in Beijing
Free time to explore.
Why Choose FIA Global Experience?
Learning That Connects You to the Real China
FIA Global Experience brings language learning and cultural experiences together to help people understand China through connection, participation, and firsthand experience.
Learning Through Experience
Learn by doing—through conversations, workshops, cultural activities, local schools, family experiences, and encounters with people who know and live the culture.
Meaningful Local Connections
Meet local families, educators, artists, students, and community members and experience China through genuine human connection.
Thoughtfully Designed Experiences
Every experience is carefully planned to balance learning, exploration, comfort, and fun, with the support you need along the way.
Ready to Start Your China Journey?
Whether you are looking for an educational experience, a meaningful family journey, or a deeper connection to the Chinese language and culture, FIA Global Experience offers immersive opportunities to experience China through its people, communities, traditions, and everyday life. Travel beyond the typical tourist experience. Learn through connection. Build lasting memories. Discover China firsthand.