HOW TO BOOK
Contact Gerald Hatherly at Abercrombie & Kent Hong Kong (852-2865-7818; cell, 852-9156-2260; hatherly@abercrombiekent.com.hk). The cost of the tour described is $5,156 per person, based on double occupancy. This includes hotel stays (specifically, 11 nights in the more affordable options cited and two at the Shangri-La Hangzhou, in the recommended room categories); airfare within China; guides, drivers, and ground transportation and meals except on Days 10 and 12 (daily breakfast is included throughout); entrance fees; a tour with the Shanghai historian; and taxes and hotel service charges. (The cost may fluctuate with the exchange rate.) This itinerary is only the beginning of what Gerald can arrange, but be aware that embellishments will cost more. Since China is 12 hours ahead of eastern standard time, I recommend e-mailing him first to brief him about your needs and to arrange a convenient time for a phone appointment. A&K Hong Kong is part of the international network of Abercrombie & Kent offices; if you must work with someone in the United States, you can call A&K in Oakbrook, Illinois (800-554-7016; abercrombiekent.com), but make sure the Oak Brook travel planner works closely with Gerald.

XI'AN BONUS TRIP
So you want to add the ancient imperial capital of Xi'an to our 12-day China Iconic Itinerary? The place to squeeze it in is between Beijing and Lijiang, and there are two ways to do it. If you're time-starved and all you really want to see is the Terra-cotta Warriors—the subterranean life-size army that China's first emperor built in the third century B.C. in an attempt to carry his power with him into the afterlife—then fly into Xi'an in the morning and fly out later the same day. More specifically, take the 7:30 a.m. flight from Beijing that lands at 9:25 a.m., meet your car and English-speaking guide at the airport, drive to the Terra-cotta Army site (travel time from the airport is one hour each way), tour the excavation pits (this takes 90 minutes if—and this is a big if—your tour operator has arranged for special parking privileges right next to the pits; if you must park in the lot, add a 45-minute round-trip walk), return to the airport, and fly to Lijiang on the 4:40 p.m. flight that lands at 8:15 p.m. Adding this day in Xi'an to your Iconic Itinerary means adding an extra night in Lijiang.

If you want to come away with a true appreciation for Xi'an, however, you must spend a night there-which means adding two nights to your Iconic Itinerary: one in Xi'an, one in Lijiang. Here's how to do it: Catch the 7:30 a.m. flight from Beijing and you will arrive at the Terra-cotta Army Excavation Site close to 11:00. After visiting pits 1, 2, and 3 and touring the Bronze Chariot Museum, grab lunch at the restaurant (nothing special, but it's your only convenient option) and check out the gift shops at the visitors' center. See an old man in a Mao uniform signing books? That's Yang Zhi Fa, one of the peasants who discovered the Terra-cotta Army in 1974 when he was digging a well.