CTS Tours · New Zealand
Hongyadong · Liziba Monorail · Raffles Sky Bridge · Hot Pot Capital of the World
100+ Years Heritage
Century of Excellence Since 1928
Auckland Local Office
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Direct China Operations
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50,000+ Happy Travelers
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It went viral on social media for a reason. Here's what actually makes it worth your travel days.
A city of 32 million people built vertically into river gorges — neon cliffs, metro through a building, sky bridges at 250m.
Birthplace of Chinese hotpot. Beef tallow, Sichuan pepper, split pots for non-spicy — this is the original.
Luohan Temple's 524 individual Buddhist statues sit minutes from glass skyscrapers. Nowhere else does contrast like this.
Hongyadong lit gold above the river. Nanfeng Cliff looking back at the peninsula. The skyline after dark is extraordinary.
A ready-to-book package, or a custom itinerary built around your interests.
Packaged TourFrom NZD $2,99910 Days · Chongqing + Chengdu · Small group
Chongqing's neon skyline, Liziba monorail, and UNESCO Dazu Rock Carvings — then Chengdu's giant pandas by bullet train. Expert English guide throughout. Departs 1 November 2026.
Want Beijing + Chongqing? Add Shanghai? Travel at New Year? Tell us your idea — we'll design it.
Questions about the packaged Chongqing & Chengdu tour? Send us a message.
Interested in China Discovery — Fire & Fuzz? We'll get back to you within 24 hours.
No. Most hotpot restaurants offer a split pot (鸳鸯锅) — spicy on one side, mild chicken broth on the other. The mild side is genuinely mild. Noodles, dumplings, and plenty of non-spicy dishes are widely available.
Absolutely — that's what our tailor-made option is for. Popular combinations are Beijing + Chongqing (10 days) and Beijing + Chongqing + Shanghai (14 days). Just describe your idea in the enquiry form and we'll build a quote.
Giant pandas are in Chengdu, about 90 minutes by high-speed train. Our Fire & Fuzz tour includes both cities. Or we can add Chengdu to your custom itinerary.
NZ passport holders currently enter China visa-free for up to 30 days (policy valid to 31 Dec 2026). Always verify the latest requirements before booking.
China visa guide for NZ travellers →33 reviews from New Zealand travellers
Claire & Tom Mackenzie
Wellington, New Zealand
The visa-free entry for Kiwis (it came in mid-2024) made booking so much easier than we ever expected — no embassy queues, no paperwork, just flights booked and off we went. Baker's itinerary was brilliantly paced: three days in Beijing (Forbidden City, hutong evening walk, Great…
Tour Customized by: Baker
Tour: China Discovery — A Tale of Two Cities
Michael & Bev Larsen
Dunedin, NZ · Oct 2024
Great Wall at Dawn, Terracotta Warriors After Lunch — Incredible
As Dunediners, we're no strangers to spectacular scenery — but nothing prepared us for standing on the Great Wall with mist rolling through the valleys below. Lisa matched that moment perfectly with our private guide at the Terracotta Warriors pit two days later. The scale is genuinely hard to believe until you're standing in front of it. The Xi'an Muslim Quarter lamb skewers and pomegranate juice were the perfect ending to a brilliant day. Ten days, two ancient capitals, zero complaints.
Fiona Hewitt
Auckland, NZ · Mar 2025
Solo Kiwi Traveller — Visa-Free Entry Made This Finally Happen
I'd been putting off China for years, mostly because of the visa process. Then visa-free access opened for NZ passport holders in mid-2024 and I had no more excuses. Baker sorted the rest: a great small group for the Beijing–Xi'an itinerary, a private morning at the Wall before the tour buses arrived, and a Xi'an family dinner that turned into a two-hour dumpling lesson. I've been talking about this trip non-stop since I got home. The no-visa thing genuinely is a game-changer for Kiwis.
Simon & Kate Brennan
Christchurch, New Zealand
We've done a fair bit of Asia, but Shanghai & Surroundings completely redefined our benchmark for a well-designed tour. The contrast between the futuristic Bund skyline and the classical gardens of Suzhou made us feel like we'd moved through 1,000 years of history in two days. Li…
Tour Customized by: Lisa
Tour: China Discovery — Shanghai & Surroundings
Graham & Shirley Voss
Hamilton, NZ · Aug 2024
The Bund at Night Is Worth the Long-Haul Flight Alone
We knew the Shanghai skyline would be impressive. We didn't expect it to stop us mid-sentence. Baker timed our Bund walk perfectly — the lights came up as we arrived and the entire Pudong skyline reflected in the Huangpu River. Suzhou's Humble Administrator's Garden the next morning was a completely different kind of beauty: quiet, intricate, centuries old. NZ travellers can now enter China visa-free (from mid-2024), which made the whole booking process incredibly smooth. Worth every cent.
Rachel Donohue
Tauranga, NZ · Feb 2025
Suzhou and Hangzhou Are Hidden Gems — Don't Sleep on This Tour
Everyone talks about Beijing and Xi'an, but honestly? Suzhou and Hangzhou stole the show for me. The canal streets of Suzhou after dark, the silk market, the traditional garden tea ceremony — it felt like stepping into a classical Chinese painting. Then Hangzhou's West Lake and the Longjing tea plantations up in the hills. Lisa had everything seamlessly organised. As a solo Tauranga traveller, I felt looked after every single day. Coming back for the Tale of Two Cities next time.
All Reviews
David Chen
Wellington, New Zealand
As a second-generation Chinese Kiwi born and raised in Wellington, I wanted to reconnect with my roots. I'd visited China before with family, but never like this. Lisa understood exactly what I was after — the neighbourh…
Date of Experience: Sep 2023
Tour Customized by: Lisa
You May Be Interested in This Tour: China Discovery Highlights
Jennifer O'Brien
Tauranga, New Zealand
I'm a foodie at heart, and Lisa clearly remembered that from our consultation call. The cooking class in a Beijing hutong courtyard was outstanding — we made dumplings from scratch with a family who'd been doing it the s…
Date of Experience: Jan 2024
Tour Customized by: Lisa
You May Be Interested in This Tour: China Discovery Beijing & Shanghai
Greg & Michelle Hart
Rotorua, New Zealand
We looked at a few operators before choosing CTS, and the value here is genuinely unbeatable. The Great Wall, the Terracotta Warriors, Shanghai's Bund — all the iconic sites, but with guides who made every one come alive…
Date of Experience: Nov 2022
Tour Customized by: Baker
You May Be Interested in This Tour: China Discovery Highlights
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