October-ready from Auckland — Yangtze Delta loop: Suzhou gardens and Shantang Street, Wuxi lakeside sights and Three Kingdoms City, Hanfu and afternoon tea in Xinshi water town, Hangzhou's West Lake and Longjing tea, then Shanghai's Bund. Visa-free entry may apply for many NZ trips (confirm dates); mid-October departure published.
Next Departure
14 Oct 2026
All departure dates
Dates refer to scheduled group departures; year 2026 where applicable — confirm at booking.
Days to departure
166
until your group flies from Auckland
Seats remaining
10
group capped at 16–20 travellers
Visa-free China for NZ travellers — Many leisure trips qualify for up to 30 days without a tourist visa under current published policy. Always confirm your exact dates and purpose before travel. Read our China visa guide for New Zealanders
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October-ready from Auckland — Yangtze Delta loop: Suzhou gardens and Shantang Street, Wuxi lakeside sights and Three Kingdoms City, Hanfu and afternoon tea in Xinshi water town, Hangzhou's West Lake and Longjing tea, then Shanghai's Bund. Visa-free entry may apply for many NZ trips (confirm dates); mid-October departure published.
Official guides and destination hubs to help you prepare—visa timing, seasons, and places on this route.
Group departures from New Zealand (dates as published). Contact us to reserve a seat or request a private departure.
signature · China
signature · China
signature · China
signature · China
discovery · China
discovery · China
discovery · China
discovery · China
This Discovery tour is built around the Yangtze Delta — moving from Shanghai to Suzhou, Wuxi, Xinshi Ancient Town, Hangzhou, then back to Shanghai before your return to Auckland. It is the same published itinerary as our main tour page, with this page spotlighting the 14 October group departure (year as per your booking confirmation).
You fly Auckland — Shanghai; land transport between cities is included as specified — for example about 1.5 hours Shanghai–Suzhou, about 1 hour Suzhou–Wuxi, about 1.5 hours Wuxi–Xinshi, and about 2 hours Hangzhou–Shanghai on the published day-by-day plan.
Optional extras such as the Shanghai Acrobatics Show and the Maglev ride are not included in the tour price (see What's Included below). Highlights are listed once in the Tour highlights section further down.
If your priority is imperial Beijing, the Great Wall, and Xi'an including the Terracotta Warriors linked by high-speed train, see China Discovery — A Tale of Two Cities (featured 15 October departure).
This Shanghai & Surroundings route does not include Beijing or Xi'an — it is a single-region Delta + Shanghai journey at NZD $2,999 per person for 10 days.
Full legal wording and any updates always follow the official tour page.
Master of the Nets Garden, Panmen, and Shantang Street in Suzhou
Silk factory; Three Kingdoms City (warship tour & horse battle show); Purple Sand Museum; Nanchang Ancient Street in Wuxi
Li Garden by the lake, Pearl Exhibition Centre, and a local market day in Wuxi
Hanfu dress-up for photos and afternoon tea in thousand-year-old Xinshi Town
West Lake boat tour, Su Causeway, Leifeng Pagoda, and Hangzhou International Expo Center (G20)
Six Harmonies Pagoda and Longjing tea tasting at Meijiawu
The Bund, City God Temple quarter, World Cultural Heritage Art Exhibition Centre, and Nanjing Road
Optional Shanghai acrobatics show and Maglev ride (extra cost)
Meals: Meals on board
Meals: Lunch
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Meals: Breakfast, Afternoon tea
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Meals: Breakfast
Meals: Breakfast
Route visualization for planning — watch how you'll travel through each destination.
Interested in China Discovery — Shanghai & Surroundings? We'll get back to you within 24 hours.
Claire & Tom Mackenzie
Wellington, NZ
Beijing to Xi'an on the Bullet Train — The Perfect 10 Days
“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 Wall at Mutianyu at sunrise), then a bullet train to Xi'an for the Terracotta Warriors and the Muslim Quarter's lamb skewers. Two of the world's great historical capitals in ten days. Couldn't have asked for more.”
Michael & Bev Larsen
Dunedin, NZ
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
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.”
I love this Yangtze Delta loop: Shanghai's energy, then Suzhou and Hangzhou at a human pace — gardens, canals, real food. If you are drawn to Jiangnan rather than the northern capitals, this is the Discovery line I steer you toward.
Explore more China Discovery tours
October-ready from Auckland — Beijing's Forbidden City, Great Wall, and hutongs, then high-speed rail to Xi'an for the Terracotta Warriors. Many NZ leisure trips can use China's visa-free entry (confirm before you book); published group departure in October as listed on this page.
"Perfect first China experience — the essence of Beijing and Xi'an"
From NZD $3,480
per person
Fifteen days from Beijing's Temple of Heaven, Forbidden City, Great Wall and hutongs, by high-speed train to Xi'an's Terracotta Army, then by air to Hangzhou via Puyuan's fashion ancient town, West Lake and Longjing tea, finishing in Shanghai before your return via Beijing.
From NZD $4,539
per person
Yunnan by air via Beijing — Erhai and Bai culture around Dali (including Shuanglang and “Santorini” viewpoints), Lijiang's Lashi Lake and Shuhe, then overland to Shangri-La through Tiger Leaping Gorge, Songzanlin Monastery, and Napa Lake before returning to Auckland via Beijing.
From NZD $3,899
per personEverything you need to know about traveling to China with CTS
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