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.
Next Departure
15 Oct 2026
All departure dates
Dates refer to scheduled group departures; year 2026 where applicable — confirm at booking.
Days to departure
167
until your group flies from Auckland
Seats remaining
8
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 — 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.
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
On this tour, “A Tale of Two Cities” means Beijing and Xi'an — not Shanghai. You start with Auckland — Beijing, explore Beijing including the Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Great Wall, Olympic park photo stops, and a hutong pedi-cab tour with a family visit; then you board a high-speed train to Xi'an (published example: G89, afternoon departure, second-class or similar).
In Xi'an you visit the Terracotta Warriors (including Circle Vision and Bronze Chariot where specified), the ancient City Wall, Big Wild Goose Pagoda, the Small Wild Goose Pagoda Museum, and Huimin Street — matching the published day-by-day itinerary — before flying back via Beijing to Auckland.
Want Jiangnan gardens, West Lake, and Shanghai instead of Beijing and Xi'an? See China Discovery — Shanghai & Surroundings — 10 days from NZD $2,999 per person on the published page.
This Beijing & Xi'an route is priced From NZD $3,480 for 10 days on the published page.
Authoritative itinerary and gallery: main tour page.
Visit the 500-year-old Temple of Heaven set in imperial gardens
Tour Tiananmen Square — the world's largest public square
Explore the Forbidden City, home to emperors for over 500 years
Walk the Great Wall, one of the ten wonders of the world
Photo stop at the iconic Bird's Nest and Water Cube Olympic Park
Experience old Beijing on a pedi-cab Hutong tour with a family visit
Discover the Terracotta Warriors — the greatest archaeological find of the century
Visit Xi'an's ancient City Wall and the Tang Dynasty Big Wild Goose Pagoda
Meals: Meal on board
Meals: Lunch
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Meals: Breakfast
Meals: Breakfast
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Meals: Breakfast
Route visualization for planning — watch how you'll travel through each destination.
Interested in China Discovery — A Tale of Two Cities? 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.”
This is my go-to first-timer pairing: the Wall and the Forbidden City in Beijing, then the high-speed train west to Xi'an for the Terracotta Army. I keep the rhythm tight so you feel the story from empire to tomb — it's the tale I tell friends from New Zealand.
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