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We departed O'Hare on October 9, 13 1/2 hours non-stop for Beijing, returning non-stop from Shanghai on October 24.

We managed five major cities, along with four days cruising the Yangtze River, along with scenic waterborne side trips on the Li River, and Shennong stream.

This gets you all the major sites, along with enough museums full of broken pottery, jade and ethnic doo-dads you could ever want to see!

Big upside to the trip? We apparently were the only ones to sign up for this particular tour, starting at Beijing on this date. Meaning it was a private tour for two -- no one else, no mini-buses, etc. We would arrive in each city to be met by our own guide, driver and car!

Impressions: choking pollution. Almost every day is veiled in a gray, hazy overcast, everywhere. Traffic that makes any traffic anywhere else in the world look orderly and uncomplicated. After all, one billion Chinese all want a little car of their own! Cities filled with millions of people, yet the streets are surprisingly tidy and litter-free.

Some more narrative and a few pictures [ HERE ]