Your Travel Experience with ARRIVAL
Day 1
Chongqing Has Entered the Chat
Make your own way to the hotel in central Chongqing, check in and give yourself a minute to process the fact that the city appears to have been built in several dimensions. At 6:00pm, meet Kind of a Big Deal and the rest of the group in the lobby. The boys have done this city once already; now they're back with you. First official activity: Chongqing hotpot. Hot, spicy, social and an excellent way to meet everyone before spending the next week together. Welcome dinner is included.
Day 1 - 4
Howard Johnson Life Jiefangbei Chongqing
Your Chongqing base sits in Yuzhong District, putting you in the middle of the city's central action and well placed for food, nightlife and exploring on the free days. After days spent dealing with Chongqing's vertical geography, a normal hotel bed becomes surprisingly exciting.
Day 1
Chongqing Hotpot Welcome Dinner
The trip starts around a bubbling hotpot table, which is a far better introduction than a hotel conference room. Chongqing hotpot is spicy, messy, deeply local and designed to be shared. Included.
Day 2
Traditional Chongqing to Full Cyberpunk
Meet at 10:30am and drive around 40 minutes to Baguo Hall. From 11:20–11:50, get fitted into a traditional costume with makeup and hairstyling. Then from 12:00–2:20pm, settle in for the welcome ceremony, included lunch and cultural show. From there, head to Ciqikou Ancient Town, including a visit to a traditional old home along the Jialing River. Continue around 40 minutes to Chaotianmen Pier for free time, shopping and food streets. Tonight Chongqing switches personalities. If weather and local operations allow, the Dynamic Chongqing Drone Light Show runs from 8:30–8:50pm. At 9:00pm, board the night river cruise until around 9:45pm, then transfer back to the hotel. Traditional dress at lunch. Flying robots above a cyberpunk skyline by night. Pretty standard Saturday.
Baguo Hall Cultural Experience
A proper immersive session rather than a quick walk-through. Costume, makeup and hairstyling run from 11:20–11:50, followed by a welcome ceremony, lunch and show from 12:00–2:20pm. Included.
Ciqikou Ancient Town
One of Chongqing's historic neighbourhoods, with old lanes, local snacks, traditional architecture and a visit to an old home beside the Jialing River. A useful reminder that this city existed long before anyone called it cyberpunk.
Dynamic Chongqing Drone Light Show
Hundreds of drones above one of China's most dramatic skylines. Scheduled for Saturday from 8:30–8:50pm and included when operating. Weather dependent, because even Chongqing has not worked out how to control that yet.
Chongqing Night River Cruise
Board at 9:00pm for around 45 minutes on the river after dark. The best angle on Chongqing is arguably from the water, where the scale of the lit-up towers, bridges and layered city finally makes a tiny bit of sense.
Day 3
Free Day in Chongqing
No wake-up call beyond breakfast. The whole day is yours. Go chasing viral Chongqing viewpoints, eat your body weight in noodles, find the monorail that travels through a building, get lost in a shopping centre and emerge somehow 17 floors above where you entered. The itinerary says free day, but the boys have already spent time here and will have opinions. Take their recommendations, ignore them completely, or end up on whatever mission develops with the group.
Day 4
Bullet Train to the Mountains
Transfer to Chongqing railway station and board the G2429 high-speed train at 8:50am, arriving in Zhangjiajie at 11:29am. This is the same jump that made the scouting trip feel slightly ridiculous: a few hours ago, one of the densest cities on earth; now giant sandstone mountains everywhere. After arrival, head straight to Tianmen Mountain. Ride the huge cable car up into the mountains, take in the cliffs and forest, then descend again by cable car. Dinner is included tonight before checking into your Zhangjiajie hotel.
Tianmen Mountain
A mountain day with one of the most memorable cable-car approaches anywhere. Huge elevation, huge views and a fast transition from city streets to cliffs and forest. Included.
Day 4 - 7
Four Points by Sheraton Zhangjiajie
Right in the thick of Yongding District, and only 1.5km from the Tianmen Mountain cableway, so you're basically first in the queue for the world's longest cable car ride without having to think about logistics. There's an on-site fitness centre if you're that person on holidays, and The MESH, the hotel's Chinese restaurant. Location-wise, Tianmen National Forest Park is on the doorstep, and both Zhangjiajie National Forest Park (the Avatar mountains) and the Grand Canyon Glass Bridge are an easy run away.
Day 5
The Actual Avatar Mountains
A full day inside Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. Ride the Bailong Elevator up the mountain, then explore Yuanjiajie and Tianzi Mountain among the towering sandstone pillars that made this part of China famous. The scale is hard to explain until you are standing inside it. This is one of the reasons Zhangjiajie survived the recce and became half the trip rather than a quick side mission. Finish the day by cable car back down. Dinner is included. Expect several hundred photos that all look like desktop wallpapers.
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park
A full day among Yuanjiajie and Tianzi Mountain, using the Bailong Elevator to gain elevation and a cable car to descend. This is the main-event landscape: vertical sandstone pillars, forest and mountain views that barely look real.
Day 6
Glass Bridge, Zipline and One Very Optional Bungy
Head to Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon and walk across its famous Glass Bridge. Look down if you want. Do not look down if you have recently discovered you are afraid of heights. From the bridge, descend by zipline, continue along the canyon and take a Rainbow Lake boat cruise before walking out through the valley. If that somehow does not contain enough adrenaline, you can add the optional bungy jump for an additional cost. Tonight, swap cliffs for culture at the Charming Xiangxi Show. Dinner is included.
Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon & Glass Bridge
Cross the glass bridge, descend by zipline, walk through the canyon and cruise Rainbow Lake. It is a very efficient way to discover whether anyone in the group has been lying about being comfortable with heights.
Grand Canyon Bungy Jump (optional)
For travellers who look at the glass bridge and decide simply walking across it is too conservative. Optional and available at an additional cost.
Charming Xiangxi Show
An evening cultural performance in Zhangjiajie after the Grand Canyon day. Music, dance and local traditions, giving the trip a cultural finish to one of its biggest adventure days. Included.
Day 7
Back to Chongqing
Transfer to the railway station for the G2450 high-speed train at 9:55am, arriving back in Chongqing around 12:07pm. Transfer to the hotel, drop the bags and the rest of the day is free. One last chance for the restaurant you missed, a viewpoint the boys rated on their first trip, some shopping, or a final Chongqing night with the group. This is the useful part of travelling with people who have already been here: the final free afternoon doesn't start with 30 minutes of everyone Googling 'best things to do near me'.
Day 7 - 8
Howard Johnson Life Jiefangbei Chongqing
Your Chongqing base sits in Yuzhong District, putting you in the middle of the city's central action and well placed for food, nightlife and exploring on the free days. After days spent dealing with Chongqing's vertical geography, a normal hotel bed becomes surprisingly exciting.
Day 8
Fly Out
Breakfast is included, then the trip officially wraps. Make your own way onward from the hotel. Seven nights, two completely different versions of China, a mildly concerning number of cable cars and one group chat that will probably remain active far longer than expected.