A Journey Through Time: China Culture Tour with Peter’s Family

At the beginning of 2025, I received an inquiry from a Malaysian family of three. Peter told me that his daughter had been fascinated by Chinese history and culture since childhood. Now that she was in middle school, he finally decided to take advantage of the school holiday to bring her on a long-awaited cultural exploration of China.

A Cultural Feast: A Journey Through Time

To make this trip truly a “cultural feast,” I designed a Beijing-Xi’an twin-city itinerary under the theme of “traveling through time.”

In Beijing, I arranged for a professional guide deeply versed in the Forbidden City’s history to walk with them along the central axis, narrating 600 years of stories from the imperial palace. Amid the grand halls and weathered palace walls, history seemed to come alive.

No trip to Beijing would be complete without standing on the Great Wall at Mutianyu. The family took a cable car up to the ancient watchtowers and walked along the wall’s winding path, surrounded by endless green hills. Peter’s daughter held her father’s hand as they climbed to a higher tower, whispering with awe, “It feels like the wall never ends.” For her, the Great Wall was no longer just a picture in a textbook but a living monument of courage and perseverance.

In Xi’an, I arranged a special in-depth tour of the Terracotta Warriors. Through details of the warriors’ costumes, expressions, and formations, the guide explained the military genius and imperial ambition of the Qin dynasty. For father and daughter, it wasn’t just the scale of the underground army that impressed them, but the weight of history revealed in every detail.

At the Ancient City Wall, the family rented bikes and rode together along the massive ramparts, imagining the soldiers who once patrolled these fortifications centuries ago. The daughter, filled with curiosity, stopped to gaze through an old watchtower and said, “It feels like I can still see the past from here.”

Where Past Meets Present: The Final Chapter in Shanghai

After immersing themselves in Beijing and Xi’an’s history, I planned the last stop in Shanghai, China’s most international city. Here, the contrasts of time stood side by side: on one side, the Bund’s colonial architecture told stories of China’s encounters and exchanges with the world; on the other, Pudong’s futuristic skyline-towering from the Oriental Pearl to Shanghai Tower-embodied modern China’s speed and ambition.

One evening, as father and daughter strolled along the Bund, she gazed at the glowing lights across the Huangpu River and softly told her father, “This must be what the books mean by ‘where the ancient meets the modern.’” In that moment, they realized the journey was not only about walking through history, but also about witnessing the pulse of contemporary China.

Small Setback, Big Reassurance

Of course, long journeys often come with small surprises. One morning, they discovered that due to a hotel system issue, only one king room was available, and the originally booked family room could not be arranged immediately. As soon as I learned this, I contacted the hotel manager and secured a solution: the family could temporarily stay in the king room, while an additional adjoining room was provided free of charge. By the next day, the hotel promised to adjust them into their preferred family room. At the same time, I arranged a small gesture of welcome fruit and snacks to ease their fatigue and concern.

That evening, Peter messaged me: “Thank you. Kally. We were worried it would be inconvenient, but because of your quick handling and thoughtful care, it became a heartwarming little story instead.”

The Reward of Travel: History and Growth

After the trip, Peter reached out to share his reflections. He said the journey’s impact on his daughter far exceeded their expectations. Back home, she began studying Chinese on her own and even wrote in her diary: “The stories I read in books felt completely different when I stood in the very places where they happened.”

Peter added with gratitude: “You didn’t just plan a trip for us-you opened a door for my daughter to truly understand China.”

For me, using my expertise and care to turn a journey into unforgettable family memories-and even inspiring a child to embrace another culture-represents the most precious achievement of being a travel consultant.