中ChinaMileIndependent travel guide
Search guides ↗
Menu
ITINERARIES & ROUTES

Choose a China route that fits your time.

Count usable city days, complete transfers and arrival and departure days separately. Then choose the number of bases, the main interest and the cities you will actually enter and leave from.

Choose the time allowance first

The examples count calendar days from arrival through departure. A late arrival, early exit or overnight journey may reduce the usable time. The detailed city guides decide what fits inside each stay.

7 calendar days / 6 nights

Choose one base for a slower first stay. Two nearby or well-connected bases can fit only if you accept two full days in each and one complete transfer day: arrival + 2 city days + transfer + 2 city days + departure = 7 days.

10 calendar days / 9 nights

Two bases give you seven full sightseeing days, one intercity transfer and separate arrival and departure days. For Beijing and Shanghai, four Beijing nights plus five Shanghai nights leave three full Beijing days and four full Shanghai days; change the split for your main interest.

13 calendar days / 12 nights

If arrival and departure each take a separate day, the 11 middle days can support Beijing, Zhangjiajie and Shanghai with two full transfer days. Adding Xi’an takes a third transfer day and leaves one Shanghai sightseeing day. Count your actual usable days before choosing either route.

14 calendar days / 13 nights

Choose three bases for more time in each city: five Beijing nights, four Xi’an nights and four Shanghai nights leave ten full city days and two transfer days. If Chengdu and pandas matter enough to justify another full transfer day, the four-base route trades one city day for that stop: Beijing 4 nights, Xi’an 3, Chengdu 3 and Shanghai 3. Keep the final Shanghai night before departure in either version.

Choose what the route is for

Replace a city when the main interest changes. A mountain stay needs its own arrival, base and departure; adding it to a short Beijing–Shanghai route takes days away from both cities.

Choose where a paid guide earns its cost when language or interpretation changes the visit.

Match the route to the season and the published 2026 holiday calendar before fixing crowded travel dates.

Let arrival and departure shape the route

Start in Beijing when imperial landmarks and a separate Great Wall day anchor the trip. Match PEK or PKX and the terminal to a reachable first hotel; keep that arrival night in Beijing unless immigration, bags, an issued onward ticket, the full ground transfer, a boarding buffer and the next hotel's check-in all fit. Choose the visits in the Beijing city guide and a practical first base in Beijing accommodation. Count the later move to Shanghai or Xi'an as a complete transfer day.

Start in Shanghai when the river city or an East China garden-and-lake branch is the main reason to go. Match PVG or SHA and its terminal to the first hotel. Landing in Shanghai does not make Suzhou or Hangzhou your first bed: continue that day only if immigration, bags, an issued onward ticket, the entire airport-to-station-to-hotel journey, a boarding buffer and late check-in all work. Compare the Shanghai city guide, Shanghai accommodation and East China region before adding another base. Keep the final night in the city named by the international departure ticket.

For entry through Beijing and exit through Shanghai, move across the country once and keep the final Shanghai night. For a return flight from the same city, include the journey back in the day count. If Xi’an replaces Shanghai, change the final international exit or add and protect the complete return transfer.

For a Pudong arrival followed by Wuxi, use the complete airport-to-Wuxi transfer decision rather than treating landing as arrival at the final hotel.

Check the whole entry route before choosing an international transit plan; city order alone does not establish permission to enter.

Prefer one regional route when transfers dominate

Use these comparisons to choose one manageable stay or regional spine. Each guide separates the possible branches, overnight bases and return decisions.

For a rural solo branch, apply route-by-route safety and return decisions before fixing remote nights.

Plan the whole cross-city travel day

For a cross-border rail exit, use the Nanning–Hanoi international-ticket window guide. For an Osaka–Shanghai sea crossing, open the unresolved ferry-service decision before including a sailing in the route.

Keep fixed-entry sightseeing off a major transfer day. Include hotel checkout, the trip to the departure hub, boarding procedures and the last ride to the arrival hotel. Keep a final local night before the international departure.

A detailed two-city example: eight nights / nine calendar days

Four Beijing nights and four Shanghai nights leave three full sightseeing days in each city, one transfer day and separate arrival and departure days. Use this arrangement as a starting point, then adjust for your confirmed Palace day, ordinary Monday closures and actual arrival or departure time.

Open the relative day-by-day route, budget and booking order

  1. Arrival day

    Beijing · Wangfujing / Dongdan

    Reach the confirmed hotel, eat nearby and stop. No timed attraction on arrival day.

    Sleep: Beijing night 1

  2. Full Beijing day 1

    Palace Museum → Jingshan

    Keep the Palace reservation first. If unavailable, use the Temple of Heaven / Qianmen city day and exchange the two days only if an actual Palace slot is available.

    Sleep: Beijing night 2

  3. Full Beijing day 2

    Mutianyu Great Wall · booked road return

    Reserve the whole day for one Wall section and confirm the dated road pickup and return before fixing Mutianyu. Bad weather or a failed return arrangement means the central-city fallback, not a rushed remote visit.

    Sleep: Beijing night 3

  4. Full Beijing day 3

    Temple of Heaven → Qianmen

    Use the south-side city day; if already used on the first Beijing day, take Jingshan / the Shichahai neighbourhood at a comfortable pace. Do not add another out-of-town trip.

    Sleep: Beijing night 4

  5. Intercity transfer day

    Beijing South → Shanghai Hongqiao → People’s Square

    Choose a daytime direct train from these exact stations and keep the whole day free of fixed-entry visits. At Hongqiao use Line 2 if still operating; otherwise the official taxi queue with the hotel’s Chinese address.

    Sleep: Shanghai night 1

  6. Full Shanghai day 1

    People’s Square museum → Bund

    Use the museum building and ticket actually confirmed, then the west-bank Bund walk. If museum admission fails, keep the Bund / Nanjing Road pedestrian walk rather than travelling to an unconfirmed exhibition.

    Sleep: Shanghai night 2

  7. Full Shanghai day 2

    Lujiazui riverfront

    Use Line 2 from People’s Square to Lujiazui for the east-bank riverfront and return to the same base. No observation-deck ticket is assumed.

    Sleep: Shanghai night 3

  8. Full Shanghai day 3

    Old City → hotel

    Take Line 8 to Dashijie and change to Line 14 for Yuyuan Garden station; explore the surrounding Old City streets. The paid garden is optional only with its own admission confirmed. Return to the hotel and prepare the departure.

    Sleep: Shanghai night 4

  9. Departure day

    Exact SHA / PVG airport on your ticket

    Use the matching airport route and the carrier’s check-in deadline. Do not attach sightseeing or an intercity arrival to this day.

    Sleep: No China hotel night

This example uses Mutianyu only when the road pickup and return are confirmed. For the simpler first independent Wall visit, replace this one day with Badaling: book both dated Beijing North or Qinghe ↔ Badaling Great Wall train legs and keep the same Beijing night. Compare the complete Wall day and return routes before fixing either choice. Do not try to visit both sections in one day.

Arrival + 3 Beijing days + transfer + 3 Shanghai days + departure = 9 calendar days. Four nights in each city make 8 nights. The transfer day has no fixed-entry visit.

Place the Palace on a confirmed open-day reservation; an ordinary Monday is better used for a compatible Wall or outdoor-city choice. Exchange the Palace and Temple of Heaven days only when their opening and ticket conditions fit. Use the Beijing visit and booking instructions and the Shanghai museum, building and arrival choices.

Keep two cities unless the main priority changes

For imperial landmarks plus a modern river city, keep Beijing and Shanghai. If archaeology is the main reason, replace Shanghai with Xi’an and change the exit journey. With six nights, the seven-day route keeps both cities only by limiting each to two full days and protecting a full rail-transfer day; choose one base if your flights force a return or the transfer fails.

For less walking, use the Beijing shorter-route choices and specific Shanghai limited-mobility stops; select days and accommodation for the actual traveller.

A calculated budget you can reprice

The amounts below are arithmetic inputs for two people sharing one room, not live hotel, train or ticket quotes. Replace them with the products offered for your dates before payment. International travel, visas, insurance, shopping and medical or exceptional disruption costs are excluded.

One shared room
8 nights × RMB 600RMB 4,800
Intercity rail
2 adults × assumed RMB 600RMB 1,200
Meals
2 adults × 9 days × RMB 180RMB 3,240
Local travel
9 days × RMB 120 for the partyRMB 1,080
Attractions
2 adults × assumed RMB 300RMB 600
Data
2 people × assumed RMB 150RMB 300
Subtotal
4,800 + 1,200 + 3,240 + 1,080 + 600 + 300RMB 11,220
Change reserve
20% × 11,220RMB 2,244
Sample total for two
11,220 + 2,244RMB 13,464

The illustrative total is RMB 13,464 for two, or RMB 6,732 per person. The 20% change reserve is a planning choice. Use the rail guide’s observed fare examples and station comparison when repricing the transfer.

Book in an order that protects the route

  1. Entry and international route: match the passport, purpose, complete journey and dates to the entry plan.
  2. Changeable bases: choose four nights in a Beijing area that fits the visits and four in a Shanghai base that fits arrival and departure. Confirm foreign-passport check-in, arrival time and cancellation terms with the property.
  3. Compare the real booking windows: check the Palace, selected Great Wall outing and exact Beijing South → Shanghai Hongqiao daytime train for your dates. Use the rail booking-channel guide for issuance and ID checks. Keep both hotels changeable while any essential visit or transfer is unresolved.
  4. Secure whichever essential item opens first: fit the remaining Palace, Wall, museum and rail dates around an issued ticket or confirmed must-have visit, then reconcile them before making the stays non-refundable. A late train arrival needs a suitable hotel transfer; no usable train or visit means changing the date or route.
  5. Departure and backups: save the actual airport, terminal, carrier deadline, hotel address and payment, data and transport backups offline.

If the train is delayed, drop sightseeing after arrival. Protect the next full day and final Shanghai night. Avoid a same-day long-distance arrival connected to an international departure.