Day-by-day programme of this 15-day itinerary across Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai.
Day 1 — Arrival in Beijing
As soon as you arrive, sort two practical things that change everything in China: an e-SIM with a VPN (Western services are blocked) and payments via Alipay or WeChat Pay, used everywhere instead of cash. In the evening, a first look at Tian'anmen Square.
- 📍 Tian'anmen Square — The monumental square at the centre of Beijing, one of the largest in the world, with Mao's Mausoleum and the gate leading into the Forbidden City. Entry requires your passport and sometimes an online booking.
- 🏨 Crystal Orange Hotel Wangfujing Street — Wangfujing, Dongcheng, Beijing
Day 2 — Imperial Beijing
The city's imperial heart: the great palace of the emperors, the hill that overlooks it and the historic alleys (hutongs) where Beijing keeps its old rhythm. The Forbidden City must be booked online in advance.
- 📍 Forbidden City — The largest imperial palace in the world, almost a thousand buildings within the red walls: for five centuries the Ming and Qing emperors lived here. You cross it south to north in a couple of hours. Timed ticket, sells out fast.
- 📍 Jingshan Park — The artificial hill just north of the Forbidden City: from the pavilion at the top the view takes in all the palace's golden roofs lined up to the south. It's the best overview of the whole.
- 📍 Nanluoguxiang — One of Beijing's liveliest hutongs, a grid of grey lanes with traditional courtyards (siheyuan), cafés and shops. The best way to explore is by rickshaw or simply getting lost on foot.
Day 3 — The Great Wall
Great Wall day. The Mutianyu section, a couple of hours from Beijing, is restored but far less crowded than Badaling, with a chairlift up and a toboggan down. Leave early to have the ramparts almost to yourself.
- 🎯 Mutianyu Great Wall — The restored Mutianyu section climbs the wooded ridges with watchtowers as far as the eye can see. You go up by chairlift, walk the ramparts and come down on a rail toboggan: spectacular and family-friendly too.
Day 4 — Temple of Heaven and Summer Palace
A last day in the capital between two masterpieces: the temple where the emperor prayed for the harvest and the summer palace with its great lake. In the evening, Peking duck is a must.
- 📍 Temple of Heaven — The circular temple with the blue roof where emperors performed the rites for a good harvest. In the surrounding park, in the morning, locals do tai chi, dance and play cards: worth as much as the monument itself.
- 📍 Summer Palace — The imperial summer retreat: a huge garden around Kunming Lake, with the painted Long Corridor, pavilions and bridges. You can tour it by boat too, far from the city traffic.
- 🍽️ Quanjude Qianmen, Beijing — The historic Peking duck restaurant: crisp lacquered skin, sliced at the table and rolled in thin pancakes with spring onion and sauce. The capital's signature dish.
Day 5 — Train to Xi'an
The high-speed train covers the 1,200 km to Xi'an in a few hours. An ancient capital of many dynasties and a starting point of the Silk Road, it keeps its walls intact and a lively Muslim Quarter where you dine on the street.
- ✈️ Beijing → Xi'an — Xi'an, Shaanxi
- 📍 Muslim Quarter, Xi'an — The maze of lanes of the Hui community, packed with stalls: lamb skewers, stuffed flatbread (roujiamo), hand-pulled noodles and sweets. In the evening it's the place to dine while wandering.
- 🏨 Xi'an Eastern House Boutique Hotel
Day 6 — The Terracotta Army
The main reason you come to Xi'an: the terracotta army of the first emperor. On the way back, a loop of the ancient city walls, perfect to ride by bike.
- 📍 Terracotta Army — Thousands of life-size terracotta warriors and horses, each with a different face, buried over two thousand years ago to guard the first emperor's tomb. The three pits under their hangars are breathtaking. It's about an hour from the city.
- 📍 Xi'an City Wall — The Ming walls that still completely encircle the old town, wide enough to ride by bike: a 14 km loop overlooking the old city. Lovely at sunset, when the red lanterns light up.
Day 7 — Train to Chengdu
You head south-west into Sichuan: Chengdu is the city of slow rhythms, teahouses and spicy food. In the evening, a walk along the old Jinli street sets you up for the day of the pandas.
- ✈️ Xi'an → Chengdu — Chengdu, Sichuan
- 📍 Jinli Ancient Street, Chengdu — An old-style pedestrian street next to the Wuhou temple, all red lanterns, shadow-puppet theatres and Sichuan street-food stalls. A good spot to try a spicy snack before dinner.
- 🏨 Holiday Inn Express Chengdu Tianfu Square
Day 8 — The giant pandas of Chengdu
Panda day. Arrive at opening, early, because it's in the morning that the pandas eat and move; later they sleep. In the afternoon, a city monastery and the Kuanzhai alleys.
- 🎯 Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding — The research base where giant pandas (and the smaller red pandas) live in large bamboo enclosures. Go at opening: after 10am they eat less and fall asleep. An online ticket is recommended.
- 📍 Wenshu Monastery, Chengdu — The city's most important Buddhist temple, serene among courtyards and incense, with a famous teahouse in the garden where locals spend the afternoon. A taste of Chengdu's calmer side.
- 📍 Kuanzhai Alley, Chengdu — Three restored parallel lanes, "wide" and "narrow", with Qing-style houses, teahouses, bars and restaurants. A good place for dinner and, if you fancy, a Sichuan opera show with its face-changing act.
Day 9 — The Leshan Giant Buddha
A day trip to the Leshan Giant Buddha, the largest stone Buddha in the world, carved into the cliff where three rivers meet. You see it from below by boat and from above descending the staircase along its side.
- 📍 Leshan Giant Buddha — A 71-metre Buddha carved in the 8th century into the red sandstone cliff: the feet alone are longer than a bus. Reached by fast train or coach from Chengdu, about an hour and a half. See it both from the boat and from the staircase.
Day 10 — Flight to Guilin
A domestic flight takes you to Guilin, into the landscape of sugarloaf karst mountains that appears on the old Chinese banknotes. An afternoon in the city along the river, ahead of tomorrow's cruise.
- ✈️ Chengdu → Guilin — Guilin, Guangxi
- 📍 Elephant Trunk Hill, Guilin — Guilin's emblematic hill, with the arch that looks like a trunk drinking from the Li River. Lovely at sunset, when it mirrors in the water: a preview of the karst landscape you'll see on tomorrow's cruise.
- 🏨 Li River Hotel Guilin — Guilin, Guangxi
Day 11 — Li River cruise
One of the loveliest river journeys in the world: from morning the boat drifts down the Li River among pinnacle mountains, buffalo in the water and cormorant fishermen, all the way to Yangshuo, where you stop for the night.
- 🎯 Li River — About four hours' cruising among China's most famous karst pinnacles, the scene printed on the 20-yuan note. You disembark at Yangshuo, a slow-paced riverside town with a traveller's feel.
- 📍 West Street, Yangshuo — Yangshuo's pedestrian street, among cafés, bars and stalls, beneath the floodlit mountains. A backpacker-town atmosphere, perfect for the evening after the cruise.
- 🏨 Yangshuo West Street Residence — Yangshuo, Guangxi
Day 12 — Yangshuo countryside
A slow day in the countryside around Yangshuo: by bike among the rice fields and villages, a bamboo raft on the quieter Yulong River, and — for early risers — the option of the Longji rice terraces.
- 🎯 Yulong River, Yangshuo — Hire a bike and ride the embankments among rice fields and pinnacles, stopping for a gentle bamboo-raft drift on the Yulong River. The gentlest rural China, far from the city traffic.
- 📍 Longji Rice Terraces — As an alternative to the cycling day: the "Dragon's Backbone" rice terraces, carved in steps along the mountains by the Zhuang and Yao peoples. They're a couple of hours from Yangshuo, best as a full-day trip.
Day 13 — Flight to Shanghai
A last domestic flight to the China of the future: Shanghai. After dropping your bags, the evening is for the Bund, the colonial waterfront from which you watch the Pudong skyscrapers light up across the river.
- ✈️ Guilin → Shanghai — Shanghai
- 📍 The Bund, Shanghai — The historic waterfront with colonial buildings on one side and, on the other, the futuristic Pudong skyline with the Oriental Pearl and the Shanghai Tower. At night it's all lit up: the contrast between the two Chinas in a single glance.
- 🏨 JI Hotel Shanghai People's Square — Shanghai
Day 14 — Shanghai, gardens and skyscrapers
A last full day between old and new Shanghai: the classical Yu Garden, the tree-lined avenues of the French Concession and the view from the top of the Shanghai Tower, one of the tallest in the world.
- 📍 Yu Garden, Shanghai — A 16th-century classical Chinese garden in the heart of the old town, among pavilions, rockeries, carp ponds and dragons on the walls. Around it, the bazaar with the zig-zag teahouse and xiaolongbao (steamed dumplings).
- 📍 French Concession, Shanghai — The district of plane trees, 1920s villas and cafés, today full of boutiques and small venues (the Tianzifang and Xintiandi areas). Shanghai's most European and relaxed face, ideal on foot.
- 📍 Shanghai Tower — China's tallest, spiralling skyscraper: the world's fastest lift whisks you in seconds to the observation deck above 550 metres. Go up at sunset to watch Shanghai shift from day to a night of lights.
Day 15 — Departure
Last hours along China's most famous shopping street, then to the airport by Maglev, the magnetic-levitation train that nudges 300 km/h and covers the distance in a handful of minutes: a farewell in true Shanghai style.
- 📍 Nanjing Road, Shanghai — The great pedestrian shopping street linking People's Square to the Bund: bright signs, department stores and crowds at every hour. A last loop for gifts before heading to the airport.
- ✈️ Shanghai → Shanghai Pudong International Airport — Pudong International Airport, Shanghai
