Planning Your First Route

• 7 days / 6 nights: Beijing 3 nights + Shanghai 3 nights. Arrive day 1, explore Beijing on days 2–3, transfer on day 4, visit Shanghai on days 5–6, leave day 7. This suits different arrival/departure gateways; secure named reservations such as the Palace Museum first.
• 10 days / 9 nights: Beijing 3 nights + Xi’an 3 nights + Shanghai 3 nights. Transfer on days 4 and 7, depart on day 10. Account separately for travel outside Xi’an to the Terracotta Warriors. For a slower trip, remove the middle city.
• 14 days / 13 nights: Beijing 4 nights + Xi’an 3 nights + Chengdu 3 nights + Shanghai 3 nights. Transfer on days 5, 8 and 11, depart on day 14. Compare actual flights and rail from Chengdu to Shanghai rather than assuming an ideal service exists.

Add a night to Beijing or Xi’an for history. To reduce packing, use Shanghai as a base for feasible day trips. For nature, remove a city before adding a landscape region rather than squeezing mountain nights into an already tight route.

Fix one priority reservation per full day and group other stops geographically. Major museums, out-of-town sights and city transfers can each take much of a day; keep arrival and departure days light.