China: Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai

1. Day 1: Arrive in Beijing

   Beijing Capital (PEK) or Daxing (PKX) airport to central Beijing

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Beijing
   Day 1 details

   We meet you at Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) or Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX) and drive you to your hotel in Dongcheng, the old centre east of the Forbidden City, about an hour from either airport. The rest of the day is yours to rest after the flight. If you land early and want to stretch your legs, the shopping street of Wangfujing and the lanes around it are a short walk from the hotel, and your guide leaves you a simple map. In the early evening the group meets for a short briefing: how the trains work, how to pay with your phone, what to carry each day, and the early start for the Great Wall tomorrow. Then we walk to a local restaurant for a welcome dinner of northern Chinese dishes, dumplings, noodles and stir-fries shared at one round table. If your flight lands too late for dinner, we meet you at breakfast instead.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Beijing Capital (PEK) or Daxing (PKX) airport
   • Evening briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner at a local restaurant

   Free time: Afternoon free to rest

   Activity: Land by about 4 pm to join the briefing and dinner.

2. Day 2: The Great Wall at Mutianyu, then a hutong lunch

   Beijing to Mutianyu and back, then the hutongs around Shichahai

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Beijing
   Day 2 details

   This is the one 7 am departure of the Beijing stay, and it is worth it. We drive about an hour and a half north to Mutianyu, one of the best-preserved stretches of the Ming dynasty wall, and arrive as the cable car starts its morning runs, while the towers are still quiet and the light is low across the hills. The cable car lifts you to the ridge; from there you walk the wall at your own pace for about two hours, from tower to tower along a section with long stepped climbs. Come down by cable car, on the toboggan run, or on foot. We are back in the city by about 1:30 for a late lunch in a family courtyard home in the hutongs, the old lanes of grey-brick houses around the Shichahai lakes, with home-cooked dishes and time to ask questions. Afterwards your guide walks you through the lanes to the Drum and Bell Towers. The evening is free.

   Included

   • The Great Wall at Mutianyu early in the morning, with your guide
   • Cable car up, and cable car or toboggan down
   • Lunch in a family courtyard home in the hutongs
   • Hutong walk to the Drum and Bell Towers

   Easier option: Ride the cable car both ways and stay on the gentler section by the cable car station.

   More active option: Walk up to the wall on the stepped path, about 40 minutes, then walk west to the steeper towers beyond.

   Free time: Evening free

   Activity: Steep steps and slopes on the wall; wear shoes with grip and bring water.

   

3. Day 3: The Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven

   Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, Jingshan Park, then the Temple of Heaven

   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Beijing
   Day 3 details

   We cross Tiananmen Square early and go through the Meridian Gate into the Forbidden City as it opens at 8:30, ahead of the main crowd. Tickets are capped each day and sold in your name, so we buy them as soon as your dates are confirmed. For almost five centuries this was the palace of the Ming and Qing emperors; your guide takes you along the central axis of great halls and courtyards, then into the quieter side courts and the imperial garden at the north end. Leaving by the north gate, we climb Jingshan Park, the hill built from the moat's spoil, for the view back over the yellow-tiled roofs. Lunch together near the park. In the afternoon we drive to the Temple of Heaven, where emperors prayed for good harvests, and walk from the round Hall of Prayer to the Circular Mound Altar. A rest at the hotel, then a Peking duck dinner, carved at the table.

   Included

   • Tiananmen Square with your guide
   • The Forbidden City (Palace Museum) at opening
   • Jingshan Park viewpoint
   • The Temple of Heaven
   • Peking duck dinner

   Easier option: Skip the Jingshan climb, about 15 minutes of steps, and wait in the park below.

   Free time: Late afternoon free before dinner

   Activity: About 5 hours on foot, much of it on stone paving. The Forbidden City closes on Mondays, so departures are set so day 3 never falls on one.

4. Day 4: High-speed train to Xi'an

   Beijing West station to Xi'an North by high-speed train, then the Muslim Quarter

   • By train
   • Breakfast and dinner
   • Stay in Xi'an
   Day 4 details

   A slower morning: breakfast without hurry, and an hour free for anyone who wants to walk to the Lama Temple, Beijing's great Tibetan Buddhist temple, a short taxi ride from the hotel. Before noon our vehicle takes the group and the luggage to Beijing West station and your guide sees everyone through security and onto the platform. The high-speed train to Xi'an takes about four and a half to five and a half hours, depending on the service, running south-west across the North China Plain and into the loess country of Shaanxi; buy lunch on board or bring snacks from the station. We arrive in the late afternoon, check in at a hotel inside the city wall, and walk out at dusk to the Bell Tower and into the Muslim Quarter, home for centuries to the Hui community. Dinner is a street-food walk with your guide: lamb skewers, roujiamo, the flatbread stuffed with stewed meat, and yangrou paomo, mutton soup with torn bread.

   Included

   • Transfer to Beijing West station with your guide
   • Reserved seats on the high-speed train to Xi'an
   • Transfer from Xi'an North station to the hotel
   • Evening walk past the Bell Tower and a street-food dinner in the Muslim Quarter

   Free time: Morning free until about 11 am

   Activity: Lunch is on the train, your choice; the station and train have food for sale.

5. Day 5: The Terracotta Warriors and the city wall by bike

   Xi'an to the Terracotta Warriors and back, then the Xi'an City Wall

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Xi'an
   Day 5 details

   We leave at about 7:30 to drive the hour east to the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor to unify China, and walk into Pit 1 as it opens, before the tour coaches arrive. Farmers digging a well found the first fragments here in 1974; Pit 1 holds rank upon rank of life-size infantry, each face modelled differently. A licensed site guide joins your own guide to explain what has been dug and what has not, through Pits 2 and 3 and the bronze chariots in the museum. Lunch is a sit-down bowl of hand-pulled biangbiang noodles near the site, and we are back in Xi'an by early afternoon for a rest. In the late afternoon, when the light turns warm on the brick, we climb onto the Ming dynasty city wall at the South Gate and cycle its whole loop, about 13.7 km on a flat top, past the gate towers and over the rooftops. The evening is free.

   Included

   • The Terracotta Warriors (Emperor Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum Site Museum) at opening, with a licensed site guide
   • Noodle lunch near the site
   • Xi'an City Wall entry and bike hire for the full loop

   Easier option: Walk a section of the wall from the South Gate, or ride the electric cart around it.

   More active option: Ride the loop twice, or walk to the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda in the free evening.

   Free time: Early afternoon and evening free

   Activity: The wall ride takes about 2 hours with stops.

   

6. Day 6: Fly to Shanghai, the Bund at dusk

   Xi'an to Xianyang airport (XIY), the flight to Shanghai, then the Bund

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Shanghai
   Day 6 details

   A free first hour for a last walk inside the wall or a look into the Great Mosque, built in the style of a Chinese temple with courtyards and pavilions, before we drive to Xi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY), about an hour away. The flight to Shanghai takes a little over two hours, and your guide flies with you; it saves most of a day against the six-hour train. We land in the early afternoon and drive into the city to a hotel near the Bund or People's Square. After a rest, we walk down to the Bund in the late afternoon, the riverfront of 1920s and 1930s banks and trading houses built when Shanghai was a treaty port, and stay as the light fades and the towers of Pudong light up across the Huangpu River. Dinner tonight is your choice; your guide has suggestions for every budget near the hotel.

   Included

   • Transfer to Xi'an Xianyang airport (XIY)
   • Flight from Xi'an to Shanghai, with transfer to the hotel
   • Evening walk along the Bund with your guide

   Optional experiences

   • Huangpu River night cruise

   Free time: Evening free for dinner

   Activity: The high-speed train, about 6 hours, can replace the flight on request.

7. Day 7: Old Shanghai and the French Concession

   Yu Garden and the old town, the Shanghai Museum, then the former French Concession

   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Shanghai
   Day 7 details

   We are at Yu Garden as it opens, before the old-town lanes fill. Laid out in the second half of the 16th century by a Ming official for his parents, it packs rockeries, ponds, carp, carved walls and pavilions into a few acres, and it is best seen before the crowds. Next door is the old town bazaar and the zigzag bridge to the Huxinting teahouse. Lunch is soup dumplings, xiaolongbao, in a local restaurant: your guide shows you how to eat them without scalding yourself. In the early afternoon we visit the Shanghai Museum at People's Square, free with an advance booking, whose bronzes, ceramics and calligraphy galleries trace Chinese art over three thousand years. Later, for anyone who wants it, a walk under the plane trees of the former French Concession, with its villas, lane houses and cafes. The rest of the afternoon and the evening are free.

   Included

   • Yu Garden at opening, with your guide
   • Old town bazaar walk
   • Soup dumpling lunch
   • Shanghai Museum at People's Square
   • Former French Concession walk with your guide (optional)

   Optional experiences

   • Shanghai Tower observation deck

   Easier option: Return to the hotel after the museum.

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free

   Activity: The Shanghai Museum may close on Mondays; departure days are set so day 7 never falls on one.

8. Day 8: A day in Suzhou

   Shanghai to Suzhou by high-speed train and back

   • By train
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Shanghai
   Day 8 details

   Suzhou is about half an hour from Shanghai on the high-speed train, and its classical gardens, laid out by scholars and officials over several centuries, are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We take an early train to be at the Humble Administrator's Garden as it opens: it is the largest of the gardens and the busiest by mid-morning, but in the first hour its lotus ponds, covered walkways and framed views are calm. Next door is the Suzhou Museum, designed by I. M. Pei and opened in 2006, white walls and grey stone in conversation with the old gardens. Lunch together nearby, then time on your own along Pingjiang Road, a canal street of old houses, tea shops and silk stores. Late in the afternoon we take a boat along the canal at Shantang Street as the lanterns come on, then the train back to Shanghai. The evening is free.

   Included

   • High-speed train from Shanghai to Suzhou and back
   • The Humble Administrator's Garden at opening, with your guide
   • Suzhou Museum
   • Lunch in Suzhou
   • Canal boat at Shantang Street

   Easier option: Take an earlier train back after lunch with your guide's help.

   More active option: Walk the full length of Pingjiang Road, about 1.5 km, in the free hour.

   Free time: An hour free on Pingjiang Road; evening free

   Activity: The Suzhou Museum may close on Mondays; departure days are set so day 8 never falls on one.

   

9. Day 9: Zhujiajiao water town, farewell dinner

   Shanghai to Zhujiajiao and back

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and dinner
   • Stay in Shanghai
   Day 9 details

   We drive about an hour west of the city to Zhujiajiao, one of the old canal towns of the Yangtze delta, and arrive before the day-trip coaches. Its stone bridges and whitewashed houses grew rich on rice and cloth trading, and the largest bridge, Fangsheng Bridge, crosses the main canal on five arches. A local boatman rows us along the canals for the view from the water, then your guide walks you through the lanes, past the old post office and a Buddhist temple, with time to try local snacks such as sticky rice wrapped in leaves. We are back in Shanghai for lunch on your own and a free afternoon: rest, shop, or go up the Shanghai Tower. In the evening the group meets for a farewell dinner of Shanghai dishes, braised pork, river fish and drunken chicken, the last meal together of the trip.

   Included

   • Transport to Zhujiajiao and back with your guide
   • Canal boat ride in Zhujiajiao
   • Walk through the water town
   • Farewell dinner

   Free time: Afternoon free

10. Day 10: Depart from Shanghai

    A free morning, then Pudong (PVG) or Hongqiao (SHA) airport

    • Drive about 1 h
    • Breakfast
    Day 10 details

    The last day is yours, with no early start. Breakfast at the hotel, then the morning is free until your airport transfer. If your flight leaves in the afternoon or evening, there is time for a last walk on the Bund in the morning light, a coffee in the lanes of the former French Concession, or one more plate of dumplings. Your guide can point you to a market or a quiet temple, such as the Jade Buddha Temple, if you want one more outing. We drive you to Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG), about an hour from the centre, or to Hongqiao (SHA) for regional flights, at a time that suits your departure. If you are using the 240-hour visa-free transit, your onward flight must go to a third country, not back to where you started; we check this with you when you book. For international flights, allow three hours at the airport.

    Included

    • Drop-off at Shanghai Pudong (PVG) or Hongqiao (SHA) airport

    Free time: Morning free

    Activity: Book a flight leaving after about 1 pm to enjoy the free morning.

Wildlife and weather: April to May and September to October bring mild days across all three cities and the clearest skies in Beijing. Summer is hot and humid, often above 35°C in Xi'an and Shanghai, with the heaviest rain in July and August. Winter is cold and dry in Beijing, often below freezing at the Great Wall, but the sites are at their quietest. We avoid Chinese New Year and the national holidays in early May and early October, when trains and sights are at their most crowded.

• Beijing3 nights
• Xi'an2 nights
• Shanghai4 nights