---
title: "China, End to End"
description: "18 days from the Forbidden City to a driverless taxi with every China in between"
type: "tour"
route_id: "china-end-to-end-18-days"
total_days: 18
price: 6360
highlights: ["Beijing", "Xi'an", "Chuanzhusi", "Jiuzhaigou", "Chengdu", "Zhangjiajie", "Guilin", "Yangshuo", "Shenzhen"]
url: "https://www.lyriktrip.com/en-GB/tours/china-end-to-end-18-days"
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# China, End to End

18 days from the Forbidden City to a driverless taxi, with every China in between

The classics in one journey. The Great Wall, the Terracotta Warriors, pandas, highland lakes, sandstone pillars and river towns, with English-speaking guides city by city.

- Active — longer walking days, mountain paths, or high altitude possible — Wall and mountain days, Jiuzhaigou-area altitude, Zhangjiajie paths, and a long cross-country pace; cable cars do the major climbs.

## Overview

On day one you stand in a palace completed in 1420. On day seventeen, a driverless car takes you across a city that was a fishing village forty years ago. Most first-time journeys to China choose one era; this one runs through them all in order: the empire, the high country, the old earth, and Shenzhen last, so the journey ends facing forward. Trains, flights and a private van link the whole arc, and your guides hand you from city to city. Once you're home, you'll notice the souvenir: you never read a headline about China quite the same way again.

— LyrikTrip travel designers

Every LyrikTrip journey begins with a conversation. Tell us your dates and who's coming, and if eighteen days is the wrong length for you, we'll say so and shape a shorter arc. First reply within four hours; a clear price for your dates within one business day.

## Summary

- Route ID: china-end-to-end-18-days
- Duration: 18 days / 17 nights
- Starting price: $6,360
- Group size: 10 travelers
- Status: active
- Highlights: Beijing, Xi'an, Chuanzhusi, Jiuzhaigou, Chengdu, Zhangjiajie, Guilin, Yangshuo, Shenzhen
- Cover image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/lgRtYUwR.jpg

## Hero tags

- private
- tailor-made
- cultural
- nature
- adventure

## Highlight notes

- Best for: first-time China visitors, couples, families, repeat visitors seeking depth
- 18 days from the Forbidden City to driverless taxis. See the whole of China.

## Selling points

- Stand on Jingshan hill above the golden roofs of the Forbidden City, then walk the Great Wall at Mutianyu: the empire in two mornings.
- Meet the eight thousand, the buried army of China's first emperor, no two faces alike, then cycle the top of the wall that still rings old Xi'an.
- Climb into the Aba highlands for Jiuzhaigou's glass-clear lakes and Huanglong's terraced pools, then deeper still, to panda country and a Baima village that welcomes you as guests, not a tour group.
- Learn the Chengdu way of sitting: in a People's Park teahouse, with nowhere to be after.
- Ride the Bailong Elevator into the sandstone pillars *Avatar* borrowed, then walk out over the gorge on a pane of glass<!--F-->, farther than you thought you would<!--/F-->.
- Cruise Guilin's lit waterways by night, drift a bamboo raft down the Yulong River, then stand at sunrise above the bend of the Li River that appears on the back of China's 20-yuan banknote.
- End in Shenzhen, a fishing village turned tech metropolis in forty years: a ride in a driverless taxi is reserved ahead for your dates.

## City highlights

- Beijing (3 days): Beijing
  - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/PHYYdt4F.webp
- Chuanzhusi (1 days): Chuanzhu Temple
  - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/gMJ0MWLM.webp
- Guilin (1 days): Guilin
  - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/6ub8sBEM.webp
- Zhangjiajie (3 days): Zhangjiajie
  - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/joaxng1J.webp
- Jiuzhaigou (2 days): Jiuzhaigou
  - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/ewe9MhvF.jpg
- Xi'an (2 days): Xi'an
  - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/h3LXg5NB.webp
- Yangshuo (2 days): Yangshuo
  - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/kVrW0yX6.webp
- Chengdu (2 days): 成都
  - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1a912e32bb9f.jpg
- Shenzhen (2 days): Shenzhen
  - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3SLVWc9q.webp

## Experiences

18 days from the Forbidden City to driverless taxis. See all of China.

- Huanglong Terraces (Aba): A high valley of terraced calcite pools above 3,000 metres: mineral water has built rim after rim down the mountainside, holding pools in blues and golds. A cable car takes you up and boardwalks bring you down at your own pace, rest stops along the way. Huanglong opens seasonally and reads the weather daily; if it closes, Mounigou Valley, waterfalls and the same calcite pools, takes its place the same day.
  - Subtitle: Terraced calcite pools above 3,000 metres
  - Tags: Nature
  - Host: Chengdu, Chengdu Lens — Pandas and Sichuan culture
  - Access: Weather-aware plan; Mounigou Valley replaces Huanglong if the park closes.
  - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8bec7fe22dc2.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/c568815c1ae8.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/69d2f3b49703.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/28379341c18a.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/6edbfe484269.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/edfc2c43e545.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/d64452932a94.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3df2e9313700.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/7bb01923c0f0.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/77808bb0aad8.jpg
- Baima Village Welcome (Jiuzhaigou): An afternoon as guests of the Baima, a mountain people of northern Sichuan most visitors have never heard of, with their own dress, music and rituals. The village receives you with the masked Zhou dance; then flour on your hands as you join the making of potato cakes, the staple done the home way, and eat what you made together. Time in the lanes afterward: wooden houses, prayer flags, conversation.
  - Subtitle: An afternoon as guests of the Baima
  - Tags: Folk
  - Host: Chengdu, Chengdu Lens — Pandas and Sichuan culture
  - Access: You come through as guests, not an audience.
  - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/cb4f92d947c7.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4a3222f2de6d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/33b20b5e0777.jpg
- Jiawuhai Panda Centre (Jiuzhaigou): A conservation centre in the pandas' own mountains rather than a city enclosure. You watch the keepers' morning routines, walk a stretch of habitat corridor, and hear how this valley funds protection by living alongside its most famous residents: pandas at close quarters, on their terms.
  - Subtitle: Pandas in their own mountains
  - Tags: Nature
  - Host: Chengdu, Chengdu Lens — Pandas and Sichuan culture
  - Access: Pandas at close quarters, on their terms.
  - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/926008bcde2a.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/080ea132dcfb.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/e650f27937d8.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b9b1a6764640.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f7b2f62f5669.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/15632b980fca.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/d917a5ddfaac.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/57d5048cbfb3.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/19288d4265d2.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3d3bea04b82a.jpg
- Teahouse Morning (Chengdu): A whole morning deliberately built around one teahouse: a bamboo chair, a gaiwan, and refills for as long as you stay. Around you, the park runs its daily programme: cards slapping, slow dancers, the ear-cleaner's tuning fork ringing past, and nothing else is booked until lunch.
  - Subtitle: A whole morning around one teahouse
  - Tags: City
  - Host: Chengdu, Chengdu Lens — Pandas and Sichuan culture
  - Access: Nothing else is booked until lunch.
  - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/77584e962219.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/c540db4acf1b.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/08d8ea413e35.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/d7106bf2a68c.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4e4bd21b9b97.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9d549716c30b.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9cf32f1b02e8.jpg
- Chinese Medicine, Introduced (Xi'an): An introductory session at a traditional medicine centre: a practitioner reads your pulse, opens the herb drawers, and explains how the system views seasons, food and balance. This is a session for understanding, not a sales floor; any physical treatment is optional, chosen by you, and priced separately.
  - Subtitle: A practical introduction to traditional medicine
  - Tags: Wellness
  - Host: Xi'an, Xi'an Lens — Warriors and ancient capital
  - Access: For understanding, not a sales floor; treatment is optional and priced separately.
  - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/92c530b15a6f.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/65719262cf8e.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3dcbac1d8e7e.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/00320021a00c.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/a0b835db0432.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f3ee5aec0c65.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/cbd57f6f99de.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/ae7334b77be5.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/046b78513985.jpg
- Sajinqiao Food Walk (Xi'an): The Muslim culinary street locals actually eat on, one street from the tourist crowds. Your guide walks you stall to stall and orders with you: roujiamo, crisp-baked bread packed with slow-braised pork; noodles pulled long on the counter; lamb skewers straight off the charcoal; what you eat is on your account, and nothing costs much.
  - Subtitle: Xi'an street food with a local
  - Tags: Food
  - Host: Xi'an, Xi'an Lens — Warriors and ancient capital
  - Access: Your guide steers and orders with you; food is paid on your account.
  - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1b231bf5e564.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/d8bf7925468a.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b73ade1e52ce.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f4475eca0112.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9d81d74adbfd.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/e8e2b2514956.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/ef7998707992.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/04e1aa74c86a.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/bfdc415e6889.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/52c56934b3f4.jpg
- Cloth-Shoe Workshop & Tea Ceremony (Beijing): Two of the capital's quiet crafts in one sitting. At the workshop you watch a "thousand-layer" sole take shape: dozens of fabric layers pressed and stitched through with an awl and waxed thread, and put a few stitches in yourself. Then the tea table: your first gaiwan, the lidded cup China brews in, with someone showing you how to brew, pour and hold it, and two or three teas to tell apart. Scheduled around your afternoon train.
  - Subtitle: Two quiet Beijing crafts in one sitting
  - Tags: Craft
  - Host: Beijing, Beijing Lens — Imperial capital and Great Wall
  - Access: Scheduled around your afternoon train.
  - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/76731091de6d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/235ef8084ffe.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/a3a01c05e7c8.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/059cdb347ee5.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/211ef041a5c0.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2e813f89d0a8.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f239b783d1dd.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3b0955c82b6c.jpg
- Tianmen by Day, Lit by Night (Zhangjiajie): One of the longest passenger cableways of its kind lifts you from the city centre to the summit; up top, cliff-hung walkways with optional glass sections and a solid path always beside them, then the vast natural arch of Heaven's Gate, reached by escalator, shuttle or the famous stairway. After dark, the mountain lighting program: seasonal, on the attraction's official calendar, confirmed for your date before you fly.
  - Subtitle: Cable car, cliff walks and seasonal night lighting
  - Tags: Nature
  - Host: Zhangjiajie, Zhangjiajie Lens — Avatar peaks and skywalks
  - Access: Night lighting is seasonal and confirmed against the official calendar before travel.
  - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/d744309287ab.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/c994af5f2dac.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8f3bffb7becf.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/81376dc93e43.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/89ea209e2d83.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/794665e1063d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1963d3f6b020.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f69bd3688f6a.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/89364237c06f.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/005cea6e25d7.jpg
- City Wall by Bike (Xi'an): The Ming-era rampart that still rings old Xi'an, wide enough on top to cycle two abreast; the full circuit runs about 14 kilometres. Bikes are included; ride the whole loop, part of it, or walk a stretch instead: old city on one side of you, new city on the other, the moat and gate towers below.
  - Subtitle: Ride the Ming-era ramparts
  - Tags: Active
  - Host: Xi'an, Xi'an Lens — Warriors and ancient capital
  - Access: Bikes are included; choose the whole loop, part of it, or a walking stretch.
  - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/e3a18a929d13.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9c4dc5e6e575.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/daf832e303d0.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8f7c7a922b33.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f864b69ac4b1.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/ad143f00bca6.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/dabb4f7b21b8.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/6c4bc5467067.jpg
- Tibetan Leather Craft (Songpan): A working leather shop on the old Tea-Horse road in Songpan. Under a Tibetan craftsman's hands you cut, stitch and stamp a small piece, a coaster or a keyring, from marking the hide to setting the last rivet; the finished piece goes home in your pocket.
  - Subtitle: Make a small leather piece in Songpan
  - Tags: Craft
  - Host: Chengdu, Chengdu Lens — Pandas and Sichuan culture
  - Access: The finished piece goes home in your pocket.
  - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/a308cb372557.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f7eea721ab66.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4c3959cd45ba.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4030f4e1e4f5.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/797a40c5d09c.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/99dce2de6a24.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/bc75d39d70fb.jpg
- Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge (Zhangjiajie): 430 metres of clear pane suspended about 300 metres above the gorge floor, the longest and highest of its kind when it opened in 2016. You cross at your own pace; a solid walkway runs beside it the whole way, and time allowing, boardwalks lead down into the gorge itself with a short boat ride out.
  - Subtitle: Clear pane above the gorge
  - Tags: Glass Bridge
  - Host: Zhangjiajie, Zhangjiajie Lens — Avatar peaks and skywalks
  - Access: A solid walkway runs alongside the glass for the entire length.
  - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/fddaf5f5a165.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b47948a69083.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/150a576fd909.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f6dc4bb869f2.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/aaa7d820f194.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/c05df7d4fbbc.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1607b5deca71.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/97e6678c30fe.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/38716b06bfc8.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/c15d4e4de3c7.jpg
- Xianggong Hill at Sunrise (Yangshuo): A pre-dawn start and a short climb of stone steps to the platform photographers rank among the Li River's finest: the great bend below, layered peaks turning silver, then gold, as the light comes up. Mist changes the picture by the minute, which is the point.
  - Subtitle: Sunrise over the Li River bend
  - Tags: Photo
  - Host: Yangshuo, Yangshuo Lens — Countryside and karst calm
  - Access: Mist changes the picture by the minute.
  - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/08e757afb5b7.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/16653fa18065.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4ede174ee009.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/7760be33afee.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/7d28774a7484.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f728d8c37b0a.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2d6fd62c3ee4.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2ee126c13fe9.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/7159e7fa6afd.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/56823258cae1.jpg
- Yulong River Slow Day (Yangshuo): The trip's built-in exhale. A poler takes your bamboo raft down a quiet stretch: rice paddies, stone bridges, water buffalo, and the occasional low weir with a gentle splash, then country lanes by bike, e-bike or car, your legs' choice, and the included afternoon tea at a table by the water.
  - Subtitle: The trip's built-in exhale
  - Tags: Slow
  - Host: Yangshuo, Yangshuo Lens — Countryside and karst calm
  - Access: Afternoon tea by the water is included.
  - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b09be4e9e978.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f08a7d5e0a6e.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/ed66fae24c5f.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/5943b2f5538d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/02042b694496.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/6c5367f53386.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f3ad04674ebb.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/876ec4ec8b81.jpg
- Tujia Brocade (Zhangjiajie): Known locally as xilankapu, "the flowered bedcover": geometric symbols the Tujia have woven for generations, built thread by thread on a wooden loom. You watch a weaver work the pattern, hear what the motifs mean, and try a few rows yourself when the workshop's daily hours allow.
  - Subtitle: Try a few rows on a wooden loom
  - Tags: Craft
  - Host: Zhangjiajie, Zhangjiajie Lens — Avatar peaks and skywalks
  - Access: Hands-on weaving depends on the workshop's daily hours.
  - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8298b74be623.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/de558924fc70.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/6baa5e8ea251.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/6615cf9639be.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/151225c8da88.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/53852fe3ad24.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/72871748e156.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/73488f51d149.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f5c10cf4cb96.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4950ad25b553.jpg
- Two Rivers & Four Lakes by Night (Guilin): The name is the route: an evening boat loop through the two rivers and four lakes that ring Guilin's centre. Banyan roots trail the banks, the twin Sun and Moon pagodas stand lit on the water, and bridge after bridge passes over your head, each a different silhouette. Scheduled once your train arrival is fixed.
  - Subtitle: Guilin's waterways after dark
  - Tags: Night
  - Host: Guilin, Guilin Lens — Karst rivers and terraces
  - Access: Scheduled once your train arrival is confirmed.
  - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/083abca9a4ce.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f559f129a28d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/36211596fbab.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/33719db26f4d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/883f8324fece.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8808cbb6b428.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/7c7846347b22.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4bcebf85988a.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/18d677886a8b.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9c860cd7f364.jpg
- Robotaxi & Huaqiangbei (Shenzhen): Shenzhen's future, hands-on. The autonomous ride runs on a licensed operator's routes: you flag it on a screen, sensors and cameras read the street, and the steering wheel turns itself; we book in advance for your dates and confirm before you land. Then Huaqiangbei: floor after floor where components, prototypes and finished gadgets sell side by side, with your guide decoding who buys what and how an idea becomes a product here in weeks.
  - Subtitle: Shenzhen's future, hands-on
  - Tags: Tech
  - Host: Shenzhen, Shenzhen Lens — Drones and future mobility
  - Access: Robotaxi service is booked in advance and confirmed before landing.
  - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/e5244acfc1e1.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/a2c22647c007.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/664627200a07.jpg
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## Itinerary

### Imperial Capitals - 5 days

History

#### Beijing (3 days)

- Subtitle: Beijing
- Recommendation: Begin with the capital's ceremonial center and the Great Wall at Mutianyu.
- Transport: High-speed rail
- Transport mode: train

Walk the central axis early and leave a full morning for Mutianyu.

- Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/PHYYdt4F.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/17bdSgjF.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1cZHxWkg.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/14h8ZnOb.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1vwu9mIQ.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1X29GyUB.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1xVI7jTc.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1bDq9gT4.webp
##### Day 1: Beijing: the Imperial Axis

- (transport) — Your driver meets you at Beijing Capital or Daxing Airport and transfers you to the hotel; the sightseeing programme begins the following morning.
- (sight) — You start on the great square, then walk through the Meridian Gate into the palace finished in 1420. The route walks you the way the court moved: ceremonial halls first, then the residential quarters, then the imperial garden — public grandeur giving way, room by room, to private life. You'll recalibrate what the word "big" means.
- (sight) — You climb to the hilltop pavilion and turn round: below you, the golden roofs run to the horizon along Beijing's central axis — one straight line, laid down six centuries ago.
- (sight) — You wander courtyard lanes, lakeside streets and the small shops of old Beijing; your guide knows which lanes still live like lanes. The evening is yours around Houhai.
- (accommodation) Novotel Beijing Peace — Stay at Novotel Beijing Peace.

##### Day 2: Beijing: the Great Wall at Mutianyu

- (sight) — The cable car or open chairlift lifts you to the ridge; the wall carries you from watchtower to watchtower while your guide reads its logic aloud — beacon towers, passes, the sightlines that made it work. You'll catch yourself running a hand along the parapet: the same gesture as the soldiers who stood here six hundred years ago.
- (dining) — A lunch stop near the foot of the wall; your guide books it, at your expense.
- (sight) — Back in the city, you stand between the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube: Beijing's other century, an hour from the Ming one you walked this morning.
- (accommodation) Novotel Beijing Peace — Stay at Novotel Beijing Peace.

##### Day 3: Beijing: Temple of Heaven, rail to Xi'an

- (sight) — You stand where emperors prayed for the harvest: the Hall of Prayer, the Imperial Vault, the round Circular Mound — architecture doing astronomy around you, circles for heaven, squares for earth.
- (sight) — In one building, you pick up the backstory for everything you'll see in the next fifteen days: bronzes, ceramics, sculpture, calligraphy.
- (sight) — You watch layered soles being hand-stitched at a cloth-shoe workshop, then settle in for your first proper gaiwan: learning how to brew, pour and hold it. Both fit neatly around your train journey.
- (transport) — The high-speed rail takes you west, about 4½ hours to Xi'an.
- (accommodation) Somerset Xindicheng Xi'an — Stay at Somerset Xindicheng Xi'an.

#### Xi'an (2 days)

- Subtitle: Xi'an
- Recommendation: See the Terracotta Warriors, then cross the city wall and food streets at street level.
- Transport: Private vehicle
- Transport mode: car

Pair the archaeological sites with time inside the old city.

- Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/h3LXg5NB.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2SYFFac8.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/56RpQD9k.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2IrwPATt.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2z6MDkku.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/34qxDxFA.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3DF4Fowd.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3G0oTlIq.webp
##### Day 4: Xi'an: the Terracotta Warriors

- (sight) — You look down into the pits at an estimated eight thousand soldiers ranked for the First Emperor: you learn to tell generals from archers by their armour and hairstyle, and if you look closely at the newer excavations, you'll find traces of the original paint.
- (dining) — The hand-pulled noodles the province is famous for; your guidebooks the place, on your account.
- (sight) — Someone reads your pulse, opens the herb drawers for you, and walks you through the logic of seasonal balance — a working introduction, not a lecture; any treatment stays optional and unhurried.
- (accommodation) Somerset Xindicheng Xi'an — Stay at Somerset Xindicheng Xi'an.

##### Day 5: Xi'an: City Wall, Sajinqiao, rail to Chengdu

- (sight) — You cycle the ramparts of one of China's most complete ancient walls, wide enough to ride two abreast; the full circuit is about 14 kilometres — you ride as much as takes your fancy, walk a stretch if you'd rather. Old city on one side, new city on the other.
- (dining) — You eat your way down Xi'an's Muslim culinary quarter, one street from the tourist crowds: roujiamo, noodles pulled long on the counter, lamb straight off the charcoal. Your guide steers, you graze.
- (transport) — Your evening train crosses the Qinling range, the mountains that divide China's north from its south; about three and a half hours.
- (accommodation) Mercure Chengdu Chunxi Taikoo Li — Stay at Mercure Chengdu Chunxi Taikoo Li.

### Sichuan Highlands - 5 days

Mountains

#### Chuanzhusi (1 days)

- Subtitle: Chuanzhu Temple
- Recommendation: Break the climb into the highlands with Songpan's Tea-Horse Road history.
- Transport: Private vehicle
- Transport mode: car

Keep the first high-altitude day measured, with regular stops.

- Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/gMJ0MWLM.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/eVedUB7i.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/64ad8b660489.png, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/a308cb372557.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/Ekpawy3o.png, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/080ea132dcfb.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/63de8b7aaa01.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/cb4f92d947c7.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/97Fun97K.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8bec7fe22dc2.jpg
##### Day 6: Into the mountains: Songpan

- (transport) — Your van climbs out of the Chengdu Plain and into the Aba highlands on long switchbacks; you step out wherever a view or a village market earns it.
- (sight) — You walk through city gates, old streets and a covered bridge on the former Tea-Horse Road: for centuries, tea went up to the plateau from here and horses came down — and your guide shows you where Han, Tibetan, Qiang and Hui traders kept shop in the same lanes.
- (sight) — Cut, stitch and stamp a small piece under a Tibetan craftsman's hands; it goes home in your pocket.
- (accommodation) Seercuo International Grand Hotel — Stay at the Seercuo International Grand Hotel.

#### Jiuzhaigou (2 days)

- Subtitle: Jiuzhaigou
- Recommendation: Spend three measured days across Huanglong, Jiuzhaigou and nearby communities.
- Transport: High-speed rail
- Transport mode: train

Let weather and altitude set the pace; the park circuit stays flexible.

- Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/ewe9MhvF.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/rE6eMW4M.png, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1mhRK58M.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/63de8b7aaa01.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/05af336caf9d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/080ea132dcfb.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/Brh7guB9.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8bec7fe22dc2.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/6zPUYGQr.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/cb4f92d947c7.jpg
##### Day 7: Huanglong

- (sight) — The cable car takes you up, then you walk the boardwalks down beside pools terraced like rice paddies, their calcite rims holding water in blues and golds. You're above 3,000 metres here, so your pace stays gentle, with rest stops built in and oxygen in your van.
- (note) — Huanglong closes seasonally and checks the weather daily; if conditions close it, we switch to Mounigou Valley on the same day, whose waterfalls and calcite pools fulfil the same desire.
- (transport) — The private van takes you on; checked in by evening.
- (accommodation) Sheraton Jiuzhaigou Resort — Stay at Sheraton Jiuzhaigou Resort.

##### Day 8: Pandas & the Baima Village

- (sight) — You spend the morning at the centre, watching keepers' routines and walking the habitat corridors — pandas at close quarters, in their own forests rather than a city enclosure, and you hear how a mountain community lives alongside them.
- (sight) — The masked Zhou dance in the village square; then flour on your hands, as you join the making of potato cakes done the home way, and eat them together. The afternoon stays slow: wooden houses, prayer flags, and time to talk. You come through as guests, not as an audience.
- (accommodation) Sheraton Jiuzhaigou Resort — Stay at Sheraton Jiuzhaigou Resort.

#### Chengdu (2 days)

- Subtitle: 成都
- Recommendation: Return to low altitude for a deliberately unhurried city day.
- Transport: High-speed rail
- Transport mode: train

Make the People's Park teahouse the anchor and keep the rest loose.

- Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1a912e32bb9f.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/37Mf4mO1.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/l8ip3jJo.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/0yWQ1Cmk.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8DeEtY7M.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4mDgLfna.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/867dbd67acaa.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2iDGv07g.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/slVZuUAq.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2sL1auf0.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4BqwVBVY.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/5zaqnUda.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1BPFDek8.webp
##### Day 9: Jiuzhaigou

- (sight) — Park shuttles carry you between the tiers of lakes and falls; your guide picks your circuit by season and crowds. Five-Flower Lake, where sunken logs glow under mineral-clear water below you, and Nuorilang, a waterfall wider than it is tall.
- (transport) — You're out of the park by mid-afternoon, and the new Sichuan-Qinghai line runs you back: you leave the mountains after lunch and are among teahouses by dark.
- (accommodation) Mercure Chengdu Chunxi Taikoo Li — Stay at Mercure Chengdu Chunxi Taikoo Li.

##### Day 10: Chengdu, at Chengdu's pace

- (sight) — Bamboo chairs, a lidded cup kept topped up, cards slapping at the next table; if the ear-cleaner's tuning fork rings past, that's part of the furniture. You'll learn the Chengdu way of sitting: not waiting for anything.
- (sight) — You step into an active monastery: monks on their rounds, incense coils, long quiet courtyards — and beside it, a vegetarian kitchen locals queue for. Join the queue.
- (sight) — You walk three restored lanes of Qing courtyards, then Taikoo Li's open-air blocks: in a single glance you take in a temple roofline and a flagship store. Old and new Chengdu, two streets apart.
- (accommodation) Mercure Chengdu Chunxi Taikoo Li — Stay at Mercure Chengdu Chunxi Taikoo Li.

### Sandstone Country - 3 days

Landscapes

#### Zhangjiajie (3 days)

- Subtitle: Zhangjiajie
- Recommendation: Enter from the Wulingyuan side and link Yuanjiajie's pillars with Tianmen Mountain and Golden Whip Stream without compressing the walks.
- Transport: High-speed rail
- Transport mode: train

Pace Yuanjiajie around the arrival flight; use cable cars for the Tianmen climb and keep the glass bridge optional.

- Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/joaxng1J.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/14B6b2VP.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1uw3ShDO.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2t45crmz.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3g0JUsbQ.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3KNKbO1s.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4FYtDGPN.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/75b1yrkY.webp
##### Day 11: To Zhangjiajie, Tianmen Mountain

- (transport) — A short flight from Chengdu; your Hunan guide is waiting at arrivals and drives you straight into the Wulingyuan reserve.
- (sight) — One of the longest passenger cableways of its kind carries you 7.4 kilometres from the city centre: rooftops under you first, then forest, then cloud against your window. You walk the cliff-hung paths, glass underfoot if you choose it, a solid path always beside you, then stand in Heaven's Gate itself, about 130 metres high, formed when the cliff face collapsed in AD 263. You reach it by escalator, shuttle or the famous stairway, as the day's flow allows.
- (accommodation) Pullman Zhangjiajie — Stay at Pullman Zhangjiajie.

##### Day 12: Yuanjiajie, Tianzi Mountain and Golden Whip Stream

- (transport) — A private vehicle takes you from Zhangjiajie city into the Wulingyuan reserve.
- (sight) — The Bailong Elevator lifts you into the sandstone pillar forest: you stand on platforms above the spires that James Cameron's Avatar borrowed, and cross the natural arch known as the First Bridge Under Heaven.
- (sight) — You look down from the high balconies over the densest stand of pillars: a mountain named for a Tujia leader who called himself the Son of Heaven.
- (sight) — You walk a flat path beside water clear to the pebbles, cliffs closing overhead, macaques supervising you from the boulders; the length is cut to fit your day.
- (accommodation) Pullman Zhangjiajie — Stay at Pullman Zhangjiajie.

##### Day 13: The Glass Bridge and Tujia brocade

- (sight) — You cross 430 metres of clear glass above the Grand Canyon, the record-holder at its 2016 opening, a solid walkway beside you, with the gorge floor a long way down beneath your feet.
- (sight) — You watch Tujia brocade grow thread by thread on a wooden loom, and try a few rows yourself when the workshop is open.
- (accommodation) Pullman Zhangjiajie — Stay at Pullman Zhangjiajie.
- (sight) — You cross 430 metres of clear glass above the gorge — the record-holder at its 2016 opening, a solid walkway beside you.
- (sight) — You watch Tujia brocade grow thread by thread on a wooden loom, and try a few rows yourself when the workshop is open.

### Karst to Future - 5 days

Contrast

#### Guilin (1 days)

- Subtitle: Guilin
- Recommendation: Use Guilin as the rail gateway and see its connected waterways after dark.
- Transport: High-speed rail
- Transport mode: train

Fix the cruise only after the inbound train is confirmed.

- Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/6ub8sBEM.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3uGHEW2j.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4UilJCmH.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4VtYWWkT.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4Yfatbqd.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/5ElOR2GL.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/5Mke9ayW.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/6451wQWE.webp
##### Day 14: Rail to Guilin, the luminous waterways

- (transport) — Your train runs south at high speed; the karst starts crowding your window before Guilin arrives.
- (sight) — You drift through pedestrian streets and river snacks, under the osmanthus trees the city is named for.
- (sight) — This boat threads the ring of waterways inside the city: banyan banks slide past you, the twin pagodas stand lit on the water, and bridge after bridge passes over your head, each a different silhouette.
- (accommodation) Shangri-La Hotel Guilin — Stay at Shangri-La Hotel Guilin.

#### Yangshuo (2 days)

- Subtitle: Yangshuo
- Recommendation: Slow the journey down on the Yulong River before a sunrise view over the Li River.
- Transport: High-speed rail
- Transport mode: train

Match the river day to water conditions and the group's preferred pace.

- Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/kVrW0yX6.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4iXf7Jvh.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/629OKLgJ.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/51gauczC.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/5Pv2GT5l.webp
##### Day 15: Yangshuo: the slow day

- (transport) — A private vehicle takes you from Guilin to Yangshuo before the Yulong River programme.
- (sight) — You steer the punt from the stern as rice paddies, stone bridges and water buffalo glide past. Half an hour in, you'll realise you haven't said a word, and haven't needed to.
- (sight) — You follow quiet lanes between paddies and peaks; bike, e-bike or car — your legs decide.
- (dining) — A table awaits you at the water's edge, karst on both sides, nothing on your schedule until dinner.
- (accommodation) Yangshuo Ancient Garden Boutique Hotel — Stay at Yangshuo Ancient Garden Boutique Hotel.

##### Day 16: Xianggong Hill & underground karst

- (sight) — You start before dawn and climb a short stair of stone steps; below you opens the river's most photographed bend, layered peaks turning silver, then gold, as the light comes up around you.
- (sight) — You walk underground among stalactites, stone curtains and still pools — the same mineral-rich water you watched building Huanglong's terraces last week, caught working underground.
- (accommodation) Yangshuo Ancient Garden Boutique Hotel — Stay at Yangshuo Ancient Garden Boutique Hotel.

#### Shenzhen (2 days)

- Subtitle: Shenzhen
- Recommendation: End with Huaqiangbei and a pre-arranged robotaxi ride, subject to operator service.
- Transport: High-speed rail
- Transport mode: train

Confirm the robotaxi before arrival and keep Huaqiangbei as the fixed anchor.

- Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3SLVWc9q.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/d6P4St5I.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/cqkGgMvK.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/h4WopDz7.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/0540e86e5dd0.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1dabf6d8d82e.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8AH70UD0.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/j3OhqX9B.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/09971fb8ed55.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/0cb198f8a49d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/664627200a07.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/efV2L3SP.webp
##### Day 17: Shenzhen: the driverless ride

- (transport) — Your train runs about three hours south into the Pearl River Delta; outside your window, the karst gives way to container ports and towers.
- (sight) — Reserved in advance for your dates: you book the journey on a screen, sensors and cameras read the road, and the wheel steers itself at the first corner. You'll stare at the empty steering wheel for a long moment, and then laugh.
- (sight) — You climb floor above floor of components, prototypes and finished gadgets; your guide decodes who buys what here — and where your own phone was probably born.
- (accommodation) Kempinski Hotel Shenzhen — Stay at Kempinski Hotel Shenzhen.

##### Day 18: Departure

- (sight) — Aerospace, AI and robotics exhibitions, if your departure time allows and booking opens for your date.
- (transport) — After a leisurely lunch (at your own expense), a private transfer to Bao'an Airport or the rail station, with time to spare.

## Daily plan

### Day 1 — Beijing: the Imperial Axis

Start at the center of it all. One straight line through six centuries.

- Tian'anmen & the Forbidden City: You start on the Great Square, then walk through the Meridian Gate into the palace completed in 1420. The route takes you the way the court moved: ceremonial halls first, then the residential quarters, then the imperial garden: public grandeur giving way, room by room, to private life. You'll recalibrate what the word "big" means.
- Jingshan Hill: you climb to the hilltop pavilion and turn around: below you, the golden roofs run to the horizon along Beijing's central axis: one straight line, laid down six centuries ago.
- Shichahai hutongs: you wander courtyard lanes, lakeside streets and the small shops of old Beijing; your guide knows which lanes still live like lanes. The evening is yours around Houhai.
- Stay: Beijing
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 2 — Beijing: the Great Wall at Mutianyu

The wall, without the crush. Stand where the empire drew its line.

- Up to the ridgeline: the cable car or open chairlift lifts you to the ridge; the wall carries you from watchtower to watchtower while your guide reads its logic aloud: beacon towers, passes, the sightlines that made it work.
- On the brick: you'll catch yourself running a hand along the parapet: the same gesture as the soldiers who stood here six hundred years ago.
- Lunch below the wall: a lunch stop near the foot of the wall; your guide books it, on your account.
- Olympic Park: back in the city, you stand between the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube: Beijing's other century, an hour from the Ming one you walked this morning.
- Stay: Beijing
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 3 — Beijing: Temple of Heaven · rail to Xi'an

The emperor's final audience with heaven, then the fast train west.

- Temple of Heaven: you stand where emperors prayed for the harvest: the Hall of Prayer, the Imperial Vault, the round Circular Mound: architecture doing astronomy around you, circles for heaven, squares for earth.
- National Museum: in one building, you pick up the backstory for everything you'll see in the next fifteen days: bronzes, ceramics, sculpture, calligraphy.
- Hands and leaves: you watch layered soles stitched by hand at a cloth-shoe workshop, then sit down to your first proper gaiwan: how to brew, pour and hold it. Both fit around your train; then the high-speed rail carries you west, about 4.5 hours to Xi'an.
- Stay: Xi'an
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 4 — Xi'an: the Terracotta Warriors

Meet the army that waited 2,200 years. One emperor, eight thousand faces.

- The pits: you look down into the pits at an estimated eight thousand soldiers ranked for the first emperor: you learn to tell generals from archers by armour and hairstyle, and if you look closely at the newer excavations, you'll find traces of the original paint.
- A Shaanxi lunch stop: the hand-pulled noodles the province is famous for; your guide books the place, on your account.
- Chinese medicine, gently: someone reads your pulse, opens the herb drawers for you, and walks you through the logic of seasonal balance: a working introduction, not a lecture; any treatment stays optional and unhurried.
- Stay: Xi'an
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 5 — Xi'an: City Wall, Sajinqiao, rail to Chengdu

The empire ends on a bicycle. Then the road to Sichuan.

- City Wall by bike: you pedal the ramparts of one of China's most complete ancient walls, wide enough to ride two abreast; the full circuit is about 14 kilometres: you ride as much as suits you, walk a stretch if you'd rather. Old city on one side of you, new city on the other.
- Sajinqiao: you eat your way down Xi'an's Muslim culinary quarter, one street from the tourist crowds: roujiamo pressed warm into your hand, crisp bread, slow-braised pork, noodles pulled long on the counter, lamb straight off the charcoal. Your guide steers, you graze.
- Rail to Chengdu: your evening train crosses the Qinling range, the mountains that divide China's north from its south; you're in Chengdu in about 3.5 hours.
- Stay: Chengdu
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 6 — Into the mountains: Songpan

The old trade road climbs all day: by evening you are about 2,500 metres higher than you woke up.

- The drive north: your van climbs out of the Chengdu Plain and into the Aba highlands in long switchbacks; you step out wherever a view or a village market earns it.
- Songpan Ancient Town: you walk city gates, old streets and a covered bridge on the former Tea-Horse road: for centuries, tea went up to the plateau from here and horses came down, and your guide shows you where Han, Tibetan, Qiang and Hui traders kept shop in the same lanes.
- A leather workshop: cut, stitch and stamp a small piece under a Tibetan craftsman's hands; it goes home in your pocket.
- Stay: Chuanzhusi
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 7 — Huanglong

Terraced pools the colour of glacier water, built by the water itself.

- The calcite terraces: the cable car lifts you up, then you walk the boardwalks down beside pools terraced like rice paddies, their calcite rims holding water in blues and golds. You're above 3,000 metres here, so your pace stays gentle, with rest stops built in and oxygen in your van.
- Weather honesty: Huanglong closes seasonally and checks the weather daily; if conditions close it, we switch that same day to Mounigou Valley, whose waterfalls and calcite pools fulfil the same wish.
- On to Jiuzhaigou: the private van carries you on; checked in by evening.
- Stay: Jiuzhaigou
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 8 — Pandas & the Baima village

The gentlest day in the mountains. A dance, a dish, a village.

- Panda conservation centre: you spend the morning at the centre, watching keepers' routines and walking the habitat corridors: pandas at close quarters, in their own forests rather than a city enclosure, and you hear how a mountain community lives alongside them.
- The Baima welcome: the masked Zhou dance in the village square; then flour on your hands, as you join in making potato cakes the home way, and eat them together.
- Village lanes: the afternoon stays slow: wooden houses, prayer flags, and time to talk. You come through as guests, not as an audience.
- Stay: Jiuzhaigou
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 9 — Jiuzhaigou

The lakes you've seen in photographs, in every blue the water owns.

- The valleys: Park shuttles carry you between the tiers of lakes and falls; your guide picks your circuit by season and crowds. You'll want two names: Five-Flower Lake, where sunken logs glow under mineral-clear water below you, and Nuorilang, a waterfall wider than it is tall.
- Colour on record: You'll take a few pictures, then put the phone away: the lens can't capture it, your eyes can.
- Rail back to Chengdu: you're out of the park by mid-afternoon, and the new Sichuan–Qinghai line runs you back: you leave the mountains after lunch and are among teahouses by dark.
- Stay: Chengdu
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 10 — Chengdu, at Chengdu's pace

A rest day that doesn't feel like one, in a city that never hurries.

- People's Park teahouse: bamboo chairs, a lidded cup kept topped up, cards slapping at the next table; if the ear-cleaner's tuning fork rings past, that's part of the furniture. You'll learn the Chengdu way of sitting: not waiting for anything.
- Wenshu Monastery: you step into an active monastery: monks on their rounds, incense coils, long quiet courtyards, and beside it, a vegetarian kitchen locals queue for. Join the queue.
- Kuanzhai Alley & Taikoo Li: you walk three restored lanes of Qing courtyards, then Taikoo Li's open-air blocks: in a single glance you take in a temple roofline and a flagship store. Old and new Chengdu, two streets apart.
- Stay: Chengdu
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 11 — To Zhangjiajie · Tianmen Mountain

You land, and the mountain already has a doorway open for you.

- Morning flight: a short flight out of Chengdu; your Hunan guide is waiting at arrivals.
- The long cableway: one of the longest passenger cableways of its kind carries you 7.4 kilometres from the city centre: rooftops under you first, then forest, then cloud against your window.
- Cliff paths & Heaven's Gate: you walk the cliff-hung paths, glass underfoot if you choose it, a solid path always beside you, then stand in the great opening itself, about 130 metres high, formed when the cliff face collapsed in AD 263.
- Stay: Zhangjiajie
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 12 — Yuanjiajie · Tianzi · Golden Whip Stream

The pillar forest from the balconies, then along its floor.

- Yuanjiajie: The Bailong Elevator lifts you into the sandstone pillar forest: you stand on platforms above the spires that James Cameron's *Avatar* borrowed, and cross the natural arch known as the First Bridge Under Heaven.
- Tianzi Mountain: you look down from the high balconies over the densest stand of pillars: a mountain named for a Tujia leader who called himself the Son of Heaven.
- Golden Whip Stream: you walk a flat path beside water clear to the pebbles, cliffs closing overhead, macaques supervising you from the boulders; the length is cut to fit your day.
- Stay: Wulingyuan
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 13 — The Glass Bridge & Tujia brocade

Glass over the canyon in the morning, thread on a loom after lunch.

- Grand Canyon Glass Bridge: you cross 430 metres of clear pane above the gorge, the record-holder at its 2016 opening, a solid walkway beside you, with the canyon floor a long way down through your own feet.
- Tujia brocade: you watch Tujia brocade grow thread by thread on a wooden loom, and try a few rows yourself when the workshop is open.
- Stay: Wulingyuan
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 14 — Rail to Guilin · the lit waterways

Change stones: sandstone out, limestone in, and the country turns soft.

- Rail south: your train runs south at high speed; the karst starts crowding your window before Guilin arrives.
- Old town on foot: you drift through pedestrian streets and riverside snacks, beneath the osmanthus trees for which the city is named, at whatever pace your afternoon has left.
- Two Rivers & Four Lakes cruise: your boat threads the ring of waterways inside the city: banyan banks slide past you, the twin pagodas stand lit on the water, and bridge after bridge passes over your head, each a different silhouette.
- Stay: Guilin
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 15 — Yangshuo: the slow day

Two weeks in, the trip exhales.

- Bamboo raft on the Yulong: Your poler steers from the stern while rice paddies, stone bridges and water buffalo slide past you. Half an hour in, you'll realise you haven't said anything, and haven't needed to.
- Country lanes by bike: you follow quiet lanes between paddies and peaks; bike, e-bike or car: your legs decide.
- Coffee on the hillside: a table waits for you on the slope above the valley, karst ranked away on both sides, nothing on your schedule until dinner.
- Stay: Yangshuo
- Meals: Breakfast; hillside cafe afternoon tea included

### Day 16 — Xianggong Hill & underground karst

The Li River's great bend, from above and from inside the rock. What water does, given time.

- Xianggong Hill: You start before dawn and climb a short stair of stone steps; below you opens the river's most photographed bend, layered peaks turning silver, then gold, as the light comes up around you.
- A karst cave: you walk underground among stalactites, stone curtains and still pools: the same mineral-rich water you watched building Huanglong's terraces last week, caught working underground.
- Back to Yangshuo: the rest of the day is yours: the river, a pool chair, or the town's cafe streets.
- Stay: Yangshuo
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 17 — Shenzhen: the driverless ride

The last city runs on a different clock. Forty years, one city.

- Rail from Yangshuo: your train runs about three hours south into the Pearl River Delta; outside your window, the karst gives way to container ports and towers.
- Robotaxi: reserved ahead for your dates: you book the ride on a screen, sensors and cameras read the street, and the wheel turns itself at the first corner. You'll stare at the empty steering wheel for a long moment, and then laugh.
- Huaqiangbei: you climb floor after floor of components, prototypes and finished gadgets; your guide decodes who buys what here, and where your own phone was probably born.
- Stay: Shenzhen
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 18 — Departure

The morning bends to your flight. Home, with a longer answer.

- Optional science museum: aerospace, AI and robotics exhibits, if your departure time allows and booking opens for your date.
- Onward: after a leisurely lunch (at your own expense), a private transfer to Bao'an Airport or the railway station, with time to spare.
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

## Hotels

### The Temple House

- City: Chengdu
- Description: Boutique luxury hotel set within a restored Qing-dynasty courtyard near Taikoo Li, boasting one of Chengdu's most striking design statements.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2Dh9ApbX.webp

### Home Inn Zhangjiajie Dayongfucheng

- City: Zhangjiajie
- Description: Home Inn Zhangjiajie Dayongfucheng is located in the city centre near Dayongfucheng, offering comfortable rooms and convenient access to attractions.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8sMNjwlL.webp

### Shangri-La Hotel Guilin

- City: guilin
- Description: A softer riverside stay in Guilin, ideal for travellers seeking a greener setting and a calmer break between days of sightseeing.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/l5FMkJfm.webp

### Seercuo International Grand Hotel

- City: Chuanzhusi
- Description: A practical highland stay in Songpan County, well positioned for the road between Huanglong, Chuanzhusi, and Jiuzhaigou.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/cwUq8FLX.webp

### Hotel Indigo Jiuzhai, an IHG Hotel

- City: Jiuzhaigou
- Description: A boutique luxury resort inspired by Tibetan and Qiang culture, offering stylish accommodation and immersive local experiences near Jiuzhaigou National Park.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2pdwFxkQ.webp

### Atour Hotel Chengdu Taikoo Li Chunxi Road Pedestrian Street

- City: Chengdu
- Description: A simple Chengdu stay near Chunxi Road, ideal for travellers who want easy walks, food stops and short city transfers.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/bUOsDqAb.webp

### Hilton Garden Inn Zhangjiajie Wulingyuan

- City: Wulingyuan
- Description: Hilton Garden Inn Zhangjiajie Wulingyuan. A selected stay in Wulingyuan.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/c0KGqTPP.webp

### Yangshuo Ancient Garden Boutique Hotel

- City: Yangshuo
- Description: A characterful Yangshuo stay with a countryside feel, suited to travellers who prefer charm over a standard city hotel.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/hHS5RgEc.webp

### Kempinski Hotel Shenzhen

- City: Shenzhen
- Description: A Nanshan hotel beside the Houhai commercial district, with easy access to Shenzhen's western business and cultural areas.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2mFLzVk5.webp

### Atour Hotel (Beijing West Railway Station South Square)

- City: Beijing
- Description: Upscale local hotel near Beijing West Railway Station South Square.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/dHqyz391.webp

### Yangshuo Mountain Retreat

- City: Yangshuo
- Description: A peaceful riverside retreat for travellers who want Yangshuo's karst scenery to feel close, quiet and unhurried.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2R0KYRQ9.webp

### Somerset Xindicheng Xi'an

- City: Xi'an
- Description: A comfortable serviced-apartment option in Xi'an, suited to travellers who like extra space and a more residential feel.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1ObUAtFi.webp

### Pullman Zhangjiajie Hotel

- City: Zhangjiajie
- Description: Pullman Zhangjiajie, in Wulingyuan District, offers easy access to the UNESCO-listed Wulingyuan Scenic Area plus taxi pickup.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9PAgozjd.webp

### Beijing Marriott Hotel Northeast

- City: Beijing
- Description: International luxury hotel in Beijing, ideal for business trips and city breaks.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/bWOFYezP.jpg

### Sheraton Guilin Hotel

- City: Guilin
- Description: Sheraton Guilin Hotel is situated on the banks of the Li River, offering comfortable rooms and convenient access to Guilin's attractions.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/kjMQHeJN.webp

### Sheraton Xi'an North City Hotel

- City: Xi'an
- Description: Sheraton Xi'an North City: five-star luxury five minutes from the Daming Palace, with an indoor pool and wellness centre.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/k01OUBYw.jpg

### Hilton Chengdu Chenghua

- City: Chengdu
- Description: A practical Chengdu base for travellers who want easy city access, relaxed days out, and a comfortable return after sightseeing.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3pup59R7.webp

### Futian Shangri-La, Shenzhen

- City: Shenzhen
- Description: Located in Futian CBD, close to major landmarks and metro lines. Featuring 500+ elegant rooms and suites with exclusive Horizon Club services.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/lNzYq6FP.webp

### Hampton by Hilton Zhangjiajie National Forest Park

- City: Wulingyuan
- Description: Hampton by Hilton Zhangjiajie National Forest Park. A selected stay in Wulingyuan.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/23699bfa7dd9.jpg

### Noble Guest Hotel

- City: Jiuzhaigou
- Description: A culturally inspired hotel near the entrance to Jiuzhaigou National Park, offering convenient access and a comfortable stay for travellers exploring the scenic valley.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2yXqkW1G.webp

### Yangshuo Elite Garden

- City: Yangshuo
- Description: Located in central Yangshuo near West Street and the Li River, Yangshuo Elite Garden Hotel is a comfortable four-star hotel offering convenient access to the area’s main attractions.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/31Rz8fCF.webp

### Zhangjiajie Rezen One S Hotel

- City: Zhangjiajie
- Description: An upmarket city hotel offering comfortable accommodation, dining and meeting facilities, making it an ideal base for travellers exploring Zhangjiajie’s scenic attractions.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/e9wULwWK.webp

### DoubleTree by Hilton Beijing East Third Ring Road

- City: Beijing
- Description: International upscale hotel in Beijing, suitable for business and leisure stays.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/kkFJOiOe.webp

### China Southern Airlines Pearl Hotel Guilin

- City: Guilin
- Description: China Southern Airlines Pearl Hotel Guilin is situated near Guilin Railway Station, offering comfortable accommodation and convenient amenities for both business and leisure travellers.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/hcF3JHeA.webp

### Shangri-La Hotel

- City: Xi'an
- Description: Shangri-La Hotel Xi'an: five-star luxury near the Terracotta Warriors, 35 minutes from the airport.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/ldYT8r2G.webp

### The Langham, Shenzhen

- City: Shenzhen
- Description: The Langham, Shenzhen is a luxury hotel in the Futian CBD, featuring elegant rooms, fine dining, and premium facilities.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4S1F07e6.webp

## Included / Excluded

### What's Included

- Private vehicles: Air-conditioned private vehicles for all listed sightseeing and transfers, including station and airport pick-ups
- Hotels: 17 nights in selected four-star, five-star or quality boutique stays, breakfast daily
- Guides: Licensed English-speaking guides throughout every region
- Tickets & experiences: All listed attractions, plus: city-wall bikes · cloth-shoe & tea sittings (Beijing) · Chinese medicine intro (Xi'an) · leather craft (Songpan) · Baima village programme · Yulong rafting & bikes · hillside cafe afternoon tea · Tujia brocade visit
- Also: Bottled water on touring days · travel accident insurance

### Not Included

- Long-haul: International flights to Beijing and onward travel from Shenzhen
- Internal legs: The Chengdu–Zhangjiajie flight and inter-city rail tickets are quoted with your confirmation: one figure, no surprises
- Meals: Beyond the included meals, lunches and dinners stay flexible: each day your guide recommends and books around the group's tastes
- Personal: Visas, gratuities, single supplement, personal spending, and any optional treatments or museum reservations not included in your confirmation

### Special Notes

A few things on this route depend on weather, seasons or operators. Here they are, told straight: with the backup already planned.

- Huanglong: opens seasonally and reads the weather daily; if conditions close it, we switch the same day to Mounigou Valley: waterfalls and calcite pools that answer the same wish.
- Jiuzhaigou circuit: your guide picks the valleys by season, crowds and the confirmed train time; the visit runs to mid-afternoon so the evening rail to Chengdu is never a rush.
- Day 11 afternoon: Yuanjiajie is paced to your actual landing time in Zhangjiajie; if the flight runs late, the pillars simply wait for the next morning.
- Tianmen evening lights: a seasonal programme on the attraction's official calendar; we confirm it for your date before you fly.
- Guilin night cruise: scheduled once your train arrival is fixed; if the evening departures are sold out, we move it to your Yangshuo return.
- Bamboo rafting: subject to river levels and safety rules on the day; the riverside cycling and afternoon tea go ahead either way.
- Robotaxi: reserved ahead on the operator's routes and confirmed before you land; on a rare service pause, Huaqiangbei still puts Shenzhen's future in your hands.
- Brocade workshop & science museum: the hands-on session follows the workshop's daily hours; the museum is an optional add-on, fitted to its calendar and your departure time.
- Hotels & venues: named in your confirmation; "or similar" always means the same class and comparable location, never a quiet downgrade.

## Is Eighteen Days Your Length?

Tell us your dates and who's coming: we'll shape the length around you.

### Have the full window?

This is the whole arc, empire, high country, old earth, future, in their proper order.

### Shorter on days?

We trim a region, not the pace: tell us what matters most and we'll cut the line to fit.

### Travelling with older parents or kids?

The highland days can soften further, and every climb has a cable-car answer.

## Good to Know

- Group: Private; from 1 guest: no minimum
- Arrival: The programme starts the morning after you land in Beijing: we plan your arrival evening with you
- Language: English-speaking guides throughout
- Shopping Policy: No shopping stops or commission detours on the route; your time is dedicated solely to the places listed here.
- Tailoring: Fully flexible. Days, stops, and pace can be added, removed, or swapped. We'll reshape the plan together before you confirm and pay.
- Payment: A 10% deposit (minimum $399) secures your dates and resources; the balance is due 14 days before departure
- Flexibility: Walking distances adapt to your pace throughout; weather-dependent items and their backups are listed in Special Notes
- Best season: Spring and autumn are ideal across all six regions; summer is green and full, winter quiet and crisp.
- Ports: Beijing In · Shenzhen Out
- Gateway markets: Lead country marker: FR. Gateway markets from inventory: WEU, SEU. Shenzhen outbound access is narrower than the inbound side.

## Your Private Concierge

- Name: Jason Hu
- Title: Private China Route Concierge
- Tagline: A bilingual planning desk for tailor-made China journeys.
- Bio: Our China team tailors the pacing, hotels and local hosts to suit each route style.
- Avatar image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/c0TBypRh.png

### Stats

- 20+ Years
- 300+ Trips designed
- 24/7 On-trip care

### The Conversation

Every LyrikTrip journey begins with a conversation. Tell us your dates and who's coming — and if this length isn't right for you, we'll say so and shape a shorter arc. First reply within four hours; a clear price for your dates within one business day.

- CTA: Start the conversation

### Step 01: Tell us what excites you

Not your dates and budget — your curiosity. Where have you always wanted to go? What do you want to feel? We start there.

- 24h: First concept delivered

### Step 02: We design it around you

Your specialist builds the itinerary from scratch — routes, hosts, hotels, and experiences you won't find anywhere else.

- 100%: Bespoke, never off-the-shelf

### Step 03: Lock it in with 10%

When the plan feels right, a 10% deposit holds your entire trip. Balance due 30 days before departure.

- 10%: Deposit to secure everything

### Step 04: Travel. We handle the rest.

Your Trip Pack arrives before you fly. On the road, your concierge is one message away — for the expected and everything you didn't plan for.

- 24/7: Support throughout your journey

- Free cancellation up to 30 days
- English-speaking concierge
- Secure payment via Stripe

- CTA: Talk to Us

## Guest Reviews

- Overall rating: 4.9
- Total reviews: 523
- Count label: from 523 verified reviews

4.9 / 5

### Platforms

- google: 4.9 (312 reviews)
- tripadvisor: 5.0 (211 reviews)

- Filter tabs: All, Google, TripAdvisor
- Emily Carter (🇺🇸 Seattle, USA · 5★ · May 2026 · google): Perfect for couples - My partner and I had an amazing time in China. Everything was arranged for us — transfers, hotels, guides. No stress at all.
- Claire Brooks (🇬🇧 London, UK · 5★ · Apr 2026 · tripadvisor): Great for families - Traveled with my two kids and had zero issues. The team made sure the pace wasn't too rushed and included things the kids would enjoy. Communication was easy throughout. Will definitely use them again for our next Asia trip.
- Laura Bennett (🇨🇦 Toronto, Canada · 5★ · Mar 2026 · google): Alisa made the whole experience easy - Alisa was our point of contact throughout and she was brilliant — patient, knowledgeable, and always quick to reply. The trip itself was wonderful. Beijing and Guilin were highlights.
- Mark Henderson (🇺🇸 Denver, USA · 4★ · Feb 2026 · tripadvisor): Good service, minor hiccup but sorted quickly - Really good service. There was a small mix-up with one of our restaurant bookings but it got sorted quickly. The rest of the trip was seamless.
- Rebecca Miller (🇺🇸 Boston, USA · 5★ · Jan 2026 · google): Really listened to what we wanted - Really helpful team. They listened to what we wanted and delivered. Beijing and Xi'an were incredible.

## China Ready

We've solved the hard parts. Here's everything a first-time Western traveller needs to know before arriving.

### VPN & Internet Access

- Badge: Do this before you fly
- What's blocked: Google, Gmail, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and most Western news sites are inaccessible in China without a VPN.
- Download before you leave: It's nearly impossible to download a VPN once inside China. Install and test at home. Recommended: Astrill (most reliable), Mullvad, ExpressVPN — subscribe to at least two in case one stops working.
- Hotel Wi-Fi tip: Some hotels block VPN connections on their Wi-Fi. Use your phone's mobile data as a hotspot if the VPN drops.
- Good news: WhatsApp works perfectly through a VPN, so your messaging stays unchanged. Apple iMessage and Signal also work.

### Paying in China

- Badge: Your concierge sets this up on Day 1
- China is cashless: Alipay and WeChat Pay are used for almost everything — restaurants, taxis, markets, tickets. Cash is rarely accepted in cities.
- International cards now work: Foreign Visa/Mastercard can now link directly to Alipay (set up in minutes, $5,000 single transaction limit). Your concierge walks you through the setup on your first morning.
- Carry some cash: We recommend ¥500–800 RMB in cash for the rare vendor that won't accept digital payment, and for small towns.
- Booking this trip: Your deposit and balance are charged via Stripe — the same trusted platform used by Airbnb and Booking.com. USD billing, no surprise conversion fees.

### Visa & Entry

- Badge: We handle the paperwork
- Do you need a visa?: Most US, UK, EU, Australian, Canadian, and New Zealand passport holders need a tourist (L) visa for stays over 10 days. We provide a visa invitation letter with every booking — it significantly speeds up approval.
- 240-hour visa-free transit: Citizens of 55+ countries (including USA, UK, most of EU, AUS, NZ, Canada) can enter China visa-free for up to 10 days if transiting through eligible ports. This covers our 12-day itinerary only if you have a confirmed onward flight.
- Processing time: Apply 4–6 weeks before departure. Standard processing: 4–7 business days. Express (3 days) and same-day options available at most Chinese consulates.
- What we provide: Visa invitation letter, hotel confirmation for all nights, suggested itinerary document — everything the consulate needs, formatted correctly.

### Safety & Practical Tips

- Badge: Our responsibility, always
- Is China safe?: China consistently ranks among the safest countries for foreign tourists. Violent crime against visitors is extremely rare. Cities have extensive CCTV coverage and a visible police presence.
- Emergency numbers: Police: 110. Ambulance: 120. Your concierge is your first call for any non-emergency situation — she has local contacts for every city on the itinerary.
- Health & medications: Bring a full supply of any prescription medication. International pharmacies exist in major cities but may not carry your brand. Travel insurance is required — we can recommend policies that cover China specifically.
- Language: English fluency outside hotels and tourist sites is limited. Your guides all speak English. We provide a printed pocket card with essential Chinese phrases and emergency contacts for every traveller.

## Before You Book

Everything worth knowing before you book.

### Eighteen days: won't we burn out?

The line breathes on purpose: a slow teahouse day in Chengdu after the highlands, a raft-and-tea day in Yangshuo after the mountains, and no packed mornings after late arrivals. Cable cars and park shuttles do the climbing; walking flexes to your group every day.

### What about altitude and weather at Huanglong?

The high stretch is exactly D6-D9, about 1,500-3,500 meters, with the highest night around 3,000 meters on D6, and you are back at Chengdu's roughly 500 meters by D9 evening. Huanglong itself sits above 3,000 meters and reads the weather daily, so the day is paced gently, with rest stops built in, oxygen and a pulse oximeter arranged for the van on the highland days, and the summit boardwalk is never compulsory. If conditions close it, we switch to Mounigou Valley: waterfalls and calcite pools that answer the same wish.

### Is the driverless taxi guaranteed?

It runs on a real operator's routes, so we reserve ahead for your dates and confirm before you land. On the rare day the operator pauses service, Shenzhen still shows you its future hands-on: Huaqiangbei's markets and the tech that fills them.

### Why aren't all meals included?

On purpose. Over eighteen days tastes diverge, and prepaid set menus mean paying for meals you may not feel like eating. Daily breakfast and the riverside afternoon tea are included; for the rest, your guide recommends and books around your tastes each day. Budget guide: about $20-40 per person per day covers lunch and dinner at places locals rate; street-food days come in well under.