Is twelve days enough for four cities?

For these four, yes, and that is why there are four rather than seven. Beijing, Xi'an and Chengdu get three nights each and Shanghai gets two, so you sleep in the same bed for three nights running three times over. The moves between them are half-days on high-speed rail or one flight, not full travel days, which is what buys the arrival day with nothing on it and the easy day in Chengdu.

Why spend a whole day going out to a waterworks?

Because it is the day that makes the other eleven hold together. The wall, the palace and the soldiers are all things that stopped: nobody defends that wall, nobody lives in that palace, nobody commands those figures. The channel at Dujiangyan was cut in the third century BC and it is still dividing the river and still watering the plain you rode past on the way in. It is also a rail day trip out and back, so your Chengdu room and your bags stay where they are.

Not yet, and we would rather say that than take your money. the remaining items have to be settled:; and how the October and December departures are handled. Until both are settled we take no orders and no deposits. Send us your dates now and we will write to you the day it opens, with a price for those dates.

We are traveling in November or December. Is that a bad time?

It is a quieter time, and two things on this route turn on the weather. The winter operating rules for the Mutianyu ascent transport are not on file with us yet, and the wall-top cycling in Xi'an is the longest unsheltered stretch here. We do not guarantee either against a cold snap, because nobody can. What we do is confirm both arrangements for your exact dates and write them into your quote before you pay, so you know what you are buying: if the ascent is not running you get the alternative in writing first, and the Xi'an day keeps the wall with the riding time set around the weather.

Most guests on this route do not. UK · French · German · Dutch · Belgian · Italian · Spanish · Portuguese · Greek · Nordic · Central European · Irish · Canadian · Australian · New Zealand passports enter visa-free for stays days, and before you pay we check your 12 days plus any extra days in China against that window. The current policy runs through December 31, 2026, so departures on or before December 20, 2026 finish inside it. US passports are different: the US is not on that list, and 12 days is longer than the 10-day transit policy allows. US guests hold a Chinese tourist or business visa, with the fee and the appointment their own. We confirm visa status before any payment, and if your dates do not fit, we tell you instead of selling.

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Overview

A first trip to China is usually bought as a list: the Wall, the warriors, the pandas, the skyline. This itinerary keeps the list and adds the thread that ties it together. Three nights each in Beijing, Xi'an and Chengdu, then two in Shanghai. Three half-day transfers, and one arrival day that demands nothing of you. The two half-days you might expect to lose are the point: a train ride south through the Qinling Mountains, and a day trip to a waterworks built in the third century BC that still irrigates the plain it was made for. By the second week, you'll catch yourself wondering whether something is old, or whether it is old and still on duty—a question you didn't bring with you.

— LyrikTrip travel designers

Every LyrikTrip journey begins with a conversation. Tell us your dates, who is coming and which passports they hold. First reply within four hours; a clear price for your dates within one business day. On this route we will also tell you plainly where

Why you'll love this trip

The classics, connected. The Forbidden City, the Great Wall, pandas and a Taoist mountain, with English-speaking guides in each city.
12 days from a buried army to a rush-hour ferry. See the China still working.

Walk one straight line through the Forbidden City, out the north gate, and up the hill facing it: from the pavilion on top the whole field of golden roofs lies below you, and the axis the city was drawn along runs off in both directions.
Ride the top of the Xi'an City Wall instead of walking it: a bicycle each is included in your price, the parapet is at shoulder height, and the city changes era every few hundred metres below you.
Stand at the rail above the pits of the Terracotta Warriors and start telling the ranks apart: armour and hair knots separate the generals from the crossbowmen from the foot soldiers, and the crowd of figures stops being a crowd.
Give an entire day to the Great Wall at Mutianyu and nothing else: the drive out takes a good part of the morning, so the day carries one thing, and the restored watchtowers run away along the ridge in both directions.
Spend a whole afternoon in a People's Park teahouse with a gaiwan that keeps being refilled as long as you stay: three nights in Chengdu is what makes an afternoon like this affordable in a twelve-day itinerary.
Watch water cut through a third-century-BC channel and head out to the fields you rode past that morning: this is the day the other eleven stop being a list.
Cross the Huangpu River on the boat Shanghai takes to work, then stand on the bank with a hundred years of buildings on one side and the Pudong towers on the other.

Things to do

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Itinerary

Arrivals

Beijing · Day 1 - Day 3

Day 1 · Land, and do nothing

nothing is scheduled. Your guide is available, and dinner near the hotel is recommended and can be booked for you if you wish, at your own expense.

TransportYour driver and vehicle will wait for the flight number on your confirmation, and the journey into the city is yours to sleep through.

SightRing roads first, then poplars and lit shopfronts along a city street. The country you flew this far for shows up before you have unpacked anything.

Novotel Beijing PeaceAccommodationHotel stay in Beijing.

Day 2 · One axis, and the hill that explains it

SightYou enter on your timed slot and walk one axis: the ceremonial halls where the court conducted its business, the living quarters behind them, the imperial garden at the end, then out through the north gate. Stand in the middle of the main courtyard and look back through the gates you came in through. They line up, one inside another, all the way out to the square.

SightThe palace is large and guests often say it wears them out, so the route holds to that one line and stops at the seats we know about, with the garden at the end unhurried.

SightThe north gate opens onto the hill, so the climb starts where the palace ends. Stairs and paved slope, about an hour up and down. From the pavilion on top the roofs you just walked under lie in one gold field below you, and the central axis runs off north and south from where you are standing.

Day 3 · The wall gets the whole day

TransportThe journey north out of the city takes a good part of the morning, which is why nothing else is on the itinerary today. The vehicle stays with you all day.

SightThe cable car or the open chairlift does the climbing. You step off onto a restored stretch with watchtowers running away along the ridge in both directions, and your guide points out the pass below and why the towers stand where they stand. Walk the connected section between towers and look back the way you came: the wall steps down the ridge behind you in a line you can follow with your finger.

SightThe same ascent transport brings you down, and the drive back into the city takes the late afternoon. Dinner is near your hotel rather than on the road.

High-speed rail

Xi'an · Day 4 - Day 6

Day 4 · The square, the shapes, and a train south

SightYou walk the ceremonial centre of modern China first thing, while the light is still low. Everyone is screened to get on, so the queue takes its own half hour to an hour and your guide walks you to the nearest screening entrance rather than the far one.

SightOn the east side of the square, about two hours indoors. Bronzes, ceramics, sculpture and calligraphy. Stand in front of a ritual bronze vessel and then think about where you're heading next: the same ideas, at the scale of a building.

SightThree sets of buildings in a park the city uses every morning. Once your guide gives you the rule, round belongs to heaven and square belongs to earth, you stop being told which is which and start spotting it yourself, on every platform, roof and wall.

TransportYour driver takes you to the station and your Xi'an guide takes over at the other end. The train time for your dates and the seat class for your order are written into your quote.

Somerset Xindicheng Xi'anAccommodationHotel stay in Xian.

Day 5 · Eight thousand of them

SightRoughly an hour from the city each way, so the day is given over to this and nothing else. The site gets extremely busy in season, and your guide times your entry to avoid the worst of it.

SightAn estimated eight thousand figures, standing where they were found. Your guide gives you the two tells, armour plating and hair knots, and after that you read the ranks yourself: generals, crossbowmen, foot soldiers. In the newer excavation areas, look for the surviving pigment on the figures rather than at the whole rank. Stand at the rail above the main pit and take the fifteen seconds looking down the full length of it.

SightThe afternoon returns you to Xi'an with the evening free. Dinner is recommended and booked by your guide if you want it, on your own account.

Day 6 · A wall you ride, a night you walk

SightYou go up onto the wall and ride it. A bicycle each is included for the ridden section, the parapet stands at about shoulder height, and the old city runs along one side of you while the modern one runs along the other. This is the longest open-air stretch on the whole route with no shelter along it, so it is scheduled around the weather on your dates.

SightThe two towers hold the old centre of the city. You walk the quarter around them as the lights come on, before the lanes behind fill up.

SightYour guide walks the whole evening with you and translates at the stalls, telling you what is in a thing before you buy it. What you eat is your own responsibility, and choosing badly is part of it. Stand still in the middle of the lane for a moment with the griddles going on both sides. You'll notice you have stopped taking photographs and started just watching hands work.

High-speed rail

Chengdu · Day 7 - Day 10

Day 7 · A pagoda, then the mountains

SightThe brick tower and the grounds around it, on the south side of the city, about ninety minutes and mostly flat. Your guide tells you what the tower was built to hold before you walk in, which is what makes the walk worth taking slowly.

TransportThe line south crosses the Qinling range, the wall of mountains that has always separated the north of China from the Sichuan basin. Take a window seat and watch the countryside change: dry loess, then tunnel, then tunnel, then green.

SightYour Chengdu guide meets the train and the evening is free. The city eats late, and your guide books you somewhere near the hotel if you want it, on your own account.

Atour Hotel Chengdu Taikoo Li Chunxi Road Pedestrian StreetAccommodationHotel stay in Chengdu.

Day 8 · The easy day, and it is on purpose

SightYou are there in the morning, the hours when the animals are generally active: eating, coming down off things, dropping back to sleep in the fork of a tree. Flat shaded paths and about three hours to use as you like. Get to an enclosure fence early and wait rather than walking the loop twice.

SightBamboo chairs under the trees, a gaiwan each, the lidded cup China brews in, and someone with a long-spouted kettle who tops you up for as long as you sit. Cards at the next table, an ear cleaner working two tables over with a tuning fork. The afternoon is not a stop on the way to something else. An hour in, you'll catch yourself with no idea what time it is and no wish to find out.

Day 9 · The day the trip stops being a list

TransportAbout a quarter of the day is spent travelling, split across the two legs, and your bags stay at the Chengdu hotel. You are back in the same room tonight.

SightThe channel was cut in the third century BC and has never been switched off. You walk along the works while the river arrives, divides and goes out to the plain. Everything else on this route was built to be looked at. This was built to be used, and it is still being used.

SightA quiet temple away from the main visitor route, on one of the mountains where Taoism grew up. A resident Taoist sits down with you, and you are shown the beginning of tai chi on the temple ground: weight onto one foot, then the other, slower than you want to go. Ten minutes in, you'll hear yourself breathing and realise how long it has been since you last did.

SightThe evening train, and dinner near the hotel if you still want one.

Day 10 · Three lanes, one face, one flight

Accommodation

Flight

Shanghai · Day 10 - Day 12

Day 10 · Three lanes, one face, one flight

SightThree parallel lanes, the wide one, the narrow one and the well lane, the frame the neighbourhood was built on and still runs on. It is busy and it is commercial, and it is also the clearest place in this city to see an old street plan being reused rather than cleared. The Taikoo Li district next door does the same thing in glass and timber.

SightA neighbourhood house, not a hotel ballroom. You go backstage before it starts and watch the paint go on, then you sit close enough to fail to catch the change: the mask becomes another mask in the time it takes the performer to swing his head. Sit in the second row and watch the audience around you instead of only the stage.

TransportYour driver will drive you to the airport in the evening and your Shanghai guide will take over at the other end. The flight number, time and cabin for your order are written into your quote.

Bellagio by MGM Shanghai on the BundAccommodationHotel stay in Shanghai.

Day 11 · The garden, the objects, the water

SightPavilions, rockery, ponds and a path that never runs straight, tucked inside the oldest quarter of the city. Flat all the way, about two hours. Follow the path without deciding where it leads: it is a loop and it always brings you back.

SightBronzes, ceramics, painting and calligraphy, about two hours indoors. You have now seen the Beijing collection and this one, nine days apart, and the objects in between have started to sort themselves.

SightStone banking houses hold one bank of the river and the Pudong towers hold the other, a hundred years apart and looking straight at each other across the water. Your guide is with you the whole evening, which also ends the practice-your-English and come-for-tea approaches before they start. Stand at the rail with the old buildings behind you and the towers in front. You'll feel the twelve days close up into one picture, and you'll know which half you came for and which half you are taking home.

Day 12 · Trees, a ferry, and home

TransportPlane trees, historic houses and small independent shops, on foot and on the level, taking about two hours. After last night's two skylines this street is the other half of the argument, and it is the half people move here for.

TransportYou cross the river on the boat people take to work, standing at the rail with commuters and their scooters, about thirty minutes door to door. No commentary, no upper deck, no ticket office with a photo package: just the crossing, at the price the city pays for it.

TransportYour driver takes you out with plenty of time to spare before your flight. If your flight leaves early, we cut the morning rather than rushing it, and your guide tells you which half to keep.

Departures

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Hotels

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Included / Excluded

What's Included

Intercity transportFour segments: Beijing to Xi'an by high-speed rail on day four · Xi'an to Chengdu by high-speed rail on day seven · Chengdu to Dujiangyan and back by high-speed rail on day nine · Chengdu to Shanghai by air on day ten. Your quote states in writing the seat class of each rail segment and the cabin of the flight for your order
Private vehicleAir-conditioned private vehicle with driver for all listed touring in all four cities, including the full-day Mutianyu round trip and the Dujiangyan day; station and airport transfers for all four intercity segments; airport pickup on day one and drop-off on day twelve
Hotels11 nights at the level you choose, four-star, five-star or quality boutique, breakfast included: Beijing 3 · Xi'an 3 · Chengdu 3 · Shanghai 2
GuideLicensed English-speaking guide on every touring day in each of the four cities, including the Muslim Quarter evening in Xi'an and the whole Bund evening in Shanghai
Tickets and experiences, BeijingThe Forbidden City · Jingshan Park · Mutianyu Great Wall with cable car or chairlift ascent · Tian'anmen Square · Temple of Heaven · the National Museum of China
Tickets and experiences, Xi'anThe Terracotta Warriors · the Xi'an City Wall, including the wall-top cycling section and bicycle hire · the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda · the Bell and Drum Tower quarter with the Muslim Quarter at night, explored on foot with your guide
Tickets and experiences, ChengduA morning visit to the panda base · sitting in the gaiwan teahouse in People's Park, with the seat and refills for as long as you stay · Kuanzhai Alley with Taikoo Li · a community Sichuan opera house with a backstage visit and face-changing up close
Tickets and experiences, DujiangyanThe Dujiangyan irrigation works · a quiet Mount Qingcheng Taoist temple with a conversation with a resident Taoist and an introduction to tai chi
Tickets and experiences, ShanghaiYu Garden with the old city · Shanghai Museum · the Bund and the Pudong skyline in the evening, guide accompanied · the former French Concession and Wukang Road on foot · the Huangpu River commuter ferry crossing
Meals11 hotel breakfasts, days two through twelve, one per morning
InsuranceTravel accident insurance, as per our standard inclusions

Not Included

International flightsFlights into Beijing and out of Shanghai
VisasVisa fees and processing for guests who require a Chinese visa, including every US guest on this route
Lunches and dinnersAll 22 midday and evening meals across the twelve days. Your guide recommends and books them and the bill is your own. This includes the tasting stalls on the Muslim Quarter walk and the snacks at the People's Park teahouse
Climbing the Bell Tower or the Drum TowerThe Xi'an evening is the quarter on foot. Admission to climb either tower sits outside the base price and can be added on request
In-museum spendingAudio guides and hired human guides inside the Forbidden City, the National Museum of China and Shanghai Museum; the photography and refreshment stands on the Xi'an city wall
Optional add-onsPriced separately at the time of choosing and never added into the base plan: climbing the Bell Tower or the Drum Tower in Xi'an · extra nights in Shanghai after day twelve
PersonalGratuities for guides and drivers · single-room or extra-room supplement · laundry · shopping · all personal expenses

Special Notes

A few things on this route follow the calendar, the season or a supplier's confirmation. Here they are, told straight.

Bookings are not open yet — the remaining items have to be settled first. One,: whether this route sells to your party alone or Two, the October and December departure handling below. Until both are settled we take no orders and no deposits. Tell us your dates and we write to you the day it opens.
Departure dates — no departures between October 1 and October 7, the national holiday week: Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai are all inside their no-go window that week and the Terracotta Warriors site runs at its heaviest load of the year. Dates are also set so that day two never falls on a Monday, when the Forbidden City closes; if your dates would put it there, days two and three swap and the Great Wall moves to day two.
Timed reservations — the Forbidden City, the National Museum of China and Shanghai Museum all require a timed reservation, and the booking systems sit poorly with overseas mobile numbers. Whether our ground partner books these on your behalf, and how many days ahead, is not yet confirmed. Your quote states in writing who books each of the three and by when. The admission itself is in your price either way.
November and December departures — two points on this route turn on the weather. The winter operating rules for the Mutianyu ascent transport are not yet on file with us, and the Xi'an wall-top cycling section is the longest unsheltered outdoor stretch here. For departures in those two months, your quote states the arrangement for both in writing before you pay.
In-park shuttles — named one by one so that none is read in by implication. Three site shuttles: the Terracotta Warriors, the panda base and Dujiangyan. Two more at Mount Qingcheng: the cableway and the lake boat. Whether each is operating in your month, and whether it sits inside your price, is stated in writing in your quote. The one ascent transport already inside your price on this route is the Mutianyu cable car or chairlift.
The two personal encounters — The backstage visit and face-changing in Chengdu, and the conversation with a resident Taoist plus the tai chi introduction at Mount Qingcheng, are both included in your price. Neither has been re-confirmed with our ground partner for this selling season. Until it is, we promise you no named person, no fixed length and no fixed time slot for either.
Rail and flight schedules — three rail segments and one flight. The 2026 fourth-quarter rail timetable and flight schedule for these four segments have not yet been checked against the operating season, so both sit on our standing assumption and are re-checked for your dates before your confirmation is issued.
Shanghai Museum branch — The itinerary states Shanghai Museum. The specific branch visited on day eleven is being finalised, and your quotation specifies the branch in writing.
Bicycle hire on the city wall — the wall-top cycling section and the bicycle for it are included in your price. The hire duration is counted in, and any charge beyond it, as stated in writing in your quote.
Security screening at the square — everyone is screened to enter Tian'anmen Square. That queue takes half an hour to an hour and is budgeted separately, on top of your time on the square, so the rest of day four still lands on time.
Visa window — the 30-day visa-free policy currently runs through December 31, 2026. Because this is a 12-day plan, departures on or before December 20, 2026 finish inside that window; later departure dates are quoted only after the official renewal is announced.
US passports — the US is not on the 30-day visa-free list, and 12 days is longer than the 10-day visa-free transit policy allows, so every US guest on this route holds a Chinese tourist or business visa, including a ten-year multiple-entry one. The fee and the processing are the guest's own and processing time has to be allowed before departure. We confirm visa status before any payment. Guests who entered China on the 10-day transit policy cannot take this trip, and we say so rather than looking for a way around it.
Confirmation and changes — the confirmation-time commitment and the change and refund terms are being finalised with our ground partners. Until they are settled, each quote states in writing its own confirmation deadline and its own change and refund conditions. Worth knowing why this one takes care: a date change here touches rail inventory, flight inventory and three museum reservations at once.

Is Twelve Days Your Length?

Fewer than twelve days?

The four cities separate neatly. Beijing and Xi'an stand alone as a six-day pair, Chengdu can be added, and Shanghai can be reduced to a departure city. Tell us your dates and who is coming, and we'll cut cities rather than cutting the pace.

Good to Know

Group: Private, just your party. From 1 guest. No fixed maximum party size.
Pace: Four cities in 12 days: 3 nights each in Beijing, Xi'an and Chengdu, then 2 in Shanghai. One arrival day with nothing scheduled, one easy day in Chengdu, and three half-day moves between regions
Effort: Two long outdoor days set the level: the Great Wall day, where the ascent is by cable car or chairlift rather than on foot, and the city wall in Xi'an, which is ridden rather than walked. The heaviest single day is the Forbidden City morning followed by the climb to the Jingshan viewpoint
Ports: Beijing in, Shanghai out; airport pickup on day one and drop-off on day twelve
Visas: UK · French · German · Dutch · Belgian · Italian · Spanish · Portuguese · Greek · Nordic · Central European · Irish · Canadian · Australian · New Zealand passports enter visa-free for stays days, checked order by order against your dates. US passports need a Chinese tourist or business visa for this route
Language: Licensed English-speaking local guides on every touring day, city by city
Meals: 11 hotel breakfasts are included. No lunch or dinner is included on this route: your guide recommends and books them and the bill is your own
Payment: When this route opens for booking: From 1 guest. A 10% deposit (minimum $399) locks your dates. The balance is due 14 days before departure. "Or similar" never means a quiet downgrade
Season: Selling window October to December 2026. No departures October 1 to 7; departures on or before December 20 finish inside the current visa-free window; November and December departures have the Mutianyu ascent and the Xi'an wall cycling confirmed in writing for your dates

Your Private Concierge

Jason Hu

Private China Route Concierge

“A bilingual planning desk for tailor-made China journeys.”

Our China team tailors the pacing, hotels and local hosts to suit each route style.

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Why you'll love this trip