--- title: "The Wall, Then the Water" description: "18 days from the Great Wall to a waterworks still running since the third century BC" type: "tour" route_id: "china-wall-to-waterworks-18-days" total_days: 18 price: 6190 highlights: ["Beijing", "Xi'an", "Chengdu", "Chongqing", "Yichang", "Shanghai"] url: "https://www.lyriktrip.com/en-GB/tours/china-wall-to-waterworks-18-days" canonical_url: "https://www.lyriktrip.com/en-GB/tours/china-wall-to-waterworks-18-days" locale: "en-GB" alternates: {"en-US":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/tours/china-wall-to-waterworks-18-days","en-GB":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/en-GB/tours/china-wall-to-waterworks-18-days","zh-CN":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/zh-CN/tours/china-wall-to-waterworks-18-days","zh-TW":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/zh-TW/tours/china-wall-to-waterworks-18-days","de-DE":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/de-DE/tours/china-wall-to-waterworks-18-days","fr-FR":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/fr-FR/tours/china-wall-to-waterworks-18-days","es-ES":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/es-ES/tours/china-wall-to-waterworks-18-days","it-IT":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/it-IT/tours/china-wall-to-waterworks-18-days","x-default":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/tours/china-wall-to-waterworks-18-days"} --- # The Wall, Then the Water 18 days from the Great Wall to a waterworks still running since the third century BC Six stops in route order. The Terracotta Warriors, pandas, a Taoist mountain and the Bund, with English-speaking guides city by city. - Moderate. The Great Wall climb is done by cable car and the descent by toboggan, the city wall in Xi'an is ridden rather than walked, and two days in the plan carry nothing but one place each. ## Overview China spent two thousand years building walls, and the same two thousand years building the things that cross them. This plan follows that argument in order rather than by map. Beijing gives you two kinds of wall, one that keeps people out of a palace and one that runs along a ridge to keep horses out of a country. Xi'an gives you the road that left the country, and a wall you ride around instead of standing on. Chengdu slows the middle down, and one morning outside it you stand on a water divide from the 3rd century BC that is still doing its job. Shanghai is where the water finally gets out. By the end you'll be able to explain this country to someone at your own kitchen table. — LyrikTrip travel designers Every LyrikTrip journey begins with a conversation. Tell us your dates, who is coming and how many days you actually have. First reply within four hours; a clear price for your dates within one business day. On this route we will also tell you, before you are asked for anything, exactly where the river purchase stands, and whether a shorter version that stops at Dujiangyan serves you better than waiting. ## Summary - Route ID: china-wall-to-waterworks-18-days - Duration: 18 days / 17 nights - Starting price: $6,190 - Status: active - Highlights: Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu, Chongqing, Yichang, Shanghai - Cover image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/bgMj7PBV.webp ## Hero tags - private - From 1 guest - Max: no fixed limit ## Highlight notes - Six stops in route order. The Terracotta Warriors, pandas, a Taoist mountain and the Bund, with English-speaking guides city by city. - 18 days from the Great Wall to a 3rd century BC water divide. See how China connects itself. ## Selling points - Walk the palace along one straight line, then climb the small hill behind it and look back down: the scale you lost inside the walls comes back to you in a single view. - Ride the cable car up to the Great Wall at Mutianyu and take the toboggan back down: you get a whole ridge of watchtowers and your knees never pay for it. - Stand in front of the Terracotta Warriors long enough to stop counting them and start reading their faces: nobody leaves that room with the same idea of what one man's power looked like. - Ride the top of Xi'an's city wall all the way round the old town: after two walls in Beijing you spent on the outside, this is the one you get to be on top of. - Give a whole Chengdu day to a panda morning and a teahouse afternoon, without changing cities: this is the day the trip stops asking anything of you. - Stand on the divide at Dujiangyan, where a river was split in two in the 3rd century BC and is still split there this morning: this is the sentence you will use at home when someone asks what China is like. - Take in the Bund on your first Shanghai evening with your guide beside you: a century of waterfront on one bank, the towers on the other, and no one vying for your attention. ## City highlights - Beijing (4 days): Land, and stop - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/jK9CTbGE.webp - Xi'an (3 days): Morning in the lanes, afternoon at 300 kilometers an hour - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/7TxNFcZu.webp - Chengdu (4 days): The road out, then over the mountains - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2iDGv07g.webp - Chongqing (3 days): Chengdu to Chongqing - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/e1N5p9oQ.webp - Yichang (1 days): The dam day - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/iHkhCTng.webp - Shanghai (3 days): Off the river, into the city - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/6fBOXSWS.webp ## Experiences Six stops in route order. The Terracotta Warriors, pandas, a Taoist mountain and the Bund, with English-speaking guides city by city. - Forbidden City (Beijing): The Forbidden City takes visitors into the ceremonial heart of China's Ming and Qing dynasties. - Subtitle: China's imperial palace at the heart of Beijing - Tags: Heritage - Host: Beijing, Beijing Lens — Imperial capital and Great Wall - Access: Core imperial Beijing access with palace courtyards and historic halls. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/03a0a4e882e0.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8a6cdb9ca2b9.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/7f313a6dab74.jpg, https://dimg04.c-ctrip.com/images/0102h1200087d62rxDD6F.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/de8d1138706b.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/936bacaf5cc5.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/ff6c2e542310.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/05488de4902e.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/bab6e6596202.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/85f10b61d841.jpg - Jingshan Park (Beijing): Jingshan Park offers one of the best classic views across the Forbidden City rooftops. - Subtitle: A hilltop view over imperial Beijing - Tags: Viewpoint - Host: Beijing, Beijing Lens — Imperial capital and Great Wall - Access: A short climb rewards travellers with a strong city overview. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/408fc381c4b4.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/7f313a6dab74.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/6a3ff539ffc8.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2c700baa4e73.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/00decb026e42.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/51ec43ea0513.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9604ef61c628.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/7dc03e9310a1.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/964e96f11238.jpg - Mutianyu Great Wall (Beijing): A well-restored Great Wall section with open views and easier walking conditions for first-time visitors. - Subtitle: A classic Great Wall section near Beijing - Tags: Great Wall - Host: Beijing, Beijing Lens — Imperial capital and Great Wall - Access: A refined Great Wall experience with flexible cable car or walking options. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f6c07b2f8772.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3a661e194c2f.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1b0f83ddd1e5.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/7207d6532c2f.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/e88879531691.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/926d916b9408.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/91465599744f.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/a720fb1678e6.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/608cdc21a04d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9b968ec44131.jpg - Mutianyu Great Wall Toboggan (Beijing): The Mutianyu Great Wall toboggan turns a visit to the Great Wall into a more playful, family-friendly experience. - Subtitle: A fun descent from the Great Wall - Tags: Family - Host: Beijing, Beijing Lens — Imperial capital and Great Wall - Access: A memorable add-on after walking the Mutianyu section. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/746bee1b74ea.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1b0f83ddd1e5.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/7207d6532c2f.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/e88879531691.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/d2989ca78446.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/926d916b9408.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/91465599744f.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/a720fb1678e6.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/608cdc21a04d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9b968ec44131.jpg - Tian'anmen Square (Beijing): Tian'anmen Square introduces the scale and symbolism of modern Chinese public space. - Subtitle: Beijing's monumental civic landmark - Tags: Landmark - Host: Beijing, Beijing Lens — Imperial capital and Great Wall - Access: A central orientation stop before or after the Forbidden City. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b6a275c3e50d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/e544ca01550e.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b85b763e11cd.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/a724165b0cc6.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/410246e2d66a.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/600867e7a2ef.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/cd9c3a758365.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/86b6ca981b8d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/50c2c4037905.jpg - Temple of Heaven (Beijing): Temple of Heaven combines Ming dynasty ritual architecture with Beijing's lively park culture. - Subtitle: An imperial ritual site with local life - Tags: Culture - Host: Beijing, Beijing Lens — Imperial capital and Great Wall - Access: Pairs grand ceremonial architecture with everyday local morning activity. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/0d9ea5fe76e1.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/db9b46f1b9cf.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/c545d9594e74.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/dc39cfe33b0d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/359ba00d37d0.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b538bb2aa834.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/6d40f9e82d6b.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/212c0e2ea8c8.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/7bbec6cd7e80.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/cd8da061f42b.jpg - National Museum of China (Beijing): the national collection on the east side of the square: bronzes, ceramics, Buddhist figures, calligraphy. Two hours here puts the objects behind the last nine days into one room, which is why it sits on the day you leave Beijing. Entry is by timed reservation and the system sits poorly with overseas mobile numbers, so your quote states in writing who books it and by when. Admission is in the base price; audio guides and guides hired inside are not. - Subtitle: the national collection on the east side of the square: bronzes, ceramics, Buddhist figures, calligraphy. - Tags: Museum - Host: Beijing, Beijing Lens — Imperial capital and Great Wall - Access: the national collection on the east side of the square: bronzes, ceramics, Buddhist figures, calligraphy. Two hours here puts the objects behind the last nine days into one room, which is why it sits on the day you leave Beijing. Entry is by timed reservation and the system sits poorly with overseas mobile numbers, so your quote states in writing who books it and by when. Admission is in the base price; audio guides and guides hired inside are not. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1cf05dc82e49.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/d076400ad86d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/55ab6f174707.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/dcce08639678.jpg - Hutong & Shichahai Walk (Beijing): the neighbourhood fabric old Beijing still lives in: grey courtyard houses, narrow lanes, lakes ringed with willows, and the Drum and Bell Towers that once told the whole city the time. You walk it with your guide on your arrival day, paced to however much energy your flight has left you; land late and the lanes simply wait for another evening. Why it opens the trip: the palaces show how emperors lived; the hutongs show how everyone else did, and they came first. - Subtitle: the neighbourhood fabric old Beijing still lives in: grey courtyard houses, narrow - Tags: City - Host: Beijing, Beijing Lens — Imperial capital and Great Wall - Access: Why it opens the trip: the palaces show how emperors lived; the hutongs show how everyone else did, and they came first. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/c24addfaebbd.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f8eee3ac9120.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/63616b80ebb4.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/fe9f94178424.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/c3750a516f25.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b76ac68047c9.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/813e0ad5e32f.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8f53a337fbca.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/748ea658803d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/61793c2d137e.jpg - Terracotta Warriors (Xi'an): the excavation halls outside Xi'an holding the underground army of Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, and one of the country's most significant archaeological finds. You look down into the pits at ranked columns of soldiers: individual faces, armour by rank, formations still legible after two millennia of burial. Your guide teaches you to read them: which are officers, which are archers, what the formation was for. Why it rewards a slow visit: the scale reads in one glance, the craftsmanship only up close. - Subtitle: the excavation halls outside Xi'an holding the underground army of Qin Shi - Tags: Heritage - Host: Xi'an, Xi'an Lens — Warriors and ancient capital - Access: Essential Xi'an access to one of China's most renowned archaeological sites. - Images: https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1528866310106-4459b39622ed?q=80&w=2064&auto=format&fit=crop&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&ixid=M3wxMjA3fDB8MHxwaG90by1wYWdlfHx8fGVufDB8fHx8fA%3D%3D, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/70bc50b897e9.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/788c1d294602.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/d1bf545bf0ba.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8ff4c8890b77.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9b2f4e2d90b4.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/ed2c5f141848.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4cd4eb7405cc.jpg - Xi'an Ancient City Wall Cycling (Xi'an): Cycling the ancient wall offers travellers a relaxed way to see Xi'an's historic urban layout. - Subtitle: A ride along Xi'an's old city walls - Tags: Cycling - Host: Xi'an, Xi'an Lens — Warriors and ancient capital - Access: Active heritage experience on one of China's best-preserved city walls. - Images: https://ak-d.tripcdn.com/images/0353012000p9q9h7p45A9_C_1080_540_Q80.jpg_.webp?_fr=wc, 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/9c4dc5e6e575.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b69829f31585.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1170df991f6f.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/ad143f00bca6.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/dabb4f7b21b8.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/6c4bc5467067.jpg - Muslim Quarter (Xi'an): Muslim Quarter introduces Xi'an through street food market lanes and Hui cultural texture. - Subtitle: A lively food and market neighbourhood - Tags: Food - Host: Xi'an, Xi'an Lens — Warriors and ancient capital - Access: A sensory, evening-friendly stop for food and local atmosphere. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b69f36d07d20.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4142b459d811.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/91de8b062d12.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/abc7efa677cc.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/68851d1cd2f1.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/d4e4d0b13c28.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/bfdc415e6889.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b715930b2bbc.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/264e5977b97f.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1b231bf5e564.jpg - Giant Wild Goose Pagoda (Xi'an): Giant Wild Goose Pagoda reflects Xi'an's role as a Buddhist and Silk Road cultural centre. - Subtitle: A Tang dynasty Buddhist landmark - Tags: Pagoda - Host: Xi'an, Xi'an Lens — Warriors and ancient capital - Access: A classic Tang-era landmark connected to ancient Chang'an history. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2be95bfc5748.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/eb70bbcc8abb.jpg, https://ak-d.tripcdn.com/images/0HJ2z12000qfv3id4A253_W_1440_810_Q80.webp?proc=source%2ftrip, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f1e0cd6ae0d1.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/94916373f524.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4269d987bac0.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/542e4f255e79.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/7d1e365a232d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/18de0aedb419.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2f0b6d04d98d.jpg - Chengdu Panda Base (Chengdu): the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, visited in the morning: that is when pandas eat, climb and are actually active. You watch them at close range and hear how breeding research and conservation work here. - Subtitle: the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, visited in the morning - Tags: Nature - Host: Chengdu, Chengdu Lens — Pandas and Sichuan culture - Access: You watch them at close range and hear how breeding research and conservation work here. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8e596b76ae58.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/201ef19af23f.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/c910f00284ac.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/fb8f2b170763.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f84d52332ce8.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3e8e1eba78b6.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/106d08f5e8be.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/df22c3d68f08.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/cdab22c7bcf5.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/bcdc08962f93.jpg - People's Park Tea (Chengdu): the day's landing place: a chair in the park, a gaiwan, the lidded cup China brews in, and residents all around you chatting, playing cards and spending their evening the Chengdu way. Nothing else is scheduled after it; you stay as long as the tea keeps coming. Why it closes the Chengdu day: after pandas, tuk-tuks and opera, this is where the city shows you what it does with free time. - Subtitle: the day's landing place: a chair in the park, a gaiwan, the - Tags: City - Host: Chengdu, Chengdu Lens — Pandas and Sichuan culture - Access: Why it closes the Chengdu day: after pandas, tuk-tuks and opera, this is where the city shows you what it does with free time. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/77584e962219.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/34f6c86b2f9f.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/a27d0f4e6224.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3b775398e844.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b33e34d550fa.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3cbc8f748897.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/aa9f96490a8c.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/bb9ce7deea94.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1ea505e390f1.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/221e3aa47210.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8f2cd09b7914.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2e09c831a6a1.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/62048183e783.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9d549716c30b.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/54b87e0ee67b.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/46bb3f1c4d8b.jpg - Dujiangyan Irrigation System (Dujiangyan): built more than 2,000 years ago and still working, the system manages the Min River without a conventional dam. You walk the main sections and see how the current is split: floodwater one way, irrigation the other, feeding farmland across the Chengdu Plain. The short version of why it matters: the meals you eat all week start in this water. - Subtitle: built more than 2,000 years ago and still working, the system manages - Tags: Heritage - Host: Dujiangyan Local Host, Dujiangyan culture and logistics specialist — A local host who tailors the Dujiangyan chapter around access, timing and food. - Access: The short version of why it matters: the meals you eat all week start in this water. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9d9a43ba2c4d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b973a332521c.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/ce3d6d1ff035.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/ce25c7e954f6.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f12326d3279b.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/d3b5715456fc.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/ca6aac1736b0.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/271e2d47194f.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/d3cfbed4c2ec.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/d204564d5198.jpg - Mount Qingcheng Taoist temple and conversation (Chengdu): a quiet working temple on one of the mountains where Taoism took shape as an organised religion, chosen over the busy front-gate halls. You sit down with a resident Taoist for a conversation your guide interprets, and get an introduction to tai chi in the courtyard. About four hours including the travel on the mountain. This is a person-to-person arrangement rather than a ticket, so we name no individual, no fixed length and no fixed time slot for it. The mountain cableway and the lake boat are separate site services: whether each is running in your month, and whether it sits inside your price, is stated in writing in your quote. - Subtitle: a quiet working temple on one of the mountains where Taoism took shape as an organised religion, chosen over the busy front-gate halls. - Tags: heritage - Host: Chengdu, Chengdu Lens — Pandas and Sichuan culture - Access: The mountain cableway and the lake boat are separate site services: whether each is running during your month, and whether it is included in your price, is stated in writing in your quote. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/bcd4261c461c.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/052c634fb90a.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4e9c7e28a215.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/c5469e0896d4.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/15fc02c89c86.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4814e6191d4c.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f9477edd7aa3.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f11891ed345b.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1a09b60c06fc.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/480f1ef460a1.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/532f896321c0.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/fec9f8ac6882.jpg - Kuanzhai Alley and Taikoo Li (Chengdu): a historic neighbourhood built around three parallel lanes, restored and now as much a shopping street as a quarter of old Chengdu; we say that plainly rather than sell it as the last of the old city. Next to it, Taikoo Li shows you what the same city spends its money on today. About two and a half hours on foot with your guide. - Subtitle: a historic neighbourhood built around three parallel lanes, restored and now as much a shopping street as a quarter of old Chengdu; we say that plainly rather than sell it as the last of the old city. - Tags: City - Host: Chengdu, Chengdu Lens — Pandas and Sichuan culture - Access: a historic neighbourhood built around three parallel lanes, restored and now as much a shopping street as a quarter of old Chengdu; we say that plainly rather than sell it as the last of the old city. Next to it, Taikoo Li shows you what the same city spends its money on today. About two and a half hours on foot with your guide. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/32a4dc46e28f.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/61859314af60.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/cc98f04d1142.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/aa2e718f79ba.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/53c7fdc344a2.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/07f3ceea8440.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/813e0ad5e32f.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3f12a2960f0c.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/c3d25d0d0bc4.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/7d46557f3072.jpg - Community Opera Theatre (Chengdu): a neighbourhood Sichuan Opera troupe rather than a big commercial stage. You meet the people behind the performance and learn how roles, costumes, make-up and stage technique pass from one generation to the next; when the troupe's schedule allows, you watch the backstage preparations up close. - Subtitle: a neighbourhood Sichuan Opera troupe rather than a big commercial stage - Tags: Culture - Host: Chengdu, Chengdu Lens — Pandas and Sichuan culture - Access: You meet the people behind the performance and learn how roles, costumes, makeup and stage technique pass from one generation to the next; when the troupe's schedule allows, you watch the backstage preparations up close. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/984b6ea21914.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/afed5eb50d48.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/dbb9a4360aa6.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/390a59811536.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9504e34cb716.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/7fb9607dad55.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/c7adcea03a38.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/c084683a4ac6.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/7727dea96809.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/551fdba21a23.jpg - The Bund (Shanghai): The Bund frames Shanghai's historic banks and modern Pudong skyline in one clear view. - Subtitle: Shanghai's iconic riverfront skyline - Tags: Riverfront - Host: Shanghai, Shanghai Lens — Skyline and riverfront culture - Access: A signature Shanghai orientation stop for architecture and city contrast. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/59b1d2774a93.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/819f854bed70.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/494cee6c7aae.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/45251ad66040.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/eed1a59d8207.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/334c0bdef4be.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/a2a8d5aca0bf.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2e92d8293a47.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/eb8770c3dfbd.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/5d861058a1f8.jpg - Yu Garden & the Old City (Shanghai): pavilions, ponds, rockeries and covered corridors, laid out in the Ming dynasty as a private family garden: "Yu" means peace, chosen by the official who built it for his elderly father. A Chinese garden works like a scroll painting: you walk it one framed scene at a time. The lanes around it keep an earlier Shanghai of small shops and food stalls. - Subtitle: pavilions, ponds, rockeries and covered corridors, laid out in the Ming dynasty - Tags: Heritage - Host: Shanghai, Shanghai Lens — Skyline and riverfront culture - Access: The lanes around it keep an earlier Shanghai of small shops and food stalls. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/58b0b1f762b9.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3640847367f4.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/aa7e4b7f18cb.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/c3f4af921585.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/7bc088a35094.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b4ff42f10f39.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8ab6fa3c88e9.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/23b0b99117fe.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4c38a3352564.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/793d4d9ec24d.jpg - Shanghai Museum (Shanghai): bronzes, ceramics, painting and calligraphy, arranged so you can walk one material through three thousand years. About two hours. Entry is by timed reservation with limited English in the booking system, so your quote states in writing who books it and by when, and which branch your visit uses. Admission is in the base price. - Subtitle: bronzes, ceramics, painting and calligraphy, arranged so you can walk one material through three thousand years. - Tags: Museum - Host: Shanghai, Shanghai Lens — Skyline and riverfront culture - Access: bronzes, ceramics, painting and calligraphy, arranged so you can walk one material through three thousand years. About two hours. Entry is by timed reservation with limited English in the booking system, so your quote states in writing who books it and by when, and which branch your visit uses. Admission is in the base price. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/553f9e5daffa.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/463009b942cf.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/09ed444fa597.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f449d01924e3.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1c391e422dd6.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3062838f53d8.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/5fe4f8f934ce.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1ff4b8a733b8.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1c6a0e2a66d2.jpg - Former French Concession and Wukang Road (Shanghai): plane-tree streets, walled houses from the concession decades, and the independent shops that have taken over their ground floors. You walk it at street speed, and it is the loosest hour of the route — the low, relaxed counterweight to the skyline you looked at the night before: no ticket, no queue, no gate. About two hours on flat pavement. In the base price. - Subtitle: plane-tree streets, walled houses from the concession decades, and the independent shops in their ground floors — the loose, low-rise counterweight to the skyline. About two hours, no ticket, no queue, no gate. - Tags: City - Host: Shanghai, Shanghai Lens — Skyline and riverfront culture - Access: plane-tree streets, walled houses from the concession decades, and the independent shops that have taken over their ground floors. You walk it at street speed, and it is the loosest hour of the route: no ticket, no queue, no gate. About two hours. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/a469e3c35b36.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/ff2e7b6f2ffc.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/769ee0838cac.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/664544b5b738.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/be6f02f8c66f.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b1c8a477961a.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/738425c31d43.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b5ee2850407d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/dc30a72b34d4.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/7e7256ca585e.jpg - The Bund & the Huangpu Ferry (Shanghai): Shanghai's riverfront row of early-twentieth-century banking halls faces Pudong's towers across the water; the public ferry crosses between them, the same boats locals commute on, and mid-river is the one spot that holds both skylines at once. Walked at dusk on day two, and on arrival evening when time allows. - Subtitle: Shanghai's riverfront row of early-twentieth-century banking halls faces Pudong's towers across - Tags: City - Host: Shanghai, Shanghai Lens — Skyline and riverfront culture - Access: Walked at dusk on day two, and on arrival evening when time allows. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/e342e5515e52.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/94ac919c3f33.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b3b5bb6e77be.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/c6c85a3776e5.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/32d19f0a4d35.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/a2a8d5aca0bf.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2bed2bf82423.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8b2b6a2b8939.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b74ea5dc32d6.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2b6fbcc1c8fa.jpg ### Capture banner - Label: Save this itinerary - Title: Send the full route to your inbox - Subtitle: We will include the latest hotels, hosts and pacing notes. - Placeholder: Email address - CTA: Send route - Sent label: Sent ## Itinerary ### The Wall, Then the Water - 18 days Journey #### Beijing (4 days) - Subtitle: Land, and stop - Recommendation: The first day asks nothing of anyone. Beijing is outside the window and it keeps until tomorrow. - Transport: High-speed rail - Transport mode: train Arrival · Evening - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/jK9CTbGE.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/14h8ZnOb.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/17bdSgjF.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1bDq9gT4.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1cZHxWkg.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1vwu9mIQ.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1X29GyUB.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1xVI7jTc.webp ##### Day 1: Land, and stop - (sight) — Your flight lands whenever it lands, and tonight's hotel in Beijing is included in your base price regardless of the hour. Whether your order includes the airport transfer is stated in your quote, as that arrangement is still being finalised and we will not leave it unmentioned. - (note) — nothing is scheduled. Your guide is reachable, and dinner near the hotel is recommended and booked for you if you want it, on your account. - (accommodation) Novotel Beijing Peace — Hotel stay in Beijing. ##### Day 2: One axis, then the view back - (sight) — Your timed slot is booked ahead by us, so you walk in on schedule. Inside, you keep to one axis: the ceremonial halls where the court conducted its business, the living quarters behind them, the imperial garden at the end, and then out through the north gate. Stand in the middle of the main courtyard and look back through the gates you entered by. They line up, one inside another, all the way out to the street. - (sight) — The north gate places you at the foot of an artificial hill. A short climb of steps leads to the pavilion at the top, and the structure you spent the morning inside suddenly appears as a single object below you: rows of yellow roofs, with the axis running straight out of the picture at both ends. - (sight) — The palace is large and guests often find it tiring, so the route is limited to that one line, with the seats we know about along the way and no second monument today. ##### Day 3: The wall, without the climb - (transport) — the drive north out of the city takes a good part of the morning, which is why nothing else is on today. The vehicle stays with you all day. - (sight) — the climbing is done for you. You step off onto a restored stretch of wall with watchtowers running away along the ridge in both directions, and your guide reads it to you: the beacon towers, the pass in the valley below, why the towers stand where they stand. Look along the ridge with the towers stepping down it one after another. That is the fifteen seconds' worth of filming. - (sight) — The wall was never intended to keep people out. It was designed to halt horses, and to ensure that anyone who scaled it would have to return the same way, carrying with them whatever they had taken. Your guide points to the gaps in the ridge where this logic is plainly visible from where you stand. - (sight) — a seated sledge on a metal track through the trees, and you arrive at the bottom with the stone steps skipped entirely. ##### Day 4: The other way of drawing a line - (sight) — you cross the ceremonial centre of modern China on foot. Security screening with passports comes first and takes a slot of its own, so it sits separately in the day's budget; your guide walks you to the nearest screening entrance rather than the long way around. - (sight) — three groups of buildings on one line, the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the Imperial Vault of Heaven and the round altar. Stand at the centre of the round altar and speak normally: the stone tiers send your own voice back at you. The plan of the whole park is the same argument written large, round against square. - (sight) — Bronzes, ceramics, Buddhist sculpture and calligraphy on the east side of the square, with your reservation arranged in advance by us. Your guide takes you through one wing rather than the entire building, so the day ends with objects you remember rather than a corridor count. #### Xi'an (3 days) - Subtitle: Morning in the lanes, afternoon at 300 kilometers an hour - Recommendation: Beijing's last gift is people rather than monuments. Then the country's newest infrastructure carries you to its oldest capital. - Transport: High-speed rail - Transport mode: train Old Beijing hutongs and the Shichahai lakeside · High-speed rail to Xi'an · Into Xi'an - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/7TxNFcZu.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2IrwPATt.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2SYFFac8.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, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/56RpQD9k.webp ##### Day 5: Morning in the lanes, afternoon at 300 kilometres an hour - (sight) — courtyard lanes and lakeside streets going about their ordinary morning, gray brick and doorstep stones on either side, bicycles passing with breakfast on the handlebars. The lakes lie still between the streets and the neighbourhood is already abroad. - (transport) — An afternoon on China's high-speed rail network, the North China plain unfolding past the window at cruising speed. The class of seat on your booking is stated in writing in your quote, as we have not yet fixed one in this document and will not quietly assume one for you. - (sight) — the train arrives into a city still inside its own wall, and the wall is lit by the time you are on the road to the hotel. - (accommodation) Somerset Xindicheng Xi'an — Hotel stay in Xian. ##### Day 6: Eight thousand, for one man - (sight) — You walk the pits in the order they were opened, and your guide teaches you to read rank before you look at the crowd: armor plates, the tie of the hair, the stance of the hands that once held a weapon. Generals, crossbowmen, foot soldiers. In the more recently excavated areas, traces of the original paint are still there on the surface. - (sight) — Find a figure in the second row with its face intact and stay there for a minute. No two were finished the same way, and once you have seen that, the pit stops being a crowd. - (sight) — this site runs at its yearly peak in the first week of October, so your departure date is set to keep this day out of that week rather than to work around it on the day. ##### Day 7: The wall you get to be on top of - (sight) — You take a bicycle at the gate and ride the loop on top of the wall, wide enough here for two bikes side by side. Inside the loop: rooftops, courtyards, the drum tower. Outside: the modern city carrying on. Corner towers give you somewhere to stop and put a foot down. Admission and the bike are both in your base price. Somewhere on the far side you'll notice you have stopped talking and are just riding. - (sight) — This is the third wall in seven days. The palace wall shut people out of a household, the Great Wall shut horses out of a country, and this one holds a city that is still living inside it. Your guide leaves you to notice the difference rather than announcing it. - (sight) — In the evening you walk the two towers that used to keep the city's time, then the lanes behind them where Xi'an's Hui community trades and cooks: bread stamped and baked against the wall of the oven, whole spices in open sacks, meat turned over coals. Eating here is on your own account and your guide tells you which queue is the one worth joining. #### Chengdu (4 days) - Subtitle: The road out, then over the mountains - Recommendation: One pagoda built to hold what came back along the road. Then a train through the mountains, and the climate changes on you. - Transport: High-speed rail - Transport mode: train Giant Wild Goose Pagoda · High-speed rail to Chengdu · Into Chengdu - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2iDGv07g.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/18sksaPz.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1BPFDek8.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2sL1auf0.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/37Mf4mO1.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4BqwVBVY.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4mDgLfna.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4XAZDbS7.webp ##### Day 8: The road out, then over the mountains - (sight) — A brick pagoda raised to house the sutras a monk carried back overland from India, standing in its temple grounds. Everything else you have seen so far was built to keep something out. This was built to keep something that came in. - (transport) — The afternoon train crosses the Qinling Mountains, the range that divides China's north from its south, through a series of long tunnels. You go in with dry northern air and come out into the Sichuan Basin: green, hazy, wet. The seat class on your order is stated in writing in your quote. - (sight) — the pace of the trip changes deliberately here, and the Chengdu nights are all spent at one hotel with no packing in between. - (accommodation) Atour Hotel Chengdu Taikoo Li Chunxi Road Pedestrian Street — Hotel stay in Chengdu. ##### Day 9: A morning that moves, an afternoon that doesn't - (sight) — you are there in the morning, the hours when the animals are generally moving: eating, coming down off a platform, dropping back to sleep in the fork of a tree. Flat shaded paths and benches. Get to an enclosure fence early and wait rather than walking the whole park: the animal comes over on its own schedule. - (sight) — bamboo chairs under the trees, a gaiwan each, the lidded cup China brews in, and someone with a long-spouted kettle who tops you up as long as you stay. Cards at the next table, an ear cleaner two tables over working with a tuning fork. The whole afternoon is yours and there is nowhere to be after it. An hour in, you'll notice you have not looked at your phone all afternoon. ##### Day 10: A river split in two, and still split - (sight) — An hour out of Chengdu, an engineer facing a river that flooded the plain every year decided not to dam it. Instead the channel was shaped so the Min River divides itself: an inner stream that waters the Chengdu plain, an outer stream that carries the floodwaters away. That was the 3rd century BC. You walk out over the divide and watch the two flows separate beneath your feet, and the plain behind you is still being watered by the inner one this morning. Standing on the divide you'll find you have gone quiet, because it takes a moment to accept how old this is. - (sight) — an hour further on, one of the principal Taoist mountains in China: steps under old trees, mist that does not lift. You go to a small working temple away from the main visitor route, sit with a resident priest, and take a taiji session on the temple grounds. The forms are slow on purpose, which after ten days of walking is the point. - (sight) — both legs of today are included in your base price and you'll be staying in the same Chengdu room tonight, so there's nothing to pack. ##### Day 11: The city the water paid for - (sight) — a historic quarter of three parallel lanes, restored and frankly commercial, a few minutes from a contemporary shopping district built around a Song dynasty temple. We put them together on purpose and we do not pretend either one is a quiet corner: this is where a city with money spends its weekend, and that is worth seeing at close range. - (sight) — a local theatre rather than a hotel function room. You go backstage while the performers are still painting, then watch face changing from the second row: the mask becomes another mask in the time it takes him to swing his head, and knowing how close you are does not help you catch it. - (sight) — tomorrow the plan leaves the cities it can promise you, and we tell you exactly where that stands below. #### Chongqing (3 days) - Subtitle: Chengdu to Chongqing - Recommendation: A short train ride is what is real about today. What happens after you step off it is not bought. - Transport: Yangtze cruise - Transport mode: car High-speed rail Chengdu to Chongqing · Everything after arrival - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/e1N5p9oQ.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2WC4wIOy.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/a67IT6vm.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/fKY8lEzB.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/gQ9kPxoo.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/gZi7VFdE.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/kBEAjAAC.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/khXLMct9.webp ##### Day 12: Chengdu to Chongqing - (transport) — This leg is included in your base price, along with the seat class specified in your written quote. It is the fourth and final rail journey on this route. - (sight) — the Chongqing ground services, the hotel that night and the transfer to the pier have no contracted operator. We describe none of it and we sell none of it. When the ground operator is signed, this day is rewritten and named, and only then does it go into a price. ##### Day 13: Boarding at Chongqing - (sight) — The itinerary is designed so that the transfer itself becomes the experience here — three nights drifting downstream rather than another flight. The market standard on this river is a four-day, three-night downstream programme. - (sight) — the operator, the sailing date and the cabin are all unbought. So are the food aboard and the shore programme. No cabin grade is implied by anything on this page. ##### Day 14: Downstream through the gorges - (sight) — The Three Gorges section of the Yangtze comprises the Qutang, the Wu and the Xiling gorges, in that order downstream. That is geography and it is true whoever operates the boat. Which of them a given sailing passes in daylight is settled by that operator's own schedule, not by us. - (sight) — the autumn and winter months on this river run into low water, and sailings and the stretch actually cruised are adjusted by operators in that season. Every departure date is checked against the operator's own calendar for that season before it is opened for sale. #### Yichang (1 days) - Subtitle: The dam day - Recommendation: The day the same river gets stopped. Which day it actually lands on is not settled. - Transport: Flight - Transport mode: airplane What is unsettled · Why the route wants it at all - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/iHkhCTng.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8iKJCzTV.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/bgMj7PBV.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1acbf9a887d4.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1f44ed3eccc3.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/5ea6749e1cb8.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/5ec17456f749.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/61311457e682.jpg ##### Day 15: The dam day - (sight) — This plan places the Three Gorges Dam here, whereas the standard four-day three-night downstream programme on this river includes it on the morning of disembarkation day. Which applies is confirmed with the operator when the sailing is booked. We will not print a time for it before then. - (sight) — On day 10 you stood on a divide from the 3rd century BC that splits this river's tributary without stopping it. The dam is on the same river, two thousand years later, answering a different way. That contrast is the reason this stretch is in the design, and it is also why we would rather sell you nothing than sell you a version of it we cannot yet name. #### Shanghai (3 days) - Subtitle: Off the river, into the city - Recommendation: A morning of moving and then, on your first evening here, the waterfront. The city is the answer to everything upstream. - Transport: Flight - Transport mode: airplane Disembarking and the flight to Shanghai · The Bund and the Pudong skyline · Why the guide stays - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/6fBOXSWS.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/13x1KtnS.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1Q9afrZn.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1Riqjj0n.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1VrlDwIi.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1vYpI6NZ.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3PEjxTGx.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4EbDdFHb.webp ##### Day 16: Off the river, into the city - (transport) — The transfer from the pier and the flight from Yichang to Shanghai are part of the unbought stretch and are not included in your base price. The flight cannot be ticketed until the sailing's arrival time is confirmed in writing by the operator, which is one of the four things that must be true before this route opens for booking. - (sight) — Your guide will be with you this evening, which is included in the price. One bank carries the trading houses and banks of a century ago, the other carries towers that went up within a single working lifetime, and they stand facing each other across the water. Walk north along the promenade until the towers line up with the gap between two of the old buildings behind you. - (sight) — people work this waterfront offering English practice and tea invitations that end in a bill. On your first night in the city you should have someone beside you who has seen it before. - (accommodation) Bellagio by MGM Shanghai on the Bund — Hotel stay in Shanghai. ##### Day 17: A garden, then the objects - (sight) — pavilions, rockery, ponds and a path that never runs straight, dropped inside the oldest quarter of the city. Follow the path without choosing turns and let it bring you back; the whole design is built so that it does. Flat the whole way. - (sight) — bronzes, ceramics, painting and calligraphy, and the applied arts, with your timed slot booked in advance by us. Seventeen days in, this is a different museum from the one it would have been on day one: you have already stood where most of these objects came out of the ground. - (note) — Nothing is scheduled. The city is worth an hour's walk near the hotel, and your guide will advise you which direction is worth exploring. ##### Day 18: The water drains - (sight) — plane-tree streets, historic houses and small independent shops, low and loose after the towers across the water. It is the softest walking on the route and it is put last on purpose. - (transport) — You cross on the boat people take to get to work, standing at the rail alongside commuters and their scooters, not on a sightseeing deck. It is the crossing this city actually uses, and it runs all day. Halfway across you'll realise you have followed this water from a stone divide in Sichuan to the deck you're standing on. - (sight) — Whether your order includes the airport transfer today is confirmed in your quote, as that arrangement is still being finalised and we will not leave it unaddressed. ## Daily plan ### Day 1 — Land, and stop The first day asks nothing of anyone. Beijing is outside the window and it keeps until tomorrow. - Arrival: your flight lands whenever it lands, and tonight's hotel in Beijing is included in your base price regardless of the hour. Whether your order includes the airport transfer is specified in your quote, because that arrangement is still being finalised and we will not leave it unmentioned. - Evening: Nothing is scheduled. Your guide is reachable, and dinner near the hotel is recommended and booked for you if you want it, on your account. - Stay: Beijing - Meals: None included today ### Day 2 — One axis, then the view back A palace built as one wall within another, walked in a single line. Today you experience both its interior and its form. - The Forbidden City: Your timed slot is booked ahead by us, so you walk in on schedule. Inside, you keep to 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 by. They line up, one inside another, all the way out to the street. - Jingshan Park: The north gate puts you at the foot of an artificial hill. A short climb of steps to the pavilion on top, and the thing you spent the morning inside is suddenly a single object below you: rows of yellow roofs, and the axis running straight out of the picture at both ends. - Pace: The palace is large and guests often find it tiring, so the route is cut to that one line, with the seats we know about along the way and no second monument today. - Stay: Beijing - Meals: Breakfast at the hotel ### Day 3 — The wall, without the climb A cable car takes you up and a sled brings you down. What the wall was actually built to stop is the part worth staying for. - Drive out to Mutianyu: the run north out of the city takes a good part of the morning, which is why nothing else is on today. The vehicle stays with you all day. - Cable car up: the climbing is done for you. You step off onto a restored stretch of wall with watchtowers running away along the ridge in both directions, and your guide reads it to you: the beacon towers, the pass in the valley below, why the towers stand where they stand. Look along the ridge with the towers stepping down it one after another. That is the fifteen seconds worth filming. - What it was for: the wall was never meant to stop people. It was meant to stop horses, and to make anyone who got over it come back the same way with whatever they had taken. Your guide points at the gaps in the ridge where that logic is visible from where you are standing. - Toboggan down: a seated sled on a metal track through the trees, and you arrive at the bottom with the stone steps skipped entirely. - Stay: Beijing - Meals: Breakfast at the hotel ### Day 4 — The other way of drawing a line Round belongs to heaven, square belongs to earth. Today the country's lines are ceremonial rather than military. - Tiananmen Square: you cross the ceremonial centre of modern China on foot. Security screening with passports comes first and takes a slot of its own, so it sits separately in the day's budget; your guide walks you to the nearest screening entrance rather than the long way around. - Temple of Heaven: three groups of buildings on one line, the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, the Imperial Vault of Heaven and the round altar. Stand at the centre of the round altar and speak normally: the stone tiers send your own voice back at you. The plan of the whole park is the same argument written large, round against square. - National Museum of China: bronzes, ceramics, Buddhist sculpture and calligraphy, on the east side of the square, with your reservation booked ahead by us. Your guide takes one line through it rather than the whole building, so the day ends with objects you remember instead of a corridor count. - Stay: Beijing - Meals: Breakfast at the hotel ### Day 5 — Morning in the lanes, afternoon at 300 kilometres an hour Beijing's last gift is people rather than monuments. Then the country's newest infrastructure carries you to its oldest capital. - Old Beijing hutongs and the Shichahai lakeside: courtyard lanes and lakeside streets going about their ordinary morning, grey brick and doorstep stones on either side, bicycles gliding past with breakfast on the handlebars. The lakes lie flat between the streets, and the neighbourhood is already out and about. - High-speed rail to Xi'an: an afternoon on China's high-speed network, the North China plain going past the window at cruising speed. The class of seat on your order is stated in writing in your quote, because we have not yet fixed one in this document and we will not quietly assume one for you. - Into Xi'an: the train arrives into a city still inside its own wall, and the wall is lit by the time you are on the road to the hotel. - Stay: Xi'an - Meals: Breakfast at the hotel ### Day 6 — Eight thousand, for one man An estimated eight thousand figures, buried so that one emperor would not have to arrive anywhere alone. Today is about what one person's power looked like when it was total. - The Terracotta Warriors: you walk the pits in the order they were opened, and your guide teaches you to read rank before you look at the crowd: armour plates, the tie of the hair, the stance of the hands that once held a weapon. Generals, crossbowmen, foot soldiers. In the more recently excavated areas, traces of the original paint are still there on the surface. - The one to stand in front of: find a figure in the second row with its face intact and stay there a minute. No two were finished the same way, and once you have seen that, the pit stops being a crowd. - Crowds: this site runs at its yearly peak in the first week of October, so your departure date is set to keep this day out of that week rather than to work around it on the day. - Stay: Xi'an - Meals: Breakfast at the hotel ### Day 7 — The wall you get to stand on top of Beijing's walls kept you outside. This one you ride around, at your own pace, for as long as you like. - Xi'an City Wall by bike: You take a bicycle at the gate and ride the loop on top of the wall, wide enough here for two bikes side by side. Inside the loop: rooftops, courtyards, the drum tower. Outside: the modern city carrying on. Corner towers give you somewhere to stop and put a foot down. Admission and the bike are both in your base price. Somewhere on the far side you'll notice you have stopped talking and are just riding. - Three walls, one thought: this is the third wall in seven days. The palace wall shut people out of a household, the Great Wall shut horses out of a country, and this one holds a city that is still living inside it. Your guide leaves you to notice the difference rather than announcing it. - Bell and Drum Tower area with the Muslim Quarter: in the evening you walk the two towers that used to keep the city's time, then the lanes behind them where Xi'an's Hui community trades and cooks: bread stamped and baked against the wall of the oven, whole spices in open sacks, meat turned over coals. Eating here is on your own account and your guide tells you which queue is the one worth joining. - Stay: Xi'an - Meals: Breakfast at the hotel ### Day 8 — The road out, then over the mountains One pagoda built to hold what came back along the road. Then a train through the mountains, and the climate changes on you. - Big Wild Goose Pagoda: a brick pagoda raised to house the sutras a monk carried back overland from India, standing in its temple grounds. Everything else you have seen so far was built to keep something out. This was built to keep something that came in. - High-speed rail to Chengdu: the afternoon train crosses the Qinling mountains, the range that divides China's north from its south, through a run of long tunnels. You go in with dry northern air and come out into the Sichuan basin: green, hazy, wet. The seat class on your order is stated in writing in your quote. - Into Chengdu: the pace of the trip changes here on purpose, and the Chengdu nights all run in one hotel with no packing in between. - Stay: Chengdu - Meals: Breakfast at the hotel ### Day 9 — A morning that moves, an afternoon that does not The pandas in the hours they are actually awake, then a chair you do not have to get up from. Today is the day the trip stops asking anything of you. - Chengdu Panda Base: you are there in the morning, the hours when the animals are generally moving: eating, coming down off a platform, dropping back to sleep in the fork of a tree. Flat shaded paths and benches. Get to an enclosure fence early and wait rather than walking the whole park: the animal comes over on its own schedule. - Teahouse sitting in People's Park: bamboo chairs under the trees, a gaiwan each, the lidded cup China brews in, and someone with a long-spouted kettle who tops you up as long as you stay. Cards at the next table, an ear cleaner two tables over working with a tuning fork. The whole afternoon is yours and there is nowhere to be after it. An hour in, you'll notice you have not looked at your phone all afternoon. - Stay: Chengdu - Meals: Breakfast at the hotel ### Day 10 — A river split in two, and still split The oldest working thing you will stand on in China, and the centre of this whole route. You go out and come back the same day. - Dujiangyan irrigation system: an hour out of Chengdu, an engineer facing a river that flooded the plain every year decided not to dam it. Instead the channel was shaped so the Min River splits itself: an inner stream that waters the Chengdu plain, an outer stream that carries the flood away. That was the 3rd century BC. You walk out over the divide and watch the two flows separate under your feet, and the plain behind you is still being watered by the inner one this morning. Standing on the divide you'll find you have gone quiet, because it takes a minute to accept how old this is. - A small Taoist temple on Mount Qingcheng: an hour further on, one of the principal Taoist mountains in China: steps under old trees, mist that does not lift. You go to a small working temple away from the main visitor route, sit with a resident priest, and take a taiji session on the temple ground. The forms are slow on purpose, which after ten days of walking is the point. - Back to Chengdu: both legs of today are included in your base price and you sleep in the same Chengdu room tonight, so nothing needs to be packed. - Stay: Chengdu - Meals: Breakfast at the hotel ### Day 11 — The city the water paid for Two thousand years of reliable harvests bought Chengdu its temperament. Today you spend it. - Kuanzhai Alley with Taikoo Li: a historic quarter of three parallel lanes, restored and frankly commercial, a few minutes from a contemporary shopping district built around a Song dynasty temple. We put them together on purpose and we do not pretend either one is a quiet corner: this is where a city with money spends its weekend, and that is worth seeing at close range. - Community Sichuan opera: a neighbourhood theatre rather than a hotel ballroom. You go backstage while the performers are still painting, then watch face changing from the second row: the mask becomes another mask in the time it takes him to swing his head, and knowing how close you are does not help you catch it. - Last night ashore for a while: tomorrow the plan leaves the cities it can promise you, and we tell you exactly where that stands below. - Stay: Chengdu - Meals: Breakfast at the hotel ### Day 12 — Chengdu to Chongqing A short train ride is what is real about today. What happens after you step off it is not bought. - High-speed rail from Chengdu to Chongqing: This leg is included in your base price, along with the seat class stated in writing in your quote. It is the fourth and final rail movement on this route. - Everything after arrival: the Chongqing ground services, the hotel that night and the transfer to the pier have no contracted operator. We describe none of it and we sell none of it. When the ground operator is signed, this day is rewritten and named, and only then does it go into a price. - Stay: Chongqing - Meals: None in the base price today ### Day 13 — Boarding at Chongqing The boarding day, in outline only. The ship it refers to has not been booked. - What the plan intends: the route is designed so the transfer itself becomes the product here, three nights downstream instead of another flight. The market standard on this river is a four-day three-night downstream programme. - What is not promised: the operator, the sailing date and the cabin are all unbought. So are the food aboard and the shore programme. No cabin grade is implied by anything on this page. - Stay: Aboard - Meals: None in the base price ### Day 14 — Downstream through the gorges The narrowest and deepest part of the river, in outline only. - The gorges: The Three Gorges section of the Yangtze comprises the Qutang, Wu and Xiling gorges, in that order downstream. That is geography, and it holds true regardless of who operates the boat. Which of them a given sailing passes in daylight is determined by that operator's own schedule, not by us. - Low water: In the autumn and winter months, the river runs low, and operators adjust sailings and the stretch actually cruised during that season. Every departure date is checked against the operator's own calendar for that season before it is opened for sale. - Stay: Aboard - Meals: None in the base price ### Day 15 — The dam day The day the same river is stopped. Which day it actually lands on is not settled. - What is unsettled: This plan places the Three Gorges Dam here, while the standard four-day, three-night downstream programme on this river places it on the morning of the disembarkation day. Which one applies is fixed with the operator when the sailing is booked. We are not going to print a time for it before that. - Why the route wants it at all: on day 10 you stood on a divide from the 3rd century BC that splits this river's tributary without stopping it. The dam is the same river, two thousand years later, answered a different way. That contrast is the reason this stretch is in the design, and it is also why we would rather sell you nothing than sell you a version of it we cannot yet name. - Stay: Aboard - Meals: None in the base price ### Day 16 — Off the river, into the city A morning of moving and then, on your first evening here, the waterfront. The city is the answer to everything upstream. - Disembarking and the flight to Shanghai: the transfer from the pier and the flight from Yichang to Shanghai are part of the unbought stretch and are not included in your base price. The flight cannot be ticketed until the sailing's arrival time is confirmed in writing by the operator, which is one of the four things that have to be true before this route opens for booking. - The Bund and the Pudong skyline: Your guide is with you for this evening, which is included in your base price. One bank carries the trading houses and banks of a century ago, the other carries towers that went up within one working lifetime, and they stand looking straight at each other across the water. Walk north along the promenade until the towers line up with the gap between two of the old buildings behind you. - Why the guide stays: people work this waterfront offering English practice and tea invitations that end in a bill. On your first night in the city you should have someone beside you who has seen it before. - Stay: Shanghai - Meals: Breakfast, included in the base price only if that night was spent ashore. ### Day 17 — A garden, then the objects A classical garden in the morning and, in the afternoon, the things you have spent seventeen days standing next to. - Yu Garden and the old city: pavilions, rockery, ponds and a path that never runs straight, set in the oldest quarter of the city. Follow the path without choosing turns and let it lead you back; the whole design is built to do just that. Flat all the way. - Shanghai Museum: bronzes, ceramics, painting and calligraphy, and the applied arts, with your timed slot booked ahead by us. Seventeen days in, this is a different museum from the one it would have been on day one: you have already stood where most of these objects came out of the ground. - Evening: nothing is scheduled. The city is worth an hour on foot near the hotel and your guide tells you which direction is worth it. - Stay: Shanghai - Meals: Breakfast at the hotel ### Day 18 — The water gets out Plane trees in the morning, a working ferry at midday, then the airport. The last thing you do in China is cross the river on a boat nobody built for you. - Former French Concession and Wukang Road: plane-tree streets, historic houses and small independent shops, low and loose after the towers across the water. It is the softest walking on the route and it is put last on purpose. - Huangpu River commuter ferry: you cross on the boat people take to get to work, standing at the rail with commuters and their scooters, not on a sightseeing deck. It is the crossing this city actually uses, and it runs all day. Halfway across you'll realise you have followed this water from a stone divide in Sichuan to the deck you're standing on. - Departure: Whether your order includes the airport transfer today is written into your quote, because that arrangement is still being settled and we will not leave it unsaid. - Stay: Trip ends - Meals: Breakfast at the hotel ## Hotels ### Shanghai Royal Garden Hotel (Shanghai International Resort) - City: Shanghai - Description: Shanghai Royal Garden Hotel: a luxury garden hotel near Pudong Airport and Disneyland, with free shuttle service to both. - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/a07e8f886100.jpg ### 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 ### 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 ### 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 ### Chongqing Marriott Hotel - City: Chongqing - Description: A reliable Chongqing stay for travellers who want comfort after exploring the city’s hills, rivers, bridges, and night views. - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/i6e7PjRG.webp ### Wuyu Sky Garden Hotel - City: Chongqing - Description: A curated hotel option in Chongqing, used as the shared route hotel resource. - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/6vN1tgqi.webp ### Bellagio by MGM Shanghai on the Bund - City: Shanghai - Description: A curated hotel option in Shanghai, used as the shared route hotel resource. - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9u9jCkFL.webp ### Pullman Shanghai Zhongganghui Hotel - City: Shanghai - Description: Pullman Shanghai Zhongganghui Hotel, in Dapuqiao near Tianzifang, steps from Metro Line 9 and the Expo site. - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/5xOD9FRB.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 ### 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 ### Pagoda Hotel Chongqing Jiefangbei - City: Chongqing - Description: Pagoda Hotel Chongqing Jiefangbei - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/7Lg2DSnY.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 ### Atour S Hotel Shanghai Hongqiao Centre Aegean - City: Shanghai - Description: Atour S Hotel in Hongqiao: steps from Aegean Place and Metro Line 10, six km from the National Exhibition and Convention Centre. - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/ciHY2Qvs.webp ### 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 ### The Westin Yichang - City: Yichang - Description: A curated hotel option in Yichang, used as the shared route hotel resource. - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/7CS9CS1K.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 ### Atour S Hotel Shanghai Lujiazui Pudong Avenue - City: Shanghai - Description: Atour S Hotel Shanghai Lujiazui: a stylish stay in Pudong, minutes from the Bund, Jin Mao Tower and Shanghai Tower. - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/eFZcuG90.webp ## Included / Excluded ### What's Included - Intercity rail: Four rail journeys: Beijing to Xi'an on day 5, Xi'an to Chengdu on day 8, the Dujiangyan day return on day 10, Chengdu to Chongqing on day 12. The seat class for your booking is set out in writing in your quotation and no default class is applied - Hotels ashore: 13 nights at your chosen level, four-star, five-star or quality boutique, breakfast included: Beijing 4 · Xi'an 3 · Chengdu and Shanghai 6 between them, with the split stated in writing in your quote - Guide: Licensed English-speaking local guide on every touring day in Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu with Dujiangyan, and Shanghai, including the whole Bund evening on day 16 - Vehicle: Air-conditioned private vehicle for all listed touring in those four cities, including the full-day Mutianyu round trip on day 3 and the Dujiangyan and Mount Qingcheng round trip on day 10 - Timed reservations: The Forbidden City on day 2, the National Museum of China on day 4 and Shanghai Museum on day 17, all booked by us; you supply passport details at booking - Tickets and experiences, Beijing: The Forbidden City walked along the central axis · Jingshan Park · Mutianyu Great Wall with the cable car up and the toboggan down · Tian'anmen Square · Temple of Heaven · the National Museum of China · the hutongs and Shichahai lakeside walk - Tickets and experiences, Xi'an: The Terracotta Warriors · Xi'an City Wall by bike with wall admission and bicycle rental · the Bell and Drum Tower area with the Muslim Quarter · Giant Wild Goose Pagoda - Tickets and experiences, Chengdu and Dujiangyan: The panda base in the morning · the gaiwan teahouse sitting in People's Park with the tea · the Dujiangyan irrigation works · a small Taoist temple on Mount Qingcheng with time with a resident priest and a taiji session · Kuanzhai Alley with Taikoo Li · community Sichuan opera with the backstage visit and face changing up close - Tickets and experiences, Shanghai: The Bund and the Pudong skyline on the evening of day 16 with your guide · Yu Garden and the old city · Shanghai Museum · the former French Concession and Wukang Road · the Huangpu River commuter ferry crossing - Meals: One hotel breakfast for each of the 13 nights ashore, plus the tea at the day 9 teahouse sitting, which is part of that experience rather than a meal. No lunch and no dinner is in the base price - Insurance: Travel accident insurance; the sum insured and what it covers are stated in your written confirmation ### Not Included - International flights: Flights into Beijing and out of Shanghai - Days 12 to 16: The Chongqing ground services and hotel night · the Chongqing to Yichang sailing with everything aboard it and its shore programme · the disembarkation transfer at Yichang · the Yichang to Shanghai flight. None of it is bought, none of it is sold - Visas: Visa fees and processing for guests who require a Chinese visa, including all US guests on this route - Meals: Every lunch and dinner not listed above: recommended and booked by your guide, at your own expense - In-park transport ashore: The only in-park transport included in the base price is the Mutianyu cable car and toboggan. Any other cable car, chairlift, shuttle cart, sightseeing bus, or in-park boat anywhere on this route, including Mount Qingcheng, must be purchased on the day at the posted fare. - In-venue spending: Spending inside museums, palaces, parks or markets, plus any paid photography or paid interactive item inside a venue - Early arrival and late departure: Nights before day 1 and after day 18, and the transfers for them, priced separately at the time of choosing - Personal: Tips, laundry, communications and personal spending, plus any single supplement or additional room difference ### Special Notes Several things on this route follow a purchase, a calendar or a season. Here they are, told straight. - Bookings are not open: Four things have to be true first. One, an operator, a sailing date and cabins confirmed for your departure. Two, a Chongqing ground operator and the day 12 hotel under contract. Three, the Yichang transfer and the Yichang to Shanghai flight booked against that sailing's arrival time. Four, the rail seat class fixed in our commercial terms. Until all four are done we take no orders and no deposits. Tell us your dates and we write to you on the day it opens. - Days 12 to 16: printed in the itinerary so you can see the route's shape, absent from the highlights, absent from the inclusions and absent from every price. Nothing about the ship, the cabin, the food aboard or the shore programme is promised on this page. - The dam day: This plan places the Three Gorges Dam on day 15, while the standard downstream programme on this river places it on the morning of the disembarkation day. Which applies is fixed with the operator when the sailing is booked, and this page is rewritten only after that. - Low water: From October to December, this river experiences low water levels, and operators adjust sailings and the stretch actually cruised during that season. Every departure date is checked against the operator's own calendar for that season before it is opened. - Departure dates: the national holiday week runs October 1 to 7, when the Terracotta Warriors and the panda base both run at their yearly peak. Departure dates are set so that neither day 6 nor day 9 falls inside it, which makes October 8, 2026 the first sellable departure of this season. Dates are also set so day 2 never falls on a Monday, when the Forbidden City closes; if your dates would put it there, days 2 and 3 swap and the Great Wall runs first. - Museum calendars: the National Museum of China on day 4 and Shanghai Museum on day 17 both take named timed reservations. Each order is checked against those venues' published opening calendars for that week before your date is confirmed. - Nights between Chengdu and Shanghai: six of the thirteen nights ashore fall between these two cities, and the split is still being settled in our product plan. Your quote states in writing how many nights fall in each city for your order. - Rail seat class: not fixed in our commercial terms yet, so each quote states the seat class for that order in writing, and no order is taken without it. No default class is applied. - Airport transfers: the standing arrangement for the day 1 Beijing arrival and the day 18 Shanghai departure is being settled, so each quote states in writing whether your order includes them. The arrival night hotel in Beijing is in the base price either way. - Group: Private, just your party. From 1 guest. No fixed maximum party size. - Visa window: the 30-day visa-free policy currently runs through December 31, 2026. Because this is an 18-day plan, a departure on or before December 14, 2026 finishes inside that window; later departures are quoted only after the official renewal is announced. - US passports: the US is not on the 30-day visa-free list, and 18 days is far longer than the ten-day visa-free transit policy allows. Every US guest on this route holds a Chinese tourist or business visa, including a 10-year multiple-entry one. First-time applicants attend a consulate appointment in person, so allow several weeks. Guests who entered China on the transit policy cannot take this trip and we say so before payment rather than after. - 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 change and refund conditions. ## Is Eighteen Days Your Length? Fewer than eighteen days? ### Fewer than eighteen days? The route comes apart along its own chapters. The wall chapter and the road chapter stand on their own; the wall, the road and the water as far as Dujiangyan still carry the whole argument, and that shorter shape avoids the river stretch that is holding this route back. We can plan it against your dates, priced when it is quoted. Tell us how many days you actually have, and we cut chapters rather than cut the pace. ## Good to Know - Group: Private, just your party. From 1 guest. No fixed maximum party size. - Pace: Six stops in 18 days. Beijing 4 nights, Xi'an 3, and 6 nights between Chengdu and Shanghai, plus the unbought river stretch. Two days carry one place each - Effort: Moderate. The Great Wall climb is by cable car and the descent by toboggan, the Xi'an wall is ridden, and the longest walking days are the palace day and Dujiangyan - Ports: Beijing in, Shanghai out. Whether your order includes the day 1 and day 18 airport transfers is stated in writing in your quote - Rail: Four rail movements are included in the base price. The seat class for your booking is specified in writing in your quote; no default class is applied. - Visas: Guests from the UK and Ireland · western and northern Europe · southern Europe · Canada, Australia and New Zealand enter visa-free for days, checked order by order against your dates. US passports need a Chinese visa for this route - Language: Licensed English-speaking local guides throughout, city by city - 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. First sellable departure October 8, 2026, after the national holiday week. The river stretch runs into the low-water season in these months. ## 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. ### Is the Yangtze part actually happening? Not yet, and we will not pretend otherwise. The ship, the Chongqing ground services and the Yichang link are three separate purchases and none of them is made, so days 12 to 16 are printed in the itinerary but sold to no one: not in the highlights, not in the inclusions, not in any price. That is also why the route takes no deposits at all right now. What you can do today is tell us your dates and we will write to you when those three are contracted. If you would rather travel this season than wait, a shorter version that runs Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu and Dujiangyan and stops there avoids the unbought stretch entirely, and it carries the same argument from the wall to the water. We can plan that against your dates. ### Why is Dujiangyan the center of this route instead of a side trip? Because it is the point the whole eighteen days turns on. Everything before it was built to divide: a wall around a palace, a wall along a ridge, a wall around a city. Dujiangyan is the opposite decision, taken in the 3rd century BC, and it is still running: the river is split by the shape of its own bed into a stream that waters the Chengdu plain and a stream that carries the flood away. Stand on the divide and the previous nine days rearrange themselves. Most itineraries give it ninety minutes on the way to somewhere; this one gives it a whole day with Mount Qingcheng, and comes back to sleep in the same Chengdu room. ### Eighteen days is long. Will we be worn out by the middle? The middle is where the plan slows down on purpose. Day 9 is a panda morning and a teahouse afternoon in one city with no packing; day 10 goes out to the waterworks and comes back to the same room; the Chengdu nights all run in one hotel. Climbing is done by machine where machines exist: the cable car up the Great Wall, the toboggan down, and a bicycle instead of your feet on the Xi'an wall. Where a site is big, the route is cut to one line with places to sit, which is why the palace day carries no second monument. ### Do we need a visa? Most guests on this route do not. Stays of days are visa-free for the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The same window covers France, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. It covers the Nordic countries, Central Europe and Ireland. It covers Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece. We check your 18 days plus any extra days in China against that window before you pay. The current policy runs through December 31, 2026, so a departure on or before December 14, 2026 finishes inside it. US passports are different: the US is not on that list and 18 days is far longer than the ten-day transit policy allows, so every US guest holds a Chinese tourist or business visa, applied for in person the first time. We confirm visa status before any payment, and if your dates do not fit the window, we say so instead of selling. ### October to December: what are the crowds and the weather doing? The first week of October is the national holiday week and both the Terracotta Warriors and the panda base run at their yearly peak then, so departure dates are set to keep days 6 and 9 out of it; October 8, 2026 is the first sellable date this season. After that week the north is dry and cool and Sichuan turns gray and damp, which suits a teahouse afternoon better than a bright one would. On the river these are the low-water months, and operators adjust sailings and the stretch actually cruised in that season, which is one more reason no date is opened before the operator's own calendar for that season is in hand.