Upstream to the Sea

Special Notes

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

• Booking & Written Quotations — This itinerary can be booked by date. Hotels, guides and vehicles, train tickets, timed-entry reservations for the Forbidden City, the National Museum of China, and the Shanghai Museum, as well as departure dates, will be confirmed item by item in the written quotation before a deposit is collected. Items not specified in the quotation are not considered included in the base price or having secured inventory.
• Three timed reservations — the Forbidden City, the National Museum of China and the Shanghai Museum each need a timed reservation, and their booking systems sit poorly with overseas mobile numbers. Who books each one for your order, and by when, is stated in writing in your quote. The admissions themselves are in the base price either way.
• Site shuttles and mountain transport — Shuttle buses at the Terracotta Army site, internal vehicles at the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base, sightseeing buses at the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, plus cable cars and boats at Mount Qingcheng are not included in the base price by default. The quoted price specifies whether these services are operational for the tour date and whether they are included. The only up-mountain transport included in the base price for this itinerary is the cable car or chairlift at Mutianyu.
• The Great Wall ascent in November and December 11 — the ascent at Mutianyu is by cableway and open chairlift, and snow or ice closes them. We do not yet hold the operating rules for those two months. Quotes in November and December state the ascent arrangement for your departure in writing before you pay.
• The city wall in November and December 11 — Cycling on top of the Xi'an City Wall is the longest uncovered outdoor section of this route. The arrangements for these two months have been included in your quote.
• Departure dates — No departures during the 1–7 October National Day Golden Week holiday: tourist numbers at the Terracotta Army museum peak that week, and all four cities fall within a period not suitable for travel. Dates are scheduled so that Day 8 never falls on a Monday, as the Forbidden Palace is closed that day; if your travel dates do land on a Monday, Days 8 and 9 are swapped and the Great Wall visit is moved to Day 8.
• The day ten start — Day ten includes Tian'anmen Square, the Temple of Heaven and the National Museum of China, followed by the afternoon train to Shanghai. Entry to the square is subject to security screening. The start time for the day and the allowance for the screening queue are included in your quote for your departure.
• The departure morning — the former French Concession walk and the Huangpu River ferry sit on the morning of day twelve, before the airport. We check them against your departure flight at quoting. If an early flight leaves no room for both, the written quote says which one comes out and prices your order that way, before any deposit is taken.
• Reaching Chengdu — Shanghai, our main departure point, offers direct flights to all key source markets; inbound to Chengdu does not have comparable coverage. Direct flights to Chengdu are well established from the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as from Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece, and from Australia and New Zealand. There is limited service from the Nordics, Central Europe, Ireland, the US and Canada, each with a single gateway — Vienna, Los Angeles and Vancouver respectively. Travellers departing from any other airport must connect; this international transit leg is excluded from the base fare, as is accommodation in the connecting hub. Before booking, we verify the complete inbound itinerary and document the onward connection in writing.
• 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 departures are quoted only after the official renewal is announced.
• US passports — The United States is not included in the 30-day visa-free list, and the 12-day duration exceeds the 10-day limit of the visa-free transit policy. Therefore, US guests on this route must hold a valid Chinese tourist or business visa, including the 10-year multiple-entry visa. Eligibility is subject to document and date verification; we do not claim that any specific visa has already been obtained. First-time applicants must attend an in-person interview at the consulate; please allow sufficient processing time to avoid delaying your departure date. We confirm each guest's visa status before accepting any payment. Guests holding a 10-day visa-free transit visa are not eligible to join this itinerary; we inform you of this fact without offering workarounds.
• 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. This route holds four rail movements and three timed reservations, so a date change touches rail inventory and reservation inventory at once.