--- title: "The Wall and the Water" description: "10 days from the Great Wall to a river split 2200 years ago and still working" type: "tour" route_id: "beijing-chengdu-shenzhen-10-days" total_days: 10 price: 3510 highlights: ["Beijing", "Chengdu", "Shenzhen"] url: "https://www.lyriktrip.com/tours/beijing-chengdu-shenzhen-10-days" canonical_url: "https://www.lyriktrip.com/tours/beijing-chengdu-shenzhen-10-days" locale: "en-US" alternates: {"en-US":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/tours/beijing-chengdu-shenzhen-10-days","en-GB":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/en-GB/tours/beijing-chengdu-shenzhen-10-days","zh-CN":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/zh-CN/tours/beijing-chengdu-shenzhen-10-days","zh-TW":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/zh-TW/tours/beijing-chengdu-shenzhen-10-days","de-DE":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/de-DE/tours/beijing-chengdu-shenzhen-10-days","fr-FR":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/fr-FR/tours/beijing-chengdu-shenzhen-10-days","es-ES":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/es-ES/tours/beijing-chengdu-shenzhen-10-days","it-IT":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/it-IT/tours/beijing-chengdu-shenzhen-10-days","x-default":"https://www.lyriktrip.com/tours/beijing-chengdu-shenzhen-10-days"} --- # The Wall and the Water 10 days from the Great Wall to a river split 2200 years ago and still working Three cities, one clock. Pandas at first light, gaiwan tea, an opera dressing room, a market of components, with English-speaking guides throughout. - Moderate. The longest walk is the Forbidden City morning, and Jingshan straight after is a short uphill on steps. At Mutianyu the chairlift takes you up. The Mount Qingcheng day is walked on mountain paths and steps at the pace your guide sets, and the Chengdu days are flat. ## Overview Old and new is the lazy way to sort China. This route sorts it another way: by what a place decided to hold, and what it decided to let through. Beijing draws an axis and runs a wall along a ridge. Chengdu sits down for a whole afternoon and declines to be hurried. Outside it, a waterworks from the 3rd century BC still splits a river and has never stopped. Shenzhen moves parts by the reel, floor by floor. Ten days is what the transit policy allows, counted in hours from your entry stamp, and every day here is built backward from that count. By the last one you'll find you have stopped sorting the country by age. — LyrikTrip travel designers Every LyrikTrip journey begins with a conversation. On this one, send us your dates and your flights, both ends of them, because the policy check runs on your real tickets rather than on a plan. First reply within four hours; a clear price for your dates within one business day. If the rules do not fit your itinerary we will tell you that instead of quoting, and if they do, we will show you the hours we computed. ## Summary - Route ID: beijing-chengdu-shenzhen-10-days - Duration: 10 days / 9 nights - Starting price: $3,510 - Status: active - Highlights: Beijing, Chengdu, Shenzhen - Cover image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/am5ba18P.webp ## Hero tags - private - From 1 guest - Max: no fixed limit ## Highlight notes - Three cities, one clock. Pandas at first light, gaiwan tea, an opera dressing room, a market of components, with English-speaking guides throughout. - 10 days from the Great Wall to a river split in the 3rd century BC. See what China keeps running. ## Selling points - Walk one axis through the Forbidden City, then cross the street and climb Jingshan to look straight back down it: from the hilltop pavilion the golden roofs fall into rank and the axis runs out of them, north and south, through the whole city. - Ride the chairlift up to Mutianyu and walk the restored towers along the ridge: the climb is done for you, and your guide reads the wall out loud, beacon towers, the pass below, and why the sightlines run where they run. - Reach the panda base in the morning, the hour the animals are generally more active and the crowd is lighter, on a day whose whole shape was set to protect that hour. - Take a bamboo chair in the People's Park teahouse and stay in it: the table and one gaiwan of tea per person are yours for as long as you sit, refilled from a kettle, with cards being played at the next table and an ear cleaner's tuning fork ringing somewhere behind you. - Stand on a waterworks from the 3rd century BC that is still doing its job, then spend the same day on Mount Qingcheng: a quiet Taoist temple, a conversation with a Taoist who lives there, and a tai chi session on the mountain. - Sit in a community Sichuan Opera theater and then be taken backstage, close enough to watch the face-changing act being prepared before it is performed out front. - Read Huaqiangbei in Shenzhen floor by floor with your guide: loose components at the bottom, prototype boards above them, finished machines above that, and the whole building is somebody's supply chain. ## City highlights - Beijing (3 days): Land, and start the clock - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/jK9CTbGE.webp - Chengdu (4 days): Down the axis, then off it - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2sL1auf0.webp - Shenzhen (3 days): A working temple, then south - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9e6cb149774c.jpg ## Experiences Three cities, one clock. Pandas at first light, gaiwan tea, an opera dressing room, a market of components, with English-speaking guides throughout. - The Forbidden City (Beijing): the palace the Ming and Qing courts ran the country from, finished in 1420 and lived in for five centuries. You walk one axis: the ceremonial halls, the living quarters behind them, the imperial garden, then out through the north gate to Jingshan. Entry is by timed reservation and the booking system sits poorly with overseas mobile numbers, so your quote states in writing who books your slot and by when. The admission itself is in the base price. Audio guides and guides hired inside the palace are not. Guests regularly find the site tiring, so the route is cut to that single line with places to sit, and no departure puts this day on a Monday, when the palace closes. - Subtitle: the palace the Ming and Qing courts ran the country from, finished in 1420 and lived in for five centuries. - Tags: Heritage - Host: Beijing, Beijing Lens — Imperial capital and Great Wall - Access: the palace the Ming and Qing courts ran the country from, finished in 1420 and lived in for five centuries. You walk one axis: the ceremonial halls, the living quarters behind them, the imperial garden, then out through the north gate to Jingshan. Entry is by timed reservation and the booking system sits poorly with overseas mobile numbers, so your quote states in writing who books your slot and by when. The admission itself is in the base price. Audio guides and guides hired inside the palace are not. Guests regularly find the site tiring, so the route is cut to that single line with places to sit, and no departure puts this day on a Monday, when the palace closes. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/7f313a6dab74.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8a6cdb9ca2b9.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/de8d1138706b.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/cb45218f2b95.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/08a2b46a7206.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/43c9d4d18be6.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/49598606918a.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/17cfe569ced7.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/aff552490ca6.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/db0255c2930c.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 travelers 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 polished 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 - 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 - NMC: One Room for Nine Days (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 - The Temple of Heaven (Beijing): the complex where the emperor came to make the year's offering, three sets of buildings on one line: the Hall of Prayer, the Imperial Vault and the round altar. The design language is the point and it is legible once someone tells you: round belongs to heaven, square belongs to earth, and the plan repeats that pairing at every scale. Entrance ticket in your price. - Subtitle: the complex where the emperor came to make the year's offering, three sets of buildings on one line: the Hall of Prayer, the Imperial Vault and the round altar. - Tags: Heritage - Host: Beijing, Beijing Lens — Imperial capital and Great Wall - Access: the complex where the emperor came to make the year's offering, three sets of buildings on one line: the Hall of Prayer, the Imperial Vault and the round altar. The design language is the point and it is legible once someone tells you: round belongs to heaven, square belongs to earth, and the plan repeats that pairing at every scale. Entrance ticket in your price. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/db9b46f1b9cf.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/dc39cfe33b0d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3894e4ef10e8.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/c545d9594e74.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/baf1840996ea.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1e34d302cd31.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2da63a8fc9a4.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8f551e057a6d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/142abccd839a.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/95fb63a3bc8e.jpg - Beijing to Chengdu by air (Beijing to Chengdu): an afternoon flight with a driver at both ends, so the day's touring finishes in Beijing and the evening lands you in a city with a different climate and a different speed. The leg is in your price; the cabin class for your order is being finalized and is stated in writing in your quote. - Subtitle: an afternoon flight with a driver at both ends, so the day's touring finishes in Beijing and the evening lands you in a city with a different climate and a different speed. - Tags: Transport - Host: Guangzhou, Guangzhou Lens — Trade history and southern city life - Access: an afternoon flight with a driver at both ends, so the day's touring finishes in Beijing and the evening lands you in a city with a different climate and a different speed. The leg is in your price; the cabin class for your order is being finalized and is stated in writing in your quote. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/5c60cf431cfc.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/40f3b0fb573a.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/a2dbf22decad.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/955de15ea699.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f2e829da4e7b.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4ca52f406728.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/52d3fb1e6eb5.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/daf4167e2628.jpg - The Chengdu panda base (Chengdu): the breeding and research base on the edge of Chengdu, visited in the morning, when the animals are generally more active and the crowd is lighter. You walk between the enclosures with your guide and stop where there is something happening rather than working through a list. The entrance ticket is in your price; the electric carts inside the park are not, and are paid on the day if you want one. - Subtitle: the breeding and research base on the edge of Chengdu, visited in the morning, when the animals are generally more active and the crowd is lighter. - Tags: Wildlife - Host: Chengdu, Chengdu Lens — Pandas and Sichuan culture - Access: the breeding and research base on the edge of Chengdu, visited in the morning, when the animals are generally more active and the crowd is lighter. You walk between the enclosures with your guide and stop where there is something happening rather than working through a list. The entrance ticket is in your price; the electric carts inside the park are not, and are paid on the day if you want one. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3e8e1eba78b6.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3859494f8ca2.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/bfc36553ee8b.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/fb8f2b170763.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f84d52332ce8.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/106d08f5e8be.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/dd9c9ced898c.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/cdab22c7bcf5.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/bcdc08962f93.jpg - Teahouse sitting in People's Park (Chengdu): an open-air teahouse in a public park in the middle of Chengdu, bamboo chairs at low tables under the trees. You sit down and stay: the table and one gaiwan per guest, the lidded cup China brews in, are in your price, and the kettle comes back as long as you are in the chair. Around you the park does what it does on a weekday, cards at the next table, a tuning fork ringing as an ear cleaner works his way between the tables. Roughly three hours are set aside, because sitting is the content here rather than a pause on the way somewhere. The ear cleaning and anything you eat or drink beyond that one gaiwan are on your own account. - Subtitle: an open-air teahouse in a public park in the middle of Chengdu, bamboo chairs at low tables under the trees, keep your seat and the tea keeps coming. - Tags: City - Host: Chengdu, Chengdu Lens — Pandas and Sichuan culture - Access: bamboo chairs under the trees and a gaiwan each, the lidded cup China brews in, refilled by a man with a long-spouted kettle for as long as you keep the seat. Around you: neighbors playing cards, an ear cleaner working the next table with a tuning fork. Your seat and the refills are in the base price; the snacks and the ear cleaner are your own account. A full afternoon is set aside, because sitting is the content here rather than a pause on the way somewhere. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/77584e962219.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2bff65c653e6.png, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/34f6c86b2f9f.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/a4c2127aee55.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/6a74f063db8f.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/a27d0f4e6224.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/89eb340e5ae2.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/43f5d1ab4117.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/12ed3c8b6eac.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/54273121005d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4e4bd21b9b97.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9d549716c30b.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9cf32f1b02e8.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/d57a819a2152.jpg - Chengdu to Dujiangyan and back by high-speed rail (Chengdu): two short rail legs on the same day, out in the morning and back in the evening, with a driver at each end of each leg. Your Chengdu hotel is held through all four Chengdu nights, so nothing is packed for this day. Both legs are in your price; the seat class for your order is being finalized and is stated in writing in your quote. - Subtitle: two short rail legs on the same day, out in the morning and back in the evening, with a driver at each end of each leg. - Tags: Transport - Host: Chengdu, Chengdu Lens — Pandas and Sichuan culture - Access: two short rail legs on the same day, out in the morning and back in the evening, with a driver at each end of each leg. Your Chengdu hotel is held through all four Chengdu nights, so nothing is packed for this day. Both legs are in your price; the seat class for your order is being finalized and is stated in writing in your quote. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/657532699f1f.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/959c5a515058.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/0986d5a97d51.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/673e97272b64.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/629dee03a76b.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/5b6412f2a4cc.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/ec5b8ff6b5da.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/456ffccae8e2.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/60eb70c6e497.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/343aa7dc799b.jpg - Dujiangyan River Control and Irrigation (Dujiangyan): a river-control system begun in the third century BC and still in service, splitting the river into an inner stream for the fields and an outer one for the flood. It splits the river in two without a dam, sends one part onto the plain and one part downstream, and the farmland it waters is the reason Chengdu could become the city it is. You walk the divide and the spillway and look down on the water doing now what it was designed to do then; your guide shows you where each part does its job. About two and a half hours, with steps and bridges. Whether the site shuttle is operating in your month, and whether it sits inside your price, is stated in writing in your quote; any in-park transport is not included. Most visitors photograph the river and leave; understanding what it is doing is why this gets a full day rather than a stop. - Subtitle: a river-control system begun in the third century BC and still in service, splitting the river into an inner stream for the fields and an outer one for the flood. Admission included; reached by high-speed rail from Chengdu and back the same day. - Tags: Heritage - Host: Guangzhou, Guangzhou Lens — Trade history and southern city life - Access: a river-control system begun in the third century BC and still in service, splitting the river into an inner stream for the fields and an outer one for the flood. You walk the levee between the two flows and your guide shows you where each part does its job. About two and a half hours, with steps and bridges. Whether the site shuttle is operating in your month, and whether it sits inside your price, is stated in writing in your quote. It is worth the day out because almost nothing else on a first trip to China is both this old and still on duty. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b973a332521c.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9d9a43ba2c4d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b9a766ee65f9.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/93a75b616069.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3d2f86879c96.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/630985f2347a.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9ebdb09b564e.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/73712e678adf.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/d204564d5198.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/0ee050a0ef26.jpg - Mount Qingcheng (Dujiangyan): one of the important Taoist mountains in China, and still working as one. Green, layered, quiet, walked on stone paths under old trees. Included with admission. - Subtitle: one of the important Taoist mountains in China, and still working as one. - Tags: Wellness - Host: Guangzhou, Guangzhou Lens — Trade history and southern city life - Access: one of the important Taoist mountains in China, and still working as one. Green, layered, quiet, walked on stone paths under old trees. Included with admission. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4219cb235eba.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/510f00cab43f.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8d05c2ec54d1.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/40a943ac14b8.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/c0d4c6ca3bf5.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/ce595a251ee1.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/0f1828bab889.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/6c462ceaa624.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/0160d2eb08a5.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/cd60585e411c.jpg - Kuanzhai Alley and Taikoo Li (Chengdu): a historic neighborhood built around three parallel lanes, and the newer quarter beside it, walked on foot with your guide and with no ticketed venue involved. Both are commercial and busy, and 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; the guide's time is in your price and anything you buy is on your account. - Subtitle: a historic neighborhood built around three parallel lanes, and the newer quarter beside it, walked on foot with your guide and with no ticketed venue involved. - Tags: City - Host: Chengdu, Chengdu Lens — Pandas and Sichuan culture - Access: a historic neighborhood 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 - A community Sichuan Opera theater (Chengdu): a neighborhood theater rather than a hotel showroom, where the audience is largely local and the tea keeps coming. Your seat is in your price, and so is the arranged look backstage, where you watch the face-changing act being prepared before it goes out front. That backstage half is why this is on the plan: from the seats it is a trick, and from the wings it is a craft with hands doing it. - Subtitle: a neighborhood theater rather than a hotel showroom, where the audience is largely local and the tea keeps coming. - Tags: Performance - Host: Chengdu, Chengdu Lens — Pandas and Sichuan culture - Access: a neighborhood theater rather than a hotel showroom, where the audience is largely local and the tea keeps coming. Your seat is in your price, and so is the arranged look backstage, where you watch the face-changing act being prepared before it goes out front. That backstage half is why this is on the plan: from the seats it is a trick, and from the wings it is a craft with hands doing it. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/7c6e38cac1ea.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/83e1a7ea0387.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1ed3f8edde59.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/294f741f310a.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/390a59811536.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9504e34cb716.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/c7adcea03a38.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/c084683a4ac6.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/6a04c465a5e9.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/551fdba21a23.jpg - Wenshu Monastery (Chengdu): a working monastery rather than a museum, with monks living and chanting inside it, and a vegetarian canteen alongside where local people line up at lunchtime. Quiet, flat and about ninety minutes. In the base price. - Subtitle: a working monastery rather than a museum, with monks living and chanting inside it, and a vegetarian canteen alongside where local people line up at lunchtime. - Tags: Heritage - Host: Chengdu, Chengdu Lens — Pandas and Sichuan culture - Access: a working monastery rather than a museum, with monks living and chanting inside it, and a vegetarian canteen alongside where local people line up at lunchtime. Quiet, flat and about ninety minutes. In the base price. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4cde1b546423.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/cd0a98778b61.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/d9351ad14dbb.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/08028e98dfd6.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/da72ce581e88.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/171f544b32c1.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/47e82d70cc0b.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/86cebd9977b5.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/7299ad08e4e7.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/57a800ae461c.jpg - Chengdu to Shenzhen by air (Chengdu to Shenzhen): an afternoon flight with a driver at both ends, from a city that sits still to one that has rebuilt itself inside living memory. The leg is in your price; the cabin class for your order is being finalized and is stated in writing in your quote. - Subtitle: an afternoon flight with a driver at both ends, from a city that sits still to one that has rebuilt itself inside living memory. - Tags: Transport - Host: Guangzhou, Guangzhou Lens — Trade history and southern city life - Access: an afternoon flight with a driver at both ends, from a city that sits still to one that has rebuilt itself inside living memory. The leg is in your price; the cabin class for your order is being finalized and is stated in writing in your quote. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b12b02ed70ee.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/40f3b0fb573a.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/bdf695e18751.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/21a863e8cba1.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/e142579b719f.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8cd57b420cf9.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/ba1b0f9300a8.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/783f9d0fe378.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/5c60cf431cfc.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/daf4167e2628.jpg - Huaqiangbei (Shenzhen): one of the world's best-known electronics districts. You walk floors and streets where components, prototypes and finished devices sell side by side, and the supply chain behind the world's gadgets stops being an abstraction: it has counters, prices and business cards. Your guide keeps the logic straight while you browse. - Subtitle: one of the world's best-known electronics districts - Tags: Tech - Host: Shenzhen, Shenzhen Lens — Drones and future mobility - Access: Your guide keeps the logic straight while you browse. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f3ad2afbd3b2.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/200120e470fb.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/968fce5767a5.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/403ff3a81a73.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b0f4ce04c70d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/92c50a687090.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2c610df7011f.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/dd5d5cbe7e98.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2a799aaa4b8b.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4576ade7ac05.jpg - An indoor Shenzhen venue on day ten (Shenzhen): a museum-scale indoor venue about how this city was made, either the urban planning exhibition hall or the industrial museum. Which of the two this plan uses is being finalized and is named in writing in your quote; what is firm either way is that the admission and the entry reservation are booked by us and are in your price, and that the morning is indoors and close to the port run. - Subtitle: a museum-scale indoor venue about how this city was made, either the urban planning exhibition hall or the industrial museum. - Tags: Museum - Host: Shenzhen, Shenzhen Lens — Drones and future mobility - Access: a museum-scale indoor venue about how this city was made, either the urban planning exhibition hall or the industrial museum. Which of the two this plan uses is being finalized and is named in writing in your quote; what is firm either way is that the admission and the entry reservation are booked by us and are in your price, and that the morning is indoors and close to the port run. - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9931c0ddb802.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/77580f43653a.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9bf84795be94.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/5a7d8c99b583.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/258e0b643fa8.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9f6aabb3ac1c.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2473fdeccb63.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b0ac7d600987.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b2c1b35f2af4.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/0aa303e167f0.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 and the Water - 10 days Journey #### Beijing (3 days) - Subtitle: Land, and start the clock - Recommendation: Your driver meets the flight, whatever hour it lands, and the day asks nothing else of you. The stamp in your passport starts the only clock this trip runs on. - Transport: Flight - Transport mode: airplane Airport pickup · The window starts here · Beijing through the window · 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 start the clock - (transport) — your driver and vehicle are waiting for the flight number on your confirmation, and the run into the city is yours to sleep through. - (sight) — the permitted stay runs continuously from your entry stamp, ten times twenty-four hours. We compute your window from your actual landing time to the planned crossing on day ten before you pay, and as designed this plan leaves roughly a full day of margin inside it. - (sight) — ring roads first, then poplar rows and the lit shopfronts of an ordinary street. The country you flew this far for shows up before you have opened a bag. - (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, and the hill that reads it - (sight) — your named reservation is booked ahead by us, so you walk in on your slot. Inside, one axis: the ceremonial halls where the court did 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, one inside another, lined up all the way out to the square. - (sight) — the palace is large and guests often say it wears them out, so the route holds to that one line and stops at the seats we know about. - (sight) — across the street from the north gate, a short climb on steps to the pavilion on top. From up there the palace is a field of golden roofs in rank, and the axis you just walked runs straight out of it, north and south, through the whole city. ##### Day 3: The wall, and the way up - (transport) — the run north out of the city takes a good part of the morning, which is exactly why nothing else shares this day. Your vehicle stays with you from door to door. - (sight) — an open seat on a cable, a few minutes, and the climbing is over. You step off onto a restored stretch of wall with watchtowers running away along the ridge in both directions. - (sight) — your guide reads the wall out loud, the beacon towers, the pass below, why the towers stand where they stand and what each one could see. Look along the ridge with the towers stepping down it one after another: that is the fifteen seconds worth filming. - (sight) — everything on this ridge exists to stop something at a line. Keep it in mind: on day six you stand on the other answer the same country gave, on a river, and it was built to divide rather than to stop. - (sight) — the descent is on foot unless you add the downward ride, which is not in your price. Your guide tells you what it costs on the day, or it goes onto your order in writing before you travel. #### Chengdu (4 days) - Subtitle: Down the axis, then off it - Recommendation: The square, the museum on it, and the temple at the southern end of the same line. This is the fullest day in Beijing, and it ends on a plane. - Transport: Flight - Transport mode: airplane Tian'anmen Square · The National Museum of China · The Temple of Heaven · Fly to Chengdu - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2sL1auf0.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/18sksaPz.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1BPFDek8.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2iDGv07g.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 4: Down the axis, then off it - (sight) — you cross the ceremonial center of modern China on foot. Screening comes first and takes its own half hour to an hour, so it sits in the day's budget separately; we arrange the screening entry, and your guide walks you to the nearest one rather than around the long side. - (sight) — on the east side of the same square, and booked ahead by us because the reservation system fights foreign phone numbers. Your guide takes one line through it in about two hours: bronzes, ceramics, sculpture, calligraphy, in that order, so the objects arrive as a sequence rather than a heap. - (sight) — further south on the same axis. Three buildings on one line, and one idea repeated at every scale: round belongs to heaven, square belongs to earth. Stand at the center of the round altar with nothing above you and say something out loud. - (transport) — your driver takes you to the airport and a Chengdu driver meets the flight. The flight number, times and cabin class for your order are written into your quote. You land somewhere softer in the air and slower on the street, and you do not move hotels again for four nights. - (accommodation) Atour Hotel Chengdu Taikoo Li Chunxi Road Pedestrian Street — Hotel stay in Chengdu. ##### Day 5: Pandas early, then a chair you do not get up from - (sight) — you go in the morning, when the animals are generally more active and the crowd is lighter. Your guide walks the enclosures with you and stops where something is happening rather than working down a list. The electric carts inside the park are not in your price; the walking is flat. - (sight) — the base holds the morning slot on this plan and nothing is allowed to push it to an afternoon. That is the reason day five looks light on paper. - (sight) — bamboo chairs at low tables under trees, in a public park in the middle of the city. Your table and one gaiwan each, the lidded cup China brews in, are in your price, and the kettle comes back for as long as you stay in the chair. Cards at the next table, a tuning fork ringing as an ear cleaner works his way through, and no part of the afternoon that needs you anywhere else. Somewhere in the second hour you'll notice nobody in your party has looked at a phone. - (sight) — the ear cleaning, and anything you eat or drink beyond that one gaiwan, are paid at the table. Your guide tells you what things cost before you sit down. ##### Day 6: The other answer - (transport) — a short ride from Chengdu with a driver at each end, and your hotel stays exactly as you left it because all four Chengdu nights are held on one room. - (sight) — begun in the 3rd century BC and still running. Your guide walks you along it and names the parts: this piece divides the flow, that one takes the excess away, the third one meters what goes through. Stand where the river comes apart and watch which way the water goes, then look at how old the idea is. - (sight) — three days ago you stood on a wall built to stop something at a line. This was built by the same civilization to do the opposite: not to hold the river, but to split it and keep it moving. Both are still here. Only one of them still has a job. - (sight) — one of China's important Taoist mountains, half an hour away and part of the same day. You walk up through the trees to a quiet temple rather than the busiest one, and a Taoist who lives on the mountain sits down with you; your guide translates. Then a tai chi session, outdoors, on the mountain. The walking is on paths and steps, and the pace is set by your party rather than by a clock. - (sight) — the evening rail leg back, and the same room. Nothing is packed on this day at either end. ##### Day 7: Three lanes, and a dressing room - (sight) — a historic block built around three parallel lanes, walked with your guide. It is commercial and it is busy, and we would rather tell you that than let you arrive expecting a quiet courtyard: what is worth the hour is the way a Chengdu block is put together, the gate, the screen wall behind it, the courtyard, and your guide takes you through one that still shows it. - (sight) — next door, and built on the same street grid a few decades later. Stand at the edge where the two meet and the whole argument about what a city keeps is right there in the roofline. - (sight) — a neighborhood house, not a hotel showroom. Your seat is in your price, the tea keeps coming, and most of the people around you are regulars. Then your guide takes you backstage before the face-changing act, where the masks, the silk and the timing are laid out on a table under a working light. - (sight) — from the seats it reads as a trick. From two meters away it reads as a job, done fast, by hands that have done it several thousand times. #### Shenzhen (3 days) - Subtitle: A working temple, then south - Recommendation: One quiet morning in the middle of the city, and an afternoon flight to a city that did not exist at this size within living memory. The last move of the trip happens today. - Transport: Private vehicle - Transport mode: car Wenshu Monastery · The refectory beside it · Fly to Shenzhen · Two speeds in one day - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9e6cb149774c.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8AH70UD0.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/h4WopDz7.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/j3OhqX9B.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/0540e86e5dd0.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/09971fb8ed55.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/0cb198f8a49d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1dabf6d8d82e.jpg ##### Day 8: A working temple, then south - (sight) — a working monastery, not a restored shell. On an ordinary weekday morning people come in to make offerings before work, and the courtyards are quiet enough to hear the brooms. Any entrance fee is in your price. - (sight) — locals queue for the vegetarian food next door. It is not included, and your guide will point you at the window and tell you what to ask for; the bill is yours. - (transport) — the afternoon flight south, driver at both ends. Flight number, times and cabin class for your order are written into your quote. - (sight) — you started the day in a courtyard where the pace is set by incense burning down, and you finish it in a city whose skyline is younger than most of the people in it. - (accommodation) Kempinski Hotel Shenzhen — Hotel stay in Shenzhen. ##### Day 9: The building that is somebody's supply chain - (sight) — your guide reads the district floor by floor, loose components at the bottom, prototype boards above, finished machines above that, and explains how the sourcing trade actually runs through it. Stand at a components counter and look at the reels of parts stacked behind the seller, then look up the stairwell at how many floors of this there are. - (sight) — without someone naming the floors this is noise. With it, the building reads in one direction, from parts to products, and you can follow a single component up three floors until it is a machine. - (sight) — nothing bought inside is in your price. Your guide tells you what a fair number looks like before you open a conversation. - (sight) — not in your price and not something we promise. These vehicles run on a commercial operator's routes and the operator decides day by day what is running, so we check availability for your date and, where it runs, we arrange the ride and state its price in writing when you choose it. Where it does not run, this day keeps Huaqiangbei and a Shenzhen alternative that is written into your quote before you travel. ##### Day 10: One fixed hour - (sight) — a museum-scale venue about the making of this city, either the urban planning exhibition hall or the industrial museum. Which one this plan uses is named in writing in your quote; the admission and the entry reservation are booked by us and are in your price either way. It is indoors, it is close to the port run, and it is the last thing on the plan for a reason: you have spent nine days looking at what China decided to keep, and this room is where a city says what it decided to build. - (sight) — we hold at least four hours of buffer ahead of your planned crossing and schedule nothing self-arranged after the morning venue. Your driver takes you to the port and your guide walks you to the immigration hall. The crossing itself, and everything on the Hong Kong side, is on your own ticket and your own account. - (sight) — ten days ago an officer put a stamp in your passport and started a clock. You walk out of the country under your own feet, on time, with hours to spare. Somewhere in that hall you'll find the ten days have sorted themselves into two piles, what this country holds and what it lets through. ## Daily plan ### Day 1 — Land, and start the clock Your driver meets the flight, whatever hour it lands, and the day asks nothing else of you. The stamp in your passport starts the only clock this trip runs on. - Airport pickup: your driver and vehicle are waiting for the flight number on your confirmation, and the run into the city is yours to sleep through. - The window starts here: the permitted stay runs continuously from your entry stamp, ten times twenty-four hours. We compute your window from your actual landing time to the planned crossing on day ten before you pay, and as designed this plan leaves roughly a full day of margin inside it. - Beijing through the window: ring roads first, then poplar rows and the lit shopfronts of an ordinary street. The country you flew this far for shows up before you have opened a bag. - 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, and the hill that reads it The palace in the morning, then the hill built to look down on it. Today is the day the shape of the city stops being abstract. - The Forbidden City: your named reservation is booked ahead by us, so you walk in on your slot. Inside, one axis: the ceremonial halls where the court did 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, one inside another, lined up all the way out to the square. - Pace: the palace is large and guests often say it wears them out, so the route holds to that one line and stops at the seats we know about. - Jingshan Park: across the street from the north gate, a short climb on steps to the pavilion on top. From up there the palace is a field of golden roofs in rank, and the axis you just walked runs straight out of it, north and south, through the whole city. - Stay: Beijing - Meals: Breakfast at the hotel ### Day 3 — The wall, and the way up A chairlift lifts you to the ridge and the towers do the rest. Nothing else is on today, and that is the design. - Drive out to Mutianyu: the run north out of the city takes a good part of the morning, which is exactly why nothing else shares this day. Your vehicle stays with you from door to door. - Chairlift up: an open seat on a cable, a few minutes, and the climbing is over. You step off onto a restored stretch of wall with watchtowers running away along the ridge in both directions. - Walk the towers: your guide reads the wall out loud, the beacon towers, the pass below, why the towers stand where they stand and what each one could see. Look along the ridge with the towers stepping down it one after another: that is the fifteen seconds worth filming. - A wall is a decision: everything on this ridge exists to stop something at a line. Keep it in mind: on day six you stand on the other answer the same country gave, on a river, and it was built to divide rather than to stop. - Coming down: the descent is on foot unless you add the downward ride, which is not in your price. Your guide tells you what it costs on the day, or it goes onto your order in writing before you travel. - Stay: Beijing - Meals: Breakfast at the hotel ### Day 4 — Down the axis, then off it The square, the museum on it, and the temple at the southern end of the same line. This is the fullest day in Beijing, and it ends on a plane. - Tian'anmen Square: you cross the ceremonial center of modern China on foot. Screening comes first and takes its own half hour to an hour, so it sits in the day's budget separately; we arrange the screening entry, and your guide walks you to the nearest one rather than around the long side. - The National Museum of China: on the east side of the same square, and booked ahead by us because the reservation system fights foreign phone numbers. Your guide takes one line through it in about two hours: bronzes, ceramics, sculpture, calligraphy, in that order, so the objects arrive as a sequence rather than a heap. - The Temple of Heaven: further south on the same axis. Three buildings on one line, and one idea repeated at every scale: round belongs to heaven, square belongs to earth. Stand at the center of the round altar with nothing above you and say something out loud. - Fly to Chengdu: your driver takes you to the airport and a Chengdu driver meets the flight. The flight number, times and cabin class for your order are written into your quote. You land somewhere softer in the air and slower on the street, and you do not move hotels again for four nights. - Stay: Chengdu - Meals: Breakfast at the hotel ### Day 5 — Pandas early, then a chair you do not get up from The base in the morning while the animals are moving, and an afternoon that is deliberately left long. Today is the day the trip changes speed. - The Chengdu panda base: you go in the morning, when the animals are generally more active and the crowd is lighter. Your guide walks the enclosures with you and stops where something is happening rather than working down a list. The electric carts inside the park are not in your price; the walking is flat. - Why the morning is protected: the base holds the morning slot on this plan and nothing is allowed to push it to an afternoon. That is the reason day five looks light on paper. - The People's Park teahouse: bamboo chairs at low tables under trees, in a public park in the middle of the city. Your table and one gaiwan each, the lidded cup China brews in, are in your price, and the kettle comes back for as long as you stay in the chair. Cards at the next table, a tuning fork ringing as an ear cleaner works his way through, and no part of the afternoon that needs you anywhere else. Somewhere in the second hour you'll notice nobody in your party has looked at a phone. - On your own account: the ear cleaning, and anything you eat or drink beyond that one gaiwan, are paid at the table. Your guide tells you what things cost before you sit down. - Stay: Chengdu - Meals: Breakfast at the hotel ### Day 6 — The other answer Out to the river in the morning and up the mountain after it, back in Chengdu by night. Today the country stops being a set of monuments and becomes a set of decisions. - High-speed rail out: a short ride from Chengdu with a driver at each end, and your hotel stays exactly as you left it because all four Chengdu nights are held on one room. - The Dujiangyan irrigation system: begun in the 3rd century BC and still running. Your guide walks you along it and names the parts: this piece divides the flow, that one takes the excess away, the third one meters what goes through. Stand where the river comes apart and watch which way the water goes, then look at how old the idea is. - What it is not: three days ago you stood on a wall built to stop something at a line. This was built by the same civilization to do the opposite: not to hold the river, but to split it and keep it moving. Both are still here. Only one of them still has a job. - Mount Qingcheng: one of China's important Taoist mountains, half an hour away and part of the same day. You walk up through the trees to a quiet temple rather than the busiest one, and a Taoist who lives on the mountain sits down with you; your guide translates. Then a tai chi session, outdoors, on the mountain. The walking is on paths and steps, and the pace is set by your party rather than by a clock. - Back to Chengdu: the evening rail leg back, and the same room. Nothing is packed on this day at either end. - Stay: Chengdu - Meals: Breakfast at the hotel ### Day 7 — Three lanes, and a dressing room A morning in the old lanes and the new quarter beside them, then a theater where the audience is local. Today you get to see the trick from the side it is made on. - Kuanzhai Alley: a historic block built around three parallel lanes, walked with your guide. It is commercial and it is busy, and we would rather tell you that than let you arrive expecting a quiet courtyard: what is worth the hour is the way a Chengdu block is put together, the gate, the screen wall behind it, the courtyard, and your guide takes you through one that still shows it. - The Taikoo Li quarter: next door, and built on the same street grid a few decades later. Stand at the edge where the two meet and the whole argument about what a city keeps is right there in the roofline. - A community Sichuan Opera theater: a neighborhood house, not a hotel showroom. Your seat is in your price, the tea keeps coming, and most of the people around you are regulars. Then your guide takes you backstage before the face-changing act, where the masks, the silk and the timing are laid out on a table under a working light. - From the wings: from the seats it reads as a trick. From two meters away it reads as a job, done fast, by hands that have done it several thousand times. - Stay: Chengdu - Meals: Breakfast at the hotel ### Day 8 — A working temple, then south One quiet morning in the middle of the city, and an afternoon flight to a city that did not exist at this size within living memory. The last move of the trip happens today. - Wenshu Monastery: a working monastery, not a restored shell. On an ordinary weekday morning people come in to make offerings before work, and the courtyards are quiet enough to hear the brooms. Any entrance fee is in your price. - The refectory beside it: locals queue for the vegetarian food next door. It is not included, and your guide will point you at the window and tell you what to ask for; the bill is yours. - Fly to Shenzhen: the afternoon flight south, driver at both ends. Flight number, times and cabin class for your order are written into your quote. - Two speeds in one day: you started the day in a courtyard where the pace is set by incense burning down, and you finish it in a city whose skyline is younger than most of the people in it. - Stay: Shenzhen - Meals: Breakfast at the hotel ### Day 9 — The building that is somebody's supply chain A market read floor by floor, with a guide who can say what each floor is for. Today the machines in your life get a street address. - Huaqiangbei: your guide reads the district floor by floor, loose components at the bottom, prototype boards above, finished machines above that, and explains how the sourcing trade actually runs through it. Stand at a components counter and look at the reels of parts stacked behind the seller, then look up the stairwell at how many floors of this there are. - What your guide is for here: without someone naming the floors this is noise. With it, the building reads in one direction, from parts to products, and you can follow a single component up three floors until it is a machine. - Money inside the market: nothing bought inside is in your price. Your guide tells you what a fair number looks like before you open a conversation. - The driverless taxi: not in your price and not something we promise. These vehicles run on a commercial operator's routes and the operator decides day by day what is running, so we check availability for your date and, where it runs, we arrange the ride and state its price in writing when you choose it. Where it does not run, this day keeps Huaqiangbei and a Shenzhen alternative that is written into your quote before you travel. - Stay: Shenzhen - Meals: Breakfast at the hotel ### Day 10 — One fixed hour An indoor morning about how this city was made, and then a border you clear on your own feet. Today has one fixed hour in it and everything else is arranged around that hour. - An indoor Shenzhen venue: a museum-scale venue about the making of this city, either the urban planning exhibition hall or the industrial museum. Which one this plan uses is named in writing in your quote; the admission and the entry reservation are booked by us and are in your price either way. It is indoors, it is close to the port run, and it is the last thing on the plan for a reason: you have spent nine days looking at what China decided to keep, and this room is where a city says what it decided to build. - To the exit port: we hold at least four hours of buffer ahead of your planned crossing and schedule nothing self-arranged after the morning venue. Your driver takes you to the port and your guide walks you to the immigration hall. The crossing itself, and everything on the Hong Kong side, is on your own ticket and your own account. - Crossing out: ten days ago an officer put a stamp in your passport and started a clock. You walk out of the country under your own feet, on time, with hours to spare. Somewhere in that hall you'll find the ten days have sorted themselves into two piles, what this country holds and what it lets through. - Stay: Trip ends - Meals: Breakfast at the hotel ## Hotels ### 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 ### Atour Hotel, Liuliqiao, Beijing West Railway Station - City: Beijing - Description: Upscale local hotel near Beijing West Railway Station and Liuliqiao. - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/gLxP4Hxa.webp ### Beijing Marriott Hotel Northeast - City: Beijing - Description: International high-end hotel in Beijing, suitable for business and city stays. - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/bWOFYezP.jpg ### Hilton Chengdu Chenghua - City: Chengdu - Description: A practical Chengdu base for travellers who want easy city access, relaxed days out, and a comfortable return after sightseeing. - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3pup59R7.webp ### Futian Shangri-La, Shenzhen - City: Shenzhen - Description: Located in Futian CBD, close to major landmarks and metro lines. Featuring 500+ elegant rooms and suites with exclusive Horizon Club services. - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/lNzYq6FP.webp ### 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 ## Included / Excluded ### What's Included - Airport pickup: Day one: pickup at the Beijing arrival airport and private transfer to the hotel - Private vehicle: Air-conditioned private vehicle for all listed touring in Beijing, Chengdu and Shenzhen, including the full-day Mutianyu round trip; hotel and station or airport transfers at both ends of every intercity leg, including both ends of the day-six rail day return - Intercity transport: Three legs: day four Beijing to Chengdu by air, day six Chengdu to Dujiangyan and back by high-speed rail (two legs on the same day), day eight Chengdu to Shenzhen by air. The class of each leg for your order is stated in writing in your quote - Departure-day ground service: Day ten: private vehicle in Shenzhen all day, then transfer to the exit port with assistance up to the immigration hall - Hotels: 9 nights at your chosen level, four-star, five-star or quality boutique, breakfast included: Beijing 3, Chengdu 4, Shenzhen 2 - Guide: Licensed English-speaking guide on every touring day in every city, including the day-six rail day return to Dujiangyan and Mount Qingcheng - Tickets & experiences, Beijing: Tian'anmen Square, with the security screening entry arranged by us and no admission charge at the square itself · the Forbidden City including its entrance ticket plus the named-ticket reservation booked by us · Jingshan Park including its entrance ticket · Mutianyu Great Wall including the park entrance ticket plus one upward chairlift ride · the Temple of Heaven including its entrance ticket · the National Museum of China including any entry fee plus the entry reservation booked by us - Tickets & experiences, Chengdu: The Chengdu panda base on the day-five morning including its entrance ticket · the People's Park teahouse including the table plus one gaiwan tea serving per guest · Kuanzhai Alley and the Taikoo Li quarter on foot with no ticketed venue · a community Sichuan Opera theater visit including the seat plus the arranged look backstage at the face-changing preparation · Wenshu Monastery including any entrance fee - Tickets & experiences, Dujiangyan day six: The Dujiangyan irrigation system including its scenic-area entrance ticket · Mount Qingcheng including its scenic-area entrance ticket, the visit to a quiet Taoist temple, the arranged conversation with a resident Taoist and the tai chi session - Tickets & experiences, Shenzhen: Huaqiangbei, guide accompanied, with the guide's explanation of how the sourcing trade there works; nothing bought inside the market is in the base price · the urban planning exhibition hall or the industrial museum, including any entry fee plus the entry reservation booked by us. Which of those two venues this plan uses is stated in writing in your quote - Meals: 9 hotel breakfasts, day two through day ten - Insurance: Travel accident insurance ### Not Included - International flights: The flight into Beijing and the flight out of Hong Kong; any third-place connection on the inbound leg is likewise on your own ticket - The cross-border leg: The ticket or shuttle fare from the Shenzhen exit port into Hong Kong. The crossing method and the issuing party are being finalized: see Special Notes - Everything in Hong Kong: No service inside Hong Kong is included. That means ground transport, accommodation, meals and admissions. The plan ends at the mainland exit port - Entry permissions: Eligibility to enter Hong Kong, and any visa or permit needed for it, is your own responsibility and cost. A Chinese visa and its fees, for any guest not running on the transit policy, are likewise not included - Meals: All lunches and dinners across the ten days, including the vegetarian refectory beside Wenshu Monastery. Your guide recommends and books on request; the bill is on your account - Inside-venue transport: One item is included and named: one upward chairlift ride at Mutianyu. Inside any scenic area on this plan, in every city, no other shuttle bus, electric cart, cable car, chairlift, toboggan or in-park boat is included. That includes the downward ride at Mutianyu, the electric carts inside the Chengdu panda base, and every in-park transport service at the Dujiangyan and Mount Qingcheng scenic areas where such a service operates. Such a ride is arranged on the day at your own cost, or added to your order in writing before you travel - Separately ticketed halls and towers: Climbing a pagoda or a tower, and paid special exhibitions inside a museum - Inside-venue spending: All spending inside a venue or market, including purchases at Huaqiangbei, paid personal services at the People's Park teahouse such as ear cleaning, food and drink beyond the one gaiwan tea serving named above, and souvenirs anywhere - The Shenzhen robotaxi ride: Not in the base price and not a promised item: see Special Notes - Optional add-ons: None on this route at present. Any add-on introduced later is priced separately when you choose it and is never added into the base plan. On day ten no add-on is offered at all, because the exit deadline governs that day - Personal: Gratuities, single or extra-room difference, laundry and communications, personal spending - Consequences of delay: Rebooking fees, extra nights and any cost arising from a missed exit deadline ### Special Notes This route runs on a policy with a clock in it, so several things here follow rules rather than preferences. Told straight. - Bookings are not open yet: one thing has to be real first. The crossing method and the issuing party for the leg from the Shenzhen exit port into Hong Kong are being settled, and until they are named we take no orders and no deposits. Two methods are on the table internally, clearing on foot or by shuttle at a land port, or clearing at a rail station and riding the through train; they exit at different ports and are ticketed by different parties, so the choice governs both the fee ownership above and the exit check below. The reason is structural: on this plan the exit is the one deadline that cannot slip, and an exit leg with no named carrier is not a sellable exit. Tell us your dates and we will write to you on the day it opens. - The stay window is counted in hours: the permitted stay runs continuously from your entry stamp, ten times twenty-four hours. We compute each order from your actual arrival time on day one to the planned exit time on day ten. As designed this plan leaves roughly a full day of margin. An order whose computed stay exceeds the window is not sellable, whatever the printed day count says. - Your full ticket, and the two ends of it: we read your complete international itinerary in writing, not just the arrival flight. The place your last inbound leg departs from must differ from the place your first outbound leg arrives at. This plan leaves for Hong Kong, so your last inbound leg must not depart from Hong Kong, and an itinerary that returns to its own origin, such as United States to mainland China to United States, does not qualify for this plan. - Different ports, and no going back: entry is Beijing, exit is the Shenzhen port, and the two are not interchangeable. Every point on this plan sits inside the areas the policy permits: Beijing municipality, the listed cities of Sichuan province, of which this plan uses Chengdu and Dujiangyan, Dujiangyan being administered by Chengdu, and Guangdong province. Nothing outside those areas is scheduled, the day-six rail day return stays inside Sichuan, and once the party leaves the permitted area it does not re-enter, which is why day ten ends at the port. - Day ten is the hard deadline: exit clearance on day ten is the one node that cannot slip. We hold at least four hours of buffer before your planned crossing and schedule nothing self-arranged after the morning venue. - The Hong Kong side is separate: being eligible to enter Hong Kong has nothing to do with the mainland transit policy. You confirm that eligibility in writing before payment, and everything inside Hong Kong is on your own account. - Policy re-check at quoting: before payment on each order we re-check the policy as published for that departure date. An order that does not pass the re-check is not taken, and we say so rather than sell. - Which visa route applies to non-US passports: for any passport other than a US passport the applicable route is being settled in commercial review. Until it is, your quote states in writing which route your order runs on and the result of the check above. Guests connecting through a third place on the way in must not connect through Hong Kong on the inbound leg. - No departures October 1 to 7: the panda base restricts visitor numbers in the national holiday week, air and rail capacity on the intercity legs is at its tightest, and this plan's exit cannot slip. Those three hold together, so we do not run the route that week. - Day two never falls on a Monday: the Forbidden City closes on Mondays. Where your requested departure date would put day two on a Monday, days two and three swap, so the Great Wall day moves to day two and the Forbidden City day to day three. Each remains a standalone day, and the swap is confirmed in writing before payment. - November and December departures: the operating and weather-suspension rules for the upward chairlift at Mutianyu and for the outdoor tai chi session at Mount Qingcheng are not yet confirmed with our ground partners for those months. Until they are, every quote for a November or December departure states in writing the operating terms of those two items for that order and what replaces them if the operator suspends service. - The Shenzhen robotaxi ride: this is the one thing on the ground here that we will not promise. Availability sits with the operator, not with us, so it is not in your price and it is not sold to you as part of this plan. On day nine we check operator availability for your date, and where it runs we arrange the ride and state its price in writing when you choose it. Where it does not run, the day continues with Huaqiangbei plus a Shenzhen alternative for the freed hour; that alternative is being finalized, and until it is, your quote states in writing what your order's day-nine alternative is. - The day-ten venue: the plan uses either the urban planning exhibition hall or the industrial museum, and which one is being finalized. Until it is named here, your quote states in writing which venue your order visits. What is firm either way is that an indoor venue with admission and reservation included sits in that morning. - Party size and intercity class: Until they are settled, every quote states both in writing for that order, and no order is taken without them. - Confirmation and changes: the confirmation-time commitment and the change and refund terms are being finalized with our ground partners. Until they are settled, each quote states in writing its own confirmation deadline and its change and refund conditions. A date change on this plan touches flight and rail inventory and re-opens the whole entry-and-exit check above, because the exit date is fixed by the stay window. ## Is Ten Days Your Length? Fewer than ten days? ### Fewer than ten days? The first seven days stand on their own as a Beijing and Chengdu trip. The exit, though, is not a piece you can trim off the end: this window requires you to leave from a different port than you entered and to leave for a third place, so a shorter version is re-planned around a new exit rather than cut short. Tell us your dates and where your flights come from, and we will say which shape works. ## Good to Know - Group: Private, just your party. From 1 guest. No fixed maximum party size. - Pace: Three cities in ten days with two moves: Beijing 3 nights, Chengdu 4, Shenzhen 2. The four Chengdu nights are one room held straight through, and the day out to the river and the mountain is a day trip from it - Effort: Moderate. The longest walk is the Forbidden City morning, and Jingshan straight after is a short uphill on steps. At Mutianyu the chairlift takes you up. Mount Qingcheng is walked on paths and steps at your own pace. The Chengdu city days and the panda base are flat - Ports: Beijing in; out of mainland China at the Shenzhen port, to Hong Kong. Airport pickup on day one; on day ten your guide walks you to the immigration hall - Visas: This plan is designed backward from the 10-day visa-free transit policy, and it is checked order by order against your complete international itinerary and your actual arrival time. For UK, European and Canadian passports the applicable route is being settled in commercial review and is stated in writing in your quote - Language: Licensed English-speaking guides throughout, city by city, including the day-six rail day return and the conversation with the Taoist on Mount Qingcheng, which your guide translates - At the teahouse: Your table and one gaiwan each are in your price and the kettle keeps coming back. Ear cleaners work the tables and charge for it; that and anything else you order are on your account, and your guide tells you the going rate before you sit down - Money inside markets: Nothing bought at Huaqiangbei or picked up as a souvenir is in your price. Your guide will tell you what a fair number looks like before you start - Payment: When this route opens for booking: From 1 guest. A 10% deposit (minimum $399) locks your dates. The balance is due 14 days before departure. "Or similar" never means a quiet downgrade - Season: Selling window October to December 2026. No departures October 1 to 7. For November and December departures the operating terms for the Mutianyu chairlift and the Mount Qingcheng tai chi session are stated in writing in your quote ## 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 tunes pacing, hotels and local hosts around 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 traveler 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 traveler. ## Before You Book Everything worth knowing before you book. ### Do I really not need a visa for this? If you are a US passport holder whose flights fit the rules, yes: this plan is designed backward from the 10-day visa-free transit policy. The rules are not soft, so we check them on your real tickets before anything is charged: your complete international itinerary in writing, entry at Beijing and exit at the Shenzhen port, an onward flight to a third place, and a stay computed in hours from your actual landing time. We also re-check the policy as published for your departure date. For UK, European and Canadian passports the applicable route is being settled in commercial review and your quote states in writing which route your order runs on. If your itinerary does not qualify we say so rather than sell you the trip. ### What if my inbound flight is delayed and eats hours off the window? The window starts at your entry stamp, so a delay moves the whole ten days rather than shortening the last day only. That is why the plan is built with roughly a full day of margin inside the window, and why we compute your hours from your actual arrival time rather than from a schedule. What we cannot promise is a delay of any size: airlines and immigration halls are not ours. If a long delay compresses your window, the day-ten content is cut from the Shenzhen end and the crossing time stays where it is, because the crossing is the one thing that cannot move. What you still get in that case is the same guide, the same vehicle and an exit with its four-hour buffer intact. ### Four nights in Chengdu on a ten-day trip. Is that too many? It is the point of this route rather than a gap in it. Those four nights are one room held straight through, and they carry four different days: the panda base in the morning and a long afternoon in a teahouse, a rail day out to a 3rd-century-BC waterworks and a Taoist mountain, a day in the old lanes ending in a community opera theater and its backstage, and a quiet monastery morning before the flight south. Only two of the ten days involve moving hotels, which is the lightest transfer load we run on this window. If you would rather trade one of them for the Terracotta Warriors, we run a four-city version of this same policy window and will lay both against your dates. ### Can we ride in a driverless taxi in Shenzhen? Sometimes, and we will not pretend it is ours to promise. These vehicles run on a commercial operator's routes and the operator decides day by day what is running, so the ride is not in your price and it is not part of what this plan sells you. On day nine we check availability for your date; where it runs, we arrange it and state its price in writing when you choose it. Where it does not, the day keeps Huaqiangbei and a Shenzhen alternative for the freed hour, written into your quote before you travel. Either way day nine keeps what it is built on: your vehicle and guide, and the market read floor by floor. ### Is the crossing into Hong Kong included? No, and that is also why this route is not open for booking yet. The plan ends at the mainland exit port: your driver takes you there and your guide walks you to the immigration hall, with at least four hours of buffer held ahead of your planned crossing. The ticket for the crossing itself, everything on the Hong Kong side and your eligibility to enter Hong Kong are yours. We are settling the crossing method and the issuing party for that leg now, and until they are named in writing we take no orders and no deposits, because an exit leg with no named carrier is not a sellable exit on a plan whose exit cannot slip.