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Beijing Arrivals · Shanghai Departures
14 Days & 13 Nights — Private · Custom Itinerary
Long walking days in Beijing and Xi'an. Days eight to eleven run at altitude: two nights at about 2,000 meters, and one day inside a valley that reaches about 3,100. The climbing day carries no sightseeing at all.
Most first trips to China run Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu, Shanghai, and stop there. This one breaks in the middle and goes up. On day eight a train climbs from about 500 meters to about 2,000, and that day carries nothing else: no sights, no plan waiting at the other end. Two days later you come back down and the country turns into a city again. Beijing gives you an axis and a wall. Xi'an gives you an army, and a wall you ride around instead of look at. Chengdu gives you an afternoon nobody organizes. Shanghai sends you home from the water. By the time you land in Shanghai, you'll defend that empty day to anyone who asks what you did with it.
— LyrikTrip travel designers
Every LyrikTrip journey begins with a conversation. Tell us your dates and who is coming. First reply within four hours; a clear price for your dates within one business day. On this route we will also tell you plainly where the shuttle pricing, the hotels and the departure window stand before you are asked for anything, because this route is not on sale yet and we would rather say that first than last.
Your driver meets your flight, whatever time it lands. Nothing is asked of you today.
Five centuries in one straight line, walked at ground level. Then you go up and see the whole thing at once.
North out of the city for most of the morning, for a ridge you can walk along. Today is one thing, done properly.
A square, a temple and a museum in one morning, in that order for a reason. The afternoon belongs to the railway.
The army in the morning, while the pits are still quiet. The old center after dark, while it is working.
A flat 14 kilometers on top of a rampart, at whatever speed you like. Then the second train of the trip.
The one animal everyone came to see, at the hour it is awake. Then an afternoon with no next thing.
A train climbs from about 500 meters to about 2,000, and that is the entire day. Nothing is waiting for you at the top.
Lake after lake between about 2,000 and 3,100 meters, at the pace the shuttle sets. You finish early on purpose.
The same animal you met outside Chengdu, three days later and 1,500 meters higher. Today is the light one.
The morning is free, the afternoon is the train, and by evening you are at 500 meters again.
Old lanes and new glass in the morning, a painted face in the afternoon, the coast by night.
A garden, a museum and a waterfront, in the order that makes the last one land.
The slowest two hours of the trip, then a river crossing, then the airport.
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A few things on this route follow the calendar, the season, an altitude profile or a supplier's confirmation. Here they are, told straight.
Fewer than fourteen days?
The route comes apart at the plateau. Take the plateau section out and what is left is the classic Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu, Shanghai run at ten days, with the same pace in each city. Take the cities down instead and the plateau stays. What we will not do is keep the plateau and cut its travel days, because that is the part that makes it safe and slow. Tell us your dates and who is coming.
Private China Route Concierge
“A bilingual planning desk for tailor-made China journeys.”
Our China team tunes pacing, hotels and local hosts around each route style.
Step 01
Not your dates and budget — your curiosity. Where have you always wanted to go? What do you want to feel? We start there.
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First concept delivered
Step 02
Your specialist builds the itinerary from scratch — routes, hosts, hotels, and experiences you won't find anywhere else.
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Step 03
When the plan feels right, a 10% deposit holds your entire trip. Balance due 30 days before departure.
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Step 04
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.
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