---
title: "Monuments, Then Neighbors"
description: "11 days from the Great Wall to a neighborhood kitchen meeting the everyday China"
type: "tour"
route_id: "china-monuments-neighbors-11-days"
total_days: 11
price: 3520
highlights: ["Beijing", "Chengdu", "Shanghai"]
url: "https://www.lyriktrip.com/tours/china-monuments-neighbors-11-days"
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# Monuments, Then Neighbors

11 days from the Great Wall to a neighborhood kitchen meeting the everyday China

The classics, plus Chengdu. Pandas, a teahouse chair, a tuk-tuk night and the Bund, with English-speaking guides walking with you city by city.

- Paced to the slowest member of your party. Every climb has a cable car, the Great Wall descent is by sled, and both flight days carry no sightseeing.

## Overview

Three generations rarely want the same day. So this plan splits the trip in two and tells you which half is which. Beijing is the big things: the square, the palace, the wall, all of them reached without a climb. Chengdu is four nights of ordinary life instead: a market, a wok, a teahouse chair, an evening through the back lanes. Shanghai closes it at the water. Two whole days carry nothing at all, and the flight between the two halves gets a day to itself. The monuments are what the children will photograph. The four Chengdu nights are what the family will still be talking about at home.

— LyrikTrip travel designers

Every LyrikTrip journey begins with a conversation. Tell us who is coming, the oldest and the youngest included, and your dates. 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 connecting rooms stand, before you are asked for anything.

## Summary

- Route ID: china-monuments-neighbors-11-days
- Duration: 11 days / 10 nights
- Starting price: $3,520
- Status: active
- Highlights: Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai
- Cover image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/aT8MIFX0.webp

## Hero tags

- private
- From 1 guest
- Max: no fixed limit

## Highlight notes

- The classics, plus Chengdu. Pandas, a teahouse chair, a tuk-tuk night and the Bund, with English-speaking guides walking with you city by city.
- 11 days from the Great Wall to a neighborhood kitchen. Meet the everyday China.

## Selling points

- Ride up to the Great Wall at Mutianyu by cable car and come back down on the toboggan: the wall day ends with the youngest of you shouting on a sled, and nobody in the party has climbed a step to earn it.
- Sit down at a workbench and stitch a layered cloth sole by hand, then take the finished pair home: your mother will recognize the technique before anyone explains it to her.
- Stand at the panda base in the morning, the hours when the pandas are actually moving: for the youngest in your party, this is the day the whole trip was for.
- Give up an entire afternoon to a bamboo chair in People's Park, with a gaiwan that gets refilled as long as you stay: nobody in the family has anywhere to be next.
- Ride a tuk-tuk through Chengdu's residential lanes after dark and eat your way along them: this is the evening the trip stops looking like a tour.
- Unpack once for four nights in Chengdu: one hotel, no early check-outs, and a full day in the middle of the trip with nothing scheduled before dark.
- End on the Bund after dark with your guide beside you: the old waterfront buildings on one bank, the Pudong towers on the other, one city looking at itself across the water.

## City highlights

- Beijing (4 days): Arrive, and stop
  - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1cZHxWkg.webp
- Chengdu (4 days): Beijing to Chengdu
  - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9JT2zDi2.webp
- Shanghai (3 days): Three lanes, then the airport
  - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/6yiRJSAP.webp

## Experiences

The classics, plus Chengdu. Pandas, a teahouse chair, a tuk-tuk night and the Bund, with English-speaking guides walking with you city by city.

- 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
- Forbidden City (Beijing): The Forbidden City brings travelers into the ceremonial center 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
- 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
- Mutianyu Great Wall Toboggan (Beijing): Mutianyu Great Wall Toboggan turns the Great Wall visit 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
- Farmhouse lunch below the Great Wall (Beijing): home-style northern Chinese dishes made with local ingredients, at a farmhouse restaurant near the foot of the wall, on the wall day. Its pricing basis is being finalized with the operator, so your quote states in writing whether this lunch sits inside your base price.
  - Subtitle: home-style northern Chinese dishes made with local ingredients, at a farmhouse restaurant near the foot of the wall, on the wall day.
  - Tags: Meal
  - Host: Beijing, Beijing Lens — Imperial capital and Great Wall
  - Access: home-style northern Chinese dishes made with local ingredients, at a farmhouse restaurant near the foot of the wall, on the wall day. Its pricing basis is being finalized with the operator, so your quote states in writing whether this lunch sits inside your base price.
  - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/12700e5a57c2.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/dae5d13ac00f.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/333741463d8b.jpg
- Cloth-Shoe Workshop & Tea Sitting (Beijing): Two of the capital's quiet crafts in one sitting. At the workshop you watch a "thousand-layer" sole take shape: dozens of fabric layers pressed and stitched through with an awl and waxed thread, and put a few stitches in yourself. Then the tea table: your first gaiwan, the lidded cup China brews in, with someone showing you how to brew, pour and hold it, and two or three teas to tell apart. Scheduled around your afternoon train.
  - Subtitle: Two quiet Beijing crafts in one sitting
  - Tags: Craft
  - Host: Beijing, Beijing Lens — Imperial capital and Great Wall
  - Access: Scheduled around your afternoon train.
  - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/76731091de6d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/235ef8084ffe.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/a3a01c05e7c8.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/059cdb347ee5.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/211ef041a5c0.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2e813f89d0a8.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f239b783d1dd.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3b0955c82b6c.jpg
- Hutong & Shichahai Walk (Beijing): the neighborhood fabric old Beijing still lives in: gray 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 neighborhood fabric old Beijing still lives in: gray 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
- Chengdu Panda Base (Chengdu): the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, visited in the morning: that is when pandas eat, climb and actually move. 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
- Market Walk & Sichuan Cooking Class (Chengdu): you go to a local market with the cooking instructor first: fresh vegetables, chilies, spices, pickles and sauces, the working pantry of Sichuan cooking. Then the studio: hands on, selected dishes, and the meal you made becomes dinner. Included.
  - Subtitle: you go to a local market with the cooking instructor first: fresh
  - Tags: Food
  - Host: Chengdu, Chengdu Lens — Pandas and Sichuan culture
  - Access: Included.
  - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b854c8b2ef32.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/004c2f626e6d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/7e2703a293af.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/612876a0f3a6.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/c5397fe7bb4f.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/48b58d7a2b0a.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/680f19c6619b.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/990bf3ea9324.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b1a4fb6904b4.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2c6cd8334285.jpg
- Community Opera Theater (Chengdu): a neighborhood Sichuan Opera troupe rather than a big commercial stage. 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.
  - Subtitle: a neighborhood 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
- Tuk-Tuk Food Route (Chengdu): a ride through Chengdu's residential neighborhoods and old alleys, stopping at small restaurants and long-established local favorites. You try the things the city actually eats: guokui, a flatbread baked until the crust crackles, egg pancakes hot off the griddle, and whatever the season adds. The route is about more than the food: neighborhood markets, family-run kitchens, the daily social life that built Chengdu's reputation for eating well.
  - Subtitle: a ride through Chengdu's residential neighborhoods and old alleys, stopping at small
  - Tags: Food
  - Host: Chengdu, Chengdu Lens — Pandas and Sichuan culture
  - Access: The route is about more than the food: neighborhood markets, family-run kitchens, the daily social life that built Chengdu's reputation for eating well.
  - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/58a19af91291.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/936a02f8cb37.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b1435e993cc1.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9dde224087c2.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/aa2e718f79ba.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2b2cfb25abaa.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/702176acc348.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1ce1da3a573e.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/bbd46ee1261a.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/ab776054aa66.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
- 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 aging 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
- 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
- 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
- Shanghai Tower (Shanghai): Shanghai Tower gives travelers a vertical perspective on the city's scale and skyline.
  - Subtitle: A high-rise view over modern Shanghai
  - Tags: Skyline
  - Host: Shanghai, Shanghai Lens — Skyline and riverfront culture
  - Access: Observation-deck style city view from one of Shanghai's tallest landmarks.
  - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/5dde4280b724.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3926dbb2d526.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/0ec29e0c5aab.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/a9aeb2725a09.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/370459f57860.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/d4a7737c435e.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2caf6535e050.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/231735fc8416.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3ad3642b1302.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4523e1c1916a.jpg
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## Itinerary

### Monuments, Then Neighbors - 11 days

Journey

#### Beijing (4 days)

- Subtitle: Arrive, and stop
- Recommendation: Your driver meets your flight, whatever time it lands. The first day asks nothing of anyone.
- Transport: Flight
- Transport mode: airplane

Airport pickup · Beijing through the window · Evening

- Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1cZHxWkg.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/1vwu9mIQ.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1X29GyUB.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1xVI7jTc.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/24XUDb3f.webp
##### Day 1: Arrive, and stop

- (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 if the grandparents need it.
- (sight) — ring roads, then poplars and the lit shopfronts of an ordinary street; the country you flew to shows up before you have unpacked anything.
- (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: The square and the palace

- (sight) — you cross the ceremonial center of modern China on foot toward the palace gate. Security screening comes first and takes its own half hour to an hour, so it sits in the day's budget separately; your guide walks the party to the nearest screening entrance so the older members do not go the long way around.
- (sight) — your timed slot is booked ahead by us, so you walk in on schedule. 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: they line up, one inside another, all the way out.
- (sight) — the palace is large and guests often find it tiring, so the route stops at the seats we know about and the garden at the end is unhurried.

##### Day 3: Up by cable car, down by sled

- (transport) — the run north out of the city takes a good part of the morning, which is why the rest of the day stays empty; the vehicle stays with you from door to door.
- (sight) — the climb 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 points out the pass below and why the towers stand where they stand. Look along the ridge with the towers stepping down it: that is the picture the family came for.
- (dining) — northern home cooking at a farmhouse near the foot of the wall, made with what grows nearby. Lunch is arranged today rather than left to chance, because the wall is an hour from anywhere.
- (sight) — a seated sled on a metal track through the trees, about twenty minutes, and the party arrives at the bottom together with everybody's knees intact.

##### Day 4: A bench, a lane, a lake

- (sight) — an hour at a bench watching layered fabric soles being prepared and stitched by hand, with your own hands in it. What gets finished goes home in your bag. Somewhere in that hour you'll notice the grandparents have taken over the needle and stopped talking to anyone.
- (sight) — you walk courtyard lanes and lakeside streets, gray brick and doorway stones on both sides, old Beijing running its afternoon errands. Stand at the water for a minute while the light goes long across it and the neighborhood comes out for its evening.
- (sight) — this is the first of two days in the eleven with nothing else on it. Both stops shorten if the children run out of afternoon.

#### Chengdu (4 days)

- Subtitle: Beijing to Chengdu
- Recommendation: A flight day, and only a flight day. Door to door this one runs close to six and a half hours.
- Transport: Flight
- Transport mode: airplane

Transfer and flight · The country changing under the wing · Evening

- Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9JT2zDi2.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/2sL1auf0.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/37Mf4mO1.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4BqwVBVY.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4mDgLfna.webp
##### Day 5: Beijing to Chengdu

- (transport) — hotel to airport, the flight, then airport to hotel. Your own driver runs both ends and your guide hands you over at the door. The flight number, time and cabin class for your order are written into your quote.
- (sight) — the dry north gives way to the Sichuan basin, green and hazy, before the wheels are down. Window seats are worth asking us for.
- (note) — check in and stop. Nothing is scheduled, and dinner near the hotel is recommended and booked for you if you want it, on your account. This is the first of four nights in the same hotel.
- (accommodation) Atour Hotel Chengdu Taikoo Li Chunxi Road Pedestrian Street — Hotel stay in Chengdu.

##### Day 6: Pandas in the morning, chairs in the afternoon

- (sight) — you are there in the morning, the hours when the pandas are generally moving: eating, climbing down off things, dropping back to sleep in the fork of a tree. Flat shaded paths, benches, and about three hours to use as the family likes. Get the children to the enclosure fence early and let them wait: the animal comes to the fence on its own schedule.
- (sight) — bamboo chairs under the trees, and a gaiwan each: the lidded cup China brews in, refilled by someone with a long-spouted kettle as long as you stay. Cards at the next table, an ear cleaner working with a tuning fork two tables over. An hour in, you'll notice that nobody in the family has asked what happens next.

##### Day 7: A market, a wok, a stage

- (sight) — you walk a local market with the person who is about to teach you, buying what the dishes need: chilies, whole spices, bean paste out of a vat, greens picked over by the stallholder.
- (sight) — then you cook, and you eat what you cooked. Children get their own jobs at the bench, and the heat on their portions is set to their taste rather than the adults'.
- (sight) — a neighborhood house rather than a hotel ballroom. Before the doors open you go backstage, past the paint table, the headdresses and the costume racks. The performers are getting ready an arm's length from you. Sit in the second row and watch the children's faces instead of the stage.

##### Day 8: The day with nothing on it, until dark

- (note) — the second of the two rest days, in the middle of four nights in one hotel. No packing, no check-out, no vehicle time. Your guide is reachable and will book anything you decide you want, on your account.
- (dining) — after dark you climb into a tuk-tuk, the little three-wheeler that still works Chengdu's back lanes, and it takes the family through residential neighborhoods and old alleyways, stopping where the food is. You eat standing at counters, sitting on plastic stools, walking. Two stops in, you'll realize nobody has told you where you are, and that it does not matter.

#### Shanghai (3 days)

- Subtitle: Three lanes, then the airport
- Recommendation: A short flat morning, because the afternoon has a flight in it. Chengdu ends the way it should, on foot and outdoors.
- Transport: Flight
- Transport mode: airplane

Kuanzhai Alley · Fly to Shanghai · Evening

- Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/6yiRJSAP.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 9: Three lanes, then the airport

- (sight) — three parallel lanes with a restored old quarter built around them, and the names are literal: the wide alley, the narrow alley, the well alley. It is one of the most visited street scenes in the city and it makes no secret of being a commercial one. That is exactly why it fits a morning with a child and a grandparent in it: flat, short, shaded, never more than twenty meters from a place to sit down with tea.
- (transport) — your vehicle takes the family to the airport after lunch, and a Shanghai driver and guide take over at the hotel door at the other end. The flight number, time and cabin class for your order are written into your quote.
- (note) — nothing is scheduled. The city sits outside the window and it keeps until tomorrow.
- (accommodation) Bellagio by MGM Shanghai on the Bund — Hotel stay in Shanghai.

##### Day 10: Garden, ferry, waterfront

- (sight) — pavilions, rockery, ponds and a path that never runs straight, dropped inside the oldest quarter of the city. Flat the whole way. Send the children ahead around the rockery and let them come back to you: the path is a loop and it always brings them back.
- (transport) — you cross the river on the boat people take to work, standing at the rail with commuters and their scooters, rather than on a sightseeing deck. A short ride, and the far bank arrives fast.
- (sight) — the old banking houses hold one bank of the river and the Pudong towers hold the other, a hundred years apart and looking straight at each other across the water. Your guide is with you for the whole evening, so the "practice your English" and "come for tea" approaches that work this waterfront never reach your party. Standing between the two skylines, you'll feel the eleven days close up into one picture.

##### Day 11: Home

- (sight) — how much of it you have depends on your flight. If there is room in it, the Shanghai Tower observation deck is the one thing we sell as an add-on here, checked against your departure time and priced separately when you choose it.
- (transport) — your driver takes the family to the airport, timed to your flight with room to spare rather than trimmed to the minute.

## Daily plan

### Day 1 — Arrive, and stop

Your driver meets your flight, whatever time it lands. The first day asks nothing of anyone.

- 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 if the grandparents need it.
- Beijing through the window: ring roads, then poplars and the lit shopfronts of an ordinary street; the country you flew to shows up before you have unpacked anything.
- 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 — The square and the palace

Jet lag makes early mornings easy, so the biggest day goes first. This is the morning the children work out what "old" means here.

- Tian'anmen Square: you cross the ceremonial center of modern China on foot toward the palace gate. Security screening comes first and takes its own half hour to an hour, so it sits in the day's budget separately; your guide walks the party to the nearest screening entrance so the older members do not go the long way around.
- The Forbidden City: your timed slot is booked ahead by us, so you walk in on schedule. 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: they line up, one inside another, all the way out.
- Pace: the palace is large and guests often find it tiring, so the route stops at the seats we know about and the garden at the end is unhurried.
- Stay: Beijing
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 3 — Up by cable car, down by sled

Nothing else is on today, because the wall is a long way out and back. Every generation in your party gets the same wall on the same morning.

- Drive out to Mutianyu: the run north out of the city takes a good part of the morning, which is why the rest of the day stays empty; the vehicle stays with you from door to door.
- Cable car up: the climb 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 points out the pass below and why the towers stand where they stand. Look along the ridge with the towers stepping down it: that is the picture the family came for.
- Farmhouse lunch: northern home cooking at a farmhouse near the foot of the wall, made with what grows nearby. Lunch is arranged today rather than left to chance, because the wall is an hour from anywhere.
- Toboggan down: a seated sled on a metal track through the trees, about twenty minutes, and the party arrives at the bottom together with everybody's knees intact.
- Stay: Beijing
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel, plus the farmhouse lunch

### Day 4 — A bench, a lane, a lake

Nothing today needs early legs. The one thing you carry out of China yourself gets made this morning.

- Cloth-shoe workshop: an hour at a bench watching layered fabric soles being prepared and stitched by hand, with your own hands in it. What gets finished goes home in your bag. Somewhere in that hour you'll notice the grandparents have taken over the needle and stopped talking to anyone.
- Old Beijing hutongs: you walk courtyard lanes and lakeside streets, gray brick and doorway stones on both sides, old Beijing running its afternoon errands. Stand at the water for a minute while the light goes long across it and the neighborhood comes out for its evening.
- Rest day: this is the first of two days in the eleven with nothing else on it. Both stops shorten if the children run out of afternoon.
- Stay: Beijing
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 5 — Beijing to Chengdu

A flight day, and only a flight day. Door to door this one runs close to six and a half hours.

- Transfer and flight: hotel to airport, the flight, then airport to hotel. Your own driver runs both ends and your guide hands you over at the door. The flight number, time and cabin class for your order are written into your quote.
- The country changing under the wing: the dry north gives way to the Sichuan basin, green and hazy, before the wheels are down. Window seats are worth asking us for.
- Evening: check in and stop. Nothing is scheduled, and dinner near the hotel is recommended and booked for you if you want it, on your account. This is the first of four nights in the same hotel.
- Stay: Chengdu
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 6 — Pandas in the morning, chairs in the afternoon

The morning belongs to the youngest of you. The afternoon belongs to nobody.

- Chengdu panda base: you are there in the morning, the hours when the pandas are generally moving: eating, climbing down off things, dropping back to sleep in the fork of a tree. Flat shaded paths, benches, and about three hours to use as the family likes. Get the children to the enclosure fence early and let them wait: the animal comes to the fence on its own schedule.
- Teahouse sitting in People's Park: bamboo chairs under the trees, and a gaiwan each: the lidded cup China brews in, refilled by someone with a long-spouted kettle as long as you stay. Cards at the next table, an ear cleaner working with a tuning fork two tables over. An hour in, you'll notice that nobody in the family has asked what happens next.
- Stay: Chengdu
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 7 — A market, a wok, a stage

A market and a kitchen in the middle of the day, a neighborhood theater after it. Today the family does things instead of looking at them.

- Market with the cooking instructor: you walk a local market with the person who is about to teach you, buying what the dishes need: chilies, whole spices, bean paste out of a vat, greens picked over by the stallholder.
- Sichuan home cooking: then you cook, and you eat what you cooked. Children get their own jobs at the bench, and the heat on their portions is set to their taste rather than the adults'.
- Sichuan opera, community theater: a neighborhood house rather than a hotel ballroom. Before the doors open you go backstage, past the paint table, the headdresses and the costume racks. The performers are getting ready an arm's length from you. Sit in the second row and watch the children's faces instead of the stage.
- Stay: Chengdu
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 8 — The day with nothing on it, until dark

Daytime is yours and we have put nothing in it. The evening is the one the trip has been building toward.

- Nothing scheduled by day: the second of the two rest days, in the middle of four nights in one hotel. No packing, no check-out, no vehicle time. Your guide is reachable and will book anything you decide you want, on your account.
- Tuk-tuk street-food evening: after dark you climb into a tuk-tuk, the little three-wheeler that still works Chengdu's back lanes, and it takes the family through residential neighborhoods and old alleyways, stopping where the food is. You eat standing at counters, sitting on plastic stools, walking. Two stops in, you'll realize nobody has told you where you are, and that it does not matter.
- Stay: Chengdu
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel; the tastings on the food tour are part of the experience

### Day 9 — Three lanes, then the airport

A short flat morning, because the afternoon has a flight in it. Chengdu ends the way it should, on foot and outdoors.

- Kuanzhai Alley: three parallel lanes with a restored old quarter built around them, and the names are literal: the wide alley, the narrow alley, the well alley. It is one of the most visited street scenes in the city and it makes no secret of being a commercial one. That is exactly why it fits a morning with a child and a grandparent in it: flat, short, shaded, never more than twenty meters from a place to sit down with tea.
- Fly to Shanghai: your vehicle takes the family to the airport after lunch, and a Shanghai driver and guide take over at the hotel door at the other end. The flight number, time and cabin class for your order are written into your quote.
- Evening: nothing is scheduled. The city sits outside the window and it keeps until tomorrow.
- Stay: Shanghai
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 10 — Garden, ferry, waterfront

A classical garden in the morning, a commuter boat in the afternoon, the waterfront after dark. The last full day answers the first one.

- Yu Garden and the old city: pavilions, rockery, ponds and a path that never runs straight, dropped inside the oldest quarter of the city. Flat the whole way. Send the children ahead around the rockery and let them come back to you: the path is a loop and it always brings them back.
- Huangpu River ferry: you cross the river on the boat people take to work, standing at the rail with commuters and their scooters, rather than on a sightseeing deck. A short ride, and the far bank arrives fast.
- The Bund after dark: the old banking houses hold one bank of the river and the Pudong towers hold the other, a hundred years apart and looking straight at each other across the water. Your guide is with you for the whole evening, so the "practice your English" and "come for tea" approaches that work this waterfront never reach your party. Standing between the two skylines, you'll feel the eleven days close up into one picture.
- Stay: Shanghai
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 11 — Home

Breakfast, then the airport. The plan ends the way it started, with a driver and no hurry.

- The morning: how much of it you have depends on your flight. If there is room in it, the Shanghai Tower observation deck is the one thing we sell as an add-on here, checked against your departure time and priced separately when you choose it.
- Airport drop-off: your driver takes the family to the airport, timed to your flight with room to spare rather than trimmed to the minute.
- 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

### 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

### 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

### 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

### 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

- Private vehicle: Air-conditioned private vehicle for all listed touring in all three cities, including the full-day Great Wall round trip; airport pickup on day one and drop-off on day eleven; hotel and airport transfers for both internal flights
- Internal flights: Two internal flights: Beijing to Chengdu on day five, Chengdu to Shanghai on day nine. The flight number, time and cabin class for your order are stated in writing in your quote
- Hotels: 10 nights at your chosen level, four-star, five-star or quality boutique, breakfast included: Beijing 4 · Chengdu 4 · Shanghai 2
- Guide: Licensed English-speaking local guide on every touring day in each city, including the whole Bund evening in Shanghai
- Tickets & experiences, Beijing: Tian'anmen Square · the Forbidden City with the timed reservation booked by us · Mutianyu Great Wall with cable car up and toboggan down · the cloth-shoe workshop with the finished piece to take home · the old Beijing hutong and lakeside walk
- Tickets & experiences, Chengdu: The panda base in the morning · the gaiwan teahouse sitting · the community Sichuan opera theater with the backstage look · the market visit and Sichuan home-cooking class · the evening tuk-tuk street-food tour, with the tastings along the route part of the experience · Kuanzhai Alley
- Tickets & experiences, Shanghai: Yu Garden and the old city · the Huangpu River ferry crossing · the Bund in the evening, guide accompanied
- Meals: All 10 hotel breakfasts, days two through eleven, plus one arranged lunch: the farmhouse lunch below the Great Wall. That lunch's pricing basis is being finalized, so your quote states in writing whether it sits inside your base price
- Insurance: Travel accident insurance

### Not Included

- International flights: Flights into Beijing and out of Shanghai
- Visas: Visa fees and processing for guests who need a Chinese visa, including all US guests on this route
- Meals: Beyond the 10 breakfasts and the one arranged lunch: lunches and dinners are recommended and booked by your guide, on your account
- Optional add-ons: The Shanghai Tower observation deck on the departure morning, priced separately when you choose it and never added by default
- Personal: Gratuities, single or extra-room difference, personal spending

### Special Notes

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

- Bookings are not open yet: one thing has to be real first. In each of the three cities we need a bookable connecting or family room type, held and named in writing. We do not have that in all three yet. Until we do, we take no orders and no deposits. Tell us your dates and we will write to you on the day it opens.
- Departure dates: no departures between October 1 and October 7, the national holiday week, when the panda base restricts visitor numbers. Dates are also set so that day two never falls on a Monday, when the Forbidden City closes; if your dates would put it there, day two and the Great Wall day swap places.
- Cable car and toboggan in late season: the cable car up and the toboggan down are in your base price, and they are what makes the wall work for a party with a grandparent in it. Mountain lifts in northern China can close for weather or annual maintenance in November and December. For a departure in those months we confirm both against your exact dates before you pay, and if either is out of service we say so before payment rather than after.
- Sichuan opera program: the backstage visit and your seats are in the base price. Which acts run on your date is set by the theater, so we do not promise a particular one in advance.
- Security screening at the square: everyone is screened to enter Tian'anmen Square. The queue takes half an hour to an hour and it is budgeted separately, on top of your time on the square, so the palace reservation still lands on time.
- Internal flights: two of them, so a date change touches airline inventory as well as hotels. The flight number, time and cabin class for your order are written into your quote, and the autumn and winter schedule on both legs is confirmed for your dates before anything is charged.
- The farmhouse lunch: it is arranged either way and you eat it either way. Its pricing basis with the operator is being finalized, so your quote states in writing whether it sits inside your base price.
- Visa window: the 30-day visa-free policy currently runs through December 31, 2026. Because this is an 11-day plan, departures on or before December 20, 2026 finish inside that window; later departure dates are quoted only after the official renewal is announced.
- US passports: the US is not on the 30-day visa-free list, and 11 days is longer than the 10-day visa-free transit policy allows, so every US guest on this route holds a Chinese tourist or business visa, including the 10-year multiple-entry one. First-time applicants attend a consulate appointment in person for fingerprints, so allow several weeks. We confirm visa status before any payment. Guests who entered China on the transit policy cannot join this trip, and we say so rather than working around it.
- 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.
- Shanghai Tower on the departure morning: sold only as an add-on, never bundled into the plan and never counted as a highlight. Whether it fits is checked against your departure flight, order by order, and it is priced separately at the time of choosing.

## Is Eleven Days Your Length?

Fewer than eleven days?

### Fewer than eleven days?

The three cities come apart cleanly: Beijing and Chengdu each stand on their own, and Shanghai can go from the end or move to the front as your gateway. Tell us your dates and who is coming, and we cut days rather than cut the pace.

## Good to Know

- Group: Private, just your party. From 1 guest. No fixed maximum party size.
- Pace: Three cities in 11 days. Beijing 4 nights, Chengdu 4, Shanghai 2. Two rest days and two clear flight days
- Effort: Paced to the slowest member of your party. Every climb has a cable car, the Great Wall descent is by sled, and both flight days carry no sightseeing
- Ports: Beijing in, Shanghai out; airport pickup on day one and drop-off on day eleven
- Visas: UK and most European passports enter visa-free for days; so do Canadian, Australian and New Zealand ones. 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. No departures October 1 to 7. November and December departures have the Mutianyu cable car and toboggan confirmed against your exact dates before payment

## 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

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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.

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### 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.

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- 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.
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## 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.

### My parents are in their seventies. Will they keep up with my kids?

That is the question this route was built around. The whole plan is paced to the slowest walker in your party: every climb is done by cable car, the Great Wall descent is a seated sled, and two of the eleven days have nothing scheduled. Both flights take a whole day, so nobody is rushed through an airport after a full morning out. Where a site is large, the route is cut to one line with places to sit.

### We need connecting rooms. Can you promise them?

Not yet, and we will not pretend otherwise. We have not secured a bookable connecting or family room type in all three cities, so bookings are not open: no orders, no deposits. Room tier, breakfast and the "or similar" rule are settled and written down; the connecting room type is not, and we would rather say that now than on your arrival day. What you can do now is tell us your dates, and we will write to you the day the room types are confirmed and the route opens.

### Four nights in Chengdu. Isn't that a lot for one city?

It is the reason this route exists in this shape. Three of those days carry one thing each: pandas and a teahouse, a market and a theater, then a whole day with nothing until the tuk-tuk food evening after dark. Four nights in one hotel also means no packing, no check-out and no vehicle time in the middle of the trip, which is what a party with a grandparent and a child actually runs out of first. If you would rather trade a Chengdu night for another city, say so and we will price both versions.

### Two internal flights in eleven days. Is that a lot of airport time?

It is two days, and we gave each of them the room it needs rather than squeezing sights around it. Day five carries the Beijing to Chengdu flight and nothing else, because door to door that leg runs close to six and a half hours. Day nine keeps a short flat morning at Kuanzhai Alley and puts the flight after lunch. Your own vehicle runs hotel to airport and back at both ends, and your guide hands you over at the door. The flight number, time and cabin class for your order are written into your quote.

### Do we need a visa?

Most guests on this route do not. UK and most European passports enter visa-free for stays days; so do Canadian, Australian and New Zealand ones. We check your 11 days plus any extra days in China against that window before you pay. The current policy runs through December 31, 2026, so departures on or before December 20, 2026 finish inside it. US passports are different: the US is not on that list, and 11 days is longer than the 10-day transit policy allows, so US guests hold a Chinese tourist or business visa, applied for in person the first time. We confirm visa status before any payment, and if the dates do not fit, we say so instead of selling.