Fourteen days, five cities, five intercity movements. How much of that is travel?

Less than the numbers suggest, because none of it doubles back. The two flights sit in the afternoon of days three and five, each with a morning of sightseeing before it. Two of the three rail movements are afternoon departures on days eight and eleven, again after a morning out. The third is a same-day round trip on day seven that leaves your Chengdu room untouched. Your own driver runs both ends of every movement and your guide hands you over at the door. What that buys you is the second half: three nights each in Chengdu, Xi'an and Beijing, one hotel per city.

We're traveling in November. What actually changes?

Three things on this route move with the weather. The Mutianyu ascent runs on a cableway and an open chairlift, and snow or ice closes both. The wall-top cycling section in Xi'an is the longest unsheltered stretch on the route. The hill paths at Mount Qingcheng are the third. We cannot promise any of the three against a forecast, and we will not pretend otherwise: your quote states in writing what is arranged for your exact dates. What holds regardless: the wall day is yours either way and the section is walked when it is not ridden, so you stand on the same wall and in the same place on the ramparts, and the two indoor anchors of the trip, the palace and the army, are unaffected by weather.

Most guests on this route do not. British, French, German, Dutch, Belgian, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, Nordic, Central European, Irish, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand passports currently enter visa-free for stays days, and we check your 14 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 18, 2026 finish inside it. US passports are different: the US is not on that list, and 14 days is longer than the 10-day visa-free 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.

Can we book this today?

Not yet, and we would rather say so than take a deposit on it. Four things are still being settled: the day plan and transfer timing are being re-cut, Until those items are done we take no orders and no deposits. What you can do now is send us your dates and passports, and we will write to you the day this route opens.

The Wall Comes Last

Overview

Most first trips to China open in Beijing, with the Forbidden City on day two. This one opens in the south, in a city busy being modern, and works north without doubling back: a temple courtyard in Foshan, two skylines facing each other across a Shanghai river, an afternoon in a Chengdu teahouse nobody has to organize, an irrigation system from the 3rd century BC that is still running, then the first emperor's army, then the palace, then the wall. Three nights each in Chengdu, Xi'an and Beijing hold the second half slow. By the time the wall turns up on day thirteen, you'll find you already know what you are looking at.

— LyrikTrip travel designers

Every LyrikTrip journey begins with a conversation. Tell us your dates, who is coming and which passports you hold. 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 ground confirmations and the departure calendar stand, before you are asked for anything.

Why you'll love this trip

Five cities, no backtracking. Wing Chun, pandas, a Qin-era irrigation system and the Terracotta Warriors, with English-speaking guides city by city.
14 days from a southern teahouse to the Great Wall. See how China fits together.

Take your first stance from a local Wing Chun practitioner on your first full day, in the town whose temple grounds still stage lion dance and martial arts: you spend day two doing something with your hands rather than looking at things through a lens.
Stand on the Bund after dark with a hundred years of banking houses behind you and the Pudong towers in front: one city looking at itself across the water, and the first time on this trip that two Chinas share a frame.
Give an afternoon to a bamboo chair in People's Park with a gaiwan that keeps getting refilled: by the second refill nobody in your party has asked what happens next.
Walk out onto an irrigation system built in the 3rd century BC and still working, then spend the rest of that day on a quiet Taoist mountain: old and working stop being opposites somewhere between the two.
Ride the top of the Xi'an City Wall on a bicycle, above a modern city on one side and the old grid on the other: the one hour in fourteen days where you set your own speed.
Reach Mutianyu on day thirteen by cable car or open chairlift, with the watchtowers stepping away along the ridge: eleven days of context arrive at the one picture you already had in your head.
Unpack once each in Chengdu, Xi'an and Beijing, three nights apiece: the second half of this trip has one hotel per city and no morning in which the bags have to be closed by eight.

Things to do

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Itinerary

Arrivals

Guangzhou · Day 1 - Day 2

Day 1 · Land in the south

Your driver meets your flight, whatever time it lands. Nothing is asked of you today.

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.

Guangzhou through the window Elevated roads, then banyan trees and lit shopfronts along a subtropical street. The China you flew to shows up before you have unpacked anything, and it is warmer and louder than the one in the photographs.

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 own account.

Day 2 · Out of the city, into the trade

An easy first full day, spent out in a temple town rather than in traffic. Today you use your hands before you use your camera.

Road out to Foshan A road round trip out of Guangzhou, with both of tonight's and last night's beds staying where they are, so nothing gets packed. The start and return times for your departure are written into your quote.

Foshan Ancestral Temple Courtyards, carved roof ridges and the cultural displays inside a temple complex that has been the neighborhood's meeting point for centuries. Stand under the main roof and look up at the ridge: it is crowded with small ceramic figures, a whole theater company's worth of them, up where nobody can see them properly from the ground.

Lion dance and martial arts in the temple grounds Two people inside one lion, one working the head and one the tail, and a drum keeping both of them honest. Watch the feet rather than the face: the lion is a martial arts form wearing a costume, and the drummer is the one telling it where to go.

Wing Chun session Your practitioner starts with where the style comes from and the idea it runs on, close range and economy of movement, then puts you into the basic stance and the first hand positions. You are corrected within a minute of trying it, which is the point.

Easy day This is the first full day after a long-haul flight, so it holds three things and no more, and each of them shortens if the party is still on the wrong clock.

Flight

Shanghai · Day 3 - Day 4

Day 3 · Tea in the morning, towers by noon

The south says goodbye twice, once at a tea table and once from a river island. Then the country's first jump north.

Cantonese morning tea Steamer baskets keep arriving at a shared table while the tea gets poured: shrimp dumplings you can see through, siu mai, rice noodle rolls, barbecue pork buns. The tables around you are three generations of a family doing what they do every Sunday, at volume. Point at the trolley rather than the menu.

Haixinsha and Zhujiang New Town An island park with the tower district standing over it, glass and steel and open plaza. You were in a courtyard temple two hours ago. Stand with your back to the river and look up the axis of towers: both of these places are the same city, and both are working days.

Fly Guangzhou to Shanghai Your own driver runs both airport ends and your guide hands you over at the door. The sequence of this morning and the check-in margin it leaves for the flight are written into your quote before you book; the flight number, time and class for your order are written in as well.

Evening You land in the afternoon and nothing is scheduled tonight. The riverfront waits for tomorrow, with your guide, and your quote carries the local contact number for this evening.

Day 4 · A garden, a collection, two skylines

Shanghai in the order it was built: the old city first, then the objects, then the water it all grew along. Tonight the trip gets its first full frame.

Yu Garden and the old city Pavilions, rockery, ponds and a path that refuses to run straight, set inside the oldest quarter of the city. Walk the loop once without stopping to read anything: the garden is designed to withhold the far end of the pond until you have turned the corner.

Shanghai Museum Bronzes, ceramics, painting and calligraphy, arranged by material rather than by dynasty. Give the bronzes the first half hour: they are three thousand years older than anything else you will stand next to this fortnight, and the casting seams are visible if you get close.

The Bund and the Pudong skyline after dark The old banking houses hold one bank of the river and the Pudong towers hold the other, a century apart and looking straight at each other across the water. Your guide stays with you through the evening. Stand at the rail with the old buildings behind you and the towers in front: that is the fifteen seconds worth filming.

Flight

Chengdu · Day 5 - Day 7

Day 5 · Low-rise, then a working boat

The morning is the version of Shanghai that people actually live in. The afternoon moves you a long way inland.

The former French Concession and Wukang Road Plane trees closing over the street, three-story houses behind low walls, small shops that sell one thing each. Look up at the balconies with the laundry out: these are apartments, not a preserved district, and somebody is having their morning above your head.

Huangpu River commuter ferry The boat people take to get to work, a few minutes across, with scooters wheeled on at the front and the same two skylines from last night arriving at deck height in daylight.

Fly Shanghai to Chengdu Driver at both ends, guide handing over at the door, flight number, time and class for your order written into your quote. The land under the wing goes from delta to basin before the wheels are down.

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 own account.

Day 6 · Pandas early, then nowhere to be

The morning is the one everybody books this city for. The afternoon is the one they end up talking about.

Chengdu panda base in the morning You are there in the active hours: eating, climbing down off things, dropping back to sleep in the fork of a tree. Flat shaded paths, benches, about three hours to use as you like. Get to an enclosure fence early and wait: the animal comes over on its own schedule or not at all.

People's Park teahouse Bamboo chairs under the trees, a gaiwan each, and someone with a long-spouted kettle topping it up for as long as you stay. Cards at the next table, an ear cleaner working two tables over with a tuning fork. An hour in, you'll notice you have stopped checking how long this is taking.

Easy day Two things and a whole afternoon, on purpose. Chengdu is where the second half of this trip changes speed.

Day 7 · A machine from the 3rd century BC, then a mountain

Out and back by high-speed rail, with your Chengdu room untouched. Today is where old stops meaning finished.

Rail out to Dujiangyan A short run out of the city and back the same day, so nothing is packed and tonight's bed is the same one. Your guide and vehicle work both ends of the rail.

Dujiangyan irrigation works An irrigation system built in the 3rd century BC and still in operation. Stand where the water divides and watch it take both channels: one of them runs onto the plain this province farms, and it has been doing that without interruption for over two thousand years. Your guide draws the mechanism before you look at it, which takes about four minutes and changes what you see.

Mount Qingcheng Taoist temple Hill paths on foot to a quiet working temple rather than the busiest hall on the mountain, where a resident Taoist talks with you through your guide, followed by an introduction to tai chi on the temple ground. The form is slow because the idea is to move with a force instead of against it. Halfway through the first sequence you'll find you have dropped your voice without being asked to.

Back to Chengdu The return train puts you back in the city in the evening, in the hotel you left this morning.

High-speed rail

Xi'an · Day 8 - Day 10

Day 8 · Two lanes and a backstage, then north

The last Chengdu morning holds the city's most photographed lanes and its least polished theater. The afternoon train takes you out of the basin.

Kuanzhai Alley and Taikoo Li Three parallel lanes of courtyard houses, and the shopping district beside them. It is busy and thoroughly commercial, and worth an hour and a half for the building form alone: look through any open doorway at the courtyard behind it, and the plan of a Chinese city house is right there.

Community Sichuan opera house A neighborhood theater, not a hotel ballroom. You go backstage before the performance, watch a painted face being built up in layers, then sit close enough to fail to catch the change: the mask becomes another mask in the time it takes the performer to swing his head.

Rail Chengdu to Xi'an The afternoon train runs north out of the basin and through the mountains that close it off. The seat class for your order is written into your quote, and your guide meets you at the Xi'an end.

Day 9 · Eight thousand faces

One site, one whole day, no second stop. This is the day the scale of the first empire becomes a physical fact.

The Terracotta Warriors An estimated 8,000 figures buried with the first emperor of unified China, standing in the pits they came out of. Walk the length of the main pit first without stopping, then come back: the ranks separate out by armor and hairstyle once you know what to look at, and no two faces were modeled the same.

The color that is left In the more recently excavated areas, traces of the original paint are still on some figures. Ask your guide to point out a surviving patch: it is the one detail that makes the army stop looking like stone and start looking like a crowd.

Pace About three and a half hours on site, most of it walking and standing, and this is the only thing on today. The site runs at its heaviest visitor load in holiday weeks, which is why no departure on this route sits inside the national holiday week.

Day 10 · On top of the wall, then behind it

An hour where you set your own speed, and an evening in the quarter the old city eats in. Today Xi'an stops being a museum and starts being a town.

Xi'an City Wall with the wall-top cycling section You ride a section of the top, wide enough for two abreast, with the modern city on one side and the old street grid on the other. The bicycle is included for that section. Stop at a corner tower, put both feet down and look inward: the grid below you is the old city's street plan, and the traffic is still following it.

Weather and stamina This is the longest stretch of unsheltered outdoor time on the route. When the weather or the legs say otherwise, the same stretch is walked instead of ridden, and you stand in exactly the same place.

Bell and Drum Tower quarter and the Muslim Quarter by night The two towers at the center of the old city, then the lanes behind them, where Chinese Muslim families have lived, cooked and traded for generations. You walk it with your guide past hand-pulled noodle counters, persimmon cakes on a griddle and roujiamo stalls, crisp-baked bread packed with slow-braised meat. Somewhere in the third lane you'll notice you have stopped photographing and started just looking.

High-speed rail

Beijing · Day 11 - Day 14

Day 11 · The city after the emperor

A morning at the landmark of Xi'an's second life, then the last of the three trains. Two dynasties in one city, and you have now stood in both.

Giant Wild Goose Pagoda A tall brick pagoda in its own temple compound, with the cultural quarter that grew up around it. Stand at the base and look up the taper: the storeys shorten as they rise, which is what makes the thing look taller than it is. This is the part of Xi'an that is not Qin, and the reason the city kept mattering for another thousand years.

Rail Xi'an to Beijing The afternoon train runs across the north China plain to the capital. The seat class for your order is written into your quote, and your Beijing guide takes over at the station.

Evening Nothing is scheduled. Three nights start here, and the bags stay open until the fourteenth.

Day 12 · One axis through the palace

Five centuries in a single straight line, then the hill that lets you see the line. The last empire, seen from inside and then from above.

The Forbidden City Your timed slot is arranged ahead, 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 report it as tiring, so the route stops at the seats we know about and the garden at the end is unhurried. This day is never set on a Monday, when the palace closes.

Jingshan Park Out of the north gate and up the hill, about an hour including the climb. From the pavilion at the top the palace roofs read as one continuous field of gold, and the Beijing Central Axis runs straight out through them, north and south. That axis is how the whole old city was set out, and it was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2024.

Day 13 · The wall, on day thirteen

The one picture you already had, arriving with eleven days of context behind it. Nothing else is scheduled today, and nothing else needs to be.

Drive out to Mutianyu The run north out of the city takes a good part of the morning, which is why the wall gets the whole day and no other heavy site sits beside it. The vehicle stays with you all day.

Cable car or open chairlift up The climbing is done for you, and the ascent is included. You step off onto a restored stretch of wall with watchtowers running away along the ridge in both directions.

Walking the towers Your guide reads the wall to you at the top: the beacon towers, the pass below, why the sightlines run where they do, and what a garrison up here actually did all day. Walk out to the second tower and turn around: the wall behind you is doing the same thing over the next ridge, and the one after that.

Day 14 · Cut to your flight

The last day is built backward from your departure time, in a fixed order everyone can see in advance. Whatever it holds, you leave with a driver and no hurry.

How the day is cut If your flight leaves before noon, there is no touring and you go straight to the airport. If it leaves between noon and 6 p.m., one low-intensity item runs, either Temple of Heaven or Tian'anmen Square, chosen with you when we quote. If it leaves after 6 p.m., the National Museum of China is added and its reservation is made on that basis. Your written quote states which items your day fourteen actually runs, before any deposit.

Temple of Heaven Three structures on one line, where the emperor made the annual sacrifice for the harvest. Round for heaven, square for earth: once you hold that, the ground plan reads itself. The park around it is where the neighborhood does its morning, so you are walking through other people's routine rather than a monument.

Tian'anmen Square The ceremonial center of modern China, crossed on foot. Everyone is screened to enter, and 30 to 45 minutes is held for that queue on top of your time on the square, so the airport run is never the thing that absorbs the delay.

National Museum of China Bronzes, ceramics, Buddhist sculpture and calligraphy on the east side of the square, and a closing bracket on a route that opened in a temple courtyard in the south. It runs on late departures only, because its timed reservation cannot be released at short notice.

Airport drop-off Your driver takes you to Beijing airport with room to spare against your flight.

Departures

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Hotels

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Included / Excluded

What's Included

Intercity transportFive movements: two domestic flights, Guangzhou to Shanghai on day three and Shanghai to Chengdu on day five; three high-speed rail movements, the Dujiangyan round trip on day seven, Chengdu to Xi'an on day eight and Xi'an to Beijing on day eleven. The cabin class and seat class for your order are stated in writing in your quote
Private vehicleAir-conditioned private vehicle with driver for all listed touring in all five cities, the Foshan road round trip on day two and the morning of day three, the Dujiangyan and Mount Qingcheng day and the full-day Mutianyu round trip; airport transfers at both ends of the two flights; station transfers for the three rail movements; airport pickup in Guangzhou on day one and drop-off in Beijing on day fourteen
Hotels13 nights at your chosen level, four-star, five-star or quality boutique, breakfast included: Guangzhou 2 · Shanghai 2 · Chengdu 3 · Xi'an 3 · Beijing 3
GuideLicensed English-speaking guide on every touring day in each of the five cities, the Foshan day included, and accompanying the Bund evening in Shanghai and the Muslim Quarter evening in Xi'an
Tickets & experiences, Guangzhou and FoshanFoshan Ancestral Temple · the lion dance and martial arts in the temple grounds · the Wing Chun session with a local practitioner · Cantonese morning tea at a long-established tea house, table and tea service included · Haixinsha and Zhujiang New Town
Tickets & experiences, ShanghaiYu Garden with the old city · Shanghai Museum · the Bund and the Pudong skyline after dark, guide accompanied · the former French Concession and Wukang Road on foot · the Huangpu River commuter ferry crossing
Tickets & experiences, ChengduThe panda base on a morning visit · the gaiwan teahouse sitting in People's Park, seat and refills included · Kuanzhai Alley with Taikoo Li · the community Sichuan opera house with the backstage visit and face-changing up close
Tickets & experiences, DujiangyanThe Dujiangyan irrigation works · the quiet Mount Qingcheng Taoist temple with the conversation with a resident Taoist and the tai chi introduction
Tickets & experiences, Xi'anThe Terracotta Warriors · the Xi'an City Wall with the wall-top cycling section and the bicycle for it · the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda · the Bell and Drum Tower quarter with the Muslim Quarter at night, on foot with the guide
Tickets & experiences, BeijingThe Forbidden City and Jingshan Park on day twelve · Mutianyu Great Wall on day thirteen with the cable car or open chairlift ascent · and on the departure day, per the flight-time rule in Special Notes: Tian'anmen Square · Temple of Heaven · the National Museum of China
Meals13 hotel breakfasts, one per morning on days two through fourteen. The tea house sittings in Foshan and Chengdu are seated experiences with the tea included rather than meals
InsuranceTravel accident insurance

Not Included

International flightsFlights into Guangzhou and out of Beijing, and any connecting sector you need at either end, together with any hub-city night a connection forces
VisasVisa fees and processing for guests who need a Chinese visa, including every US guest on this route
Lunches and dinnersNo lunch or dinner is in the base price on this route. Your guide recommends and books; the bill is your own. The tasting stalls on the Muslim Quarter walk and anything you order to eat at the People's Park teahouse are on the same basis
Climbing the Bell Tower and the Drum TowerThe Xi'an evening is the quarter on foot. Admission to climb either tower is a separately priced add-on
In-park transport and in-venue spendingThe site shuttles at the Terracotta Warriors, the panda base and Dujiangyan, the cableway and lake boat at Mount Qingcheng, and the audio guides and hired guides inside the museums and the palace: each is stated in writing in your quote rather than assumed
Optional add-onsPriced separately when you choose them; no optional item is added into the base plan
PersonalGratuities to guides and drivers, single-room or extra-room difference, laundry, shopping, all 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 — the remaining items have to be settled first. One, the day plan and the transfer timing are re-cut and re-checked. Two, Three, hotel allocation, guide and vehicle supply, air and rail ticketing and the timed museum reservations are confirmed with our partners on the ground for the October to December 2026 season. Four, the departure calendar below is signed off commercially. Until those items are done we take no orders and no deposits. Tell us your dates and we will write to you on the day it opens.
Nothing is sold before it lands — this route is built from elements already in our own library rather than bought in as a package. Everything in What's Included is confirmed for your order in writing before you pay, and nothing that has not landed is written here as an inclusion or as a highlight.
The departure day — day fourteen is cut to your flight time on the fixed sequence printed in Day 14 above, and your written quote states which items your order actually runs before any deposit is taken. This sequence is an interim arrangement while the day plan is re-cut; the direction of travel is to move the National Museum of China a day earlier.
Departure dates — no departures between October 1 and October 7, the national holiday week: the Terracotta Warriors site runs at its heaviest visitor load that week and every city on this route sits inside its no-go window. Dates are also set so that day twelve never falls on a Monday, when the Forbidden City closes; if your dates would put it there, days twelve and thirteen swap and the Great Wall day moves to day twelve.
November and December departures — three points on this route move with the weather. The Mutianyu ascent runs on a cableway and an open chairlift, and snow or ice closes both. The wall-top cycling section in Xi'an is the longest unsheltered stretch on the route and converts to a walked section of the wall. The hill paths at Mount Qingcheng are the third. For a departure in those two months, your quote states the arrangement for all three in writing before you pay.
The three timed reservations — the Forbidden City, the National Museum of China and Shanghai Museum all require a timed reservation, and their systems sit poorly with overseas mobile numbers. The Forbidden City releases slots on a seven-day lead. Your quote states in writing who books each of the three and by when. The admission itself is in the base price either way.
The personal encounters — the Wing Chun session in Foshan, the conversation with a resident Taoist and the tai chi introduction at Mount Qingcheng, and the backstage visit and face-changing in Chengdu are all in the base price. Until each is re-confirmed with our partners on the ground for your selling season, we name no individual, promise no fixed duration and hold no fixed time slot for any of the three.
Foshan and the day three margin — day two and the first item of day three sit in Foshan on a road round trip out of Guangzhou, and both nights stay in Guangzhou. The flight to Shanghai leaves Guangzhou that afternoon, so your quote states the day three morning sequence and the airport check-in margin in writing.
Your first evening in Shanghai — day three lands in the afternoon and nothing is scheduled that evening; the Bund is on day four with your guide. Street approaches around the riverfront target new arrivals, so your quote carries the briefing we send before arrival and the local contact number for that evening.
Shanghai Museum branch — which branch your day four visit uses is named in writing in your quote.
Class of travel — two domestic flights and three rail movements. Your quote states the class of each one in writing, and the 2026 fourth-quarter air and rail timetables are re-checked for your dates before your confirmation is issued, because the airline season changes at the end of October.
Visa window — the 30-day visa-free policy currently runs through December 31, 2026. Because this is a 14-day plan, departures on or before December 18, 2026 finish inside that window; later departures are quoted only after the official renewal is announced.
US passports — the US is not on the 30-day visa-free list, and 14 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 a ten-year multiple-entry one. Allow processing time before your departure date. We confirm visa status before any payment. Guests who entered China under the transit policy cannot take this trip, and we say so rather than working around it.
Connections at both ends — Guangzhou on the entry side and Beijing on the exit side are both served nonstop from the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, the US and Canada. Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Greek guests meet a thin nonstop side at both ends; Nordic, Central European and Irish guests on the entry side; Australian and New Zealand guests on the exit side. Any connecting sector is an international flight outside the base price, as is any hub-city night it forces. We check your full inbound and outbound itinerary before your order is taken and state each connection in writing.
Confirmation and changes — the confirmation-time commitment and the change and refund terms are being finalized with our partners on the ground. Until they are settled, each quote states in writing its own confirmation deadline and its change and refund conditions. This route holds two domestic flights, three rail movements and three timed reservations, so a date change touches air, rail and reservation inventory at once.

Is Fourteen Days Your Length?

Fewer than fourteen days?

The five cities come apart cleanly. Guangzhou and Foshan can go, which turns this into a Shanghai entry; Chengdu with the Dujiangyan day stands on its own; Xi'an and Beijing are the pair that has to stay together for the sequence to mean anything. Tell us your dates and who is coming, and we cut cities rather than cut the pace.

Good to Know

Group: Private, just your party. From 1 guest. No fixed maximum party size.
Pace: Five cities in 14 days, south to north, no backtracking. Guangzhou 2 nights, Shanghai 2, Chengdu 3, Xi'an 3, Beijing 3. Two easy days, on day two and day six, and two same-day round trips that leave your bags in the hotel
Effort: Moderate. The Great Wall ascent is by cable car or open chairlift, the Xi'an wall-top section can be walked instead of ridden, and the two heaviest Beijing sites are on separate days. The longest single site day is the Terracotta Warriors, about three and a half hours mostly on your feet
Ports: Guangzhou in, Beijing out, open jaw; airport pickup on day one and drop-off on day fourteen
Intercity: Two domestic flights and three high-speed rail movements, all in the base price. Class stated in writing per order
Visas: British, most European, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand passports enter visa-free for days, checked order by order against your dates. US passports need a Chinese tourist or business visa for this route
Language: Licensed English-speaking local guides throughout, city by city
Meals: 13 hotel breakfasts. Lunches and dinners are recommended and booked by your guide, on your own account
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 three weather-linked points written into the quote

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The Wall Comes Last

Overview

Why you'll love this trip

Itinerary

Guangzhou · Day 1 - Day 2

Day 1 · Land in the south

Day 2 · Out of the city, into the trade

Shanghai · Day 3 - Day 4

Day 3 · Tea in the morning, towers by noon

Day 4 · A garden, a collection, two skylines

Chengdu · Day 5 - Day 7

Day 5 · Low-rise, then a working boat

Day 6 · Pandas early, then nowhere to be

Day 7 · A machine from the 3rd century BC, then a mountain

Xi'an · Day 8 - Day 10

Day 8 · Two lanes and a backstage, then north

Day 9 · Eight thousand faces

Day 10 · On top of the wall, then behind it

Beijing · Day 11 - Day 14

Day 11 · The city after the emperor

Day 12 · One axis through the palace

Day 13 · The wall, on day thirteen

Day 14 · Cut to your flight

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Guangzhou · Day 1 - Day 2Collapse

Day 1 · Land in the south

Day 2 · Out of the city, into the trade

Shanghai · Day 3 - Day 4Collapse

Day 3 · Tea in the morning, towers by noon

Day 4 · A garden, a collection, two skylines

Chengdu · Day 5 - Day 7Collapse

Day 5 · Low-rise, then a working boat

Day 6 · Pandas early, then nowhere to be

Day 7 · A machine from the 3rd century BC, then a mountain

Xi'an · Day 8 - Day 10Collapse

Day 8 · Two lanes and a backstage, then north

Day 9 · Eight thousand faces

Day 10 · On top of the wall, then behind it

Beijing · Day 11 - Day 14Collapse

Day 11 · The city after the emperor

Day 12 · One axis through the palace

Day 13 · The wall, on day thirteen

Day 14 · Cut to your flight

Read it on your own time

Answers to all your trip questions

Something specific in mind?

What's Included

Not Included

Special Notes

Is Fourteen Days Your Length?

Fewer than fourteen days?

Jason Hu

Tell us what excites you

We design it around you

Lock it in with 10%

Travel. We handle the rest.

Guangzhou · Day 1 - Day 2

Shanghai · Day 3 - Day 4

Chengdu · Day 5 - Day 7

Xi'an · Day 8 - Day 10

Beijing · Day 11 - Day 14