Two Rivers, Two Thousand Years

Special Notes

A few things on this route follow the calendar, the season or a booking system. Here they are, told straight.

• Booking and Real-Name Reservation — This tour is now available for booking. Appointment slots for the Forbidden City, the National Museum of China, and the Shanghai Museum will be verified against your travel dates and included in the written quote and confirmation along with transportation schedules and costs.
• The three timed reservations — the Forbidden City on day 8, the National Museum of China on day 10 and the Shanghai Museum on day 11. Admission to all three is included in the price. The reservation systems are name-registered and hard to use on an overseas mobile number, and the Shanghai Museum booking pages are only partly in English. Your quote states in writing who books each slot and what it costs. Where a slot cannot be secured for your date, we tell you before you pay and rearrange that day rather than sell you a closed door.
• Departure days — no Monday departures, because day 8 falls on the same weekday as day 1 and the Forbidden City closes on Mondays. No departures October 1 to 7, the national holiday week, when the Terracotta Warriors site and the Chengdu panda base run at their most crowded.
• December departures and the two outdoor items — the Mutianyu cable car and open chairlift on day 9 and the Xi'an City Wall ride on day 6 are outdoors, and their winter operating rules are being confirmed with the sites. For a December departure your quote states in writing what happens to each of those two items if the site suspends it on your day.
• Group — Private, just your party. From 1 guest. No fixed maximum party size.
• Cabin class — The specific train and flight numbers, along with cabin classes, for the four high-speed rail segments and one domestic flight will be detailed in the written quote and confirmation document based on your travel dates.
• Day 10 Schedule — The sequence of visits to Tiananmen Square, the Temple of Heaven, and the National Museum of China, and the high-speed train departure to Shanghai on the same day, will be adjusted based on reservation time slots and actual train schedules; the final itinerary confirms the day's schedule.
• Day 14 Itinerary — The final day includes Foshan morning tea, Haixinsha, and a departure flight from Guangzhou Baiyun Airport. We will verify the details against your departure time before confirming your dates; if the flight is too early, morning tea will move to Day 13, and Day 14 will be reserved for time in Guangzhou city.
• Security Check — Security checks are required to enter Tiananmen Square on Day 10, and wait times will depend on conditions at the scene. Appropriate connection times are built in between attractions and high-speed rail services.
• Visa Window — Whether visa-free entry applies or a visa is required must be verified on a case-by-case basis, based on passport details, travel dates, port of entry, and the full itinerary, in accordance with official regulations in effect at the time; a 14-day itinerary cannot be completed under the 240-hour visa-free transit policy alone.
• US Passport — Entry eligibility for travelers with U.S. passports must be verified based on the actual visa type, port of entry, and itinerary; a 14-day trip exceeds the 240-hour stay limit for visa-free transit. Required documents and processing times are confirmed before booking.
• Guests already in China eligible under transit policy — If you are entering China under the 10-day visa-free transit policy, this route is not suitable for you, as the 14-day duration exceeds the policy's allowed limit. We inform you clearly before payment, and no exceptions can be made.
• Confirmation and Changes — Confirmation timelines and amendment/refund policies are being finalized with our local partners. Until then, each quote explicitly states its own confirmation deadline and amendment/refund terms. This itinerary includes four rail segments and one flight, so any date changes will affect rail and air inventory as well as hotel bookings.