Upstream to the Sea

Special Notes

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

• Booking and Quotations — This itinerary can be booked by date. Hotels, guides and vehicles, train tickets, and timed reservations for the Forbidden City, National Museum of China, and Shanghai Museum—along with the departure date—are all confirmed item by item in the written quote before the deposit is collected. Items not listed in the quote are not considered included in the base price or locked in inventory.
• Three timed reservations — the Forbidden City, the National Museum of China and the Shanghai Museum each need a timed reservation, and their booking systems sit poorly with overseas mobile numbers. Who books each one for your order, and by when, is stated in writing in your quote. The admissions themselves are in the base price either way.
• Site shuttles and mountain transport — The Terracotta Warriors scenic-area shuttle, the in-park vehicles at the Panda Base, the sightseeing buses in Dujiangyan, as well as the Qingchengshan cable car and sightseeing boat are not included in the base price by default. The quote will specify whether these services are operating and whether they are included in the price for each group schedule. The only uphill transport included in the base price for this itinerary is the cable car or chairlift at Mutianyu Great Wall.
• The Great Wall ascent in November and December 11 — the ascent at Mutianyu is by cableway and open chairlift, and snow or ice closes them. We do not yet hold the operating rules for those two months. Quotes in November and December state the ascent arrangement for your departure in writing before you pay.
• The city wall in November and December 11 — The cycling section on top of the Xi'an City Wall is the longest uncovered outdoor stretch on this route. The schedule for these two months is already included in your quote.
• Departure dates — No departures are available during the National Day Golden Week from October 1st to 7th: visitor numbers at the Terracotta Warriors reach their peak that week, and all four cities fall within windows not suitable for travel. The schedule also ensures that Day 8 does not fall on a Monday, as the Forbidden City is closed on Mondays; if your travel dates include a Monday, Day 8 and Day 9 are swapped, moving the Great Wall excursion to Day 8.
• The day ten start — day ten holds Tian'anmen Square, the Temple of Heaven and the National Museum of China, and then the afternoon train to Shanghai. Entry to the square runs through security screening. The start time for the day and the allowance for the screening queue are written into your quote for your departure.
• The departure morning — the former French Concession walk and the Huangpu River ferry sit on the morning of day twelve, before the airport. We check them against your departure flight at quoting. If an early flight leaves no room for both, the written quote says which one comes out and prices your order that way, before any deposit is taken.
• Reaching Chengdu — All of our source markets have direct flights to Shanghai for departures; Chengdu for arrivals does not offer comparable coverage. Direct flights to Chengdu are well-established from the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Australia, and New Zealand. Coverage is more limited from Northern Europe, Central Europe, Ireland, the US, and Canada, with only one stop each: Vienna, Los Angeles, and Vancouver. If departing from airports other than these, arriving in Chengdu requires a connection; this international leg is not included in the base quote, nor is the necessary transit hub accommodation. Before booking, we verify the complete arrival itinerary and document the connection details in writing.
• Visa window — the 30-day visa-free policy currently runs through December 31, 2026. Because this is a 12-day plan, departures on or before December 20, 2026 finish inside that window; later departures are quoted only after the official renewal is announced.
• US passports — The United States is not on the 30-day visa-free list, and the 12-day itinerary exceeds the 10-day visa exemption transit policy limit. Therefore, guests traveling from the United States must hold a valid Chinese tourism or business visa (including 10-year multi-entry variants). Eligibility will be verified by checking document types and dates; do not assert that a specific visa has already been processed. First-time applicants must attend in-person interviews at the consulate; please allow sufficient processing time to avoid delaying your departure date. We confirm a guest's visa status before receiving any payment. Guests entering China under the 10-day transit visa exemption are not eligible for this trip; we will inform them honestly and will not seek workarounds.
• 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. This route holds four rail movements and three timed reservations, so a date change touches rail inventory and reservation inventory at once.