---
title: "China Without Beijing"
description: "12 days from a Shenzhen electronics floor to a canal still watering the fields"
type: "tour"
route_id: "china-without-beijing-12-days"
total_days: 12
price: 4230
highlights: ["Shenzhen", "Chengdu", "Xi'an", "Shanghai"]
url: "https://www.lyriktrip.com/tours/china-without-beijing-12-days"
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---

# China Without Beijing

12 days from a Shenzhen electronics floor to a canal still watering the fields

China without Beijing. Pandas, the Terracotta Warriors, a city wall and the Bund, with English-speaking guides city by city.

- Moderate. Two days carry the load: the Terracotta Warriors site, which is large and mostly on foot, and the forest path up Mount Qingcheng. The city wall top is the longest unsheltered outdoor stretch of the trip, and you choose there between riding and walking.

## Overview

Most China plans open with the wall and close with the palace. This one removes both, and something else becomes visible. You start in a city that was a fishing town forty years ago and now builds the world's prototypes. You end on a river that turned a trading port into a global city. In between sit the two things this country never stopped using: a third-century-BC waterworks that still sends the river onto the Chengdu plain, and a wall that still has a working city inside it. By Xi'an you'll notice you have stopped asking how old a thing is, and started asking whether it is still switched on.

— LyrikTrip travel designers

Every LyrikTrip journey begins with a conversation. Tell us your dates, who is coming and which parts of China you have already seen. 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 four open items stand, the seat classes, the day-5 return, the headcount cap and the hotel list, before you are asked for anything.

## Summary

- Route ID: china-without-beijing-12-days
- Duration: 12 days / 11 nights
- Starting price: $4,230
- Status: active
- Highlights: Shenzhen, Chengdu, Xi'an, Shanghai
- Cover image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3feDQnmH.webp

## Hero tags

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

## Highlight notes

- China without Beijing. Pandas, the Terracotta Warriors, a city wall and the Bund, with English-speaking guides city by city.
- 12 days from a Shenzhen electronics floor to a third-century-BC canal that still waters the fields. See the China that works.

## Selling points

- Walk the trade floors of Huaqiangbei with your guide, from the component stalls up to the finished machines: you go home able to explain how a thing gets built here in a week.
- Stand at the panda base in the morning, the hours when the pandas are actually moving: this is the one animal your friends will ask about first, and you saw it awake.
- Sit a Chengdu afternoon in a park teahouse with a gaiwan that gets refilled as long as you stay: the seat and the tea are yours for as long as the afternoon lasts.
- Watch a river split above the Chengdu plain by a system built in the third century BC and still in service: it is the day that changes how you look at everything else on this trip.
- Stand at the rail above the pits at the Terracotta Warriors and pick out a general from a crossbowman: after ten minutes you are no longer looking at an army, you are looking at individual faces.
- Ride the top of the Xi'an City Wall, or walk a stretch of it instead: the bikes are in your price and you decide on the wall itself, with nothing added and nothing refunded either way.
- End your evenings on the Bund with your guide beside you: the old waterfront on one bank, the Pudong towers on the other, one city looking at itself across the water.

## City highlights

- Shenzhen (2 days): Land in the newest city
  - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/e5244acfc1e1.jpg
- Chengdu (3 days): The city explains itself, then you fly west
  - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4mDgLfna.webp
- Xi'an (3 days): A mask, then a train
  - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/k815SgVn.webp
- Shanghai (4 days): One flat hour, then east
  - Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/bvE21QNB.webp

## Experiences

China without Beijing. Pandas, the Terracotta Warriors, a city wall and the Bund, with English-speaking guides city by city.

- Huaqiangbei Electronics Market (Shenzhen): Huaqiangbei Electronics Market shows the speed scale and density of China's hardware ecosystem.
  - Subtitle: Shenzhen's legendary electronics district
  - Tags: Electronics
  - Host: Shenzhen, Shenzhen Lens — Drones and future mobility
  - Access: A street-level look at Shenzhen's maker and electronics culture.
  - Images: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Huaqiangbei_walking_street.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8a25e1e49329.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/48a3076950e9.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/d6e8cf38ea06.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/87375a9720fa.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/7b098456d4ee.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/7015fe72256b.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/6ae7699e7cef.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/e85c085378d9.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/499337ce1b97.jpg
- Urban Planning Exhibition (Shenzhen): scale models, architectural displays and development plans that lay out how a small border town grew into a major metropolis within living memory. Twenty minutes here reframes everything else you see in the city.
  - Subtitle: scale models, architectural displays and development plans that lay out how a
  - Tags: City
  - Host: Shenzhen, Shenzhen Lens — Drones and future mobility
  - Access: Twenty minutes here reframes everything else you see in the city.
  - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/0cb198f8a49d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4ba54eb84471.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/009bf8a44425.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8c27862fb181.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/699fd01ecc67.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/e2a1a6331692.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/d05c249a3e39.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2ebecbe69dba.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/e0e571633d3d.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
- Dujiangyan Irrigation System (Dujiangyan): built more than 2,000 years ago and still working, the system manages the Min River without a conventional dam. You walk the main sections and see how the current is split: flood water one way, irrigation the other, feeding farmland across the Chengdu Plain. The short version of why it matters: the meals you eat all week start in this water.
  - Subtitle: built more than 2,000 years ago and still working, the system manages
  - Tags: Heritage
  - Host: Dujiangyan Local Host, Dujiangyan culture and logistics specialist — A local host who tunes the Dujiangyan chapter around access, timing and food.
  - Access: The short version of why it matters: the meals you eat all week start in this water.
  - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9d9a43ba2c4d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b973a332521c.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/ce3d6d1ff035.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/ce25c7e954f6.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f12326d3279b.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/d3b5715456fc.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/ca6aac1736b0.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/271e2d47194f.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/d3cfbed4c2ec.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/d204564d5198.jpg
- Mount Qingcheng Taoist temple and conversation (chengdu): a quiet working temple on one of the mountains where Taoism took shape as an organized religion, chosen over the busy front-gate halls. You sit down with a resident Taoist for a conversation your guide interprets, and get an introduction to tai chi in the courtyard. About four hours including the travel on the mountain. This is a person-to-person arrangement rather than a ticket, so we name no individual, no fixed length and no fixed time slot for it. The mountain cableway and the lake boat are separate site services: whether each is running in your month, and whether it sits inside your price, is stated in writing in your quote.
  - Subtitle: a quiet working temple on one of the mountains where Taoism took shape as an organized religion, chosen over the busy front-gate halls.
  - Tags: heritage
  - Host: Chengdu, Chengdu Lens — Pandas and Sichuan culture
  - Access: The mountain cableway and the lake boat are separate site services: whether each is running in your month, and whether it sits inside your price, is stated in writing in your quote.
  - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/bcd4261c461c.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/052c634fb90a.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4e9c7e28a215.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/c5469e0896d4.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/15fc02c89c86.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4814e6191d4c.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f9477edd7aa3.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f11891ed345b.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1a09b60c06fc.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/480f1ef460a1.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/532f896321c0.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/fec9f8ac6882.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
- 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
- Terracotta Army: Scale and Ambition (Xi'an): the excavation halls outside Xi'an holding the underground army of Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, and one of the country's most significant archaeological finds. You look down into the pits at ranked columns of soldiers: individual faces, armor by rank, formations still legible after two millennia of burial. Your guide teaches you to read them: which are officers, which are archers, what the formation was for. Why it rewards a slow visit: the scale reads in one glance, the craftsmanship only up close.
  - Subtitle: the excavation halls outside Xi'an holding the underground army of Qin Shi
  - Tags: Heritage
  - Host: Xi'an, Xi'an Lens — Warriors and ancient capital
  - Access: Essential Xi'an access to one of China's most recognized archaeological sites.
  - Images: https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1528866310106-4459b39622ed?q=80&w=2064&auto=format&fit=crop&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&ixid=M3wxMjA3fDB8MHxwaG90by1wYWdlfHx8fGVufDB8fHx8fA%3D%3D, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/70bc50b897e9.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/788c1d294602.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/d1bf545bf0ba.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8ff4c8890b77.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9b2f4e2d90b4.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/ed2c5f141848.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4cd4eb7405cc.jpg
- Xi'an City Wall (Xi'an): the Ming-era rampart that still rings the old city, broad enough on top to walk or cycle. You go up in the late afternoon and take it at your pace: a stretch on foot, or a longer run by bike, with the gate towers ahead of you and the moat below. Why it earns its hour: from up here the city explains itself, old streets inside the wall, tower blocks beyond it.
  - Subtitle: the Ming-era rampart that still rings the old city, broad enough on
  - Tags: Active
  - Host: Xi'an, Xi'an Lens — Warriors and ancient capital
  - Access: Why it earns its hour: from up here the city explains itself, old streets inside the wall, tower blocks beyond it.
  - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/daf832e303d0.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8f7c7a922b33.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f864b69ac4b1.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/9c4dc5e6e575.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b69829f31585.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/ad143f00bca6.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/dabb4f7b21b8.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/e3a18a929d13.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/6c4bc5467067.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2a992375c8dd.jpg
- Bell and Drum Tower quarter by night (xian): two towers standing at the crossing point of the old street grid, and the eating lanes that run off them, at their busiest after dark. You walk the area at street level with your guide, past the grills, the bread ovens and the noodle counters, and the guide tells you what each stall is making before you decide whether to try it. The walk is in the base price. What you eat along it is on your own account: ask your guide about roujiamo, crisp-baked bread packed with slow-braised pork.
  - Subtitle: two towers standing at the crossing point of the old street grid, and the eating lanes that run off them, at their busiest after dark.
  - Tags: city
  - Host: Xi'an, Xi'an Lens — Warriors and ancient capital
  - Access: What you eat along it is on your own account: ask your guide about roujiamo, crisp-baked bread packed with slow-braised pork.
  - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/be17d6a5ce49.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2be0c598ad8d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/51969f27fcde.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/eb6479ce2db9.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/459051d48e01.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/db3514adee28.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/e57e1793b04c.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/bafd604e0dff.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/ed200117aca3.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/7f12dbe38bcc.jpg
- Giant Wild Goose Pagoda (Xi'an): Giant Wild Goose Pagoda reflects Xi'an's role as a Buddhist and Silk Road cultural center.
  - Subtitle: A Tang dynasty Buddhist landmark
  - Tags: Pagoda
  - Host: Xi'an, Xi'an Lens — Warriors and ancient capital
  - Access: A classic Tang-era landmark connected to ancient Chang'an history.
  - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2be95bfc5748.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/eb70bbcc8abb.jpg, https://ak-d.tripcdn.com/images/0HJ2z12000qfv3id4A253_W_1440_810_Q80.webp?proc=source%2ftrip, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f1e0cd6ae0d1.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/94916373f524.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4269d987bac0.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/542e4f255e79.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/7d1e365a232d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/18de0aedb419.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2f0b6d04d98d.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
- Shanghai Museum (Shanghai): bronzes, ceramics, painting and calligraphy, arranged so you can walk one material through three thousand years. About two hours. Entry is by timed reservation with limited English in the booking system, so your quote states in writing who books it and by when, and which branch your visit uses. Admission is in the base price.
  - Subtitle: bronzes, ceramics, painting and calligraphy, arranged so you can walk one material through three thousand years.
  - Tags: Museum
  - Host: Shanghai, Shanghai Lens — Skyline and riverfront culture
  - Access: bronzes, ceramics, painting and calligraphy, arranged so you can walk one material through three thousand years. About two hours. Entry is by timed reservation with limited English in the booking system, so your quote states in writing who books it and by when, and which branch your visit uses. Admission is in the base price.
  - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/553f9e5daffa.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/463009b942cf.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/09ed444fa597.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f449d01924e3.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1c391e422dd6.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3062838f53d8.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/5fe4f8f934ce.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1ff4b8a733b8.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1c6a0e2a66d2.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
- Zhujiajiao by Boat (Shanghai): a historic Jiangnan water town of canals, stone bridges and narrow riverside lanes. A boat carries you through the old waterways, then you continue on foot through streets and bridges while your guide traces how canal transport, commerce and daily life once ran on the same water.
  - Subtitle: a historic Jiangnan water town of canals, stone bridges and narrow riverside
  - Tags: Water
  - Host: Shanghai, Shanghai Lens — Skyline and riverfront culture
  - Access: A boat carries you through the old waterways, then you continue on foot through streets and bridges while your guide traces how canal transport, commerce and daily life once ran on the same water.
  - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8ba05d6f8eb0.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8ffe06f75f24.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/94515b63e674.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/f629bb733c60.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/86e92638b93a.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/d8764149356d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/005668320458.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/d12a84430083.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/5161eb4d04d1.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1e1b78a762bf.jpg
- Wukang Road: A Loose Walk (Shanghai): plane-tree streets, walled houses from the concession decades, and the independent shops that have taken over their ground floors. You walk it at street speed, and it is the loosest hour of the route — the low, relaxed counterweight to the skyline you looked at the night before: no ticket, no queue, no gate. About two hours on flat pavement. In the base price.
  - Subtitle: plane-tree streets, walled houses from the concession decades, and the independent shops in their ground floors — the loose, low-rise counterweight to the skyline. About two hours, no ticket, no queue, no gate.
  - Tags: City
  - Host: Shanghai, Shanghai Lens — Skyline and riverfront culture
  - Access: plane-tree streets, walled houses from the concession decades, and the independent shops that have taken over their ground floors. You walk it at street speed, and it is the loosest hour of the route: no ticket, no queue, no gate. About two hours.
  - Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/a469e3c35b36.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/ff2e7b6f2ffc.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/769ee0838cac.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/664544b5b738.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/be6f02f8c66f.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b1c8a477961a.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/738425c31d43.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/b5ee2850407d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/dc30a72b34d4.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/7e7256ca585e.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
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## Itinerary

### China Without Beijing - 12 days

Journey

#### Shenzhen (2 days)

- Subtitle: Land in the newest city
- Recommendation: A driver, a room, and nothing asked of you. The country you start in is forty years old.
- Transport: Flight
- Transport mode: airplane

Airport pickup · Shenzhen through the window · Evening

- Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/e5244acfc1e1.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/8AH70UD0.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/h4WopDz7.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/j3OhqX9B.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/0540e86e5dd0.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/09971fb8ed55.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/0cb198f8a49d.jpg, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/1dabf6d8d82e.jpg
##### Day 1: Land in the newest city

- (transport) — your driver and vehicle wait for the flight number on your confirmation at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport, whatever hour it lands, and the run into the city is yours to sleep through.
- (sight) — towers, elevated roads, screens on the sides of buildings, and no old town anywhere in the picture, because forty years ago there was a fishing town here and almost nothing else.
- (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) Kempinski Hotel Shenzhen — Hotel stay in Shenzhen.

##### Day 2: Up through the trade floors

- (sight) — you go in with your guide at the bottom of the chain and work upward: aisles of component stalls with reels and trays stacked to head height, then the floors where prototypes get put together, then the finished machines. Stand in one of the component aisles and look down it: every drawer in that wall is one part, and somebody's product is waiting on it.
- (sight) — not the gadgets but the sourcing ecosystem around them, which is why a working sample here takes days instead of months. About two and a half hours indoors, and it is set for your first full day because it asks nothing of your legs.
- (sight) — kept light on purpose after a long-haul flight. Lunch and dinner are recommended and booked by your guide, on your account.

#### Chengdu (3 days)

- Subtitle: The city explains itself, then you fly west
- Recommendation: One hall holds the whole forty years. The afternoon moves you into a much older argument.
- Transport: High-speed rail
- Transport mode: train

Shenzhen urban planning exhibition hall · Which venue · Fly to Chengdu · Evening

- Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/4mDgLfna.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/4XAZDbS7.webp
##### Day 3: The city explains itself, then you fly west

- (sight) — maps, scale models and the plans for what is not built yet, arranged as the city's own account of forty years. Stand over the model with the harbor at your feet and find your hotel on it: everything around it is younger than you are.
- (sight) — the specific venue for your departure is named in your written confirmation. About two hours, indoors, in the morning.
- (transport) — hotel to airport, the flight, then airport to hotel, with your own driver at both ends. The flight number, time and class for your order are stated in writing in your quote.
- (note) — nothing is scheduled. You have three nights in this hotel, so the bags come open once.
- (accommodation) Atour Hotel Chengdu Taikoo Li Chunxi Road Pedestrian Street — Hotel stay in Chengdu.

##### Day 4: Awake pandas, then an afternoon with no next

- (sight) — you are there in the morning, the hours when the pandas are generally moving: eating, coming down off things, dropping back to sleep in the fork of a tree. Get to an enclosure fence early and wait rather than walk the loop twice; the animal comes to the fence on its own schedule. Flat shaded paths, about three hours.
- (sight) — bamboo chairs under the trees, a gaiwan each, the lidded cup China brews in, and someone with a long-spouted kettle who refills it as long as you sit. Cards at the next table, an ear cleaner working with a tuning fork two tables over. An hour in, you'll notice nobody in your party has asked what happens next.
- (sight) — three hours are set aside for it, because sitting is the content here rather than a stop on the way somewhere.

##### Day 5: The oldest working thing in China

- (sight) — you walk the works above the water while your guide reads it out: which channel carries water out onto the plain, which one carries the flood away, and how the shape of the riverbed does the job a dam does elsewhere. Stand where the current divides and watch one river leave as two.
- (sight) — a forest path up to a working temple, then a conversation with a resident Taoist that your guide interprets, then taiji in the temple courtyard: slow, standing, no experience needed. This is the biggest set of steps in the twelve days, and the pace is set to the slowest walker in your party.
- (note) — the same hotel, the same room, nothing to pack. The mode of this same-day return, rail or private vehicle, is stated in writing in your quote along with the points it runs between.

#### Xi'an (3 days)

- Subtitle: A mask, then a train
- Recommendation: Backstage before the paint is dry, and a face that changes faster than you can watch. By dinner you are 700 years further back, in a walled city.
- Transport: Flight
- Transport mode: airplane

Kuanzhai Alley and Taikoo Li on foot · Community Sichuan opera theater · High-speed train to Xi'an

- Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/k815SgVn.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2IrwPATt.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2SYFFac8.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2z6MDkku.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/34qxDxFA.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3DF4Fowd.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/3G0oTlIq.webp, https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/56RpQD9k.webp
##### Day 6: A mask, then a train

- (sight) — three parallel lanes of old Chengdu with a contemporary retail quarter a short walk off. We take it as a walk on the way rather than the morning's main event: the lanes are commercial now, and half an hour of them says what two hours would.
- (sight) — a neighborhood house, not a hotel ballroom. You go backstage while the performers paint and dress, then watch face-changing from the second row: the mask becomes another mask in the time it takes him to swing his head, and you will not catch it. Sit close and watch faces rather than the stage.
- (transport) — your driver runs you to the station and your Xi'an guide takes over at the other end. The seat class for your order is stated in writing in your quote. The train crosses the mountains that separate Sichuan from the north, mostly in tunnel, so the light comes and goes.
- (accommodation) Somerset Xindicheng Xi'an — Hotel stay in Xian.

##### Day 7: Eight thousand faces, no two alike

- (sight) — the drive out of the city and back takes a good part of the day, which is why nothing else is scheduled. At the rail above the pits your guide gives you the sorting rules, and after that you do it yourself: armor and hairstyle separate a general from a crossbowman from an infantryman.
- (sight) — in the newer excavation areas, traces of the original paint are still on the clay. Stand at the head of the main pit and look straight down the columns until the figures stop being an army and start being individuals.
- (sight) — the site is large and almost all of it is walking, so the day is built with sitting stops and no second attraction after it.

##### Day 8: On top of the wall, and then under the towers

- (sight) — you go up onto a wall top wide enough to ride two abreast, and choose there between riding a stretch and walking one. The bikes are in your price and both choices cost the same. Look one way at the grey roofs of the old center and the other way at the towers outside the wall: the wall is the line between them. Halfway along, you'll find you have stopped taking photographs and started just looking.
- (dining) — the two towers that once kept time for the city stand lit at the middle of it, and your guide walks you through the quarter and the food street beside them, reading the stalls as you go: hand-pulled noodles, roujiamo, which is crisp-baked bread packed with slow-braised pork, and the wheat-and-lamb cooking this city does instead of rice.
- (sight) — anything you eat there is on your account, and your guide stays with you through the evening.

#### Shanghai (4 days)

- Subtitle: One flat hour, then east
- Recommendation: A brick pagoda and the gardens at its feet, before the airport. The last old city hands you to the newest one.
- Transport: Flight
- Transport mode: airplane

Giant Wild Goose Pagoda grounds · The climb · Fly to Shanghai · Evening

- Images: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/bvE21QNB.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: One flat hour, then east

- (sight) — the pagoda stands in the grounds of the Buddhist temple around it, with squares and gardens that grew up at its feet. Walk the grounds slowly and look back at the tower from the far end of the plaza: it is the one thing on this skyline that decided where the streets would go.
- (sight) — the ticket to climb the pagoda itself is not included. Guests who want it buy it at the tower.
- (transport) — your driver runs you to the airport and your Shanghai guide takes over at the door on arrival. The flight number, time and class for your order are stated in writing in your quote.
- (note) — nothing is scheduled. Three nights here, and the city keeps until tomorrow.
- (accommodation) Bellagio by MGM Shanghai on the Bund — Hotel stay in Shanghai.

##### Day 10: A garden, a storeroom, and two skylines

- (sight) — pavilions, rockery, ponds and a path that never runs straight, in the middle of the oldest part of the city. Flat the whole way. Go around the rockery twice: the second time you notice the path was built to stop you seeing everything at once.
- (sight) — bronzes, ceramics, painting and calligraphy, with the applied-arts collections alongside. Your timed slot is booked by us with the details on your confirmation, because the reservation system is hard to use from outside China. We do not promise which galleries are open on your day; rotations are the museum's call.
- (sight) — the old bank buildings hold one bank of the river and the Pudong towers hold the other, a hundred years apart, looking straight at each other across the water. Your guide is with you for the whole evening. Stand at the parapet with your back to the old façades and let the ferry lights cross in front of the towers.

##### Day 11: An hour out, and the water becomes the street

- (sight) — one rower stands at the stern working a single oar and the town comes past at walking pace: doorsteps going straight down into the water, laundry over the canal, a stone bridge passing over your head close enough to read the joints.
- (sight) — you walk the town's arched stone bridge and the waterside lanes behind it, where the shops are still shops rather than a display of them.
- (sight) — a private garden of the old town, walled, quiet, and a good place to sit while the day tips over into the afternoon. Admission is in your price.
- (sight) — your last night in Shanghai, with the bags packed at your own pace rather than after the evening out.

##### Day 12: Plane trees, then the river

- (transport) — plane-tree streets, historic residences behind low walls, independent shops in their ground floors. Walk it without a route: the point of this morning is that there is nothing you have to see.
- (transport) — the crossing locals take to get to work. You stand at the rail with commuters and their scooters while the towers swing past, and it costs the city about the price of a bus ride. Halfway across, you'll realize the last thing you did in China was something ordinary, and that it fits.
- (transport) — your driver takes you to Shanghai Pudong International Airport, timed to your flight with room to spare. If your flight is early, the morning shortens to the ferry alone or comes off, and the drop-off moves forward. Nothing in your price changes either way.

## Daily plan

### Day 1 — Land in the newest city

A driver, a room, and nothing asked of you. The country you start in is forty years old.

- Airport pickup: your driver and vehicle wait for the flight number on your confirmation at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport, whatever hour it lands, and the run into the city is yours to sleep through.
- Shenzhen through the window: towers, elevated roads, screens on the sides of buildings, and no old town anywhere in the picture, because forty years ago there was a fishing town here and almost nothing else.
- 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: Shenzhen
- Meals: None included today

### Day 2 — Up through the trade floors

Components on one floor, finished machines three floors up. Today you find out how fast a thing can be made.

- Huaqiangbei electronics quarter: you go in with your guide at the bottom of the chain and work upward: aisles of component stalls with reels and trays stacked to head height, then the floors where prototypes get put together, then the finished machines. Stand in one of the component aisles and look down it: every drawer in that wall is one part, and somebody's product is waiting on it.
- What your guide is actually explaining: not the gadgets but the sourcing ecosystem around them, which is why a working sample here takes days instead of months. About two and a half hours indoors, and it is set for your first full day because it asks nothing of your legs.
- The rest of the day: kept light on purpose after a long-haul flight. Lunch and dinner are recommended and booked by your guide, on your account.
- Stay: Shenzhen
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 3 — The city explains itself, then you fly west

One hall holds the whole forty years. The afternoon moves you into a much older argument.

- Shenzhen urban planning exhibition hall: maps, scale models and the plans for what is not built yet, arranged as the city's own account of forty years. Stand over the model with the harbor at your feet and find your hotel on it: everything around it is younger than you are.
- Which venue: the specific venue for your departure is named in your written confirmation. About two hours, indoors, in the morning.
- Fly to Chengdu: hotel to airport, the flight, then airport to hotel, with your own driver at both ends. The flight number, time and class for your order are stated in writing in your quote.
- Evening: nothing is scheduled. You have three nights in this hotel, so the bags come open once.
- Stay: Chengdu
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 4 — Awake pandas, then an afternoon with no next

The morning belongs to an animal that only performs before noon. The afternoon belongs to nobody.

- Chengdu panda base, morning: you are there in the morning, the hours when the pandas are generally moving: eating, coming down off things, dropping back to sleep in the fork of a tree. Get to an enclosure fence early and wait rather than walk the loop twice; the animal comes to the fence on its own schedule. Flat shaded paths, about three hours.
- Teahouse sitting in People's Park: bamboo chairs under the trees, a gaiwan each, the lidded cup China brews in, and someone with a long-spouted kettle who refills it as long as you sit. Cards at the next table, an ear cleaner working with a tuning fork two tables over. An hour in, you'll notice nobody in your party has asked what happens next.
- Why the whole afternoon: three hours are set aside for it, because sitting is the content here rather than a stop on the way somewhere.
- Stay: Chengdu
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel, plus the tea seat and the tea

### Day 5 — The oldest working thing in China

A day trip out of the city to a river that was put to work in the third century BC. Stop asking how old a thing is; ask whether it still runs.

- Dujiangyan irrigation system: you walk the works above the water while your guide reads it out: which channel carries water out onto the plain, which one carries the flood away, and how the shape of the riverbed does the job a dam does elsewhere. Stand where the current divides and watch one river leave as two.
- Mount Qingcheng, one of the Taoist mountains: a forest path up to a working temple, then a conversation with a resident Taoist that your guide interprets, then taiji in the temple courtyard: slow, standing, no experience needed. This is the biggest set of steps in the twelve days, and the pace is set to the slowest walker in your party.
- Back to Chengdu the same evening: the same hotel, the same room, nothing to pack. The mode of this same-day return, rail or private vehicle, is stated in writing in your quote along with the points it runs between.
- Stay: Chengdu
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 6 — A mask, then a train

Backstage before the paint is dry, and a face that changes faster than you can watch. By dinner you are 700 years further back, in a walled city.

- Kuanzhai Alley and Taikoo Li on foot: three parallel lanes of old Chengdu with a contemporary retail quarter a short walk off. We take it as a walk on the way rather than the morning's main event: the lanes are commercial now, and half an hour of them says what two hours would.
- Community Sichuan opera theater: a neighborhood house, not a hotel ballroom. You go backstage while the performers paint and dress, then watch face-changing from the second row: the mask becomes another mask in the time it takes him to swing his head, and you will not catch it. Sit close and watch faces rather than the stage.
- High-speed train to Xi'an: your driver runs you to the station and your Xi'an guide takes over at the other end. The seat class for your order is stated in writing in your quote. The train crosses the mountains that separate Sichuan from the north, mostly in tunnel, so the light comes and goes.
- Stay: Xi'an
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 7 — Eight thousand faces, no two alike

One site, one day, nothing else added. What you came for is not how many there are; it is that you can tell them apart.

- Terracotta Warriors: the drive out of the city and back takes a good part of the day, which is why nothing else is scheduled. At the rail above the pits your guide gives you the sorting rules, and after that you do it yourself: armor and hairstyle separate a general from a crossbowman from an infantryman.
- What to look for: in the newer excavation areas, traces of the original paint are still on the clay. Stand at the head of the main pit and look straight down the columns until the figures stop being an army and start being individuals.
- Pace: the site is large and almost all of it is walking, so the day is built with sitting stops and no second attraction after it.
- Stay: Xi'an
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 8 — On top of the wall, and then under the towers

The wall is not a ruin; it still has a working city inside it. Tonight you eat where that city eats.

- Xi'an City Wall, ride or walk: you go up onto a wall top wide enough to ride two abreast, and choose there between riding a stretch and walking one. The bikes are in your price and both choices cost the same. Look one way at the grey roofs of the old center and the other way at the towers outside the wall: the wall is the line between them. Halfway along, you'll find you have stopped taking photographs and started just looking.
- Bell and Drum Tower quarter and the food street by night: the two towers that once kept time for the city stand lit at the middle of it, and your guide walks you through the quarter and the food street beside them, reading the stalls as you go: hand-pulled noodles, roujiamo, which is crisp-baked bread packed with slow-braised pork, and the wheat-and-lamb cooking this city does instead of rice.
- On the street: anything you eat there is on your account, and your guide stays with you through the evening.
- Stay: Xi'an
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 9 — One flat hour, then east

A brick pagoda and the gardens at its feet, before the airport. The last old city hands you to the newest one.

- Giant Wild Goose Pagoda grounds: the pagoda stands in the grounds of the Buddhist temple around it, with squares and gardens that grew up at its feet. Walk the grounds slowly and look back at the tower from the far end of the plaza: it is the one thing on this skyline that decided where the streets would go.
- The climb: the ticket to climb the pagoda itself is not included. Guests who want it buy it at the tower.
- Fly to Shanghai: your driver runs you to the airport and your Shanghai guide takes over at the door on arrival. The flight number, time and class for your order are stated in writing in your quote.
- Evening: nothing is scheduled. Three nights here, and the city keeps until tomorrow.
- Stay: Shanghai
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 10 — A garden, a storeroom, and two skylines

Morning inside the oldest quarter, afternoon among the objects, evening on the water. The day ends where the city looks at itself.

- Yu Garden and the old city: pavilions, rockery, ponds and a path that never runs straight, in the middle of the oldest part of the city. Flat the whole way. Go around the rockery twice: the second time you notice the path was built to stop you seeing everything at once.
- Shanghai Museum: bronzes, ceramics, painting and calligraphy, with the applied-arts collections alongside. Your timed slot is booked by us with the details on your confirmation, because the reservation system is hard to use from outside China. We do not promise which galleries are open on your day; rotations are the museum's call.
- The Bund after dark: the old bank buildings hold one bank of the river and the Pudong towers hold the other, a hundred years apart, looking straight at each other across the water. Your guide is with you for the whole evening. Stand at the parapet with your back to the old façades and let the ferry lights cross in front of the towers.
- Stay: Shanghai
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 11 — An hour out, and the water becomes the street

A canal town where the boats still do the work the roads do elsewhere. Today the trip slows to the speed of one oar.

- Zhujiajiao by hand-rowed boat: one rower stands at the stern working a single oar and the town comes past at walking pace: doorsteps going straight down into the water, laundry over the canal, a stone bridge passing over your head close enough to read the joints.
- Fangsheng Bridge and the lanes: you walk the town's arched stone bridge and the waterside lanes behind it, where the shops are still shops rather than a display of them.
- Kezhi Garden: a private garden of the old town, walled, quiet, and a good place to sit while the day tips over into the afternoon. Admission is in your price.
- Back into the city: your last night in Shanghai, with the bags packed at your own pace rather than after the evening out.
- Stay: Shanghai
- Meals: Breakfast at the hotel

### Day 12 — Plane trees, then the river

A last morning at street level, and a two-minute crossing on the boat the city takes to work. You leave on the same water the trip has been explaining.

- Former French Concession and Wukang Road: plane-tree streets, historic residences behind low walls, independent shops in their ground floors. Walk it without a route: the point of this morning is that there is nothing you have to see.
- Huangpu River ferry: the crossing locals take to get to work. You stand at the rail with commuters and their scooters while the towers swing past, and it costs the city about the price of a bus ride. Halfway across, you'll realize the last thing you did in China was something ordinary, and that it fits.
- Airport drop-off: your driver takes you to Shanghai Pudong International Airport, timed to your flight with room to spare. If your flight is early, the morning shortens to the ferry alone or comes off, and the drop-off moves forward. Nothing in your price changes either way.
- 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

### Sheraton Xi'an North City Hotel

- City: Xian
- Description: Sheraton Xi'an North City: five-star luxury five minutes from the Daming Palace, with an indoor pool and wellness centre.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/k01OUBYw.jpg

### Rezen Meili Hotel (Shanghai City Centre, The Bund)

- City: Shanghai
- Description: Rezen Meili Hotel: classic European style in central Shanghai, steps from People's Square, the Bund and Nanjing Road.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/842LWuH4.webp

### 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

### Futian Shangri-La, Shenzhen

- City: Shenzhen
- Description: Located in Futian CBD, close to major landmarks and metro lines. Featuring 500+ elegant rooms and suites with exclusive Horizon Club services.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/lNzYq6FP.webp

### Shangri-La Hotel

- City: Xian
- Description: Shangri-La Hotel Xi'an: five-star luxury near the Terracotta Warriors, 35 minutes from the airport.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/ldYT8r2G.webp

### Atour S Hotel Shanghai Hongqiao Centre Aegean

- City: Shanghai
- Description: Atour S Hotel in Hongqiao: steps from Aegean Place and Metro Line 10, six km from the National Exhibition and Convention Center.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/ciHY2Qvs.webp

### The Temple House

- City: Chengdu
- Description: Boutique luxury hotel inside a restored Qing-dynasty courtyard near Taikoo Li with one of Chengdu's strongest design statements.
- Image: https://cdn.lyriktrip.com/s/2Dh9ApbX.webp

## Included / Excluded

### What's Included

- Airport transfers: Day 1 pickup at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport to your hotel; day 12 drop-off from your Shanghai hotel to Shanghai Pudong International Airport
- Private vehicle: Air-conditioned private vehicle with driver for all listed touring in all four cities, plus the hotel and station or airport transfers for all three intercity moves on days 3, 6 and 9
- Intercity transport: Four segments: Shenzhen to Chengdu by air on day 3 · Chengdu to Xi'an by high-speed train on day 6 · Xi'an to Shanghai by air on day 9 · the Chengdu to Dujiangyan same-day return on day 5. The class of each segment, and the mode of the day-5 return, are stated in writing in your quote
- Entry connection: If your home airport has no direct service into Shenzhen, your order is written to enter through Hong Kong or Guangzhou, and the ground transfer from that port to your Shenzhen hotel is arranged by us and included
- Hotels: 11 nights at your chosen level, four-star, five-star or quality boutique, breakfast included: Shenzhen 2 · Chengdu 3 · Xi'an 3 · Shanghai 3
- Guide: Licensed English-speaking local guide on every touring day in each of the four cities, including the Bund evening in Shanghai and the evening walk through the Bell and Drum Tower quarter in Xi'an
- Tickets & experiences, Shenzhen: The Huaqiangbei walk through the trade floors with your guide · admission to the urban planning exhibition hall
- Tickets & experiences, Chengdu: Panda base morning admission · the tea seat and the tea at the People's Park teahouse, refilled as long as you sit · the community Sichuan opera theater with the backstage look and face-changing up close · the Kuanzhai Alley and Taikoo Li walk, no admission charged
- Tickets & experiences, day trip: Dujiangyan irrigation system admission · Mount Qingcheng admission, with the conversation with a resident Taoist and the taiji session
- Tickets & experiences, Xi'an: Terracotta Warriors admission · city wall admission with bike hire on the wall top, ride or walk at the same price · Giant Wild Goose Pagoda grounds admission · the evening walk through the Bell and Drum Tower quarter and the food street
- Tickets & experiences, Shanghai: Yu Garden and the old city admission · the Shanghai Museum timed reservation booked by us · the Bund and Pudong night view with your guide · Kezhi Garden admission and the hand-rowed boat at Zhujiajiao · the Huangpu River ferry crossing · the Former French Concession and Wukang Road walk
- Meals: 11 hotel breakfasts, days 2 through 12, plus the tea seat and the tea at the Chengdu teahouse on day 4
- Insurance: Travel accident insurance

### Not Included

- International flights: Flights into Shenzhen and out of Shanghai, including any flight into Hong Kong or Guangzhou taken under the entry connection rule, and any connecting sector on the way
- Visas: The six markets this plan is sold to enter visa-free, so no visa fee arises. Any guest who does need a Chinese visa pays the fee and does the processing themselves
- Meals: Lunches and dinners throughout, apart from the breakfasts and the Chengdu teahouse sitting. Street food on the Xi'an food street is on your account. Lunches and dinners are recommended and booked by your guide
- Climbing tickets: The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda climbing ticket, and the Bell Tower and Drum Tower climbing tickets in Xi'an. Guests who want them buy them on site
- Robotaxi: Not in your price and not a listed feature of this plan: see Special Notes
- Optional add-ons: Priced separately at the time of choosing; nothing optional is added into the base plan
- 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: four things have to be real first. One, the class of the two flights and the high-speed rail segment. Two, the mode of the day-5 same-day return to Dujiangyan, rail or private vehicle, with the points it runs between. Three, the headcount cap per order, with the vehicle and guide configuration that goes with it. Four, the named hotel list per level for all four cities, with room types. Until all four are settled and stated here we take no orders and no deposits. Tell us your dates and we will write to you on the day it opens.
- Robotaxi is an on-the-spot option only: Shenzhen runs driverless taxis on live commercial routes, and whether they are running on your day sits with the operator rather than with us. So this ride is not in your price and it is not sold as part of this plan. If you want it, your guide books it on the day through the operator's app and the fare is settled on the spot at the operator's own rate, which the operator sets and we do not quote in advance. If the service is suspended, your guide extends the Huaqiangbei walk instead.
- Departure dates: no departures whose itinerary touches October 1 to 7, the national holiday week. All four cities are affected in the same week: the panda base restricts visitor numbers and its morning slots go first, the Terracotta Warriors site cannot deliver what we promise about it under holiday crowds, and the Bund and Huaqiangbei both run at holiday density.
- December departures: the wall top is the longest unsheltered outdoor stretch of this route. On December departures the day-8 wall slot is set as a walk along a stretch of the wall rather than a ride, at your guide's call on that morning's weather. The price is the same either way.
- The panda base is a morning item: it is never moved to an afternoon slot on any departure date, because in the afternoon you are mostly looking at sleeping animals.
- Visa window: the 30-day visa-free policy for the six markets this plan is sold to 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 departure dates are quoted only after the official renewal is announced. Per order we confirm that your 12 days plus any extra days you spend in China all sit inside the 30.
- Not sold to the United States market: Shenzhen carries no scheduled US service in our current planning basis, and 12 days sits outside the stay window of the 10-day visa-free transit policy. We decline orders from that market for this plan rather than rework them, and we say so before anyone pays anything.
- Entry connection: France / Germany / the Netherlands / Belgium · Italy / Spain / Portugal / Greece fly straight into Shenzhen. From the UK · the Nordic countries / Central Europe / Ireland · Canada · Australia / New Zealand only part of the departure hubs have direct service, so each order is checked against your own home airport; where there is none, your order is written to enter through Hong Kong or Guangzhou. The international sector into that port is not included; the ground transfer from it to your Shenzhen hotel is arranged by us and is included, and we do not charge it as a separate relay sector.
- Transit-policy entrants: guests who entered China under the 10-day visa-free transit policy cannot take this trip, because 12 days exceeds that policy's permitted stay. We say so before payment and we do not work around it.
- The day-12 morning: day 12 holds a Shanghai morning before the airport, and each order is checked against your own departure flight time. Where the flight is early, that morning shortens to the ferry crossing alone or comes off, and the drop-off moves forward. Nothing in your price changes either way.
- Shanghai Museum galleries: your timed slot is booked by us, and we do not promise which galleries are open on your day. Rotations and closures are the museum's call.
- 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 two internal flights and two rail segments, so a date change touches flight, rail, hotel and timed-reservation inventory at once.

## Is Twelve Days Your Length?

Fewer than twelve days?

### Fewer than twelve days?

The four cities come apart cleanly. Shenzhen with Chengdu makes a shorter contemporary-plus-Sichuan trip; Xi'an with Shanghai makes the classic short pairing without Beijing. 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: Four cities in 12 days: Shenzhen 2 nights, Chengdu 3, Xi'an 3, Shanghai 3. Three intercity moves, each on its own half day, plus one day trip out of Chengdu that returns to the same hotel the same evening
- Effort: Moderate. The two heaviest days are the Terracotta Warriors site, which is large and mostly on foot, and the forest path up Mount Qingcheng. The wall top is the longest unsheltered outdoor stretch, and you choose there between riding and walking
- Ports: Shenzhen in, Shanghai out; airport pickup on day 1 and drop-off on day 12. Where there is no direct service into Shenzhen from your home airport, entry is written through Hong Kong or Guangzhou and the ground transfer from there is included
- Visas: The six markets this plan is sold to enter visa-free for days, checked order by order against your dates. Not sold to the United States market
- Language: Licensed English-speaking local guides throughout, city by city
- On the Bund: Strangers approach visitors on the waterfront with invitations to a teahouse or to practice English. Your guide is with you for the whole evening, which is why that evening is guided rather than free time
- 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 touching October 1 to 7. December departures have the day-8 wall slot set as a walk on the morning's weather

## 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

### Stats

- 20+ Years
- 300+ Trips designed
- 24/7 On-trip care

### The Conversation

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.

- 24h: First concept delivered

### 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.

- 24/7: Support throughout your journey

- Free cancellation up to 30 days
- English-speaking concierge
- Secure payment via Stripe

- CTA: Talk to Us

## Guest Reviews

- Overall rating: 4.9
- Total reviews: 523
- Count label: from 523 verified reviews

4.9 / 5

### Platforms

- google: 4.9 (312 reviews)
- tripadvisor: 5.0 (211 reviews)

- Filter tabs: All, Google, TripAdvisor
- 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.
- Rebecca Miller (🇺🇸 Boston, USA · 5★ · Jan 2026 · google): Really listened to what we wanted - Really helpful team. They listened to what we wanted and delivered. Beijing and Xi'an were incredible.

## 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.

### No Great Wall? Is this really a China trip?

It is a China trip for the second visit, or for anyone who never wanted the imperial capital. The wall and the palace are the two things Beijing does better than anywhere, so we took Beijing out whole rather than half. What replaces them is the other half of the story: a third-century-BC waterworks that still waters the Chengdu plain, a wall in Xi'an with a working city inside it, and a city in the south that built itself in forty years. If you have not been to China before and you want the wall, tell us and we will point you at a plan that has it.

### Can I ride a driverless taxi in Shenzhen?

Often yes, and we still will not sell it to you. Shenzhen runs driverless taxis on live commercial routes, but whether they are running on your day is the operator's decision, not ours, so the ride is not in your price and not part of this plan. If you want it, your guide books it on the day through the operator's app and you pay the operator's own rate on the spot. If the service is suspended that day, your guide extends the Huaqiangbei walk instead, which is where the actual story of this city is anyway.

### Why is a whole afternoon given to sitting in a teahouse?

Because it is the one part of Chengdu you cannot do at speed. The tea seat and the tea are in your price and get refilled as long as you sit, and around you the park is doing what it does every day: cards, a tuning fork, a long-spouted kettle. If your party would rather be moving, tell us at the quoting stage and we will use that afternoon differently. It is easier to change before you land than on the day.

### When can I actually book this?

Not yet, and we would rather say so than take a deposit on it. Four things have to land first: the class of the two flights and the rail segment, the mode of the day-5 return to Dujiangyan, the headcount cap per order with the vehicle and guide that go with it, and the named hotel list per level for all four cities. Until all four are settled we take no orders and no deposits. What you can do now is tell us your dates, and we will write to you the day this route opens.

### Do we need a visa?

Guests from the markets this plan is sold to do not. France / Germany / the Netherlands / Belgium · Italy / Spain / Portugal / Greece · the UK · the Nordic countries / Central Europe / Ireland · Canada · Australia / New Zealand all enter visa-free for stays days, counted from the day after you arrive, with no onward-ticket requirement and no restriction on where in China you go. We check your 12 days plus any extra days 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. This plan is not sold to guests flying from the United States: Shenzhen has no scheduled US service in our current planning basis, and 12 days is longer than the 10-day transit policy allows. We say that up front rather than rework the route around it.