Can I book this today?

Not yet, and we would rather tell you than take your money. This plan was packaged ahead of its own internal review, and seven things are settled before we take a first order. Those include the ground confirmations, the exhibition's opening calendar, the temple's performance times and the review itself. No orders and no deposits until then. Send us your dates now and we will write to you the day it opens, with the named hotels and the confirmed times in that first email.

We're flying from the US. Can you run this for us?

Not as written, and here is the reason. Shenzhen is where this plan starts and there is no nonstop service into Shenzhen from any United States hub, so we would be selling you a connection we have not planned. This plan ends in Guangzhou, which does have nonstop service to San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. Send us your dates anyway: rebuilding the entry side is a planning job, and we would rather redraw the plan than sell you the wrong one. A Chinese tourist or business visa applies for United States passports in any case.

Is the driverless taxi guaranteed?

No, and we will not pretend otherwise. It runs on a commercial operator's live service lines, so the operator decides whether it runs on your day. We book it by date before you arrive and reconfirm it after you land. Where it is suspended, the ride comes out of day two and your quote states in writing what that does to your price. What you still get that day: the whole of Huaqiangbei floor by floor with your guide explaining the trade, and the flagship store. The technology story of the day does not depend on the ride, which is why the ride is never sold as the reason to come.

Three cities in five days. Are we packing every night?

No. Two hotels in five days: two nights in Shenzhen, two in Guangzhou. Foshan is a day trip from Guangzhou, about forty minutes each way, and your Guangzhou room stays yours that night. The only move between cities is one 35-minute train on the afternoon of day three, and your vehicle runs both ends of it.

Most guests on this route do not. British and most European passports enter visa-free for stays days; Canadian, Australian and New Zealand ones do too. We check your 5 days plus any other days in China against that window before you pay. The current policy runs through December 31, 2026, so departures on or before December 27, 2026 finish inside it; for later dates we quote once the official renewal is announced. United States passports are a separate case: see the question above.

Two Clocks, One Bay

Overview

Shenzhen did most of its growing inside about forty years. Forty minutes down the road sits Foshan, where the martial arts still belong to the courtyards of an old temple and to the neighborhood around it. This plan puts both inside one week, with a 35-minute train in the middle and only two hotels. Two nights in Shenzhen go to the electronics trade and to the old town underneath the new city. Two nights in Guangzhou hold the Foshan day and the river. Nothing here asks you to climb anything, and there is no domestic flight at all. By the last morning you'll stop hearing "new" and "old" as opposites.

— LyrikTrip travel designers

Every LyrikTrip journey begins with a conversation. Tell us your dates, who is coming and where you are flying from. 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 seven open items stand before you are asked for anything, and if your dates or your departure airport do not fit this plan, we say so instead of selling.

Why you'll love this trip

The bay, end to end. Nantou Old Town, a 35-minute train, morning tea and the Guangzhou waterfront, with English-speaking guides city by city.
5 days from a components market in Shenzhen to a Wing Chun stance in Foshan. Understand what new means.

Walk a whole electronics market floor by floor, from trays of components up through prototypes to finished machines: you go home able to explain how the thing in your pocket actually gets made.
Spend an afternoon walking an old town inside the city everyone calls new: the same afternoon that starts in a hall about the next forty years ends in streets that were here first.
Take the first Wing Chun stance from a local instructor in Foshan, two hours of history first and hands second: this is the part of the week where nothing else gets a look in.
Sit down to a Cantonese morning tea on your last morning, one seating each, ordered at your own pace rather than served at ours.
Unpack twice in five days: two nights in Shenzhen, two in Guangzhou, one 35-minute train between them and no airport in the middle of the week.

Things to do

We are loading the host-led experiences for the second half of the page.

Itinerary

Arrivals

Shenzhen · Day 1 - Day 2

Day 1 · Land, and let the city wait

Your driver meets your flight or your train, whatever time it comes in. Nothing is asked of you today.

Airport or railway station pickup Your driver and vehicle are waiting against the flight number or train number on your confirmation, and the run into the city is yours to sleep through.

Shenzhen through the window The road in runs between towers that all went up inside one working life, glass and lit signage stacked the whole way. Look up at the ridge line of the skyline as you come in: almost nothing you can see is older than your driver.

Evening Nothing is scheduled. Your guide is reachable, and dinner near your hotel is recommended and booked for you if you want it, on your own account.

Day 2 · How a machine gets made

Today is the city at work, not the city on show. You leave knowing how a design becomes a product here.

Huaqiangbei You walk the electronics market floor by floor for about 150 minutes: trays of components at the bottom, prototype boards and half-built machines in the middle, finished products at the top. Your guide reads the ecosystem as you go, who sells to whom and at what quantity. Stand at a counter while a seller tests a board in front of a buyer: fifteen seconds, no translation needed. Somewhere on the second floor you'll notice you have stopped taking photographs and started asking questions.

The DJI flagship store About an hour inside the flagship store of the drone maker headquartered in this city, with drones, imaging equipment and consumer hardware on display and in demonstration. It is a store, not a factory, and we say so before you come.

A Robotaxi ride About an hour in a self-driving taxi, hailed on a screen and running on the operator's live service lines. Sit in the back and watch the wheel turn itself at a junction. Where the operator suspends service on your day, this ride comes out and the day runs on the two stops above.

High-speed rail

Guangzhou · Day 3 - Day 5

Day 3 · The city explains itself, then the old town answers back

A morning about the next forty years, an afternoon about the centuries before them. The contradiction is the point.

The Shenzhen city planning exhibition Models, plans and industrial history in one municipal hall: how the city grew, and what it intends to build next. Your admission is in the plan. If the hall is closed on your date, day three runs the old town as its main item and the train moves earlier, and we tell you which one you are getting before you pay.

Shekou and Nantou Old Town About 150 minutes on foot through Shekou and the lanes of the old town, at street level. Walk out of a lane and look back the way you came, with the towers standing over the low roofs: that is the picture the whole day was arranged for.

Afternoon train to Guangzhou Your vehicle takes you to the station, and the train itself takes about 35 minutes of running time. Sit on the right and watch the delta go past at speed: factory towns, water, then another skyline.

Day 4 · Forty minutes, the other clock

A day trip to Foshan and back to the same room tonight. Today you use your hands instead of your camera.

The road to Foshan About forty minutes each way by private vehicle. Your bags stay in Guangzhou and your room stays booked: this is a day out, not a move.

Foshan Ancestral Temple The old temple complex that this town's religious life, martial arts and neighborhood life grew up around. Inside are courtyards, decorative roofs and cultural displays. Your admission is in the plan, and your guide walks the courtyards with you.

Lion dance and martial arts About 45 minutes in the temple grounds, drums first, then the lion up on the posts and a martial arts set after it. Stand at the front left corner of the yard where the drum sits.

A Wing Chun session About two hours with a local instructor. History and principles first, sitting down; then you take the basic stance and work the basic movements, arms in front of you, weight where you are not used to putting it. Ten minutes in you'll feel muscles in your forearms that you have never had a reason to think about.

Day 5 · Tea first, then the river

One seating at a teahouse, one walk along the water, then the airport. The last morning is the one you will describe first at home.

Cantonese morning tea A seating of your own at a long-established teahouse: har gow, siu mai, cheung fun and char siu bao, ordered a few at a time rather than brought out at once. Morning tea is how this region does its socializing, so the seating is unhurried and your guide orders with you, not for you. You'll notice the local table beside you has been sitting over one pot of tea for two hours.

Haixinsha and Zhujiang New Town About two hours on foot along the waterfront and through the towers of the newer center. Stand on the island with the river on one side and the towers on the other: the same delta you crossed by train two days ago, seen from its front row.

Airport drop-off Your driver takes you to Guangzhou airport, timed against your departure with room to spare. If your flight is late in the day, tell us and we plan the gap around your check-out rather than around a timetable.

Departures

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Hotels

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Included / Excluded

What's Included

Private vehicleAir-conditioned private vehicle for all listed touring and all land transfers on days one through five: the Shenzhen pickup, the touring in both cities and the Foshan round trip, ending with the Guangzhou airport drop-off
High-speed railOne leg, Shenzhen to Guangzhou on the afternoon of day three, about 35 minutes of running time. Station transfers at both ends are in the vehicle above. The seat class booked for your order is stated in writing in your quote, and your train is named at confirmation
Hotels4 nights at your chosen level, four-star, five-star or quality boutique, breakfast included: Shenzhen 2 · Guangzhou 2
GuideLicensed English-speaking guide on every touring day, including the Foshan day trip
AdmissionsThe Shenzhen city planning exhibition on day three · Foshan Ancestral Temple on day four. These two are the only ticketed sites on this plan
Experiences, ShenzhenHuaqiangbei on foot for about 150 minutes with guide commentary · the DJI flagship store for an in-store visit of about 60 minutes · a Robotaxi ride of about 60 minutes conditional on the operator's service that day · Shekou and Nantou Old Town on foot for about 150 minutes
Experiences, Foshan and GuangzhouThe lion dance and martial arts performance at the temple for about 45 minutes then the courtyards and displays · a Wing Chun session with a local instructor for about 120 minutes · Haixinsha and Zhujiang New Town on foot for about 120 minutes
Meals4 hotel breakfasts, days two through five, plus one Cantonese morning tea seating per guest on day five. That seating is arranged on top of the day-five hotel breakfast, not instead of it
InsuranceTravel accident insurance

Not Included

International flightsFlights into Shenzhen and out of Guangzhou, and any connecting leg you need to reach Shenzhen. Who issues a connecting leg is stated in writing in any quote that carries one
VisasVisa fees and processing for guests who need a Chinese visa
MealsBeyond the four breakfasts and the one morning tea seating: lunches and dinners are recommended and booked by your guide, on your own account
In-venue spendingAnything bought inside Huaqiangbei or the DJI flagship store, and any shipping, customs or tax-refund cost it brings. Both are visits, not shopping allowances
In-park transportShuttles, carts, cableways or lifts where a site charges for them separately. None is needed by this plan as written
Optional add-onsNone on this route at present. Nothing in the included list is an upsell
PersonalGratuities, single or extra-room difference, personal spending

Special Notes

A few things on this route follow the calendar, a supplier's confirmation or a review we have not finished. Here they are, told straight.

Bookings are not open yet — this plan was written up ahead of its own internal review, and that review has not been run. the remaining items have to be settled before we take a first order: Until those items are done we take no orders and no deposits. Tell us your dates and we write to you on the day it opens.
Guests flying from the United States — this plan as written is not sold to you, and we would rather say so than quote something we cannot fly you into. Shenzhen is the entry airport here and it has no nonstop service from any United States hub, while the exit airport Guangzhou does have nonstop service to San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. Reopening this plan for you means rebuilding its entry side, which is a planning decision rather than a sales one. The United States is also outside the 30-day visa-free list, so a Chinese tourist or business visa applies in any case.
Departure dates — no departures October 1 to 7, the national holiday week, when every site on this plan runs at peak crowd levels. The autumn trade fair sits in Guangzhou somewhere inside the October to November window and we have not verified its 2026 dates, so October and November orders have Guangzhou rooms confirmed in writing first and we tell you where the fair stands.
The Shenzhen exhibition's closing day — we have not verified which day of the week this hall closes, and a comparable municipal hall elsewhere in China closes on Wednesdays rather than the more usual Monday. So we check the actual date of your departure against the hall before taking your order. Where it is closed, day three runs Shekou and Nantou Old Town as its main item and the train moves earlier.
The Robotaxi ride — it runs on a commercial operator's live service and the service is not ours to promise. It is booked by date before you arrive and reconfirmed after you land. Where the operator suspends service that day, the ride comes out of day two and Huaqiangbei and the store run as planned. Your quote states in writing what that does to your price. We tell you this before you pay, and we never sell the ride as a headline.
The temple performance times — the daily schedule of the lion dance and martial arts item is being confirmed with the site. Your day four is built around the confirmed time, and that time is written into your quote before you pay.
The morning tea house — the teahouse and the city it sits in are being finalized with our ground partner. One seating per guest on day five is in your price either way, and the house is named in your written confirmation before you pay.
Foshan is a day trip — three city names appear on this plan and it sells as two bases. Foshan is about forty minutes from Guangzhou by road, you go and come back the same day, and your Guangzhou room does not change that night.
Visa window — the 30-day visa-free policy currently runs through December 31, 2026. Because this is a 5-day plan, departures on or before December 27, 2026 finish inside that window; later dates are quoted only after the official renewal is announced.
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 own change and refund conditions.

Is Five Days Your Length?

Fewer than five days, or more?

The two halves come apart cleanly: the Shenzhen side stands on its own for two or three days, and the Foshan and Guangzhou side does the same. This plan also runs as the closing segment of a longer China trip. Tell us your dates and who is coming, and we cut days rather than cut the pace.

Good to Know

Group: Private, just your party. From 1 guest. No fixed maximum party size.
Pace: Two bases in 5 days: Shenzhen 2 nights, Guangzhou 2 nights, with Foshan as a day trip. One 35-minute train, no domestic flight
Effort: Two long walking days on city streets, up to about 12,000 steps. No climbs on this plan and no cable cars
Ports: Shenzhen in, Guangzhou out. Airport or railway station pickup on day one, Guangzhou airport drop-off on day five
Visas: British and most European passports enter visa-free for days; Canadian, Australian and New Zealand ones do too. Checked order by order against your dates. This plan as written is not sold to guests flying from the United States
Language: Licensed English-speaking guides throughout, in both cities and in Foshan
Payment: When this route opens for orders: 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. October and November dates have Guangzhou rooms confirmed in writing first

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Jason Hu

Private China Route Concierge

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Two Clocks, One Bay

Overview

Why you'll love this trip