Isn't "modern China" just malls and skyline photographs? 「

That is exactly what this route is built to avoid. There is one view from height in nine days and it is used as a reading exercise, with your guide finding the streets you walked the day before. Everything else is people and mechanism: parents in a park looking for husbands and wives for their grown children, a market walked floor by floor from components to finished machines, and an old walled town that the city was built up against. If you want the skyline picture you will get it in ten minutes on day three, and then we move on.

Can I ride a driverless taxi in Shenzhen?

It is an optional add-on, booked by date in advance, priced separately when you choose it, and reconfirmed on the ground. We do not promise it, because the service runs on a commercial operator's own network and whether it runs on your day is not ours to decide. If the operator is not running, the ride is not charged and nothing is quietly substituted into your plan. What holds either way is the Shenzhen day itself: Huaqiangbei floor by floor with your guide is in the base price and does not depend on anyone else's fleet.

What actually happens on the two Hangzhou days?

Honestly: that is not settled, and we would rather say so. The design puts a full day at West Lake there. What we have not done is place a ground partner in Hangzhou. That means the hotel, the vehicle, the guide and every admission there sit outside your base price; none of it is sold to you in advance. There are two working outcomes and you will be told which one applies to your dates before you are asked for anything: we place a ground handler and quote those two days properly, or the route is re-cut as an eight-day Shanghai and Shenzhen version. Shanghai and Shenzhen, which are the two cities this route is really about, are unaffected either way.

Why is Shenzhen in this plan instead of Beijing?

Because Beijing answers a question this route is not asking. This is a nine-day plan about how the country works now, and Shenzhen is the shortest way to see that: a market where a phone comes apart into its parts and its sourcing chain, and, twenty minutes away, an old walled town that was here before the city. Beijing, the Great Wall and the Terracotta Warriors are all worth nine days of their own, and we build those routes too. Tell us if you want both and we will tell you honestly how many days that takes.

Most guests on this route do not. Visa-free entry for stays days covers Western Europe: France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium. It covers Southern Europe: Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece. It also covers the UK, Ireland, the Nordic countries and Central Europe. Canada, Australia and New Zealand are covered too. We check your nine days plus any extra days in China against that window before you pay. The current policy runs through December 31, 2026. Departures on or before December 23, 2026 finish inside it; later dates are quoted after the official renewal is announced. United States passports are different: this route is not sold to United States guests, because there is no direct air service from Shenzhen to the United States. If that is your passport, tell us and we will point you at a routing that exits somewhere it can.

China, Present Tense

Overview

Most China routes give you the empire and end with a skyline photograph. This one runs the other way. Shanghai asks how the country lives now: a garden, a museum, an observation deck, and an afternoon in a public park where parents look for husbands and wives for their grown children. Hangzhou asks how the old things connect to the new ones. Shenzhen asks what forty years actually builds, and answers it in a building where components become prototypes become finished machines, floor by floor. Three cities, three questions, in the order that makes each one answer the last. By the third city you'll notice you have stopped taking pictures of buildings and started asking your guide about people.

— LyrikTrip travel designers

Every LyrikTrip journey begins with a conversation. Tell us your dates, who is coming and which passports you hold. First reply within four hours; a clear price for your dates within one business day. On this route we will also tell you plainly where the Hangzhou stretch and the two Shenzhen venues stand, before you are asked for anything, because half of what makes this itinerary worth doing is that we are not pretending they are settled.

Why you'll love this trip

Contemporary China, three cities. The Bund, a park marriage market, floors of electronics, an old walled town, with English-speaking guides city by city.
9 days from a garden in the old city to a floor of circuit boards. See how China works now.

Stand on the Bund after dark with your guide beside you: a century of trading-port buildings on one bank, the Pudong towers on the other, one city looking straight at itself across the water.
Read the city from the observation deck of Shanghai Tower instead of photographing it: your guide finds the river, the old waterfront on the far bank and the gray roofs behind it, and the walk you did yesterday turns into a diagram.
Spend an afternoon at the People's Park marriage market, where parents come on their own to look for matches for their grown children, and your guide tells you what is being asked for and why.
Walk Huaqiangbei floor by floor with a guide who reads it to you: trays of components below, prototypes above them, finished machines above that, with the sourcing chain explained as you climb.
Walk Shekou and Nantou Old Town on foot, the ground that was here before the city was: the counter-evidence to the forty-year story you spent the morning inside.
Unpack twice in nine days: three nights in Shanghai, three in Shenzhen, and the Shanghai Museum slot booked with your details before you land, because its booking system is hard to use from a non-Chinese phone number.

Things to do

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Itinerary

Arrivals

Shanghai · Day 1 - Day 3

Day 1 · Land, and let the city wait

Your driver meets your flight, whatever time it lands. Nothing is asked of you on the first day, and the country you flew to shows up in the car window anyway.

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

Shanghai through the window Elevated roads first, then plane trees and lit shopfronts on a street where people are buying dinner. The first thing this city shows you is not a landmark, it is a Tuesday evening.

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.

Day 2 · The old city, then the water

A garden, a museum and a waterfront after dark, in that order. Today is the China you already had a picture of, which is what the rest of the week needs to argue with.

Yu Garden and the old city Pavilions, rockery, ponds and a path that refuses to run straight, dropped inside the oldest quarter of the city. Then the lanes outside the garden wall, where the food and the shopfronts are. Stand on the zigzag bridge and look back at the roofline with the tower blocks behind it: that is the whole trip in one frame, on the first morning.

Shanghai Museum Your timed slot is booked ahead by us with the details on your confirmation, so you walk in on schedule. The collection inside is arranged by material rather than by dynasty: bronzes, ceramics, painting and calligraphy, the decorative arts. Pick one gallery and go slowly rather than walking all of them, and ask your guide what the object was actually used for.

The Bund after dark The historic waterfront buildings on this bank, the Pudong towers on the other, a hundred years apart and looking straight at each other across the Huangpu River. Your guide stays with you for the whole evening, start to finish. Walk north along the promenade until the crowd thins, then turn around: the two skylines close on you from both sides at once.

Day 3 · How the country actually lives

An observation deck in the morning, a public park in the afternoon. Today the picture stops being a skyline and turns into people.

Shanghai Tower observation deck Up the tower first, and then the reading. Your guide finds the river, the old waterfront on the far bank and the block of gray roofs behind it, which is where you walked yesterday morning. Ten minutes of photographs is all this view is worth; the reason it is on the plan is that the city becomes a diagram from up here, and everything you do for the next six days sits somewhere on it.

A contemporary art venue A working art space rather than a collection of the past. The afternoon needs something made by people who are alive in the same year as you, and this is it. The venue for your dates is named in your written confirmation.

People's Park marriage market A corner of the park where parents come, on their own, to look for matches for their grown children. Your guide walks you through what is being asked for and why, and then answers the question you will actually have, which is what the grown children think of it. Sit down on a bench at the edge and watch one conversation all the way through instead of walking the whole row. Ten minutes in, you'll catch yourself lowering your voice, the way you do when you have walked into something private by accident.

High-speed rail

Hangzhou · Day 4 - Day 5

Day 4 · Plane trees, then the rails

A morning on foot under the plane trees, an afternoon on the train. The Concession streets are the argument that this city was never only one thing.

Former French Concession and Wukang Road Plane-tree streets, historic residences and independent shopfronts, walked rather than driven. After two days of towers and bronzes this is the loosest hour of the week, and the point of it is exactly that looseness. Stand at the fork where the building comes to a point and let the street do the rest.

Afternoon rail to Hangzhou The designed routing takes the high-speed train to Hangzhou after lunch. This leg is not in your base price. It is quoted together with the Hangzhou days once the ground arrangements there are placed, and the cabin class for your order is stated in writing at that point. See Special Notes.

Day 5 · A day beside the lake, and the honest state of it

A whole day at West Lake is what this stretch is designed around, unhurried, with no half-day version. It is also the part of this route we have not yet placed with a ground partner, so here is exactly where it stands.

The day as designed West Lake, a full day. The lake is the reason Hangzhou is in this routing at all: it is the piece of ground that the old China and the software city around it both organize themselves around, and half a day does not get you across it.

What is not settled No ground partner is in place for the two Hangzhou days. Everything here sits outside your base price: the hotel and its breakfast, the vehicle, the guide, the admissions. Nothing in Hangzhou is sold to you in advance. Two working options stand: we place a ground handler, or the route is re-cut as an eight-day Shanghai and Shenzhen version. We will tell you which one your dates are getting before you are asked for anything.

Flightschedule to confirm

Shenzhen · Day 6 - Day 9

Day 6 · Hangzhou to Shenzhen

A travel day between two very different arguments, and it is planned as a whole day rather than squeezed. Where the plan goes next is the part of China that did not exist when your parents were your age.

The transfer Our transport reference holds one entry for this city pair and it books the whole day, so that is how the day is planned. An afternoon flight has not been verified against the current season timetable; if a verified afternoon service is confirmed for your dates, the released morning is written into your quote before you pay, not promised here.

The two Hangzhou items designed for this morning They exist in the design and they are not procured, so they are not promised, not priced and not sold. They are named with their exact status in Special Notes.

Arrival in Shenzhen Tonight's room in Shenzhen is in your base price, and nothing is scheduled for the evening. Look out of the window on the way in: this is the only Chinese city on this route with no old center to arrive at, and the drive in tells you that before anyone explains it.

Day 7 · Floor by floor

One building, walked from the components up to the finished machines, with someone who can read it to you. Today the phone in your hand gets taken apart into its origins.

Huaqiangbei The electronics market known by name across the hardware industry. You go up through it in order: trays of components, then prototype boards, then finished machines in boxes. Your guide explains the sourcing chain as you climb, which is the half you cannot get from looking at the shelves. Ask what a buyer would do on this floor, and then watch one actually do it two stalls away. Somewhere around the third floor you'll notice you have not looked at your phone in an hour, which is funny given what the building is for.

What is not on today's plan DJI Sky City is in the route as designed, and its visitor access is not on record. A campus that turns guests away at the door is a hard failure, so it is not included, not priced and not sold until access is secured or a named replacement in the same city takes its place. See Special Notes.

The afternoon Your guide, the private vehicle and the day itself are yours either way, and the market alone runs to two and a half hours with lifts and places to stop.

Day 8 · Forty years, and what was here first

Shekou on foot in the morning, an old walled town beside it after that. Today the city stops being a story about speed and turns into a place with a before.

Shekou The waterfront district where this city's industrial story starts. Your guide walks you through what was built here first and what it was for, which is the only way this stretch of ordinary-looking coast makes sense.

Nantou Old Town An old walled town that was here before the city was, now with the city built right up against its gate. You walk in through the old wall line and out the other side into the present tense. Stand in the gateway and film fifteen seconds looking out: the frame has both centuries in it and you will not have to explain the picture to anyone.

What is not on today's plan The Shenzhen urban planning and industry exhibition is in the route as designed and its visitor access is not on record, so it is not included, not priced and not sold until access is secured or a named replacement in the same city takes its place. Your guide, vehicle and the day are yours regardless.

The last evening Nothing is scheduled. Walking back out through the old gate into the traffic, you'll feel the nine days line up behind you in the order they were meant to.

Day 9 · Home

Breakfast, a free morning, then the airport. What goes home with you is a way of reading the next news story about this country.

Morning free Nothing is scheduled. Your guide tells you the two or three things within walking distance of your hotel that are worth the last hour, and your driver works around your check-out rather than a fixed time.

Airport drop-off Your driver takes you to the airport, timed against your departure flight with room to spare.

Departures

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Hotels

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Included / Excluded

What's Included

Private vehicleAir-conditioned private vehicle for all listed touring in Shanghai and Shenzhen; airport pickup in Shanghai on day one; airport drop-off in Shenzhen on day nine, timed against your departure flight. The Hangzhou ground vehicle is not in this line. This term follows house standard and is being signed off by our commercial team; until it is, your quote states the vehicle scope for your order in writing
Hotels6 nights with breakfast: Shanghai 3 (nights of days one, two, three) · Shenzhen 3 (nights of days six, seven, eight). Hotels named in your written confirmation. Room tier is being set with our commercial team; until it is stated, your quote states the hotel tier for your order in writing. The two Hangzhou nights are not in the base price
Meals6 hotel breakfasts, one per morning. Days two, three and four in Shanghai; days seven, eight and nine in Shenzhen. No lunch and no dinner is in the base price. The two Hangzhou breakfasts sit with the Hangzhou stretch
GuideLicensed English-speaking guide on all touring days in Shanghai and Shenzhen, including the whole first evening on the Bund, start to finish. Hangzhou guiding is not in this line
Tickets and visits, ShanghaiSeven named items: Yu Garden with the old city quarter · Shanghai Museum, with the timed reservation booked by us · the Bund with the Pudong skyline in the evening, guide accompanied · the former French Concession with Wukang Road on foot · Shanghai Tower observation deck · one Shanghai art venue, named in your written confirmation · People's Park marriage market, a public square with no admission charge
Tickets and visits, ShenzhenHuaqiangbei electronics market walk with guide commentary, floor by floor · Shekou and Nantou Old Town visit on foot. These are the only two Shenzhen items in the base price
InsuranceTravel accident insurance. This term follows house standard and is being signed off by our commercial team

Not Included

International flightsFlights into Shanghai and out of Shenzhen
VisasVisa fees and processing for guests who need a Chinese visa
MealsAll lunches and dinners. Recommended and booked by your guide, on your account
Intercity transportBoth intercity legs of the designed routing, Shanghai to Hangzhou on day four and Hangzhou to Shenzhen on day six. Neither has a stated cabin class yet and the day six leg has no verified current-season service
Hangzhou ground servicesNothing on the ground in Hangzhou is in the base price: not the hotel and its breakfast, not the vehicle, not the guiding, not the admissions or the paid experiences
DJI Sky CityNot in the base price; visitor access to the campus is not on record
Shenzhen urban planning and industry exhibitionNot in the base price; visitor access is not on record
Meetings with local practitionersThis route does not promise arranged conversations with local practitioners in Shanghai, Hangzhou or Shenzhen. No such meeting is included and none is implied by anything above
Robotaxi ride RobotaxiSold as an add-on only, priced separately at the time of choosing; never in the base price and never counted as part of what this route promises
PersonalGratuities · single or extra-room difference · personal spending, including anything bought or paid for inside a venue: purchases, shuttles, lifts, boats · anything not named above

Special Notes

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

Bookings are not open yet — six things have to be real first. One, Hangzhou ground handling placed, or the route re-cut as the eight-day Shanghai and Shenzhen version. Two, day six settled, either as a whole travel day or against a verified current-season afternoon service, with the cabin class stated for both intercity legs. Three, visitor access secured at DJI Sky City and at the Shenzhen urban planning and industry exhibition, or a named replacement in the same city for each. Four, the Shanghai Museum reservation route settled, including who books it and what happens on dates when the slot cannot be obtained. Five, the sales rules for United States guests written down. Six, the vehicle, hotel tier, breakfast and insurance terms signed off and the price set. Until all six are closed we take no orders and no deposits. Tell us your dates and we will write to you on the day it opens.
The Hangzhou stretch — two of the nine nights and three designed items sit here, and none of it is procured. The three items are West Lake, the Wensan future technology district and the AI-assisted Chinese medicine consultation at Huqingyu Hall. They are named here so you know what the design intends, not because they are for sale: none is included, none is priced into your quote, and none is presented as a feature of this route. The same holds for the two Hangzhou nights, the Hangzhou vehicle and the Hangzhou guide.
Day six — our transport reference holds one entry for the Hangzhou to Shenzhen city pair and it books the whole day, so the day is planned as a whole travel day. An afternoon flight has not been verified against the current-season timetable, so the two Hangzhou items designed for that morning are not promised. If a verified service is confirmed for your dates, the released morning is written into your quote before you pay.
Two Shenzhen venues — DJI Sky City and the Shenzhen urban planning and industry exhibition are in the route as designed, and neither venue's visitor access is on record. A campus or an exhibition hall that turns guests away at the door is a hard failure, so neither is sold until access is secured with the venue and written into the inclusions, or a named replacement in the same city is put in its place.
The Shanghai Museum reservation — entry is by timed reservation and the booking system is hard to use on a non-Chinese phone number, so we book your slot with the details on your confirmation. The internal route for that booking is still being settled, along with a same-city replacement of the same kind for dates when the slot cannot be obtained. Whichever applies to your dates is written into your itinerary before you pay.
Local practitioners — this route does not arrange conversations with local practitioners in any of the three cities, and nothing on this page implies one. If that is the thing you came for, tell us and we will say plainly whether we can build it for your dates rather than writing it into a plan first.
Departure dates — the national holiday week of October 1 to 7, 2026 is not quoted until visitor limits and transport capacity are checked point by point for this route. Departures from October 8 onward are quoted normally.
Visa window — the 30-day visa-free policy currently runs through December 31, 2026. Because this is a nine-day plan, departures on or before December 23, 2026 finish inside that window; later departure dates are quoted only after the official renewal is announced.
United States passports — this route is not sold to United States guests. There is no direct air service from Shenzhen to the United States, so the exit port does not clear for that market, and entering or leaving through Hong Kong with a land border crossing is not an approved selling route for this product. Whether to open this route to United States guests is under review; until that is written down, no United States order is taken.
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, and no order is taken without them in writing. Note that this routing holds several kinds of inventory at once, so a date change touches transport, hotels and timed venue reservations in the same move.

Is Nine Days Your Length?

Fewer than nine days?

The three cities come apart cleanly. Shanghai stands on its own at three or four nights, Shenzhen at two or three, and the Hangzhou stretch is the one that comes out first, which is also the eight-day version we would build today. Tell us your dates 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: Three cities in nine days: Shanghai 3 nights, Hangzhou 2, Shenzhen 3. Two of the nine days are travel days
Effort: City walking on flat ground, with a private vehicle between stops in Shanghai and Shenzhen. The longest continuous walk is a market building you go through floor by floor, with lifts
Ports: Shanghai in, Shenzhen out, open jaw: you do not return to the entry city. Airport pickup on day one and drop-off on day nine
Visas: Visa-free entry for stays days, checked order by order against your dates. Western Europe: France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium. Southern Europe: Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece. Then the UK, Ireland, the Nordic countries and Central Europe. Then Canada, Australia and New Zealand. This route is not sold to United States passport holders
Language: Licensed English-speaking local guides on all touring days in Shanghai and Shenzhen
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 quotes for October 1 to 7; departures on or before December 23, 2026 finish inside the current visa-free window

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Jason Hu

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China, Present Tense

Overview

Why you'll love this trip