How to plan your first China itinerary

Choose what you most want to see

For imperial history, start with Beijing and Xi’an. For gardens, canals and modern city life, look at Shanghai, Suzhou and Hangzhou. For landscapes, compare Guilin and Yangshuo, Zhangjiajie or Yunnan. Food and neighborhood time can fit around each of these.

Choose a few experiences that matter most to everyone traveling. A family who wants pandas and relaxed meals needs a different route from a couple planning long mountain walks.

Match the number of stops to your time

With about a week, one main destination and a nearby addition often gives a better first trip than several distant cities. With ten days, two or three bases can work when the connections are straightforward. Two weeks gives more room for a landscape stay and quieter days.

These are planning choices, not limits. Read the daily ideas in each city guide and decide which visits you would keep, replace or leave out.

Draw the route before booking hotels

Compare an arrival into one city and departure from another with a return flight using the same airport. Then check train or flight connections between your bases. Include the hotel-to-station journey, security, luggage and the transfer at the other end.

Keep a transfer day light. A morning train and an afternoon museum can work; a tight onward flight after a countryside excursion is harder to recover if the day runs late.

Plan each day around one main visit

Give a major museum, Great Wall excursion or mountain park a proper place in the day. Add a nearby meal, short walk or rest afterward. Leave a less structured day during a longer journey for weather changes, shopping or returning to a favorite place.

• Place weather-sensitive outings before the final day when possible.
• Choose hotels around your planned visits and arrival points.
• Check walking, stairs and luggage needs for the whole party.

Turn the outline into your own trip

Send us your dates or month, group size, interests and preferred pace. Tell us which bookings you already have and where you would like help. We can discuss a complete private journey or individual services such as airport pickup, a private driver or English–Chinese support.

Common questions