For a first visit, ten days is a reasonable starting point for Beijing, Xi’an and Shanghai. Two weeks lets you add Chengdu without moving hotels every other night. With seven days, choose one or two bases. With three weeks, you can spend longer in a region or add a countryside stop.
Those recommendations assume that your arrival and departure days are included. They are suggested routes, not fixed tours. Your flight times, interests and pace may make a shorter list of places the better choice.
Compare the routes
| Days in China | Suggested route | Suggested hotel nights | Main choice |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Beijing → Shanghai | Beijing 4; Shanghai 2 | Two contrasting cities, with one intercity travel day |
| 10 | Beijing → Xi’an → Shanghai | Beijing 4; Xi’an 2; Shanghai 3 | A first visit built around the Great Wall, imperial history and Shanghai |
| 14 | Beijing → Xi’an → Chengdu → Shanghai | Beijing 4; Xi’an 2; Chengdu 3; Shanghai 4 | Add pandas, Sichuan food and time to slow down |
| 21 | Beijing → Xi’an → Chengdu → Guilin and Yangshuo → Shanghai | Beijing 4; Xi’an 3; Chengdu 4; Guilin and Yangshuo 5; Shanghai 4 | Add a countryside stay, accepting another change of region |
The night counts assume you arrive on Day 1 and leave on the last day. The Guilin and Yangshuo allocation is for the region as a whole; the split between hotels depends on your arrival, departure and river plans. Transport on the longer example must be checked for your dates before you book.
The detailed 10-day itinerary and 14-day itinerary include day-by-day plans. The seven- and 21-day options below are shorter planning outlines.
Seven days: choose two bases, or stay in one region
Beijing and Shanghai give a first visit a clear shape. Spend four nights in Beijing, travel on Day 5, and spend two nights in Shanghai before departure on Day 7. That leaves three full days in Beijing and one full day in Shanghai, plus any usable arrival and departure time.
It is a short Shanghai stay. If the flight times are awkward or you want a slower week, spend the whole trip in Beijing and its surroundings. Another option is to replace Shanghai with Xi’an if the Terracotta Warriors matter more to you than a modern city visit.
A week can also work well around Shanghai, Suzhou and Hangzhou, without crossing much of the country. You can visit nearby places from one base or move hotels for a longer stay. Choose according to what you want to see, then check the actual station-to-hotel journeys.
For a trip centered on scenery, consider Guilin and Yangshuo instead. The important decision is whether the week is for cities, history or countryside; trying to include all three leaves little room to enjoy any of them.
Ten days: Beijing, Xi’an and Shanghai
This route gives Beijing four nights, Xi’an two and Shanghai three. The main stops are different enough to justify moving: the Great Wall and palace sites around Beijing, the Terracotta Warriors near Xi’an, then Shanghai's streets and waterfront.
There are two intercity travel days. The plan uses a train from Beijing to Xi’an and a flight from Xi’an to Shanghai, subject to suitable departures for your dates. A train can replace the flight if you prefer, but treat that as a different travel-day schedule.
The route is a good fit if these three places are your priorities. If pandas or countryside are more important, replace a destination rather than inserting a fourth one. The full 10-day plan shows which days can move and what to book ahead.
Fourteen days: add Chengdu, or give the first route more time
The 14-day plan keeps the Beijing and Xi’an stays, then adds three nights in Chengdu before four nights in Shanghai. Chengdu gives you time for a panda visit, Sichuan food and a less tightly scheduled city day.
That extra stop is optional. You can use the same two weeks for Beijing, Xi’an and Shanghai, taking longer in museums, adding nearby excursions or keeping more free afternoons. This can be a better fit if moving luggage is tiring or your group wants different things from the trip.
If landscapes are the main reason for extending the trip, look at Guilin and Yangshuo in place of Chengdu. Recheck both connecting journeys before committing: changing a destination changes the transport plan, not just the hotel name.
Twenty-one days: make room for a longer stay somewhere
Three weeks gives you more choices, but there is no need to turn it into a new city every two days. A useful outline is four nights in Beijing, three in Xi’an, four in Chengdu, five across Guilin and Yangshuo, then four in Shanghai.
This adds countryside to the city visits and leaves time for more than one outing around Chengdu. It also introduces four changes between regions and potentially a hotel move between Guilin and Yangshuo. Check whether that amount of moving suits your group.
You could instead leave out one stop and stay longer in Yunnan, or build a trip around Sichuan and the southwest. For an extended visit, the destination comparison is a better starting point than simply adding famous names to the ten-day route.
Adjust the route to your flights and your group
These examples start in Beijing and finish in Shanghai. If you can choose different international arrival and departure cities, compare that airfare with the cost and time of returning to your starting point.
If you already have a return ticket from Beijing, make room for the journey back. Plan to be back in the departure city before the international flight day, with a buffer appropriate to the bookings. Remove an activity or a stop if necessary. Do not treat a separate domestic connection as protected unless the booking actually provides that protection.
For children, allow time for meals, rest and something they can actively enjoy. For anyone who finds prolonged walking difficult, look at steps, standing time and the distance within each attraction. A shorter transfer does not necessarily make the sightseeing day easier.
Travel dates matter too. Before finalizing the sequence, check public holidays, attraction closures and ticket availability. Keep flexible city days beside the visits that depend most on the weather or an advance reservation.
Turn the outline into bookings
Once you have chosen a route, write down the hotel city for every night. Add transport dates and leave arrival evenings light. Then check the sightseeing order against opening days before buying the tickets that commit you to it.
Use First Time in China for the preparation steps, or send DragonTrail your draft route if you want help with private transport, a guided visit or the order of your stops. Include your flight times if they are already booked; they often determine which version of an itinerary is realistic.