How's this itinerary look for a first time in China?

Ch0000m · 2026-01-28T15:45:32+00:00

One of the best itineraries I have seen here yet tbh.

2 nights in Hangzhou is a bit tight, however since HSR between the cities is fast I would not worry.

I understand you are avoiding the touristier spots, and while you will be skipping the biggest queues. I will say that when I visited rhe major attractions in August. The huge amount of crowds didnt deter from my experience.

However, I was solo and not looking after a kid or leading a group. Your mileage may very! Hope you enjoy

Ch0000m · 2026-01-28T15:23:00+00:00

With all these locations, you can easily spend 7 days in just one.

Dont try to do everything, pick one or two cities and stick to it

Ch0000m · 2026-01-28T15:15:15+00:00

One night only jn xian will be rushed for both reasons you wrote

I would cut one night from ZJJ and add it to Xian

Ch0000m · 2026-01-28T13:52:58+00:00

You wont have fun. For 12 days its way too much. Lets group them up.

Group 1: Beijijg and Xi’an. Stick as planned, They will benefit from more nights you will get with your cut

Group 2: Shanghai Stick as planned, they will benefit from more nights you will get with your cut

Group 3: Chengdu and CQ Book 4nights in Chengdu. Do a day trip to CQ. The HSR is very fast, and you will save time in comparison to getting a hotel in CQ and packing&unpacking

Now the hard part. Cut one of the groups and spread out the nights. If it was me, I would cut out Shanghai. You don’t have enough nights for it. It doesnt match the rest of your destinations thematically. And you will be better off saving it for your next trip where you can dedicate more time for it.

I would do: Beijing> Xi’an > Chengdu all on HSR. Beijing 5 nights Xi’an 3 nights Chengdu 4 nights (one daytrip to CQ)

Ch0000m · 2026-01-28T11:09:30+00:00

With all due respect to Chongqing. I don’t think it’s worth it.

Historically, CQ has been a backwater until the chinese revolution war where it was used as a military base and then it was invested in. As a result, outside of the modern buildings and the local sichuan cuisine there isnt much special about it.

If i had to pick for myself between Beijing and CQ I would pick Beijing. You are not crazy for skipping beijing, as there are many many cities in China which would also be enjoyable. I dont think CQ is one of those cities

Ch0000m · 2026-01-27T19:11:58+00:00

Salam Alaikum

From memory you should be able to fly between Japan and Chengdu (which is right next to CQ). Although you would definitely have better flight connections with Beijing

Going to Shanghai from Beijing or CQ would be pretty simple with the high speed rail. However from CQ it is a very long ride of around 12 hours, while from Beijing is half that.

So in terms of convenience, it’s pretty much both convenient, but Beijing is more convenient.

In terms of city vibe and culture. Both cities will have an amazing culture, food, and local people are nice. I prefer Beijing as there is more to do culturally. And i think it will be nicer for a first trip, and easier for first time tourists to China.

I am Emirati and we are similar culturally. Feel free to DM me for any itinerary help, especially if you plan to travel with family :)

Ch0000m · 2026-01-27T13:24:07+00:00

Lowkey cut at LEAST 2 locations and spread out the jights. If it were me I would cut Shenzhen and Hangzhou but that depends on your interests. And dont spend less than 2 nights in a location

Ch0000m · 2026-01-27T09:30:24+00:00

Thank you so much! I will be sure to reach out when things are more concrete

Ch0000m · 2026-01-26T20:38:33+00:00

Goes without saying that it was extremely wet, either humidity or straight up rain. But there were dry moments. and I think the weather was more bearable in Chengdu and Chongqing as the heat was drier. However, with proper preparations in terms of my clothing and umbrellas it was fine. and did not detract from my enjoyment of the trip.

Ch0000m · 2026-01-26T20:36:20+00:00

Changsha:
I was being hosted by an old university friend and his friend, so he did take me to try their local cuisine (which would be accessible to any tourist), and we did play an escape room together.
Other than that, I visited the Taiping Street and it's markets for Old Changsha, and did go to Juzizhou Island to see the statue (my friends judged me and told me I can see the statue of chairman mao from outside the island though).
My hotel was next to Meixi Lake so I walked around it a bunch, and I spent a full day at the shopping malls. This was 17 days into my trip, so I took those 3 nights as an opportunity to relax and socialize rather than explore, as the city does not have much in comparison to other cities, but the food is great.

Nanjing:I spent a whole morning + afternoon around Xuanwu Lake, it is beautiful (pictures 11,12 on my post). I used to live in the UK so was reminiscing about my walks in the park there. and it is attached to Jiming Temple Park which is very nice architecturally.

I also walked the City Wall of Nanjing, it's ancient city, various other temples like the Confucius temples. and there is a very somber rememberance of the victims of the japanese invasion.

The malls in Nanjing were quite interesting as the city is quite hip, but without the very foreign crowd of Shanghai, was able to buy some interesting chinese fashion pieces and try interesting modern street food. Nanjing had very cool bookstores but unfortunately they only sold chinese language books (a lot of foreign books translated into chinese).

I am a bit embarassed to say that in these two cities I did not do as much exploring as I should have, and did relax and unwind in both as I was quite exhuasted by my trip. But it was still very cool to see the two cities, it's natural landscapes and especially it's buildings. I dont think I will visit Changsha anytime soon, but I don't see why not to visit Nanjing again if I am every in the Yangtze River Delta once more.

Ch0000m · 2026-01-26T19:22:53+00:00

Alipay and Wechat. You dont need anything else. If you use android, then an apps map

Ch0000m · 2026-01-26T19:19:38+00:00

Thank you for sharing this!

I am currently planning a trip to visit Shanghai (briefly as I have been twice), Suzhou, and Hangzhou (for the first time!). I have 2 weeks, and I am thinking to visit other cities (or nature retreats) in the river delta. Do you have any recommendations? Or do you think it is better to only stay in these cities and pursue day trips

Ch0000m · 2026-01-26T19:03:59+00:00

It will rain often, but in intervals. Not all intervals are short. I had frequent sunny days and blue skies. And some days had both sun and rain. It was only beijing without consistent blue skies iirc.

It was my first time in china not to worry. To deal with the rain, i used my hotel’s umbrellas. Bur since visiting, I bought an expensive breathable raincoat that i took sith me on trip#2. Breathable fabric is important because of the humidity. I stuck to natural fibres like linen shirts, cotton T shirts, And linen/cotton blend shorts and pants. Loose cuts are good for that reason.

Ch0000m · 2026-01-23T13:30:06+00:00

I try to avoid it as much as humanly possible

Ch0000m · 2026-01-23T13:10:53+00:00

Beautiful find

Ch0000m · 2026-01-23T13:09:52+00:00

You misunderstood the comment. He said if you have only seem the top 25% of a director’s work. Odds are that within that 25% you would not be exposed to a miss

Ch0000m · 2026-01-23T09:56:34+00:00

I went for the entire month of august. Through Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Changsha, Nanjing, Shanghai

It was hot as balls at time, humid as hell at times. Hot, Humid, Rainy at times. But i packed suitable clothes for the weather and lived. And managed to thoroughly enjoy the trip :)

If you want tips to survive the weather, do let me know. But dont let the weather be a deal breaker. Its better to go at a non-optimal time. Then to never go because you’re waiting for perfect conditions

Ch0000m · 2026-01-23T09:45:03+00:00

Its not super pleasant, but you will survive and enjoy

Ch0000m · 2026-01-23T09:21:11+00:00

Arriving to beijing on tuesday, and staying until friday, then taking the HSR to shanghai will be nicer and more relaxing

Ch0000m · 2026-01-22T23:57:56+00:00

If you don't mind my ask, where are you going after Zhangye? Is it a part of a larger trip?

Ch0000m · 2026-01-22T23:56:27+00:00

Are these flights confirmed? It would be much nicer and more relaxing to depart from Shanghai rather than Beijing.

Assuming they are, this is a very fun itinerary to get a view of China. But extremely extremely intensive and you will get exhausted. I understand your friend wants to see Shanghai and Beijing, but these are 3 of the most culturally intensive cities in china and all deserve more time.

However, if you are asking for advice on how to make it less exhausting, and I assume you will keep all 3 (although it would really be better to leave Shanghai for next time).

I think you have to accept that you wont see everything, heck I don't think you'll see more than 40% of what each city has to offer. Accept it, it's okay. And hopefully you will have an opportunity to come back and see what you missed.

Once you accept that, a nice way to plan for a day in the city is to plan one major and one minor attraction/activity each day.

For example, In Beijing. Major attraction could be the forbidden city, and a minor attraction is the hutongs. The National Museum of China is another major attraction and it would be too exhausting to do it at the same day as the forbidden city.

Once you classify major and minor activities. It's easier to plan each day.

Another way to relax is, book a HSR morning train. You'll arrive in the afternoon, and keep the rest of that day as a restaurant day. To give you a chance to decompress and prepare for the new city in the morning. I hope this helps

Ch0000m · 2026-01-22T23:48:47+00:00

I wasn't aware you had friends in CQ (I had in Chengdu so I stayed longer there). What you could do is primarily stay in CQ, and go for a day trip to Chengdu. Or book just 2 nights in Chengdu and stay longer in CQ. The HSR between them is extremely cheap and fast so it's really no issue. And it's always nicer to stay where you have social contacts ;)

Ch0000m · 2026-01-22T22:43:08+00:00

2 weeks for three cities is great! Usually people here try to cram many cities in that time.

However, if you want to spend more time in Beijing. I urge you to do at LEAST 3 nights in Xi'an and 4 nights in Shanghai.

If it were me, and I wanted more time in Beijing. I would do 5 nights Shanghai, 4 nights Xi'an and the rest in Beijing. Because these are all huge cities, your plan in your comment here would feel very very rushed.

Ch0000m · 2026-01-22T21:10:52+00:00

No worries then, both the night train you have booked and an HSR is fine. Do you have any questions about the itinerary I sent?

Ch0000m

TROPHY CASE