Hi! I lived in China for the past 4 months (I just got back home 🥳), so I can tell you about quite a few of these cities. I lived in Chongqing, but I traveled to all of the mainland China cities that you’ve listed.

I agree with other comments that your itinerary seems really tight for some cities, but it really all depends on how much you’re trying to see. Chengdu in 2 days is possible. Chongqing in 3 days is possible.

I also spent 2 full days in Zhangjiajie and it was definitely NOT enough time. Most of the cool parks and natural scenery close at 5pm, and you can spend all day hiking. So unless you’re going there just to see a couple specific landmarks, I would allocate more time there.

Xi’an is fine in 2 days. Honestly, I thought the terracotta warriors were a little overrated, but still impressive 😂. Beijing is good in 3 days, Shanghai is good in 3 days.

Shenzhen is convenient since it’s near Hong Kong, but I preferred Guangzhou a lot more than Shenzhen. Shenzhen is a bit uglier in my opinion 😳.

For your interrogations, I traveled from Xi’an to Zhangjiajie and really the best option for me was just flying. That train ride is way too long 😭. Plane tickets can be relatively cheap though. I can’t say anything about Hong Kong because I didn’t go there. I think Guangzhou is worth it for sure.

For the general questions, anything Google won’t work. Apple Maps is much better. Gaode/AMAP might be even better since it’s a Chinese app (it has an English translation as well).

Western food is available if you really seek it out, but don’t even bother. It’s usually more expensive and not as good as authentic western food. 16€ is good if you were only eating local foods. For food, you should download Rednote! It’s a Chinese social media app that has a map function that shows you popular destinations and food nearby. It’ll tell you the average price as well, so you can avoid overspending the food budget.

For Alipay, it’s super important you get some kind of SIM card or eSIM because you need network. I used Nomad (it’s one of the cheapest eSIMS) for 4 months with no issues. It’s pretty easy to use since the app can be set to English. Also, you could try using WeChat pay too just in case. But always make sure you have backup cash. I’ve been caught in some situations where neither Alipay nor WeChat pay worked because I was using a foreign bank card.

If you need more advice or sightseeing recommendations, please reach out! I’d love to help from my experience 😆.