Classic China: Beijing, Xi’an, Guilin and Shanghai in 12 Days

Your guide meets you at Beijing Capital or Daxing airport and travels with you by private car to your hotel. After a rest, take a gentle first walk around Wangfujing, one of the city's main shopping streets, and the lanes nearby. Your guide will talk you through the plan for the coming days, help you set up a local payment app if you wish, and suggest a restaurant for your first taste of Peking duck. An easy evening to adjust to the time difference.Overnight: Beijing

Start at Tiananmen Square, the vast public space at the heart of Beijing, then pass through the Gate of Heavenly Peace into the Forbidden City. For almost 500 years this was the home of the Ming and Qing emperors, and your guide will lead you through its great halls, courtyards and the Imperial Garden at the northern end. After lunch, climb the short path up Jingshan Park for the classic view back over the palace roofs. Later, explore a hutong neighborhood around Shichahai by foot or rickshaw.Overnight: Beijing · Meals: B, L

Drive about 90 minutes north of the city to Mutianyu, one of the best-restored and least crowded sections of the Great Wall. A cable car lifts you onto the ridge, where you can walk along the watchtowers at your own pace, with forested hills rolling away on both sides. Families can ride the toboggan back down. Have lunch in the village below, then return to Beijing with a stop at the Olympic Green to see the Bird's Nest stadium from outside. The evening is free.Overnight: Beijing · Meals: B, L

Go early to the Temple of Heaven, where emperors prayed for good harvests. In the surrounding park, local residents gather each morning for tai chi, dancing and card games, and you are welcome to watch or join in. In the afternoon, visit the Summer Palace, a royal retreat of lakes, bridges and pavilions. Walk the painted Long Corridor beside Kunming Lake and, weather permitting, take a short boat ride across the water. Return to your hotel for a free evening.Overnight: Beijing · Meals: B, L

Transfer to Beijing West station for the high-speed train to Xi'an, a comfortable ride of about four and a half hours through the farmland of northern China. Your Xi'an guide meets you on arrival. In the late afternoon, go up onto the Ming-era city wall, the most complete in China, and walk or cycle part of its 14-kilometer loop as the light softens over the rooftops. In the evening, explore the food stalls of the Muslim Quarter near the Drum Tower.Overnight: Xi'an · Meals: B

Drive about an hour east of the city to the site of the Terracotta Army, discovered by farmers digging a well in 1974. Thousands of life-size clay soldiers, archers and horses stand in battle formation to guard the tomb of China's first emperor, and no two faces are the same. Your guide explains how the figures were made and how the excavation continues today. Return to Xi'an for the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, built in the 7th century to house Buddhist texts brought back from India.Overnight: Xi'an · Meals: B, L

Spend a relaxed morning in Xi'an. Visit the Great Mosque, a quiet courtyard complex built in Chinese temple style, or the Shaanxi History Museum, whose collection traces the city's long role as a capital. Then transfer to the airport for the flight to Guilin, about two hours. Your Guilin guide meets you on arrival. If time allows, take an evening walk around the city's central lakes, where the Sun and Moon pagodas are lit up after dark.Overnight: Guilin · Meals: B

Board a boat at the pier south of Guilin for the cruise down the Li River to Yangshuo, about four hours. The river winds between steep karst peaks, bamboo groves and small villages, and passes the scene printed on the 20-yuan banknote. Lunch is served on board. Your driver meets you in Yangshuo and takes you to your hotel in the countryside outside town. In the evening, stroll West Street and the riverside in Yangshuo town.Overnight: Yangshuo · Meals: B, L

Spend the day in the farmland around Yangshuo, where rice fields and orchards sit at the foot of the peaks. Take a bamboo raft along the slow, clear Yulong River, guided by a local boatman, then walk or cycle on quiet lanes through villages such as Jiuxian. In the late afternoon, climb a short trail to a viewpoint for sunset over the karst, or simply relax at your hotel. This is the slowest day of the trip, good for rest between cities.Overnight: Yangshuo · Meals: B, L

Drive back to Guilin airport for the flight to Shanghai, about two hours. Your Shanghai guide meets you and takes you to the old town for the Yu Garden, a classical garden of rockeries, ponds and pavilions laid out in the 16th century, and the busy bazaar around it. As evening falls, walk along the Bund, the riverfront lined with grand 1920s banks and trading houses, and watch the towers of Pudong light up across the Huangpu River.Overnight: Shanghai · Meals: B

In the morning, visit the Shanghai Museum on People's Square for its collections of bronzes, ceramics and calligraphy, then walk the plane-tree-lined streets of the former French Concession and the lanes of Tianzifang. In the afternoon, drive about an hour west to Zhujiajiao, an old canal town of stone bridges and wooden houses, and take a short boat ride along the waterways. Return to Shanghai for a farewell evening of your choice.Overnight: Shanghai · Meals: B, L

Enjoy a last breakfast and some free time to shop or revisit a favorite corner of the city, depending on your flight time. Your guide and driver then take you to Pudong or Hongqiao airport for your onward journey. If you would like to continue to Vietnam, Japan or South Korea, there are frequent direct flights from Shanghai and we can plan the next stage of your trip for you.Meals: B