China Essentials: Beijing, Xi’an and Shanghai in 8 Days

Your guide meets you at the airport in Beijing and takes you by private car to your hotel. Depending on your arrival time, take a short walk to get your bearings, perhaps around Wangfujing or the lakes of Houhai, where bars and restaurants line the water. Your guide will run through the plan for the week and help with a local SIM card or payment app if needed. The rest of the day is yours to rest after the flight.Overnight: Beijing

Begin at Tiananmen Square and enter the Forbidden City through the Meridian Gate. Over two to three hours, your guide leads you through its ceremonial halls, the private quarters of the emperors and the Imperial Garden. Afterward, climb Jingshan Park for the view over the palace. In the afternoon, explore the hutong lanes around the Drum and Bell Towers, where courtyard homes still house Beijing families, and stop for tea in a local teahouse.Overnight: Beijing · Meals: B, L

Leave the city after breakfast for Mutianyu, about 90 minutes away. Take the cable car up to the wall and walk between the restored watchtowers, enjoying wide views over wooded hills that turn gold in autumn. You can ride a toboggan back down for fun. After lunch in the village, return to Beijing and stop at the Olympic Green to see the Bird's Nest and Water Cube from outside. Your evening is free.Overnight: Beijing · Meals: B, L

Visit the Temple of Heaven early, when the park is full of local people practicing tai chi, singing and playing games. Your guide explains how emperors came here each year to pray for good harvests in the round Hall of Prayer. Around midday, transfer to Beijing West station for the high-speed train to Xi'an, about four and a half hours. Your Xi'an guide meets you and takes you to your hotel. In the evening, explore the Muslim Quarter's food stalls.Overnight: Xi'an · Meals: B

Drive about an hour east to the site of the Terracotta Army, found by local farmers in 1974. In the main hall, thousands of soldiers stand in rows, each with a different face, hairstyle and uniform. Your guide shows you the smaller pits, the bronze chariots in the museum and the work of restoration still under way. Back in Xi'an, visit the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, a Tang-dynasty tower built to store Buddhist scriptures, and the fountains in the square below.Overnight: Xi'an · Meals: B, L

Start the day on top of Xi'an's city wall, built in the 14th century and still almost complete. Hire bicycles to ride part of the loop, or walk a stretch between the gates with views over the old city. Then transfer to the airport for the flight to Shanghai, about two and a half hours. Your Shanghai guide meets you on arrival. In the evening, walk along the Bund as the lights come on across the river in Pudong.Overnight: Shanghai · Meals: B

Spend the morning in the old town at the Yu Garden, a 16th-century garden of ponds, rockeries and carved pavilions, and the busy lanes of the bazaar around it. After lunch, visit the Shanghai Museum for its fine collections of bronzes and ceramics, then wander the tree-lined streets of the former French Concession and the small shops and cafes of Tianzifang. In the evening, you may like to go up one of Pudong's towers for the view.Overnight: Shanghai · Meals: B, L

Enjoy a last breakfast and some free time, depending on your flight. Your driver takes you to Pudong or Hongqiao airport for your journey home. Shanghai has direct flights to Hanoi, Tokyo, Osaka and Seoul, so this is an easy point to continue into Vietnam, Japan or South Korea. We are happy to plan the next stage of your trip with the same private style.Meals: B