Planning budget
≈ €1,849(CN¥14,500 original)Rate snapshot 2026-08-26Sixteen days is the length at which one western stop stops being a stretch. Adding Chengdu to the Beijing–Xi’an–Shanghai line costs you a travel day in each direction and buys three or four days of a completely different China: no monument organising the schedule, a food culture worth routing around, and the first place on this trip where sitting still is the correct plan. The budget shown covers sixteen days on the ground including the internal legs, and excludes your international flights.
The shape matters more than the list. Finishing in Shanghai rather than returning to Beijing saves two days and gives you the country’s most forgiving departure city — two airports, two main stations, and English signage throughout if anything has gone wrong earlier. Book the Palace Museum and each rail leg as their windows open, and check the national holiday calendar before you commit to dates.
The route
Day-by-day route
- Day 01
Arrive in Beijing
Land, file the arrival card if you have not already, test the payment apps on a small purchase and keep the evening short.
Beijing
- Day 02
The imperial core
Take your pre-booked Palace Museum slot in the morning and climb Jingshan afterwards for the view back across the complex.
Beijing
- Day 03
A day on the Great Wall
Head out early to a maintained section and walk it before the day buses arrive; the stairs are steeper than the photographs suggest.
Beijing
- Day 04
Hutongs and the Temple of Heaven
The park is at its best just after dawn when the city exercises in it; spend the afternoon on foot around the Drum Tower lanes.
Beijing
- Day 05
A flexible Beijing day
Choose the Summer Palace, the 798 art district or a second Wall section, and leave the evening free for the food you liked most.
Beijing
- Day 06
Fast train to Xi’an
Four and a half hours south-west, then cycle the Ming city wall at dusk to get the shape of the old centre in your head.
Xi’an
- Day 07
The Terracotta Army
Book the earliest slot for the pits an hour east, then use the afternoon for the Shaanxi History Museum at a slower pace.
Xi’an
- Day 08
Xi’an on foot
Eat through the lanes either side of the Muslim Quarter, and give the late afternoon to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda grounds.
Xi’an
- Day 09
West to Chengdu
A three to four hour train across to Sichuan, then nothing more ambitious than finding a hotpot table for the first night.
Chengdu
- Day 10
Pandas and a teahouse
Take the first timed slot at the breeding base while the animals are still active, then spend the afternoon in a park teahouse.
Chengdu
- Day 11
Chengdu at its own speed
Wenshu monastery, a long lunch and the lanes around it — this is the day the route is designed to slow down on.
Chengdu
- Day 12
A Sichuan day trip
Choose the Leshan Giant Buddha or the Dujiangyan irrigation works, both an easy fast-train hop and back within the day.
Chengdu
- Day 13
East to Shanghai
Fly or take the long fast-rail leg to the coast, and check which of the two Shanghai stations or airports you actually arrive at.
Shanghai
- Day 14
The Bund and the concessions
Walk the waterfront early, then spend the afternoon under the plane trees and low brick lanes of the former French Concession.
Shanghai
- Day 15
Buffer and last choices
Keep one day loose for a water town, a museum, a delayed connection or an afternoon doing very little before the flight.
Shanghai
- Day 16
Depart Shanghai
Match the last morning to your departure airport and the transfer time it needs, both confirmed the night before.
Shanghai
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Where to sleep
Find a place to stay
Compare options after choosing the neighbourhood that fits your evenings and transport plan.
Getting there
Compare flight options
Check dates and departure airports without tying the editorial route to one partner.
Sources
- China Railway 12306 booking and ticket rules, China State Railway Group, accessed
- Forbidden City ticket booking and entry notice, The Palace Museum, accessed
- China travel planning, Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China, accessed