Originally Posted by
jplee3
We are leaning towards cutting Chengdu out at this point - if my wife and daughter want to see pandas, I think we can do this in Beijing instead. That effectives frees up 2 days? Not sure if we should split those between Beijing and Shanghai (well, one day would probably going to Beijing if they want to see the pandas) so then it's a matter of re-allocating the other day and if that should be in Beijing as well or if we should lengthen Shanghai.
Even though I am solidly in the "Shanghai is a more comfortable place to live than Beijing" camp, Beijing has MUCH more to offer tourists, so that's where I would allocate your bonus days, but maybe consider to moving to a hotel closer to NE 3rd Ring for that phase of the trip (Chongwenmen loses a lot of its locational value after you knock down the sites in the middle of the city).