Hello Gurus,

I'm making my first trip to China in September and have decided to visit Shanghai, Xi'an and then Beijing.

The plan is to spend 4 nights in each city - however, I'm reading a lot about Xi'an not being particularly attractive and am not actually sure about what else there is to see beyond the warriors if I'm honest.

So you think perhaps I should modify my itinerary and spend a little less time in Xi'an? e.g. Shanghai 5 nights, Xi'an 2 nights, Beijing 5 nights?

How much time would you like to spend in each city?

Thanks for your advice



Justin

Yes alter plan for Xi'an. There is actually much more to see than the Warriors, but it can be done in two days/nights. Five nights for Beijing and you'll be able to fill all the time. Five nights in Shanghai itself is too much. Cut it to two nights and place the other 3 to other destination(s) in the region: Hangzhou, Huangshan mountain area, Suzhou, Nanjing are all possibilities. You do not necessarily need to backtrack to Shanghai to catch onward transport to Xi'an. You might consider reversing your itinerary and starting in Beijing, also feasible.

This is a heavily city-focused trip, so with 12 days total, you could fit in something more nature/landscape or small-town oriented. Read other itinerary threads from the last year if you need ideas.

Thanks for your opinions jiejie. Pretty much supporting what I was thinking - so I might place a little more emphasis on Bejing over the other cities as there certainly seems to be the most going on there.

I'm will read up on the other destinations you mentioned in the Shanghai area. The itinerary must begin in Shanghai and finish in Beijing - everywhere else is pretty fluid right now.

You should consider swapping out Xi'an in favor of Yunnan (4-5 days) or Sichuan (3-4 days).

Modified itinerary looks better. Take 1-2 of the Shanghai days and head out to Nanjing, Hangzhou, or Suzhou.

Thanks for these great ideas - I've got lots of reading to do

While that trip may well be popular among the FT crowd, I'm a strong proponent of traveling around western China, in part because of the beautiful scenery and clean air and in part because many locales remind me of what China was like during the 90s (i.e. less developed).

I have a slight preference for Yunnan over Sichuan because there are more nice places to go there, but Chengdu is better than Kunming.

I agree fully, but for first timers to China western China may be a bit of a challenge. For first timers I think Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong are the must sees.