Around Shanghai, there's Nanjing if you want scenery and history; Huangshan, as mentioned, and Ningbo if you want beautiful scenery all around. Don't bother spending time in Shanghai, it's just a big city with no personality and no history.

Well that just isn't true.

+1. I didn't appreciate Shanghai much during my first several go arounds, but now I think it is an amazing place.

+2

Not sure what makes you think that but I was in Shanghai in April and thought it was awesome.

Birthplace of the Chinese Communist Party. Rules more people than
any other government.

jiejie Thank you for the above suggestions.

Planning to visit after OCT 13. Fly into PVG and and try to do Plan C.

How do I arrange all this ?

Aim to finifh in PEK and join a land tour for 5 days for $ 299 PP.

Fly out to BOM aand return in 60 days to PEK / PVG to return to ORD All American Airlines SWUs.

Thanks.

Before we get to the how-tos, some clarifications?
--Have you already made TPAC flight arrangements?
--Is the land tour you are talking about just for Beijing and surrounding city? You do know that you can easily do BJ on your own but I'm assuming you're attracted by price of $299. Dissect that tour itinerary with a fine scalpel, since I'd bet a bunch of it is spent on required "factory" (shopping visits). These too-good-to-be-true deals usually have a catch. Remember to value your time into the equation.
--Taking this tour off the table in favor of DIY would have me alter Plan C with TPAC to PEK first then Xi'an, JZG, Chengdu, over to Jiangsu and PVG-BOM flight.
--Insisting on including this tour would have me suggest reversing Plan C to fly into PVG, do Shanghai and Suzhou area then Chengdu, JZG, Xi'an then Beijing for the tour before you go to India.
--On way back from India to USA, since it will be mid-December, suggest you stick with PVG as your first choice of TPAC connection. PEK more prone to weather issues and delays.

DIY for China domestic arrangements should ALWAYS follow the long-haul international confirmations. It is way too early to make any sort of China bookings...you won't need to deal with any of that until early September, believe it or not. If you haven't already done so, go to our China Master Transportation Thread and read the front sections, particularly post 2 on Intercity Domestic Flights since in some ways, the system is counterintuitive to the USA domestic setup on booking timings.

I disagree.