My friend and I are planning a trip to China in April. We thought about doing a tour but after reading this forum I am thinking with some help we could maybe do it on our own. We would be leaving from LAS an would like to go for 10-12 days. Maybe fly into Beijing and then fly out of Shanghai. We would like to visit Xian, Guilin, and Suzhou. This is a "dream" trip for us. We both have wanted to travel to China for quite awhile. We are both in our 40's. Hotel wise we would like to stay in 4-5 star hotels. Any suggestions on a itinerary are more than appreciated. Also some of the "not to miss" places to visit or see. Again all help is appreciated greatly.

Me and my family are going on a guided tour of China(Beijing, Shanghai, Xian, Suzhou and Hangzhou) on Nov 20 till dec 1. We booked through chinaspree.com. Not sure if you were inclined for a group tour.

Yes we have looked at tours. I have actually looked at chinaspree. My concern with a tour is that we will be so rushed at each stop there won't be time to enjoy. After going over are "wish" stops I would like to try and do Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Xian. I am just not sure how possible that is going to be and I can not find a tour that has this. I would like to see Beijing but maybe could pass on it this time. I don't know maybe that is not a good idea. I have been pouring over all the posts/threads here on flyertalk trying to piece together a good itinerary. My biggest concern if we do it on our own is transportation. Thanks though for your thoughts, I am still looking into the tours.

This is easily doable on your own since transport infrastructure in most of these places is better than in the USA and user-friendly. If I had to dispense with something on your wish list for this trip, I would get rid of Guilin due to geography and the fact that April isn't the greatest weather month for there (rainy). With that out of the way, Beijing + Xi'an plus Shanghai and any two of the other cities you mentioned (Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou) become doable. I think you should keep Beijing in the mix, and fly into either Beijing or Shanghai then out the other. Sample in the southbound direction (works the other way just in reverse):

Day 1 Arrive in Beijing
Days 2-4 Beijing
Day 5 morning fly or bullet train to Xi'an; aft Xi'an
Day 6 Xi'an
Day 7 morning fly to Nanjing; aft Nanjing
Day 8 Nanjing and late aft fast train to Suzhou (only takes about 1.5 hours)
Day 9 Suzhou
Day 10 midday fast train to Shanghai (about 30-45 minutes) or car/driver.
Day 11 Shanghai
Day 12 Shanghai and departure

With an extra day or so, adding Hangzhou becomes manageable. Or you can substitute it for either Nanjing or Suzhou. None of the three cities are the same so prioritizing in the face of limited time becomes a matter of your interests. Nanjing especially for 20th century history; Suzhou for classical gardens; Hangzhou for West Lake and a pleasant environment though not as many high-value "sights" for the foreign visitor. You should also research Pingyao and Luoyang since they could be on your route....but adding them to what you have already means another 3 days.

As for escorted tours, they do come with the downsides of having to subordinate your preferences to the pre-set schedule, poorer meals (usually), and risk of getting stuck with annoying guides and tour mates. So it's up to you as to whether the value is there for you. On this forum we tend to encourage more independent thinking and doing, also doing the intercity travel oneself then using local driver/guide on an as-needed basis per stop, customized to what you want to see/do--yes this does mean that you at least need to crack a guidebook for ideas or research on the internet but that's half the fun. As for intercity travel--if you can get yourself between cities in the USA or Europe, you can manage to do it in China, too. If you commit to doing it without an escorted group tour, focus on the overall itinerary then we can help you flesh out the exact transport connections, the daily play-by-play of sights and how to get around or get assistance getting around, accommodation recommendations, etc.

I suggest you drop Guilin. It is out of your way, and rather overhyped. Jiejie's suggestions are all very good. Pingyao is a fascinating place and well worth a visit. I was quite impressed by it, and had never seen anything else like that (and I was born and raised in China). It has so many old buildings, and is what a typical Chinese town would have looked like two or three hundred years ago. But I think it might be difficult for non-English speakers to visit the place on their own. If you decide to go there, you should hire a local guide.

Thank you everyone for your replies. Question, if we were to fly into Shanghai (approx. 4/5/14) and use Shanghai as our base for 7 days. Doing day trips to Suzhou, Nanjing, Hangzhou and possibly Tongli, would this be possible? Then take the train to Xian for 2 days, then Beijing for 3 and then fly home from Beijing. Is this itinerary doable? If we can fit Pingyao that would be great. We are very interested in the water towns and more "historic" type towns. I just am wondering if having a "home base" for 7 days would work with doing day trips. The Marriott Executive Apartments in Pudong is where we are looking to stay in Shanghai if this itinerary works. Again many thanks to your replies. Since B/F is probably not doable (not enough miles yet) we are thinking of Delta in their Economy Comfort. LAS-SEA-PVG-PEK-SEA-LAS. If I could figure a way with miles I would but I only have 35k with UA and 15K with AA. I do have 2 passes to the UA Lounge (via Chase Card). Again really appreciate the replies and help.

You can make separate daytrips to Hangzhou, Suzhou, and a water town. IMO, Nanjing is a bit too far and has too much to see to daytrip satisfactorily, though I know people try to do it. I think a better plan is to base out of Shanghai for 5 nights, then move to Nanjing for 2 days and 1 night, then train from Nanjing to Xi'an by overnight Z or D train (same line as from Shanghai but shorter journey). Xi'an for 2 nights then Beijing for the balance. If you want to get Pingyao in, add 2 more days (including transport time) where it will sandwich between Xi'an and Beijing. If you can't get the extra time, then Pingyao would be a higher value target for you than Hangzhou. Cutting that and at least 1 day/night from the Shanghai part and doing some judicious intercity transport scheduling might get it to work in your current time frame. May need to stick a domestic flight in there somewhere.

Staying in Shanghai in Pudong is a bad idea if you intend to do all these daytrips. You need to stay on the Puxi side, preferably something where you can get to Shanghai Hongqiao station fairly easily by subway, since that's the one you'll likely be using the most to daytrip from.

I've done a day trip to Nanjing out of Shanghai but you won't be able to see all the key sights. The fastest train makes the trip in just 1 hour.

Thank you again. I think cutting down to 5 days in Shanghai may work. I will begin to look for somewhere similar to stay on the Puxi side. I will also see how to maybe work in Pingyao and maybe cutting out Hangzhou. Back to the drawing board. All suggestions are welcome and appreciated. I am trying to get our itinerary down pat so we can begin to purchase tickets, secure hotels, etc....It is not as easy for us to get away from work for extended periods, especially at the same time. So I am trying to get in all the "high points" because it may be unlikely we will get a chance to return in the future. Much thanks to everyone.

With an April trip, all the arrangements for in-China transport and hotels can and should be made much later in this process and probably not until at least late February 2014 so don't sweat that. Take your time over these next few weeks to first work out various itinerary possibilities for feedback before going for international air tickets. If this may be your only trip to China, then try to scrape up all the days you can since defraying the international air ticket cost (whether cash or miles) over more actual in-country days is good value. Your current plan is very city-focused and that will make for an unfortunately limited sampler of China with no small town/village area or scenic area in the mix. But getting either of the latter in probably needs about 14 in-country full days in order to be able to add to your existing wish list of cities without sacrificing any of them.