I am planning a trip to China from June 12-July 3. It's for my family and we have 8 of us traveling-2 parents and kids ranging in age from 25-11. Mom and dad are footing the majority of the travel expense so we are trying to go as economically as possible without feeling like we are being "cheap". We arrive in Hong Kong on the 12th at 6pm and fly out of Beijing on July 3rd at 10am. I have a tentative schedule planned but no in country travel or hotel rooms booked yet so it can be adjusted if needed. We are thinking that some/most of our travel between cities will be via overnight trains. From what I can see, it's not only cheaper but we then save the cost of a hotel room. We can change that idea also though if it will be more time effective to seeing the things we would like to.
Here is the itinerary I think might work:
June 12-16: Hong Kong
17-19 Guilin/Yangshuo
20-21 Chengdu
22-24 Xian
25-27 Shanghai/Suzhou
28-3 Beijing
Does this seem like a logical way to go? I tried to go geographically from south to north but if there is a better routing due to better train/flight connections, I welcome input.
I'm beginning to get a little anxious about getting some of the in country stuff sorted out but it does seem like it is best financially to wait until about 2 months out to book most of it.
We have been to China once before as we adopted our youngest daughter in 2004 but all of our arrangements were made through our agency. This time, I'm trying to do it myself trying to save a little money and also freedom of going where we want on our own schedule. I welcome any and all advice. Thanks!

Hi,

I suggest that spend less time in Hong Kong. HK is just a shopping place. If you like eating, spend more time in Chengdu and Xi'an.

You can sort this all out yourself as long as you are organized. With 8 people traveling, you should go ahead and make arrangements for things like lodging as soon as you have firmed up itinerary. For sleeper train tickets, you must use an agent to get tickets in advance, and pay the commission. Put order in for those about 1 month before leaving. For other day train tickets, purchase when you get to China (maybe at Guilin station). With 8 people together, there are some situations where it will make more sense from a cost- and time-efficiency standpoint to use a private vehicle (very large van or small bus) and driver. This should be arranged in advance either through the origin point guesthouse or hotel, or through an independent local travel agent.

Itinerary: STRONGLY suggest that you dump Shanghai/Suzhou off of this plan. Geographically they are outliers and will add another layer of cost, logistics hassle, and frazzledness to this plan....and IMO are the least interesting places on the list (and except for HK, most expensive). Also, they are among the easiest places to access in China either on a future trip or future transit to somewhere else in Asia. My plan dumps them and gives you something else in return. You also can take a bit of time off HK and Xi'an.

Jun 12 arr HK 6 pm (HK)
Jun 13, 14 HK full days (HK)
Jun 15 HK part day. Cross border to Shenzhen at Lowu, overnight train K952 dep 17:26.
Jun 16 arr Guilin 06:45. Immediate transfer to Yangshuo rest of day (YS)
Jun 17-18 Yangshuo area full days (YS)
Jun 19 am by road (private vehicle) to Rice Terraces for rest of day and overnight (Dazhai)
Jun 20 midday by road (private vehicle) to Chengyang for Dong village/Wind-Rain Bridge. Dinner in area, then continue to Sanjiangxiang for overnight train K654 dep 19:45.
Jun 21 arr Chengdu East 13:23. Rest of day Chengdu (Ch)
Jun 22 Chengdu including Pandas. (Ch)
Jun 23 Chengdu area including dinner. Overnight train K6 dep 21:15.
Jun 24 arr Xi’an 12:15. Rest of day Xi’an (Xi)
Jun 25 Xi’an full day (Xi)
Jun 26 am bullet train G2002 dep Xi’an North 07:42 arr Luoyang Longmen 09:17. Morning Longmen Grottoes, afternoon Shaolin Si by private vehicle (LY) *
Jun 27 am by road (private vehicle) to Pingyao, with intermediate stop at Wang Family Mansion or Zhangbi Underground Castle if desired. Arr Pingyao 16:00-17:00 w/intermediate stop or mid-afternoon without. (PY)
Jun 28 Pingyao morning and lunch. Train 4626 dep 14:45 arr Taiyuan 16:22. Dinner near station then Bullet train G612 dep Taiyuan 18:06 arr Beijing Wst 20:52.
Jun 29, 30, Jul 1, 2 Beijing full days (BJ)
Jul 3 dep BJ.

* If wanting some mountain hiking, substitute on June 26 Huashan by bullet train from Xi'an, daytrip return with another hotel night in Xi'an. June 27 private vehicle Xi'an to Pingyao, similar time frame.

This plan completely gets rid of air travel, which in rainy season when you are going, is not only cost-effective but less likely to result in delays. Moving 8 people by air gets expensive. I have calculated the intercity transport cost per person for this trip and it is approximately US$350 per person. This assumes: soft sleepers for the Shenzhen-Guilin, Sanjiangxian-Chengdu, and Chengdu-Xi'an segments (with commissions for agent). 2nd class seats on bullet trains Xi'an-Luoyang and Taiyuan-Beijing, and hard seat on the short segment Pingyao-Taiyuan (seats all self-purchased in China). Also assumed are private van/bus cost of about US$570 total for the Yangshuo-Terraces, Terraces-Sanjiangxian, and Luoyang-Pingyao journeys....divided 8 ways. Hotel saved on 3 nights of sleeper train.

I agree that if you spend that much time in HK then Shanghai is a bit redundant. Those places between Xi'An and Beijing are more interesting. June is a busy travel month, book as much of it ahead as you can.

Thanks for the replies especially JieJie's very detailed one!
We have no problem dropping Shanghai from the itinerary but I do wish we could still see Suzhou and the surrounding areas. We'll just have to plan that into a future trip! My oldest son was really looking forward to the gardens there. Are there similar gardens in any of the other areas we are visiting?
We also are wondering if a day and a half will be enough for the things we were hoping to do in Xian. Of course, we are planning on seeing the warriors. We also wanted to see the pagodas, the towers, explore the Muslim quarter and the kids thought biking the city wall looked like fun. Would it make a difference if we left Chengdu on an earlier train to get into Xian earlier? I don't want to cut into our time in Chengdu either but all we really had planned for there was seeing the pandas and the Leshan Buddha. Is there something else there that we should make time for? I also am aware I don't know the ins and outs of the trains so maybe taking an earlier train is not advisable?
I'm sure I will have more questions as I deal with the specifics of the travel within each city. Thanks again for the help already given!

You have enough time for Xian considering your planned programme.

You will most likely be hauling all those heavy luggages up and down the stairs if you use the K trains. The "old" stations that don't serve bullet trains are a bit of an experience to use.

What is your trip purpose for Chengdu? If only for the pandas (and there isn't much else there worth seeing - rather use the time to explore Xian), skip it as you will find pandas in Beijing or even in Hong Kong.

Xian was China's imperial capital for 1000 years. Give it some justice.