At a glance
- Length: 18 days (14–31 August), 2 of them mostly in the air
- Cities: Beijing (4 days) → Xi'an → Chengdu → Chongqing → Zhangjiajie (Dayong) → Shanghai
- Getting around: 4 high-speed trains, 1 domestic flight (Zhangjiajie → Shanghai), direct flights Milan ↔ Beijing/Shanghai
- Travellers: 2, independent trip with a few day tours booked online
Beijing — days 1–5 (14–18 August)
Stayed at: Holiday Inn Express Beijing Downtown (Dongcheng)
- Day 1 · 14 Aug — Milan → Beijing. Air China CA950, departing Malpensa at 13:30 and landing in Beijing (PEK) at 05:40 the next morning, about 10 hours. An overnight direct flight means you land early and get the whole first day.
- Day 2 · 15 Aug — Temple of Heaven and hutongs. Airport Express to Dongzhimen, then the metro to Dongcheng. Afternoon tour of the Temple of Heaven at 13:00, then Nanluoguxiang and the side alleys, the Drum and Bell Towers at sunset, and Peking duck for dinner.
- Day 3 · 16 Aug — Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Entry at 9:30, from the Meridian Gate to the Imperial Garden. You exit north at the foot of Jingshan Park: climb it for the view, then Beihai Park. Evening on Ghost Street (Guijie).
- Day 4 · 17 Aug — Great Wall at Mutianyu. Day trip 8:00–16:00 with transfer: chairlift up, a walk between the towers, toboggan down. Back in the city, we spent the evening at Silk Street.
- Day 5 · 18 Aug — Lama Temple, then the train to Xi'an. Morning at the Lama Temple (Yonghe Gong), then the high-speed train Beijing West 14:05 → Xi'an North 18:30.
Xi'an — days 5–8 (18–21 August)
Stayed at: Novotel Xi'an The Bell Tower
- Day 6 · 19 Aug — Terracotta Army. Half-day tour with lunch: pits 1, 2 and 3. In the late afternoon, a bike ride on the city wall (about 13.7 km around) at sunset.
- Day 7 · 20 Aug — Old town. Bell and Drum Towers, the Great Mosque, lunch in the Muslim Quarter, the Small Wild Goose Pagoda and, in the evening, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda with its musical fountain.
- Day 8 · 21 Aug — Train to Chengdu. Xi'an North 09:36 → Chengdu East 13:12.
Chengdu — days 8–10 (21–23 August)
Stayed at: Mercure Chengdu Chunxi Road Tianfu Square
- Day 8 · 21 Aug — People's Park and Kuanzhai Alley. Metro line 2 from East station towards Chunxi Road. Tea at Heming Tea House in People's Park, Kuanzhai Alley, then Chunxi Road and Taikoo Li: the panda on the IFS building, Daci Temple, the 3D screen at night.
- Day 9 · 22 Aug — Pandas and the Leshan Giant Buddha. Day tour leaving at 8:00: the panda research base in the morning, when the pandas are active, then Leshan by boat. Jinli Street in the evening.
- Day 10 · 23 Aug — Train to Chongqing. A morning walk along the Jinjiang River to Anshun Bridge, then Chengdu East 13:32 → Chongqing North 15:13 (about 1.5 hours by high-speed train).
Chongqing — days 10–12 (23–25 August)
Stayed at: Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, Chongqing Jiefangbei (Hongyadong area)
- Day 10 · 23 Aug — The vertical city. At 18:54 we were on the viewing platform below Liziba Station watching the Line 2 monorail pass straight through an apartment building; at 21:08 we were at Hongyadong, all lit up (practical tip: head there before sunset, as it gets packed after 19:00). In between: Eling Park and Chongqing hotpot.
- Day 11 · 24 Aug — Old town and the rivers. Morning xiao mian noodles for breakfast, then Ciqikou: at 10:23 we were on the old street with the red dragon and lanterns overhead. Then Shibati, the Kuixing Building (enter on the ground floor, exit on the 22nd onto a square), Zhongshan 4th Road, and Chaotianmen where the Jialing meets the Yangtze. In the evening we walked across the Qiansimen Bridge.
- Day 12 · 25 Aug — Train to Zhangjiajie. We spent our last morning in Chongqing at Raffles City, then Chongqing East 14:58 → Zhangjiajie West 17:35.
Zhangjiajie (Dayong) — days 12–15 (25–28 August)
Stayed at: Zhangjiajie Metropolo Hotel
- Day 12 · 25 Aug — Arrival. A walk to the lit-up 72 Wonders Tower and a Tujia dinner.
- Day 13 · 26 Aug — National park and Glass Bridge. Day one of a 2-day tour (leaving at 8): the Bailong Elevator, Yuanjiajie and its sandstone pillars, then the Glass Bridge over the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon.
- Day 14 · 27 Aug — Tianmen Mountain. Cable car from the city centre, the cliff walkway, Heaven's Gate and its 999 steps. Back in town in the afternoon, we wandered around Dayong Ancient City and Puguang Temple.
- Day 15 · 28 Aug — Flight to Shanghai. A slow morning in town, then flight HO1136 16:25 → 18:30 to Shanghai Pudong (PVG).
Shanghai — days 15–18 (28–31 August)
Stayed at: Shanghai Elong Hotel by the Bund and Nanjing Road
- Day 15 · 28 Aug — Maglev and the Bund at night. Maglev from the airport to Longyang Road, then metro line 2. Nanjing Road, the Bund lit up, xiaolongbao for dinner.
- Day 16 · 29 Aug — Yu Garden and Zhujiajiao. Yu Garden and the old-town bazaar in the morning, then the water town of Zhujiajiao by boat; back in the city, 1933 Old Millfun and the Bund again.
- Day 17 · 30 Aug — French Concession and Shanghai Tower. Fuxing Park, Wukang Road, Tianzifang and Xintiandi, then the Shanghai Tower in the afternoon and Jing'an in the evening. Late taxi to Pudong T2.
- Day 18 · 31 Aug — Home. Air China CA967, PVG 01:30 → Milan Malpensa 07:55.
If you have more time
Ideas we couldn't fit into our 18 days, worth a look if you have an extra day:
- Beijing: the Summer Palace.
- Xi'an: the Shaanxi History Museum and the Grand Tang Mall.
- Chongqing: an evening cruise on the two rivers, or the Liziba air-raid tunnels.
- Zhangjiajie: Golden Whip Stream.
Practical tips from our trip
- Set up a VPN and an eSIM before you leave. Google, Google Maps, WhatsApp and Instagram are blocked in China, and VPN apps are hard to download once you're there. We installed and tested ours in Italy.
- Download offline maps and offline metro maps. We had offline city maps plus a metro-map app covering Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu, Chongqing and Shanghai.
- Save your hotel address in Chinese characters. Many taxi drivers don't read pinyin, so have it ready to show.
- Check which station is on your ticket. Big cities have several high-speed stations: we left from Beijing West, arrived at Xi'an North, left for Chengdu East, and in Chongqing arrived at North and left from East (and don't mix up Xi'an North with central Xi'an Station).
- Time your Chongqing stops right. At Liziba, the best angle of the train passing through the building is from the viewing platform below; at Hongyadong, go before sunset because crowds build up fast after 19:00.
- Book day tours online. We booked the Temple of Heaven, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall at Mutianyu, the Lama Temple, the Terracotta Army, pandas + Leshan and the 2 days in Zhangjiajie in advance.
- Check closing days. We put the Forbidden City on a Sunday because it's closed on Mondays.
- Keep everything in one place. Our plans changed 3–4 times during the trip. Having flights, trains, hotels and bookings together, available offline, made the difference.
Practical guides for China
Frequently Asked Questions
How many days do you need for Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu, Chongqing, Zhangjiajie and Shanghai?
We used 18, from 14 to 31 August, including the two flight days to and from Milan: 4 days in Beijing, then 2 to 3 days in each of the other cities.
How do you get between the cities?
By 4 high-speed trains (Beijing–Xi'an, Xi'an–Chengdu, Chengdu–Chongqing, Chongqing–Zhangjiajie) and one domestic flight from Zhangjiajie to Shanghai.
How long is the train from Beijing to Xi'an?
Our train left Beijing West at 14:05 and arrived at Xi'an North at 18:30, about four and a half hours.
What should you book before you go?
Flights, trains, hotels and day tours: we booked the Forbidden City, the Great Wall at Mutianyu, the Terracotta Army, pandas + Leshan and the 2 days in Zhangjiajie in advance.
Do you need a VPN to travel in China?
We set ours up before leaving, because services like Google, WhatsApp and Instagram are blocked in China and downloading a VPN there is difficult.
Can I browse and organise this itinerary in Itinero?
Yes. You can open our live 18-day China shared itinerary on Itinero right in your browser for free, or download the free Itinero iOS app to plan and use your own day-by-day trips, even offline.
How we planned (and survived) 18 days across 6 Chinese cities in one app: Itinero
🧳 Your trip. All in one place. — Why we built Itinero
When we started planning these 18 days across China — 6 cities, 4 high-speed trains from different stations, 3 flights, 6 hotels and 146 events — our trip was scattered across six apps: a sprawling Notion doc, booking PDFs buried in Mail, pins in Maps and notes on our phones. By the third mid-trip change of plans, hunting for a hotel address in Chinese characters for a taxi driver or checking whether our bullet train left from Chongqing North or Chongqing East was exhausting.
We built Itinero because of this exact trip. It's the app we wished we had to give every independent journey one organized home — before, during and after you travel:
- 📅 Day-by-day timeline, even offline: open your trip and immediately see today's plan and what's next — flights, high-speed trains, hotel check-ins, tours and stops in order, with offline access when you need it most.
- 🚆 Stations, times and local notes in one tap: keep departure stations, booking details and Chinese addresses attached to the exact stop instead of digging through your inbox at the ticket gate.
- 🗺️ Route map, multi-currency budget & checklists: see your whole multi-city route on the map, track expenses across currencies and check off essentials before departure.
- 🔗 One-link web sharing: next time a friend or follower asks "Can you send me your China itinerary?", share one clean interactive web link — anyone can open it in a browser without an account, while private booking codes, expenses and documents stay hidden.
Try it right now with our real trip:
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