10-Day China Group Tour: Beijing, Xi’an, Guilin & Shanghai Highlights with Ancient Heritage and Scenic Landscapes

Itinerary Summary: Arrive in Beijing – Airport Pick-up – Hotel Check-in – Free Time

Hotel Star Rating: 3-Star Hotels

Meals Included: No Food

Your driver meets you at the airport and takes you to your hotel in the city centre. Once you've checked in, the rest of the day is yours.

If you've got energy left after the flight, step out and see what's nearby. Beijing's city centre is walkable in a way that surprises most first-time visitors — wide boulevards open onto smaller streets, and you can cover a lot of ground without a plan. Grab a coffee or a snack at a local bakery, or just walk in any direction and see where the street leads. The city has a habit of revealing its more interesting corners when you're not looking for them.

Itinerary Summary: Tian'anmen Square – Forbidden City – Jingshan Park – Summer Palace

Hotel Star Rating: 3-Star Hotels

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

The first full day starts on the world's largest public square. Tian'anmen Square is flanked by monumental buildings that frame the entrance to the Forbidden City — a walled compound that served as the political nerve centre of imperial China for over five centuries. Your guide walks you through the main halls, pointing out details that are easy to miss: the thresholds worn smooth by centuries of footsteps, the layout designed to convey power through space rather than decoration.

From the palace, a short walk brings you to Jingshan Park, a hill formed from excavated soil. The climb is quick, but the payoff is immediate — the entire Forbidden City spreads out below you, a grid of golden roofs and courtyards that you've just walked through.

In the afternoon, the itinerary shifts to the Summer Palace, a lakeside estate built for Qing emperors to escape the summer heat. Kunming Lake dominates the view, and the Long Corridor runs along its edge, its beams covered in paintings. This was never meant to be a working palace — it was a place for retreat, and it still feels that way.

Itinerary Summary: Mutianyu Great Wall – Bird's Nest & Water Cube (Exterior)

Hotel Star Rating: 3-Star Hotels

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Today is the reason many travellers come to Beijing: the Great Wall. You head to the Mutianyu section, about two hours' drive from the city centre. This stretch is longer and less crowded than the more famous Badaling, with 22 watchtowers distributed over 5.4 kilometres. A round-trip cable car takes you up to the wall, so you can spend your time walking along it rather than climbing to it.

The wall here traces the ridge line, following the contours of the mountain. Heading east takes you toward the steepest section, where the wall climbs nearly vertical in places; heading west leads into a quieter, forested stretch where the wall feels like it belongs to the landscape rather than dominating it. The masonry is original Ming Dynasty work — worn, uneven, and unreconstructed.

On the drive back, the bus passes the Bird's Nest and Water Cube, the two venues that defined the 2008 Olympics. There's a brief stop for photos.

Itinerary Summary: High-Speed Train to Xi'an – Giant Wild Goose Pagoda – Muslim Quarter

Hotel Star Rating: 3-Star Hotels

Meals Included: Breakfast

Morning transfer to the railway station for the high-speed train to Xi'an. The journey takes about four to six hours. As the train moves southwest, the landscape shifts from North China's agricultural plains to the loess plateau.

Upon arrival, you're met at the station and taken to your hotel. In the afternoon, you visit the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, a Tang-dynasty brick pagoda built in the 7th century to house scriptures brought back from India. It's one of the few structures from that period still standing in Xi'an.

From there, you walk into the Muslim Quarter, a warren of narrow streets that has been home to the city's Hui Muslim community for generations. Food stalls line every lane, and the smell of grilled lamb and spices is constant. This is the part of Xi'an that feels most alive after dark.

tinerary Summary: Terracotta Warriors – Ancient City Wall – Bell Tower / Drum Tower

Hotel Star Rating: 3-Star Hotels

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

The morning is devoted to the Terracotta Warriors, about an hour's drive east of Xi'an. The site consists of three pits, with Pit 1 being the largest: thousands of life-sized soldiers arranged in formation, each face distinct. They were buried with China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, to accompany him in the afterlife. The scale of the operation — the time, the labour, the resources — is staggering, and it hits you differently when you see it in person.

After returning to the city, you visit the Ancient City Wall, a 14-kilometre loop that still encircles Xi'an's old town. You can walk along the top or rent a bicycle — even a short stretch gives you a good sense of the city's layout. The day finishes at the Bell Tower or Drum Tower, two landmarks that historically marked the centre of Xi'an and are still visible from across the old town.

Itinerary Summary: Flight to Guilin – Elephant Trunk Hill – Reed Flute Cave

Hotel Star Rating: 3-Star Hotels

Meals Included: Breakfast

Morning flight from Xi'an to Guilin. By the time you land, the landscape has changed completely: the dry, flat loess plateau gives way to steep limestone peaks rising out of green farmland. After checking in, you visit Elephant Trunk Hill, Guilin's signature landmark — a rock formation that resembles an elephant drinking from the river. It's a quick visit, but it sets the tone for the karst scenery that dominates the region.

Next is Reed Flute Cave, a limestone cavern filled with stalactites and stalagmites, illuminated in coloured light. The cave has been known for over 1,200 years — Tang-dynasty graffiti is still visible on its walls. It's a one-hour walk underground, and it's a preview of the terrain you'll see from the surface tomorrow.

Itinerary Summary: Li River Cruise – Yangshuo Countryside – West Street

Hotel Star Rating: 3-Star Hotels

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Today you board the Li River cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo. The 83-kilometre route passes through the heart of the region's karst landscape — limestone peaks rising from the water, bamboo groves along the banks, water buffalo standing in the shallows. The boat moves at a slow pace, and the best view is from the deck, not the cabin. This is the scenery that appears on the back of China's 20-yuan note.

Arriving in Yangshuo, the town is surrounded by the same peaks. The afternoon is free: rent a bicycle and ride through the countryside, or take an e-bike along the back roads. In the evening, West Street is the centre of activity — a pedestrian strip lined with bars, restaurants, and shops. It's touristy, but it's the kind of touristy that comes with good food and live music, not just souvenirs.

Itinerary Summary: Flight to Shanghai – Hotel Check-in – Free Time

Hotel Star Rating: 3-Star Hotels

Meals Included: Breakfast

Morning flight from Guilin to Shanghai. By the time you land, you're in a different China: flat, dense, and vertical. After checking in, the rest of the day is yours.

If you want to get a sense of the city immediately, walk to the Bund in the evening — it's a straight line of riverfront that puts the city's two halves in direct comparison. One side is colonial-era stone, the other is glass towers. It's a short walk that says more about Shanghai than any museum can. If you'd rather avoid the crowds, walk the backstreets of the former French Concession instead. The buildings are lower, the streets are lined with plane trees, and the pace is slower.

Itinerary Summary: Shanghai Tower – Shanghai Museum – Yu Garden & Bazaar – Nanjing Road – The Bund

Hotel Star Rating: 3-Star Hotels

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Start the day at the top. Shanghai Tower, China's tallest building, sends you up to its 118th-floor observation deck in under a minute. From this height, the city's logic becomes clear: the Huangpu River dividing east from west, the dense fabric of old neighbourhoods against the concentrated cluster of Pudong towers.

Then descend to ground level and enter the Shanghai Museum, where the collection covers three millennia of Chinese art — bronze vessels, ceramics, calligraphy — without the crowds that pack the Forbidden City. Next, Yu Garden shows you the opposite end of the spectrum: a 16th-century private garden designed for contemplation, built around the principles of surprise and concealment. Zigzag bridges, rockeries, and pavilions are all packed into a space that still feels intimate despite the foot traffic. The adjacent Yuyuan Bazaar is a different world — stalls, food, souvenirs, noise.

Afternoon: Nanjing Road stretches from the city centre to the river, and walking it gives you a sense of Shanghai's commercial energy. End at The Bund at dusk, when the lights on both sides of the river come on simultaneously. The contrast is not accidental — it's the defining image of the city.

Itinerary Summary: Departure from Shanghai – Airport See-off

Hotel Star Rating: N/A

Meals Included: Breakfast

Your driver picks you up from the hotel and takes you to the airport. Ten days, four cities — a route that moves from the north to the south and back to the east, covering imperial palaces, terracotta armies, karst rivers, and vertical cities. The contrasts are what you'll remember.