The trip
Overview
China rewards a well-sequenced first visit like nowhere else: in ten nights you can walk the Great Wall, stand in front of the Terracotta Army, drift down a karst-lined river in Guilin and finish under Shanghai's neon skyline. Direct flights from Dubai to Beijing and home from Shanghai bracket the route perfectly, and high-speed rail plus two short flights link everything in between.
We keep the group size at exactly your party: private guides in each city, which in China transforms the experience — menus explained, queues sidestepped, and the stories behind the sites told properly. The Guilin stage is the pressure valve in the middle: two slower days of rivers, rice terraces and bamboo groves between the big-city acts.
Highlights
- ✦Walking a quieter restored section of the Great Wall at Mutianyu
- ✦The Forbidden City and the hutong lanes of old Beijing
- ✦The Terracotta Army and Ming city walls of Xi'an
- ✦A morning cruising the Li River through the Guilin karst peaks
- ✦Shanghai — the Bund at night and the old French Concession by bicycle
Who it suits
- ●First-time visitors who want the four essential Chinas in one route
- ●Couples and friends comfortable with a fuller touring pace
- ●Rail enthusiasts — the Beijing–Xi'an bullet train is a highlight in itself
Why this journey works
- ✓Direct flights into Beijing and out of Shanghai mean zero backtracking
- ✓Private guides in each city remove the language barrier that deters many travellers
- ✓Guilin's slow rivers break the route exactly where you need the pause
Day by day
Days 1–3
Beijing — the Wall and the Forbidden City
An overnight flight from Dubai lands you in Beijing in the morning. Three nights: the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square with your guide's stories doing the heavy lifting, a hutong lunch cooked in a family courtyard home, the Temple of Heaven at exercise hour, and a half day on the Great Wall at Mutianyu — restored, cable-car accessed and far quieter than Badaling. Peking duck one evening is compulsory.
Days 4–5
Xi'an — the Terracotta Army
The high-speed train covers the thousand kilometres to Xi'an in around four and a half hours — an experience in itself. The Terracotta Army fills a morning; cycling the top of the Ming city walls and the Muslim Quarter's food lanes fill the rest. Two nights inside the walled city.
Days 6–7
Guilin and Yangshuo — the karst rivers
Fly south into a different China. A slow boat carries you down the Li River between limestone pinnacles to Yangshuo, where the pace drops entirely: bamboo-raft drifts, cycling between rice paddies, and cormorant fishermen at dusk. Two nights in a riverside retreat with the peaks framed from your balcony.
Days 8–10
Shanghai — the vertical finale
Fly east to Shanghai for three nights. The Bund at night with the Pudong towers lit across the river, the Yu Garden and old town, the French Concession's plane-tree avenues by bicycle, and a day trip to the canal town of Zhujiajiao if you want one more old-China scene. Cocktails on a Bund rooftop close the trip properly.
Day 11
Home to the UAE
Direct daytime flight from Shanghai back to Dubai.
When to go
April, May, September and October are the sweet spots — mild, clear and comfortable across all four regions. Summer is hot and humid with the biggest domestic crowds; winter is cold and dry in Beijing and Xi'an but flight and hotel value improves sharply. Avoid the first week of October, when national holidays fill every site in the country.
Planning around seasons, regions and style? Read the full China destination guide →
What’s included
- ✓Return flights from Dubai or Abu Dhabi, into Beijing and out of Shanghai
- ✓High-speed rail Beijing–Xi'an in first class, flights Xi'an–Guilin and Guilin–Shanghai
- ✓Ten nights in well-located four- to five-star hotels, daily breakfast
- ✓Private English-speaking guides and drivers in every city
- ✓Entrance fees including the Great Wall, Terracotta Army and Li River cruise
- ✓PCT travel consultant support before and during travel
Not included
- —Visas where required
- —Travel insurance
- —Most lunches and dinners
- —Personal spending
Ways to extend it
- +Add three nights in Chengdu for the panda research base
- +Add Hong Kong as a finishing city
- +Extend Yangshuo for cycling and climbing
- +Add a night at a Great Wall lodge for sunrise on the ramparts
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