Not "we suggest 3-5 days" — actual routes broken down day by day with hour-level timings: where you go, what time you arrive, why the order matters, and which day to cut first if you are short. All built on verified attraction research from this site.
Beijing → Xi'an → ShanghaiThe route almost every first-time visitor ends up taking — imperial Beijing, the Terracotta Army, modern Shanghai — planned around the two things that actually break it: the rail booking window and a mid-trip Monday.
BeijingThe classic first-visit route: the imperial core, one full day on the Great Wall, and two neighbourhood days so it never feels like ticking off a list.
BeijingFor anyone who has already done the Forbidden City and the Wall — four days of hutong grids, hidden temples, food streets and contemporary art.
ShanghaiFour days arranged as four different Shanghais: the colonial waterfront, the plane-tree streets, the vertical city across the river, and a canal town two hours out.
Xi'anThree days arranged as three dynasties — Qin archaeology, Han and Tang imperial glory, and the Silk Road city that outlasted both.
ChengduThree days built around the one thing Chengdu does better than any other Chinese megacity — not rushing.
ChongqingThree days in a city built on a vertical ridge, where the ground floor of one building is the twentieth floor of another.
GuangzhouThree days in the city that gave the world Cantonese food — arranged so the eating is the itinerary, not a break from it.
ShenzhenA city with almost no old buildings, so the route is organised by what it actually does instead — vertical views, converted factories, 15km of seafront and the world's largest electronics market.
NanjingThree days in a city that was the capital six times and lost it six times — arranged so the two great tombs share one day and the reservation systems do not eat the other two.
XiamenThe easiest city on this site to enjoy and the hardest to get into — two of the three best things here are rationed, so this route is about booking before it is about walking.
ChangshaThree days in the city that exports milk-tea queues and chopped-chilli fish head — with the two separate reservations on Yuelu Mountain spelled out, because holding one does not get you through the other.
DaliThree days at 2,000 metres where the best day costs almost nothing — and the three things that do cost money all have to be sorted before you arrive.
HuangshanThree days built around the single decision that makes or breaks this trip: whether you sleep on the summit.