Imperial power, ancient history, and the neon future — the three-city "golden triangle" is China's greatest-hits album, and ten days plays it at exactly the right tempo. High-speed rail links all three; no internal flights needed.
The day-by-day plan
- Day 1 — Land in Beijing, settle in, Qianmen or Sanlitun evening.
- Day 2 — Forbidden City (morning, pre-booked, not Monday) → Jingshan → hutongs.
- Day 3 — Mutianyu Great Wall early → rest → Peking duck dinner.
- Day 4 — Temple of Heaven → Summer Palace → night train? No — sleep well.
- Day 5 — Morning bullet train to Xi'an → Muslim Quarter evening.
- Day 6 — Terracotta Warriors at opening → city wall cycling at sunset.
- Day 7 — Shaanxi History Museum → afternoon bullet train to Shanghai (~6h) or 2h flight.
- Day 8 — The Bund at dawn → Old City & Yu Garden → Tianzifang art lanes.
- Day 9 — Zhujiajiao water town half-day OR the museums + French Concession walk.
- Day 10 — Last lilong stroll, fly out of PVG.
⚠️ Traps this plan already avoids
- All three legs are real-name bookings: passport buys the train seat, the palace slot and the warriors.
- Xi'an→Shanghai by rail is ~6h — the afternoon train costs half a sightseeing day; the morning flight doesn't.
- Shanghai's museums (Shanghai Museum East especially) are free but reservation-capped days ahead.
- Golden Week (Oct 1-7) and Spring Festival turn every leg of this route into a scramble — shift dates if you can.
Rules like these change — the AI check below re-verifies every one against our China facts library for your dates.