Planning 5–9 days in China: choose a realistic route

Five days: choose a base or a two-city stay

Beijing focuses on imperial heritage and Badaling. Shanghai city keeps four nights in Shanghai, with Zhujiajiao as part of the route. Shanghai–Suzhou uses two nights in each city and returns to Shanghai for departure. Chongqing includes an overnight in Wulong. Compare these accommodation patterns as well as the attraction names.

Six days: allow for connections

Yunnan travels from Kunming through Dali to Lijiang, so arrival and departure cities differ. The Chongqing–Chengdu–Jiuzhaigou route combines rail and road within a fixed six-day sequence. Several sightseeing and transfer days are dense. Share flight times and walking requirements before deciding; more places do not automatically mean a better fit.

Eight or nine days: choose a Xinjiang circuit

Ili and Kanas are eight-day, seven-night Urumqi circuits. Kashgar is nine days and eight nights starting and ending in Kashgar. Kanas has separate summer, autumn and winter day plans; Kashgar has standard and autumn versions. Do not squeeze these into a five-day holiday or treat different seasonal stays as interchangeable.

Seven days in China: count usable days first

Seven calendar days from departure to return are not seven full days in China. Write down days 1–7, place your actual arrival and departure on the correct days, and mark each hotel night and intercity transfer. If day 1 is mostly arrival and day 7 mostly departure, days 2–6 are five in-country calendar days, not necessarily five full sightseeing days.

With five days in China, compare one existing five-day route: Beijing or Shanghai for a single-city base, Shanghai–Suzhou for two overnight bases, or Chongqing with a night in Wulong. Each published route already has an arrival and departure sequence. Do not simply paste its five days into days 2–6; check your flight hours and ask which sightseeing, hotel nights and transfers would change.

With six usable days, compare the suggested Kunming–Dali–Lijiang route or the busier Chongqing–Chengdu–Jiuzhaigou–Huanglong route. Yunnan starts in Kunming and ends in Lijiang, so returning from the same city would need a separate plan. If you have seven days available in China after accounting for flights, use the additional time independently or ask about extending a shorter route. Extra nights, transport, guiding, tickets and costs need a separate written quote. The eight- and nine-day Xinjiang circuits are separate routes; removing a night does not turn them into a published seven-day product. This catalogue has no seven-day package.

1. Mark flight times, hotel nights and transfer days on a seven-day calendar.
2. Choose one existing route that fits the days actually available, then compare its arrival and departure days with your flights.
3. Ask which changes and extra services would be included in a written quote.

• Beijing five-day route
• Shanghai city five-day route
• Shanghai–Suzhou five-day route
• Chongqing and Wulong five-day route
• Kunming–Dali–Lijiang six-day suggestion
• Chongqing–Chengdu–Jiuzhaigou six-day route