China travel itinerary

Unless you have at least 6 months available, claim to visit all of China is an impractical undertaking: the most striking points of interest both historical and naturalistic are in fact concentrated in different areas thousands of kilometers apart, which inevitably require the use of internal flights.

The organization of the travel itinerary was not immediate and required several months of “study” and preparation. It will be because of the little information available on  internet, it will be because the only itineraries proposed by travel agencies are the classic ones that do not come out of the tourist circuits, it will be because China is really big, the fact is that we found ourselves for a long time to write and delete our notes of a possible travel itinerary on a notepad.

Many were the questions we asked ourselves and on which we ruminated for a while: what can we absolutely not miss visiting China for the first time? Is it better to follow a classic route or go to more remote areas, at the risk of sacrificing the symbolic places of China?

We have answered these questions by developing a 17 day travel itinerary that we share here and which can be taken as a starting point for a first visit to China.

This itinerary touches the most important monument of China, from the Great Wall to the Terracotta Army, and it’s dedicated to the discovery of the most evocative natural landscapes we have ever seen, such as the Zhangjiajie National Park and Mount Huangshan.

Our travel table

So, 17 full days available and many tranfers to do. We elaborated a roadmap, splitting the journey itinerary into stages. We have identified 4 main and essential microtaps for an unforgettable”first time in China”.

• 1st stop: Beijing and Xi’an – 4 days
• 2nd stop: Zhangjiajie National Park and Fenghuang – 3 days     
• 3rd stop: Yansghuo and surroundings, Chengdu, Leshan – 6 days    
• 4th stage: Hangzhou, Huangshan and Shanghai – 4 days

If we were to return to China for a second time, we would certainly follow a different route, more to adventure and far from the big urban centers, pushing us towards the south, towards Myanmar. In any case, as a first taste of China we are satisfied: yes, the queues for the most important tourist sites are endless, but once you get to your destination you forget everything.

CHINA TRAVEL ITINERARY – 17 days