Creating an itinerary for eight days in China was a logistical puzzle that I had to put together. My mom, daughter, and I wanted to see as much as we could of the country in a short amount of time. The cities we targeted were Beijing, Shanghai, and Xi’an with a goal of experiencing the one or two top highlights in each city.
Day One: Arrival into Beijing
After a 14-hour flight from Detroit, MI, we arrived in Beijing. We didn’t intentionally plan for any activities because our arrival at 5 p.m. and an early morning flight to Shanghai the next morning. We booked a room at the JW Marriott Hotel Beijing Central in the city with hopes of being able to walk around once we checked in, but Beijing traffic wouldn’t let us be great. We left the airport close to 7 p.m. and didn’t arrive until after an hour later. By that time we mustered up enough energy to get something to eat from the hotel restaurant and head to bed to be ready for our 6 a.m. drive back to the airport the next morning. If I had to do it again, I would have booked a room at the airport due to the early flight out the next morning.
Day Two: Hello, Shanghai!
We flew to Shanghai (SHA) to spend three days and two nights in the city. An early morning flight on China Eastern got us into Shanghai at 10:40 a.m. We took the train from the airport to the closest stop to our hotel, the Shanghai Marriott City Center and checked in. After lunch, we headed to teamBorderless Lab Shanghai the “museum without a map”, featuring digital art creations, optical illusions, and endless engagement.
Day Three: Exploring Shanghai
We purchased site-seeing tickets for the Hop On Hop Off bus from our hotel to use as a method to see highlights of the city including the Bund where we were able to take the shuttle under the river to get to the Pudong side of Shanghai. We spent a lot of time walking around the Yuyuan Bazaar at Yu Garden. By the end of the day we landed back at Peoples Square train station shopping for prescription glasses (which are inexpensive compared to the states).
Day Four: Heading to Xi’an
With an afternoon flight to Xi’an, we had the morning to tie up loose in ends in Shanghai for the rest of the trip. We were taking the bullet train from Xi’an to Beijing and still hadn’t purchased tickets yet so we made our way to Shanghai Railway to secure those. The rest of the time was spent ordering my daughter a pair of prescription glasses from the same shop in the People’s Square train station (it only took 30 minutes!).
We landed in Xi’an around 7 p.m. and arranged for a car to get us to Le Meridien Xi’an Chamba. This would be our only night there since we visited Xi’an just to visit the Terracotta Warriors.
Day Five: Terracotta Warriors and Back to Beijing
Xi’an was specifically put on the itinerary because my mother wanted to see the Terracotta Warriors. With an early afternoon train reservation for Beijing, the hotel arranged for a taxi to take us to the site, which is approximately an hour away, and wait for us while we took a two-hour guided tour.
We left Xi’an at 1:30 p.m., and arrived in Beijing after 5 p.m., and arrived at our hotel, the Peninsula Beijing, via train.
Day Six: The Great Wall
We arranged a tour of the Great Wall through Klook. The Great Wall, at least the Mutianyu section is about 40 miles outside of the city. We were given a couple of hours to explore the section, and then meet the group for lunch at one of the restaurants located at the Great Wall shopping area.
Day Seven: Discovering Beijing
Our hotel was a 20 minute walk away from the Forbidden City. We were able to start the day with walking there, and exploring most of it as well a the surrounding grounds. From the Forbidden City we took the train to the Olympic Facility – the Bird’s Nest, which was close to an hour train ride, and from there the Summer Palace, which was another hour from the Olympic facilities location.
Day Eight: Leaving Beijing
Our flight back to Orlando was at 7 p.m. so we spent the morning strolling along Wajufing Street, a major shopping area filled with luxury stores, souvenir nooks, and mini malls.
Need help with creating an itinerary for China? I can help with that. You can purchase my detailed itinerary for $3.99 USD or you can request an estimate for a customized itinerary. Please email me at Dana@culturedcurator.com.