English guide for foreign visitors
How do I plan a 7-day China itinerary without wasting travel days?
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Step 1 of 7
Count your seven calendar days
Do this
Write the seven dates in order and label each one before choosing any attraction: arrival day, full day, transfer day, or departure day. Treat the arrival day and the departure day as partial days unless your flights prove otherwise.
- Done when
- All seven dates have a label, and the number of full sightseeing days is written down and is smaller than seven.
If this fails
If arrival or departure times are unknown, do not lock a multi-city route yet; keep the plan at one base until the flights are confirmed.
Step 2 of 7
Choose the route shape
Do this
Pick one of two honest shapes. Route A is the classic multi-city week (Beijing, then Xi'an, then Shanghai). Route B is a single-region week based on Shanghai with Hangzhou and Suzhou. Route A trades two cross-country moves for iconic sights; Route B spends fewer days in transit.
- Done when
- One route shape is chosen and written at the top of the seven-day calendar.
If this fails
If you cannot decide, default to Route B for a first week with limited patience for transfers, and revisit Route A on a longer trip.
Step 3 of 7
Assign transfer days explicitly
Do this
For Route A, give the Beijing-to-Xi'an move and the Xi'an-to-Shanghai move their own partial days on the calendar. Do not stack a transfer and a major attraction on the same day. For Route B, do the same for each Shanghai-region move you keep.
- Done when
- Every intercity move appears as its own labeled day or half-day on the calendar, and no day carries both a transfer and a headline attraction.
If this fails
If a move cannot fit without erasing a sightseeing day, drop one city rather than compressing the remaining days.
Step 4 of 7
Check real trains on 12306
Do this
Search the official 12306 site or app for the actual route and date of each planned move, and only then lock the transfer days. Rail e-tickets are real-name and tied to the valid ID document used to buy them, so the passport you travel with must match the booking.
- Done when
- Each planned move has a real train found for that route and date, and the transfer day on the calendar matches it.
If this fails
If no suitable train exists for that date, move the transfer day or change the route; do not keep an unverified timetable in the plan.
Step 5 of 7
Book the Palace Museum
Do this
If Route A includes Beijing, book the Palace Museum through the English version of the official Palace Museum website using your passport. On the visit day, bring the original valid ID used for the booking and enter through the manual ticket-checking channel at the Meridian Gate.
- Done when
- You hold a Palace Museum booking confirmation for the chosen date, made with the passport you will carry.
If this fails
If tickets are sold out for your date, choose another date or swap in a different Beijing day; do not claim the Palace Museum is booked without a confirmation.
Step 6 of 7
Book the Terracotta Warriors
Do this
If Route A includes Xi'an, reserve the Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum (Terracotta Warriors) through the museum's online platform for overseas tourists, on the day you have reserved for it.
- Done when
- You hold a reservation confirmation for the Terracotta Warriors on the planned Xi'an day.
If this fails
If the reservation cannot be completed for that date, move the Xi'an day or drop the site rather than leaving an unconfirmed entry in the plan.
Step 7 of 7
Lock the seven-day calendar
Do this
Go back through the seven dates and confirm each one has exactly one base or one declared transfer, plus its booking dependency. Mark each attraction or train as confirmed only where you hold the confirmation; leave the rest marked as pending.
- Done when
- All seven dates are labeled, every booking is marked confirmed or pending truthfully, and no day is left without a base or transfer.
- Finished only when
- Each of the seven dated calendar days has one geographic base or one declared transfer, a check-in dependency, and any attraction or train booking marked confirmed only where a confirmation is actually held.
- A day with no base and no declared transfer
- A transfer day that also carries a headline attraction
- An attraction or train marked booked without a confirmation
- A route locked before real trains were found for the actual dates
If this fails
If any day is unlabeled or any booking is claimed without a confirmation, return to that step and fix it before treating the itinerary as planned.
After this task
Reviewing a completed plan for pacing and booking gaps is a different job from building the seven-day calendar.