How to Plan Beijing Xian Shanghai Tour
Are you interested in China’s golden triangle tour (Beijing, Xian & Shanghai)? If you are, this is the article that tells you how to make your golden triangle tour plan when you visit China.
The Best Time to Go
There is a clear distinction between the four seasons of Beijing, Xian and Shanghai. The winters of Beijing and Xian are snowy. Some people are attracted by snow-covered landscape, while others prefer other seasons. Choose a time that you like best is a wise choice.
However, for most people, the best times to travel these cities are spring and autumn. The spring is warm and cozy. The autumn is called “Golden Autumn” in China, and the weather at this time is clear and refreshing. Check Beijing weather, Xian weather and Shanghai Weather for detailed weather information.

The Great Wall
Decide Your Travel Length
Beijing Xian Shanghai tour is the essence tour of China, so we suggest you take about 8 days for your trip. We have provided several itineraries for you and you can check the details at the bottom of this article. If you have special requirements or want to visit more destinations, please feel free to contact us, and our Travel Consultant will reply you as soon as possible.

Shanghai Oriental Pearl Tower
How to Choose a Suitable Itinerary
Where to Start – Beijing or Shanghai?
Most travelers take Beijing as the start of their trip. In fact, Both Beijing and Shanghai are easy to reach, and they all have many international and domestic airlines. So, when you decide where to start your tour, make a decision combining with your location and the next destination after this trip.
By Flight or By High Speed Train
Normally, flights are the most popular and quickest way to travel. Flights between any two of the three cities only take you about 2 hours and there are more flights commuting among these cities than trains. While if you want to experience China Railway High-speed and save some money at the same time, you can take the itinerary with high-speed train. This train will only take about 5 hours, and the train is comfortable and clean, you can appreciate China’s landscape on the road. Normal train is also a common transportation tool in China. However, we didn’t arrange normal train in the itineraries for it’s too slow. We don’t suggest you to choose these normal trains unless they are overnight trains. Choose an overnight train will save you one night accommodation fee, plus, ticket fees for normal train are already low, thus, an overnight normal train is the most economical way to travel.
Family Tour or Other Theme Tours
If you are travel with your family, we recommend our Family Tour itinerary for you. The family tour is more suitable for you when you have kids with you. This itinerary arranges many group activities like taking a rickshaw in Beijing Hutong and making dumplings with the local family. It will bring a lot of fun for you and your kids. We can also arrange other theme activities for your golden triangle cities tour, like World Heritage Sites tour, hiking, photography, etc. You can choose the most interested one. For detailed information and other theme tours, please check China Travel by Themes. If you want a customized theme tour, please feel free to contact our Travel Consultant, they will try their best to satisfy your requirements.

Beijing Hutong Traveling
Choose Accommodations in Beijing, Xian & Shanghai
When you finish your travel schedule and decide the transportation, it’s time to consider the accommodations in Beijing, Xian & Shanghai. Before you start your trip, you need to book hotels in advance. We have selected some hotels for your reference. They are from 3 stars to 5 stars hotels and are easy to reach. Please check Beijing Accommodation, Xian Accommodation and Shanghai Accommodation for detailed information.

Hotel in Beijing
Explore Highlights in Beijing, Xian & Shanghai
Beijing, Xian and Shanghai tour is the most classic route in China. You can discover China’s past, present and future in this trip.
The Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace are all must-see attractions in Beijing. While in Xian, the highlights are the Terracotta Army, Ancient City Walls, Big Wild Goose Pagoda and Muslim Community and so on. When you get to Shanghai, the Bund, the Oriental Pearl Tower, Yu Garden, the City God Temple and Nanjing Road can definitely give you a unique experience of modern civilization and retrospective scenery.

Xian Ancient City Wall
Extended Destinations of Your Beijing Xian Shanghai Tour
There are many extended destinations, like Guilin, Chengdu and Yangtze River, for your Beijing Xian Shanghai tour if you have extra time. 10 Days Classic China Tour from Beijing contains the popular extended destinations – Guilin and Yangshuo. Only after you visit two places personally, you can finally understand the old saying: “Guilin landscape tops those elsewhere, and Yangshuo landscape tops that of Guilin”. While 10 Days Classic China Family Tour with Panda Fun add Chengdu as the extended destinations. The cute panda will definitely bring a lot of fun to your Beijing Xian Shanghai tour. Yangtze River is also a great choice as an extended destination. The 11 Days China Golden Triangle Tour with Yangtze River Cruise arranges Chongqing, Yangtze Cruise and Yichang as extended destinations. Besides explore the yesterday, today and tomorrow of China, this itinerary also provide relax and luxury cruise time on the Yangtze River. If you want to add 2 or more destinations or other destinations into your tour, that’s totally ok. Our Travel Consultant will customize a unique itinerary according to your requirement and calculate the time needed for your tour. Please feel free to contact us.

Guilin
Keep Reading
Recommended Beijing Xian Shanghai Tours
Top 3 Beijing Xian Shanghai tours chosen by most customers to explore Beijing Xian Shanghai in the best way. Check the detailed itinerary, or tailor your own trip now with us.
- 8 Days Best Shanghai, Xian & Beijing Tour
Shanghai / Xian / Beijing
- 8 Days Best of China Tour (Flight/Bullet Train Covered)
Beijing / Xian / Shanghai
- 8 Days Beijing Xian Shanghai Tour by Flight
Beijing / Xian / Shanghai
Start planning your tailor-made holiday to China by contacting one of our specialists. Once enquired, you’ll get a response within 0.5~23.5 hours.
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