Welcome to China! After a long flight, feel free to customize your itinerary to suit your needs. If you’re feeling fresh, go out and explore right away. If you’re tired, head straight to your accommodations and start exploring from the next day. Shanghai hits you with contrast the moment you arrive. One moment you're wandering through quiet classical gardens, and the next you're looking up at skyscrapers. It's a city of opposites, and that's exactly what makes it so compelling.

A slower morning exploring Yu Garden and the winding lanes of Yuyuan Old Street, followed by an afternoon in the French Concession where leafy streets and cozy cafés invite you to slow down. Than you'll head to the airport and catch a flight to Zhangjiajie, ready for the mountains ahead. It all depends on your flight time, so plan your schedule based on your flight.

An early start takes you up to Tianmen Mountain (this was one of those travel moments you simply don't forget) on one of the world's longest cable cars, with cliff walks, glass skywalks and the iconic Heaven's Gate arch waiting at the top. By afternoon, a short train ride brings you to Fenghuang, a beautiful ancient town where wooden stilt houses lean over the Tuojiang River and lanterns glow after dark. If you’re following this China itinerary, this is the day when you’ll start realizing that landscapes take over the big Chinese cities.

Start your day exploring more of Fenghuang at a slower pace. Early morning is the best time to walk along the Tuojiang River - the stilt houses reflecting on the water feel different in the morning light, quieter, more intimate. A slow riverside morning in Fenghuang before heading to Furong, a quieter and lesser-known ancient town with a waterfall running right through its center. The kind of place that feels almost too picturesque to be real, and even more magical once the sun goes down.

Leave Furong in the morning and take the train to Zhangjiajie, a smooth and easy journey that brings you to Wulingyuan, the small town right beside the National Forest Park entrance. Once you arrive, you'll get your first taste of one of the most extraordinary landscapes on the planet. The sandstone pillars that inspired the floating mountains in Avatar rise from the forest floor, and even a short afternoon walk through Golden Whip Stream will leave you speechless.

Full day in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park and, by far, one of the most breathtaking days of the entire trip. The towering sandstone pillars, deep gorges and misty viewpoints make the place feel genuinely out of this world. You'll head up to Yuanjiajie for the most iconic viewpoints, walk across the First Bridge Under Heaven, and take the cable car up to Tianzi Mountain for sweeping panoramic views. This is the day you'll be talking about for years.

A long but comfortable train journey takes you from Zhangjiajie to Xingping, a small town on the Li River framed by karst mountains. By the time you arrive, the old streets are quiet and atmospheric. Drop your bags, find somewhere local for dinner, and let the town settle around you.

Your full day in Xingping starts with a ferry crossing and a steep hike up to the Damianshan viewpoint, where the Li River curves between the karst peaks in one of the most breathtaking views of the entire trip. The afternoon is slower, with river walks, market snacks, and a sunset boat ride on the Li River rounding out the day perfectly.

Welcome to Chongqing, China's most cinematic city, built vertically across steep hills with monorails weaving between buildings and entire neighborhoods stacked on top of each other. Walking around here you'll often find yourself on what feels like the ground floor, while whole roads and streets exist right below your feet. By night, Hongyadong lights up in red and gold, the skyline glows across the river, and dinner means one thing: fiery Chongqing hotpot.

After yesterday's neon skylines and night views, the morning starts with a calmer and greener side of Chongqing, with a visit to Eling Park and the famous metro station that runs straight through an apartment block. After lunch, a two-hour high-speed train brings you to Chengdu, where the evening is yours to explore the Wide and Narrow Alleys, sip tea in People's Park, and soak up the city's famously relaxed energy.

The morning belongs to the pandas. The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding is bigger and more beautiful than most people expect, and the pandas are at their most active early in the day. After visiting a temple or two in the afternoon, you'll head to the airport and fly to Beijing for the final chapter of the trip.

Beijing greets you with its full weight of history, and nowhere is that more apparent than at Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, where endless courtyards, red gates and golden rooftops tell the story of centuries of imperial China. Climb Jingshan Park afterward for the best aerial view of the palace complex, and finish the evening wandering the lively hutong lanes of Nanluoguxiang. Beijing is slower and heavier with history than Shanghai, and that's exactly what makes it so compelling.

The Mutianyu section of the Great Wall is less crowded than Badaling and more beautiful, with the wall snaking across forested hills as far as you can see. Take the cable car up, walk a long stretch to the higher watchtowers while the views stretch across rolling green mountains in every direction, and come back down on the toboggan for a finish that's as fun as it is unforgettable. This is, without any doubt, one of the highlights of the entire trip.

Your last day in China is one of the most varied and one of the most beautiful. The Summer Palace offers a lakeside escape from the city, the Temple of Heaven surprises you with how alive it feels, and the Lama Temple fills the air with incense and quiet devotion. End your trip wandering the hutongs near the Bell and Drum Towers, where old Beijing still breathes.