China: 2 weeks itinerary in April
- twointour
- Aug 13
- 16 min read
China is a fascinating country - at times controversial - rich in history, culture, extraordinary architectural and archaeological beauties, but also nature, very modern cities and small traditional villages
It is boundless and in a couple of weeks, you can alternate classic and non-classical stops, but we already know that we will come back to discover the others beauties of this wonderful country, which has exceeded our expectations
Let yourself be amazed by China!
Our itinerary in Cina:
Day 0 – flight Florence – Beijing (via Munich)
Florence 13:35 – 14:50 Munich - operated by Air Dolomiti
Munich 19:35 - 11:40 Beijing (PEK) -operated by Lufthansa
Day 1 - arrival in Beijing - Wangfujing road
Night in Beijing (Sunworld Dynasty Hotel Beijing Wangfujing)
Day 2 – Beijing: Tianammen Square -Forbidden City - Jingshan Hill - Lama Temple
Night in Beijing (Sunworld Dynasty Hotel Beijing Wangfujing)
Day 3 – Beijing: Summer Palace - Temple of Heaven - Drum Tower and Bell Tower -Hutongs (near the Drum Tower)
Night in Beijing (Sunworld Dynasty Hotel Beijing Wangfujing)
Day 4 – Mutianyu Great Wall of China
Night in Beijing (Sunworld Dynasty Hotel Beijing Wangfujing)
Day 5 ––Fast train (4h) to Xian (Beijing West h7- Xian North 11.19)_ Ancient Wall of Xi’an by bike (14km)_dumpling dinner with Tang Dynasty show
Night in Xian (Crown Plaza Xian)
Day 6 – Big Wild Goose Pagoda -Muslim Quartier - Army Terracotta Warriors- Train Xian - Luoyang (Xian North 16.51 – Luoyang Longmen 18:14)
Notte a Luoyang (Holiday Inn Express Luoyang City Center)
Day 7 – Longmen Grottoes - Shaolin Temple – Evening Show “Shaolin Zen Music Ritual”
Night Zhengzhou (Courtyard by Marriott Zhengzhou )
Day 8 - Train Zhengzhou - ZHANGJIAJIE (Zhengzhou East 13.03- Zhangjiajie West 20.20)
Notte a Wu Lingyuan (Yoba Boutique Hotel)
Day 9 – Zhangjiajie National Forest Park: Avatar Mountains & Tianzi Mountain
Notte a Wu Lingyuan (Yoba Boutique Hotel)
Day 10 – Tianmen Mountain –- Heaven’s Gate
Night in Zhangjiajie (Zhangjiajie Metropolo Hotel)
Day 11 – Fast train (7h) Zhangjiajie - Guilin (Zhangjiajie West 7.17 – Guilinbei 14.13) - visit Guilin (Elephant Trunk Hill and Pagodas)
Night in Guilin (Lijiang Waterfall Hotel Guilin)
Day 12 – Guilin river cruise + Yangshou village and bike in the countryside
Night in Guilin (Lijiang Waterfall Hotel Guilin)
Day 13 – China Eastern flight: Guilin KWL h7.00 am – Shanghai PVG h 9.15 am – visit Shanghai: Jing’An Temple - Jade Buddha Temple – People Square/Nanjing Road—The Bund - Xintiandi (French Concession)
Night Shanghai (SSAW Boutique Hotel Shanghai Bund)
Day 14 – Shanghai (Yuyuan Garden - Qibao ancient water town)
Night Shanghai (SSAW Boutique Hotel Shanghai Bund)
Day 15 - flight Shanghai PVG – Florence (via Zurich)
Shanghai PVG h 10.10 - 18.15 Zurich - operated by Swiss
Zurich 21.25 - Florence 22.35 - operated by Helvetic Airways
Place by place
BEIJING
We begin our journey in China from its capital - Beijing - a fascinating city that mixes a modern and ancient soul
Highlights (more info below)
1_the majestic Forbidden City, the residence of the Chinese emperors
2_ Tiananmen Square
3_ View on the Forbidden City from Jingshan Hill
4_ the awesome Temple of Heaven, where the emperor made offerings to Heaven and prayed for a good harvest
5_ Lama Temple, a stunning Buddhist monastery
6_ Summer Palace, the summer residence of the emperors (nice, but not unmissable)
7_ Drum & Bell Towers and the traditional and picturesque Hutongs nearby (ideal in the evening)
8_ Wangfujing Road to have some shopping
9_ and in the nearby of Bejing: unmissable the Great Wall of China!
Attention: many sites are closed on Monday
At least for the Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China we recommend a guided tour (details below). For the rest, Beijing can be easily visited independently by moving around with the metro (indications translated into English; to buy the ticket there are machines: user-friendly and payments accepted cash, credit card, Alipay)
To buy tickets for the attractions the easiest way is to rely on GYG and buy them in advance (to avoid very long queues at the ticket offices or even risk them being sold out).
To sleep we recommend the Dongcheng district (ideally near Wangfujing Road) which is in an excellent position for exploring the city
Forbidden City
The imperial citadel, built in the early 1400s, was the residence of the Chinese emperors for over 500 years
It is called the “Forbidden City” because access was forbidden to anyone who was not part of the imperial court.
With over 900 buildings, among the most beautiful and best preserved of traditional Chinese architecture, it is still the largest palace in the world, despite the damages suffered during the Cultural Revolution guided by Mao
Here we recommend a guided tour to explore the magnificence of this site and also have an explanation (our choice @catherinelutours, but we also saw various tours also on GYG), as well as guaranteeing you the entrance ticket. Tickets sell out quickly on the official website (https://bookingticket.dpm.org.cn/), since they can only be purchased 7 days in advance (cost 40 CNY/about 5 euros_closed on Monday)
For the visit, consider at least 3 hours
Curiosity : in China only emperors could have yellow roofs
For a view from above of the Forbidden City, climb the hill in the nearby Jingshan Park
Lama Temple
An awesome Buddhist sanctuary where you can see various traditional buildings and courtyards with enormous incense diffusers; in one of Pavilion is located a statue of Buddha, 18 meters high and carved from a single piece of Tibetan sandalwood given by the Dalai Lama to the emperor (it took 3 years to transport it from Lhasa to Beijing)
For the visit consider at least 1h
Opening time: 9-17
Ticket: 25 CNY/ 4 euro
Temple of Heaven
The Temple of Heaven was the most important in the city, since every winter solstice, here the emperor made offerings to Heaven and prayed for a good harvest.
In fact, an insufficient harvest were interpreted as signs of the loss of Heaven's favor, therefore the end of the reign
Composed of 3 main buildings surrounded by a park: consider 1h30 for the visit
-Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest
-Vault of Heaven surrounded by the Echo Wall
-Circular Altar
Today the park is frequented especially at dawn by people who practice Tai Qi, do traditional dances.
Opening time (closed on Monday): Temples: 8:00-17:30_ Park: 6-21
Ticket: 35 CNY/ 4,50 euro
Summer Palace
It is located 15km north of Beijing overlooking Kunming Lake, it was the summer residence of the emperors to escape the heat of the Forbidden City (also called the Winter Palace)
It is made up of various panoramic gardens, pavilions, temples and bridges, it is one of the most visited sites in Beijing. Honest Opinion: it is nice, but not an unmissable site!
To see it from a different perspective it is possible to join a boat tour of 30 min
Consider 3/4h for the visit.
Opening time (closed on Monday): Park7-19; Padillions 8-17
Ticket 60 CNY (8euro) +120 cny boat
Great Wall of China
One of the 7 wonders of the world…we have been dreaming of seeing the Great Wall of China for years!
There are various sections that can be visited in the surroundings of Beijing and we chose the Mutianyu one, about seventy km from Beijing (approx. 1h30/2h by car). From here you have wonderful views of parts of the wall and well-preserved turrets and it is a little less crowded than the Badaling section.
Wear walking shoes and consider in total 3h walking (with return) to arrive to the last watchtower where the view is stunning.
If you can, start the visit at the opening at 8 (with a driver or private tour) to enjoy it without too many people around (we relied on @catherinelutours or as an alternative there are group tours also on GYG). Open on Monday.
XI’AN
We lave Beijing and with a fast train in 4h we reach Xi’an to which we will dedicate a couple of days.
Highlights:
1 Army of Terracotta Warriors
2. Big Goose Pagoda, a Buddhism temple founded by a monk that learned Buddhism in India
3. Muslin Quarter, Drum & Bell Towers
4. Xi’an City Walls (ideally by bike)
5. dumpling dinner with Tang Dynasty show
If you do not take part in an organized tour (here too we relied on @catherinelutours and our guide Julia was fantastic (no adv):
- as an alternative there are also entrance tickets/tours on GYG and Trip.com
- to get around we recommend using the metro in the center of Xian and Didi to reach the Terracotta Army Warriors that are approx 40 km from Xi’an
Army of Terracotta Warriors
…more than 8000 terracotta warrior statues between 1.80/2m high buried with the first emperor of China, Qin Shihuang, to protect him in the afterlife
Fun fact: no two soldier’s faces are alike!
The terracotta army was only discovered in 1974 by a group of farmers and has become one
of the most visited sites in the world.. wonderful!
Consider 2h for the visit
Opening time -08:30-18:30
Ticket 150 cny (trip.com) - to be purchased at least 1-2 weeks in advance
LUOYANG -ZHENGZHOU
Longmen Grottoes
With another fast train we leave Xi’an (Shaanxi) to reach Luoyang (Henan) in 1h30 and visit the wonderful Longmen Caves overlooking the river. The complex of caves contains thousands of bas-reliefs and Buddha statues and it was built 1500 years ago.
The most spectacular cave is the Losana Buddha Cave whose central statue is 17m
Consider approx a couple of hours for the visit.
Shaolin Temple
The famous Buddhist temple complex, where Kungfu was born and which today also houses the most renowned Kungfu school in China.
During the visit (consider at least 2/3h) it is possible to see a 30-minute Kungfu show (approx one per hour)
To optimize travel and visit in one day both the Longmen Grottoes and the Shaolin Temple which are about 1h30 from each other, we relied on @catherinelutours who in one day with a private driver and a guide (no adv), allowed us to leave from Luoyang and finish the day in Zhengzhou. Furthermore, in this way we were able to stop near the Shaolin Monastery to see the famous “Shaolin Zen Music Ritual”, an evening show of music, lights, Kungfu, acrobats and traditional dances set in a suggestive natural theater created by the mountains around Shaolin
As an alternative there are also tours on GYG and Trip.com but they start and end from Luoyang or Zhengzhou and there is no possibility of seeing the evening show
NATIONAL FOREST PARK OF ZHANGJIAJIE
National Forest Park of Zhangjiajie (Avatar Mountains)
With a fast train from Zhengzhou (Henan) in 7h (900km) we reach Zhangjiajie (Hunan) to visit the spectacular Zhangjiajie National Park where the so-called Avatar mountains are located which inspired the setting of the famous film (so-called Halleluja Mountains) with its 3000 sandstone pillars surrounded by a lush forest
Our base is Wulingyuan which is located at one of the Park entrances and about 30km from Zhangjiajie City.
The park is huge and you can move between the main viewpoints with shuttle buses, cable cars and even an elevator (the famous Bailong Elevator which is the highest outdoor elevator in the world with its 326 meters) ... so put on comfortable shoes and also bring rain gear since fog and rain are quite frequent in this area (we were lucky to find the sun!)
Seeing everything in one day is impossible, but with a guide in one day we saw the main viewpoints (for us organized by @catherinelutours with Venus Tour Operator: honestly we do not recommend them here, since they were not good, as expected for the price paid. as an alternative there are tours also on GYG or Trip.com or a guide service at the entrance of the park)
We recommend a guided tour especially if you have little time, especially to orient yourself in the park which is enormous.
Unmissable Viewpoints
-Enchanting Terrace
- Heaven Pillar
- Tianzi Mountain
Opening time: 7am- 18pm
Our base: Yoba Boutique Hotel. very nice and walking distance from one of the entrance of the park; they also help you to buy the ticket entrance for the park. Recommended (no adv)!
Tianmen Mountain - Heaven’s Gate
Tianmen Mountain is famous for its huge hole and it is called the Heaven’s Gate because according to tradition the hole was the door between the mortal world and Heaven.
To reach it you have to take a cable car and then climb 999 deep and narrow steps! There are elevators if you want, but to reach paradise you have to climb the stairs 😉
We visited the Tianmen Mountain with a private tour organized by catherinelutours with Venus Tour Operator (honestly, we do not recommend them here, since they were not good, as expected for the price paid).
As an alternative there are tour also on GYG or Trip.com or you can reach it with a taxi/Didi and visit it on your own.
The ticket entrance (especially cablecar Line A- the Asia’s longest one) should be booked in advance since it is always full.
We take cablecar Line B to arrive, then climb the 999 steps and then Line A to go down, but it is possible make the opposite.
GUILIN
With another fast train in 7 hours (600km) from Zhangjiajie we reach Guilin (Guanxi), the so-called “Pearl of China”
Guilin overlooks the Li River and is surrounded by over than 3000 limestone peaks covered with lush vegetation that create a stunning landscape
Highlights
1. cruise on the Li River from Guilin to Yangshuo (approx 3h30) among imposing limestone rocks covered with vegetation
2. Yangshuo Village and biking in the countryside overlooking the river
3.in the center of Guilin:-Sun and Moons Pagodas (ideally illuminated by night)
-Elephant Trunk Hill which resembles the trunk of an elephant drinking from the river. Climb the hill for the view from the above on Guilin and the River Li
-the Rong Lake and the Shan Lake surrounded by lush gardens with ornate bridges and Chinese Pavillions
If you have time, visit also Fubo Hill and the scenic Reed Flute Cave approx 8km from Guilin city center
For the river cruise, the Yangshuo visit /bike tour and the return by car to Guilin, we relied on catherinelutours and our guide Tao was very good: highly recommended! As an alternative we saw similar tours on sale in the local agencies in Guilin or on GYG.
SHANGHAI
From Guilin with an internal flight in approx 2 hours we reach Shanghai, the final stop of this splendid journey! (Alternative: a fast train that takes about 9 hours from Guilin to Shanghai).
Highlights:
1_Yuyuan Garden (ideally in the morning, but come back here also in the evening to see the area nearby illuminated by night)
2_ Jade Buddha Temple (free entrance)
3_ The Bund (ideally by night)
4_Xintiandi (French Concession), ideally by night
5_ Nanjing pedestrian Road and People Square
6-Jing’an Temple
If you have time, visit also one of the water cities around Shanghai. The most famous are Suzhou and Tongli, but especially in high season they are overcrowded so as an alternative we went to the closest Qibao which can be reached with 30 minutes by subway from the center of Shanghai (for the visit consider 3h)
Shanghai is a modern metropolis with 26 million inhabitants and the most international of Chinese cities. It is very easy to visit independently and to get around use the subway (easy to take)
For the Hotel we recommend to stay near The Bund - Yuyuan Garden which is in an excellent position to explore the city
Try the crab (Noodles and dumplings) which is the specialty of Shanghai! Highly recommended (no adv) Chenglonghang, The Crab Restaurant (Jiujiang Road -between the Bund and Nanjing Road)
Others Practical info
Requirements to enter in China
All the information below was valid as of April 2025, therefore please check the official websites for any updates or changes
To enter in China, it is usually requested passport + visa, but please check the official websites because the requirements are different per each country
For instance, Italian travelers (and from few others European countries) are free-visa for trips until 30 days, until 31 December 2025
How organize a trip in China
We booked flights (Lufthansa and China Airways) and hotels on our own (booking.com), but for guided tours, entrance tickets, trains, transfers we relied mostly on a local agency: https://www.catherinelutours.com/ (not cheap; the level of the services offered is not always perfect, but in average is good. Anyway ,they are helpful, especially if you have no time and don't want to go crazy with the organization, which for China is not very simple).
As an alternative:
- on GYG there are various day tours/entrance tickets to attractions
- for trains you can buy them through Trip.com (booking 2 months in advance, but confirmation arrives only 15 days before departure: sic!)
- in cities like Beijing and Shanghai the metro is very convenient (signs translated into English; to buy tickets there are intuitive and easy to use machines; payment accepted cash, card, Alipay/wechat)
- for short trips download the Didi app (a sort of Chinese Uber)
Before departure, download Alipay and connect your credit card (but also bring with you some cash): our credit cards are not always accepted
For the internet connection an e-sim with VPN is essential (we have been using Holafly for years), otherwise Google apps, Whatsapp, IG etc. are not usable
Attention: Google maps is not always reliable (a traditional paper map is better); while Google translator works well (it will become your best friend since almost no one speaks English!)
When to go
The best period to visit China are the middle seasons (April-May and October) to avoid the very cold winter and the very hot and humid summers.
Internal Transports
In general, to get around China, we recommend trains or internal flights for long distances. While for short trips, Didi (a sort of Chinese Uber) is widely used and in cities (such as Beijing, Shanghai) the easiest, fastest way to get around is undoubtedly the metro
How to take the train
Trains are clean, fast, punctual, safe: definitely very convenient for moving between the various cities.
The cost of the ticket is reasonable, and second class is fine.
At the station and on the trains all the signs/monitors are in two languages: Chinese and English
The only drawback: foreigners cannot buy the ticket on the official Chinese website and must rely on Trip.com (booking 2 months in advance, but confirmation arrives only 15 days before departure: sic!).
To take the train, arrive at the station about 1 hour before because you have to go through security checks and there may be a queue. Once you have gone through security, look for the waiting room for your train from the monitors (different for each train number) and directly from there 20-30 minutes before departure you will do a sort of check-in (just show your passport, they don't want to see the ticket) and then you will go directly to the train platform.
How to take the metro
Taking the metro is easier than you might imagine!
As with trains, also for the metro all the signs/monitors are in two languages: Chinese and English
Once you have chosen the route to take, the ticket is purchased from the machines (with a very intuitive interface in English); payment methods: cash, credit card, Alipay, WeChat
Internal flights
On internal flights, be careful: the power bank must be carried in your hand luggage and cannot exceed the power of 1000 mAh (max 1600): we did not know this, so we had a more powerful one and unfortunately they confiscated it. Recently, China has introduced even strict rules for powerbank, so check the new rules to avoid surprises.
Where to sleep
Accommodation in China is generally good and clean: the costs are a little higher in the big cities (but still reasonable, if you book in advance).
As usual, we booked all the hotels on Booking.com – no adv (check the reviews to make sure there are some from non-Chinese travellers, so you can be sure that the hotel accepts foreigners as we have been told that some hotels do not accept foreigners)
Not all hotels accept foreign credit cards, so when booking, check the accepted payment methods (both with Alipay and credit card payments, there are small commissions)
Furthermore, it is frequent that they add a pre-authorisation or even a charge as a security deposit, which will then be returned a few days after check-out
Even in large cities and in medium-high category hotels, it is not granted that you will find staff who speak English, but everyone is extremely kind and with the translator on the mobile phone it is easily understand each other!
Meals
In China, you eat very well and even the hygiene standards are good compared to other countries in Southeast Asia!!
The portions are quite generous and the prices are very reasonable (with the exception of Shanghai, taking 1 dish each we spent on average 15-20 euros for dinner for 2 and even less for lunch)
Definitely worth trying: dumplings, lacquered duck, chicken cooked in all sauces (the pineapple one or the walnut one or with cashews is delicious); noodles (classic and the thicker version from Xi'an); crab in Shanghai
In some areas they tend to use a lot of garlic and chilli, but if you ask them when ordering they avoid putting it.
It is not common they will bring you a fork at the restaurant and in some places they don't have them at all, so if you are not familiar with chopsticks, bring a pair with you. While avoid bringing a knife because everything is already cut and in any case at the metal detectors of the first monument/temple they will confiscate it.
Some of the restaurant where we have tried the local food: (unfortunately most of the restaurants have the name only in Chinese, so we can recommend only few ones !).
Beijing
- Najia Garden Restaurant (near Wangfujing Road)
- Xian Lao Man Restaurant (near Drum Tower)
- Siji Mingfu Roasted Duck Restaurant (near Forbidden City)
Guilin:Li River Cuisine since 1997 (near the Lijiang Waterfall Hotel)
Shanghai: Chenglonghang, The Crab (near the Bund and Nanjing Road)
Cleanliness and safety
We found China extremely safe and very clean.
There is never a piece of paper or cigarette butt on the floor, the streets are washed very often, the train stations are very clean and even on the train they clean the floor with a rag continuously (to give you an idea, in a 7-hour train journey, in second class they passed 4 or 5 times to clean the floor and collect waste from passengers)
The bathrooms at the sites to visit - although very crowded - are cleaned very often and therefore we always found them in good condition. The hotels are generally clean.
Internet
When traveling independently we recommend having Internet available on your cell phone and especially in China to buy an e-sim with VPN integrated otherwise Google apps, Whatsapp, IG etc. are not usable
We opted for an e-sim with unlimited data and VPN integrated: Holafly China
Vaccinations
In general, no particular mandatory vaccinations are required (except for yellow fever, but only if you come from countries where it is present), but before starting the trip, we recommend consulting the medical center for travelers to evaluate any optional, but recommended, vaccinations.
In some parts of China, however, Malaria and Dengue are present: therefore, check the area where you are going and if present, we recommend bringing repellents (for example Jungle - very strong) and keeping arms and legs as covered as possible.
From our research, it has emerged that Yunnan, rural Guangdong, Henan and other provinces in the center and south are the most affected by the spread of malaria. While the presence of Dengue is reported in the south of the country (Guangdong)
In this itinerary, we will touch the following provinces in addition to the municipalities of Beijing and Shanghai:
Xian province of SHAANXI
Zhengzhou province of HENAN
Zhangjiajie province of HUNAN
Guilin region of GUANGXI
Costs
China is not a cheap trip, especially for excursions, drivers, guided tours and internal flights and as usual for the intercontinental flight (even if for China, the latter is less expensive than other destinations in the area).
While for food, entrance tickets and trains, the costs are reasonable.
Even for sleeping there are solutions for all budgets.
Other utilities
As always abroad, make sure you have a good health insurance for any eventuality.
To discover more about China have a look to our posts and stories dedicated to this country dated June/July 2025 on our Instagram page @2intour
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