9-Day China Tour: Beijing, Chongqing, Chengdu & Shanghai

Arrive in Beijing, the starting city of this 9-day China tour through Beijing, Chongqing, Chengdu, Xi'an, and Shanghai. Your guide greets you at the airport and transfers you by private vehicle to your hotel. Check in and rest after the international flight, using free time to adjust to the time difference before Temple of Heaven and Forbidden City sightseeing tomorrow.

Visit the Temple of Heaven, where Ming and Qing emperors held ceremonies to pray for good harvests. Continue to Tiananmen Square, then enter the Forbidden City, the imperial palace complex used for about 600 years during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Walk the main halls and courtyards with your guide before returning to the hotel for the evening in Beijing.

Visit the Summer Palace, a large imperial garden from the Qing dynasty that combines lakeside halls, covered corridors, and landscaped hills north of central Beijing. After lunch, transfer to the airport for your domestic flight from Beijing to Chongqing. On arrival, transfer to your hotel and settle in for the first night in Chongqing on this alternative China city route.

This morning visit The Ring Shopping Park in Chongqing's Liangjiang New Area, a large retail and leisure complex. Continue to Kuixing Tower, a historic tower linked to the god of literature. In the afternoon fly from Chongqing to Chengdu and transfer to your hotel. Rest in Chengdu ahead of the next sector toward Xi'an on this Beijing to Shanghai itinerary.

Fly from Chengdu to Xi'an and begin sightseeing in the ancient capital. Visit the Shaanxi History Museum for collections that explain Xi'an's long role as a Chinese capital and cultural center. Continue to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, linked to the monk Xuanzang and completed in 652, an important Tang-dynasty Buddhist landmark. Transfer to your Xi'an hotel for one overnight stay before the next sector.

Today's program features the Sanxingdui Museum in Guanghan, about 50 kilometers north of Chengdu, with bronze, jade, pottery, and gold objects from ancient Shu culture, including the bronze standing figure, sacred tree, gold staff, and distinctive masks. After the museum visit, continue to Chongqing and transfer to your hotel.

After breakfast watch the Liziba light rail pass through a residential building, a signature Chongqing city scene. Visit the Liberation Monument area for the central landmark district, then Hongyadong for riverside stilted buildings and views over the river confluence. After the tour, fly from Chongqing to Shanghai and transfer to your hotel for the final city stay on this 9-day China tour.

Visit Yu Garden, a classical Chinese private garden in Shanghai's old city. Take a Huangpu River cruise for skyline views of Pudong and the historic waterfront, then stroll The Bund among early twentieth-century trading houses and banks. Return to your hotel for a free evening ahead of tomorrow's departure transfer, completing the Shanghai finale of this Beijing, Chongqing, Chengdu, Xi'an, and Shanghai route.

Enjoy free time in Shanghai after breakfast until your scheduled airport transfer. This concludes the 9-day China tour covering Beijing imperial sights, Chongqing mountain-city stops, Chengdu, Xi'an museum highlights, and Shanghai waterfront sights including Yu Garden and The Bund. Your guide confirms terminal timing so you can check in for the departure flight with luggage and travel documents ready for the journey home.