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

Arrive in Beijing, the starting city of this 9-day China tour through Beijing, Chongqing, Dazu, 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.

Travel about 80 kilometers northeast of Beijing to the Mutianyu Great Wall, a section known for closely spaced watchtowers among forested hills, with stone slab walls and brick battlements on both sides. Walk the ramparts at a comfortable pace suited to the group. After a late lunch at a local restaurant, return to the city center and rest at your Beijing hotel ahead of the Summer Palace visit and flight to Chongqing tomorrow.

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 compact Beijing-Chongqing-Shanghai route with a Dazu day trip.

After breakfast visit the Liberation Monument area, Chongqing's central landmark district for shopping and local snacks. Continue to Liziba to watch the light rail pass through a residential building. Explore Ciqikou, a historic street of bluestone lanes. In the afternoon walk Shibati and Shancheng Lane for everyday hillside street life, then visit Hongyadong, the riverside stilted building complex known for evening views over the confluence of the rivers.

Drive from Chongqing to Dazu for a full day among UNESCO-listed rock carvings. At Beishan, focus on Dafowan and related niches along a cliff face with thousands of statues across multiple carving areas. Continue to Baodingshan to see major Buddhist cliff sculptures, including the large Thousand-Hand Guanyin carving. Visit the Dazu Museum for additional context on the region's rock-carving heritage before returning to Chongqing for the night.

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 Shanghai, China's largest commercial center and the final city on this 9-day tour. Transfer to your Shanghai hotel for check-in and rest before Yu Garden and Bund sightseeing tomorrow.

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 after Beijing, Chongqing, and the Dazu Rock Carvings day trip.

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, the Dazu Rock Carvings UNESCO excursion, and Shanghai waterfront highlights. Your guide confirms terminal timing so you can check in for the departure flight with luggage and travel documents ready for the journey home.