Perfect Two-Week China Itinerary for First-Timers
Finally, here it is – our recommended 2-week travel itinerary for first-timers in China, including all major attractions!
We spent 18 days in the country during our world trip last year, and I have to tell you – we had a blast! We were both first-timers in China and didn’t really know what to expect besides what our research told us. We put a lot of work into crafting the perfect itinerary to be able to see as much as we could without doing a tick-off-the-list rush through the country.
In a nutshell: First, you start in Beijing with must-see sights like the Great Wall and the Forbidden Palace, as well as the Terracotta Army in Xi’an. Next, you discover two charming ancient towns in the Hunan region and get a glimpse of a more rural side of China. To discover China‘s breathtaking nature, you venture on to Zhangjiajie National Park, home to the jaw-dropping Avatar Mountains. The trip concludes in the modern metropolis of Shanghai.
For more practical tips on how to plan your trip (apps, transportation, entry requirements and everyday life tips), check out our comprehensive China travel guide, which serves as a nice companion to this itinerary!
5-6 days in Beijing
You arrive in Beijing, the historical, cultural and gastronomic hub of China – no itinerary would be complete without this must-visit city. If we had to pick only one place to visit in China, we would definitely go for Beijing.
- 1 full day: Climb the Great Wall of China. Book a tour to one of the four trails open to visitors. We recommend the Mutianyu trail, a less crowded section. It offers amazing views and quite a long strech to explore. This is the tour we booked.
- 1 full day: Forbidden Palace, where the Palace Museum is located. You will walk around A LOT, so definitely pack comfortable shoes. You can book the entrance tickets through the official site or on GetYourGuide here.
- Half-day: Summer Palace: stroll amongst ancient buildings and visit the adjoining lakes. Get the tickets on site at the entrance.
- Half-day: Temple of Heaven: perfectly symmetrical architectural marvel with a nice park to relax and people-watch. Get the tickets on site at the entrance.
- Half-day: Tiananmen Square: best visited during the flag-raising or the flag-lowering ceremony. Check the current schedule here. You have to book tickets through the WeChat mini-app called “天安门广场预约参观”. For an additional half-day activity, visit the museums located around the square.
- Depending on your interests, the rest of your time can be allocated to check out the following areas (half-day each):
- 798 Art Zone: one of the most famous art districts in the city.
- Wukesong: one of the hippest areas in Beijing, a really cool and fun place to eat, shop and wander around.
- Hutongs: traditional neighbourhoods; the one we visited is located between Qinian St. and Outer Chongwenmen St.
- Qianmen Street: a famous pedestrian street running along the central axis of the city with many restaurants, shops and tourists.
No visit to Beijing is complete without trying the famous Peking duck. We tried it at Hua’s Restaurant and absolutely recommend it!
Check out our in-depth Beijing guide for more details!
Where to stay in Beijing
If your budget allows, go for a hotel in the area to the east of the Forbidden City. It is a convenient location to reach all the major attractions, and there are plenty of restaurants, shops, malls and nightlife. The UrCove by HYATT Beijing Forbidden City ($$) and the Park Plaza Wangfujing ($$) are both excellent choices.
If you are looking for a more budget-friendly option, check out the Holiday Inn Temple of Heaven ($) right between the 2nd and 3rd ring roads. For a high-end option, the Mandarin Oriental Wangfujing Beijing ($$$) has excellent reviews.
A note about finding hotels: we booked most of our stays on Trip.com, which is a Singapore-based company and the dominant booking platform in Asia. So much so, that most Chinese accommodations cannot be found on other websites like Booking.com, Airbnb or Agoda, that are more well-known outside of Asia.
Next stop: Xi’an. Take the bullet train, duration about 4 hours. Book the train tickets on trip.com as soon as possible.
If you need some “visual aid” deciding what to include in your trip,
then you can also watch our video covering the destinations of this itinerary!
2-3 days in Xi’an
- 1 Full day: Visit the Terracotta Army. Make sure to get there early, as this is one of the most popular attractions in China and gets very crowded. Book your tickets in advance through Klook here.
- Half-day: City Walls: especially beautiful around sunset when all the lights come on. Optional: you can rent a bike on top of the wall and cycle the entire section.
- Half-day: Wander around the Muslim Quarter and enjoy the bustling streets and amazing street food.
- Half-day: Check out the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower, Xi’an’s two most iconic buildings, as well as the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, located in the south of the city.
Try typical dishes from the region like Rou Jia Mo (soft bun filled with pork, beef or lamb), Suantang Jiaozi (dumplings in hot & sour soup), Yang Rou Pao Mo (flatbread in lamb soup), and lamb skewers. We especially recommend the famous Biang Biang noodles. We tried them at Luixiang Noodles (location: Amap).
Check out our full guide about Xi’an for more details.
Where to stay in Xi’an
If your budget allows, stay somewhere inside the city wall, preferably around the Muslim Quarter. Great options we were considering are Desti Youth Park Hostel (Xi’an Bell Tower) ($) and Mercure Xi’an Downtown ($$). For a more high-end option, Sofitel Legend People’s Grand Hotel Xian ($$$) offers a memorable stay.
We stayed just outside the western part of the wall at the Holiday Inn Express Ancient Town West ($), a great budget-friendly choice.
Next stop: Hunan region and the Avatar Mountains. Take a flight to Zhangjiajie, duration about 1,5 hours. As always, compare prices on Skyscanner and book directly with the airline.
4-5 days in Hunan
- 1-2 full days: Explore Zhangjiajie National Park (Avatar mountains). Follow our one-day route that covers all the main attractions or stretch your visit for a little more relaxed pace and even more jaw-dropping spots. More details in our article about Zhangjiajie. Buy your entrance tickets in advance via Trip.com here.
- 1 full day: Tianmen Mountain and the famous glass bridge.
- Half-day: Visit the 72 Strange Buildings, the Guinness World’s highest stilted building and experience the Tujia culture.
- 1 full day: Visit the ancient town of Furong: take a high-speed train (20 mins) and spend the day exploring the old town. You could do this as a day trip from Zhangjiajie but we recommend to spend a night in Furong to see the magical illuminations.
- 1 full day: Take a short train ride (30 mins) from Furong to the ancient town of Fenghuang (Phoenix Town) and explore the town at evening. It is best to spend one night here.
Try some of the Hunan region’s famous dishes: Changsha stinky tofu, steamed fish head, crayfish and Chairman Mao’s red braised pork belly.
Where to stay in Hunan
For easy access to Zhangjiajie National Park, stay in Wulingyuan. We booked the Mountain View Guesthouse ($) not too far from the entrance of the national park. Some more upscale options are Wally House Hostel ($), Pullman Zhangjiajie ($$) and Hampton Zhangjiajie National Forest Park ($$).
For easy access to Tianmen Mountain, we stayed at the recently built Xiangxi Love Hotel.
If you decide to spend the night in Furong, we recommend the cute traditional hotel Baihe Wharf Inn ($). Other hotel options we considered are Baihe River Valley ($) and Floral Hotel Furong ($$). A more high-end option is the Tianquan Inn (Furong Town Waterfll Branch) ($$$).
In Fenghuang, we booked the Mengqi River View Homestay ($), some other great options worth looking at are Qichi Yijiaren River-view Hostel ($$), Fenghuang Yujiang River View Guesthouse ($) and Fenghuang Lanqiju River View Stilt House B&B ($$). For a more luxurious option, the Sulv Lianhua Hotel ($$) is often stated to be the best hotel in Fenghuang.
Next stop: Shanghai. Take the train from Fenghuang to Shanghai. There are sleeper trains, however they need to be booked at least 2 weeks in advance as soon as tickets go online. We were a day too late and did not manage to book the sleeper option, so we took the regular bullet train in the morning and arrived in Shanghai in the afternoon. Journey duration: 8 hours. Alternatively, you can also catch a flight from Zhangjiajie.
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2 days in Shanghai
- Half-day: Walk along the river at The Bund, especially pretty at night with the skyline lit up!
- Half-day: Visit Tianzifang, a popular art district known for its trendy shops, fun souvenirs and small restaurants.
Make sure to check out our article about Shanghai for a couple more ideas!
Typical foods of the Shanghai region include soup dumplings (Xiaolongbao), pan-fried pork buns (Sheng Jian Bao) and red-braised pork belly (Hong Shao Rou).
Where to stay in Shanghai
We recommend staying in the central area around the Bund. We booked the reasonably priced Fish Inn ($) near East Nanjing Road. We also considered the HanTing People’s Square ($) and the HanTing Hotel Jiujiang Road ($) in the same price range. More upscale options are Radisson Collection Yangtze ($$) and the InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland ($$$).
Fly back home from Shanghai Pudong International Airport, which is easily accessible by metro. Alternatively, you can also take the world’s first operational maglev train to the airport!
Other popular destinations for first-timers
If you have more time in China, visiting these places is also worth considering, as they are very popular destinations for first-timers. They are definitely on our list for our next China trip!
- Chongqing: a sprawling metropolis with a jaw-dropping skyline. Due to its unique hilly geography, the city has millions of stairs connecting multiple vertically aligned levels. The city is also touted as a “cyberpunk city”, and this is where you will find the train line running through a residential building, also known from social media.
- Chengdu: China’s 5th largest city, with a history stretching back to the 4th century BC. It is home to the famous Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, where visitors can observe pandas in their natural habitat. It is also the capital of Sichuan province and surely the perfect spot to experience the Sichuan cuisine!
- Hangzhou: one of China’s Eight Ancient Capitals; the most popular places to visit include the stunning Leifeng Pagoda, Lingyin Temple, West Lake, Xixi National Wetland Park and Hefang Street, lined up with beautifully renovated ancient Chinese buildings. You can also make a day trip to a nearby tea plantation.
- Guilin: the southern city in Guangxi prefecture is famous for its limestone caves and mountains, sitting on the landscape like huge Smurf hats.
Our cost breakdown
How much you spend will, of course, depend on your travel style. Nevertheless, we share our breakdown so that you get a rough idea about costs and prices.
Food is a major cost factor: we ate out at restaurants usually twice a day and either had breakfast at our accommodation or bought pastries at a bakery. On busy days, we sometimes substituted a meal with the occasional cup noodle.
Total cost per day per person: €59 / $68 (excluding international flights)
Total cost for two weeks per person: €798 / $936 (excluding international flights)
Breakdown avg. per person per day
| Accommodation | €21 / $24 |
| Activites & sights | €6,50 / $7,60 |
| Food & restaurants | €12 / $14 |
| Transportation | €16,50 / $19 |
| Other misc. | €3 / $3,50 |
For more practical tips about preparing your trip to China, check out our comprehensive China travel guide!
In the detailed article, we explain how to stay connected, what essential apps you need, how booking transportation works, and how to find great hotels and restaurants.
Direct jump to topics:
- Staying connected
- Essential apps
- Entry requirements
- Transportation
- Food & finding restaurants
- Detailed cost breakdown
- Best time to visit
