Hi. We are in the process of planning a trip to China for October. We've booked our tickets from the US to China already. We've done planned trips with travel agents before for Southeast Asia and Africa, but are thinking about doing the trip to China ourselves with booking hotels, flights, guides, etc. Our itinerary is flexible, except for the flight into Beijing and out of Shanghai.

Here is my initial plan so far:

Oct 2 - depart US
Oct 3 - arrive Beijing
Oct 4 - Beijing - Great Wall tour
Oct 5 - Beijing - Tianamen Square, Imperial Palace, etc.
Oct 6 - Beijing - Forbidden City
Oct 7 - depart Beijing in morning for Xi'an - Wild Goose Pagoda, Provincial museum
Oct 8 - Xi'an - Terra cotta soldiers
Oct 9 - Xian - depart in evening for Guilin
Oct 10 - Guilin - Li River Cruise
Oct 11 - Guilin - Reed Flute Cave, Fu Bo Hill
Oct 12 - depart Guilin for Shanghai
Oct 13 - Shanghai - Shanghai museum, shopping
Oct 14 - Shanghai - Suzhou train tour, National embroidery institute
Oct 15 - Shanghai - shopping/art galleries
Oct 16 - depart Shanghai for US

I'd love some comments on our itinerary. We are aware that we'll be in Beijing during National Day, but hope that we'll be able to get a guide for the Great Wall and to see other sites despite the holiday.

It seems like inter-country flights can easily be booked on expedia and obviously hotels can be booked easily as well. I'm assuming airport transfers can be done through the hotels or we can take taxis from the airports.

Would also love recommendations for guides in each city.

Thanks in advance for the help!

1st - 7 th October is Chinese National Day,This year will be more crowded because it is 60 years anniversary Birthday for Founding People`s Republi of China.There will be a a big dress parade on 1st Oct.
Imperial Palace and Forbidden City is the same one,different name.Suggest as following:
Oct 4, Ti`anmen Square,Forbidden City,Hutong ,Beihai Park Hutong
Oct 5,Temple of Heaven,Summer Palace
Oct 6 Great Wall at Mutianyu after jet lag,Bird`s Nest.

Please use the search box at the top of the page to find extensive discussion on the drawbacks of guides in China, why they are unnecessary for the destinations you've chosen, and why you would be ill-advised to hire any.

Although flights can be booked through Expedia that is typically for prices far higher than you need pay (often sometimes several times higher). Foreign search engines of this kind also only know about a fraction of the flights available domestically in China. In short, you would be ill-advised to book this way. If you simply cannot bear simply to book your flights as you go (which is entirely straightforward) then you need to used Chinese flight search sites such as Crip and eLong, although you won't get the best prices earlier than a month before flying at the most, and there can be drawbacks in using these sites (problems with the acceptance of foreign credit cards, problems with refunds, etc.) Again, using the search box will tell you more.

There also needs to be caution booking hotels on-line in advance. For familiar brand names with foreign managements you'll find the best prices on each hotel's own website, which you should double check by calling their toll-free line and seeing if you can squeeze something cheaper. But there is no question of getting the best price until much nearer the time, and with the more advanced hotels prices can change every 30 mins in response to demand. Nevertheless, the best prices will not be available until right before you travel.

Do not use Chinese hotel booking 'discount' sites for anything except an indication of the real price of rooms, as opposed to those pubished on Chinese-run hotels' own sites, which are wildly optimistic, and which no one ever pays. Do not believe photography or text on websites of either type. The way to the best price with these hotels is over the counter. If you cannot stomach that, then again Ctrip, eLong, or similar, but not until nearer the time.

Note that prices are in free-fall across China, and in particular in Beijing there is a glut of quality rooms. There is no need even to think about all this until towards the end of Sept.

General observations: In general China does not respond well to detailed planning of the kind you are attempting, and you can expect it to be likely that your itinerary will go awry. Be flexible, and be able thereby to make the best of the experiences you find you enjoy. Note that the 'Imperial Palace' and the "Forbidden City' are the same place. Think about taking an overnight train from Beijing to Xi'an which is both cheaper and a major time-saver (again see many earlier postings). Personally I would choose almost any other part of rural China over Guilin, and if I had to stay in the area would choose Yangshuo over Guilin itself, although Yangshuo is about as Chinese as I am. Possibly less. Although you are departing from Shanghai consider reducing your time there, cutting Guilin, and choosing more genuine rural experience. Cut out some of the itinerary altogether, and slow down. This is so relentless and so predictable you might just as well be on an organised tour.

Peter N-H

This sounds like a lot of traveling and won't leave you much time for walking around and getting to see the cities. Spend more time in Beijing, it's great. You'll also want to walk around the hutong area. There's also a long street of tea shops where you can browse and taste, which we loved.

I also took an overnight train from Beijing to Xian. My husband loves trains and talked me into it, but I really enjoyed it. Just make sure to take food along. All you can buy on the train are large tubs of instant noodles. Not that I didn't enjoy the noodles, but you might want some variety.
When we arrived at our hotel in Xian, the Mercure, they let us check in early (and upgraded us - highly recommended hotel.)

Xian turned out to be our favorite city. We spent a lot of time wandering around the Mosque area and the outdoor food market near the bell tower. It was easier to get around here. And, of course, eat in a lot of dumpling and Muslim restaurants.

I booked all my hotels in advance online: Ramada Plaza in Shanghai, Mercure in Xian, and Lusong in Beijing. All were excellent. I might not stay in Lusong again because it was in the hutong area and even the taxis had a hard time finding it.

We had our hotel book us a private car and English (sort of) speaking driver to go to the Great Wall. We paid about $60 for the day for 4 of us in a minivan, and it was great. You do not need a guide at the site. We also took a guided tour from the state agency to see the Terracotta Warriors because it is out of the way, transport-wise. This was also fine.
If you're experienced travelers, you do not need guides everywhere. Signs are in English and the taxis are a great way to get around. They are state subsidized and very cheap, and you can just show the driver your map or guidebook in Chinese characters, or have the hotel write it or have the doorman give the driver your destination. We never had a problem and never wished we had a guide with us.
Enjoy.

Wow - Thanks for all of the good advice. We will likely book our hotels and airfare in advance and may alter the itinerary some here/there.

I think we will fly from Beijing to Xian in order to save time traveling (even though it's overnight).

I'll probably post again as the trip gets closer but this has been a great start.

Thanks again!

"I think we will fly from Beijing to Xian in order to save time traveling (even though it's overnight)." Why do you think flying will save you time? If you take the 20:28 train you'll get to Xi'an at 07:58 the next morning (see seat61.com/China.htm for times), and you won't have to spend time getting to and from airports. Plus you might even meet some Chinese people not involved in the tourist trade.