01Day 1
Meet the driver at the confirmed airport or station and transfer to the Beijing hotel. No fixed sightseeing is planned.
12 DAYS / 11 NIGHTS · PRIVATE TOUR · NO SHOPPING
Beijing, Xi'an & Shanghai: 12‑Day Private Tour
Four Beijing nights, three Xi'an nights and four Shanghai nights
Give Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai enough time to stand on their own, then connect them by confirmed high-speed rail instead of turning the trip into a sequence of airport days.
Choose group size
Published price for selected groupUSD 2,170per person · 6 travellers · private tour package · flights not included
Prices are shown in USD. We confirm the payment currency, exchange rate and total in your written quote before you pay.
Request a quoteOr chat on WhatsApp
Need a different group size?We confirm room needs, luggage count and a suitable vehicle before sending a written quote.Plan this journey
- Journey
- 12 days / 11 nights
- Touring
- Guide and vehicle days confirmed in writing
- Stay
- 11 nights · scope confirmed in writing
- Price
- Published for 2, 4, 6 travellers
The shape of the journey
Four Beijing nights, three Xi'an nights and four Shanghai nights
Eleven breakfast-included nights: Beijing 4, Xi'an 3 and Shanghai 4. Private city guiding, transfers and confirmed second-class high-speed rail are included in the base scope.
- 01
Four nights each in Beijing and Shanghai
- 02
Three Xi'an nights with a full Terracotta Warriors day
- 03
Confirmed high-speed rail between cities
- 04
Arrival and departure days kept light
Day by day
See how each day unfolds.
Arrival, core touring and departure are shown day by day. Opening hours, named-entry tickets and local conditions may change the order. If anything important needs to change, we discuss it with you.
Beijing city · Destination view - 02Day 2
Visit the confirmed Tiananmen-area route and Forbidden City reservation. The order and fallback plan depend on issued tickets and current access rules.
Forbidden City - 03Day 3
Travel by private vehicle to the confirmed Great Wall section. Cable-car or toboggan tickets are included only when named in the written booking.
Great Wall near Beijing - 04Day 4
Visit the confirmed Temple of Heaven route and Summer Palace. Any boat ride is subject to season and same-day operation.
Temple of Heaven - 05Day 5
Transfer to the station, take the confirmed second-class high-speed train to Xi'an and meet the local driver for the hotel transfer.
Xi’an city · Destination view - 06Day 6
Give the Terracotta Warriors the main part of the day with the private guide. Huaqing Palace or another stop is included only if confirmed without cutting the museum short.
Terracotta Army, Pit 1 - 07Day 7
Visit the City Wall and a confirmed old-city route around the Great Mosque, Muslim Quarter or nearby lanes, paced to the group.
Xi'an City Wall and old-city context; walking distance depends on your group's pace. - 08Day 8
Transfer to Xi'an North, take the confirmed second-class train to Shanghai and meet the driver for the hotel transfer. No major sightseeing is fixed.
Shanghai city · Destination view - 09Day 9
Explore the Bund, Yu Garden and a confirmed old-city route with the private guide. The order follows reservation and traffic conditions.
Four Shanghai nights leave one flexible day after the core city route. - 10Day 10
Walk a measured route through a confirmed former French Concession neighbourhood and one museum or design stop. Museum reservations are date-checked.
Former French Concession - 11Day 11
Choose one confirmed option: Zhujiajiao water town, a Suzhou day trip or free time in Shanghai. Intercity tickets and admissions are included only for the option written into the booking.
Shanghai city · Destination view - 12Day 12
Transfer by private vehicle to the confirmed airport or railway station. No fixed sightseeing is planned.
Shanghai city · Destination view
Day 1 · Arrive in Beijing
Travel made seamless
Hotels, guides and transfers work together.
Your hotel level, guided days, transfers, route transport and principal admissions are planned together. We check availability for your dates before payment.
Stay
Eleven breakfast-included nights, twin sharing: Beijing 4, Xi'an 3 and Shanghai 4. Exact four-star standard hotels, room types and single supplement are confirmed before payment.
Guide, transport and admissions
The base scope includes private English-speaking local guides and vehicles on the named touring days, arrival and departure transfers, named first admissions and confirmed second-class Beijing–Xi'an–Shanghai high-speed rail. Korean pages use Korean-speaking guides at the same base price, subject to city-by-city availability.
Before you choose
How much does the 12-day private tour cost per person?
Per person, sharing a twin room, prices start at USD 2,880 for 2 travellers, USD 2,200 for 4 and USD 2,170 for 6. The guide and vehicle serve only your group, so the per-person price is higher when fewer of you travel. Single-room supplements and holiday surcharges are extra.
What does the price include, and what is extra?
Included: 11 nights with breakfast in four-star-standard hotels, private guides and vehicles on touring days, arrival and departure transfers, main entrance tickets to listed sights and second-class trains between cities. Extra: flights, lunches, dinners, insurance, visas, tips, and Great Wall cable cars unless named in writing.
How do we travel between Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai?
By confirmed second-class high-speed train, included in the base price: Beijing to Xi'an on Day 5 and Xi'an North to Shanghai on Day 8. You are transferred to the station, and a local driver meets you on arrival and takes you to your hotel. No major sightseeing is planned on Day 8.
Why do you need our passports, and are Forbidden City tickets certain?
Forbidden City and Terracotta Warriors tickets are booked with each traveller's full passport name, number, expiry date and date of birth, so we ask for these once your route and dates are agreed, before tickets go on sale. Tickets depend on availability; we confirm them and the final total in writing before you pay.
Is the guide just for us, and which days do we have one?
Yes. A private English-speaking local guide and vehicle serve only your group on the touring days in each city. Days 1 and 12 are airport or station transfers, Days 5 and 8 are train days, and there are no shopping stops.
What can we do on the flexible Day 11 in Shanghai?
Choose one: Zhujiajiao water town, a Suzhou day trip or free time in Shanghai. Transport and admissions are included only for the option written into your booking, so tell us your choice when you send your dates.
Clear before payment
What is separate—and what your written quote will confirm.
Published amounts are per-person starting prices for the stated group size and base scope. After the route and dates are agreed, we request each traveller's full passport name, passport number, expiry date and date of birth before the Forbidden City and Terracotta Warriors ticket windows open. Ticket inventory and the final total are confirmed in writing before payment.
Not included
- International and domestic flights, and any intercity transport not named in the written confirmation
- Lunches, dinners and drinks unless a specific meal is listed
- Travel insurance, visas, tips and personal expenses
- Single-room supplements, room upgrades and holiday surcharges
- Optional Day 11 transport and admissions until one option is confirmed
Confirmed in writing
- Your dates, arrival and departure details
- The hotel, room arrangement and vehicle for the actual group
- Bookable admissions and the final total before payment
Plan the destination
Check the route against the destination guides.
Use these city hubs and decision guides to test the route's stay base, gateways and day order before enquiring.
Destination hubs
Decision guides
Compare a related published route
Photo credits
The location-specific external photographs are credited below. Only conventional cropping, resizing and WebP conversion were applied; no generative edits were made. Adapted CC BY-SA photos are shared under the linked CC BY-SA license.
- Forbidden City seen from JingshanPhoto by Pixelflake · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Terracotta Warriors in Xi'anPhoto by McKay Savage · CC BY 2.0
- Shanghai skyline from the BundPhoto by Pxfuel · CC0
- Xi'an City WallPhoto by H2v5o68z · CC0 1.0
- Temple of HeavenPhoto by xiquinhosilva / Xiquinho Silva · CC BY 2.0
- Traditional buildings and pond in Yu GardenPhoto by King of Hearts · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Former French ConcessionPhoto by Fabio Achilli · CC BY 2.0
- The Bund, ShanghaiPhoto by Another Believer · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Terracotta Army, Pit 1Photo by Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China · CC0
- Great Wall near BeijingPhoto by Francesco Bini · CC BY-SA 4.0
All remaining photographs were selected from the Homeground project library and authorised by the site owner for this website. Only routine cropping, resizing and format conversion were applied.