China 5-Day First Trip Itinerary
Five days is not enough time to understand China. It is enough time to understand why people come back. This itinerary treats Beijing and Shanghai as two contrasting portraits of a country that is simultaneously ancient and radically contemporary — and uses the high-speed train connecting them as an experience in itself.
The Logic of This Itinerary
Why Beijing + Shanghai? These two cities represent the most legible contrast in China: Beijing is political, historical, northern — the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the hutong neighbourhoods. Shanghai is commercial, international, coastal — the Art Deco Bund, the Pudong skyline, the best food shopping in China. Together they frame the country more clearly than either alone.
Why not Xi’an or other cities? Five days is genuinely tight; adding a third city creates a trip that is mostly airports and hotels rather than actual experience. Keep it to two cities and go deep.
Day 1: Beijing — The Imperial Core
Morning (8:00 AM): Arrive in Beijing or start your first full day.
9:00–12:30: Forbidden City (故宫) Enter from the south through Tiananmen Square. The essential route: Meridian Gate → Gate of Supreme Harmony → Three Great Halls → Inner Court Palace of Heavenly Purity → Imperial Garden → Exit North. This covers the full axial sequence in 2.5–3 hours. Buy tickets in advance (mandatory online booking).
13:00–14:00: Lunch Coal Hill Park (Jingshan, 景山) restaurant or noodle shops on Jingshan West Street.
14:30–16:30: Temple of Heaven (天坛) The Circular Mound Altar and the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests — two of the most geometrically perfect structures in Chinese architecture. The surrounding park is where local Beijingers do morning exercise and socialize; in the afternoon, calligraphy practice and spontaneous performances still occur.
17:30–20:00: Wangfujing Evening The main pedestrian shopping street; walk to the snack street (王府井小吃街) for traditional Beijing street food — candied hawthorn (糖葫芦), stinky tofu, Peking duck wraps.
Day 2: Beijing — Great Wall and Hutongs
Early Morning Option: The Great Wall Mutianyu section (90 min from Beijing city centre): cable car up, toboggan run down. Allow 4–5 hours total including transport. Return to Beijing by 14:00.
OR (for non-hikers): Hutong Morning Nanluoguxiang and surrounding hutongs: a morning of narrow alley exploration, local coffee shops, antique dealers, and residential courtyards. Start at 9:00 AM before the crowds arrive.
Afternoon (14:00–18:00): Summer Palace (颐和园) The Qing imperial garden is one of the most beautiful landscapes in China. The Long Corridor, Kunming Lake (boat rental ¥40), Longevity Hill, and the marble boat (a Cixi eccentricity) fill an afternoon.
Evening: Peking Duck Quanjude (全聚德) or DaDong (大董) for a proper Peking duck dinner. ¥150–300 per person. The carving ceremony at the table is worth the price even without the duck.
Day 3 Morning: Beijing Remaining + High-Speed Train
8:00–10:00: Lama Temple (Yonghe Gong, 雍和宫) — the most atmospheric active Buddhist temple in Beijing; arrive early before crowds; the incense-filled halls are extraordinary at 8:30 AM.
11:00: Transfer to Beijing South station.
12:00–16:00: Beijing South → Shanghai Hongqiao The G-class high-speed train covers 1,318 km in 4.5 hours at speeds up to 350 km/h. Lunch in the dining car or bring food; watch the landscape transition from the flat North China Plain to the rice paddies and water channels of the Yangtze Delta.
16:30–18:30: The Bund Walk Check in at your Shanghai hotel; walk the Bund waterfront in the early evening when the light is soft. The row of European bank buildings facing the Pudong skyline across the river is one of the world’s great urban panoramas. At sunset, the gold hour light on the Pudong towers is extraordinary.
Evening: Shanghai Food Xiao Yang Sheng Jian (小杨生煎) for pan-fried soup buns; Nan Xiang Steamed Bun Restaurant in Yu Garden for xiaolongbao.
Day 4: Shanghai — Old and New
9:00–11:30: Yu Garden (豫园) A Ming dynasty scholar’s garden in the heart of the old city; the architecture is excellent; the surrounding bazaar streets have decent street food (fried glutinous rice cake, pork jerky). Admission ¥40.
11:30–14:00: French Concession Lunch Walk or bike to the French Concession (Xintiandi area, then south into the residential streets); lunch at a French Concession restaurant or one of the excellent Sichuan or Shanghainese restaurants in this area. Budget ¥80–150.
14:30–17:00: M50 Art District or Shanghai Museum M50: Browse galleries in converted textile factories; free to enter most spaces. Shanghai Museum: World-class bronze and calligraphy collections; free entry (timed booking required).
17:30: Nanpu Bridge or Lujiazui Tower Shanghai World Financial Centre observation deck: The most dramatic high-altitude view in Pudong — 474m with a glass floor section. ¥180.
Evening: Xintiandi or Jing’an Dinner in Xintiandi or the Jing’an Temple area; evening walk through the French Concession streets.
Day 5: Shanghai Final Morning + Departure
8:30–10:30: Tianzifang (田子坊) — a maze of lanes in former Shikumen (stone gate) residential buildings converted to boutiques, cafes, and studios. The most compact interesting area in Shanghai; good for last-minute purchases.
Final food: Shengjian bao (生煎包) for breakfast from a street stall.
Transfer to Pudong Airport (Maglev train from Longyang Road station: 7 minutes to airport; ¥50 — worth doing for the 430 km/h experience).
What This Itinerary Doesn’t Include (Save for Next Time)
- Xi’an (add 2 days for the Terracotta Warriors)
- Guilin/Yangshuo (add 2 days for the Li River)
- Chengdu (add 2 days for pandas and Sichuan food)
Five days in China is a beginning, not a survey. The cities are too large, the history too deep, and the food too good to approach as a checklist. Come back.