Beijing, Xi'an, Guilin & Shanghai, 9 Nights

Met at Beijing's airport and driven to the hotel, generally about an hour. Rooms are usually available from mid-afternoon. A walk is the right size of plan for the evening: the lakes at Houhai with their lantern-lit bars, or the Qianmen lanes just south of Tiananmen. Setting up Alipay or WeChat Pay with an international card makes the rest of the trip much smoother, and the hotel desk can help.

To Juyongguan in the hills north-west of Beijing, where a restored section of the Great Wall climbs steeply away from a fortified pass on both sides. The steps are irregular, so a steady pace and good shoes matter. On the return, the Summer Palace, which shares that side of the city: the lake, the long painted gallery on its shore, Longevity Hill and the marble boat. The Bird's Nest stadium at the Olympic Green is a short stop on the way back.

Tiananmen Square, and through the gate to the Forbidden City: nearly five hundred years of emperors, walked along the central axis with side courts for quieter corners. Advance tickets are tied to passports and the palace is shut on Mondays, so this day may swap with the last. The afternoon is for the Temple of Heaven, the round triple-roofed hall where harvests were prayed for, and its park of old cypresses.

The morning bullet train from Beijing West to Xi'an North, around four and a half to five and a half hours. Met at the station and taken to the hotel. In the evening, up onto the Ming city wall, the complete rampart around the old city, then on to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, a Tang-era tower tied to the monk Xuanzang's scripture journey to India, for the fountain show in the square after dark.

Out to Lintong, an hour east, for the Terracotta Army: thousands of life-size clay warriors buried in battle order to guard the first emperor of a unified China. Pit 1's ranked infantry is the famous sight; the smaller pits and the museum's bronze chariots are just as good. Back in the city, the Muslim Quarter behind the Drum Tower for noodles, flatbreads, dried fruit and sweets.

A flight south to Guilin, about two hours, from the dry north into a green, humid country of limestone hills. Met on arrival and taken to the hotel, with nothing planned until morning: the town is easy on foot: Elephant Trunk Hill, the rock arch dipping into the river like a drinking elephant, is a short walk along the waterfront from most central hotels, and the lakes in the centre are lit prettily at night.

The day the route is built around. The boat leaves from a pier south of Guilin and follows the Li River downstream for around four hours to Yangshuo, past cormorant fishermen, bamboo rafts, water buffalo and cone-shaped karst peaks, including the stretch near Xingping shown on the 20-yuan note. Lunch is usually served on board. In Yangshuo, time on West Street before the drive back to Guilin in the early evening.

Breakfast and the transfer to Guilin airport for the flight to Shanghai, about two hours. Met on arrival and driven to the hotel. The evening is for the Bund, the riverside promenade of 1920s banks and trading houses, looking across the Huangpu to the lit skyline of Pudong, with dinner nearby. The lights along both banks are switched off late in the evening, so the walk is best done before a late meal rather than after it.

Yu Garden and the old-town bazaar first, before the crowds arrive, then the Shanghai Museum on People's Square for its ceramics, bronzes and paintings. After lunch, over the river to Pudong and up to the 88th floor of the Jin Mao Tower. Nanjing Road, the city's historic shopping street, fills the late afternoon, and the evening is free for an acrobatics show, a river cruise or a quiet dinner in the former French Concession.

After breakfast, the transfer to Pudong International for the flight home, around an hour. If the flight leaves late, the hotel can keep bags after check-out, and the morning suits a walk under the plane trees of the former French Concession or a coffee near the hotel. Allow ample time at the airport, as Pudong's check-in halls and security queues are large and can be slow at busy times of day.