Give Beijing and Shanghai four nights each. For a ten-day trip we suggest two cities, for fourteen days three, and for sixteen either four bases or three with a slower last week.
Three lengths, the number of bases each one supports, and where the nights go.
Beijing to Shanghai: published journey times include 4 hours 18 minutes, second class about ¥553 to ¥694, with about 54 departures a day.
Rail tickets release 15 days before departure on the official railway channel, so trains at the end of a long trip are not on sale when you start planning.
Our working rule is two nights minimum per city, and three if you want a full day that does not involve a station.
Two nights, or three for a day without a station.
Beyond that we add nights by interest rather than by rule.
The second half of the rule is less obvious. A city two hours away is not necessarily a half-day addition.
Checkout, the ride to the station and boarding can take the morning.
Two bases. Beijing four nights, Shanghai four nights, with two days consumed by arrival, departure and the transfer.
Beijing South to Shanghai Hongqiao, on published journey times. Other services on the route run longer, so pick the departure rather than the day.
Take it as a day trip and keep one hotel.
This avoids another hotel move, but still requires station and transfer time.
Three bases. Beijing four nights, Xi'an three, Shanghai four, with two travel days and one night to place where you would regret rushing the most.
Xi'an to Shanghai is the long one at 5 hours 39 minutes to 7 hours, so take a morning departure and treat the afternoon as lost.
The delta version, and the gentler one. Two short hops instead of one long one.
It does keep you inside a single region for a fortnight, which is a choice rather than a compromise.
Beijing to Shanghai as above, then Nanjing works as a two-night add without disturbing the other two.
Sixteen days is where the shape has to be chosen rather than assembled: four bases, or three with the last week slowed down.
Chengdu to Shanghai is a flying day rather than a rail day. If that sounds like a waste, cut Chengdu and give the nights to Xi'an.
This is the shape to take if you would rather see four cities properly than six badly.
Take this one if you want the capital, the delta and a slow last stop without a fourth hotel move.
Xi'an to Luoyang is ¥70 to ¥175, with 98 trains a day.
Thirteen nights with three moves.
Tickets release 15 days ahead on the official railway channel. Holiday departures can sell out as they are released, which has two consequences for planning.
Plan the shape, not the train number.
On a trip longer than a fortnight, the trains at the end are not yet on sale when you are choosing the shape.
Fares are bands, not fixed prices.
What you actually pay varies by train, season and time of day, so treat the figures here as bands and check your date on the official channel.
Three errors account for most of the bad itineraries we see. None of them is about the cities.
The common error is a three-city plan built on flight timings, then run on trains.
The fix: rail is measured city centre to city centre. Published journey times include 4 hours 18 minutes for Beijing to Shanghai. Add the time to reach the station and the time to leave it at each end.
Treating a station name as a place.
The fix: Guilin to Yangshuo is 22 minutes and ¥26 to ¥34, but Yangshuo station sits outside the county town, so you still need a transfer at the far end. Budget for it.
Putting the long leg in the middle.
The fix: a 10-hour rail day is easier to absorb between two four-night stays than between two two-night stays.
Four in Beijing, four in Shanghai, and three in Hangzhou, leaving two travel days and three nights to distribute. Add the spare nights to whichever city you would regret rushing.
Yes, at four nights each. It is not enough for both plus Xi'an, because the internal legs start consuming the days you came for.
Fifteen days before departure, on the official railway channel. Set a reminder rather than relying on memory, and book the long leg first.
Yes. Both are under an hour from Shanghai, with frequent departures, so neither requires moving hotels.
Compiled 21 October 2026 from the cited sources. Not every leg could be re-checked this round; where a published range stands without a fresh check, the official railway channel decides on the day. Services and prices change with the seasonal timetable.