Yes this one is out of the way; and there is an airport but with VERY limited fligts. By train works, but it's also not easy and still a long time.
I will keep it if at some points I will be in Chongqing from which it still takes 2 nights overthere in Tongren.

Wutai & Sjennongdia are "easy" combined actually. Just Sjennongdia if there is no flights (seems very very limited) it takes also 1 day arrival, 1 day visit, 1 day go.

Rest what I miss, yeah..... Mount Emei is OK if I fly into Chengdu again. Had that one has a near miss like 10 times now.

my final itinerary (all booked now except trains, to far out now)

Day 10
Tue 26 Mar /Xiamen Day 1 of 15 in China
Fly 08:55 SIN – XMN 14:05

Day 11
Wed 27 Mar /Xiamen Day trip to Quanzhou WHS

Day 12
Thu 28 Mar /Zhangjiajie Go Zjangjiajie Xiamen 14:20 – 16:10 Changsha
Train Changsha - Zhangjiajie West 18:48-20:45

Day 13
Fri 29 Mar /Zhangjiajie Tuxi WHS day trip by car and rest day free

Day 14
Sat 30 Mar /Zhangjiajie Mouintain Wulingyuan WHS

Day 15
Sun 31 Mar /Wuhan Train to Wuhan 10:26-15:27 takes 5h but good time in Wuhan for business partner

Day 16
Mon 1 Apr /Wuhan Lushan WHS day trip

Day 17
Tue 2 Apr /Sanqingshan Wuhan to Yingtan train

Day 18
Wed 3 Apr /Yingtan Sanqingshan WHS day trip, evening to Shangrao train to Yingtan (just 30 minutes) for the night

Day 19
Thu 4 Apr /Hangzhou Visit Daxi WHS (but 1 component) morning, then go to Hangzhou (about 2:30 train but gets to Hangzhou East)

Day 20
Fri 5 Apr /Yancheng Hanghzou site Liangzu WHS morning to Yancheng 3h train

Day 21
Sat 6 Apr /Yancheng Visit migratory birds whs

Day 22
Sun 7 Apr /Beijing Morning fly to Beijing free day

Day 23
Mon 8 Apr /Beijing Changde Summer retreat WHS Day trip

Day 24
Tue 9 Apr /Home Day 15 of 15 in China
PEK 10:55 – 17:20 AMS /train home

If anyone wants to see what Lijiang was like then it is available to view as a single video of 1hr 52mins on Youtube
here . The original run time of the 7 episodes was 4 hours so this version is not a "full" one - but I cannot find that and this still gives a good idea.

After 7 exceptions our firewall allows me to post Paul's comments :D

Old Town of Lijiang - yessterday's interesting review by J_neveryes reminded my of the acclaimed 7 part video by National Geographic/UK Channel 4, set in Lijiang from 1994 (i.e before the earthquake and rebuild) and titled "Beyond the Clouds".

At the time it was regarded as being remarkably frank and lacking in interference by the Chinese authorities.
If anyone wants to see what Lijiang was like then it is available to view as a single video of 1hr 52mins on Youtube here . The original run time of the 7 episodes was 4 hours so this version is not a "full" one - but I cannot find that and this still gives a good idea.

Here is the itinerary of my May 2024 trip to East China. It was geared to my special needs, focused on the WHS I still had to do. Suzhou Gardens and Hangzhou West Lake can easily be incorporated into this 14-day schedule, but I had been there already. I didn't see a Western tourist until day 9 in Zhangjiajie.

May 14: Arrival Hangzhou by flight from AMS (ON Hangzhou Elong Hotel)
May 15: Liangzhu WHS, Grand Canal WHS in Hangzhou
May 16: To Nanpingshi by train (2h), afternoon visit one component of Mount Wuyi WHS (ON Nanyuanlingcun, Pinwei Inn)
May 17: Mount Wuyi WHS main location.
May 18: Train to Jingdezhen North from Nanpingshi (1.5h), visit Jingdezhen TWHS, continue by train to Shangrao (1h) (ON Shangrao Atour Hotel)
May 19: Guifeng part of China Danxia WHS via short train/taxi combi.
May 20: Sanqingshan WHS by taxi (70min / 265 yuan one way)
May 21: Train to Changsha South (3h), switch to Changsha central station by metro for train onward to Zhangjiajie (2h) (ON Zhangjiajie)
May 22: Wulingyuan WHS by taxi (45min / 76 yuan one way).
May 23: Tusi Sites WHS (Laosicheng) by bus, train to Changsha (2h) (ON Howard Johnson Hotel Changsha Airport)
May 24: Fly to Yancheng (2h), Migratory Bird WHS, train to Shanghai (2h) (ON Shanghai)
May 25: Day off in Shanghai, rented a bike to cruise around.
May 26: Another free day in Shanghai.
May 27: Fly to Almaty (KZK) from Shanghai

I have added hotel names where I would recommend them. Overall, I found the standard of hotels very high, and the costs of the ones used varied between 23 and 69 EUR a night. Booked them all through Trip.com.

In addition to my itinerary and the blog post, there's some more practical info I'd like to share.

Handy apps
There's an app or a QR code for everything in China (even for getting toilet paper at the public toilets):
· Maps: When you have an iPhone you can use the standard Apple Maps, which has incorporated Gaode, a Chinese map app. Works very well, also for restaurant recommendations and city bus routes.
· Payment: You scan a payment QR code or they scan your account QR code. Alipay is the easiest, you can link it to your international credit card. Its competitor, Weixin Pay (part of WeChat) has a slightly better coverage. I set it up in the final days of my trip and found it quite cumbersome both in setup and use (it often presents you with pages and pages of Chinese texts). And even then it didn't always work because it was looking for a Chinese phone number. So I'd say: stick with Alipay and have a limited amount of cash (200-300 yuan at most) on hand for emergencies.
· Translation: I was happy to notice that my 2 years of studying Chinese at University still pays off! Having a basic vocabulary helps a lot with small interactions, such as counting or buying a ticket or pointing out things that don't work, etc. Otherwise, download the Chinese option of Google Translate.
· Hotels, domestic flights and trains: I used the Trip.com app, which is very easy to use and allows you to change plans as you go.

Public transport
High-speed trains are the main thing. The high-speed train stations are like light versions of airports. All will have minimarts, and the bigger ones will also have fast food restaurants (McDonald's!). Your passport is your boarding pass, as a foreigner you have to go through a manned gate. Tickets go on sale 2 weeks before departure, but on short(ish) sections like the ones I used they will rarely sell out (except for Chinese holidays). I booked them about a week before but sometimes on the day when I wanted an earlier or later train. I mostly used 2nd class which is fine, like Economy Class on a plane but with more leg space. I booked them via Trip.com, which requires paying a small commission but is very user-friendly.

For local transport, I cannot recommend the Alipay app's transport options enough. It has a built-in Didi Taxi app, which never failed to find me a driver within minutes (and they're happy to drive quite long distances, like 1.5h, as well). Alipay also has a City Transport function, where you can get bus tickets or metro tickets for the city you're in. You can even unlock one of those ubiquitous rental bikes in Shanghai with it.

Communications
Internet via Wi-Fi in hotels was often quite poor, both in terms of speed and connectivity. Some days I couldn't access it at all via my laptop – after some investigation I found out that it was linked to many hotels having open, unprotected access to their wifi (which my Windows firewall did not approve of).
Via 4g you can access internet on your phone and that generally works well. With a foreign sim, you also circumvent the censorship that regulates Chinese wifi. The only small inconvenience I had was with my (Airalo) e-sim – it worked fine 90% of the time, but sometimes it just lost connection and you'd not want that when at a cash registrar or halfway a metro ride where you have to check in and -out with your mobile. So I bought a small plan from my Dutch provider as well on day 1, which always delivered and also allowed tethering which Airalo doesn't.

Is the Beijing Central Axis page broken? It stops all right-handed info after Community Rating.

https://www.worldheritagesite.org/list/Beijing+Central+Axis

Pending update to China's Tentative List

- Shangshan Cultural Sites
- The Shuomen Ancient Port Site
- Wenzhou Alum Mine Relics and Its Cultural Landscape
- Taishun Covered Bridge
- Jiageng Education Heritage

https://www.cinn.cn/p/365224.html

https://www.xmtv.cn/xmtv/2025-01-03/96c38d96311220aa.html

https://news.qq.com/rain/a/20250117A04ED000

Looks fine to me?

City Walls of the Ming and Qing Dynasties ongoing delay may stem from various prefectures wanting to add their city wall and not missing out! Currently the number is at 14 City Walls!

"The 'Guidefu City Wall' is fully qualified to be included in the "China Ming and Qing City Walls" joint heritage application project. Once it becomes a member of the "China Ming and Qing City Walls" project, it is only a matter of time before it is included in the "World Heritage List". On the contrary, if it loses this opportunity and wants to be included in the "World Heritage List" again, it may have to wait for a hundred years."

https://5g.dahe.cn/theory/202406171772530

"While Jingdezhen is speeding up on the journey toward the status of a World Cultural Heritage site, it is far from the only region in China working toward UNESCO recognition. From Western Xia mausoleums in Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, to the Central Axis of Beijing and the Sanfang Qixiang (lit: Three Lanes and Seven Alleys) in East China's Fujian Province, more heritage projects are preparing for nomination or consolidating existing World Heritage achievements."
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202502/1328528.shtml

Working on my China itinerary. If you have comments let me know.

Questions:
* I dont see how i can book drivers on trip.com. Joel suggested as much.
* Opening hours are hard to get. Most museums are closed on Mondays.
* General: In 2025, you just do visa on arrival without any pre registration?

MON Chengdu: Arrival
Liquor site.

TUE Chengdu: Dazu
Tue Dazu Rock carvings as a daytrip.
Train: 09:17-10:12, 15:08-16:13 (5h).
On site, we will get a driver or cab.

WED Chengdu: Jiuzhaigou
Train 08:36-11:11. Bus/Taxi to Jiuzhaigou. First hike in the park.
Note: We will du Huanglong on the return due to heights.

THU Jiuzhaigou
Full day in the park.

FRI Jiuzhaigou -> Huanglong -> Chengdu
Early Taxi to Huanglong and Train.
Train: 14:22-16:34

SAT Chengdu
Sanxingdui (N), City.

SUN Chengdu -> Dujinagyan
Train Xipu -> Dujinagyan 08:11-08:39
Visit Dujinagyan, Dujinagyan Pandas and Mount Qingcheng.

MON Dujinagyan -> Leshan
Visit Woolong Panda Center in the morning with driver.
Take direct train to Leshan.
Train: 14:31-16:44
Afternoon siteseeing. Nightcruise of the Buddha

TUE Leshan <> Emei
Go to Emei, ascend mountain. Return.

Wed Leshan -> Xi'an
Morning visit of the Giant Buddha.
Train: 12:37-17:37
Xi'an Walls, maybe Mosque.

THU Xi'an
Terracotta Army (morning). Silk roads (afternoon).

FRI Xi'an <> Luoyang
Return trip to Luoyang. Buddha & Old Town/Pagoda.

SAT Xi'an -> Pingyao
Train: 09:45-12:31
Visit Pingyao. Maybe pick up one of the remote locations.

SUN Pingyao -> Xinzhou
Train: 08:06-09:40
Arrange driver via hotel. Go to Mount Wutai.

MON Xinzhou -> Datong
Train: 08:39-10:33
Yunggang Grottoes & Datong.

TUE Datong -> Beijing (nan)
Morning train to Beijing nan. Drop stuff. Visit Summer Palace in the afternoon.

WED Beijing
Forbidden City (morning), Grand Canal, Central Axis
-> Tickets seem to sell 15 days prior.

THU Beijing
Daytrip: Great Wall, Ming Tombs

FRI Beijing
Daytrip: Chengde. There is one train connection from Beijing central at 09:14-10:26 returning 15:29-16:42

SAT Beijing -> Qufu -> Tai'an
Train: 10:05-12:19
Visit Qufu. Go on to Tai'an.

SUN Tai'an -> Beijing
Visit Mount Tai.
Train: 16:00-17:54

MON Beijing
Daytrip Sea Wall Shanhaiguan

TUE Beijing
Departure is 17:00 from Beijing Airport. Probably Souvenirs and maybe Temple of Heavens

It isn't even visa on arrival - no visa, just stamp and enter.


For drivers, I just used Didi (inside the Alipay app). They will drive you very far and drivers are plentiful.

As long as you have a return ticket to show the airline that's all the care about. Maybe hotel but you have all that.


My friend asked me for a driver for this before but I actually don't know. In the end their hotel arranged it for them for a good price. For other journeys I would suggest Did too.


Ascending the mountain on foot? Takes quite a while and the return bus was 90 minutes. Ensure you organize your time for this. If you just drive up and down you have plenty of time though.

Reading @Cugelvance review on Fujian Tulou. It is interesting trivia to know that the name "Fujian Tulou" is given by Xi Jinping! when he is Governor of Fujian by the report of China Radio International as link below. I know my link below is in Thai, but you can switch to English easily.

https://thai.cri.cn/2025/12/10/ARTI1765351552897789