my 3 week china route for first timers (spent about $1500)

SilkRoadSam

I've been to china 7 times (work related then kept going back for fun). here's a route I think works well for first timers.

week 1 - the classic triangle. beijing (3 days) for great wall and forbidden city. then overnight train or high speed to xian (2 days) for terracotta warriors. then train to shanghai (2 days) for the bund and modern china stuff.

week 2 - nature break. fly to zhangjiajie (those floating mountains from avatar). 3 days there. then train to chengdu (2 days) for pandas and hot pot. then fly to guilin for the li river cruise. I spent 2 days there.

week 3 - south. I did hong kong (3 days) then flew to yunnan for lijiang and tiger leaping gorge (3 days). then back to beijing to fly home.

cost breakdown roughly - internal transport (trains and 2 flights) around $400. mid range hotels around $25 a night so $525. food $15 a day so $315. entrance fees maybe $200 total. so around $1500 plus flights to china.

best time is april-may or september-october. summer is hot and crowded.

I booked trains on trip.com about 2 weeks ahead. for flights within china use ctrip or trip.com.

anyone done a similar route? I feel like I rushed through yunnan.