help with 3 week itinerary for may/june

I am just looking for suggestions for my 3 week itinerary.

These are the cities I am thinking about stopping by:

Beijing - see the big touristy things: great wall, forbidden city, tiananmen square, etc

Shanghai - and see the city, the bund, etc. (Probably not spending too long here because I dunno really what to see there, it%26#39;s more of a base to see the next two cities)

Hangzhou - see West Lake

Suzhou - see the gardens, silk museum

Guilin/Yangshuo - see the scenery, maybe do a little biking/hiking, river cruise

Chengdu - see the pandas, giant buddha

Xian - see the terracotta warriors

So, how many days should I allocate at each area? Any other general China tips (combating the pollution, food sickness, etc)? What to bring and what NOT to bring? What foods I MUST try in those above locations? Any other off the touristy path I should visit as well?

Thanks!

help with 3 week itinerary for may/june

You can%26#39;t see all of this very easily in three weeks.

Keep in mind that travel takes most of the day, so you don%26#39;t really get two days in Xi%26#39;an since most of the second day is just getting to the airport and flying to Guilin.

Beijing, 4 days, overnight train to Xi%26#39;an

Xi%26#39;an, 2 days, flight to Guilin

Guilin/Yanghshuo, 3 days, flight to Shanghai

Suzhou or a water town, 1 day

Hangzhou, 2 days

Shanghai, 2 days. Fly out of Shanghai or return to Beijing for flight home.

Even if you cut a day from Beijing and Guilin, you don%26#39;t really get enough time to add Chengdu. Of course you could go to Chengdu instead of Guilin.

help with 3 week itinerary for may/june

Beijing: 4-5 days

Shanghai: 2 days

Hangzhou: 1.5-2 days

Suzhou: 1 day

Yangshuo: 3-5 days

Chengdu: 1.5 days

Xi%26#39;an: 1.5 days

Once you add up the travel time then you%26#39;ll see that you won%26#39;t have much time for any more destinations. I presume you%26#39;re travelling overland, or are you flying for some legs? What are your points of entry and exit?

Flying the longer legs, and bus/train the shorter (the shanghai/suzhou/hangzhou region). Point of entry/exit is Beijing

Beijing (4 days) -- overnight train -- Xi%26#39;an (2 days) -- flight -- Chengdu (2 days) -- flight -- Guilin (transit only) -- bus -- Yangshuo area (4 days) -- bus -- Guilin (transit only) -- Hangzhou (2 days) -- train -- Shanghai (2 days) -- train -- Suzhou (1 day) -- overnight train -- Beijing (2 days)

I know that%26#39;s 19 days, but figure on half a day wasted when you fly each time.