10-Day Golden Ring with Hong Kong

Your flight lands at Beijing Capital International Airport or the newer Daxing International Airport, where a guide waits outside the baggage claim hall with a name board. The private transfer into the city takes 45 to 70 minutes depending on traffic, and along the way your guide sketches the capital's layout and history. Check in at your four- or five-star hotel near the centre, then keep the rest of the day free. Many travellers walk to Wangfujing Street for a first look at Beijing life. No meals are included today, so dinner is your own choice — Wangfujing Snack Street sells lamb skewers, tanghulu and jianbing, an easy first night. Overnight in Beijing.

After breakfast the guide meets you in the lobby for a full day in the old imperial heart. Start at Tiananmen Square, then walk north through the Meridian Gate into the Forbidden City, spending about two and a half hours among the halls and courtyards. Lunch is not included; your guide points you to a dumpling and noodle house off Qianmen Street. In the afternoon drive west to the Summer Palace, wandering the Long Corridor beside Kunming Lake, before a photo stop at the Bird's Nest and Water Cube. In the evening, book a table at Quanjude on Qianmen Street for carved Peking duck with pancakes and sweet bean sauce. Overnight in Beijing. Note the palace closes on Mondays.

Meals: Breakfast

An early start takes you 70 kilometres northeast to Mutianyu, the quietest of the restored Great Wall sections. A round-trip cable car lifts you to the ramparts, where you can walk between Ming guard towers for roughly two hours. Lunch is not included; most groups eat at a farmhouse table in Mutianyu Village, ordering grilled trout and stir-fried mountain vegetables. Back in the city by mid-afternoon, visit the Confucius Temple and the adjoining Imperial College Museum, then wander the lanes of Wudaoying Hutong for coffee and small shops. Dinner is your own arrangement — Gui Street near Dongzhimen is the spot for spicy crayfish and cold beer. Overnight in Beijing.

Meals: Breakfast

Check out after breakfast and head to the Temple of Heaven, arriving early enough to watch locals practise taiji beneath the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. Your guide explains the imperial harvest rites, then gives you free time for lunch near Beijing West Railway Station, where a bowl of zhajiangmian noodles is the quick local choice. Board the high-speed train to Xi'an, a journey of about four and a half to five hours at close to 300 km/h; watch the plains give way to loess hills. A Xi'an guide meets you at Xi'an North Station and transfers you to your city hotel. The evening is free; Yongxingfang food street is an easy first taste of Shaanxi cooking. Overnight in Xi'an.

Meals: Breakfast

Leave the hotel at eight for the one-hour drive east to the Terracotta Army, where three excavation pits hold thousands of life-size soldiers, each with a different face. Allow two to three hours, and ask your guide to point out the bronze chariots. Lunch is not included; a simple restaurant beside the museum serves biangbiang noodles. Return to the city to climb the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, then visit the Great Mosque hidden in the old quarter and graze through the Muslim Quarter for roujiamo and persimmon cakes. End at Bell Tower and Drum Tower Square. Tonight, sit down to Xi'an's famous dumpling banquet at Defachang, with eighteen shapes and fillings. Overnight in Xi'an.

Meals: Breakfast

After breakfast and check-out, walk or cycle the Xi'an City Wall, the best-preserved Ming rampart in China and almost 14 kilometres around. Bikes rent by the hour at Yongningmen, and the full loop takes about 90 minutes. Lunch is not included, so try a bowl of yangrou paomo near the South Gate before the transfer. A guide drives you to the airport for the flight to Shanghai, about two hours fifteen minutes in the air. On landing, a Shanghai guide transfers you to the hotel and outlines the city en route. Freshen up, then walk Nanjing Road to the river for your first sight of The Bund lit up. Dinner is your own choice — Lao Zhengxing does braised pork and river shrimp. Overnight in Shanghai.

Meals: Breakfast

Begin at the Shanghai Museum on People's Square, where bronzes, jade and calligraphy fill galleries holding more than 140,000 pieces; it closes Mondays, when the Shanghai History Museum substitutes. Lunch is not included, so head to Yu Garden Bazaars and queue at Nanxiang Mantou Dian for soup dumplings — bite a small hole, sip the broth, then eat. In the afternoon stroll the rockeries and pavilions of Yuyuan Garden, walk The Bund promenade past the old colonial banks, and cross into the Former French Concession for the plane-tree streets around Sinan Road. Dinner is free; the lanes of Tianzifang hide small Shanghainese kitchens. Overnight in Shanghai.

Meals: Breakfast

A leisurely morning, then the guide collects you for the drive to the airport and the flight to Hong Kong, roughly two hours forty-five minutes. You clear Hong Kong immigration separately from the mainland, so keep your arrival card and onward booking handy. A local guide meets you in the arrivals hall with a sign and rides with you to the hotel, pointing out Kowloon and the harbour on the way. The rest of the day is yours. Ride the Star Ferry across to Tsim Sha Tsui, eat Cantonese dim sum at Tim Ho Wan — baked pork buns and har gow — then finish at Temple Street Night Market for claypot rice and seafood. Overnight in Hong Kong.

Meals: Breakfast

The half-day island tour starts with the Peak Tram up to Victoria Peak, where Sky Terrace 428 gives a 360-degree view over the harbour and Kowloon. Continue south to Repulse Bay for a walk on the sand, then browse the stalls at Stanley Market for silk and souvenirs. Lunch is not included; eat seafood at a waterfront table in Stanley or take dim sum in Aberdeen, where the Aberdeen Fishing Village stop shows the old boat-dwelling side of the city. Finish with a sampan ride through the typhoon shelter. The evening is free — watch the Symphony of Lights from the Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui. Overnight in Hong Kong.

Meals: Breakfast

After breakfast at the hotel, the guide meets you in the lobby and accompanies you to Hong Kong International Airport, either by private car or on the Airport Express, which covers the run from Central in about 24 minutes. Allow three hours before an international departure for check-in, security and immigration. No lunch is included today. If your ticket home leaves from a mainland gateway instead, note that flying back into China means a fresh entry check and possibly a new visa. Late-evening flights leave room for a last bowl of wonton noodles in Kowloon. Your guide helps with luggage and check-in, then the tour ends at the terminal.

Meals: Breakfast