China Without Beijing

Special Notes

A few things on this route follow the calendar, the season or a supplier's confirmation. Here they are, told straight.

• Bookings are not open yet — four things have to be real first. One, the class of the two flights and the high-speed rail segment. Two, the mode of the day-5 same-day return to Dujiangyan, rail or private vehicle, with the points it runs between. Three, the headcount cap per order, with the vehicle and guide configuration that goes with it. Four, the named hotel list per level for all four cities, with room types. Until all four are settled and stated here we take no orders and no deposits. Tell us your dates and we will write to you on the day it opens.
• Robotaxi is an on-the-spot option only — Shenzhen runs driverless taxis on live commercial routes, and whether they are running on your day sits with the operator rather than with us. So this ride is not in your price and it is not sold as part of this plan. If you want it, your guide books it on the day through the operator's app and the fare is settled on the spot at the operator's own rate, which the operator sets and we do not quote in advance. If the service is suspended, your guide extends the Huaqiangbei walk instead.
• Departure dates — no departures whose itinerary touches October 1 to 7, the national holiday week. All four cities are affected in the same week: the panda base restricts visitor numbers and its morning slots go first, the Terracotta Warriors site cannot deliver what we promise about it under holiday crowds, and the Bund and Huaqiangbei both run at holiday density.
• December departures — the wall top is the longest unsheltered outdoor stretch of this route. On December departures the day-8 wall slot is set as a walk along a stretch of the wall rather than a ride, at your guide's call on that morning's weather. The price is the same either way.
• The panda base is a morning item — it is never moved to an afternoon slot on any departure date, because in the afternoon you are mostly looking at sleeping animals.
• Visa window — the 30-day visa-free policy for the six markets this plan is sold to currently runs through December 31, 2026. Because this is a 12-day plan, departures on or before December 20, 2026 finish inside that window; later departure dates are quoted only after the official renewal is announced. Per order we confirm that your 12 days plus any extra days you spend in China all sit inside the 30.
• Not sold to the United States market — Shenzhen carries no scheduled US service in our current planning basis, and 12 days sits outside the stay window of the 10-day visa-free transit policy. We decline orders from that market for this plan rather than rework them, and we say so before anyone pays anything.
• Entry connection — France / Germany / the Netherlands / Belgium · Italy / Spain / Portugal / Greece fly straight into Shenzhen. From the UK · the Nordic countries / Central Europe / Ireland · Canada · Australia / New Zealand only part of the departure hubs have direct service, so each order is checked against your own home airport; where there is none, your order is written to enter through Hong Kong or Guangzhou. The international sector into that port is not included; the ground transfer from it to your Shenzhen hotel is arranged by us and is included, and we do not charge it as a separate relay sector.
• Transit-policy entrants — guests who entered China under the 10-day visa-free transit policy cannot take this trip, because 12 days exceeds that policy's permitted stay. We say so before payment and we do not work around it.
• The day-12 morning — day 12 holds a Shanghai morning before the airport, and each order is checked against your own departure flight time. Where the flight is early, that morning shortens to the ferry crossing alone or comes off, and the drop-off moves forward. Nothing in your price changes either way.
• Shanghai Museum galleries — your timed slot is booked by us, and we do not promise which galleries are open on your day. Rotations and closures are the museum's call.
• Confirmation and changes — the confirmation-time commitment and the change and refund terms are being finalized with our ground partners. Until they are settled, each quote states in writing its own confirmation deadline and its change and refund conditions. This route holds two internal flights and two rail segments, so a date change touches flight, rail, hotel and timed-reservation inventory at once.