Sichuan, Guilin, Yunnan and beyond
Karst rivers, pandas, spicy cities and the low-altitude routes that make sense.
This is the half of China people picture without knowing it: karst hills over the Li river, pandas outside Chengdu, canal streets in Lijiang, and the long westward run to Dunhuang where the desert starts. Distances here are bigger and fewer lines are high-speed.
Plan it as a sequence rather than a checklist. The order that works for most people is Chongqing → Chengdu → Guilin → Kunming/ Lijiang, with the far west treated as a separate trip rather than an add-on.
Chengdu: Pandas, Hotpot, And The Gateway To Western Sichuan
Pandas by 08:00, hotpot after dark, and two days minimum before you head west.
Guilin And Yangshuo: The Karst Landscape, Planned Properly
Sleep in Yangshuo, cruise downstream to it, and give the rice terraces a night.
Zhangjiajie: Ticket Prices, Cable Cars And How Many Days It Takes
Sleep in Wulingyuan, buy the four-day park ticket, and start before the tour groups.
Dunhuang: The Mogao Caves, The Dunes, And When To Book
Book the caves first, then build the rest of the trip around the morning you get.
Chongqing: A City With No Flat Ground
Go for the nights: Hongya Cave, the cableway and a hotpot at midnight.
Lijiang: Altitude, Snow Mountain And Canal Streets
Sleep in Shuhe rather than the main old town, and give the altitude a day.
3 Days in Chengdu: Pandas At Dawn, Teahouses After
Pandas at 07:30, teahouse at noon, a mountain on the third day.
3 Days in Guilin And Yangshuo: River Down, Villages Back
Boat one way, bicycle the rest, and sleep in the countryside on the last night.
2 Days in Chongqing: Everything Worth Seeing Is After Dark
Sleep late, walk the old town in daylight, and keep the evenings for the river.
Chengdu To Chongqing: Two Cities, Ninety Minutes, Two Kinds Of Day
Ninety minutes apart, and completely different cities. Do them in that order.
Guilin To Yangshuo: River, Rail Or Road
Take the boat down once and the bus back — and check where Yangshuo station actually is.