One or two free days between international flights is enough for a Great Wall morning or a night on the Bund. We plan it backwards from your departure, with a written on-time guarantee.
Usually, yes — and this is the single most underused thing about traveling through China. Under China's 240-hour (10-day) visa-free transit policy, travelers holding passports from more than fifty countries can leave the airport and travel within a designated area between two international flights.
Even a six-hour connection is enough for a guided half-day if someone who knows the airport sets it up. And if you have a night or two between flights, that's a small trip inside your trip — a Great Wall morning, a night on the Bund, or pandas before a transatlantic flight home.
Rules change often, and the eligible-country list has been expanded several times. We confirm what applies to your passport at the time you travel, in writing, before you fly. If your connection is too tight, we'll say so rather than sell you something that risks your flight.
Priced per person, private guide and vehicle included, airport transfers included.
Close to the airport, with a car on standby and a guide watching the clock. A visit chosen deliberately so that a delay on the road cannot cost you your flight.
Leave the airport, see the one thing you would have regretted missing, and be back for your connection with time to spare. The most-booked option by a wide margin.
Take the airport hotel out of the equation. A night in the city, a second morning before the crowds arrive, and a route built backwards from your onward flight.
Roughly what fits into a single free day, and how far the airport is from the city.
| City | Highlights in one day | Airport to city |
|---|---|---|
| Beijing | Mutianyu Great Wall, the Forbidden City, Peking duck | 50–70 min to the city |
| Shanghai | The Bund, Yu Garden, a Huangpu River night cruise | 45–60 min (8 min by maglev) |
| Chengdu | Giant Panda Base, a teahouse, hotpot | 50 min |
| Xi'an | The Terracotta Army, the city wall by bike | 50 min |
| Hangzhou | West Lake, Lingyin Temple, Longjing tea hills | 40 min |
| Chongqing | Hongya Cave, the Yangtze cable car, hotpot | 40 min |
| Guilin | The Li River, Yangshuo's rice terraces | 40 min |
Times are typical off-peak. We plan every layover with a deliberate buffer, and we'd rather cut a stop than cut your connection.
Email us and a real trip designer in China replies within 24 hours with a revised day-by-day itinerary and a clear price. No deposit, no obligation.
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