Your 16-day China journey
- Travelling as 2
- €4,748 per person
- Travelling as 4
- €3,947 per person
Guide prices per person, based on twin/double sharing. Your dates and final arrangements are confirmed in a written quote.
One route. Your own interests.
16 days. Many sides of China.
- Beijing
- Xi’an
- Chengdu
- Chongqing
- Shanghai
With Jiuzhaigou’s mountain lakes and a three-night Yangtze cruise between the cities.
For your own party
Private land transfers and English-speaking guides for the agreed programme. Trains, park shuttles and the cruise are shared.
15 nights, thoughtfully connected
Twelve hotel nights and three nights in a balcony cruise cabin. Rail journeys and a domestic flight connect the route; the detailed itinerary sets out what is included.
A proposal you can understand
Discuss your dates, hotel preferences and pace. Your written quote separates the included services from optional experiences and meals.
What happens after you enquire
Tell us the essentials
Your travel month, party size and the places you would most like to see. It is fine if the dates are still flexible.
Discuss your route
We review the connections, walking pace and hotel preferences with you before shaping the itinerary.
Review your written proposal
See the itinerary, price and included services together before deciding whether to book.
Off Path Now was founded in Chengdu in 2026 by experienced local travel consultants. Travel contracts and payments are handled by a licensed partner travel agency, identified in your proposal before booking.
Off Path Now · Film
China, closer. The film.
A 34-second introduction to the journeys we plan — five cities, one private journey.
Your travel advisers
A conversation, before a journey.
Meet He Chengjie and Huang Yi, your travel advisers at Off Path Now. Share the places that intrigue you, the experiences you enjoy and the pace that feels right. Together, we can shape a private journey through China that brings its landmarks, culture and everyday life into a more personal itinerary.
Talk to our team
He Chengjie
Travel adviser
Huang Yi
Travel adviser
China
A closer way to travel.
Five cities, many ways to look closer.
China is more than a collection of famous sights. Walk Beijing’s palace courtyards, study a clay face in Xi’an, pause for tea in Chengdu, watch Chongqing’s riverbanks light up and explore Shanghai on foot.
Explore the journeys
Into the landscape
From ancient capitals to mountain lakes
China’s cities and landscapes belong in the same conversation. Beijing and Xi’an introduce imperial architecture and archaeology; Sichuan adds pandas, Jiuzhaigou’s mountain lakes and time for tea. Chongqing brings a different urban rhythm before the Yangtze carries the journey towards Yichang. Shanghai offers riverfront architecture and neighbourhood walks.
Our 16-day China itinerary links these five cities with Jiuzhaigou and a three-night Yangtze cruise. Shorter Sichuan journeys remain available. We plan the connections around your dates and leave room for the places that matter most; not every sight shown here is included in every itinerary.
Choose your route
Find your own way through China.
Four starting points: 3, 5 or 7 days in Sichuan, or 16 days across China. Land arrangements are tailored to your party; trains, park shuttles and the Yangtze cruise are shared services.
3 days · Pandas & the flavours of Chengdu
Meet Chengdu's pandas, settle into a teahouse and discover the city's food and heritage. Two nights in Chengdu, with a full sightseeing day in between.
Guide price · per person
- Travelling as 2
- €590 per person
- Travelling as 4
- €448 per person
Twin/double sharing · dates and final arrangements confirmed by quote.
5 days · Chengdu, Huanglong & Jiuzhaigou
Two nights in Chengdu and two near Jiuzhaigou. Travel north by high-speed train, with private station transfers, Huanglong's pools and a full day among Jiuzhaigou's lakes.
Guide price · per person
- Travelling as 2
- €1,555 per person
- Travelling as 4
- €1,184 per person
Twin/double sharing · dates and final arrangements confirmed by quote.
7 days · Pandas, alpine lakes & sacred summits
A varied private road journey through Wolong, Huanglong, Jiuzhaigou, Dujiangyan, Leshan and Mount Emei. An active route with several long drives and six overnight stays.
Guide price · per person
- Travelling as 2
- €2,426 per person
- Travelling as 4
- €1,761 per person
Twin/double sharing · dates and final arrangements confirmed by quote.
16 days · A journey across China
From Beijing’s palace courtyards to Shanghai’s riverfront: Xi’an, Chengdu’s pandas, Jiuzhaigou and three nights on the Yangtze. Five cities, with room to look closer.
Guide price · per person
- Travelling as 2
- €4,748 per person
- Travelling as 4
- €3,947 per person
Twin/double sharing · dates and final arrangements confirmed by quote.
China destinations · Sichuan
Sichuan, a different side of China.
Sichuan is a province in southwest China, with Chengdu as its capital. Within a wider China journey, it brings giant pandas, teahouse culture, mountain lakes and Buddhist heritage into focus. The places below are our current Sichuan collection, not a list of all the destinations we cover in China. Jiuzhaigou features in the 16-day route; the shorter regional routes offer different combinations of Huanglong, Leshan and Mount Emei. Anyue and Shunan Bamboo Sea require a separately planned extension.
Leshan Giant Buddha
A monumental seated Buddha carved into the cliff above the meeting of three rivers. Look from the river for the full scale, then take time for the carved details around the site.
Mount Emei
At the Golden Summit, the great Samantabhadra statue rises above temple roofs and mountain cloud. Closer views reveal the sculpture and its setting; clear skies are never guaranteed.
Jiuzhaigou
Follow park paths between clear, changing-colour lakes, fallen timber beneath the water and cascades. The forest and reflections shift with the season and the light.
Huanglong
Walk beside pale travertine terraces filled with blue-green water. Wider valley views show how the pools sit in a high mountain setting, where altitude and weather shape the day.
Anyue rock carvings
In eastern Sichuan, Anyue’s Buddhist carvings reward a close look. Move between groups of figures and individual faces to notice the artistry shaped into the stone over centuries.
Shunan Bamboo Sea
Near Yibin, bamboo-covered hills suggest a slower southern journey. These photographs evoke the bamboo landscape; their exact shooting locations have not been verified as Shunan.
Choose the small photographs or arrows to see more of each place. Scenery varies by season. Images marked “illustrative” have unverified shooting locations. Only stops confirmed in your written itinerary are included in your journey.
Where you stay
Room for a different rhythm.
Long days among pandas, mountain roads and old streets end somewhere calm. In Chengdu we look for bases you can walk from — near Chunxi Road and Taikoo Li — so the evening is yours: a dining street, a riverside walk, or an early night.
Mercure Chengdu Taikoo Li is our current planning reference. The exact property, room category and availability are confirmed in your written proposal before you book.
China, as it is lived
Leave room for the everyday.
The most revealing part of a China journey may be the hour between the landmarks. A Beijing hutong walk, an evening after Xi’an’s museums, tea in Chengdu, Chongqing’s riverfront and a Shanghai pavement each reveal a different way a city is lived.
Choose neighbourhood walks and pauses around your interests, rather than expecting one city to stand for the whole country. Our Chengdu photographs remain part of this collection; the newer Beijing, Chongqing and Shanghai images broaden the view. Exact streets, experiences and timings are agreed in your itinerary.
Walk through Nanluoguxiang
Grey tiled roofs, red lanterns and shopfronts give Nanluoguxiang its street-level rhythm. Leave time to look along the lane, then choose quieter adjoining hutongs where the route allows. This is a lively neighbourhood walk, with respect for the people who live and work here.
Xi’an, one bowl at a time
Under the trees of Huimin Street, Xi’an’s food culture comes into view between shopfronts and passing crowds. Make time for biangbiang noodles, or yangrou paomo — flatbread in a savoury lamb broth. The pleasure is in the contrast of wheat, texture and warmth, as much as the walk itself. We plan food stops around your tastes and dietary needs; ingredients and spice levels are checked with each kitchen.
Chongqing, a city in cyberpunk layers
After dark, Chongqing’s towers, glowing bridges and riverside lights seem to stack into a living science-fiction skyline. Hillside streets and elevated monorails give the city its layered, cyberpunk character; look again and ordinary neighbourhood life sits within the spectacle. Choose viewpoints and walks to suit your pace, with time to watch the lights change. This city evening is separate from the Yangtze cruise.
Read the city through its buildings
Along the Bund, stone façades and rooflines tell another Shanghai story beside the Huangpu River. Pause over the architecture before looking across to Lujiazui; the two riverbanks offer contrasting views of the same city.
Take a seat in an old teahouse
At Guanyin Pavilion teahouse in Pengzhen, outside central Chengdu, wooden beams and closely set tea tables create a different setting from the city’s open-air tea gardens. Allow time for the journey there and for an unhurried seat at the table.
Let the park set the pace
At People’s Park in central Chengdu, tea tables under the trees offer a pause between city visits. Stay for the tea and the park around it; discuss drinks, prices and refills when ordering.
Wander the city streets
A city walk can move between tree-lined streets, produce markets and an evening food lane. Choose the neighbourhood around your interests and the day’s schedule; we do not assume every market or stall will be operating.
Find quieter corners
Wangjianglou Park, Culture Park and the red-walled paths at Wuhou Shrine offer different ways of walking Chengdu. Bamboo, pavilions and courtyards reward time, with the route adjusted to the opening arrangements and your pace.
OFF PATH NOW
Travel Guides
Practical answers for your China journey: payments, connectivity, transport and arrival preparations. Start with the guides below, and use the official sources linked in each article for current requirements.
Practical China
Getting online in China: eSIM, roaming or a local SIM?
Choose your data connection before you fly, and decide separately how to keep access to your phone number. A practical guide for overseas visitors to China.
Read the guide
Practical China
6 Days in Guizhou: Guiyang, Huangguoshu and Libo
A six-day, five-night route through Guiyang, Huangguoshu and Libo, with two nights near Libo and a final Guiyang buffer before departure.
Read the guide
Practical China
How to Book China Train Tickets on 12306 with a Foreign Passport
A practical guide to the official English booking service: passport verification, station names, payment, waitlists and boarding.
Read the guideOFF PATH NOW
The Journal
Culture, everyday life and a closer look at China — from Beijing’s palace courtyards to Sichuan’s teahouses.
Places & culture
Mount Siguniang: look below the snowline
Snow draws the eye upwards at Mount Siguniang. Follow the mountain down into darker slopes, and another story emerges: ice, forest and the wider landscape protected for giant pandas.
Read the story
Places & culture
Wuyuan’s autumn rooftops: the art of shaiqiu
Across Wuyuan’s tiled roofs, round drying trays turn a harvest into a pattern. At Huangling, that image opens a conversation about storage, architecture and a village shaped by tourism.
Read the story
Places & culture
Fujian Tulou: Around a Shared Courtyard
A curve of earth outside, a rhythm of timber within: Fujian’s tulou invite a closer look at how architecture makes room for life together.
Read the storyOFF PATH NOW
China, in motion.
Small moments. A sense of place.
Films
China, closer. The Off Path Now film.
A 34-second brand film: five cities, one private journey — Beijing, Xi’an, Sichuan, Chongqing and Shanghai, planned in Chengdu by people who live here.
View the film
Films
Giant Pandas, Up Close.
Eighteen unhurried seconds with a giant panda and its bamboo — the encounter at the heart of so many Sichuan journeys.
View the film
Films
China, in a different light.
Mountain ridgelines, ancient gateways and the gestures of tea and craft. A 58-second invitation to look closer at China.
View the filmPlanning your arrival
Check your entry options for China
China currently offers visa-free entry for tourism to eligible travellers holding ordinary passports from certain countries, usually for stays of up to 30 days. Eligibility depends on your nationality, passport, purpose of visit and travel date. Check the latest official guidance before booking flights.
Entry information checked on 23 September 2026. Rules may change; final admission is decided by border authorities.
From an idea to an itinerary
We will join the dots.
Tell us how much time you have, and we will shape a route with room for what matters to you. Mount Siguniang, in western Sichuan, is an option for a custom trip — it is not part of every itinerary.