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China Travel between Shanghai and Beijing

I am wondering if there is a way to fly out of Shanghai, stop at the Terracotta Warriors and then fly on to Beijing in the same day.

Posted by
11056 posts

I would not recommend even considering that. We spent several days in Xian, a large city. We spent more than half a day at the Terra Cotta Warriors and saw other historic sites and museums the other days. But, it could be done, Early departure from Shanghai arriving Xian mid morning, early evening flight Xian to Beijing. Better than missing Xian I guess.

Posted by
2613 posts

That's more Chinese airport time than I could manage in a day. The airports there were chaotic when we went through both Beijing and Shanghai. The lines were enormous, snaking things, with people pushing and cutting. There were layers and layers of security.

You don't give any detail about how long your trip is but you could do Shanghai, take the 5-ish hour train to Xian, sleep in Xian, wake up and tour the Warriors and see a bit of the city and then wake up then next morning and take the train from Xian to Beijing. I think that's about 6 hours also.

Keep in mind, also, that you will spend hours and hours stuck in traffic. The traffic in both Beijing and Shanghai was mind-numbing. I've never seen anything like it - not in Cairo, Istanbul or Tokyo. It took our tour bus 45 minutes to take a right turn out of our hotel parking lot one night in Shanghai.

Posted by
2067 posts

How long will you be in China? I think Valerie is right. Spend a day visiting Xian and overnight there before heading to Beijing. The warrior exhibit is truly interesting.
Valerie, how China has changed! I visited in the mid 80s and we rarely saw a car! But, the roads were wall to wall with bicyclists! In the early 90s the roads were wall to wall with scooters!

Posted by
5697 posts

Food -- our tour had a meal of delicious dumplings in Xian. Museum and warriors excellent.

Posted by
464 posts

Flying to Xian from Shanghai takes at least two and a half hours, and then two hours to Beijing. This would be like flying from my home in Minneapolis to NYC to see the Statue of Liberty and then flying back to Chicago the same day. Really? While this might be possible, it doesn’t seem like the best way. Xian deserves a lot more time.