For transit visa probably Beijing > Chengdu > Guangzhou/Shanghai. Not Shenzhen and not any city with lesser tourist infrastructure than above. Nanjing also worth considering I guess but flights will be less convenient
But it's not great as a stopover, nice destination but if someone hasn't done China at all and only has a few days you really want to tick boxes and minimise transit.
Beijing you've got the imperial palace, the great wall, you can go to a Chinese bar street, there are all the modern art galleries and such.
You could probably night train to xian and see the tetra cotta army if the tourist swarm isn't so bad.
I much prefer the dali region, but the whole real china thing is down on the priority list
Most thing don't require reservations. Beijing is great but it's huge and you're going to have a hard time getting around if you don't speak Chinese and aren't travelling with someone who does. If decide you want to go to Beijing just make sure you don't go on National Day or your trip will be a nightmare.
Beijing gives you a nice sample of history and food. It was where I did my first transit through China, and I enjoyed it just enough to go back for several full trips around the country. Shanghai is a great city, but it feels more like a normal (although very nice) city.
Shanghai. Besides Shanghai itself Nanjing, Suzhou, and Hangzhou are only about one hour away by high speed rail and all of them are worth seeing. The northern plains are more interesting for historical sight seeing but jumping from city to city there involves extremely long rides on slow, decrepit trains as it's a less developed region. If I could only visit one Chinese city though, it'd probably be Xian.
If you do Shanghai don't forget you can do Suzhou too. Totally worth it. Shanghai 4 days Suzhou 2 days is a great way to use your 144 hours. I did it back in 2017
Yea I agree with everyone on Beijing Great Wall and Forbidden City for sure. Shanghai is alright. Look into Xian. Not only are there terracotta warriors, but really cool history in the ancient city. Try going somewhere really rural too
Bejing then Shanghai
For transit visa probably Beijing > Chengdu > Guangzhou/Shanghai. Not Shenzhen and not any city with lesser tourist infrastructure than above. Nanjing also worth considering I guess but flights will be less convenient
Kunming so you can go to Dali, Lijiang and also make it down to the tea gardens in Puerh.
But it's not great as a stopover, nice destination but if someone hasn't done China at all and only has a few days you really want to tick boxes and minimise transit.
Beijing you've got the imperial palace, the great wall, you can go to a Chinese bar street, there are all the modern art galleries and such.
You could probably night train to xian and see the tetra cotta army if the tourist swarm isn't so bad.
I much prefer the dali region, but the whole real china thing is down on the priority list
>Beijing you've got the imperial palace
You need reservations for that shit. How many places can you actually get into on a short transit visa trip?
Most thing don't require reservations. Beijing is great but it's huge and you're going to have a hard time getting around if you don't speak Chinese and aren't travelling with someone who does. If decide you want to go to Beijing just make sure you don't go on National Day or your trip will be a nightmare.
you can't get out of kunming on the 144visa. you will not get a hotel anywhere because you are illegally outside of kunming.
Beijing
See the wall and the Forbidden City
Bucket list shit, come on man
Beijing gives you a nice sample of history and food. It was where I did my first transit through China, and I enjoyed it just enough to go back for several full trips around the country. Shanghai is a great city, but it feels more like a normal (although very nice) city.
Shanghai. Besides Shanghai itself Nanjing, Suzhou, and Hangzhou are only about one hour away by high speed rail and all of them are worth seeing. The northern plains are more interesting for historical sight seeing but jumping from city to city there involves extremely long rides on slow, decrepit trains as it's a less developed region. If I could only visit one Chinese city though, it'd probably be Xian.
If you do Shanghai don't forget you can do Suzhou too. Totally worth it. Shanghai 4 days Suzhou 2 days is a great way to use your 144 hours. I did it back in 2017
shanghai
Yea I agree with everyone on Beijing Great Wall and Forbidden City for sure. Shanghai is alright. Look into Xian. Not only are there terracotta warriors, but really cool history in the ancient city. Try going somewhere really rural too
I've been to Xi'an probably 20+ times in my life and never saw those things. The city is so fun.