Reported city features, practical travel notes, and destination coverage across China.
Editor Profile
Ethan Zhao is the routes editor at China Travel Notes. He focuses on multi-city route planning, destination pairings, itinerary architecture, and the logic that helps readers decide not only where to go, but in what order and at what pace. His work is especially concerned with avoiding overbuilt first trips.
How This Editor Reviews Content
Ethan reviews pages for route coherence, transfer burden, realistic pacing, and whether a multi-city plan still feels edited rather than merely possible on paper.
Route Shape
Ten days is usually enough for either an excellent two-city first trip or a careful classic three-city route.
Route Shape
Fourteen days is long enough for a very strong three-city first China trip and can support a fourth stop only when that stop clearly improves the route.
Route Shape
For most first-time visitors, the best 7-day China itinerary uses two anchors, not three.
Route Shape
For most first-time visitors, the best China trip length is determined less by ambition and more by how many cities and transfer days the route can absorb comfortably.