Flying Into Beijing: 7 Days in China: Forbidden City, Great Wall & Terracotta Warriors — 7 Days with Digital Payment & Visa Setup Guide

Your plane touches down in Beijing. You have seven days, three ancient cities, and one shot at getting China right.

This isn't another encyclopedia of 1,000 temples. It's a precise, hour-by-hour plan for first-time visitors who want to see the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and the Terracotta Warriors — and actually understand what they're looking at.

What you get:
• Day-by-day itinerary — Morning, afternoon, evening. Every metro station, every train number, every photo spot mapped out.
• Digital payment setup — Alipay and WeChat Pay walkthrough with screenshots. Do this before you leave home and you'll never struggle to pay for anything in China.
• Photo spots with coordinates — Not the view is nice. Stand here, point your phone at this angle, use this focal length, go at this time.
• Cost boxes for every day — See exactly what you'll spend, in yuan and dollars, before you go.
• Pitfall warnings — The scams, the queues, the tourist traps. Someone has to tell you. We will.

The route: Beijing (Days 1–3) → Xi'an by high-speed rail (Days 4–5) → Shanghai by high-speed rail (Days 6–7). The classic Golden Triangle — the imperial capital, the ancient army, and the modern megacity — connected entirely by bullet train.

Bonus chapters for: American, Japanese, Korean, and Malaysian travelers — with visa tips, flight routes, and cultural notes specific to your passport.

You'll also learn how to:
• Set up Alipay and WeChat Pay with a foreign credit card
• Buy high-speed rail tickets on Trip.com before you leave home
• Use DiDi (China's Uber) without speaking Chinese
• Order food with a picture menu card — no Mandarin required
• Navigate the 240-hour transit visa (and when it doesn't apply)

No VPN recommendations. No political commentary. Just the trip.

All prices verified at time of writing. Exchange rate: approximately ¥7.2 = $1 USD.