ROUTE LAB / PICK THE FRAME
Choose a trip length
Five, seven, ten or fourteen days can each make a coherent China trip. The useful choice is what you are willing to leave out.
THE SHORT VERSION
- Five days is a one-base experiment, not a race through a country-sized map.
- Seven days can support two contrasting bases when the transfer is treated as part of the trip.
- Ten or fourteen days buy depth and recovery time only when you resist adding every possible stop.
Five days: learn one place
Choose one base and one optional day trip only if the arrival and return paths leave room for it. This frame suits a first visit that values orientation over coverage.
Seven days: add one contrast
Two bases can work when the second changes the scale, region or rhythm. Protect the arrival day and the transfer morning; do not spend both on a checklist.
Ten days: give the route a middle
Use the extra time for a neighborhood repeat, a slower food or culture day and one deliberate transfer. A longer calendar should create texture, not only more hotel keys.
Fourteen days: make a returnable route
Build around two or three anchors and leave an unassigned pocket in each. The strongest longer route has a reason to stop, a reason to stay and a reason to come back.
SOURCE DESK
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