I have written about the difficulties of finding premium cabin award space to travel from the US to China (review). For my friend’s China trip, I was able to find award space on connecting flights (outbound on Cathay Pacific and inbound on Qatar Airways).
My suggested 1st time 2-week China itinerary
China has many natural wonders (review) and other attractions (review) and it will take several months to explore them. My suggested 2-week itinerary will cover several of my favorite China attractions (see the table below).
China Itinerary
| Flights | Destination | Number of Days | Things to See |
| DFW to PVG (Cathay Pacific) | Shanghai | 2 | Bund & Skyline |
| PVG to DYG | Zhangjiajie | 3 | National Forest Park, Tianmen Mountain Cableway, Tianmen Cave, Yellow Dragon Cave and glass walkways. |
| DYG to XIY | Xi'An | 2-3 | Terracotta Army & Huashan mountain |
| XIY to KWL | Guilin | 3 | Natural landscapes and scenic river cruise |
| KWL to PEK | Beijing | 2 | Great Wall of China |
| PEK to HKG | Hong Kong | 2-3 | Buddha Statue |
| HKG to JFK |
Always use nonstop (direct) flights for intra-China flights
I always recommend using the correct city pairs with direct flights between them to avoid the disappointment of missing flight connections.
Google Flights for the selected destinations
PVG to DYG (Link)
DYG to XIY (link)
XIY to KWL (link)
KWL to PEK (link)
PEK to HKG (link)
Award space for intra-China flights
Most intra-China flights can be booked with either cash or points (by looking up the city pairs on Points-yeah) if the redemption value makes sense.
Conclusion
I had always enjoyed my trips to China before Covid-19 and was excited to suggest a 2-week itinerary to my friends.