A foreign passport holder’s Xi’an–Huashan plan is two bases: three nights in Xi’an (inside the wall) and one or two nights at the foot of Huashan, the sacred knife-edge mountain an hour east by high-speed rail. The train makes the side trip trivial, and both bases have licensed hotels that register foreigners — but the mountain-foot inns vary, so confirm the licence before booking.
For a foreign passport holder, the Xi’an–Chengdu high-speed route is two bases of three nights each. Sleep in Xi’an inside the city wall (Beilin or Lianhu) and in Chengdu around Jinjiang or Qingyang. The bullet train between them takes about 3–4 hours, and both cities are packed with licensed hotels that register foreigners cleanly — so you check in twice and ride once.
A foreign passport holder’s Beijing–Shanghai high-speed plan is two bases, three nights each: Beijing inside the 2nd Ring (Dongcheng/Xicheng) and Shanghai in central Huangpu. The 1,318 km bullet train between them takes about 4.5 hours, and both cities have dense clusters of licensed hotels that register foreigners without drama — so you check in twice and ride once.
A foreign passport holder’s Beijing–Chengde plan is two bases: three nights in Beijing (Dongcheng) and two in Chengde, the former imperial summer capital with its vast Mountain Resort. The rail to Chengde takes about an hour, so you ride once and check in twice; both cities have licensed hotels that register foreigners cleanly.