A foreign passport holder’s 6-day Gansu Silk Road plan is four bases westbound: one night in Lanzhou, two in Zhangye, one in Jiayuguan, and two in Dunhuang. The high-speed rail runs the whole corridor, and each city has licensed hotels that register foreigners — but the smaller oasis towns vary, so confirm the licence each time you book.
A foreign passport holder’s 5-day Dali–Lijiang plan is two bases: two nights in Dali (Old Town or Erhai shore) and three in Lijiang (Old Town or Shuhe). The high-speed train between them takes about 2 hours, and both towns have licensed hotels that register foreigners — but the ancient-town inns vary, so confirm the licence each time you book.
Five days in Xi’an let you settle into one walled-city base, adding a HuaShan or Luoyang extension on top of the wall and the Terracotta Army. This plan is built around that single room and the transfer logic that keeps the warriors a loop, not a relocation.
Five nights in Shanghai are best spent from one base near the Bund or People’s Square: you reach the river, the French Concession and the old town by metro. This plan keeps you in one licensed room and explains the booking details foreigners actually hit.
A foreign passport holder’s 5-day Sanya plan is best across two or three bays: two nights on Sanya Bay (near the city and the night market), two on Yalong Bay (the classic resort beach), and one on Haitang Bay (the luxury and Atlantis strip). All three have licensed beachfront hotels that register foreigners; the difference is price, crowd, and how far you are from town.
For a foreign passport holder, the 5-day Guilin–Yangshuo route works best as two bases: two nights in Guilin city (near the Li River or the pedestrian streets) and three nights in Yangshuo (near West Street or along the Yulong River). A licensed hotel in each registers you normally; the transfer between them is a short bus or boat ride.
Five days in Chengdu work from one central base, with the panda base, Leshan and Mt Qingcheng as day loops, so you unpack once and let the metro do the travelling. This plan is organised around that single room and what to know before you book it.
A foreign passport holder’s 4-day Xiamen plan is best as one base on the island’s Siming district — near Zhongshan Road, the Gulangyu ferry, and Xiamen University — plus a possible night on Gulangyu itself if you want the car-free island. Licensed hotels cluster on the mainland side and register foreigners smoothly; the island inns vary, so confirm the licence.
For a foreign passport holder, the 4-day Nanjing plan is to sleep all four nights in one central base — Xuanwu (by Purple Mountain and the lake) or Qinhuai (by the Confucius Temple and the old city wall). Both districts sit on the Metro and host licensed hotels that register foreigners without fuss, so you check in once and ride the lines to the rest.
Four days in Guilin and Yangshuo are best split as two nights in Guilin city and two near Yangshuo’s West Street, letting the Li River cruise carry you between bases mid-trip. This plan is built around those two licensed stays and the transfer that links them.