Version 0.26 · Current version
Every destination guide now has an "On this page" contents card, built from the guide's sections, so you can jump straight to sights, Song heritage, hotels, the checklist, rail stations, getting around, photo spots, night-time sights or the map. On wide screens it floats on the left, like the itinerary's Trip flow, and highlights the section you are reading; on phones it appears as a row of links at the top of the guide.
Version 0.25 · Previous version
Added date badges to the Trip flow cards and dates to the day-trip links. Corrected the Shanghai → Beijing rail fare: it now uses the official 12306 second-class fare of about ¥576–661 (£65–75) per person instead of Rail.Ninja's marked-up ¥897 (£101). Added the Trip.com flight quote of about £64 per person, with a door-to-door comparison. The fares are similar, but flying saves no time and adds airport transfers, bag rules and delay risk, so rail remains recommended.
Version 0.24 · Previous version
Replaced the Jiande guide with a dedicated Maling Tianguan guide focused on the Buddha's Hand Bridge. It covers visit durations (about 4 hours on site; 12–13 hours door to door from Shanghai), ticket types and prices, and winter cautions for the 1,000 m ridge. It also sets out getting there and back by high-speed rail to Tonglu plus a pre-booked car, with dated 12306 links for 18 Dec, a recommended option of one night in Hangzhou on 17 Dec, and Pujiang and private-car alternatives. The map pin moved to the scenic area's actual location in Qiantan Town, about 45 km from the old pin, and Tonglu station was added. The 18 Dec itinerary card, travel options, transport table, closure check and Trip flow were updated to match. The old jiande.html address redirects to the new page.
Version 0.23 · Previous version
Reviewed every listed attraction against its planned date and added a "Closure check for your dates" table to the itinerary. One clash was found and fixed: Yu Garden is closed on Mondays, so the garden visit moves from Mon 14 Dec to Fri 18 Dec, with the Bund and the old-town bazaar lanes staying on the 14th. Also flagged: possible Yangtze River Cableway maintenance in late December, the weather-dependent Mutianyu toboggan, New Year holiday crowds for the 2 Jan Macau trip, and dates to avoid for optional museums. In the Hangzhou guide, added Songcheng (Song Dynasty Town) as a full sight, and a "Hotels to note" section with the InterContinental Hangzhou (in the gold-sphere ICC) and the Qiyue Song Heritage Hotel by West Lake, both pinned in blue on the map. The Trip flow panel now shows Macau as a day trip under Shenzhen.
Version 0.22 · Previous version
The Suzhou (16 Dec) and Hangzhou (17 Dec) day trips now show only the high-speed train options; the conventional-train and coach alternatives have been removed. Added researched drone-show information to every guide. Chongqing is the only destination with a regular programme, the "New Charm Chongqing" show every Saturday at 20:30 over the river confluence, so it is now on the Sat 26 Dec Hongya Cave day with viewing advice. Every other guide notes that its drone shows are one-off festival events. Added Suzhou and Hangzhou day-trip links under Shanghai in the Trip flow panel.
Version 0.21 · Previous version
Added a prominent "Important" booking alert to the top of the itinerary for the 24 December K507 sleeper (Xi'an East → Chongqing North). Tickets go on sale on Thursday 10 December 2026, 14 days before departure under 12306's 15-day sale window. The alert has a countdown, dated 12306 and Rail.Ninja links, booking steps for five passengers, and the waitlist fallback. It also lists the sale dates for the other rail legs, including the 60-day reservation pilot that covers the 19 December Shanghai → Beijing train. Added a Song (Sung) dynasty heritage section to the guides with gold map pins, and a Sung family heritage trail on the itinerary page. Highlights: Hangzhou (the Southern Song capital), Suzhou's 1229 city map, Dazu and Diaoyu Fortress near Chongqing, the last Song emperor's memorial in Shenzhen, and Sung Wong Toi in Hong Kong.
Sleeper booking alert Sung heritage trail Hangzhou Song sites
Version 0.20 · Previous version
Updated the rail information between stays using Rail.Ninja. Every intercity rail leg now links to a Rail.Ninja timetable and a China Railway 12306 ticket search for its exact December travel date (and 4 January for Hong Kong). Xi'an is now one night (23 December), followed by the 23:06 K507 overnight sleeper from Xi'an East to Chongqing North on 24 December, with fares, berth advice for five and same-day rail or flight fallbacks. Chongqing becomes four nights from the 08:28 arrival on 25 December; the City Wall and Muslim Quarter move to the Xi'an arrival evening, and Hongya Cave moves to 26 December. Added route-distance maps to each transfer day, Amap local-area maps for Xi'an East and Chongqing, and a "Rail stations & transit" section with red station pins on every destination guide map.
Version 0.19 · Previous version
Added explicit return journeys to same-day excursions, including rail and coach return legs from Suzhou and Hangzhou, return options for Jiande and Macau, and round-trip transport guidance for Mutianyu and the Terracotta Army. Added date-, destination- and group-sized Trip.com and Booking.com search links to every TBD overnight accommodation card.
Version 0.18 · Previous version
Added destination-specific evening sights and best viewing positions across all guides, including illuminated skylines, historic streets, waterfronts and selected shows. Clarified that drone displays and scheduled light shows are not guaranteed nightly events and that timing/access must be checked before travelling.
Version 0.17 · Previous version
Standardized transport estimates to RMB and GBP. Converted Rail.Ninja's displayed dollar fares as USD using 9 October 2026 reference rates and showed approximate per-person and five-person totals; retained notes that fares are indicative, before fees and not official operator prices.
Version 0.16 · Previous version
Added typical visit durations beside each planned itinerary attraction. Updated train options with representative Rail.Ninja departure windows, arrival estimates, route-page frequency counts, displayed lowest fares, and direct timetable links while retaining official 12306 links and warning that these are not December 2026 schedules.
Version 0.15 · Previous version
Added typical stay length and area summaries to every destination guide, plus typical visit duration and neighbourhood details for each listed attraction. Guides now foreground local streets, parks, waterfronts and neighbourhood sights, with museums marked optional. Accommodation cards now list overnight bases only, recommend areas for TBD stays, and identify the Hong Kong booking as The Salisbury by YMCA on Salisbury Road.
Version 0.14 · Previous version
Separated itinerary attraction shortcuts into direct travel-guide and Google Maps links; added direct links to per-day transport choice and ticket tables; capped the Trip flow panel only when it stacks above the itinerary; and added accommodation status cards for overnight destinations.
Version 0.13 · Previous version
Added Rail.Ninja route timetable links for the train legs in the travel-options table, retaining China Railway 12306 as the official source. Route-page durations are identified as representative and are not presented as confirmed December 2026 schedules.
Version 0.12 · Previous version
Added interactive attraction maps to the destination guides, with Google Maps/Amap links; linked trip-flow destinations to their itinerary arrival days; added destination-specific photo-spot ideas with flanking, attributed photos; added Macau Tower to the Macau guide and map; and simplified the overview route layout.
Version 0.11 · Previous version
Added the booked Shanghai Jubelle Apartments to the Shanghai guide map, with a pin and direct map-provider links. Verify the listing against the booking confirmation because several similarly named Jubelle apartments appear nearby.
Version 0.10 · Previous version
This revision adds an embedded, interactive OpenStreetMap map to the Shanghai travel guide, with pins and guide/map links for its featured sights and Maglev stations. The attraction checklist now includes the Shanghai Maglev.
Version 0.9 · Previous version
This revision adds an attributed photograph for every listed destination-guide attraction, separates each itinerary card into Day Plan and Attractions columns, moves travel/logistics below those columns, and adds onward-journey option tables with booking and transport-information links, indicative durations/fares, and explicit schedule-status notes.
Version 0.8 · Previous version
Added Universal Beijing Resort as a dedicated itinerary day, destination photographs and attributions, planned-sight checklists, and geographically grouped sightseeing guidance.
Version 0.7 · Previous version
Introduced the clickable journey, separate city travel guides with Google Maps attraction links, transit and ticket resources, hotel map links, coupon/deal searches, and emergency information.
Earlier milestones
Git history records previous itinerary changes.
- 0.6 · Guangzhou routing
- 0.5 · travel times
- 0.4 · version numbering
The Shanghai Jubelle Apartments and The Salisbury by YMCA stays are confirmed as noted in the main itinerary. Guangzhou and Shenzhen accommodation is not listed as confirmed. Online offers, schedules, and ticket releases can change.