How Much Does a Trip to China Cost? Our 9-Night Total

How much does a trip to China cost? Our nine-night trip through Beijing, Zhangjiajie, Xi’an, and Shanghai cost about $8,824.65 in cash plus 100,000 points for three people, including my six-year-old daughter. That total includes airfare, hotels, visas, guided experiences, local transportation, food, souvenirs, and money lost after we missed a flight.

What Did Our China Trip Cost?

Some amounts came directly from our records, while others are estimates. These are the amounts we paid, not current prices or a record of every individual purchase. RMB amounts come from our Didi history in WeChat and the cash we spent; the dollar figures are rough conversions at the exchange rate when we spent the money. For how we set up our SIM, see our guide to getting internet in China.

Last updated: September 2026

How Much Does a Trip to China Cost Without Airfare?

Airfare added $4,500.99 in cash plus 100,000 points to our in-country spending. That amount includes the original flight bookings, our flight home, and the replacement tickets we purchased after missing our Beijing-to-Zhangjiajie flight.

Separating airfare makes our spending easier to compare with other China trip budgets because travelers often report their in-country expenses without international flights. We still count the airfare in our complete total because it was part of what this trip actually cost us.

Was Our China Trip Expensive?

Yes, for nine nights, but not because we lived large.

Our hotels cost $800.66 in total, and the food we purchased separately came to about $150.

Our flight home, three visas, a few guided experiences, and one missed flight did most of the damage.

Many travel budgets shared online exclude international airfare, visas, points, and losses caused by travel disruptions. Ours doesn’t.

We spent big on a few things we cared about and kept the rest simple.

Where Did the Money Actually Go?

The $3,647.99 flight home from Shanghai was our largest single cash expense. We couldn’t find award space, so we paid cash and booked with Alaska, since that’s one of the programs we’re collecting points with.

For the flights from Manila through our stops in China, we transferred 100,000 Amex Membership Rewards points to Air Canada Aeroplan and Air France-KLM Flying Blue, and paid $478. We started in Manila because China was one leg of a longer trip around the world, right after visiting family there.

Tours, activities, and admissions were another major category at approximately $1,626.

The Great Wall amount covered a guided overnight experience with camping, transportation, meals, and a guide. That’s a different thing from a standard entry ticket. It was expensive, but worth it.

So was the Hanfu photoshoot. The missed Forbidden City tour was simply a loss because we didn’t receive a refund.

The Missed Flight That Hit Four Budget Lines

We missed our original Beijing-to-Zhangjiajie flight because we were sitting at the wrong gate, too busy with photos and videos on our phones to notice. By the time we’d rebooked, that one mistake had cost us about $375 in replacement tickets, 24,000 Aeroplan points from the original booking, and a prepaid Zhangjiajie hotel night we never used. It also cost us a night at Beijing Capital International Airport with our six-year-old, and part of our already short time in Zhangjiajie. Aeroplan’s chat support was helpful, even over spotty internet, but getting the points back meant a fee and more hassle than it was worth. We let them go.

Where Did Convenience Affect Our Budget?

Our visas cost $1,062 for the three of us: $420 in government fees and $642 for a Washington, D.C., visa service that handled the in-person passport submission, so we didn’t have to travel there from Texas. I cover the full process, including applying for our daughter, in our China visa guide for US citizens.

Our Didi rides were another convenience expense. We spent approximately 1,600 RMB, or about $240, using Didi for airports, hotels, sightseeing, and moving around with our luggage.

Some rides were part of the fun, too. For our daughter, the bullet train in Shanghai was an attraction in itself.

What Did Our Hotels and Food Cost?

Our hotels cost $800.66 for the trip.

When possible, we chose hotels with pools. The pools gave our daughter somewhere to unwind and gave us a reason to slow down between sightseeing days. That mattered during a trip covering Beijing, Zhangjiajie, Xi’an, and Shanghai in only nine nights.

Food purchased separately came to approximately $150. It’s low because some hotel stays included breakfast, and meals were included during our two-day Great Wall experience.

We also brought or picked up simple food when a sit-down meal wasn’t worth the effort.

We paid for Didi through WeChat and used cash for food. For souvenirs, our guide often paid up front, and we paid him back with cash from the hotel ATM.

How Much Did We Spend on Souvenirs?

We spent approximately $375 on souvenirs, including Pu’er tea.

We didn’t set a souvenir budget before the trip because souvenirs weren’t on our radar. Once we were there, some purchases became a matter of, “We are already here, so we might as well.”

We don’t regret any of it. We just never budgeted for it, so it added up quietly.

Next time, I’d pick a loose number before we go, something to check against when the “we may not be back here soon” purchases start adding up.

What Would We Budget Differently?

I’d add more room for disruptions.

As the missed flight showed, one mistake can hit several budget lines at once.

I’d also separate the trip budget into three clearer groups:

• Airfare and points
• Fixed planning costs, including visas
• In-country spending

That would make it easier to see which expenses came from being in China and which were related to getting there, meeting entry requirements, or correcting a travel mistake.

But I wouldn’t remove the experiences we valued most to make the final total look lower.

What Would Our China Trip Cost Without the Expensive Experiences?

Our total would have been lower if we had planned the trip around standard admission tickets and independent sightseeing.

If we removed the entire $1,626 tours, activities, and admissions category, the total would fall to approximately $7,198.65 plus 100,000 points. Excluding airfare as well, the remaining recorded cost would be about $2,697.66.

But sleeping on the Great Wall and taking the Hanfu photos were two of the experiences we deliberately chose to spend more on.

You can still visit China for much less.

Was the Trip Worth the Cost?

For us, yes.

We didn’t get to everything, including the panda zoo. But we saw one of the wonders of the world, and even slept on it. Seeing Zhangjiajie and visiting the Terracotta Army with our daughter made it worth every dollar. Hiking and camping felt like play to her, and she loved the Hanfu shoot, her first time ever getting her makeup done.

On this trip, I’d have added days rather than another city. When we go back, we’ll explore new parts of China.

And yes, I’d sleep on the Wall again.

Related posts

• China with Kids: What We’d Keep and Cut from Our Nine-Night Itinerary
• China Packing List with a Young Child
• Sleeping on the Great Wall with a 6-Year-Old
• China Travel Guide

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