Hidden China & Inner Mongolia: The Self-Launched Version

Land at Beijing Capital or Daxing and get to the centre the cheap way: the Airport Express train to Dongzhimen costs about £3 (25 yuan) and takes ~25 mins from Capital, from where a taxi or metro hop to your hostel is another £3-4. Skip the unofficial 'metered taxis'. Settle into a hostel in the Dongcheng or Xicheng districts near the metro, grab jianbing or dumplings for dinner, and download a VPN BEFORE you fly — Google, WhatsApp and Instagram are blocked in China. Pick up a transit card or set up Alipay/WeChat Pay linked to your card, which now works for foreigners.

🚌Airport Express train ~£3 + metro/taxi ~£3

🛏Hostel dorm, Dongcheng district (booking.com/Hostelworld), ~£14

• →Airport Express into town
• →Evening walk in a hutong neighbourhood
• →Set up Alipay/WeChat Pay

Do the Great Wall independently at Mutianyu, the best-preserved restored section and a fair bit quieter than Badaling. Take the Dongzhimen–Mutianyu tourist bus (departs ~8am, ~£5 return) or a shared van booked on Klook, pay the £5 entrance (cable car optional, ~£12). Walk the ridge between towers 14 and 20 for the classic postcard shots. Back in Beijing by late afternoon; in the evening catch the overnight sleeper train from Beijing to Baotou (K-series or the faster Z-train, ~10-11 hrs) in a hard or soft sleeper berth.

🚌Tourist bus to Mutianyu ~£5 return; sleeper train Beijing–Baotou ~£25

🛏Overnight sleeper train, soft sleeper berth ~£25

• →Mutianyu Great Wall hike (£5 entrance)
• →Cable car up to Tower 14 (optional ~£12)
• →Hutong dinner in Beijing

Arrive in Baotou in the morning and take a local bus or shared minivan (~2 hrs, ~£4) north toward the Darhan Muminggan grasslands. Book a grassland ger homestay directly through Ctrip/Trip.com or a Baotou hostel recommendation — standard tourist ger camps in this area run ~£20-30 per person including dinner and breakfast. Spend the afternoon on horseback (optional, ~£15/hr) or just walking the open steppe, then eat mutton and milk tea with your host family around the fire. Nights are genuinely cold, even in summer.

🚌Public bus/shared van Baotou–grasslands ~£4

🛏Traditional ger, multi-share, ~£25 incl. dinner & breakfast

• →Grassland walk on the steppe
• →Ger homestay dinner with host family
• →Optional horse riding ~£15/hr

After breakfast ride back out of the grasslands to Baotou or directly to Hohhot, the regional capital. Spend a couple of hours at the Inner Mongolia Museum (free, superb dinosaur and Mongol history halls) or the Dazhao Temple before catching an afternoon/evening train to Datong (~4-5 hrs by fast train, ~£22). Check into a cheap hotel near the old city wall and eat Datong's famous knife-cut noodles (daoxiao mian) for under £3.

🚌Shared van to Hohhot ~£5; Hohhot–Datong train ~£22

🛏Budget hotel near Datong old town, ~£16

• →Inner Mongolia Museum (free)
• →Dazhao Temple
• →Datong knife-cut noodles dinner

Full day of Datong's two headline sights. Take a local bus or shared taxi (~£4 each way) 65km out to the Hanging Monastery at Hengshan, a 1,500-year-old timber temple bolted to a cliff face — entry ~£12, and worth going early before the tour coaches arrive. Come back via the Yungang Grottoes, a UNESCO-listed complex of 252 caves and 51,000 carved Buddhas; entry ~£11. A private driver for the day (arranged via your hotel) is ~£35 split between two people and saves a lot of waiting.

🚌Local bus/shared taxi ~£8 return; optional private driver ~£35 split

🛏Budget hotel near Datong old town, ~£16

• →Hanging Monastery entry ~£12
• →Yungang Grottoes entry ~£11
• →Datong old city wall walk (free)

Slow, scenic day: take a train from Datong to Pingyao (usually changing at Taiyuan, ~5-6 hrs total, ~£20). Arrive in the early evening and enter the walled old town through the north or south gate. Book a courtyard guesthouse inside the walls (~£16) — sleeping inside a Ming-dynasty merchant town is the whole point. Stroll the lantern-lit main street, eat Pingyao beef (pingyao niurou) and wander with a bowl of local noodles. The town's 20-attraction combo ticket is ~£13 and covers the old banks, escort agencies and towers.

🚌Train Datong–Pingyao (via Taiyuan) ~£20

🛏Courtyard guesthouse inside Pingyao's walls, ~£16

• →Evening walk of the walled town
• →Pingyao beef and local noodles dinner

Use the combo ticket to explore the Rishengchang Draft Bank (arguably China's first bank), the old escort agency and climb the city walls for rooftop views. In the afternoon book a short Chinese brush-painting or paper-cutting workshop directly with one of the small craft studios on Ming-Qing Street (~£12-15 for 1.5-2 hrs) — a genuine hands-on hour rather than a group demonstration. Grab a flatbread and stay in the old town for the evening lanterns.

🚌Walking (town is car-free)

🛏Courtyard guesthouse, ~£16

• →Pingyao combo ticket ~£13
• →Brush-painting workshop ~£13
• →City wall climb

High-speed train Pingyao–Xi'an takes about 3 hrs and costs ~£25. On arrival check into a hostel in the Muslim Quarter area and spend the afternoon orientating: the Bell Tower, the Drum Tower, and the warren of the Muslim Quarter food street where you can eat roujiamo (Chinese 'hamburger'), biangbiang noodles and yangrou paomo for well under £8 total. In the evening walk the illuminated South Gate of the city wall.

🚌Pingyao–Xi'an high-speed train ~£25; metro ~£1

🛏Hostel dorm near the Muslim Quarter, ~£14

• →Muslim Quarter food walk
• →Bell & Drum Towers exterior
• →South Gate at night

Take bus 306 (游5) from Xi'an Railway Station east to the Terracotta Army site (~1 hr, ~£1.50) and arrive at opening to beat the crowds. Entry is ~£13; hiring an on-site English-speaking guide at the gate costs ~£15 split between 2-3 people, or book a small-group GetYourGuide tour (~£30-40 including transport). Pit 1 is the vast one, but Pit 2's individual archers are the real treasures. On the way back stop at a farmer's house in Lintong for a home-cooked lunch (~£4). Evenings: optional bike hire on the city wall at ~£5/hr.

🚌Public bus 306 ~£3 return; metro ~£1

🛏Hostel dorm, ~£14

• →Terracotta Warriors entry ~£13
• →On-site guide split ~£8
• →Farmer's house lunch ~£4
• →Optional city wall cycling ~£5

Free day. Options: the Great Mosque (still an active place of worship, entrance ~£3), the Big Wild Goose Pagoda (~£6) with its Buddhist art museum, Shaanxi History Museum (free but book online in advance), or a food-focused afternoon eating your way through the Muslim Quarter. Stock up on snacks, then take the evening overnight sleeper train Xi'an–Beijing Z-train (~12 hrs, soft sleeper ~£30).

🚌Overnight sleeper train Xi'an–Beijing ~£30; metro ~£1.50

🛏Overnight sleeper train, soft sleeper ~£30

• →Great Mosque ~£3
• →Big Wild Goose Pagoda ~£6
• →Shaanxi History Museum (free, pre-book)
• →Muslim Quarter food crawl

Arrive early morning and drop bags at the hostel. Book Forbidden City tickets online in advance (they sell out 7 days ahead — use the official WeChat mini-programme or Trip.com, ~£6); Tiananmen Square entry itself is free but requires passport registration. Allow 3-4 hrs for the Forbidden City's 980 buildings. In the evening pick one show: a Beijing acrobatics performance (Chengdu Acrobatics-style shows run ~£15-25 via Klook) or a kung-fu show (~£12-20). Hotpot or Peking duck for dinner if you want to splurge (~£12).

🚌Metro ~£2

🛏Hostel dorm, Dongcheng, ~£14

• →Forbidden City entry ~£6 (pre-book)
• →Tiananmen Square (free, passport needed)
• →Acrobatics or kung-fu show ~£20

Depending on your flight, spend the morning in the 798 Art District (free, studio galleries and coffee), the Temple of Heaven (~£4) where locals do morning tai chi, or simply recover. Airport Express back to the airport for ~£3. If you overstay, remember China's 240-hour visa-free transit applies at Beijing Capital and Daxing for many nationalities — check your eligibility before booking a full tourist visa.

🚌Metro + Airport Express ~£4

🛏None (departure day)

• →798 Art District (free)
• →Temple of Heaven ~£4
• →Last dumpling breakfast