Unlike other Asian countries such as Thailand, Indonesia or SriLanka , planning a China trip can be slightly tricky in different aspects. You need to factor in holiday seasons, heavy rainfall/hurricane times, peak summer season and of course the months when you can get the lowest airfares. All these factors can play heavily against you in terms of your trip as well as trip costs. Additionally , you need atleast a month to obtain the Chinese visa. So how do you go about planning a trip to China and how much does it usually cost? I have listed detailed expenses to help you estimate an ideal China tour cost.
How to apply for Chinese Visa
Unless you are based out of Mumbai or New Delhi, you can’t apply a visa directly and have to go through an agent. This is because either you or a travel agent needs to be present in person to submit the documents and can’t be couriered.
Cost : Visa fees is 4000, VFS handling fees and your travel agent’s fees. So it’ll come to a total of INR 7000-7500 per person.
Documents Required : Passport (Original), Income statement for last 6 months, Bank statement for last 6 months (to show a min of 1.5Lakh INR as balance), Leave letter (if employed), Proof of employment , Pan Card, Hotel Printouts, Airline tickets, Covering letter with day wise itinerary, 2 recent passport-size colour photographs taken against a white background with matte-finish (size 48 mm x 33 mm and 70% face close-up).
Time taken to apply and get passport in hand : 3 weeks (min)
China Tour Plan
- Shanghai 3 days itinerary
- Beijing 4 Days itinerary
- Bullet Train experience & tickets info
- Best Places to shop in China
- Must use Mobile apps in China
China Tour Cost – 70K INR (1000$) for 7 Days (All incl)
From a decently quoted estimate, one can comfortably tour China for 7 days including flight tickets,visas, 2 Bullet train trips, 3 star hotel stays, visit the Great Wall and tour every single attraction in Beijing, Shanghai and all other expenses combined for an approximate sum of Rs.70,000 INR as detailed below.Or to put it simply, exactly 1000 USD. With an average spend of 10,000 / person for shopping, you can put an overall total of 80,000 INR.
These prices are actually High season prices and you might find entrances cheaper if you go in off-season post October.
| Description | Price (Indian Rupees) |
| Flight ticket from Chennai – Shanghai (Return) in Malaysian Airlines | 21,000 (Sale Price) 23,000 (in SriLankan Airlines to Beijing) |
| Visa | 7500 |
| 3* Hotel Stay | 4000/night for 2ppl |
| Bullet Train from Shanghai to Beijing(1 way) | 6500 |
| Thali Lunch (Indian Restaurant) – 1 person | 550 |
| Subway Ticket cost | 33 / trip ( so 3 destinations in a day from hotel and back will be 33 * 4 = 132 / day) 77 from Shanghai Centre to Pudong Airport |
| Capuccino in McDonald/Coffee Shop | 180-200 |
| T-Shirts ( Knockoffs ) | 350 |
| Great Wall tour (with tickets,hotel pickup/drop & Chinese Lunch) | 2200 |
| Entrance tickets (High season prices): Forbidden City (Beijing) Beijing Zoo (With Panda house) Temple of Heaven (Beijing) Jade Museum (Shanghai) Oriental Pearl Tower (Shanghai) Yuyuan Garden (Shanghai) | 660 220 374 220 2420 440 |
| Approx Grand Total(all inclusive) for 1 person (incl hotel expenses divided by 2), excluding shopping Shopping Expenses (separate) | 70,000 INR 10,000 INR |
Such informative post Karthik. I will read in details and bookmark this for my China trip.