11 Panamanians, 31 Days: Targeting Diverse China Journey from North to South

"Eleven people, 31 days." After years in the travel industry, numbers like that immediately get my attention. I need to plan a 31-day, in-depth tour of China for a group of eleven travelers from Panama.

It was the first time in my career that I had designed such a long, complex itinerary. All my previous experience seemed to fall short in comparison.

But that was okay. It wasn't my first time facing tests of pace, stamina, and details.

Crafting a Journey Across China

My task was to design an itinerary that spanned 8 cities and 30 nights, with seamless transitions between each location. It would cross the solemn grandeur of the north, the rich history of the northwest, the spiritual charm of the southwest, and the bustling prosperity of the south. Most of the viral moments from China travel on TikTok were packed into this single trip.

Just do it!

I spent two full weeks meticulously planning. I thought about how to make the journey interesting without being exhausting. Each city had its own character: from the red walls of the Forbidden City in Beijing to the Terracotta Army pits in Xi'an, from the smoky tea houses of Chengdu to the mountain city nights of Chongqing, and on to the karst secrets of Guizhou and the scroll-like scenery of Guilin.

This 31-day journey was going to be fascinating, and I needed to connect all of those fascinating points into a cohesive whole. Transportation and accommodation can effortlessly ruin a trip, and I wasn't going to let that happen.

I studied high-speed rail schedules, carefully vetted every local partner, and even confirmed small details like the type of beds and the brand of toiletries in their hotels. For a group of clients traveling such a long distance, these tiny details would actually form their perception of China.

I finally sent them the carefully woven itinerary, and their journey began.

Thirty-One Days of a Diverse China

Once the trip started, the first thing I did almost every morning was check the weather in their city and confirm that the day's plans were in order. I would communicate with the next city's guide a day in advance to confirm transportation, tickets, and dining details. Even just an extra word of reminder gave me peace of mind. I got into the habit of tracking their footsteps on a map, as if I were journeying alongside them, step by step, from north to south across this vast land.

I heard that they walked slowly along the central axis of the Forbidden City in the early morning. The sunlight slanted across the glazed tiles of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and that moment of solemnity made them stop for a long time.

In Xi'an, they rode bikes along the city walls, weaving through streets where ancient and modern life intertwined. In the evening, the aroma of the Muslim Quarter filled the air, and the steam from roujiamo and yangrou paomo steamed up their glasses. And in Guizhou, they walked into Huangguoshu Waterfall, the sound of the water roaring and the mist covering their faces.

But the part of this trip that still shines brightest in my memory is the day I waited for them in Guilin. I flew to Yangshuo ahead of time and booked a table at a riverside restaurant. When they disembarked from their boat, they walked toward me, a little dusty but with bright eyes. They recognized me, and everyone smiled and waved. That night, we sat by the river.

In the distance were the faint outlines of the mountains, and the water reflected the flickering lights. They told me that Beijing's history had left them in awe and Xi'an's civilization filled them with reverence. But when they got to Guizhou and Guilin and experienced China's nature—the unadorned beauty filled with humidity and greenery—it reminded them of their childhoods in the Panamanian rainforest.

A long journey naturally has some exhaustion, but none of them said they were tired. Instead, they kept talking about the unexpected details: the bowl of soy pudding they had in an alley in Chengdu, the xiaomian they ate on the street in Chongqing late at night, and the multi-part chorus songs they heard in a Dong Village in Guizhou. They said that in these 31 days, they had seen a truly diverse China.

I was thrilled to have been the fuse that connected them to this vast land.