شنغهاي: رحلة نهارية في جنوب سور الصين العظيم بالقطار السريع

The part around the Great Wall was unhurried, which mattered more to me than squeezing in one more stop. Beijing and Shanghai was a good counterpoint.

What helped was simple: our guide read the pace well. We got the background when it helped, then space to explore instead of a running lecture. I would rather keep the pause at the Great Wall than add another stop.

Looking back, the schedule is fairly full. I would have liked another twenty minutes at the Great Wall, but I would not drop any of the main stops.

Looking back, I tend to switch off when tours become a stream of dates. Here, the stories around Beijing and Shanghai gave me enough to hold on to without overloading the day.