Besides getting the best guides, it's important to go at the right time of year—from late April through the end of May or from September through the end of October, with the exception of the first few days of May and the first week of October (national holidays when millions of Chinese travel domestically). Key also is to limit the amount of time you're stuck in traffic in grimy industrial cities. For this reason, I have (at the risk of incurring hate mail from China scholars everywhere) eliminated Xi'an—an imperial capital that's home to the terra-cotta warriors, and a staple of group tours. If your goal is to understand ancient Chinese history, I encourage you to include Xi'an—and I advise you how best to do so at cntraveler.com/iconictrips. But if your goal is to be charmed by China, your time is better spent elsewhere. For the same reason, I have eliminated another group-tour staple: a Yangtze River cruise. Instead, I recommend Yunnan Province, in southwestern China, near Tibet. It's closer to the pastoral, blue-skied China of your romantic imagination, and the people and landscapes are less spoiled by tourism than in the rural locales on most organized tours (including Guilin and Yangshuo).

I've tried my best to make recommendations that will not be obsolete a few months from now, but given that this is China, it's an impossible task. So, should Gerald make suggestions that contradict mine, follow his. He's there; he knows. Finally, since guides are not as necessary in the big cities as they are in rural areas, if your trip is limited to Beijing or Shanghai and you don't want a guide, my advice is to hire an English-speaking driver through your hotel's concierge and to stay at a highly rated property that caters to Western business travelers, because these typically have the best concierge desks and English-speaking drivers.

Day 1 (Saturday): Beijing
Take it from someone who has navigated China's sprawling capital by subway, bicycle, taxi, and rickshaw: By far the most efficient way to sightsee is by car when traffic is light—which is over a weekend—with a driver who drops you off at one end of a sight or street and picks you up at the other, so you needn't waste time backtracking. If you land in Beijing on a Friday, you can recover from your transpacific flight with a good night's sleep and start your itinerary at the optimal time: Saturday morning. Your hotel? For ambience on a budget, try the Hotel Côté Cour SL (86-10-6512-8020; hotelcotecoursl.com; doubles, $168–$268), a 14-room property in a traditional courtyard compound once inhabited by dancers and musicians of the imperial court. If you're up for a splurge, however, consider the China Club Beijing (86-10-6603-8855; thechinaclubbeijing.com; junior suites, $385), an elegant members-only club in an antiques-filled courtyard-style sixteenth-century palace. Only a few elite tour companies—Abercrombie & Kent, for instance—have access to eight impeccable suites that are furnished with old-fashioned traditional canopy beds and freestanding tubs.