How many vacation days does a ten-day China trip actually cost?

Every trip we run is ten days, because ten days is what a real job gives you: long enough to see Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai properly, short enough to fit in one block of leave with days to spare. Here is the working-day arithmetic behind that — the date line, which landing day is cheapest, what 2027's holidays line up with, and how far the average American's eleven vacation days actually stretch. Checked 26 August 2026.

The date line pays you back once

Flying west to China you lose a day: leave Los Angeles or New York on a Saturday and you land in Beijing on Sunday. Flying home you get it back: leave Shanghai on the last day and you land in North America the same calendar day — often, on the clock, before you took off. So a ten-day trip occupies eleven calendar days door to door: the day you fly out, then the ten days. On our itinerary day 1 is landing day and day 10 is the flight home, which is why everything below counts weekdays from the day before the start date to the end date.

Which landing day is cheapest

Our departures, in days of leave

• 1–10 November 2026: land on Sunday 1 November, fly home on Tuesday the 10th — seven working days, flying out on Saturday 31 October. Wednesday 11 November is Veterans Day in the US and Remembrance Day in Canada: if your employer observes it, that is a recovery day you didn't have to book.
• 15–24 March 2027: land on Monday 15 March, fly home on Wednesday the 24th — eight working days, flying out on Sunday the 14th. Easter Sunday 2027 is 28 March, so British and Australian travellers can stay on through Easter Monday for one extra day of leave (Thursday the 25th; Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays in both). Canadians get Good Friday but not Easter Monday, so the same extension costs two days. In the US, Easter is not a federal holiday.

How far eleven days go

The United States has no statutory paid vacation at all; what people get is set by the employer, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the private-industry average at 11 paid vacation days after one year of service, 15 after five, 18 after ten and 20 after twenty (National Compensation Survey, March 2024 data). Elsewhere the floor is written into law:

• United States: no legal minimum. Average of 11 days after a year, 15 after five (BLS, March 2024).
• Canada: two weeks after a year under the Canada Labour Code and in Ontario and British Columbia; three weeks after five years (four after ten, federally).
• United Kingdom: 5.6 weeks — 28 days for a five-day week — which an employer may count bank holidays within.
• Australia: four weeks under the National Employment Standards, five for eligible shiftworkers.

So the November departure takes seven of an American's average eleven, leaving four for the rest of the year; the March one takes eight of a Canadian's statutory ten. On a British or Australian allowance it is a third of the year's leave — which is roughly what a first trip to China deserves.

Flight times, honestly

Nonstop from the West Coast or New York you are looking at roughly 13–15 hours in the air westbound — Los Angeles–Beijing about 15, San Francisco–Beijing about 14, New York–Beijing about 15, Seattle–Shanghai about 13 on published schedules — and 12–13 hours home with the jet stream behind you. China runs on a single time zone, UTC+8, with no daylight saving: 15 hours ahead of Pacific time in summer and 16 in winter, 12 and 13 for the East Coast. From London it is about ten hours overnight and you still arrive the next day; from Sydney it is ten to eleven hours with China two to three hours behind — almost no jet lag at all.

Jet lag, and why day 1 is a landing day

Fifteen hours is about as far as jet lag gets, and the itinerary is built around it. Day 1 is landing day — airport pickup, the hotel, an easy evening with whoever has landed — and the big sights don't start until day 2. On the way home you land the same day you left, and both departures above put you home on a weeknight with a sleep before the office, not a Sunday-night landing straight into Monday.

Ten days and the 240-hour rule

If you hold a US passport and want to skip the visa, China's 240-hour visa-free transit is built around exactly this trip length — provided you fly out to a third country or region rather than straight home. The conditions, the way the clock counts and the routings that work are in the transit guide; the visa guide covers the alternative. Canadian, British, Australian and New Zealand passports are simply visa-free for stays of up to 30 days through 31 December 2026.

The five-minute version

1. 01Land on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday and the trip costs seven working days; land midweek and it costs nine.
2. 02Fly out the day before the start date and you land on day 1. Fly home on day 10 and you land the same day.
3. 03November 2026: seven days of leave, with Veterans Day / Remembrance Day the morning after you land. March 2027: eight, with Easter weekend right after it for the UK, Australia and Canada.
4. 04An American's average eleven days covers either departure with change; ten Canadian days cover it; a British or Australian allowance barely notices.
5. 05The 240-hour transit rule fits the ten days for US passports, with an onward ticket. Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand are visa-free anyway.

Ten days, one block of leave. Live dates and prices are on the trip page.

Founding crew · max 20

PEK → XIY → SHA

The Motherland Starter Pack

Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai — the big three, done the way your parents' tour bus never would. Ten days, 20 seats, one group chat.

10 DAYS · 22–35from US$2,199