Route Map!

13 more nights to my long awaited backpacking trip! 

Meanwhile, our itinerary is almost 95% done. It has been a long 4 months of planning. As Lonely Planet (China) wrote so rightly, "Knowing where to begin travelling around China can be a headache and knowing where to end is equally tough. And that's even before you've begun to think of the stuff in between."

So in the end, we decided on the Golden Triangle. a.k.a, Beijing-Xian-Shanghai route, with some extra stops around them.

Singapore
>Shanghai
>Hangzhou
>Huangshan
>Tunxi
>Suzhou
>Zhujiajiao
>Shanghai
>Xian
>Huashan
>Beijing
>Tianjin
>Chengde
>Beijing
>Shanghai
>Singapore

This is our 3rd official backpacking trip (5th if unofficial), Kh has pointed out something interesting. In every single trip, we do something different.

Vietnam> Beginner's package.
Got to see a bit of everything; city, mountain, sea, ruins, beach. Very easy to travel in. A great place for a backpacker to start off.

Laos+Cambodia> Rough and tough.
Many border crossings. Sharp increase in difficulty level.  Information is scarce and scams are common. Poverty is rampant. Overall a much more authentic experience. Even Vietnam by comparison is touristy.

China> Wintery landscape.
Winter definitely brings about its own set of challenges. An early sunset means we don't have as much time to travel as we normally would. I also have to make many changes to my default packing list. And there are many minor details to take into consideration. This will also be the first time my DSLR is experiencing winter, and that brings about another set of challenges.