First of all, thanks to everyone from this sub who shared their knowledge in my other posts to make this trip possible! This forum was of incredible help
I was traveling with my husband, and this was the outline of our trip:
Chengdu - 2 nights Chongqing - 2 nights Zhangjiajie - 3 nights Shanghai - 3 nights Beijing - 3 nights
We took the train from Chengdu to Chongqing, from Chongqing to Zhangjiajie and from Shanghai to Beijing. We traveled via plane from Zhangjiajie to Shanghai because the train was too inconvenient.
 
首先，感谢这个版块里所有在其他帖子中分享知识的人们，是你们让我的这次旅行得以成行！这个板块真是帮了我大忙了！
我是和丈夫一起旅行的，以下是我们行程：
我们在成都待了2晚，在重庆待了2晚，在张家界待了3晚，在上海待了3晚，最后在北京待了3晚。
我们坐火车从成都到重庆，从重庆到张家界，从上海到北京。唯独张家界到上海我们选择了坐飞机，因为坐火车实在不方便。
 
My impression of China, compared to my home country Italy and the EU in general, is that of an extremely efficient country. I cannot avoid making similarities between China and Japan in that sense; but I got the idea that while Japanese people have a strong, sometimes extreme, sense of civic and social order, most Chinese people of a certain age do not. This is not a bad thing; our 6-hour, 2nd class train trip between Chongqing and Zhangjiajie in a wagon full of chatty, loud and curious 60+ year olds was one of the highlights of the trip. But something I noticed compared to Japan and South Korea is way more people working to make public places functional, safe and clean (street cleaners, police officers, public transportation personnel etc.). I think this incredible amount of people is what makes these cities work so well. I know Chinese cities are huge, and bigger cities = more people working these jobs but still everything felt super cleaner and safer compared to the EU.
 
我对中国的印象，与我的祖国意大利以及整个欧盟相比，中国是一个非常高效的国家。在这方面，我不禁要将中国与日本相比：我觉得日本人有着很强的公民和社会秩序意识，有时候甚至过于极端了。而大多数中国老年人则并非如此。
 
这并非坏事：我们从重庆到张家界的六小时二等座火车之旅的车厢里坐满了爱聊天，大嗓门且好奇心满满的 60 岁以上老人，这成了我们此行中的一大亮点。另外我也注意到了与日韩相比，在中国有更多的人为公共设施的正常运转、安全和清洁而工作（比如街道清洁工、警察、公共交通人员等等）。我认为正是这个数量惊人的群体，让这些城市得以运转得如此良好。我知道中国的城市规模很大，城市越大，从事这些工作的人员就越多，但与欧盟相比，这里的一切都感觉更干净、更安全。
 
Just a few people asked to take a picture with us, but a lot were curious enough to start a conversation and ask where we were from, or if we liked China, or to tell us they thought we were “handsome”, even just through a translating app on their phone. The times we interacted with younger people (who knew English) to ask for directions, all of them were extremely happy to help and actively tried to get the conversation last longer to practice their English which I thought was very wholesome. The best interaction we had was in a small gay bar in Beijing where we literally spent 5 hours drinking and chatting with the other patrons and the barmen. That was freaking awesome! You just can’t beat this kind of cultural exchange. We really did make friends that night.
 
只有少数几个人要求与我们合影，但很多人都对我们充满好奇，并主动过来搭话，询问我们来自哪里，亦或是问我们是否喜欢中国，甚至有人通过手机上的翻译软件告诉我们他们觉得我们“很帅气”。
 
而在我们与那些懂英语的年轻人交流，向他们询问方向时，他们总是非常乐于帮忙，并积极地试图让对话持续得更久一些，以便练习他们的英语，我觉得这实在太棒了。我们经历过最美妙的一次交流是在北京的一家小型同性恋酒吧里，我们真的花了五个小时在酒吧里和其他顾客以及工作人员一起喝酒畅聊。那感觉简直太棒了！这种文化交流简直无与伦比，那个晚上我们真的交上了朋友。
 
I loved all the cities in our itinerary; if I was forced to chop one off the list, it would be Chongqing probably. I loved the 3 Gorges Museum and Cikiqou, but the air was extremely polluted and the whole city kind of felt like Shinjuku on steroids which is not really my vibe :)
 
行程中的所有城市我都很喜欢；如果非要在这份行程中剔除一个地方的话，那我可能会选重庆。我喜欢三峡博物馆以及磁器口，但是那里的空气污染委实严重，整个城市有种类似“加强版涩谷”的感觉，我个人并不喜欢这种氛围。
 
There is a small cultural shock when you first get to China and people nonchalantly spit, burp and fart loudly in public. But give yourself 48 hours and you’ll fart loudly in public too, don’t worry about it.
 
初到中国时，你会感受到些许文化冲击，因为那里的人会肆意在公共场合吐痰，打嗝以及放屁。但是在48个小时后，你也会开始在公共场合放屁的，不用为此担心。
 
If you get street food, don’t just look at the picture but translate the sign. The delicious leek wrapped in ham that you lined up 40 minutes for really is leek wrapped in pig intestines.
 
如果你准备尝试街头小吃的话，可别只看图片，还得用手机翻译下菜单。否则你排队40分钟购买的火腿包韭菜实际上会是猪大肠包韭菜。
 
Now one question for the Chinese: why is there so little wildlife anywhere? The cities we visited were almost completely devoid of even flies or mosquitos. Even in Zhangjiajie there were very few birds and insects. I come from the Alps, and spring there is LOUD. You cannot walk 5 meters without insects jumping on you, birds chirping everywhere, flies and bees buzzing etc. Is there a particular reason for it? Or was it just a coincidence for this period?
 
最后我有个问题要问中国人：为什么所有这些地方都没什么野生动物？我们所游玩的这几个城市甚至连苍蝇或者蚊子都没有。即便是在张家界，鸟类和昆虫的数量也非常少。我来自阿尔卑斯山，那里春天时动物的喧闹声简直震耳欲聋。这其中有什么特别的原因吗？亦或是我们去的时间比较凑巧？
 
Anyway, to end this post:Honestly, I cannot wait to be back. Seriously, never have a country and its people worked such a charm on me.
 
这篇帖子到这也该结束了，老实说，我已经迫不及待想要再去中国了。说真的，从未有一个国家及其人民能如此吸引我。