1

Hard to say as we do not know you and what you like. The only clue we have is no Great Wall, which is a bit strange.

2

#1 Talking of strange... Putting Shanghai in a 9 days itinerary does not strike me as obvious.

3

#1 & #2 Wanting to travel overland but flying in to China from Hanoi strikes me as odd as well.

4

9-10 days in China, You want to visit Beijing and Shanghai. And i think you can also add Xian to your itinerary.
And when in Shanghai, spend one day to Suhzou and zhouzhuang water town is quite popular for visitors. As i am not sure what you like and what you want to gain in your trip. So, i just list out some places.

Beijing 3 days, Xian 2 days and Shanghai 2 days, Suzhou 1 day. The add the first arriving and last leaving days. totally 10 days. Suzhou is near Shanghai, it will take about 30 minites by train from Shanghai to Suzhou. (20 minites, or 1 hour according to different trains)

Actually, Great Wall will give you a surprise and I am wonder why you do not like it. It is a must see for most tourists in Beijing.

Thanks.

Edited by: AliceCCC

5

You want Nature, Culture & History, or Modern cities?

for a good mix: visit Bejing, including the great wall, fly to Nanjing and go from there overland to Suzhou, Shanghai, Hangzhou. If you want more nature: skip Hangzhou and go to Huangshan.

This is quit a full schedule; If you like it more relaxed, then skip one more place in this list.

6

#3 The OP does not say anything about flying into China - just flying out from Beijing. Part of the adventure, I guess.
Anyway, I'd split the time between Yunnan and Beijing. Coming from Vietnam, take some time in NW Yunnan, then fly (!) to Beijing from, say, Kunming, Lijiang or Chengdu. China is a big country - spending too much time in trains would not be my priority.

7

Oh! Yes! So s/he does. My mistake.

But, in that case, going to Shanghai seems even odder when in one direction you have Yunnan, Kunming, Lijiang etc and the other you have Guangxi, Guilin, Yangshuo, Longsheng etc.