Planning first trip to China next month.

Hi all! First time traveling through China, going to fly into Shanghai and leave from Beijing. My plan is to visit Shanghai >Suzhou > Huangshan region > Beijing.
Between july 15th and july 25-27th
I'm not super familiar with China or traveling but traveling through China to make my way to Russia to visit my grandparents (their health is getting worse) so i wanted to at least make a trip out of such a long journey, i would love so advice for travel between the locations (is it better to take the train or to fly) and more historic places I could also sketch some art at. And anything that may be useful to know as first time traveler because this is more of a last minute trip... Thank you for your time!
and if there's any tips on what to bring and not to bring, im mostly planning to have a backpack and its a solo trip.