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China is far easier than the internet told you, once you're through three walls foreigners have no map for: the cashless wall, the real-name booking wall, and the firewall. Before you fly, check visa-free transit for your passport, link a foreign card to Alipay and WeChat, and book the sights that sell out through official channels. On the ground, work the first-hour sequence, the menu scanner and the per-city facts. After, report what changed.
Last updated: July 2026
Before you go
The whole anxiety of a China trip is the fear of being locked out — of payments, tickets, hotels, your own apps — and only finding out when you’re standing there. Clear these at home.
Do I need a visa at all?
China runs two visa-free schemes with different country lists. Which one your passport is on — and the 13 nationalities, including the US, that still need a visa for a holiday.
Can I get in visa-free?
Check the 240-hour transit and visa-free rules for your passport and entry port — before you book the wrong flight.
Where can I land on transit?
All 65 official transit ports and the exact area each one lets you travel in — a few provinces are only partly open.
Set up paying
Install Alipay + WeChat and link a foreign card while your home SMS still works. The fee, limit and frozen-card traps, solved.
Get online
eSIM vs VPN vs both — and the roaming trick that keeps Google and your apps working without breaking Alipay.
Install the apps
The five apps that replace everything — Alipay, WeChat, Amap, DiDi, a translator — set up and tested at home while your SMS still works.
The booking wall
Which sights sell out, exactly when tickets release, and the official channels — never a reseller or a tout.
Get your booking alarms
Arrival date + cities in, the exact calendar dates to book each sell-out sight out — by email, with a pre-trip checklist.
A hotel that takes you
Not every hotel registers foreign guests. Find the ones that do, so you’re not turned away at 10pm.
While you’re there
On the ground, in the moment — the sequence for your first hour and the tools that work when the signal doesn’t.
Your first hour
Gate to hotel in the right order — immigration, cash, data, the ride — plus the offline rescue card for when your card won’t pay.
Scan any menu
Photograph a Chinese menu → English, pinyin, prices, spice and allergen flags, plus a card to show the waiter.
Eat like a local
What to actually order in each city, which queues are worth it, and the dishes that trap vegetarians.
City facts on the ground
Per-city, checked against official sources: booking walls, hotel rules, what foreign cards work, and the honest local notes.
Ask anything
A China desk grounded in verified facts — it won’t invent a ticket time or a rule it can’t back up.
After
Rules change. The facts stay right because travelers who just stood in front of the thing tell us when they don’t.