Travel Guides
Practical guides for traveling in China — from visa tips to city itineraries.
Dali to Shangri-La: A Foreigner's Northwest Yunnan Route (Dali, Lijiang, Shangri-La)
The classic Tea-Horse Road climb from lowland Dali up through Lijiang to the Tibetan-edge town of Shangri-La at 3,200m. Route order, the new railway, the altitude gradient, and an honest read on what's worth your days.
The Yangtze Three Gorges Cruise: A Foreigner's Guide (Chongqing to Yichang)
The classic way to see the Yangtze's Three Gorges is by boat between Chongqing and Yichang. Here's the route, downstream vs upstream, the ship tiers, how many days it takes, and how a foreigner actually books one.
The Tibet Travel Permit, Explained: How Foreigners Actually Visit Tibet in 2026
Foreigners cannot travel independently in the Tibet Autonomous Region. You need a Tibet Travel Permit arranged by a registered agency, a booked guided tour, and sometimes extra permits for restricted areas. Here is the real sequence, the rough costs, where the permit takes you, and the Qinghai workaround for Tibetan culture without the permit.
The Silk Road by Train: A Foreigner's Hexi Corridor Route Through Gansu
The classic Gansu Silk Road runs west along the Hexi Corridor on a single high-speed rail line: Tianshui, Lanzhou, Zhangye, Jiayuguan, and Dunhuang. Here's the logical west-bound order, how many days it takes, and the foreigner-practical detail that the brochures skip.
Shanghai and the Jiangnan Water Towns: A Foreigner's Route Through the Yangtze Delta
Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou and the canal towns sit within 30-minute bullet-train hops of each other. Here is how to string them into one first-timer route — how many days, which water town to pick, and the foreigner-practical detail nobody puts in the brochure.
Paying in China as a Foreigner: Alipay, WeChat Pay, Foreign Cards and Cash (2026)
Since 2023 you can link a foreign Visa or Mastercard to Alipay or WeChat Pay, and that solves most of paying in China. Here is how to set it up before you fly, the caps and small fees, and the places cash and the mainland-ID wall still trip foreigners up.
Healthcare in China for Foreign Travelers: Hospitals, Pharmacies, Insurance and Emergencies
How care actually works for foreigners in China: buy travel insurance before you fly, use public-hospital foreigner desks or private international clinics, pay up front and claim back, find a pharmacy, and reach an ambulance. Practical logistics, not medical advice.
Where Foreigners Can Actually Stay in China: Hotel Registration, the 'No Foreigners' Problem, and Police Registration (2026)
Not every Chinese hotel can legally take a foreign guest — the property has to be set up to register your passport with the police. Here is why you get turned away, how to filter for places that can take you, and how the 24-hour police-registration rule works for hotels and for private stays.
Halal Food and Muslim-Friendly Travel in China: A Foreigner's Guide
Halal food is easier to find in China than most visitors expect, thanks to the Hui Muslim population and their beef-noodle shops in nearly every town. How to spot the 清真 sign, where the food culture runs deepest, and what to know about mosques, prayer and travelling through Xinjiang.
Guilin, the Li River and Yangshuo: A Foreigner's Guide to China's Karst Country
The karst peaks on the old ¥20 note are real, and most travelers see them wrong. Here is how to do Guilin, the Li River cruise and Yangshuo as a foreigner — which boat to book, why Yangshuo (not Guilin) is the better base, and the over-touristed bits to skip.
Which Great Wall Section Should You Visit from Beijing? Mutianyu vs Badaling vs Jinshanling vs Simatai/Gubeikou
An honest decision-guide to choosing a Great Wall day trip from Beijing. Badaling is the most famous and the most crowded; most independent foreign travelers pick Mutianyu; the wild sections reward effort. How they compare on crowds, difficulty, cable cars, getting there, and tickets.
Where to See Giant Pandas in China: Chengdu vs Bifengxia vs Dujiangyan
Four panda bases around Chengdu, honestly compared: the busy in-city research base, the calm forest gorge at Bifengxia near Ya'an, the quieter Dujiangyan 'panda valley', and remote Wolong. When pandas are actually awake, how foreigners book with a passport, and how to get there.
Fujian Tulou: Yongding vs Nanjing — Which Hakka Earth-Building Cluster Should You Visit?
'Fujian Tulou' is one UNESCO listing scattered across two counties in two prefectures. Yongding has the giant round 'King Tulou'; Nanjing has the spiral Tianluokeng and riverside Yunshuiyao. Here's how to pick the right side and reach it from Xiamen.
Essential Chinese Phrases for Travelers: A Practical Survival Phrasebook
You don't need to speak Mandarin to travel China, but a couple dozen phrases plus a translation app cover almost everything. Here are the core ones, each with Hanzi and pinyin, grouped by when you'll actually use them.
Confucius and Mount Tai: A Foreigner's Shandong Heritage Route (Qufu + Tai'an)
Two UNESCO sites, one sacred mountain and the sage's hometown, both sitting on the Beijing–Shanghai high-speed line. How to plan the classic Qufu + Mount Tai route over two or three days — the Three Kongs combo ticket, the climb-or-cable-car call, sunrise logistics, and the rail links that make it easy.
China Visa Guide for First-Time Visitors
Everything you need to know about getting a Chinese tourist visa — from application to approval.
China's UNESCO World Heritage Sites: A Foreigner's Complete Overview (and How to Visit Them)
China holds one of the world's largest tallies of UNESCO World Heritage sites — around 60, the most or among the most anywhere. Here is a themed map of the headline ones, what they actually are, and which of our city pages gets you to each.
China Travel Scams and How to Avoid Them: Tea House, Art Student, Taxi, Fake Money & More (2026)
The honest, field-verified rundown of the scams foreign travelers actually hit in China — the tea-house and art-student invitation, rigged taxis and airport touts, switched cash, the 'closed attraction' diversion, fake-monk blessings, ticket touts, jade overpricing and QR-code tampering. For each: the setup, the tell, and the one-line response. China is widely regarded as very safe; the real risk is your wallet, not your safety.
A Foreigner's Tea Journey Through China: West Lake Longjing, Wuyi Rock Tea, Pu'er and Mengding
China is where tea was first cultivated, and four of its great regions are places you can actually visit. A traveler's guide to Longjing near Hangzhou, Wuyi rock oolong, Yunnan Pu'er, and the Mengding cradle near Ya'an — plus tea-house etiquette, harvest seasons, and how not to get fleeced.
Shopping and Tax Refunds in China: Departure VAT Refund, Hainan Duty-Free, and What's Worth Buying
How the departure VAT refund actually works, why Hainan offshore duty-free is its own separate scheme, what's genuinely worth buying versus tourist tat, and the gem, jade and tea-ceremony scams to walk away from.
Staying Connected in China: SIM Cards, eSIMs, and Getting Online as a Foreigner (2026)
How a foreigner actually gets online in China: local SIMs with passport registration, travel eSIMs, pocket WiFi, and the honest reality of which everyday apps are reachable on a mainland connection versus an international roaming route.
Is China Safe? A Practical Safety Guide for Solo and Women Travelers
The honest answer: China is widely regarded as very safe for visitors, and violent crime against tourists is rare. The real risks are your wallet and the traffic, not your safety. Here is what to actually watch for — scams, roads, pickpockets — plus women-traveler specifics, night safety, and the numbers to know.
China's Rice Terraces: Yuanyang vs Longji vs Ziquejie — When to Go and What to Expect
A foreigner's guide to China's three great rice-terrace landscapes — the UNESCO Hani terraces at Yuanyang, the Longji terraces near Guilin, and the spring-fed Ziquejie. Which to pick, and the one thing that decides whether you're awed or underwhelmed: the season.
Do Foreigners Need a Passport to Enter China's Attractions? The Real-Name System, Explained (2026)
China runs nearly every major sight on a real-name reservation system tied to your passport: you book with the passport, you enter with the same passport, and the gate scans it. Here is exactly how that works, when tickets release, why the app sometimes rejects a foreign passport, and what to do when a site sells out.
How to Buy China Attraction Tickets the Official Way (and Avoid Scalpers & Touts)
China now runs almost every big sight on real-name, advance online reservation — often through Chinese-only mini-programs. Here is how to buy legitimately as a foreigner, why ticket windows are vanishing, and how to dodge the scalpers and fake-ticket touts at places like the Terracotta Army.
China's National Parks and Best Hikes: A Foreigner's Guide to the Great Outdoors
Most of China's famous 'national parks' are managed boardwalk experiences — gate, shuttle, cable car, real-name passport tickets — not wilderness. Here's how the scenic-area system actually works, the headline parks worth the fee stack, where to find genuine hiking, and how altitude and weather decide your day.
Getting Around Chinese Cities: Metro, Buses, Transit Cards and QR Codes for Foreigners
How to actually ride the subway, catch a bus and pay for it in a Chinese city when you don't have a mainland ID. The in-app ride QR, where physical cards still help, why buses are exact-fare cash-or-code, and the security scanners and last-train timing nobody warns you about.
China High-Speed Rail for Foreigners: How to Buy Tickets, Use Your Passport, and Catch Your Train (2026)
Riding China's high-speed rail as a foreigner is easier than it looks once you understand the passport-as-ID system, the paperless e-ticket, and the station gates. Here is the whole flow, with the traps that actually catch people.
First-Time China Itinerary: 7, 10 & 14-Day Routes for Foreign Visitors (2026)
The honest first-timer's plan: the Beijing–Xi'an–Shanghai Golden Triangle as a 7-day backbone, a 10-day version adding pandas or karst, a 14-day version with a fourth leg, and how the high-speed rail ties it all together without over-packing.
China's Festival Calendar: What to See and What to Avoid as a Foreign Traveler
China's festivals can make a trip unforgettable or wreck it. Here's which ones are worth timing your visit around — temple fairs, the Dai water fights, Mongolian horse racing — and which 'golden weeks' to dodge unless you book months ahead.
China with Kids: A Family Travel Guide for Foreign Parents
China is a genuinely great, very safe family destination once you sort the logistics and the pacing. The kid-winning sights, the practical realities of strollers, supplies, food, trains and toilets, and how to plan days that don't end in a meltdown.
China Danxia UNESCO Red-Cliff Landscapes: A Foreigner's Guide to the Six (and the Best Others)
Danxia is China's red-sandstone cliff country, and six sites share a single 2010 UNESCO World Heritage listing. Here is what each one is, which are worth the trip, how a foreigner buys the stacked gate-shuttle-raft tickets, and why Zhangye's rainbow hills are a different thing entirely.
China's Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains: Wutai vs Emei vs Putuo vs Jiuhua — Which to Visit
Four sacred mountains, four bodhisattvas, four very different trips. How Wutai, Emei, Putuo and Jiuhua actually compare for a foreign visitor — the climb-or-ride reality, the stacked gate-and-shuttle fees, and which one to pick.
China's Ancient Towns and Water Towns: Which Are Worth It (and Which Are Tourist Traps)
Half of China's 'ancient towns' are recent rebuilds wrapped in ticket gates and costume-rental shops. Here is how to tell the genuine from the staged, town by town — the Jiangnan water towns, the Huizhou villages, and the great walled cities — and how to dodge the day-tripper crush.
From the Airport to the City in China: Metro, Airport Express, Taxi and DiDi for Foreigners
The honest rundown on getting from a Chinese airport into town: the cheap metro link, dedicated airport-express trains and buses, the official taxi rank (and the touts to ignore), and DiDi in English with a foreign card. Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou as worked examples.
China's 240-Hour Visa-Free Transit: Where You Can Actually Go (and Where You Can't)
The 240-hour transit scheme lets 55 nationalities skip the visa, but only inside 24 regions through 65 ports. Here is which famous sights are off limits, and what to do instead.
Bringing Medication into China: What's Allowed, What's Restricted, and How to Carry It
How to travel to China with your own prescriptions and over-the-counter medicines: carry a sensible personal supply in original packaging with your prescription, declare when in doubt, and know which categories get sensitive — then verify the current rules with China Customs before you fly.
Can I Book It Without WeChat? 11 Top China Sights, Answered
Direct answers for 11 of China's most-booked sights — the Great Wall at Mutianyu, the Terracotta Army, the Summer Palace and more — on whether you can reserve without WeChat, and exactly how.
Booking China's Museums and Sights Without WeChat (2026)
China's busiest museums moved ticketing into WeChat mini-programs that often need a Chinese phone or ID. Almost every one has a way through for foreign visitors — here is the route, place by place.
When to Visit China: A Season-by-Season and Region-by-Region Guide for Foreigners
Timing matters more in China than in most countries. Avoid the three national-holiday crowd-crushes, learn the regional climate splits, and match your trip to the seasonal sights that only work at the right time of year.