Essential guides
Solve the practical stuff first
Most trip-ruining problems in China are administrative, not scenic: the wrong visa assumption, a payment app that won't link, a train station you can't board at. These guides are re-verified against official sources, so what you read still works.
Before You Go
Booking Hotels in China: Foreigner-Friendly Stays, Platforms and Check-In
Most hotels in China welcome foreign guests — but a stubborn minority still turns them away at the desk, and nothing about a listing warns you. This guide explains why the 'we don't take foreigners' problem exists, how to screen for foreigner-friendly hotels before you pay, and what to do if you get refused on arrival. It also compares international platforms with Chinese ones, walks through the full range of accommodation from hostels to international chains, covers the passport and police-registration rules that every foreigner must follow, and explains deposits, payment, and how to pick a neighborhood. All platform behavior and policies are as of September 2026.
Read the guideBringing Medications Into China: Rules and Real-World Advice
Whether your daily prescription survives Chinese customs is not a question to improvise at the airport. Some medicines that are routine at home fall under China's controlled-substance rules, and customs officers at the red channel have heard every version of 'but it's my prescription.' This guide explains the one principle that matters — legality is decided by Chinese law, not your doctor — then walks through the packing checklist (original packaging, prescription paperwork, sensible quantities), the medication categories that need an embassy check before you fly, how the green and red channels work, and how to buy medicine legally inside China, from pharmacy counters to hotel assistance. All rules are as of September 2026; verify your specific medications with the Chinese embassy before departure.
Read the guideChina Etiquette: Table Manners, Temples, Face, and How Not to Offend
China is one of the easiest countries to travel politely: nobody expects you to know the script, and effort counts double. But a handful of unwritten rules explain almost everything confusing about a Chinese day — why nobody eats before the honored guest, why the table spins against you, why the restaurant erupts into a fight over who pays, why your 'no thanks' needs repeating three times, and why nobody wants a tip. This guide covers lazy-susan mechanics and toasting culture, how to behave in temples, queueing and crowd realities, the logic of face and indirect communication, how to bargain without being either a victim or a bully, and where a quiet step back is wiser than a question. Etiquette as practiced, as of September 2026.
Read the guideEating in China: Vegetarian, Allergies, Halal and Street Food Survival
Chinese food is one of the world's great cuisines, and dietary restrictions are more manageable than you fear — if you know where the traps are. This guide explains why 'vegetarian' dishes can arrive cooked in pork lard or meat broth, why Buddhist temple restaurants are the most reliable meat-free kitchens in the country, and exactly how to phrase allergies in Chinese so kitchens actually hear them. It covers the green qingzhen sign that unlocks halal food nationwide, the tap-water rule that never bends, how to judge a street-food stall in ten seconds, spice levels decoded from mild to brutal, and how to order when the menu has no pictures and no English. Advice reflects restaurant realities as of September 2026.
Read the guideFirst Trip to China: The Countdown Checklist (60 Days to Landing)
A first trip to China is mostly won or lost before you board the plane: the entry policy you qualify for, the hotels that will actually take a foreign passport, the app stack that has to work offline on day one, and a handful of headline sights that sell out their tickets days or weeks in advance. This checklist walks the timeline backwards — 60 days out, 30 days out, one week out, and the first 24 hours on the ground — with the booking windows, prices, and deadlines that matter as of September 2026, and links out to our deeper guides at every step. Work top to bottom and nothing gets left to luck.
Read the guideGetting a Chinese Visa: The Standard Route, Step by Step
If your passport is not on China's visa-free list — most notably the United States — a standard L tourist visa is the way in, and the process is more bureaucratic than difficult: an online form, a passport drop-off at a visa office or application service center, and typically about four working days of waiting. This guide walks through who still needs a visa, the exact document checklist, the online application systems now in use, what visas cost for major nationalities as of September 2026, how the 10-year multiple-entry visa works for US and Canadian passport holders, and the truth about 'visa on arrival.' Fees and processing times are current as of September 2026 — always confirm with your local Chinese embassy, consulate, or visa application center before booking appointments.
Read the guideSafety and Health in China: What Travelers Actually Need to Worry About
Here is the headline most first-time visitors don't expect: China is one of the safest countries you can travel in, and walking around big cities at night is unremarkable. The real risks are mundane — pickpockets in crowds, a handful of scams that target foreigners, a hospital bill you hadn't planned for, and altitude on the Tibetan plateau. This guide gives you the true crime picture, the specific scams and how they run, the emergency numbers that actually work for foreigners, how to navigate a Chinese hospital with or without insurance, the passport-loss playbook, and the climate and altitude realities from Harbin's winters to Lhasa's thin air. All information is as of September 2026.
Read the guideSurvival Chinese: How to Travel China Without Speaking the Language
Almost nobody in China speaks English, and the trip works anyway — if you set up the right tools and learn about twenty phrases. This guide gives you an honest map of where English actually exists (fewer places than you hope, more than you fear), a table of twenty survival phrases with Chinese characters and pinyin, and the translation-app techniques that do the real work: camera mode for menus and signs, conversation mode for pharmacies and ticket counters. It covers the hotel address-card habit that solves taxis, why you should show characters rather than speak pinyin, the one-handed Chinese number gestures that differ from yours at six, and how Chinese names work so you address people correctly. Realities described are as of September 2026.
Read the guideThe Best Time to Visit China: Seasons, Holidays, and When to Book
China is a year-round destination, but the difference between a great first trip and a frustrating one often comes down to timing. This guide breaks down the best windows by season and region — spring in the south, autumn in the north, Harbin's ice festival and Hainan's beaches in winter — and explains the one thing guidebooks undersell: Chinese public holidays. On Golden Week and Spring Festival, domestic travel surges multiply crowds and can double flight and hotel prices. Includes a month-by-month climate cheat sheet for major cities, the 2026–2027 holiday dates to avoid, and what peak season actually does to your budget as of September 2026.
Read the guideThe Essential Apps for China: What to Install Before You Fly (2026)
China's app ecosystem is not the one you know: Google Maps is out, ride-hailing runs on DiDi, train tickets sell through 12306, and WeChat quietly does everything from restaurant menus to museum reservations. This guide sorts the apps that matter by scenario — maps, translation, taxis, trains, hotels, and food — with an honest look at how much English each one speaks and whether your foreign card works in it. Amap now offers a full English interface, Baidu Translate handles menus on Chinese networks where Google cannot, and Meituan is reachable through Alipay's mini-programs even without Chinese. There is also a one-glance cheat sheet — app, purpose, English support, foreign-card support — to screenshot before your trip. Everything here reflects app status as of September 2026.
Read the guideTibet Travel Permit: The Rules for Foreign Visitors (2026)
Every foreign visitor to Tibet needs a Tibet Travel Permit, and it can only be arranged through a licensed Tibetan travel agency — you cannot apply for it yourself, and as of September 2026 you are also expected to travel with a licensed guide. This guide explains how the permit system actually works, what documents and timeline to plan around, what the whole trip costs beyond the permit itself, how the train-versus-flight choice affects your acclimatization, which extra passes you need for Everest Base Camp and other border areas, and an honest look at who this kind of trip suits — and who should think twice.
Read the guideVisa-Free Entry to China: The 2026 Guide
China's travel facilitation policies let citizens of the UK, most of the EU, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and dozens of other countries stay up to 30 days without a visa, while US citizens can use a 10-day visa-free transit option or a regular visa. This guide explains who qualifies as of September 2026, how the 30-day policy differs from the 240-hour transit policy, which documents to carry at the border, how entry works on the ground, how to extend a stay through the proper channels, and what a Hong Kong or Macau side trip does to your allowance. Policies change in phases — always verify your nationality's current status through official channels before booking.
Read the guideBudget
Connectivity
Getting Around
Crossing Between Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau: Borders, Trains and Ferries (2026)
Hong Kong and Macau run their own immigration systems, so every crossing is a real border — but an easy one, with more than half a dozen ways across. This guide walks through each option with the details that actually decide it: which land checkpoints open when (Lo Wu 6:30 a.m.–midnight, Futian until 10:30 p.m., Huanggang around the clock), how the high-speed rail's one-stop immigration at West Kowloon works, what the 24-hour HZMB bridge shuttle costs, and when a ferry beats both. It also flags the visa trap: how a side trip interacts with visa-free stays and the 240-hour transit rule. Border hours and fares are as of September 2026.
Read the guideDomestic Flights in China: When to Fly, Airport Traps, and Survival
China's high-speed rail wins most intercity contests, but for long hauls — Chengdu to Kashgar territory, Tibet, the islands — flying is the only sane option. This guide maps the real decision: when a plane beats a train beyond the 1,500 km mark, and the trap that catches first-timers in cities with two airports. Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu each split traffic across two fields, and Xiamen is mid-transition to its new Xiang'an airport around the end of 2026 — booking the wrong one costs a day. It also covers booking channels, passport check-in, the security rules that actually trip visitors (power banks with the CCC mark, 100 ml liquids, no lighters), what happens when flights go late, and how budget carrier baggage math works. Rules and airport status are as of September 2026 — recheck near your travel date.
Read the guideGetting Around Chinese Cities: Metro, Didi, Taxis and Airport Links (2026)
You will spend more time crossing Chinese cities than traveling between them, and the metro is almost always the right answer: fares start around ¥3, trains run every few minutes, and every station sign is in English. This guide covers how to pay for the metro with Alipay before you can read a single character, how to register Didi with a foreign phone number and an international card, when a street taxi beats the app, what the airport express links actually cost — including Shanghai's maglev and Beijing's Daxing express — and how to handle shared bikes, security checks, and rush hours. Fares and rules are as of September 2026.
Read the guideTrains in China: How Foreigners Book and Ride the High-Speed Rail
China's high-speed rail is faster than flying for most intercity trips, and booking it as a foreigner is easier than you think. This guide covers the official 12306 app and its English version, the Trip.com trade-off, seat classes, how your passport works as your ticket at the gates, the 15-day release window, and how to survive station security and holiday rush with your sanity intact.
Read the guideYangtze River Cruise: Three Gorges from Chongqing to Yichang (2026)
A Three Gorges cruise is the slowest — and some would say most civilized — way to travel between Chongqing and Yichang: three or four nights drifting past cliff-walled gorges, shore excursions to ghost-city temples and side-stream gorges, and a close-up look at the Three Gorges Dam, the largest power station on earth. This guide explains how the route works, which ship tiers are worth their price gaps as of September 2026, what is actually included versus upsold, how boarding works with a foreign passport, the best seasons, and an honest verdict on whether the cruise deserves a slot in your itinerary.
Read the guideMoney
Money in China: Alipay, WeChat Pay and Cash — A 2026 Guide
China runs on two super-apps — Alipay and WeChat Pay — and since both opened their wallets to foreign cards, tourists can pay as easily as locals do. This guide walks through linking your Visa or Mastercard step by step before you fly, explains the fees and spending caps that apply to international cards, and covers where cash still matters, how credit cards fit in, and the sanest ways to use ATMs and currency exchange. One caveat to plan around: foreign-card payments above ¥200 carry a 3% service fee, and default caps apply unless you complete in-app passport verification. Fee and limit details are as of September 2026 — and for cultural calibration: nobody in mainland China wants a tip.
Read the guideTax-Free Shopping in China: How Departure Tax Refunds Work
China quietly rebuilt its departure tax refund system in 2025, and the changes matter for anyone shopping beyond souvenirs: the minimum purchase dropped from 500 to 200 yuan, cash refunds can now reach 20,000 yuan, and a nationwide 'instant refund' scheme hands you the money at the cash register instead of the airport. This guide explains the rules as of September 2026 — who qualifies, the 11 percent refund rate, how the in-store and airport processes work step by step, where you can claim (including a land border into Hong Kong), and how the refund interacts with your cards and mobile wallets. Policy details are current as of September 2026; rules are still evolving, so confirm specifics at the store counter before a big purchase.
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