Travel Topics

A handful of apps cover payments, maps, translation and trains in China. Install and register them before departure — several require a working phone number to set up.

Daily costs, flights and what each travel tier actually spends. The calculators below use route-tested numbers rather than averages.

Temples, museums, imperial sites and old towns — what to see and how to visit it well. Ticket booking rules and opening hours differ per site, so check the specific guide.

City guides with attractions, transport, costs and itineraries for the places foreign visitors actually travel to. Start with the major hubs, then branch out by region.

Regional cuisines differ more than most first-time visitors expect — Sichuan, Cantonese and northern cooking are distinct traditions. Start with the cuisine guides and the street-food safety basics.

Western platforms are filtered inside China, and eSIM roaming behaves differently from a local SIM. Compare the options and the known fixes for connectivity problems below.

How foreign cards, Alipay, WeChat Pay and cash fit together in China, and what to set up before you fly. Card acceptance varies by city and vendor, so a fallback is worth having.

China is a low-violence destination for travellers; the realistic risks are overcharging, tour scams and losing documents. What to expect, and the fix for each situation, is in the guides below.

High-speed rail, flights, metros and ride-hailing — how to book them as a foreign visitor and which apps you need. Passport-based ticket collection has its own quirks, covered in the problem guides.

Which passports enter visa-free, how visa-free transit works, and where to check your own nationality. If you do need a visa, the application route and timelines are covered in the guides below.

China spans several climate zones, so the best month depends on where you are going. Seasonal guidance and the holiday calendar are in the tools and guides below.