Start Here: Your Guide to Travel in China

你好!

This is your starting point for planning your China trip, where I organised all the useful resources you might find there.

If you want to know more about me and why I created the blog, you can read about it here.

Let's dive in!

Planning a trip

Planning a trip to China is not the easiest - the rules are changing often and the technology is evolving at an incredible pace.

Visa requirements

Throughout 2024 China has been extending its visa-free travel policy to include more and more countries and extended its duration - which is great news for travellers.

I regularly check for new updates to help you navigate the complex rules. We have travelled visa-free in September 2024, so I included tips and answered common questions travellers have about the visa-free travel.

You can read about it here.

Itineraries

China is a vast country so planning your first trip can be a challenge. I have create few sample itineraries that you can use as inspiration.

Here are some tips on how to start planning your first trip:

Browse itineraries:

Apps you need for China

China's internet ecosystem is completely independent from the West, so you will find that majority of the apps you use at home, if not blocked, are simply useless.

Here are some resources to help you navigate Chinese technology landscape:

Getting around China

One of the best things about traveling around China is its public transport network. Whether you are traveling long distance on high-speed rail, taking a sleeper train or getting around big cities on the metro, transport is efficient and cheap.

We are big fans of traveling overland and we haven't taken any domestic flights in China - I encourage you to do the same!

Destinations

There is so much to see, so it is hard to sum it up in just a short paragraph. My recommendation is to try to include some 2nd tier cities in your itinerary like Changsha or Wuhan - you will be surprised what you find and it will feel like a true adventure!

You can explore all destinations that I have written about here:

Packing

We are strong believers in traveling light, and we continue to do so even when traveling with kids. You can read more about our packing philosophy and tips here:

Traveling with family

Many people were surprised that we chose China as a place for our first family trip - and are even more surprised now that we keep on coming back!

But China is in fact a perfect place for family travel and, to be honest, we struggle to find a destination that would come close.

I combined all the resources in one big page, which you can find here:

For logistics of traveling with small kids in general, you can browse the topic here:

Final thoughts

Thank you for visiting my blog and you I hope you find resources here useful. If there is anything missing that you would be interested in, or you have any specific questions, don't hesitate to contact me.

If you find this blog useful, consider supporting my work:

Ready to Plan Your Big China Adventure?

✈️ Book your flights
🏨 Find hotels
🚂 Reserve train tickets
🎫 Book activities
🚌 Book a tour