A little preparation. A world of possibility.
Your China adventure.
Made easier.
Big cities, quiet mountains, unforgettable meals. Discover the China you've been curious about, with the practical details already thought through.
Free to explore No account needed Made for real trips
Go a littlefurther.
31 destinationsFind your kind of China
389 places to discoverBeyond the usual shortlist
Dated, sourced adviceKnow where the details come from
Useful on the roadOffline tools, ready when you are
Find your somewhere
One country. So many possibilities.
Follow your curiosity, from a first city break to the road less travelled.
Less admin. More adventure.
From “maybe China” to ready to go.
A few friendly tools to help you take the next step.
01
Find your route
A few things about you. 29 routes to explore. Find a trip that fits your time, season and interests — with honest notes on what doesn't.
Plan my trip02
Get travel ready
Your passport, dates and cities become a personal checklist. Know your entry options, payment setup and what to book before you fly.
Check my readiness03
Book the big moments
Know when booking windows open and how to get tickets in English. A little preparation makes room for the experiences you came for.
See booking windows04
Feel at home, anywhere
Show-the-screen cards for taxis, payments, pharmacies and dietary needs. Clear Chinese, useful situations, and no signal needed.
Open my survival kitThe booking details matter: 5 sights we track have no English booking path, and 9 are available in English only through resellers. Our reservation radar explains your options.
A different pace · China Travel Select Luxury
Make room for
something exceptional.
Remarkable hotels, thoughtful journeys and experiences worth travelling for. Find the places that make the whole trip feel special.
Explore the luxury collectionA fresh perspective
China might surprise you.
80 nationalities can enter visa-free, and 57 are eligible for the ten-day transit scheme. Waiting on the other side: the fastest rail network on earth, 61 World Heritage Sites, and a country where a very good dinner costs a few dollars.
80 nationalities
You probably don't need a visa
80 nationalities can now enter visa-free, and 57 more can transit for up to 240 hours — a door that was shut for years.
See the story and sources 50,400 kmThe best rail network on earth
Trains at 350 km/h put almost every city worth a stop within a few hours of the last one. Beijing to Shanghai takes under four and a half.
See the story and sources ¥20 (~US$2.80)Your money goes a long way
About US$2.80 for a proper restaurant meal, 42 cents for a metro ride, and US$78 for 1,318 km of high-speed rail.
See the story and sources 8 traditionsFood worth the trip alone
Eight regional cuisines that share almost nothing with the Chinese food you know at home — and Michelin's cheapest recommendations here are noodle shops.
See the story and sources RareSafer than you expect
The UK Foreign Office puts it plainly: serious crime against foreign nationals is rare. Walking a Chinese city at night is unremarkable.
See the story and sources 61More to see than one trip holds
61 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, second only to Italy, and 7,188 museums of which more than nine in ten are free to enter.
See the story and sources
Entry rules verified 2026-10-06Check what applies to your passport →
Good to know, before you go
Your questions, already thought of.
38 practical guides, in the order you'll need them. Each one is dated and sourced.
01
Deciding to go
02
Before you fly
- How to use Alipay and WeChat Pay in China as a foreigner
- Do you need a VPN in China? Get an eSIM instead
- Why Chinese hotels turn foreigners away — and how to avoid it
- Booking Chinese high-speed trains with a passport
- What to pack for China (and what to leave behind)
- Landing in China: what actually happens, step by step
- Cash and ATMs in China: how much to carry, and where to get it
- Registering with the police in China
03
On the ground
- How to eat well in China without speaking Chinese
- Is China safe for tourists? What the advisories actually say
- Chinese etiquette for travellers: what actually matters
- Claiming China's departure tax refund as a tourist
- Getting around a Chinese city without speaking Chinese
- How to find the best food in China, and check it's still good
- If something goes wrong in China
04
Where to go
- Three days in Beijing, planned around the booking windows
- Three days in Shanghai for a first visit
- Xi'an and Chengdu: five days, two very different cities
- Guilin and Yangshuo: the karst landscape, done properly
- Visiting Tibet: the permit rules, which are unlike anywhere else in China
- Hangzhou and Suzhou: lake, gardens, and the easiest days in China
- Yunnan: Dali, Lijiang and Shangri-La, in the right order
- Chongqing: the vertical city, and the Three Gorges cruise
- Harbin in winter, and why you must check the dates yourself
- Shanxi: Pingyao's walled city and Datong's grottoes
- Zhangjiajie: the Avatar mountains, and the reservation that traps people
- Guangzhou and Shenzhen: the food trip with no queues
- Nanjing: six capitals, one wall, and a memorial you need to prepare for
- Qingdao: German streets, Tsingtao draught, and buying your own dinner
- Xiamen and Gulangyu: book the ferry before you book the flight
- Inner Mongolia: go between late June and early September, or not at all
- Xinjiang: distances, two clocks, and the permits that decide your route
Travel with a little more confidence
The small details.
Taken seriously.
China Travel Select covers getting ready, and getting through the trip. Prices are given in yuan and dollars, and our destination research draws largely on Chinese-language sources to go beyond the familiar lists.
Entry rules, payment fees and booking windows change. Every page carries a “last verified” date and its sources; anything we haven't confirmed is labelled. We do the homework so you can spend more time looking forward to the journey.
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