The headline
For a two-week trip covering three or four cities, excluding international flights, a realistic range per person is:
- Backpacking: ¥350–550 a day (roughly US$50–75)
- Comfortable midrange: ¥700–1,200 a day (roughly US$95–165)
- Upmarket: ¥2,000+ a day
The spread is almost entirely hotels. Food and transport barely move.
Treat these as indicative. Prices shift, and the exchange rate moves more than the prices do. Check current rates before you budget.
Where it's genuinely cheap
- Food. A bowl of hand-pulled noodles is ¥15–25. A full meal at a busy local restaurant is ¥40–80 a head. Street food is ¥5–15 an item. You have to try quite hard to spend a lot on food in China, and the cheap end is often the best end.
- Metro. ¥3–8 for most journeys, in any city.
- Taxis and DiDi. A 20-minute cross-town DiDi is ¥25–45. In most Western cities that's a third of the price.
- High-speed rail. Beijing to Shanghai, 1,300 km in 4.5 hours, is around ¥550–650 second class. That's less than a comparable European train and faster.
- Attractions. ¥40–120 for most, and several of the best things — West Lake, the National Museum, temple parks — are free.
- Domestic SIM data, bottled water, laundry, umbrellas, everyday goods.
Where it isn't
- Hotels in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. A decent international-standard 4-star runs ¥600–1,200 a night. Budget business chains (Hanting, Atour, Jinjiang) are ¥250–450 and perfectly good. Hostels are ¥80–150 a bed. Second-tier cities are roughly half.
- International-brand coffee and Western food. A latte costs about what it does in London. Imported wine is heavily taxed.
- Entrance tickets at the marquee scenic areas. Zhangjiajie is ¥228–239 for the park plus ¥65 for the elevator plus a separate ticket for Tianmen Mountain; Mogao Caves and the big national parks add up fast.
- Private drivers and guides, if you use them. ¥600–1,200 a day.
- Domestic flights in peak season, which can exceed the train.
A worked example: 14 days, midrange, three cities
| Per person | |
|---|---|
| Hotels, 13 nights at ¥500 | ¥6,500 |
| Food, ¥180/day | ¥2,520 |
| City transport, ¥50/day | ¥700 |
| Intercity rail, 3 legs | ¥1,400 |
| Attractions and tours | ¥1,500 |
| eSIM, insurance, extras | ¥700 |
| Total | ≈ ¥13,300 (roughly US$1,850) |
Add international flights, which will often be the single largest line.
Ways to actually save
- Take trains, not planes. Cheaper, more reliable, city centre to city centre, and no airport.
- Eat where the queue is. The best food in China is rarely the expensive food.
- Stay on a metro line rather than in the most central district. Chinese metros are so good that location premiums aren't worth paying.
- Travel in the shoulder seasons — late March to May, September to early November — and avoid the national holidays, when hotel prices multiply.
- Claim the departure tax refund on larger purchases if you qualify.
- Book trains 10–14 days out. Popular routes genuinely sell out, and you'll end up on a flight.
Payment costs to factor in
Alipay and WeChat Pay charge no fee on single payments of ¥200 or less, and 3% above that. Your own bank's foreign-transaction fee applies on top. Splitting a large restaurant bill into two payments is a legitimate and common way to stay under the threshold.