Your first China trip: what changes between 7, 10 and 14 days?
Start with the number of hotel changes you want to tolerate, then choose your cities. Extra days are useful only when they give the trip room to breathe.
Read the article ↗Field notes, practical guides & personal routesChina, one
China, one
good plan
away.
Free field notes, practical English PDF guides and personal itinerary planning for overseas visitors. Find a route with room to enjoy China between the highlights.
Explore the guides ↗13 complete guides · 8 pages each · $9 per guide
ENGLISH DIGITAL EDITIONSCHINESE PLACE NAMES INCLUDEDREAD A FREE 3-PAGE PREVIEWONE-TIME PURCHASES
The field guide shelfPick a place.
Pick a place.
Find your pace.
Eight city and regional starter guides, one 14-day route, one arrival workbook and three food companions. Browse the actual PDFs before choosing.
No matching guides. Try another place or choose All guides.
The complete collectionTen guides.
Ten guides.
One travelling shelf.
All eight destination guides, the 14-day first-trip route and the arrival toolkit. A useful starting collection if you are still deciding where to go.
$39 USD · all 10 PDFs
80 pages total. Individual total: $90. Collection saving: $51.
BeijingShanghaiXi’anChengduHangzhouSuzhouGuilin & YangshuoDaliChina: 14 daysArrival toolkit
Each guide is a finished, concise English PDF. The original 10-guide collection helps with route planning. The three food guides are sold separately; bookings and custom itineraries are not included.
See every guide and its preview ↑Free field notes
Start with a useful question.
Twenty complete articles on city routes, food, transport and the decisions that make a trip work.
Four Shanghai food stops that fit into two city days
Pan-fried buns, soup dumplings, sesame noodles and a savoury pastry make four different food experiences. They do not need to become four consecutive meals.
Read the article ↗A ten-day China route for art and architecture
Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou can form a coherent route through urban space, museum culture and designed landscape. Choose a theme instead of another city.
Read the article ↗Suzhou in two or three days: give the gardens time
A smaller selection of gardens can make Suzhou more interesting, especially when you use a street walk to see what changes between formal landscape and everyday space.
Read the article ↗Paying in China with a foreign bank card: build a backup
A payment setup is strongest when a failed transaction leaves you with another ordinary option. Prepare the method, then check the actual payment screen.
Read the article ↗Before planning China: check entry conditions for your own route
A headline about visa-free travel is a starting point for checking, not an instruction to purchase a particular flight. Your passport, purpose and onward journey matter.
Read the article ↗China inbound travel planning
Explore custom planning ↗A route shaped around you.
Classic first visits, art and architecture, or a slower food-led trip. Explore planning scopes, route examples and fees from US$59.
Useful, before beautiful.
Fewer decisions on the day
Suggested routes, area choices and travel-day buffers help you turn a long list of places into a workable short trip.
Details you can take with you
City guides include Chinese place names, food search terms and spending worksheets. Read the PDFs on a phone or print them.
A clear scope
These are eight-page planning guides, not exhaustive city encyclopaedias. Official links help you verify changing entry and booking information.
Your chosen guideOne guide,
One guide,
or the whole shelf.
All prices are in USD. Select an edition and read its preview. These are completed digital guides, so no personalised travel brief is needed.
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A preview contains three pages. It is not the full paid guide.
A few useful answers.
What exactly is in a city guide?
City editions are eight-page English PDFs: cover; area and base choices; three day-by-day route pages; arrival, transport and food notes; a CNY budget worksheet; and Chinese place names with official source links. Arrival and departure days may require extra nights beyond the three full sightseeing days. Food editions include four specific restaurant branches, two suggested food routes, ordering phrases, budget planning and source links.
Are these custom itineraries?
No. These are ready-made digital editions for independent planning. They do not include a personal consultation, reservations, tickets, escorted tours or live travel assistance.
When was the information prepared?
The original guides were prepared on 11 October 2026; the food guides on 12 October 2026. Routes and budgets are editorial recommendations. Always recheck transport, weather, venue access and entry requirements for your dates using the official links.
How do I receive the full guide?
After PayPal confirms payment, a download link appears here for the selected PDF or original collection ZIP. The link lasts 72 hours from payment. Keep the order number and download the file during this window. Delivery is on this page; automatic email delivery is not included.
Can I share or resell the PDF?
The intended purchase is for personal use. Resale, redistribution and public uploading are not included. A PDF purchase does not include third-party services or future edition updates.