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 ↗A little preparation.
A better journey.
Useful answers before you go: how to choose a route, where to put a meal, and which details to check before booking.
Your first 48 hours in China: make arrival easy
The first day should teach you how your hotel, phone, payments and transport work. It does not need to prove that you can fit in five attractions.
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 ↗Booking trains in China: the station name is part of the destination
The easy mistake is choosing the right city and the wrong station. Work from your actual ticket, not an abbreviated city name in a travel plan.
Read the article ↗What to book first for a China trip
Book the choices that constrain the rest of the route first. Leave optional experiences until the dates and transport have somewhere sensible to put them.
Read the article ↗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 ↗Beijing food: choose the meal format before the famous name
A snack counter, a shaomai lunch, a duck meal and a lamb hotpot are different commitments. Organising them by appetite makes the shortlist more useful.
Read the article ↗Chengdu food: you do not need hotpot at every meal
A noodle bowl, wontons, tofu with rice and a sweet stop create a more varied Chengdu food day than several large, intensely flavoured shared 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 ↗A China trip budget that does not forget the travel days
Split fixed costs, daily spending and optional experiences. A daily number is misleading when it quietly leaves out the journeys that make the itinerary possible.
Read the article ↗Where to stay in China: choose the neighbourhood before the hotel
The accommodation’s relationship to your route usually matters more than a decorative lobby photograph. Start with the places you will return from each evening.
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 ↗Three days in Beijing: palace, hutongs and one Great Wall day
A first Beijing visit becomes easier when each day has a different scale: the palace axis, a neighbourhood walk and one excursion beyond the city.
Read the article ↗Three days in Shanghai: organise the visit by district
A waterfront day, a neighbourhood day and an art day make a more coherent short visit than a list of isolated landmarks scattered across the city.
Read the article ↗Three days in Xi’an: keep the archaeology day separate
Xi’an’s central streets and the Terracotta Army belong to different travel blocks. Give the excursion its own day and the city enough time to feel like a place.
Read the article ↗Three days in Chengdu: tea, pandas and city life
A panda visit can be one part of a Chengdu trip. Parks, meals and urban neighbourhoods give the other days their own purpose.
Read the article ↗Three days in Hangzhou: lake, tea and textiles
Hangzhou works well when a lake walk is allowed to remain a walk. Give tea country and textile culture their own blocks instead of turning every view into another stop.
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 ↗Guilin and Yangshuo in three days: plan the transfers first
Scenic photographs tend to hide the journey between arrival terminal, accommodation and river activity. Begin with those links and the landscape days become easier.
Read the article ↗Three days in Dali: stay with one lake-side rhythm
A compact Dali visit does not need to circle all of Erhai. One old-town day, one lakeside segment and a separate village outing can form a complete short stay.
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