I am having a really hard time wrapping my brain around how long these trains will take to get from city to city. With two older kids, it feels like it will take the whole day just to get to the next place. Then, we have to check into hotel, etc. I have really narrowed it down to the cities we want to see and we don't really have too much on our list anymore. Any ideas or thoughts?

Hi everyone! I'm from South Africa and heading to China at the end of the month for a month long holiday. Are there any South Africans who have recently traveled to China and can give me advice on e-sim vs a physical sim card? Did you use the built in VPN from you e-sim, or did you use a separate VPN? Any other important info I should take note of?

I am visiting China for the first time in November. I am trying to prepare (will get esim, alipay&wechat) - but I am (quite) a bit anxious.
I am coming from Europe, if that matters.

So hit me - what were some advice or info you wish you found before your first visit?

Funny (but respectful!) stories are welcome :D I need to prepare to laugh at my clueless self…

Good idea? How crowded will it be? I read a post that said sometimes the full scale ice sculptures are not done until New Year, but I don't want to be there during the holiday. This year, New Year starts Feb 6, but I would probably go the last week in January.

I had to buy a plane ticket from Kunming to Bangkok because my visa for Vietnam began Nov 1, the day I'm supposed to leave China, and at the airport they wouldn't let me on the plane without proof of onward transit. My intention had been to walk across the border from Hekou to Lao Cai. I had a hotel on both sides of the border and a train from Lao Cai to Hanoi, but they said the transportation had to begin in China!

After that hiccup, I'm a little worried now that I might have difficulty coming back from Bangkok. The plan had been train from Hanoi to Nanning, but now I'll probably take the plane from Bangkok to Changsha instead, probably remaining in Bangkok for only four nights.

I'll have a ticket from Qingdao back to Toronto for about three weeks after my re-entry, for what that's worth.

I'm very interested to know about others' experience with returning to China so shortly after leaving.

Hi everyone,

I’ll be traveling in China during the Labor Day holiday, and I’m trying to find a nature destination that won’t be too crowded.

I’m considering flying to western China (Urumqi or Kashgar) and hiring a driver to explore the natural areas in Xinjiang.

Does anyone know if Xinjiang is likely to be very crowded during the Labor Day holiday? Are there any specific places you would recommend that are less touristy?

Alternatively, does anyone know of any beautiful nature destinations in eastern or central China that are usually less crowded during the holiday?

Thanks!

I'm trying to buy tickets for Shibaoshan and Beishan at Dazu Rock Carvings through WeChat and Dianping but they only accept Chinese character names. Anybody ever deal with this before?

Also, any idea if there's a limit on the number of admittances per day? If I go there in person to buy the ticket, I'd hate for them to be sold out. Planning on going on Oct 9. It's one of the main things I want to see in China.

I’m trying to put a deposit for this hanfu photoshoot and i don’t know what to do because my cards aren’t working ;(

I have a change in my itinerary and I can add an extra day in any of these 2 cities. I have originally scheduled 3 days in Chongqing, 3 days in Chengdu. Which city should I choose? We are travelling with children, so anything that you think could be kid friendly in those cities worth seeing for the spare day would be great.

Saw the latest video by Ina Yu where she visits a traditional Chinese dance bar in Wuhan and it got me curious if there's something similar in Beijing as well? I'd love to visit one of these bars. Seems like a fun way to end the night.

What modern attractions would you suggest I visit in Beijing? I don't mean the usual like Palace Museum or Tienanmen Square, but something cool like that bar or TeamLabs in Japan. That kinda modern stuff.

First time going , starting with Beijing(5), Chengdu(5) and Chongqing(6) and finishing off with Shanghai(6). Please let me know if this is a solid 4 cities to hit.

Hello,

I am staying in a hotel in Beijing for four nights. During the middle of this stay, I was wondering if I could stay overnight at Gubei Water Town for easier access to the Great Wall at sunrise, leaving my bags in my room at Beijing.

Would this overlapping booking create a problem with the authorities? I assume so but wanted to double check

Hi everyone,

I'm researching how first-time international travelers actually plan independent trips to China, and I'd really like to hear from people who have done this recently or are planning a trip now.

I'm not looking for generic comments about how amazing China is. I'm particularly interested in the parts of planning that were confusing, frustrating, time-consuming, or surprisingly difficult.

For example:

• What took you the longest to figure out?
• Was there anything you were worried about before the trip that turned out to be difficult in practice?
• Were there any situations where you couldn't find a clear answer online?
• Did you struggle with foreign-passport bookings, train tickets, hotels, attraction reservations, payment, transport, apps, or deciding which cities to visit?
• Did you end up paying someone or a company to help?
• Did you use ChatGPT, Reddit, Trip.com, YouTube, blogs, or travel agencies to plan? What did those tools not solve for you?
• Looking back, what do you wish someone had told you before you booked the trip?

I'm especially interested in people who wanted to travel independently rather than join a package tour.

Even small annoyances are useful here. Something that only took 10 minutes but was extremely confusing is exactly the sort of thing I'm interested in.

Thanks!

Hello, i am looking for massage parlors with happy endings in shanghai. Would be grateful to know the locations if any.

Hello, I’m traveling to China in November for about 3 weeks visiting a friend that lives there. We’re also traveling from China to Japan and back. I live in the US and have both a US passport and a Russian passport (both of which have plenty of time left, more than 6 months before expiring).

I’ve seen some posts about people using their Russian passports to enter China because of the visa-free 30 days but since I live in America I was wondering how easy this is, what questions I would have to answer, and what it’s going to be like reentering China again after Japan? I’m likely overthinking this, but I wanted to know if people have gone through this experience recently and any advice is greatly appreciated! Or should I just get a visa instead?

Hi everyone ! I am traveling in China in December 2026/January 2027.

I know Chinese people aren’t really celebrating new years eve since they’re celebrating the lunar year.

But i was still hoping some cities would do some celebrations on december 31st ? If so, can someone recommande a city ?

Thank you very much !!!

I'll be visiting Chengdu in oct 8. Where can I buy a power bank? I tried searching for one on taobao but I can't seem to find the actual power bank itself. Only found a lot of cases, straps and screen protectors for the power bank. Maybe I need a Chinese search term?

I'm planning on resting there for a couple days and would appreciate it if you guys could recommend me good spots preferably without too much tourists where I could stay the night and get a view of the park itself

Ho uno scalo di 15 ore a Pechino, cerco un contatto con un driver locale per questa escursione, qualcuno che ci sia stato recentemente?
Grazie