THIS IS A WORKING VERSION

This post might NOT be helpful if you are going to join an organised tour group

Lonely Planet

Lonely Planet gives the best travel guide and information as a single source, time saving and easy to use. Here are a few lonely planets books available in English for travelling China:

  • China travel guide
  • Beijing city guide
  • Shanghai city guide
  • Tibet travel guide
  • Sichuan travel guide (bilingual)

Visa

To check visa requirements for your passport please find “Visa policy of China” on Wikipedia. Please do ensure the information is up-to-date.

Transportation in China

Intercity

Train is the best option and probably the fastest one for most of your trip. You might wonder what about airplanes. Just calculate the time travelled two ways——usually airport is more remotely located, the 2 hrs spent waiting time at the airport, a possible delay for departure, and the fear of flying many nervous flyers have, the train would be a winner here. China has never been so widely connected until it has built the world’s largest high speed train network, connecting hundred of cities, connecting tens of thousands of businesses, connecting millions of people across the country. For better understanding for the system, check out these maps.

Intracity

Accommodations in China

Accommodations are easy to find in China, whether it is hostel (

Food and beverages

Chinese Cuisine

  • for vegetarian/vegans
  • for Muslim
  • for Jewish
  • for people whose stomach get upset with foreign-food

Coffee or Tea

I remember someone suggested the traveller to “Ditch the coffee and embrace the tea” when coming to China, and this is not true anymore at least for most cities or places popular with foreign tourists.

Communications

Internet

Because of the “great firewall”, you will have to use a VPN or get a Hong Kong SIM card when visiting China (if it happens to be your transit destination)

WeChat

Safety

Heads-up

Toilets

Translations

Scams