These days I’ve been struggling a bit to figure out the best route for our trip to China of 27 days.

We land in Chengdu Feb 19 and we fly out from Kunming.

In between we’d love to see off the beaten path villages and authentic places.

We are trying to find a route trying to avoid bullet trains & flights.

We want to visit places such as Dali, Shaxi, Lijiang & Shangri-La but I can’t seem to find a way to find a route that doesn’t force me to go to Kunming first.

I’m trying to avoid having to go through the same village twice but it doesn’t quite seem possible, am I missing something?

Thanks for your insights!

Hi all! I will be solo travelling in Shanghai for 5 days in a few weeks, it will be my first time there and I don’t speak/know Chinese. Any tips for my first time there? Thank you in advance!

Hi everyone, we are currently Shenyang-based and we’ve got two weeks off starting 18 April. My husband would like to see Zhangjiajie and Chongqing but I feel like airfares are through the roof already - does this have something to do with the 1st May holiday? Would you say it’s going to be overly crowded and should we go somewhere else instead ? TIA!

Hello! Just wanted to ask how’s the weather like in Shanghai on the 2nd to 3rd week of this month. I still haven’t bought any jackets and sweaters for my trip there so I just wanted to ask here first.

Note: I bought Uniqlo’s Heat Tech (extra warm and ultra warm) for my inner wear incase it gets too cold. Also, I’m coming from a tropical country so I haven’t experienced cold weather like below 20 degrees 😅

I’ll be leaving Urumqi to Beijing on Feb 22 and would like to make a stop in some other city for two or three days. I thought I’d taking a plane to Chengdu and staying there from the evening of Feb22 through Feb 25.

Is Chengdu worth a trip? Or is there any other more interesting place to visit for 3 days.

I would prefer some place with a direct plane or train connection to both Urumqi and Beijing.

Hi all! I wanted to ask if any of you have recommendations for cool activities to do in Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai.

We’ll be in each of these places for a few days and with enough time to see all the main sights and do a few activities. We really enjoy trying out local experiences but because of the language barrier I feel like I’ve not found as many things as I normally would. Here are some things I found that we’d like to try while we’re in China as examples: 24hours spa, trying out a North Korean restaurant in Beijing, kung-fu class, cooking class etc…

If there’s anything you’ve done which you’d absolutely recommend please let me know! TIA 🙏🏻

For a quick 2-days trip max, how to plan around the city? Which railway station is convenient ?What’s the difference between both places? Areas to stay, visit, eat.

Will be traveling from Hong Kong, and in a group of 2 couples, total 4 of us in our 20s. We enjoy natural scenery, trekking, nightlife.

There seems many attractions, yet which ones is best suggested here?

I have stated to plan a trip to China hopeful this April. Not too sure if this is the correct place to ask but if not please point me in the right direction. Looking to visit China for maybe 7- 8 days, places I would like to visit are Beijing, Xian and Yunnan Province, with the Yunnan province maybe stay there for 1-2 nights. 1)Is there any website for booking hotels in China? 2) what the apps that are used in China for trains and buses? 3) how much Yuan should I bring for this length of time? 4) is there anything I do before visiting China?

planning to do solo travel from South to North China in March-April (29/3-7/4). I need some advice on how to transport across different areas as I couldn't seem to google search some of the routes.

1. Can we go directly from Wangxian Valley - Fairly Land to Wuyuan, instead of having to go back to Shangrao to transfer?
2. Can we go directly from Huangshan to Hangzhou, instead of having to go back to Wuyuan?

Fyi, my initial plan as below. Appreciate some feedback as well!!

D1: HK -> Shenzhen -> Shangrao, walk around Shangrao for a few hours then take train to Wangxiangu

D2: Explore Wangxian Valley -> Go to Wuyuan late afternoon

D3: Explore Wunvzhou in Wuyuan and stay there overnight

D4: Go to Huangshan in the morning and spend whole day hiking

D5-6: Go to Hangzhou

D7-9: Go to Shanghai

D10: Go to Wuxi

D11: Go back to Shanghai -> HK

Thank you!

I'll leave my traveling experience in the comments after finishing the trip!

Hello people from travel china.

Me and my husband have booked tickets to China right after the Chinese holiday in October (10 Oct - 28 Oct). We will land in Shanghai and depart from Hong Kong. This is what we have so far:

• Arrive on the 11th in Shanghai.

4 days with day trips to Suzhou and Hangzhou

• Flight from Shanghai to Chongqing on the 15th.

3 days in Chongqing with 2 day trips (book with klook?) to Wulong Yanyu National Geopark and Dazu Rock Carvings.

• Train from Chongqing to Chengdu on the 18th.

3 days in Chengdu with a day trip to Leshan Giant Buddha and Mt. Emei (also book with Klook?)

• Train from Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou Huanglong station and then a bus to Huanglong on the 21st.

Discover Huanglong national park area and spend the night here.

• Next day take the bus to Jiuzhaigou (on the 22nd).

Explore Jiuzhaigou full day.

• After 2 nights in Jiuzhaigou head back to Chengdu for a flight to Hong Kong on Oct 24.

Flight is at around 2PM, is this doable? Can we get from Jiuzhaigou to Chengdu airport in a few hours if we leave early? Would it be best to take a taxi for this? Would you advice an extra day in Jiuzhaigou by spending the 2nd day here as well and heading to Chengdu at night for an early flight to Hong Kong the day after?

• Last leg of the trip, Oct 24 or 25 to Oct 28 in Hong Kong.

Our flight back home is the 28th but it's at 11pm so this is an entire day to spend as well. Also day trips to Macao and Guangzhou?

We are from the Netherlands so we do not need a visa because the stay is less than 30 day according to the embassy information website. Multiple entries reset the count so a day trip to Guangzhou should not be a problem.

I speak OK-ish Mandarin since that was my major in University. My last time in China was in 2016 when I went to Beijing for 2 weeks, and I felt a lot had changed already between 2012 and 2016, so I can only imagine how much has changed in the last almost 10 years. I lived in Beijing for 7 months in 2012 for my studies. Last time I really spoke Mandarin was in 2023 when we went on a 2.5 week trip to Taiwan. So I am rusty. In 2012 and 2016 almost everything was cash, but I heard that that's no longer really used much.

Also I have a wechat account so should I connect my visa debit card or mastercard credit card to wechat somehow? Or is alipay better? I used to have a Chinese bank account but I don't know how long they will keep your account if there's not been any activity on it. It's with China Merchants Bank (I still have the card, the USB stick and the paper's I got when I opened it, there might still be some money on it but probably no more than 200 euros).

I have been to Shanghai and Hong Kong 2 times before, in 2010 and 2012, my husband hasn't been there yet. All the other places we've never been to before (I have been to Suzhou and Guangzhou before in 2010 but I don't have a lot of memories of it because it was an organised tour that basically speed ran those places).

So my main questions are:

• Does this look feasible? Good combination of urban and nature life? About the 2 nights in Jiuzhaigou, better to spend 2 days in the park and head to Hong Kong a day later? Any tips/advice? Thanks in advance for reading :).

Edit: another question I forgot to add is how well equipped are the buses especially in in the Huanglong / Jiuzhaigou area for transporting suitcases. Well both have a somewhat large suitcase with us.

Hello, im writing my bachelor's thesis about Chinese humour and translating it into polish language, but i have a problem with accessing many usefull books, which are avaliable only on CNKI. This website needs wechat account to login. Could someone please help me with qr code verification, so i get access to those books? Thank you in advance.

Hello, im writing my bachelor's thesis about Chinese humour and translating it into polish language, but i have a problem with accessing many usefull books, which are avaliable only on CNKI. This website needs wechat account to login. Could someone please help me with qr code verification, so i get access to those books? Thank you in advance.

Hello! Am flying from US on Delta to Japan for 9 days, then Beijing for 5 days, then depart from Beijing to the US with a 2 hour layover in Shanghai. Will this itinerary work for the 144 hour China travel without visa? Thank you.

https://reddit.com/link/1if32ht/video/65guh4743ige1/player

Planning a trip in early June and have probably Xi’An as a starting point and flying out of Beijing. I wanted some more outdoor type vibes for a place in between those for 2 or 3 days, something a little less massive city I guess. Huashan was the first plan but I just can’t bring myself to take that insane cable car up with my fear of heights so want to replace that, Xiahe looks interesting just looks a little out of the way? Any ideas would be appreciated, thanks

hi all, here is my tentative schedule, I have about a week at the end and i'm not sure where I want to go. I want somewhere accessible but not super western touristy. I like culture and hiking.

feb 25Harbin

feb 27-March 3 Beijing

March 3-5 Xian

March 5-8 Zhangjiajie

March 8-12 Hong Kong-> coming here now so friend can fly home from here

March 12-19th Unsure? I have a multi entery visa so planning on going back. Was thinking Yunnan province? thoughts?

I have about 5 days in Yunnan (landing in Kunming) and, as a tea-lover, am very interested in visiting a place like Jingmai Shan, but it seems incredibly difficult getting information on how to get there. Effectively, I would like to visiit some of the famous tea regions in Yunnan, away from what seems like the disneyland-like Xishuangbanna.

Hiring a car seems a hassle as a foreinger, if not impossible. Is hiring a driver from Xishuangbanna an option? or an English-speaking guide perhaps? I can get by with Mandarin, but would struggle as soon as the conversation gets more involved. I'm also trying to keep my costs relatively reasonable.

thank you

Hi everyone,

I recently posted an itinerary in this group to ask you guys for some feedback. The feedback was mainly that it was a bit too packed as we will do a lot by train. I made some changes to the planning based on the feedback.

Does this look doable/not too packed?

2 things we might still cut out is the Wangxian Valley Town and the daytrip to Macau if the planning is really too tight but we would love to do it.

Thank you all for your feedback!

Itinerary overview

1.	Arrive in Shanghai
2.	Shanghai
3.	Shanghai
4.	Shanghai → Wangxian Valley Town
5.	Wangxian Valley Town → Zhangjiajie
6.	Zhangjiajie
7.	Zhangjiajie
8.	Zhangjiajie → Furong Ancient Town
9.	Furong Ancient Town + Fenghuang Ancient Town
10.	Fenghuang/Furong Ancient Town → Chongqing
11.	Chongqing
12.	Wulong Karst (day trip from Chongqing)
13.	Chongqing
14.	Chongqing → Guilin
15.	Guilin → Yangshuo
16.	Yangshuo
17.	Yangshuo → Hong Kong
18.	Macau (day trip from Hong Kong) → Hong Kong
19.	Hong Kong (Nature/Outdoor day)
20.	Hong Kong
21.	Hong Kong → Return flight home

Hello! I am doing a summer program in Chongqing and will be taking language classes there for a month in June. I was wondering since I will be there for a bit longer of a time than most other people on this subreddit, if people could recommend lesser known places to visit, or even just restaurants or things to do, how to find local events, etc. Anything would help! Thank you!

I’m planning on going to China in a few months but keep questioning how much I actually want to go to Wulingyuan. I’m going to the big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, but I wanted a chance to see the other type of China too.

We would’ve probably gone from Beijing to Zhangjiajie by train, stay 2 nights, 1 day to hike around Wulingyuan Scenic Area, then go to Shanghai to finish off the trip. But is there somewhere else that would be better to check out? I was suggested Guilin but I wasn’t too interested, and we could add an extra 2 or 3 days to the trip instead of spending 1 day in Zhangjiajie.

My mom and I were planning on checking out the TeamLab center in Shanghai as something in our China trip in April, but found out it’s closed there. The fact that it’s been closed just hasn’t been updated on a few places online so I didn’t see.

We’re going to Beijing, Suzhou and Shanghai, does anyone know if there’s something similar in any of those places?

Hi,

I have a booking from Hong Kong to Manchester with Juneyao Airlines on 25th February. My layover time is 11.5 hours in Shanghai, I'm wondering if I will be allowed to exit the Airport and head into Shanghai for a few hours before returning and flying back to Manchester. I understand there is the 144 hour visa so I'm hoping it's possible.

Thank you for any help given.

Interested to visit China to see tourist spots, plan to visit in summer, from US...

Great wall, Zhangjiajie's Avatar Mountains Summer palace..

How many days trip is best? And what airports? Any suggestions for other places

Bonjour,

Je suis actuellement étudiante en 3ème année de licence en Langues Étrangères Appliquées, en France. Je souhaiterai effectuer mon stage de fin d'étude (2 mois minimum, pas de maximum) en Chine, pour autant je n'arrive pas à démêler l'ensemble des infos que je trouve sur internet.

N'existe-t-il aucun Visa que je puisse demander dans ce cadre, exceptés ceux du programme 1000 stagiaires ? En effet, dans la mesure où ils sont plutôt limités, je souhaiterai maximiser mes chances de pouvoir réaliser ce projet en connaissant l'ensemble des possibilités qui s'offrent à moi, d'où ma requête.

De plus, à la suite de ce stage je souhaiterai prendre une année pour moi (2025-2026) et partir travailler en Chine en temps partiel, tout en prenant des cours de chinois la semaine.

J'ai vu le témoignage d'une personne qui aurait eu l'occasion de prendre des cours de chinois tous les matins tout en enseignant l'anglais l'après-midi (alors qu'elle n'est pas native anglaise / pas de diplôme d'enseignement).

Est-ce bel et bien envisageable ? J'ai un excellent niveau d'anglais, et des certifications qui le prouvent comme le TOEFL, mais pas de diplôme dans l'enseignement.

Quel Visa demander dans ces cas là ?

Je suis preneuse de tout conseils, et souhaiterai vraiment mener à bien ces différents projets.

Merci de vos retours !

Underrated:

1. Turpan in Xinjiang. Most international tourists have never even heard of this place. Turpan is a small city in Xinjiang with pretty desert landscapes, interesting attractions, and unique Uyghur food. The streets in Turpan are full of grapes growing on buildings and other objects above the streets. One of the temples I went to in Turpan in the desert looked like it was from Tatooine in Star Wars.

2. Chengde (not Chengdu). Chengde is a city in Northern Hebei Province. The Qing emperors used to vacation there during the summer. There are interesting palaces to visit as well as a replica of the Potala Palace that was built in the 18th Century. The surrounding area has nice mountainous scenery.

3. Pingyao. This is an ancient town in Shanxi that will make you feel like you are going back in time. It is likely not underrated if you are Chinese because many Chinese people have heard of Pingyao; however, lots of international tourists have not heard of Pingyao. Pingyao is also near the Qiao Family Compound, which is the place the movie "Raise the Red Lantern" was filmed in.

4. Datong. Datong is another city in Shanxi Province that has some world class attractions nearby like Yungang Grottoes and the Hanging Temple. Datong also built a bunch of structures designed to make the city look more like ancient China in recent decades.

5. Luoyang. Luoyang is a city in Henan Province that was once the capital of many different Chinese dynasties. Similar to Yungang Grottoes in Datong, you can see Longmen Grottoes, a really interesting ancient attraction.

6. Villages in Gansu and Qinghai like places in Xiahe County and Tongren County. These places are kind of like traveling to Tibet without going through all of the hassle of going to Tibet.

Edit 7. Xiamen is a city in Fujian that is overlooked by international tourists. It has some decent beaches, interesting attractions and you can visit nearby islands like Gulangyu and Jinmen, a Taiwanese island. I had some great seafood in Xiamen as well.

Edit 8. Detian Waterfall in Guangxi Province is a beautiful waterfall on the border of China and Vietnam that few international tourists have heard of. The nearby city Nanning is also cool and overlooked due to Guilin being so popular.

Additional Edit 9. Jinan is a city in Shandong Province that no one talks about. It is neither a must see city nor does it have any attractions that are amazing; however, it does have a decent amount of interesting attractions. Since no one talks about this place, I found it to be underrated.

Additional Edit 10. Kaiping is a village in Guangdong that no one talks about. It has a bunch of really cool and unique mansion type houses built over 100 years ago by wealthy Chinese who lived abroad and then returned to China. Do an online search to see what I mean by the mansions.

Additional Edit 11. Guiyang is a city in Guizhou Province that is rarely on people’s list of places to visit. It has a really cool park full of thousands of monkeys walking next to people. Be careful because they will try to steal your food! Guiyang is also near Huangguoshu Waterfalls, a beautiful but crowded attraction, and lots of villages full of ethnic groups.

Overrated:

1. Chengdu. Although I enjoyed my time in Chengdu, it didn't have any attractions with a wow factor to them. I enjoyed the panda place, but the other attractions are just regular attractions like temples that you can find in most other Chinese cities. While the food in Chengdu was good, it wasn't such a novelty for me because I lived in China for several years and could eat Sichuan food regularly. One good thing about Chengdu is it is the gateway to Sichuan and you can travel to lots of other interesting places in Sichuan Province from there.

2. Shanghai. I like cities that have a more traditional feeling to them with lots of historical attractions. Compared to places like Beijing, the historical attractions in Shanghai are greatly lacking. If you like modern cities with a cool skyline, Shanghai may not be overrated to you. One good thing about Shanghai is it is close to lots of other cool cities like Suzhou, Hangzhou, Wuxi, and Nanjing.

3. Hangzhou. I thought the West Lake was overrated. I traveled there during the October 1 Chinese holiday, so my opinion on Hangzhou may have been influenced by the hordes of tourists who travel there during this time of year.

4. Qingdao. There just isn't that much to see there. Yeah, there are some cool German colonial buildings, but are you really coming to China to see Western colonial architecture? I thought the beer fest sucked as well. Qingdao does look like it would be a nice place to live in though.

5. Erhai Lake in Dali. I think Dali is appropriately rated and worth visiting. However, I did not see the attraction of the lake there. It is just like a regular lake you can see in tons of other places around the world. My Swedish friend was also not impressed with the lake.

6. Harbin with the exception of the Ice and Snow Festival. There just isn't much to see in Harbin other than this festival.

Additional edit 7. Lijiang is a city in Yunnan Province that I struggle with placing on this list. It definitely has a cool ancient town. The commercialization of the old town is obscene though. It is hard to appreciate the old town when every street is full of shitty gift shops selling the same overpriced junk, Starbucks and other coffee shops, and fast food places. When I visited I unfortunately could not appreciate the amazing scenery around Lijiang because of the cloudy and rainy weather. I figured that if I had a chance to appreciate the scenery, I may have enjoyed Lijiang more, which is why I did not initially put this city on my list.

Appropriately rated.

1. I think Beijing and Xi'an are appropriately rated. They both have lots of great historical attractions.

2. Zhangjiajie is beautiful and lived up to my expectations.

Edit 3. Tianjin. Despite its proximity to Beijing and large size, this isn’t a city many tourists go to because there just isn’t much to do. It is suitable for a day trip from Beijing if you have extra time to kill. One of the main attractions is the Western colonial architecture. Again, are you really traveling to China to see Western architecture? In my opinion, this city is justifiably not recommended by many, meaning it is appropriately rated.

Hello,

I read this on the internet

‘Among the five entrances, the south entrance is the main entrance, and it is the closest entrance to Zhangjiajie downtown. It takes only 40 minutes to travel from Zhangjiajie Central Bus Station to the South Entrance by the scheduled coach service. Therefore, many visitors would choose to enter the park from here. Having entered the park from here, visitors can walk along the Golden Whip Brook and then go up to the mountain. Downhill, they can walk through the Ten Mile Natural Gallery and then leave the park from the east entrance. There is no turning back involved for the entire itinerary and it is an ideal choice for young people who love hiking.’

Is this actually legitimate and doable? Can I walk up to the South Gate at about 9am, taking the bus there from central station, do the hikes in this order, and leave the east gate, all in 5 or so hours?

I don’t want to buy tickets online or use a tour guide because of the cost and itinerary. This website has given me a guide to pretty much exactly what I want. I will be doing this in the off season

I’m afraid to get scammed, either on price or material. Anywhere local that you can recommend?

Thanks so much!

So you thought you were ready for the Chinese menu game... until you try ordering something and accidentally ask for a bowl of rubber bands instead of dumplings. Classic. It's like a wild mix of charades, Google Translate, and a very confused waiter. If you’ve never been that person - congratulations, you’ve reached enlightenment.