Want to Explore China? My Top Planning & Travel Tips
China is a unique country unlike anywhere else I’ve been! In this episode I dive into my top tips for planning a trip to China, good things to know before visiting, and my favorite things that we got to do on our trip!
Know before you go
I 100% recommend hiring a travel planner. In my opinion, you don’t want to plan this trip by yourself.
I put in a bid on the website Zicasso, and received 2 travel plans in return.
I have no affiliation with Zicasso. I just love them and what they do.
Zicasso can plan everything from your guides to activities, hotels, restaurants, and whatever else you request.
In order to go to China, your passport will need to be valid through a date 6 months after your trip.
You also need a visa to enter the country. I used a third party company called CIBT Visas.
I used this company because in Phoenix we do not live near a Chinese embassy. For this reason, we did not have time to travel to an embassy to get the visa. If you live near a Chinese embassy, you can set an appointment and go in person.
If you choose to use a third party group you will have to mail them your passports so they can take it to the embassy for you. Once everything is complete, they will mail back your passport with the Chinese visa glued into it.
Side note: If you are only going to Hong Kong you do NOT need a visa. If you are passing through China for less than 10 days on your way between other countries, you also do NOT need a visa.
Download these apps before your trip
WeChat and Alipay are used EVERYWHERE for payment. You will not be swiping or tapping your credit cards anywhere.
These apps have QR codes that can be scanned in stores to make payments.
Unfortunately, the apps max out payments at a few hundred dollars. This was an issue for us, which is why we had to use both apps to make all our purchases.
Not going to lie, these apps kind of sketched me out, but it ended up being ok.
Bring cash
I ordered Chinese money ahead of time from our bank. And I wish I’d brought even more!
Cash was so great for tipping. The amount we were recommended to tip is $5/day per driver and $15/day per guide. These prices are also per person (we had two of us so we paid double.)
The ATMs in China worked fine for us with our debit card. Be sure to check with your bank ahead of time to make sure it will be fine and to check what fees you might be charged.
China challenges
The food was a challenge for me. The food is delicious Chinese food, but it was kind of a lot. There wasn’t a ton of variety, so it got a little bit old. It was also a lot of fried and breaded food, which we aren’t typically eating much of at home.
However, we did have amazing fried rice, sweet and sour pork, and beef and broccoli!
We definitely ordered like Western tourists. We didn’t try anything like the monkey ears or goat hooves.
The language barrier was harder than I expected. Almost no one spoke any English at all.
We were so grateful that we hired English speaking guides. They made all the difference on this trip. They helped us with everything from simple navigation to knowing how to scan tickets or navigate other attractions.
You will want to download Google Translate. We used ours all the time to translate Mandarin to English and English to Mandarin.
Be sure to figure out how you’ll use your phone and get internet ahead of time.
We have AT&T, so we just used our phones as normal and paid the fees for the International Day passes. The internet was a little spotty sometimes, and we relied on getting wifi when we could.
Our calls didn’t really work or go through, but FaceTime worked.
I’ve never tried it, but I’ve heard that eSIMs are a great option for China.
What to do on your China trip
Hong Kong
I highly recommend adding Hong Kong onto your China trip.
Hong Kong Disneyland was a huge highlight. We had so much fun!
Ride the tram to Victoria Peak. This is a great place for an epic view of the whole city.
Drive along the coast and stop at temples along the way. This city has so many unique places to see.
Ride the escalators around town. This one sounds funny, but it really was so cool. The city is super hilly, so escalators are all over.
Visit the Man Mo temple. We were here during Chinese New Year, which meant that there were tons of people here praying and making offerings. It was a really special and unique thing to see.
PMQ is a super cool hub of design and creativity with shops. This is a good place to get souvenirs.
Explore the markets. There are so many markets all over the city. You can find food, clothes, and trinkets everywhere.
Ride a cable car to Lan Tao Island. The ride is about 15-20 minutes. On the island you can find a giant gold buddha! It was so cool and so fun to see. We also explored the monastery here.
On the island you can also visit Ngong Ping Village. This village is so unique and was really amazing to explore.
We stayed at the most amazing hotel that I have ever stayed at. It’s called the Rosewood Hong Kong. We were in a club room with an amazing view of the harbor. Our room also included breakfast, afternoon tea, and an early dinner. The experience was 10/10.
Guilin
Now on to mainland China. I am SO happy that we added this city to our itinerary. Most of our trip was to visit the big cities, so this was a perfect way to break that up.
Guilin has one of the most unique and stunning landscapes that I have ever seen. The mountains are epic and unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
Be sure to go to the Reed Flute Cave. This cave is full of stalagmites illuminated by colorful lights.
You cannot miss a Li River cruise. It was 4-5 hours of amazing views with a comfy room to sit in with a buffet. This is the best way to see the river and the mountain formations! We couldn’t believe how beautiful it was.
We stayed at the Banyan Tree Yangshuo hotel and it was amazing. The hotel had a night show called “The Show of Impression” and it was fantastic.
One of our trip highlights was taking a bike ride through the countryside in Yangshuo.
Shanghai
We took a quick flight to get from Guilin to Shanghai.
We had an all day private tour with an amazing guide, Stacy. We were able to do so much in one day because of our tour guide and driver. Here’s what we did.
Went to an art museum. It was so intriguing to see Asian art.
Visited the Shanghai Tower and rode to the observation deck at the top.
Walked around the Bund (walkway along the waterpark). This had great views of the city.
Wandered around the city. There is such a wide range of architecture here and it was so cool to experience.
Explored the Yu Garden dates back to the Ming dynasty! It has beautiful gardens with great attention to detail.
Shopped for souvenirs at the Yuyuan Market.
We got to spend a day at Shanghai Disneyland. It was one of the best days of the trip!
The food here was amazing. There were so many options and it was delicious.
The rides each had their own twist and it was so much fun to experience.
Chengdu
Why visit Chengdu? Our highlight was getting to visit the Chengdu Research Base with Giant Pandas! We saw so many pandas and it was incredible.
We took a cooking class in Chengdu that was awesome! We were able to make three traditional Chinese dishes. These included a sauteed cabbage dish, spicy tofu dish, and a double pan fried pork dish. We got to sit down and eat our food with the chef and a translator afterwards. It was a special experience.
Xi’an
We took a high speed train from Chengdu to Shiyan. I love traveling via trains. I think that they are way more comfortable and less stressful than traveling on planes.
The highlight of Xi’an is definitely going to see the Terracotta Warriors. These sculptures were created over 2000 years ago! It was so cool to see in person.
We also got to wander around a Muslim street in town. We sampled lots of new foods and got to look in shops.
Unfortunately, we missed out on a bike ride along the city wall that looked amazing. (We spent the day figuring out my passport that we thought had been stolen -- spoiler alert, it wasn’t. Oops!)
Beijing
After Xi’an, we flew to Beijing. We stayed at the Peninsula Beijing which was an amazing hotel.
Visit the Forbidden City. The city was called forbidden because the emperor originally forbade anyone from entering except for his family and close court. The city consists of a variety of buildings and was really interesting to learn more about.
Walk to Wanchun Pavilion for an amazing view of the city and Royal Palace.
The overall highlight of our trip was visiting the Great Wall of China! It did not disappoint.
Although there are portions of the Wall close to Beijing, our guide said that these areas get very overcrowded, so he took us to the Mutianyu section of the Wall. (About a 1.5 hour drive from Beijing.)
From here, we took a cable car up to the Wall! We spent about 2-3 hours exploring and walking along the Great Wall. Wear good walking shoes.
At the base of the Great Wall, there are a lot of great restaurants. I had the best dumplings ever here.
We had afternoon tea at a hotel. It was so fun and delicious.
If China isn’t on your travel bucket list, consider adding it! It is such a unique country with so many amazing cities and countrysides to explore. Feel free to DM me on Instagram @thistraveltribe with any travel planning questions!