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China guides

China guides

Country-level guides: when to go, where to go first, visas and transit, and how the high-speed network fits together.

Country guide · 4 min read Best Places to Travel in China: Where to Go, and in What Order China is the size of a continent and the high-speed network changes what is possible. Which destinations earn a slot on a first, second…
Country guide · 4 min read China Visa-Free Entry and 240-Hour Transit: How It Actually Works China now has two separate visa-free routes and travellers routinely confuse them. Which one applies to you, the onward-ticket rule that catches people out,…
Guide · 3 min read Best Time to Visit Guilin and Yangshuo The Li River needs water to be navigable and mist to look like the paintings. Which months give you both, which month floods, and…
Guide · 3 min read Guilin or Yangshuo: Where to Stay, and Why It Is Usually Yangshuo Guilin has the airport and the trains. Yangshuo has the landscape. The split that works for most trips, and the cases where Guilin genuinely…
Itinerary · 4 min read Guilin and Yangshuo Itinerary: 4 Days, Stop by Stop One night in Guilin, the river cruise, then three nights in Yangshuo. The four-day shape that wastes the least time, with the cruise priced…
Guide · 3 min read Li River Cruise, Guilin to Yangshuo: Boats, Prices and Piers The Li River cruise runs one way, takes most of a day, and comes in two classes at very different prices. Which boat, which…
Guide · 3 min read Where to Stay in Zhangjiajie: City, Park Gate, or Inside Three bases, forty kilometres apart, and the choice decides how much of your trip you spend on a bus. Which one suits your itinerary…
Guide · 3 min read Best Time to Visit Zhangjiajie Zhangjiajie is a weather destination in a way most Chinese cities are not — the pillars disappear into cloud, and the cloud is also…
Guide · 4 min read Zhangjiajie Tickets Explained: Which Ones You Actually Need Zhangjiajie has more separately-priced tickets than anywhere else in China. Every fee, what each one covers, and what the official 2026 schedule says —…
Itinerary · 5 min read Zhangjiajie Itinerary: 3 Days, Stop by Stop Zhangjiajie is two separate mountains with two separate tickets, and confusing them is the classic mistake. Three days, in the order that works, with…
Decision guide · 4 min read Is Chengdu Worth Visiting? An Honest Answer Chengdu has fewer landmarks than Beijing and no skyline to speak of. It is still on almost every serious China itinerary. Here is who…
Guide · 4 min read Day Trips from Chengdu: Four That Are Worth the Day Chengdu sits at the centre of a high-speed network that puts several major sights inside an hour. Which of them justify giving up a…