Most “China travel tips” lists are padded to forty entries with advice that applies to any country. This is the short version: twelve things that are specifically true of China and that visitors get caught by.
Before you leave
1. Sort your entry route before you book flights
There are now two visa-free routes with different rules, plus the ordinary tourist visa. The 240-hour transit scheme requires an onward ticket to a third country — flying home the way you came does not qualify, and airlines check at the departure gate. See how the two schemes differ.
2. Set up mobile payments at home
Daily commerce runs on Alipay and WeChat Pay. Both accept foreign cards now, and both are much easier to register while you have a working phone connection, unhurried, at your own kitchen table. Doing it at a ticket counter with a queue behind you is a different experience.
3. Assume your usual apps will not work
A large share of Western services are unreachable from mainland China. Whatever you rely on for maps, messaging, email and cloud storage, have an alternative installed and tested before you fly. Download offline maps and an offline translation pack.
4. Have your passport details ready for everything
Train tickets, attraction bookings, hotel check-in and even some cruise tickets are name-registered to your passport. You will be entering passport numbers repeatedly; have a photograph of the page on your phone as well as the document itself.
Booking
5. Book timed-entry attractions the day the window opens
The Chengdu panda base is the clearest case — reservations open 14 days ahead, there is nothing sold at the gate, and the morning slot goes first. Checked 13 Aug 2026 This model is spreading across Chinese scenic areas rather than retreating.
6. Check which station your ticket says
“Chengdu” is not a station. Chengdu East, Chengdu South and Chengdu are different places, and the same is true across the country. Cross-city with luggage is forty minutes you did not plan for.
7. Confirm the hotel accepts foreign passports
Not every Chinese property is registered to take foreign guests, and being turned away at check-in is a documented problem — most likely with small guesthouses in scenic areas. Message the property and ask directly.
8. Plan around the two holiday weeks
Chinese New Year and National Day Golden Week (1–7 October) fill every train and every attraction in the country. See best time to visit China before fixing dates.
On the ground
9. High-speed rail beats flying on most legs
Once you count airport transfers and check-in, trains win on almost every journey under about five hours — and the network is the largest in the world. Stations are airport-sized: allow 30 to 40 minutes for security and to find the right waiting hall.
10. Watch for e-scooters, not for pickpockets
Violent crime against visitors is rare. Traffic is the real physical risk, and silent electric scooters on pavements are the most common near-miss visitors report. A green pedestrian light does not mean the crossing is clear. See is China safe for tourists.
11. If a stranger with excellent English invites you for tea, decline
The teahouse and art-student scams have run for years in Beijing and Shanghai tourist areas and follow the same script every time: a warm approach, a traditional experience, and a bill in the hundreds. Ordinary Chinese people are helpful; they do not usually open with an invitation to a paid experience.
12. Carry tissue and hand sanitiser
Public toilets frequently have neither paper nor soap. This is the smallest tip on this list and the one you will use most often.
Screenshot everything. Your hotel address in Chinese characters, your train ticket, your booking confirmations, the name of the station. Signal drops, apps fail, and a screenshot shown to a taxi driver solves a problem that a spoken address will not.
What we deliberately left out
You will find lists elsewhere recommending specific eSIMs, VPN providers, insurance and payment cards. We do not publish those. That market moves monthly, the recommendations are usually paid placements, and a stale recommendation in that category is worse than none. Check current sources close to your departure date, and prefer ones that disclose their commissions.