China Now

What changed since the guidebook you read

China is not the country most travel writing describes. The trains run at 350 km/h, cash has almost disappeared, city streets stay busy and lit at two in the morning, and the visa rules have been rewritten twice in two years. None of that makes the trip harder — but going in without knowing it does.

This page is the briefing we give every traveller before they fly. It is the same information our guides use.

1. The trains are the itinerary

China’s high-speed network is now over 48,000 km, and it changes what is possible in a two-week trip. Beijing to Shanghai is 4 hours 18 minutes. Xi’an to Chengdu is 3 hours. Guilin to Guangzhou is under 3 hours.

Three things surprise first-time travellers:

• Your passport is your ticket. There is nothing to print. You tap the passport at the gate, both on entry and exit. No counter, no queue, no paper.
• Stations are airports. Arrive 40–50 minutes early. Security screening at the entrance is normal and quick.
• Seat direction matters. On many routes one side of the carriage has the view. When we book, we book the side that faces forward with the scenery — it is a small thing that changes a long day.

Long-distance overnight trains still exist and are worth one night if you want the older rhythm of travel. We use them deliberately, not as a cost-saving measure.

2. Your card works. Your cash barely does.

China runs on QR codes. Street stalls, temple ticket windows, metro gates, a ¥3 bottle of water — all of it is paid by scanning. The good news: foreign cards are now properly supported.

Set this up before you fly, at home, on wifi:

• Install Alipay or WeChat Pay and link a Visa, Mastercard or Amex.
• Complete the identity check in the app (passport photo, selfie). It takes about ten minutes.
• Test a small payment before departure if you can.

Cards still work in international hotels and at big retailers. Cash is accepted but awkward — nobody has change. Bring a few hundred yuan for rural markets and temple donation boxes, not for daily spending.

Tipping is not customary and is not expected. Guides and drivers are paid properly by us; if you want to thank them, a small gift from home lands better than cash.

3. Two in the morning is a normal hour to eat

One of the most repeated things our travellers say after a week: they expected to feel uneasy at night, and they did not.

Chinese cities stay awake. Night markets run past midnight, noodle shops open 24 hours, convenience stores sit on every second block, and the streets stay busy long after the last metro. Walking home at 1am in Chengdu or Xi’an is unremarkable.

What we still tell people to do: keep normal city sense, use the official taxi app or a hotel-arranged car late at night, and keep a screenshot of your hotel address in Chinese. Language, not safety, is the real friction.

4. You may not need a visa at all

China has expanded unilateral visa-free entry to a large list of countries — much of Europe, plus Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and Malaysia among others — for stays of up to 30 days. Separately, a 240-hour (10-day) visa-free transit applies to a longer list of nationalities, including the US and UK, when you are travelling onward to a third country.

The lists change, and they change without much notice. Two rules we follow:

• We check the current rule against your specific passport before you commit to flights, not after.
• We do not guess about transit eligibility. If your routing is Beijing in, Shanghai out, that is a domestic itinerary and transit rules may not apply. We verify before you book.

What this means for planning

Because the trains are fast and the cities are safe at night, the constraint on a China trip is no longer distance or logistics — it is how much you are willing to move. Our rule of thumb: three nights minimum in any city you actually want to see, and no more than one internal move every three days.

That is why our long routes look the way they do. Fifteen days, four or five bases, one overnight train at most. If you want to compare, the full catalogue is here.

Questions we get asked every week

Is the tap water drinkable?

No. Bottled water is everywhere and cheap; hotels provide kettles. We supply water in the vehicle on touring days.

Will my phone work?

Google, WhatsApp, Instagram and most Western services are not reachable on a local network. Either buy an eSIM with international routing before you fly (the simplest option) or install a reputable VPN in advance. Hotel wifi has the same restrictions.

Do I need to speak Chinese?

No. Your guide handles everything, and translation apps cover the rest. Learning 谢谢 (thank you) and 多少钱 (how much) is a courtesy, not a necessity.

Can I drink the tap water in restaurants?

You will be served hot water or tea by default. That is normal, not a hint that the water is unsafe.