Guides

China travel guides

Written when something actually changes. How entry works, which hour to visit a place, and what we would tell a friend who was planning the trip themselves.

Hands pouring a Chinese gongfu tea ceremony, steam rising from the cups

Latest

September 2026 · On the ground · 6 min read

The China Tea House Scam, and the Tea Worth Booking Instead

The US Embassy names the tea house scam on its own site. How the approach works, why it lands, and the tea tradition worth booking in advance instead.

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September 2026 · Getting in · 6 min read

The 240-hour transit window, and the trip it will not cover

China now allows an eligible passport up to 240 hours without a visa, in transit. It is ten days, not the six most guides still quote. It also cannot carry a round trip from the United States, which is where most people get it wrong.

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September 2026 · Field guide · 8 min read

Travel to Beijing 101

A first-time traveller’s read on Beijing: which icons are worth the hours, when to do them, where to sleep, and how to move between them without losing the day.

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August 2026 · On the ground · 5 min read

The apps to install before you land

Payments, maps, translation. One of the three has a verification delay measured in days, which is why it is the one you set up at home rather than in a taxi queue.

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August 2026 · What to do · 4 min read

When to book the Great Wall for the quiet

The wall is busiest mid-morning at the section closest to Beijing. Go at dawn to a stretch further out and it stops being a photograph and starts being a morning.

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