A first trip to China works best as 12 to 16 days on the classic line: Beijing, Xi’an, Guilin and Yangshuo, and Shanghai, joined by high-speed trains. Before you book, check three things that catch first-timers out: whether your passport needs a visa (UK, Canadian and Australian passports currently do not, for stays up to 30 days; US and Israeli passports do), how you will pay (Alipay or WeChat Pay linked to your own card), and which of your apps will stop working on Chinese networks. Go in April to May or September to October, and avoid the first week of October and Chinese New Year.
Who this is for: couples, families and friends planning their first trip to mainland China, 10 to 21 days, who want to know what actually surprises people.
Updated: October 2026 · Doron Reichman, founder, Go East Travel
China is easier to travel than its reputation, and harder than its brochures. The trains are fast and punctual, the cities are safe at night, and the food alone justifies the flight. What trips people up is a short list of practical things that work differently from anywhere else they have been. Here is that list, checked against official sources in October 2026.
Do I need a visa for China?
It depends entirely on your passport, and the rules changed a lot in 2025 and 2026. As of October 2026:
- 30 days with no visa for ordinary passports of 45 countries, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea, plus Sweden, the United Kingdom and Canada, which were added in late 2025 and February 2026. The policy covers tourism and is currently valid until 31 December 2026, according to the Chinese consulate’s notice (checked October 2026). Extensions have usually been announced close to the end of the year.
- The United States and Israel are not on that list. Travellers on those passports need a tourist (L) visa, applied for before the trip.
- 240-hour transit: citizens of 57 countries, the US included, can stay up to 10 days without a visa if they arrive from one country and fly on to a third country or region within that time, and stay inside the permitted regions. It suits a China stop between Japan and Southeast Asia. It does not suit a round trip from home. Israel is not on this list either.
Our rule: check your own passport against the official notice at the time of booking, not a blog post, including this one.
How do you pay for things in China?
With your phone. China runs on Alipay and WeChat Pay, and both now accept a foreign Visa or Mastercard linked inside the app. Set them up at home, link your card, and make one small test payment before you fly. Payments of 200 yuan or less carry no fee; above 200 yuan there is a 3% fee per payment on foreign cards, so for hotels and big purchases a card paid directly, where accepted, can be cheaper.
Cash is still legal tender, and the People’s Bank of China has fined businesses for refusing it. Carry a few hundred yuan for small vendors, taxis and the occasional machine that will not read your app. International cards work at most big hotels, but expect to be the only person at the counter not paying by QR code. The detail, app by app, is in paying for things in China and getting your phone to work.
Will my apps work in China?
Many will not, on Chinese networks. Google (including Gmail and Google Maps), WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube are not reachable on local Wi-Fi or a local SIM. Data roaming from your home carrier, and many travel eSIMs, route through networks outside China, so these apps usually keep working. Set it up before you leave, not at the airport. Download offline maps and a translation app with an offline Chinese pack, and save your hotel addresses in Chinese characters. A taxi driver will read them faster than he will understand your pronunciation.
How do the trains work?
Brilliantly, once you know three rules. First, the distances are short in time: Beijing to Shanghai takes about 4 hours 20 minutes on the fastest trains, and Beijing to Xi’an a little over 4 hours. Second, tickets are sold in your passport name, open 15 days before travel, and the popular departures sell out on holidays. The official 12306 site and app (checked October 2026) has an English version and accepts registration with a passport, though the identity check can take up to a day. Third, your passport is your ticket. The automatic gates do not always read foreign passports, so walk to the staffed lane and allow 45 minutes at the big stations, which feel more like airports than railway stations.
More in how Chinese high-speed rail actually works.
What is the best route for a first trip?
The classic line covers the four things most first-timers come for: the imperial capital, the Terracotta Army, the karst landscape and a modern megacity.
| Stop | Nights | Why | Getting there |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beijing | 4 | Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, hutongs, one day on the Great Wall | International flight |
| Xi’an | 2 | Terracotta Army, city walls by bicycle, the Muslim Quarter at night | High-speed train, about 4 hours |
| Guilin and Yangshuo | 3 | Li River by boat, karst peaks, cycling between villages | Domestic flight |
| Shanghai | 3 | The Bund, old lanes, a day trip to a water town | Domestic flight or train |
That is 12 nights. With 16, add Chengdu for the pandas and Sichuan food, or Zhangjiajie for the sandstone pillars. With fewer than 10, drop Guilin rather than rushing it. How long each region really needs is in how many days you need in China.
Is the Forbidden City hard to get into?
It is easy if you book, and impossible if you do not. The Palace Museum in Beijing sells tickets online only, in real names: foreigners book with their passport number and show the same passport at the gate. It is closed on Mondays (except public holidays) and caps visitors at 40,000 a day, according to the museum’s official visitor page (checked October 2026). Tickets cost 60 yuan from April to October and 40 yuan from November to March. Book the moment tickets open, about a week ahead, and plan a Monday for the Great Wall instead. The Terracotta Army in Xi’an and the panda base in Chengdu also use real-name passport booking.
When should you go, and when not?
Spring (April to May) and autumn (September to October) are the comfortable seasons on the classic route: mild in Beijing, dry in Xi’an, green in Guilin. Summer is hot and humid in most of the east, and the south gets heavy rain. Winter is cold, clear and quiet in Beijing, and a good time for Harbin’s ice festival, but grey in Guilin.
The dates to avoid matter more than the season. Three holidays move the whole country at once:
- Chinese New Year: 6 February 2027. The travel rush around it lasts about 40 days; in 2026 it ran from 2 February to 13 March.
- Labour Day: the first days of May.
- National Day “Golden Week”: 1 to 7 October.
The 2027 holiday calendar is usually published in November. On those days trains sell out within minutes of opening and the Great Wall looks like a stadium concourse. Month by month, region by region: China month by month.
Ten things that surprise first-timers
- The scale. A “short” metro ride in Beijing or Shanghai can be 40 minutes. Plan two areas a day, not four.
- The security. There are bag scanners at every metro and railway station. Build in ten minutes.
- The crowds are domestic. China’s own travellers fill the famous sights; foreign tourists are a small minority.
- English drops away fast. Fine in international hotels, patchy in restaurants, rare in taxis. A translation app with an offline Chinese pack fixes most of it.
- Hotels register you with the police. It is automatic in hotels. If you stay with friends, you or your host must register within 24 hours.
- Breakfast is savoury. Dumplings, congee and buns. The western buffet exists, but the street stall is better.
- Tipping is not expected, except for private guides and drivers.
- Toilets vary. Carry tissues; many public toilets do not supply paper.
- The food is regional. Sichuan is fiery, Xi’an is noodles and lamb, Shanghai is sweet and soy. Our regional food guide helps.
- Some famous things are skippable. We list them in what we would skip in China.
Do I need vaccinations for China?
The CDC’s China page (checked October 2026) recommends routine vaccines including measles, plus hepatitis A and hepatitis B for unvaccinated travellers. Typhoid and Japanese encephalitis are only for rural or longer trips, not a city-based first visit. See a travel clinic four to six weeks before you fly.
How much does a first trip to China cost?
Less than most people expect for the ground, and more than they expect for the flights in peak weeks. Trains, food and entrance tickets are modest by Western standards; good hotels in Beijing and Shanghai are priced like other major cities. The real numbers, broken down by travel style, are in how much two weeks in China really costs. Travelling with children? Read China with children first.
How we plan a first trip to China
We start from your dates and passport: which season you will get, whether you need a visa or can use the 30-day or transit rules, and which holidays to steer around. Then the layer that is hard to do from abroad: real-name bookings for the Forbidden City and the Terracotta Army, train seats bought the day sales open, a driver and an English-speaking guide on the days that need one, and payment apps set up before you leave. We build your trip as a $39 day-by-day plan, with recommended hotels by level and every transfer set out step by step.
Keep reading
- China: the complete guide to planning your trip
- China month by month
- Beijing in four days
- How Chinese high-speed rail actually works
- All our China trips
