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China 🇨🇳

backpacking Asia China 🇨🇳High-speed trains link Ming watchtowers, karst peaks and chili-heavy Sichuan food.

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Backpacking China in 2027

A complete guide including when and where to go, costs, transport, itineraries, and practical travel advice.
A first look at the country

Backpacking China
By Johan Kruseman 🇳🇱 | Updated October 19, 2026

China is far easier to travel on your own than its reputation suggests. The country runs the world’s largest high-speed rail network, well over 40,000 kilometers of track, and most big cities have clean metros with station names in English, so the idea that you need a tour group to see it is decades out of date.

What pulls you here is range. In one trip you can walk Ming-dynasty watchtowers outside Beijing, drift between the limestone peaks of Guangxi and eat your way through Sichuan, a cuisine built on chili and the numbing Sichuan peppercorn. My first Chongqing hotpot left my lips buzzing as if I’d licked a battery, and the family at the next table laughed and slid over a carton of cold soy milk. The hard parts are systemic, and they make sense once you see why. The Great Firewall blocks Google, WhatsApp and Instagram, so experienced travelers land with a roaming eSIM or a working VPN already installed, plus Amap or Apple Maps for directions. Daily life runs on Alipay and WeChat Pay because China largely skipped the credit-card era, so link your foreign card to Alipay before the flight and keep some cash as backup. English is thin outside the big cities, and a translation app with camera mode turns menus and signs from guesswork into reading.

Compared with Japan, the English is patchier, but daily costs run at roughly half for similar comfort. Vietnam is cheaper still and has a looser, well-worn backpacker loop, while this country asks for more planning and gives you far more variety in return. It suits travelers who enjoy solving small puzzles and who plan their days around their stomach. If you want to wing every day in English with your usual apps working, start somewhere else and come back when you’re ready.

👉 Get the 📖 Travel Guide of China

Beijing and Xi’an (Beijing, Great Wall, Xi’an, Terracotta Army)

China’s imperial north runs along one high-speed line, and Beijing to Xi’an takes 4.5 to 6 hours, so pairing them makes sense. Beijing is enormous and walkable only in pieces. The hutong lanes around Gulou and Shichahai are where neighbors play cards on plastic stools outside their courtyard doors. Most tours use Badaling because it’s the closest Great Wall section, which is exactly why it’s packed. Spend the extra hour to reach Mutianyu or Jinshanling instead. In Xi’an, the Muslim Quarter’s night food lanes have more street life than any museum, while the warriors are best seen at opening, before tour buses arrive. This pairing suits first-timers.

Shanghai and the Yangtze Delta (Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou)

This is the densest rail grid in the country. Suzhou is 25 to 30 minutes from Shanghai by bullet train and Hangzhou about an hour, so day trips beat changing hotels. Shanghai moves fast and feels international, and the smart pattern is to sleep in one place and fan out. Suzhou’s classical gardens are small and fill up by mid-morning, so arrive when the gates open. Hangzhou’s West Lake loop is about 15 km of flat paths, best covered on a shared bike. Beijing to Shanghai runs 4.5 to 6 hours by train. The delta suits city lovers and anyone short on days.

Sichuan and Chongqing (Chengdu, Chongqing, Leshan Giant Buddha)

Chengdu runs slow on purpose: teahouses in People’s Park, mahjong at noon, a food culture built on numbing Sichuan pepper. The panda base opens at 7:30am, and the animals go to sleep once the day heats up, so early morning is the only sensible slot. Chongqing, 1 to 1.5 hours east by bullet train, is the opposite, a vertical city of stairways, a monorail running through an apartment block and hot pot steaming past midnight. Flights from Beijing take about 3 hours, and Leshan is an hour’s train from Chengdu. This region suits food-driven travelers and solo backpackers, since Chengdu’s hostels are some of the most social around.

Yunnan (Kunming, Dali, Lijiang, Tiger Leaping Gorge)

Yunnan is where China gets physically demanding and culturally mixed, with Bai villages around Dali, Naxi heritage in Lijiang and Tibetan influence further north. A bullet line links Kunming to Dali in about 2 hours and Dali to Lijiang in roughly 1.5 more, so the old towns are easy to reach; the reward lies beyond them. Lijiang’s old town is heavily commercialized, which is why experienced travelers sleep in quieter Shuhe or in lakeside villages near Dali such as Shuanglang. The high trail at Tiger Leaping Gorge is a two-day hike with steep climbs at altitude. Kunming is a 3.5 to 4 hour flight from Beijing. Yunnan suits hikers and slow travelers.

Guilin and Yangshuo (Guilin, Yangshuo, Longji Rice Terraces)

The karst peaks printed on the 20-yuan note stand along the Li River near Xingping. The classic Li River cruise from Guilin is built for tour groups and ends in Yangshuo anyway. A bamboo raft on the Yulong River, or a bike ride through the lanes between Yangshuo’s villages, puts you among the same peaks with less fuss. Yangshuo’s West Street is loud bars and souvenir stalls, so sleep in a countryside guesthouse outside town. Guangzhou to Guilin takes 2.5 to 3 hours by high-speed train, and the Longji terraces, about 2 hours north, mean steep stone steps. The area suits rock climbers, cyclists and couples.
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Why go?Why China is worth visiting

Scenery

China covers about 9.6 million square kilometers, and its scenery shifts so sharply because the land … read more 👉
China covers about 9.6 million square kilometers, and its scenery shifts so sharply because the land drops in three great steps, from the Tibetan Plateau at over 4,000 meters down through basins and hills to the eastern plains. Add a monsoon that soaks the south and barely reaches the northwest, and you get landscapes that rarely appear side by side anywhere else. Jiuzhaigou in northern Sichuan has travertine lakes tinted turquoise by dissolved calcium carbonate. The Yuanyang rice terraces in Yunnan were carved by Hani farmers over roughly 1,300 years, and in winter, when flooded, they mirror the sky. In Gansu, the Zhangye Danxia hills are striped red, orange and yellow by layers of sandstone and minerals laid down over millions of years.

Because domestic tourism is enormous, the famous viewpoints come engineered with boardwalks, shuttles and crowds to match, so timing matters more than location. I’d go to Yuanyang between December and March and stand at the Duoyishu terraces for sunrise, and I’d save Jiuzhaigou for a weekday in late October, when the autumn color peaks and school groups are back in class.

Mountains

Mountains in China come with two traditions you won’t meet in the Alps. The first is sacred: Buddhist … read more 👉
Mountains in China come with two traditions you won’t meet in the Alps. The first is sacred: Buddhist and Taoist peaks such as Emei Shan in Sichuan and Hua Shan near Xi’an have been pilgrimage routes for more than a thousand years, so instead of dirt trails you climb carved stone staircases lined with temples, noodle stalls and porters carrying supplies on shoulder poles. The second is wild. Out west, the Hengduan ranges hold peaks such as Minya Konka (Gongga Shan) at 7,556 meters, with little infrastructure beyond yak trails.

The stairs explain the biggest practical surprise. A day on Emei or Huangshan means thousands of steps, harder on the knees than any switchback, so trekking poles earn their space in your pack. Cable cars run on most big peaks, and the smart approach is to hike up and ride down, since descending stone stairs is what wrecks joints.

For something closer to classic trekking, the high path through Tiger Leaping Gorge in Yunnan runs about 22 kilometers above the Jinsha River, with family guesthouses to split it into two days and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain towering close to 4,000 meters above the water.

Architecture

China’s architecture runs from timber halls and earthen fortresses to some of the tallest towers on … read more 👉
China’s architecture runs from timber halls and earthen fortresses to some of the tallest towers on Earth, and old and new sit unusually close because most cities were largely rebuilt after 1980. Expect many historic buildings to be reconstructions: traditional builders worked in wood, which burns and rots, and the twentieth century destroyed a great deal more. Authenticity here lives in layout and craft more than in original planks.

The Forbidden City in Beijing, with around 980 surviving buildings, shows the imperial grammar of north-south axes and yellow-tiled roofs at full scale. Pingyao in Shanxi keeps its complete Ming-era wall and courtyard houses, and its old remittance banks recall the town’s role as a Qing-era financial center. In Fujian, the Hakka tulou are round earthen compounds up to five stories high, some housing a whole clan of several hundred people around one courtyard. At the other extreme, Shanghai’s Lujiazui skyline includes the 632-meter Shanghai Tower, the tallest building in the country.

Enter the Forbidden City from the south, then climb Jingshan Park just beyond the north gate, where the view across the golden roofs finally makes the scale click.

Food

China has dozens of regional cuisines, each shaped by climate and crops. The rice-growing south eats … read more 👉
China has dozens of regional cuisines, each shaped by climate and crops. The rice-growing south eats rice; the wheat-growing north lives on noodles, steamed buns and dumplings. The humid Sichuan Basin built its cooking on chili and Sichuan peppercorn, a combination called mala (numbing and hot), while Cantonese cooks around Guangzhou prize freshness and light seasoning, which is why dim sum there tastes so clean. In Xi’an, centuries of Silk Road trade left a Hui Muslim food culture of cumin-dusted lamb skewers and roujiamo, a flatbread stuffed with braised meat. Lanzhou beef noodles, hand-pulled to order, turn up in shops across the whole country.

The best cooking often sits in the plainest rooms, because local diners are fiercely value-minded and a mediocre noodle shop doesn’t last. I’d eat where the lunchtime queue is longest and the menu is only in Chinese. Dishes are meant for sharing, so a group of three or four eats far better than a solo traveler; on your own, order dumplings by the liang (50 grams) or a single noodle bowl. Pointing at what the next table is eating works everywhere.

Uniqueness

Most international backpackers still route around China, which leaves enormous parts of it visited almost … read more 👉
Most international backpackers still route around China, which leaves enormous parts of it visited almost entirely by Chinese travelers. The barrier is partly language and partly the separate digital world behind the firewall, and once you’re through it, the country opens up in ways few places in Asia still do. Kashgar in far-western Xinjiang is closer to Kabul than to Beijing, and its Sunday livestock market, with Uyghur traders haggling over sheep and donkeys, belongs more to Central Asia than to anything in the east. In the hills around Kaili in Guizhou, Miao villages hold festivals on the lunar calendar, with silver headdresses and collars that together can weigh several kilograms. In western Sichuan, Tibetan monasteries and yak herders sit a day’s drive from Chengdu’s shopping malls.

Remote regions have their own rules. Xinjiang especially has frequent police checkpoints where you’ll show your passport, sometimes several times a day, so keep it on you and pad every travel day there with extra hours. I’d time a Guizhou trip around the Miao New Year in late autumn, when villages are at their liveliest.

Low cost

Backpacking China costs roughly CNY 250 to 400 (US$35 to 55) a day if you sleep in dorms or simple guesthouses, … read more 👉
Backpacking China costs roughly CNY 250 to 400 (US$35 to 55) a day if you sleep in dorms or simple guesthouses, eat at local restaurants and travel by train, which puts it well below Japan or South Korea and a little above Vietnam. The low costs come from scale. Hundreds of millions of Chinese travel domestically on modest incomes, so hostels, noodle shops and public transport are priced for them, and fierce competition keeps those prices down. A filling bowl of noodles or a plate of dumplings in a neighborhood shop typically runs CNY 15 to 30 (US$2 to 4).

Budgets break on entrance fees. Big scenic parks such as Zhangjiajie or Jiuzhaigou charge around CNY 150 to 250 (US$20 to 35) for entry, often plus a compulsory shuttle bus, so two or three in one week can cost more than your beds. Plan the expensive parks deliberately and fill the days between with free or nearly free sights: many provincial museums admit you at no charge with a passport. Shanghai pushes the daily figure toward CNY 500 (about US$70), while small towns in Guizhou or Yunnan pull it down to around CNY 200 (about US$28).

People

People in China tend to meet a foreign traveler with open curiosity, and the directness that comes with … read more 👉
People in China tend to meet a foreign traveler with open curiosity, and the directness that comes with it feels startling until you understand it. Asking your age, your salary or why you aren’t married is a normal way to place someone socially, and answering with good humor earns instant warmth. In smaller towns you’ll be stared at and asked for selfies, which comes from novelty rather than hostility. Strangers are often quick to help, and a shopkeeper may abandon her counter to walk you to the right street.

Public reserve can look like coldness at first. Space is crowded, so people queue loosely, push onto trains and rarely thank strangers; courtesy is saved for relationships. Once you share a meal, that switches. Hosts keep refilling your bowl, and leaving a little food on the plate signals you’re full, while an empty bowl simply gets topped up.

The easiest place to meet people is a city park in the early evening, when retirees dance in formation and play cards. Join the back row of a square-dance group; nobody minds, and someone will correct your steps within minutes.

Wildlife

China is one of the most biodiverse countries on Earth, because its range runs from tropical forest … read more 👉
China is one of the most biodiverse countries on Earth, because its range runs from tropical forest in Xishuangbanna to alpine meadow on the Tibetan Plateau, and the mountains of the southwest escaped the worst of the ice ages, sheltering species that vanished elsewhere. That is why the giant panda survives only here, in bamboo forests across Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu. Wild sightings are very rare, so most travelers visit the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, where pandas are most active at the morning feeding shortly after the 7:30 opening.

Beyond pandas, wildlife takes more effort to find. The Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi hold golden snub-nosed monkeys, and Yunnan’s Baima Snow Mountain reserve shelters the black-and-white Yunnan snub-nosed monkey, with guided visits at Xiangguqing. In winter, Caohai Lake in Guizhou draws black-necked cranes, and Poyang Lake in Jiangxi hosts most of the world’s Siberian cranes. Pack binoculars: Chinese reserves are vast, and the animals keep well clear of the noise that tour groups bring.

Backpackers

The backpacker scene in China is mostly Chinese, and that is its strength. Millions of young domestic … read more 👉
The backpacker scene in China is mostly Chinese, and that is its strength. Millions of young domestic travelers, from students to remote workers, fill the same hostels you’ll use, so the social life runs on card games and shared hotpot, and bucket-drink party nights are rare. Hostels are often the best-value bed in town, and many run bars, rooftop terraces and organized day trips.

The scene clusters where landscape and living costs suit long stays. Dali in Yunnan draws digital nomads and artists to the foothills of Cangshan and the shores of Erhai Lake. Yangshuo has a climbing community working hundreds of bolted routes on the limestone. Chengdu’s hostels are the jumping-off point for western Sichuan, where travelers team up to split car hire for plateau road trips. Hostel staff usually speak the best English in town, which makes the front desk your most useful resource.

I’d choose hostels with a real common room and an active WeChat group, then ask to be added on arrival; that chat is where rides get shared and dinner invitations appear.

⭐ HighlightsKey places and experiences

  • Great Wall at Jinshanling: About two and a half hours northeast of Beijing, this Ming-era stretch rides a ridgeline of watchtowers, some restored and some crumbling into grassy rubble. The steps are uneven enough that your calves keep score, and on clear autumn days the wall unspools across the hills as far as you can see. Crowds are a fraction of Badaling’s, and the wind up there carries the dry smell of scrub and dust. Run your hand along the bricks and you’ll find some with characters stamped into them, marks left by the units that fired them. Walk west from the main entrance early, when the light comes in flat across the towers.
  • Terracotta Army, Xi’an: Pit 1 is a hangar the size of an aircraft shed, and the hush when you first look down into it holds even with phones raised all around you. Rank after rank of clay soldiers, around 2,000 excavated so far from a pit thought to hold about 6,000, face east toward the old enemies of the Qin. Lean on the rail and study individual faces: mustaches,
… read more 👉
  • Great Wall at Jinshanling: About two and a half hours northeast of Beijing, this Ming-era stretch rides a ridgeline of watchtowers, some restored and some crumbling into grassy rubble. The steps are uneven enough that your calves keep score, and on clear autumn days the wall unspools across the hills as far as you can see. Crowds are a fraction of Badaling’s, and the wind up there carries the dry smell of scrub and dust. Run your hand along the bricks and you’ll find some with characters stamped into them, marks left by the units that fired them. Walk west from the main entrance early, when the light comes in flat across the towers.
  • Terracotta Army, Xi’an: Pit 1 is a hangar the size of an aircraft shed, and the hush when you first look down into it holds even with phones raised all around you. Rank after rank of clay soldiers, around 2,000 excavated so far from a pit thought to hold about 6,000, face east toward the old enemies of the Qin. Lean on the rail and study individual faces: mustaches, topknots, a scowl here, a half-smile there. The air smells of cool, damp earth. Be at the gate at opening and head straight to Pit 1 before the tour buses from the city roll in.
  • Li River and Yangshuo: Around Yangshuo the karst peaks rise almost vertically out of flat rice fields, and morning mist turns them into layered paper cutouts. The view near Xingping is printed on the back of the 20-yuan note, and people line up to hold one against the real thing. Skip the big cruise boats in favor of a bamboo-style raft on the smaller Yulong River, poled by a local boatman, where the only sounds are water dripping from his pole and water buffalo shifting in the shallows. Cycling the village lanes between the two rivers fills a whole day without trying.
  • Zhangjiajie National Forest Park: More than 3,000 quartz-sandstone pillars stand here, many over 200 meters tall, with pines gripping their tops. When cloud pours through the gaps, the park looks unfinished, as if the ground hasn’t settled yet. The Bailong Elevator rides 326 meters up a cliff face in under two minutes, and your ears pop on the way. Down on the Golden Whip Stream trail it is cooler, greener and loud with water, plus the occasional rhesus macaque raiding a snack bag. Give it two full days, sleep near an entrance and walk the lower trails at first light while everyone else queues for shuttles.
  • Chongqing after dark: China’s steepest megacity lights up like a circuit board once the sun drops. Hongyadong, a stilt-house complex stacked eleven floors down a cliff above the Jialing River, glows gold, and the air smells of beef tallow and chili from hotpot restaurants spilling onto the sidewalks. Ride the Yangtze River cable car across the water, then watch a Line 2 monorail train slide straight through a residential tower at Liziba station. Phone maps struggle here because one street can sit directly above another, so trust the stairways and expect your legs to ache by midnight.
Off the map, the Dong drum towers of Zhaoxing in Guizhou, the silver Xiapu mudflats on the Fujian coast and the stone Tibetan houses of Jiaju near Danba all repay the detour, and Zhaoxing is the one I’d head for first.
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🧭 RoutesLogical itineraries covering the highlights

The 14-Day Yangtze Delta Route


Canal towns, scholar’s gardens and a night on a granite summit, all linked by short high-speed train hops through eastern China. It’s an easy first taste of the country, heavy on food and light on transit.
  • Shanghai’s Bund and its world-class museum
  • The classical gardens of Suzhou
  • Sunrise above the clouds in the Yellow Mountains
  • Tea terraces and West Lake in Hangzhou

👉 explore this 14-day route

The 21-Day Classic North-to-South Route


Imperial Beijing, Qin-dynasty clay armies and Sichuan pandas lead south to rice terraces and karst rivers before a finale in Hong Kong. This is the China most people picture, paced so you actually get to enjoy it.
  • The Forbidden City and a day on the Great Wall
  • The Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an
  • Pandas in Chengdu and the Leshan Giant Buddha
  • Bamboo rafts and limestone peaks around Yangshuo

👉 explore this 21-day route

The 30-Day Deep China Route


A month that pairs the great imperial cities with walled Pingyao, the mountain trails and market towns … read more 👉

The 14-Day Yangtze Delta Route


Canal towns, scholar’s gardens and a night on a granite summit, all linked by short high-speed train hops through eastern China. It’s an easy first taste of the country, heavy on food and light on transit.
  • Shanghai’s Bund and its world-class museum
  • The classical gardens of Suzhou
  • Sunrise above the clouds in the Yellow Mountains
  • Tea terraces and West Lake in Hangzhou

👉 explore this 14-day route

The 21-Day Classic North-to-South Route


Imperial Beijing, Qin-dynasty clay armies and Sichuan pandas lead south to rice terraces and karst rivers before a finale in Hong Kong. This is the China most people picture, paced so you actually get to enjoy it.
  • The Forbidden City and a day on the Great Wall
  • The Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an
  • Pandas in Chengdu and the Leshan Giant Buddha
  • Bamboo rafts and limestone peaks around Yangshuo

👉 explore this 21-day route

The 30-Day Deep China Route


A month that pairs the great imperial cities with walled Pingyao, the mountain trails and market towns of Yunnan, and the sandstone pillars of Hunan. Expect courtyard guesthouses, a gorge trek and plenty of slow days between the big sights.
  • Hutong life and a wild stretch of the Great Wall
  • Tiger Leaping Gorge and the old caravan town of Shaxi
  • The forest of stone pillars at Zhangjiajie
  • A water-town finale around Shanghai

👉 explore this 30-day route

🌤️ When to go?Best time to visit China

The best time for backpacking China is April to May and September to October, when most of the country sits between 15 and 25°C, skies are clearer, and you dodge both the summer steam bath and the Lunar New Year travel crush. The country is roughly the size of the United States, so regions run on different clocks: Yunnan and Hainan are at their best in winter, while Xinjiang, Gansu, Qinghai and the Tibetan Plateau shine from June to September.
  • Spring (March to May): Temperatures climb fast, with Beijing going from around 10°C in March to the high 20s by late May, while the south turns humid and showery. Blossom season runs from rapeseed fields in Wuyuan and Luoping to cherry trees in Wuhan. Crowds stay manageable except during Qingming in early April and the Labor Day holiday (around May 1 to 5), when room rates can double. Tibet is often closed to foreign permits from late February into March.
  • Summer (June to August): Shanghai, Wuhan and Chongqing bake at 33 to 38°C with heavy humidity, the “plum rains” soak the Yangtze region from mid-June to mid-July, and typhoons hit Guangdong, Fujian and Hainan from July to September. School holidays fill every major sight. This is prime time for the high, dry west and the Inner Mongolian grasslands.
  • Autumn (September to November): Crisp, dry and clear across most of the map, with Jiuzhaigou’s colors and the Silk Road at their finest. Golden Week (October 1 to 7) is the single busiest travel week of the year, with hotel prices often doubling. Outside it, this is the season to beat.
  • Winter (December to February): The north is dry and freezing (Beijing nights hit -10°C, Harbin -25°C), while the south is mild but damp, and buildings south of the Huai River line usually have no central heating. Hotel rates are at their lowest, the Harbin ice festival runs, and Yunnan and Hainan are warm and sunny.
The risk most travelers underestimate is the Spring Festival travel rush (“chunyun”), a roughly 40-day window around Lunar New Year when hundreds of millions of people head home. Trains sell out within minutes of release, buses run packed, and many family restaurants and small guesthouses shut for a week or more.
I’d book long-distance trains on 12306 or Trip.com the moment sales open, about 15 days before departure, for any holiday period. And I’d pack thermal layers for a winter trip even if you’re only going south, because a cold, unheated room in Chengdu at 6°C is harder to sleep in than a heated one in Beijing.

source: climatestotravel.comJANJanuary: fair for travelingFEBFebruary: fair for travelingMARMarch: good for travelingAPRApril: highly recommended for travelingMAYMay: good for travelingJUNJune: highly recommended for travelingJULJuly: fair for travelingAUGAugust: fair for travelingSEPSeptember: highly recommended for travelingOCTOctober: excellent for travelingNOVNovember: highly recommended for travelingDECDecember: fair for traveling
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💰 Costs (as of 2026)Typical budget expectations

Backpacking China on a budget costs about US$35 to 55 a day, and most of that goes on long-distance trains and entrance tickets, while beds and food stay cheap.
You pay in yuan, almost always through Alipay or WeChat Pay linked to a foreign card. Cash still works, but carry some small notes for rural buses.
CategoryBudget RangeLocal Reality
Dorm accommodationUS$6 to 15 per nightA dorm bed at a Beijing hutong hostel runs about US$9 to 14, and Chengdu or Yangshuo hostels charge about US$6 to 10. Prices go up 30 to 50% during Golden Week in early October and over Chinese New Year, so book early or go midweek to pay less. Dorms cost about the same as in Vietnam and roughly half what you pay in Japan.
MealsUS$8 to 15 per dayOn the street, a jianbing crepe costs US$1.10 to 1.70, a bowl of Lanzhou beef noodles US$2 to 3.50, and steamed baozi about US$0.30 to 0.50 each. Self-catering rarely saves much: instant noodles, fruit and yogurt from a FamilyMart or local supermarket come to US$4 to 7 a day. I’d skip the supermarket and eat at the noodle and dumpling shops near the train stations, which are as cheap and far better.
Local transportUS$2 to 25 per day (averaged)A metro ride costs US$0.40 to
… read more 👉
Backpacking China on a budget costs about US$35 to 55 a day, and most of that goes on long-distance trains and entrance tickets, while beds and food stay cheap.
You pay in yuan, almost always through Alipay or WeChat Pay linked to a foreign card. Cash still works, but carry some small notes for rural buses.
CategoryBudget RangeLocal Reality
Dorm accommodationUS$6 to 15 per nightA dorm bed at a Beijing hutong hostel runs about US$9 to 14, and Chengdu or Yangshuo hostels charge about US$6 to 10. Prices go up 30 to 50% during Golden Week in early October and over Chinese New Year, so book early or go midweek to pay less. Dorms cost about the same as in Vietnam and roughly half what you pay in Japan.
MealsUS$8 to 15 per dayOn the street, a jianbing crepe costs US$1.10 to 1.70, a bowl of Lanzhou beef noodles US$2 to 3.50, and steamed baozi about US$0.30 to 0.50 each. Self-catering rarely saves much: instant noodles, fruit and yogurt from a FamilyMart or local supermarket come to US$4 to 7 a day. I’d skip the supermarket and eat at the noodle and dumpling shops near the train stations, which are as cheap and far better.
Local transportUS$2 to 25 per day (averaged)A metro ride costs US$0.40 to 1.40 and a city bus about US$0.15 to 0.30. Slow trains are the cheapest way to cover distance: a hard sleeper from Beijing to Xi’an is about US$35 to 40, while high-speed second class from Beijing to Shanghai is US$77 to 92. Trains cost more per kilometer than Vietnam’s but are faster and more reliable.
ActivitiesUS$0 to 35 per dayNatural parks drive costs up the most. Zhangjiajie’s main ticket is about US$31 and Jiuzhaigou is about US$24 plus about US$12 for the park bus. The Forbidden City costs about US$6 to 8.50, the Terracotta Warriors about US$17, and Mutianyu Great Wall about US$6 before the cable car (about US$17 to 20). Many temples, parks and museums are free or under US$3.
MiscellaneousUS$2 to 5 per dayA tourist eSIM or local SIM with data costs US$15 to 30 a month, and bottled water is US$0.30 to 0.50. Luggage storage at stations runs US$2 to 3, and many hostels charge a small refundable key deposit.
Total Daily BudgetUS$35 to 55Expect around US$35 on slow city days with dorm beds and noodle shops, and US$55 or more on days with a high-speed train or a park ticket. That makes the country pricier than Vietnam or Laos and far cheaper than Japan or South Korea.
⚠️ Prices can change and everyone travels differently, so take this as a rough guide. Hope it helps you plan your adventure!

✈️ The backpacker research shortcutChina Travel Guide

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The digital guide (436 pages) contains:
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🛏️ Where to stay?Where to stay in China

Hostels and budget hotels are easy to find in China, with dorm beds typically CNY 50 to 120 (US$7 to 17) and private rooms in budget chains from about CNY 150 to 300 (US$21 to 42), concentrated in the big tourist cities. In Beijing, the hutong lanes of Dongcheng around Nanluoguxiang put you within walking distance or a short metro ride of the Forbidden City and the bar-lined lanes of Gulou, while Qianmen is closer to Tiananmen and quieter at night. In Shanghai, People’s Square and Jing’an offer central metro hubs, nightlife and very safe streets (expect higher prices and smaller rooms), and in … read more 👉
Hostels and budget hotels are easy to find in China, with dorm beds typically CNY 50 to 120 (US$7 to 17) and private rooms in budget chains from about CNY 150 to 300 (US$21 to 42), concentrated in the big tourist cities. In Beijing, the hutong lanes of Dongcheng around Nanluoguxiang put you within walking distance or a short metro ride of the Forbidden City and the bar-lined lanes of Gulou, while Qianmen is closer to Tiananmen and quieter at night. In Shanghai, People’s Square and Jing’an offer central metro hubs, nightlife and very safe streets (expect higher prices and smaller rooms), and in Xi’an and Chengdu the old-city areas around the Bell Tower and Wenshu Monastery respectively combine walkable sights with lively, cheap evening food streets.

If you enjoy meeting fellow travelers, consider choosing hostels with high ratings for atmosphere. On the other hand, if you prefer having your own space, a hotel might be a better option.

Best hostels in China


Best quality hotels in China

🚌 Getting aroundPublic transport and other ways to get around

China’s trains leave on the scheduled minute because the state-run network runs on tightly fixed slots, so your real risk is missing the gate, which closes about 5 minutes before departure. Tickets go on sale 15 days ahead on the official 12306 system, and booking 2 to 5 days out covers most ordinary weekdays. Around Spring Festival and the October Golden Week, popular routes can sell out minutes after release, so book the moment sales open.
  • High-speed rail (G and D trains): Beijing to Shanghai takes
… read more 👉
China’s trains leave on the scheduled minute because the state-run network runs on tightly fixed slots, so your real risk is missing the gate, which closes about 5 minutes before departure. Tickets go on sale 15 days ahead on the official 12306 system, and booking 2 to 5 days out covers most ordinary weekdays. Around Spring Festival and the October Golden Week, popular routes can sell out minutes after release, so book the moment sales open.
  • High-speed rail (G and D trains): Beijing to Shanghai takes 4.5 to 6 hours for roughly CNY 550 to 660 (US$75 to 92) in second class, and Shanghai to Hangzhou about 1 hour for around CNY 75 (US$10). Second class has airline-style seats with more legroom than most planes, so first class is rarely worth the 60% premium. The 12306 app has an English version and accepts foreign cards; Trip.com adds a small fee but has a smoother interface. Your passport is your ticket, scanned at the gate, and security screening means arriving 30 to 45 minutes early.
  • Overnight sleeper trains (Z, T and K trains): Older and slower, these cover long distances while you sleep, which saves a night of accommodation. Beijing to Xi’an takes about 11 to 12 hours, with a hard sleeper at roughly CNY 250 to 300 (US$35 to 42). Hard sleeper means six berths in an open compartment; soft sleeper gives you four berths and a lockable door for about 50% more. Upper berths are cheapest, but the lower ones become everyone’s daytime sofa, so the middle berth is the smart pick.
  • Domestic flights: Worth it for legs over 1,500 km, such as Beijing to Kunming (about 3.5 hours). Discounted fares run CNY 400 to 1,000 (US$55 to 140) when booked a week or two ahead on Trip.com or airline apps. Much of Chinese airspace is military-controlled, which is why delays are common; experienced travelers take morning flights, before knock-on delays build up.
  • Long-distance buses: The fallback where rail doesn’t reach, especially in rural Yunnan and western Sichuan. Expect CNY 50 to 150 (US$7 to 21) for 3 to 6 hours. Buy at the station ticket window with your passport, since online booking for foreigners is patchy.
  • Metro and ride-hailing: Metro rides cost CNY 2 to 10 (US$0.30 to 1.40), paid with the transport QR code inside Alipay or WeChat, which skips the ticket machine lines. The DiDi ride-hailing app works in English and links foreign cards, and it beats street taxis because the price and route are fixed upfront.
I’d use high-speed rail for anything under about 6 hours and fly only the longest leg, because once you add airport transfers and security, the train wins door to door below that distance.
Every major airport in China connects to the city center by metro or airport rail for roughly CNY 7 to 50 (US$1 to 7), while a taxi usually costs CNY 100 to 250 (US$14 to 35); in Hong Kong fares are in HK$. On the mainland, metro gates accept Alipay or WeChat Pay transit QR codes (both can be linked to a foreign card), and ride-hailing runs through the Didi app, which has an English interface.
Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK): about 27 km (17 miles) northeast of the center.
  • Capital Airport Express (20 to 25 minutes, CNY 25 / US$3.50): Trains leave from Terminals 3 and 2 to Sanyuanqiao and Dongzhimen, where you change to the subway, running roughly from 6:20 to 23:00.
  • Taxi (40 to 60 minutes, CNY 100 to 150 / US$14 to 21 plus about CNY 10 tolls): Use the official taxi rank outside arrivals and ignore anyone offering rides inside the hall.
  • Didi ride-hailing (40 to 60 minutes, CNY 90 to 140 / US$13 to 20): Book in the app and meet the driver at the signed pickup zone on the parking level.
Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX): about 46 km (29 miles) south of the center.
  • Daxing Airport Express (about 20 minutes to Caoqiao, CNY 35 / US$5): Board below the terminal and change at Caoqiao to Line 10, with trains running roughly from 6:00 to 22:30.
  • Taxi (50 to 70 minutes, CNY 150 to 200 / US$21 to 28): The official rank is on the arrivals level and drivers use the meter.
  • Didi ride-hailing (50 to 70 minutes, CNY 130 to 180 / US$18 to 25): Follow the ride-hailing signs to the designated pickup area.
Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG): about 45 km (28 miles) east of People’s Square.
  • Maglev (8 minutes to Longyang Road, CNY 50 / US$7, CNY 40 with a same-day air ticket): Catch it from the station between Terminals 1 and 2, then switch to Metro Line 2 at Longyang Road; it runs roughly from 6:45 to 21:40.
  • Metro Line 2 (60 to 75 minutes to People’s Square, CNY 7 / US$1): The cheapest option, boarding at the same station between the terminals, with service until about 22:00.
  • Taxi (50 to 70 minutes, CNY 180 to 250 / US$25 to 35): Queue at the official rank on the arrivals level.
  • Didi ride-hailing (50 to 70 minutes, CNY 150 to 220 / US$21 to 31): Pickup is at the marked ride-hailing zone in the parking garage.
Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (SHA): about 13 km (8 miles) west of the center.
  • Metro Line 2 or Line 10 (30 to 40 minutes, CNY 5 / US$0.70): Stations sit directly under Terminal 2, with trains until about 22:30.
  • Taxi or Didi (25 to 40 minutes, CNY 60 to 90 / US$8 to 13): Use the official rank or the app pickup zone at Terminal 2.
Hong Kong International Airport (HKG): about 35 km (22 miles) west of Central.
  • Airport Express (24 minutes to Hong Kong Station, HK$115 / US$15): Trains leave every 10 minutes from the arrivals hall, roughly 5:50 to 00:50, and you can tap an Octopus card or a contactless bank card.
  • Bus A11 (60 to 70 minutes to Central and Causeway Bay, HK$40 / US$5): Board at the bus terminus outside arrivals; pay by Octopus card, as drivers give no change for cash.
  • Bus A21 (50 to 60 minutes to Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui, HK$34 / US$4.50): Leaves from the same bus terminus and runs from early morning until around midnight.
  • Taxi (30 to 40 minutes, HK$300 to 400 / US$38 to 51): Take a red urban taxi from the rank, as green and blue taxis only serve the New Territories and Lantau.
  • Uber (30 to 40 minutes, HK$280 to 380 / US$36 to 49): Book in the app and meet the driver at the signed pickup point on the arrivals level.
Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN): about 28 km (17 miles) north of the center.
  • Metro Line 3 (45 to 55 minutes to Tiyu Xilu, CNY 7 / US$1): The station is linked to both terminals and trains run until about 23:00.
  • Airport Express Bus (50 to 80 minutes, CNY 17 to 35 / US$2.50 to 5): Buses depart from outside arrivals to downtown hotels and stations, and tickets are sold at the counters inside.
  • Taxi (40 to 60 minutes, CNY 120 to 160 / US$17 to 22): Use the official rank outside arrivals.
  • Didi ride-hailing (40 to 60 minutes, CNY 100 to 140 / US$14 to 20): Pickup is at the marked ride-hailing area in the parking building.
Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport (SZX): about 32 km (20 miles) northwest of Futian.
  • Metro Line 11 (35 to 45 minutes to Futian, CNY 7 / US$1, double for the business-class car): The station sits beneath Terminal 3 and trains run until about 23:00.
  • Taxi (40 to 50 minutes, CNY 120 to 160 / US$17 to 22): The official rank is outside the arrivals hall at Terminal 3.
  • Didi ride-hailing (40 to 50 minutes, CNY 100 to 140 / US$14 to 20): Follow the signs to the ride-hailing pickup zone in the parking garage.
⚠️ Prices and routes can change, so take this as a rough guide and ask for local advice when you arrive.
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🔒 Safety (risk Level: medium)Common concerns and things to watch out for

Safety for solo travelers, including women and LGBTQ+ individuals
China is one of the safest countries in the world for solo travelers, with very low violent crime, heavy police presence and extensive CCTV in cities. The main risks are petty: pickpocketing in crowded stations and the well-known tea house or art student scam, where friendly strangers in Beijing and Shanghai lead you to a venue that presents a bill of several hundred US dollars. Women traveling alone generally report feeling safe walking at night, though it’s wise to use DiDi rather than unlicensed “black cabs” and to stay alert on overnight trains. Homosexuality has been legal since 1997 but same-sex relationships have no legal recognition; LGBTQ+ travelers rarely face hostility, and Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu have discreet gay bar scenes, but public displays of affection draw attention and activism is restricted.


Full official government travel advisory (live updates)
View details 👉

✈️ VisaEntry requirements and paperwork

Many travelers can now enter China visa-free for up to 30 days, as the country has extended unilateral visa-free entry to citizens of a long and growing list of countries including most of the EU, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea. Nationals of over 50 countries, including the US, can also use the 240-hour (10-day) visa-free transit policy if arriving with a confirmed onward ticket to a third country and staying within permitted regions. Everyone else, or anyone staying longer, applies for a tourist (L) visa by completing the online form and submitting it with their passport at the Chinese Visa Application Service Center or Chinese embassy in their home country.

source: visaforchina.cn
⚠️ Visa requirements can change over time, so always check the latest visa requirements with the official embassy or government website before you travel.

🎒 What to pack?What to wear and bring

Packing for China means planning for wildly different climates in one trip: Harbin can drop below minus 20°C in winter while Guangzhou and Hong Kong stay humid and warm, and summers across most of the country are hot, sticky and rainy. If your route includes Yunnan, Sichuan or Tibet, altitude brings cold nights even in summer, so layers beat bulky single pieces. Expect a lot of walking on stone steps, city wall tops and mountain staircases (Huangshan alone has tens of thousands of steps), so comfortable shoes that are already broken in matter more than anything else. Dress codes are relaxed in cities, but covered shoulders and knees are respectful at temples and monasteries, and public restrooms outside big cities often lack toilet paper and soap.

Apart from this country specific advice, I have also crafted a general packing list that should help on any trip. authorOver the years, I've learned the importance of packing minimally. It's so much easier to jump on the back of a truck or squeeze yourself into the last spot of a minibus without that supersized backpack. If you're headed to a warm destination, leave your winter jacket at home; for colder regions, opt for thin thermal underlayers. Instead of packing your entire wardrobe, bring just three sets of clothes, as laundry facilities are available everywhere.

View the full list 👉

🙋 FAQQuick answers to practical concerns

Trip Planning

Planning a backpacking route through China can be tricky — you need to balance must-see places, travel times, budget, and how long to stay in each destination. Our free personalized China itinerary planner creates a route based on your travel style, trip duration, and interests, so you can spend less time researching and more time exploring.



Personal tip: I normally search on good rating for atmosphere (for meeting people) and location (for easy exploring). Cleanliness as a bonus.


Travel Essentials

No vaccinations are required to enter China unless you arrive from a country with yellow fever risk, in which case a yellow fever certificate is needed. Make sure routine vaccines (measles-mumps-rubella, tetanus-diphtheria, polio and influenza) are up to date, and hepatitis A and typhoid are recommended for most travelers because of food and water exposure. Hepatitis B is advised for longer stays, Japanese encephalitis for extended time in rural areas during summer, and rabies for remote trekking or work with animals. Malaria risk is minimal and limited to a few remote border areas, so check with a travel clinic 4 to 8 weeks before departure.


vaccination requirements
When I first started traveling, I often spent part of my first day in a new country hunting for a local SIM card. While this can still be slightly cheaper, it also takes time and planning.

These days, it's much simpler to install an eSIM before leaving home. Once you arrive in China, you can activate it immediately and have mobile data from the moment you land — which is especially useful for ordering transport or navigating away from busy airports.

There are many providers nowadays, and price differences are usually small. I personally go with Holafly, as it offers excellent network coverage throughout the country and strong global coverage, so you can manage multiple countries from a single app.


HolaFly eSim

Culture & Customs

In China, do pass and receive business cards, gifts and money with both hands, take off your shoes when entering someone’s home, and let your host order and pay at group meals, since splitting the bill is uncommon and offering to pay at least once is polite. Don’t stick chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice, because it resembles incense at funerals, and avoid gifting clocks, as the phrase “give a clock” sounds like attending a death. Avoid causing someone to lose “face” by criticizing them in public, and steer clear of political topics such as Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang or the government. Gifts are often refused once or twice before being accepted, so offer again. At temples, dress modestly, walk clockwise around stupas in Tibetan areas, and ask before photographing monks. Women should cover shoulders and knees at religious sites, and same-sex couples will find that discretion is expected, since public affection of any kind is uncommon, though same-sex friends holding hands is normal and draws no attention.
Trying traditional food is always a great way to experience the culture. Here are some must-try dishes for China.
  1. Peking Duck: Roast duck with lacquered, crackling skin, carved at the table and wrapped in thin pancakes with scallion, cucumber and sweet bean sauce. It was imperial court food in Beijing and remains the city’s signature celebration meal.
  2. Xiaolongbao: Shanghai’s soup dumplings, thin-skinned parcels filled with pork and a hot broth that turns liquid when steamed. Bite a small hole, sip the soup first, then eat the rest with a dab of black vinegar and ginger.
  3. Hot Pot: A simmering pot of broth in the middle of the table where you cook sliced meat, tofu, mushrooms and greens yourself. The Chongqing and Sichuan version, loaded with chili and numbing Sichuan peppercorn, is a social ritual for groups of friends.
  4. Mapo Tofu: Soft tofu in a fiery, oily sauce of fermented chili bean paste, minced beef and Sichuan pepper. It’s the classic example of the “mala” (numbing and spicy) flavor that defines Sichuan cooking.
  5. Jiaozi: Crescent-shaped dumplings filled with pork, cabbage, chives or egg, boiled, steamed or pan-fried. Northern families fold them together at Lunar New Year, because their shape resembles old silver ingots and symbolizes wealth.
  6. Lanzhou Beef Noodles: Hand-pulled noodles in a clear beef broth topped with radish, cilantro and chili oil, stretched to order in front of you. Run mostly by Hui Muslim families, these noodle shops are in nearly every Chinese city and serve one of the best-value meals in the country.
  7. Dim Sum: Cantonese small plates such as shrimp har gow, siu mai and barbecue pork buns, served with tea in the morning and early afternoon. In Guangzhou and Hong Kong, “yum cha” (drinking tea) with dim sum is a weekend family institution.
Tap water in China is not considered safe to drink straight from the faucet, and locals almost always boil it first or drink bottled or filtered water. Tourists should stick to bottled water, which costs around CNY 2 to 4 (US$0.30 to 0.55) per bottle in convenience stores, or use the free boiled water dispensers found in hotels, train carriages and stations. Using tap water to brush your teeth is fine for most travelers.
The main language in China is Mandarin. Backpacking is way more rewarding if you know a bit of the local language, so I'd suggest brushing up on the basics just in case your Mandarin skills have become a bit rusty.

Want to understand locals better?
The complete Travel Guide for China includes 52 essential words and phrases — greetings, thank-yous, ordering food, transport, numbers, and common local expressions you'll actually hear.

Get your local basic phrases 👉

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English is limited across China: in Beijing, Shanghai and tourist hubs you’ll find it at international hotels, major attractions and among some younger, university-educated locals, while hostel staff almost always speak enough to help with bookings and directions. Outside the big cities and in rural areas, expect almost no English at all, even at train stations. Mandarin is the language that helps most everywhere, with Cantonese the everyday tongue in Hong Kong and Guangdong. Download an offline translation app that works without a VPN (Baidu Translate, Youdao or Apple Translate) and use its camera mode for menus and signs, and learn to say xièxie (thank you) and duōshǎo qián (how much).

Money & Payments

The local currency of China is CNY (¥).
Getting cash in China is easy in cities, where ATMs from Bank of China, ICBC and China Construction Bank accept foreign Visa and Mastercard cards, usually with a withdrawal limit of CNY 2,000 to 3,000 per transaction and a local fee of zero to around CNY 30 on top of your home bank’s charges. The bigger challenge is that China runs almost entirely on mobile payments, so street food stalls, small shops and even some taxis only accept Alipay or WeChat Pay, while foreign cards work mainly at international hotels, big malls and chain restaurants. Set up Alipay before you arrive and link your foreign card to it, keeping in mind that transactions over CNY 200 incur a 3% fee. Carry some cash as backup for rural areas and for when your phone dies, as cash is legal tender and must be accepted. If you bring US dollars or euros, exchange them at Bank of China branches or official airport counters with your passport, and never change money with people on the street, who often pass counterfeit notes.
Tipping is not part of the culture in mainland China, and restaurant staff or taxi drivers may even return extra money, assuming you’ve overpaid. The exceptions are private tour guides and drivers on multi-day trips, who appreciate around CNY 50 to 100 (US$7 to 14) per day, and porters at upscale hotels. In Hong Kong, most sit-down restaurants add a 10% service charge, and rounding up taxi fares is common.

🧩 Nearby countriesOther countries to combine with China

📸 PhotosScenes from around the country

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Photographed by: Johan Kruseman

Memorable moments from the road

Taking the last leg of the Trans-Mongolian Express

Taking the last leg of the Trans-Mongolian Express

China | What is it that makes train travel so special for many people? I’ve never really felt that, but that’s probably because the sprinter from Heemstede-Aerdenhout to Leiden is a completely different experience than the Trans-Mongolian Express from Ulaanbaatar to Beijing. Just the sign on the outside “МОСКВА -- УЛААН-БААТАР -- БЗЗЖИН” makes the whole jo...
Read more
Oops…. the train track changes width at the border

Oops…. the train track changes width at the border

China | Arriving at the border with China, an unexpected problem arose: the rails in China turned out to be 10 cm closer together than in Mongolia. The easiest solution seemed to be to switch to a Chinese train. It was decided to change all the wheelsets under the train!!! With all the passengers on board, the entire Trans-Mongolian Express was lifted 1.5 ...
Read more
Google Maps in China makes you get lost so often

Google Maps in China makes you get lost so often

China | And it‘s true: Facebook is blocked. But frustratingly enough, they still let the notifications come through, so you‘re constantly reminded of how many messages you‘re missing. Google Maps is even more annoying: they let the map data come through but with a deliberate offset of a few hundred meters in a random direction. This made it a bit challengi...
Read more
Checking off Beijing top-10 in 8 hours

Checking off Beijing top-10 in 8 hours

China | The following days, I checked off the tourist top 10 in no time. There‘s just too much to see within walking distance of each other. While I would spend 12 hours on a bus just to see one individual temple, here they are thrown at you in dozens, side by side. Since this update is not intended to compete with Beijing travel guides, I will skip the f...
Read more
Finding freedom in a country where being retweeted can get you to jail

Finding freedom in a country where being retweeted can get you to jail

China | And after this series of top attractions, I listened on my last day to the do’s and especially don’ts of my next destination: North Korea... But before I introduce you to the secrets of North Korea, I will first give a small bonus on Beijing because this time I let keeping countries together prevail over chronology. A little flash-forward, if you w...
Read more
More stories

We 💚 feedbackKey takeaways from the trip

China moves faster than almost anywhere I’ve traveled, and it rarely waits for you to catch up. The best surprise is how late ordinary cities stay alive, with sidewalk barbecue and night markets still busy at 10 p.m. in towns you’ve never heard of. The small warning is mental fatigue: the crowds and the constant decoding wear people down around week two. I’d build in a slow stop such as Dali or Yangshuo, and I’d carry a power bank everywhere, because your phone is your wallet and your map.

The fear that tends to linger is surveillance. Cameras are everywhere, and they are one reason street crime is so low; walking around a Chinese city at midnight feels safer than in most of Europe. Police attention goes to political activity and passport registration, and an ordinary visitor eating skewers and photographing temples holds no interest for them. Keep your passport on you, stay out of politics, and the country is remarkably easy on travelers.

✈️ When did I visit China?
As part of my 1.5 year travel around the world trip, I visited China in August 2015, coming from Mongolia by the TransMongolia Express. While my visit dates back, this guide is continuously refined using feedback from locals and current backpackers (last update: 19 October 2026)

✍️ Help improve this page!
The information on this page is based on my own backpacking experience in China, supplemented with up-to-date research and feedback from other travelers. Travel details can change, so if you notice anything outdated or incomplete, feel free to let me know.



🙋‍♂️ Give feedback

👋 Meet the founderWho’s Behind Take Your Backpack?

Johan, backpacker and founder of TakeYourBackpackHi, I’m Johan (Netherlands 🇳🇱), the creator of TakeYourBackpack. Over the past 3 decades, I’ve backpacked through 90+ countries across six continents, gaining extensive experience with independent travel, long-term trips, and overland routes.

This site is built on a combination of firsthand travel experience and carefully curated insights from other backpackers. Many guides are based on places I’ve personally visited, while others bring together tips, observations, and practical advice shared by trusted travelers I’ve met along the way.

The goal is to provide realistic, experience-driven guidance — not generic itineraries — so you can explore destinations with better context, clearer expectations, and more confidence.

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