China

Start here: Before choosing Beijing attractions, read the China Travel Essentials guide for visa, internet, payments, apps, maps, transport, railway tickets, and general reservations. For detailed app instructions, see the China Travel Apps step-by-step guide. This is the main Beijing planning page. Instead of assuming that every visitor wants the same three-, five-, or seven-day trip, it gives you a complete attraction menu and the information needed to build a route that fits your group. ...

This is the practical app chapter for the city guides on this site. It assumes that you are using a foreign phone number and an international bank card, and that you have never used Chinese travel apps before. Screenshot note: the pictures below are genuine developer-supplied App Store screenshots or an official government-published Weixin Pay guide, checked on 17 September 2026. They are not screenshots from your own phone. Menus can still differ by iOS/Android, app version, language, region, account eligibility, and verification status. Read the written path as well as the picture, and never scan a QR code copied from an untrusted guide. ...

China is too large for one national “best season.” Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Xi’an, Yunnan, Tibet, and coastal cities can have very different temperatures, rainfall, daylight, and crowd patterns in the same month. Use this chapter for the shared planning logic, then read the destination-specific season section in each city guide. Temperature note: ranges below are practical planning bands, not a forecast or a climate guarantee. Check the exact city forecast, air quality, rain, wind, and official closure notices before each day outdoors. ...

Start here: Before planning this itinerary, read the China Travel Essentials guide for visa and entry rules, internet, Alipay/WeChat, maps, transport, train tickets, and attraction reservations. For detailed app walkthroughs, see the China Travel Apps step-by-step guide. Beijing is a city of imperial scale, modern convenience, long distances, and very full days. A first-time visitor should plan by district and transport corridor, not by collecting isolated pins on a map. The best five-day rhythm is: ...

Start here: Before planning this itinerary, read the China Travel Essentials guide for visa and entry rules, internet, Alipay/WeChat, maps, transport, train tickets, and attraction reservations. For button-by-button app instructions, see the China Travel Apps step-by-step guide. Three days is enough for a memorable first taste of Beijing, but not enough to see everything. The most efficient plan is to group the imperial centre together, spend one full day on the Great Wall, and use the last day for Temple of Heaven and the historic southern city. This guide assumes two or three nights in one central hotel. ...

Start here: Before planning this itinerary, read the China Travel Essentials guide for payments, internet, apps, maps, railway tickets, and general reservations. For screenshot-style app walkthroughs, see the China Travel Apps step-by-step guide. Seven days lets you see Beijing’s essential sights without turning every day into a race. The extra time is valuable because the city is large, the Great Wall is outside the centre, and many museums and historic sites require reservations. This plan uses one downtown hotel for the whole stay and leaves a realistic amount of time for meals, queues, weather, and rest. ...

China is straightforward to travel around once a few systems are set up before departure. The most important preparation is not packing; it is making sure that your passport, phone connection, payment methods, maps, and attraction reservations will work together. This is the reusable “common chapter” for the city guides on this site. It is written for independent travelers from North America and Europe, but the same workflow is useful for visitors from many other countries. ...