China
The first thing to understand about China is the scale, and the second is that the trains have solved it. High speed rail connects almost everywhere you would want to go, at 350 km/h, for a fraction of what the same journey costs in Europe. Beijing to Shanghai is 1,300 km and takes four and a half hours.
The second thing: almost nothing here runs on cash or on a foreign credit card. Payment is by phone, through Alipay or WeChat, and both now accept overseas cards. Set that up before you fly rather than at a ticket machine.
Cities and regions:
- Beijing, the capital, the Wall, and the old alley neighbourhoods behind the main roads
- Shanghai, where the colonial waterfront faces a skyline that did not exist in 1990
- Suzhou, canals and classical gardens, half an hour from Shanghai
- Chengdu, Sichuan food, teahouses, and the pandas
- Guilin, the limestone hills that are printed on the money
- Off the beaten path: Zhangjiajie, Fenghuang and Emeishan
- Hong Kong, which runs on its own rules and its own currency
Practical notes:
- Most passports need a visa arranged in advance. Check early, because the process takes longer than you expect.
- Google, Instagram, WhatsApp and most western news sites do not load. If you need them, arrange a VPN before you arrive, not after.
- Carry your passport. You need it to buy train tickets, board trains, and check into hotels.
- Translation apps do most of the heavy lifting outside the big cities. Download the offline Chinese pack before you go.
