English guides for first-time visitors to China

China travel, answered.

32 city guides and 117 exact answers on visas, payments, trains and tickets. Every answer names its official source and the date we last checked it.

People ask: Do I need a visa?Buy train tickets on 12306Pay with a foreign cardForbidden City ticketsChina SIM card
32 city guides 117 exact answers Last checked 6 Oct 2026
Giant panda eating bamboo at the Chengdu Panda Base Giant Pandas · Chengdu Rows of life-size Terracotta Army warriors in Pit 1, Xi'an Terracotta Army · Xi'an Hongya Cave's stilt houses lit gold over the river at night, Chongqing Hongya Cave · Chongqing
Before you fly

Visa, money, phone, trains: sort these before you board.

Get these right and China is easy. Each link goes to an answer checked against the official source.

Full checklist

Visa and entry

Checked 1 Oct 2026 · en.nia.gov.cn All visa and entry rules →

Money

Payments overview →

Phone and internet

Internet overview →

Trains and transport

Getting around overview →
Cities

Where are you going?

32 city guides. Each page shows the month its facts were last verified.

All 32 city guides
The Great Wall of China north of Beijing — a restored stretch of wall with crenellated parapets climbing a ridge past a watchtower, autumn-coloured hills and blue sky beyond 38 answers
Beijing · North China

Beijing

The Forbidden City at dawn, the Great Wall by bullet train, lacquered Peking duck carved tableside — and a ¥2 hilltop sunset over 9,000 imperial rooms.

Read the Beijing guide
The Pudong skyline across the Huangpu River on a clear day — the Oriental Pearl Tower, the bottle-opener Shanghai World Financial Center and Shanghai Tower rising behind a working river barge
East China

Shanghai

28 answers
Two Ming-dynasty watchtowers on top of Xi'an's city wall, hung with red lanterns and flags, rising above green trees with modern apartment blocks behind
Northwest China

Xi'an

24 answers
Chengdu skyline at dusk behind a panda-dotted park — or a steaming hotpot table, hero shot
Southwest China

Chengdu

22 answers
Chongqing's two-river skyline at blue hour — towers stacked up the mountainside, the Yangtze and Jialing glowing below

Chongqing

9
 Shenzhen's Futian skyline at night — the Ping An Finance Centre outlined in orange light, spearing the low clouds above the CBD towers

Shenzhen

16
 Canton Tower's twisting hourglass lattice lit in bands of red, orange, yellow and green at dusk above the Pearl River, with the city skyline behind and a lit-up cruise boat on the water in the foreground

Guangzhou

21
 A two-tier wooden pavilion standing over West Lake in soft mist, dried lotus stalks in the water and hills fading into haze behind

Hangzhou

8
 Aerial view of the Li River winding between towering limestone karst peaks in low golden sunlight, tourist boats on the water and a village of white houses on the bank

Guilin

7
 Nanjing skyline at sunset seen from Purple Mountain — Xuanwu Lake in the foreground, Zifeng Tower and the city's high-rises on a hazy horizon

Nanjing

4

All 32 cities by region

New guides appear here automatically

North

BeijingDatongPingyaoTianjin

East

HangzhouHuangshanNanjingQingdaoShanghaiSuzhou

South

GuangzhouGuilinQuanzhouSanyaShenzhenXiamen

Southwest

ChengduChongqingDaliGuizhouJiuzhaigouKunmingLhasaLijiangShangri-La

Northwest

DunhuangXi'an

Central

ChangshaLuoyangWuhanZhangjiajie

Northeast

Harbin
Exact answers

Check the rule before you book.

Short answers to the questions that trip up first-time visitors, each with its official source.

Attraction tickets and reservations

Airports, stations and borders

See all 117 answers
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