Your first trip to China,
finally simple.
The scary questions — visa, going cashless, the firewall, talking to a driver — turned into one clear checklist and a plan, before you land.
Start your free check
✓ Free · No sign-up required · Takes 4 minutes
What passport do you hold?
Your visa answer — and what actually trips you up — depends on your passport. Start with yours.
The parts that trip up first-timers
China is wonderful — and just different enough that a few things catch every first-timer off guard. We handle them.
Everything for a first trip, in one place
From “can I even go?” to standing in a Beijing taxi — three tools that carry you the whole way.
Check your readiness
A China Readiness Score + the must-dos still between you and the airport.
Check my readiness →🗺️Build your trip
A day-by-day plan tailored to your cities, pace and interests — with Chinese place names.
Plan a trip →🧭China Survival Kit
The cards you'll actually open in China — taxi, hotel, payment help, emergency numbers.
Open the kit →See your readiness in 4 minutes
A quick check tells you exactly what's left before you can go. Here's what a result looks like.
You can go, but fix a few things first.
Your free check covers
- ✓ Visa answer for your passport (with source & date)
- ✓ Payment, internet & app must-dos
- ✓ A China Readiness Score you can improve
- ✓ A starter trip plan & Survival cards
Free · No sign-up · 4 minutes
Explore China city by city
The texture of each place — and, where ready, a day-by-day plan to make it yours (中文 included).
China's most international city — café culture in plane-tree-lined streets, world-class museums, late-night jazz. English works here better than anywhere else in the country.
Political and cultural heart of China — hutong alley life, Peking opera, tea houses, and a brusque northern character that softens over a shared meal.
China's most laid-back big city. Locals measure a good day in cups of tea; the pace is slow, the people famously friendly, and nightlife surprisingly lively.
Layered Han and Hui Muslim heritage — evening drum towers, biang-biang noodle theatre, and a walled old city you can circle by bicycle at sunset.
Rural southern China at its most photogenic — cormorant fishermen, bamboo rafts, villages where buffalo still plough. Yangshuo town adds a backpacker buzz.
Refined, poetic, unhurried — pagodas over misty water, tea farmers on hillsides, and couples re-enacting a thousand years of romantic legends around the lake.
When to go · Spring (Apr–May) and autumn (Sep–Oct) are China's sweet spots — mild weather, clear skies. Avoid the first week of May and Oct 1–7 (national holidays) when sights and trains are packed.
Step-by-step guides
Every setup, walked through — written for foreigners, verified June 2026.