China Travel Tips, 2026
Recently I've known quite a few people headed to China, most of them for the first time, or the first time in a long while. AI is helpful for things like setting up payment apps, but these are the tips I give them that AI might not (until this page is scraped, that is). I'll update this from time to time.
I write about China once a month, with photos, from the ground. Subscribers will also get a bonus chapter of If You Don't Go.
Booking the flights
I prefer to fly direct from the U.S. to Shanghai on the way out. Coming back, if we are leaving from a city with no direct flights to the U.S., I use my favorite travel hack: picking a hub for a multi-day layover. I wrote about this in my July 2026 Newsletter.
Packing list for long-haul flights
- compression socks
- disposable slippers
- under-eye patches, an eye mask, and a sheet mask for the dry cabin air
- an N95 mask, in case the next passenger is coughing
- neck pillow
- earplugs
- healthy snacks
- a water bottle I fill before the flight
- an e-reader, or a book or magazine
- a lightweight bag
I keep all the loose items in the lightweight bag and put it inside my backpack. When I get to my seat, I take this bag out and stow the backpack.
Airport lounge
Missing an international flight is one of my ultimate nightmares, so I always get to the airport early and end up waiting for hours. I came late to the whole airport lounge game, but before my last trip to China I coughed up the fee for the Capital One Venture X credit card.
I was pleasantly surprised by the Capital One lounge at our local airport. It had decent food, healthy to-go snacks, and a yoga room—deep stretching before a 14-hour flight was definitely a good idea. I visited several other Priority Pass lounges later in the trip, and none of them compared.
The drawback of the Venture X card is that currently there's only one free Priority Pass membership for the primary cardholder, so a second adult has to buy their own or pay per visit. Also you can't buy a membership for a minor, so there's always an access fee for a child.
Choosing the right travel credit card probably depends on your home airport, and on whether a particular issuer has a flagship lounge there.
The flight and jet lag
There's a whole science to circadian rhythms and how to shift them. A little Googling turns up free and paid tools that will give you a regimen of food, sleep, light exposure, caffeine, and melatonin to ensure a smooth transition.
I find those too complicated. My method is simple: don't sleep on the flight, and once I get there, sleep on the local schedule. Also, try to eat before the flight so I can skip the first airline meal, since it's usually timed to the departure city. The meals after that usually go on the destination's time. Staying awake for 14 hours takes energy, so the healthy snacks earn their place.
Then it's about light exposure at the destination. For a daytime arrival, I like to go for a walk.
When flying within or out of China, an app called 飞常准 (Feichangzhun) is useful for checking flight times.
Internet access while in China
There's usually WiFi in hotels and some public places, but the Great Firewall blocks Google, ChatGPT, the Wall Street Journal, and a variety of other evil foreign websites. Based on my research and my own experience, as of mid-2026 most VPNs won't work reliably, if at all.
The easiest way to reach the overseas internet on a phone is through an international carrier—data routed through overseas servers does not appear to be blocked, yet. For laptop use, set up the phone as a hotspot.
Since international roaming can be expensive, I got an eSIM from trip.com and installed it before leaving, then activated it once I landed. In my experience, the "international eSIM" worked for accessing the foreign websites, but had trouble with some Chinese websites and apps. I got around this by installing a Chinese SIM card, available at the airport and in communications stores around town. A Chinese SIM with data and a local phone number is handy for calls and for Chinese app authentication. It was a pain having to switch back and forth between the two SIMs, but at least I had full access.
Using money
Chinese society is close to cashless these days. WeChat Pay or Alipay will work in most places. Set these up before you leave. There are plenty of online tutorials, so I won't repeat them here.
Getting around within China
You can book domestic and some international plane tickets through ctrip.com (the Chinese version of trip.com). Train tickets can be booked through 12306 website and app. It's pretty intuitive, but if you want more detail such as how to get refunds, here's a guide on 12306 from ctrip.
Outside airports and train stations where there are taxi stands, taxis are hard to flag down on the street, since most drivers work through ride-hailing apps. There are several ride-hailing services; 滴滴 (Didi) is the most popular.
I also take the subway. I have always bought physical cards at certain stations, but I have since learned that you can add a transit card to Apple Wallet.
Sometimes I ride a shared bike. 美团 (Meituan) has the yellow ones, and 哈啰 (Hellobike) has the blue. An app called 车来了 is useful for checking bus schedules, and impressively, it is synced with the actual buses.
点评 (Dianping) is a useful app for finding restaurants. The ratings are usually reliable.
Most of these apps have English settings.
Electrical outlets and power banks
Even though officially Chinese outlets have a different shape than U.S. ones, in practice I've rarely had to use a plug converter. Most power strips support different outlet shapes, and often with direct USB connectors. But it doesn't hurt to bring a converter just in case.
The Chinese electrical system is 220V while the U.S. is 110V. The voltage difference doesn't matter for laptops and cellphones which are always dual voltage. But if you have an electronic device that only works with 110V you should bring a voltage converter (transformer).
Recently, China has gotten very strict with what type of power bank you can take on domestic flights. It must be CCC certified and under 100Wh (approx. 27,000mAh). If you have a power bank without the CCC marking, you may be able to bring it in and out of the country on international flights, but you won't be able to travel with it on domestic flights. The rule doesn't apply to trains.
A lot of restaurants and tourist spots have power banks for rent, often through the Meituan app. It's also very easy to buy one—I ordered mine online through Meituan and had it delivered within an hour.
Day tours
Viator has been reliable for English-language day tours in big cities. It's harder to find guides in out-of-the-way places, but hotels often work with drivers and guides they trust, and it's worth asking.
It's worth noting that many tourist attractions now require pre-booking, usually through WeChat's 小程序 (mini apps). A couple of times when I forgot to do this, the park/museum still let me do a same-day booking because they realize the foreign visitors may not be used to this. But it's best not to count on this.
All of this can seem a bit daunting for first-time visitors or folks who haven't been in a while. It's convenient to book a tour so the tour operator will take care of everything for you. But independent travel is fun and rewarding. For the intrepid willing to do a little preparation, things always work out on the ground. Either way, if you do go, have a great time!
Read the stories behind the tips
- Two old Chinese water towns — Zhujiajiao, Xichang, a bike ride along Qiong Lake, and the drunken shrimp
- I came within 170 meters of North Korea using this travel hack — the multi-day layover
- Fish bones and eyelash mites — medical tourism in China — what happened when we needed a doctor
Do you have other questions and tips about China travel? Stories of your own? Email me at dianahongcha@gmail.com.