It happens on about day nine. You are standing in a Jingdezhen ceramics studio holding a tea set that will not survive a baggage carousel, and your suitcase is already…
Buy a ¥6,000 jade bracelet in Shanghai and roughly ¥540 of that is refundable when you fly home — if you asked for the right piece of paper at the…
Connecting through Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou is one of the cheapest ways to cross Asia, and one of the easiest ways to miss a flight if you assume it works…
For travelers chasing the roof of the world, altitude sickness in China is the single biggest health consideration. The Tibetan Plateau and the highlands of Qinghai sit at heights where…
Falling ill abroad is worrying, but pharmacies and medical care in China are more accessible than many visitors expect. The country runs a vast network of pharmacies, clinics, and hospitals,…
One of the first things travelers ask is can you drink tap water in China. The straightforward answer is that most visitors should not drink untreated municipal tap water, even…
Few topics surprise first-time visitors as much as public toilets in China. The country has invested heavily in clean, free public restrooms, yet the experience differs from what many Western…
For many first-time visitors, bargaining in China feels like a high-stakes game with unclear rules. Unlike home, where stickers mark the final price, vibrant tourist bazaars and wholesale markets across…
China’s coastline stretches for more than 18,000 kilometers and is dotted with islands large and small, many reachable only by boat. This ferries and island hopping in China guide explains…
You check out of a Beijing hotel at noon, your overnight train leaves at 21:40, and you are standing on the pavement with a 23 kg suitcase and nine hours…