Shanghai skyline for the LocalKey China Guide

China Guide

China Guide

Practical, specialist-written guidance for traveling China with less guesswork. The same judgment we use for trip design, published as useful notes.

Browse by topic

What do you need to sort out?

5 guides
Visa & Entry
Visa-free transit, entry rules and what to have ready at the border.
12 guides
Payments & Apps
Alipay, WeChat Pay, eSIMs and the apps that make daily life in China work.
10 guides
Transport
High-speed rail, 12306 tickets, metro, Didi and getting between cities.
18 guides
Itineraries
Day-by-day routes for first visits, short stays and private journeys.
48 guides
Food
Regional dishes, tea and where locals actually order them.
96 guides
Photography
City-by-city photo locations, timing and practical shooting notes.
48 guides
Culture & Craft
Opera, embroidery, teahouses, old towns and heritage sites, with context.
15 guides
Planning & Safety
Packing, health, emergencies and the decisions to make before you book.

Start here

Six things to settle before you fly

Visa & Entry

Visa-free transit, entry rules and what to have ready at the border.

Payments & Apps

Alipay, WeChat Pay, eSIMs and the apps that make daily life in China work.

Transport

High-speed rail, 12306 tickets, metro, Didi and getting between cities.

Itineraries

Day-by-day routes for first visits, short stays and private journeys.

Food

Regional dishes, tea and where locals actually order them.

Photography

City-by-city photo locations, timing and practical shooting notes.

Culture & Craft

Opera, embroidery, teahouses, old towns and heritage sites, with context.

Planning & Safety

Packing, health, emergencies and the decisions to make before you book.

Specialist knowledge

LocalKey is not just writing about China. We use this knowledge to design the trip.

Visa-free routing, payment setup, emergency planning, city pacing, and experience selection are not side topics. They are the operating layer behind private China tours.

Free planning tools

Quick checks before you ask us to design the trip.

Use the visa-free route checker and Shanghai itinerary builder as China Guide resources. They are free lead-in tools, separate from our paid Private China Tours.

Need us to design this for you?

Turn guide notes into a working China route.

Choose a private China tour — Classic or Signature — designed 1:1 around your dates and budget.

Start Planning Classic or Signature

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Where would you like to begin in China?

Tell us how much time you have, who you are travelling with, and what first caught your curiosity.