China travel guide vlogs & China travel advice tips

Ask the rental company about the interface before setting off. The creators' domestic-market Lynk & Co could not switch its controls to English, leaving navigation and other menus in Chinese.

The creators still had about 400 km to travel after their meal stop and hoped to arrive around 6 p.m., before sunset. Allow time for a stop and avoid planning to finish a long mountain drive after dark.

Tim says the balance on his multi-use ticket had run out, so he buys a single-trip ticket before boarding. The clip does not show how to add balance or compare ticket options.

Tim says he catches a train just before the next one, which he expects in six minutes. That is the interval he observed during this trip, not a full or current timetable.

Ryan walks past memorial plaques, surviving ruins and long walls bearing victims' names, and points out a lake. The video shows these as part of his visit but does not give opening hours or access details.

Ryan says Tangshan has two old streets and chooses the less touristy one. He notes that its buildings do not look especially ancient, despite the street's historic framing.

For the fan-painting activity, the instructor says to choose up to three colours. She handles the lacquer drops because they can irritate skin, and advises shaking the pigment before using it.

The academy offers Han Dynasty clothing as part of the visit. Mark and Holly change into the outfits, take photos around the grounds and change back before returning to Chengdu.

Zina says her flight from Shanghai to Aksu took about 9 hours, with a stop in between. That was her itinerary; she does not name the airline, connection airport or schedule.

At the airport, Zina says she sees few taxis and that buses take arrivals toward the hotel. She does not name a bus route, fare or departure frequency.

Alex says he started around Lujiazui, changed to Line 16 and spent more than two hours reaching the final stop.

He points out green license plates and says the cars are electric. He also describes some as luxury cars; these are his observations on this outing.

The creator says it was 6 degrees on this August morning and calls it freezing. Bring warm layers for an early outing in the Qilian Mountains; his experience shows the weather can feel cold even in summer.

He says trekking up the ridges at this altitude made his lungs work hard, while local herders moved easily. Allow extra time and take a slower pace on high-altitude walks.

Rafa says he could not find parking inside the development, so he left his car outside the area and took a taxi in. He does not identify where he parked.

Rafa says the area is reachable by car, bus or taxi. The free shuttles he mentions connect the campus and subway stations for employees, so his account does not confirm visitor access.

The set meal uses the same broth with different amounts of ingredients and costs 38 to 168 RMB, according to the creator. The separate local-style menu ranges from 8 to 30 RMB, depending on the number of ingredients.

The family assembles the set meal at the table. Blondie says the broth will not stay hot for long, so add the ingredients promptly if you want them to cook in it.

At one stand, the creator chooses a snack and watches the vendor add egg and other ingredients. He says his order costs 10 RMB; treat that as the price he paid at this stall during the visit.

The market includes stalls identified as halal, with beef and sheep meat for sale. The video does not name a particular vendor, so check the designation at the stall you choose.

Lizzy points out massage chairs in the passage she explores and reads a price of 40 RMB for half an hour.

Lizzy says signs in large cities are in English and pointing often gets the message across. She says visitors may need a translator sometimes in smaller cities.

Fisher says spending time with someone local is the best way to see more of a place. He also recommends traveling with teenage children, saying shared trips can strengthen the relationship.

Fisher describes London as generally safe like other big cities but advises avoiding certain areas. He says Lisbon also has areas to avoid at night, while describing it as generally very safe.

For Chongqing 1949, the couple says to arrive 30 minutes before the performance and pick up a translation headset. They say both steps help them follow the show.

The couple says the rotating seats at Chongqing 1949 rotate only once. Before paying extra, compare their price with a regular option; they describe the difference as considerable.

In the driverless taxi the screen is in English: fasten your seatbelt and press start ride, and the car pulls away with nobody at the wheel.

The bus understands the road with lidar, cameras and high-definition maps, so it can follow the lane, spot obstacles and stop on its own.

Book the crossing and fill in the migration form online the day before. The couple needed several attempts because the site kept crashing.

The ferry terminal on the Xiamen side works like an airport, so arrive early enough for security, passport control and boarding.

If you are considering living between countries, Harnal suggests working through the arrangements with your family and employer first. He says school arrangements for children may be the hardest part.

If networking feels awkward, Harnal suggests choosing a subject you genuinely want to learn about and approaching people out of curiosity. He says he seeks out people who know the topic.

Most Chinese hotels only turn the power on after you put the key card in the slot by the door. Everything goes off when you leave, so charge your devices while you are in the room.

On remote stretches there may be only one hotel for around 100 km, and its review can be poor. This couple stopped carrying a tent and takes the basic room instead.

For the high-speed train from Guangzhou, Reanne first reaches the intercity and metro station, then realizes the high-speed railway station is elsewhere. Confirm the station shown on your own ticket.

When Reanne finds no metro in the city, she checks the bus route on her map, activates that city's bus QR code in Alipay and scans it when boarding.

The road drops into the tunnel beside an artificial island in the middle of the sea. If you drive the link, that is the point where the crossing stops looking like an ordinary bridge.

The whole link is 24 km and the tunnel alone is 6.8 km. Allow around 30 minutes from Shenzhen to Zhongshan, against the 2 to 3 hours the drive took before it opened.

A street session in Xi'an costs around two pounds; the couple paid 40 in total for two massages, so keep small notes or a phone payment ready.

The therapist works from a suitcase and brings out hammers and mallets one after another, so watch a minute before you sit down.

Neither Ganzhou nor Hengyang had a subway, which makes getting around a little harder; you can take buses, and taxis in China are really cheap, so plan on road transport in these tier three cities.

Buy a Meituan group saver voucher before you eat: it is cheaper than ordering normally, and it removes the language barrier because you just show the QR code and the restaurant scans it.

Don't cut it close for a train in China: staff stop letting you through the gate 8 minutes before departure, and you have to clear a security check and show your passport first.

On a train ride of over 6 hours, book a middle and aisle pair so you can get up for the restroom without disturbing the many passengers who nap.

When you get off the high-speed train in Hefei, check the gates before scanning out: the first gates they reached were for transfers, and they reminded themselves that the exit is usually down, not up.

From the station to their hotel near Swan Lake, the metro meant two lines, some walking and 42 minutes, while a taxi took just 13 minutes, so a cheap economy taxi was the better choice.

Boarding a high-speed train is not like flying: there is no check-in queue and you don't need to arrive 2 hours early. Pass security, wait upstairs and go through the ticket gate shortly before departure.

After security the waiting area has restaurants, convenience stores, drinking water and a smoking area, so you can pick up food and drinks before you get on.

On the way they bought two pairs of shoes, two pairs of shorts, a bag and a hat for about $12 in total; with more time they could have bargained the price down further.

Jake could not buy a ticket at the counter as a foreigner, while his companion had already bought one online, so book online ahead to avoid trouble at the gate.

To try niubie hot pot, go to the restaurant street in Rongjiang, where almost every restaurant specializes in this Dong and Miao dish from Qiandongnan in Guizhou.

Blanch the beef tripe in boiling water for about three minutes only, since longer makes it tough, then mix it with oil and soy sauce.

Smelly tofu, which is very popular here, and chopped chili fish head are Changsha's local specialities; look for them on the food streets if you want to try the city's signature dishes.

Street snacks are cheap and easy to pay for: a big portion of sweet sugar-oil dough balls cost 10 yuan, paid by tapping Alipay on the vendor's code.

The creator says taking a taxi to a starting point is the easiest option. He suggests asking your hotel for help and uses Google Translate because he does not speak Chinese.

Andreas recommends doing the hike on a clear day if possible, though he went in cloudy weather because he had only one day there. He later sees the views when the cloud lifts.

When riding alone on muddy roads, anticipate deep mud pits and slippery edges. Balance carefully and avoid sudden movements to prevent sliding.

In rural China, not all vendors accept mobile payment. Ask locals for help; they may pay for you and refuse repayment, offering a memorable free meal.

Before leaving Arxan, fill up your tank even if you think you have enough. There would be no petrol stations along the 350-kilometer route, so starting with a full tank saved her from running dry in the middle of nowhere.

Seek out quiet backroads in northern China. The route from Arxan toward Jalaid was nearly empty, with wildflowers and rolling hills, and riding there felt more like Canada or Alaska than the busy China many people expect.

Visit Saint Sophia Cathedral early or on a Saturday to enjoy the lively square and the atmospheric live performance inside. The interior is more like a museum than an active church, so go with that expectation.

Say yes to spontaneous invitations from locals. A random encounter with a Russian-speaking Harbin resident led to a traditional tea ceremony, obscure local snacks, and an authentic dinner that no tour could have arranged.

Katherine says packing cubes helped her keep clothes and other belongings organized after she had been putting things in random places. She separates shirts and pants from dirty clothes, making it easier to find items in the bags on the bike.

On this trip, Katherine found washing machines in many of the hotels and inns where they stayed, especially rural homestays. She says they usually did not need to wash clothes by hand, though she has done so when necessary.

Stay at family-owned guesthouses with local character instead of generic hotels to support local businesses.

Use RedNote to find lesser-known places, local foods, and honest travel reviews from real explorers.

At Kinbo, vendors may approach persistently from the metro to the market. Stay calm, browse at your own pace and do not feel pressured to buy, especially if sellers assume foreign visitors are customers.

Replica quality varies. Check stitching, weight and whether a shoe holds its shape; Homeless Pelican found that some copies looked flimsy while better ones felt close to originals and cost more.

The vlogger says all hotels in China should now legally accept foreigners, and he had no check-in problems. In India, he says some hotels do not accept foreigners without special permission.

For comparison, he paid $15 per night for the Wuzhou hotel he picked on trip.com, $7 in Kunming and $76 in Chongqing. These are his own examples from this trip, not current prices.

Reanne and Ben say they could walk into a private hospital in Guangzhou without an appointment and be seen within an hour. Their experience involved WeChat translation because not all doctors spoke English, and tests had to be paid for upfront.

In Ben's experience, he had to produce and deliver his own fertility-test sample to the lab. Ask where the lab is before leaving the room, and check whether a collection pot is available so you know how the hospital handles the sample.

Check the departure board for both the KTX train number and its time. The hosts initially struggled to match their 12:58 departure with the screen, then used the listed train number and route signs to confirm where to go.

If you want food before boarding, the hosts found several station shops, including fast-food outlets and a convenience store. They also noticed very limited seating when the station was busy, so do not count on finding an empty seat while you wait.

Grab a map before wandering Zhujiajiao's canals and side streets. The maze is beautiful but it is easy to get lost, so a local guide can unlock hidden houses and private gardens you would never find alone.

Don't skip the old private houses and gardens. A rich businessman's home hides jade-colored rock, marble panels carved like mountain landscapes, and double-sided embroidery, details that make the water town feel like a living museum.

At the airport, Connor sees a notice listing items not allowed onto the island, including drones and laser pointers. He identifies the destination as Kinmen and says it lies close to mainland China; the notice is specific to this crossing.

Connor gets lost while trying to reach a beach and asks a local person for directions. He says the parking area was empty and the road had a no-vehicles sign, so he walked toward the coast from where he parked.

Amap needed a continuous internet connection, but the host could not put her SIM card in the tablet because she had left its special tool behind. She used her phone as a hotspot, which drained its battery, so plan your navigation and power setup before setting off.

If you rely on mobile payments, finish setting up and verifying the payment app before a long ride. The host had not connected a bank card to Alipay and realized she had no cash when she needed fuel; she completed setup before paying.

The group follows the riverside park beside the Yellow River for hours, with views across the water and people to watch along the path. The video presents this as a leisurely way to spend time in Lanzhou rather than a named attraction route.

In Hukou, the group finds a small restaurant and orders handmade noodles. The creator says the town has little open late at night, so the noodles are a practical stop during this visit; no restaurant name or opening schedule is provided.

Eric says Country Driving shaped how he understood China and his own journeys. He also notes that the book will not explain how to set up Alipay or take high-speed rail, so he presents it as cultural context rather than a practical setup manual.

When considering a paid travel guide, Eric suggests looking for evidence that its author knows the places covered. His criticism focuses on one creator's Guiyang video and the guide's advertised content; it is his opinion, not an independent review of the product.