China Travel Guide

China Travel Guide

China Travel Guide

Tap into our China travel guide, designed and prepared especially for western travelers looking to bring their travel dreams to life.

As travelers ourselves, we understand making China travel plans should be uncomplicated. However, with the myriad of available options, it’s hard to know where to start. How do you tell one-China travel guide from another? Who do you trust for the very best in China travel? Guide your search by exploring the content we’ve assembled here with help from our team of travel consultants, China travel guides, and our very own CEO, Mr. Li.

As a travel agency that’s been designing unique and memorable vacations for well over a decade, we know the best holiday experiences are created when you have the background and information that enriches your experience. Amongst this collection of articles and news, discover topics of interest about the places, culture, food, accommodation, weather, and people that can become part of your own bespoke adventure. In fact, you can think of it as your personal travel China guide! 

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We are continually adding to this collection, however, some of the most popular articles cover the fundamentals every China travel agency should share with its customers. Find tips on how to travel safely in China, the best ways to pay on your holiday, the best cities to visit on a China tour, the best highlights in every destination, and what to include on your China tour bucket list.

Once the logistics are sorted, turn your attention to the ‘fun stuff’: cuisine, culture, and experiences. Looking for the finest Chinese tea? We can help. Want to explore the intricacies of ancient Chinese architecture? You’ll find the answers here in our travel China guide.

We understand your travel experience with us starts long before you arrive in China and as a dedicated China travel guide, we want every moment of that experience to be the content of beautiful travel memories. Enjoy dreaming and exploring – and if there’s more you want to know for your China travel plans, reach out to us. We’re here to help.


China Popular Highlights

With so many fantastic places and things to see in China, popular highlights that find their way to your bucket list won’t be in short supply. What will be a challenge is narrowing down your list to one that can be covered while you’re traveling on tour. Fortunately, we can help with that! We’ve put together detailed information on China, popular highlights, and included the most fascinating and useful information that will help you decide what to see and when. Want to know what’s really behind the Forbidden City’s walls? Keen to explore Shanghai’s glamorous past? Curious about the Terracotta Army in Xian is really defending? We can answer all these questions and more. And if you’re still having trouble about what to include on tour, explore further in our China travel guide, or get in touch with our team of friendly travel consultants.

Forbiden City

Forbiden City

Great Wall

Great Wall

Terracotta Army

Terracotta Army

Big Wild Goose Pagoda

Big Wild Goose Pagoda

The Bund

The Bund

Yu Garden and Yu Garden Bazaar

Yu Garden and Yu Garden Bazaar

Chengdu pandas at the Giant Panda Breeding and Research Centre

Chengdu pandas at the Giant Panda Breeding and Research Centre

Li River

Li River

Longji Rice Terraces

Longji Rice Terraces


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Things to do in China

Looking for things to do in China? Then it’s time to search our ever-expanding list of the incredible, interesting, and insightful. There literally is no shortage of things to do in China, so when planning your travels, it pays to do your research and be prepared. In this section of our travel China guide, find articles on unique experiences and everyday events that will make for beautiful travel memories in a country with a rich and diverse history. Whether it’s a typical Beijing breakfast, passing time with pandas in Chengdu, or gazing at gorges on the Yangtze, you’ll discover how to maximize the opportunity with the wisdom of our people on the ground – our valued network of guides, travel consultants, and partner providers.

Things to do in Beijing

Things to do in Beijing

Things to do in Xi'an

Things to do in Xi'an

Things to do in Chengdu

Things to do in Chengdu


China Travel Insights

Imagine an industry expert sharing their China travel insights – and being able to take advantage of decades of experience and knowledge. Well, look no further. Discover and explore China through the unique perspective of our travel writing team of travel guides and travel consultants. We’ve tapped into their first-hand knowledge and enthusiasm for their corner of China. You will love learning what makes Beijing beautiful, Shanghai special, and Guilin gorgeous. Don’t wait until you’ve arrived. Let us bring China to life for you right now.

How to plan a trip to China: Get past the overwhelm (and get excited)
How to plan a trip to China: Get past the overwhelm (and get excited)
The specifics of how to plan a trip to China can stump even the most experienced of international travelers. Amidst the challenges posed by the many Ch...
Is China safe to visit for westerners? How to ensure it’s safe to travel to China
Is China safe to visit for westerners? How to ensure it’s safe to travel to China
Is China a safe place to visit? (Tips for Westerners to know it is safe to travel to China)Is China a safe place to visit?We’ve been asked this qu...
Looking for China tours from USA? Insider tips for scoring the best value (and loving your vacation)
Looking for China tours from USA? Insider tips for scoring the best value (and loving your vacation)
Contemplating your options around China tours from USA?  There has never been a better time to be researching, planning and taking China tours from the...

Travel Memories

Read what people say about travelling with ChinaTours.com


Customers from USA

Customers from USA

Customers from Australia

Customers from Australia

Customers from Ireland

Customers from Ireland

Customers from USA

Customers from USA


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Testimonials


ErronW
ErronW
Reviewed on May 21, 2026
Tripadvisor score AMAZING holiday in Yunnan Province

May 2026 • Couples

This is our second China trip with China Tours. Thank you for organising such a fantastic trip Martha! Five stars experience in every way. We chose China Tours again for our trip to Yunnan, after we had a fabulous time in Beijing last year. It’s a 10-day tour which started in Kunming, and then we went to Dali, Lijiang, and Shangri-la. From the moment we were picked up at Kunming airport, getting local sim card, dropped off at the hotel and the places we visited, everything was smooth and we were really taken care of.
The hotels were all excellent with great services and extensive options of breakfast included. The drivers were excellent, especially Mrs. Li who drove us from Dali to Lijiang and to Shangri-la, the car was very comfortable and spacious. We had different guides in every city, they are all very friendly, helpful, and they have deep knowledge of all the places we visited. Especially our guide Caroline from Lijiang and Tsesham from Shangri-la. We spent more time in Lijiang and Shangri-la so we had more time with our guides there. They are truly the experts of their respective cultures, they are attentive, insightful, very kind, and encouraging. We had so much fun! Thank you for making our holiday in China feel special and memorable.
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Jeff B
Jeff B
Reviewed on May 21, 2026
Tripadvisor score Fantastic experience

May 2026

Cannot say enough about this tour. Booking was incredible easy, communication, fantastic we had the great guides, including Lee in Beijing, Helen in Xi’an, Tracy in Chengdu, and John in Shanghai. Everyone was ineligible and brought you perspective. Everything was arranged perfectly, including in country, airfare and high-speed rail we elected five star hotels, and we were not disappointed. I would highly recommend this company.
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Navigate27423060359
Navigate27423060359
Reviewed on May 12, 2026
Tripadvisor score Amazingly organised tours with incredible people

Apr 2026 • Couples

Booked back to back tours through China to visit the must see places people always talk about. First tour for 10 days covered Beijing (included Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City and Mutianyu Great Wall), Xian (Terracotta Army), Zhangjajie (visit the national forest via Bailong Elevator and Tianmen Mountain) and ended in Shanghai (The Bund and Yuyuan Garden). Next tour commenced a couple of days later visiting Chengdu (can't miss the Pandas) and Lhasa in Tibet (including Drepung and Sera Monasteries and Potala Palace). Guides are all fantastic. Thank you Jessica, Chris, Cindy, Lucy, Raymond and Tashi for making it such a memorable trip. So much more to see and will have to have another visit. Some hiccups with flights (delayed departures, cancellations due to bad weather) but through it all Lora was there to help find emergency accommodation and re-book flights (and thank you to Lucy and Tashi who had to deal with 2:00am flights and returns to airports when flight couldn't land). If our experience with China Tours is indicative of the service they provide then I have nothing but admiration for the organisation.
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Baron G
Baron G
Reviewed on April 28, 2026
Tripadvisor score Mervyn with China Tours was a fabulous tour guide.

Apr 2026 • Couples

We spent extraordinary two days in Xi’an organized by China Tours. Our guide, Mervyn, was the best. Her knowledge of the city and each historical site was amazing. She helped us maximize the limited time we had in Xi'an. Highly recommend Mervyn to anyone visiting Xi'an. ChinaTours did a fabulous job organizing wonderful tour guides and drivers n each city. If you are considering a trip to China, work with China Tours. You won't regret it.
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wenmindymao
wenmindymao
Reviewed on April 25, 2026
Tripadvisor score Unforgettable trip💓🤙Thanks to Dora✈️

Apr 2026 • Couples

China Tour- I booked with Dora by searching the internet which was 13 days beginning Beijing ended at Shanghai. She did an amazing job by booking hotels; trains tickets and parks tickets. Everything was running smoothly. We also special tanks to Michelle; Jacob; Andie; Joanne; and Warren working hard to guide us in sight seeing. My husband and I appreciate very much and want to recommend ChinaTour to our friends.
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Susie K
Susie K
Reviewed on April 22, 2026
Tripadvisor score Hectic trip but so well organised!

Apr 2026 • Couples

What a wonderful trip! I found China Tours and told them the places I'd most like to go to and things that I'd like to do! They organised it into an itinerary, booking guides and drivers for us at every place. We always felt looked after when arriving at a new airport or station, no panicking as to where to find our way! The guides were all very different: age personalities etc, but all very knowledgeable, friendly and adaptable to our requests! They had the tricks of the trade for getting us ahead in queues etc...a valuable resource in China!! But also the fact that all our park & site entrances were already purchased made each visit a seamless hassle free pleasure. The hotels booked for us were nearly all 5 star with great locations and amenities. Hard to fault the services of China Tours! They helped us through a last day panic when our return flight had been changed, phoning airports and airlines to try snd sort out the problem...I wouldn't have known where to start! We probably tried to fit too much into the time, but we had a brilliant holiday.
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Mayra C
Mayra C
Reviewed on April 19, 2026
Tripadvisor score Epic tour, exceeded expectations

April 2026

We planned a 2 week trip, 5 cities, 3-day Yangtze cruise, and mountains / forest national park. Our tour planner, Dora, was super flexible and helpful in building the itinerary to meet all our desires (via WeChat). The execution was perfect, with English speaking local guides at every city. Choosing a private tour worked great for us given everything we wanted to do. And we did more, besides planned top attractions (Great Wall, Terracotta Warriors, temples, etc), we added a show, a cave with underground River and managed to do some shopping (note: ours was a NO shopping tour by design). All local guides were great, knowledgeable, kind and helpful. Special Kudos to Vivienne (Zhangjiajie) for climbing 999 steps with at Tianmen Cave. We loved our trip and fully recommend China Tours.
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Andrew L
Andrew L
Reviewed on April 10, 2026
Tripadvisor score Thank you China Tours for a wonderful holiday

Apr 2026 • Solo

Went to Lhasa, Tibet and Chengdu with China Tours and everything was well organised from airport pickup, hotel accommodation to the tour itself. The guides were friendly and helpful. They offered suggestions for me to explore Chengdu on my own in the evening. Overall, I had a fantastic experience with China Tours and would highly recommend them to others. Special thank you to Martha at the office and Robert the tour guide at Chengdu
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