Blog

Tencent's new TenPayGo app lets foreign tourists pay at any WeChat Pay merchant using Apple Pay. Complete 2026 setup guide and comparison.

Most trains get you from A to B. The "Splendid Rivers & Mountains · Colorful Guizhou" scenic train from China Railway Chengdu Group is designed to do the opposite — it makes the ride itself the highlight of your trip. This summer, the operator has rolled out a fresh schedule that stitches together some of southwest China's most beautiful scenery across Guizhou, Sichuan and Chongqing.

Getting money to work in China used to mean bank wires with invisible exchange-rate margins and slow arrivals. The Wise app (formerly TransferWise) fixes the two biggest frustrations: you pay the real mid-market exchange rate plus a small transparent fee, and transfers usually arrive within a day. For international travelers, the app is a practical bridge between your home bank and the Chinese payment ecosystem — especially when you need to top up a local balance or send money to a Chinese accou

Six days across Guizhou: the great waterfall at Huangguoshu, Miao and Dong villages, batik and silver workshops, and the green karst country that connects them.

A week and a day through Yunnan: city markets and karst near Kunming, the lake and craft villages of Dali, Lijiang's old town, and the plateau climb to Shangri-La.

Five days through Fujian's coast and hills: island lanes and seafood in Xiamen, the old trading port of Quanzhou with its puppets and temples, and the earthen tulou of the Hakka interior.

The classic westward line: Xi'an's imperial core, then the Hexi Corridor by high-speed rail through Lanzhou and Zhangye to Jiayuguan and Dunhuang — history with landscapes between.

A week across the eastern heartland: Nanjing's walls and brocade, Suzhou's silk and gardens, Hangzhou's lake and tea hills — arranged so the craft workshops fit the sightseeing.

Zhuhai is where Guangdong slows down: a seafront city of parks, islands and seafood, with Macao, China next door and the Greater Bay Area on the doorstep.

Meizhou is the Hakka heartland: fortified communal houses built around courtyards, ancestral halls, and a cuisine of salt-baked chicken and stuffed tofu. A first-visit guide.

Kunming is where Yunnan trips begin and end: mild year-round weather, flower and wild-mushroom markets, lakeside parks and the Stone Forest an hour away. A first-visit guide.

Ningbo has been a port for a thousand years, and it still tastes like one: seafood, old lanes, a merchant past and China's most celebrated private library. A first-visit guide.

Shaoxing pairs a famous rice wine with stone bridges, old lanes and the childhood home of one of China's most-read writers. A first-visit guide to a slow Zhejiang city.

Yangzhou made its fortune on salt and canals, and spent it on gardens. A first-visit guide to the Jiangsu city that most travelers skip — and should not.

Qufu holds the temple, mansion and cemetery of Confucius — the physical centre of a tradition that shaped Chinese education. A first-visit guide and what to look for.

Jinan is the city of springs: artesian water rising through the old town, feeding lakes and canals. A first-visit guide to Shandong's water city.