Honest tips & scams
What people forget to mention, without invented crime statistics or fake ‘secret’ lists.
What Nobody Tells You Before Your First Trip to China
The unobvious first-day surprises that are not disasters: hotel Wi-Fi and your apps, the wrong map, QR payments, WeChat as infrastructure, and the two different ‘visa-free’ rules. Plus toilets, queues and pharmacies.
China essentials · EtiquetteHonest Etiquette and the Scams That Actually Happen in China
The quiet problems: a seafood price you did not agree, a taxi that will not meter, a sudden ‘teahouse’ invitation. And the manners that prevent most friction — chopsticks, yum cha tea charges, and how to order when you cannot read the menu.
China · Honest tipsSolo Female Travel in China: Honest Tips, Not a Fear Briefing
What it is actually like to travel in China as a woman on your own: street safety, transport, hotels, attention, and the few habits that are worth keeping. No invented crime statistics.
China · Honest tipsTravelling in China with Children: What Is Easy, and What You Should Plan
An honest family-travel briefing for China: passports and entry, hotels, trains, food, pushchairs, and the pace of a day. No unsourced ‘best kids’ attractions.’
China essentials · Honest tipsPhotography and Drone Rules in China: Tourist Photos Are Fine; Drones Are Constrained
Ordinary tourist photography is fine, with courtesy, and not at military or classified sites. Drones require real-name registration under CAAC rules; foreign operators must not conduct surveying. For a short visit, leaving the drone at home is often the simpler choice.
China · Honest takesChina Travel Myths vs Reality in 2026: The Rumours That Will Not Die
Visa rumours, cash myths, WhatsApp assumptions, and the Shenzhen “factory city” cliché — checked against official 2026 pages, without invented statistics or fake personal stories.
China · Honest takesWhat We Wish First-Timers Knew Before a Trip to China
Editorial guidance for a first trip to China in 2026: the unglamorous list that, if skipped, reliably spoils the first afternoon. Written as editors, not as a fake personal diary.
China · Honest takesHonest Pros and Cons of Visiting China in 2026
A clear-eyed 2026 take: visa-free access for many passports, excellent rail and food, and payments that work once set up — against blocked apps, homework before you fly, and a US passport that usually still needs a visa.
Before you go
Visa-free rules, hotel registration, packing, and the weather — what to settle before you fly.
02Money & payments
Alipay, WeChat Pay, cash, fees, tipping and bargaining — how money actually moves.
03Connectivity & apps
eSIM, roaming, maps and translation — which apps work, and which usually do not.
04Getting around
Metro, DiDi, high-speed rail, airports and neighbourhoods — how to move, and where to base yourself.
05Eat
Cuisines, how to order, and eating with restrictions — dishes with their Chinese names, no paid rankings.
06See & do
Parks, museums, day trips and nightlife — honest looks, not brochure photography.
07Itineraries
First days, three-day plans, and side trips to Guangzhou, Macau or the coast.
08Budget
Approximate daily costs, in 2026 bands, to be tightened after we pay them ourselves.
10Safety & emergencies
110, 119, 120, 122, hospitals, and what to do if a passport goes missing.