Field notes
The journal
What we've learned walking this city — written when there's something worth saying, not on a schedule.
China Essentials5 min read
How to Travel Rural China (2026)
Rural China is not a harder version of Shanghai. Payments, apps and food safety travel with you; transport, plumbing and language do not. Here is the honest split, so you can plan around the four things that really change.
China Essentials5 min read
Top 10 Destinations in China (2026)
If you only get one trip to China, where should it go? Our shortlist, organised the way people actually plan — by what you want to look at, not by administrative region.
China Essentials6 min read
China Travel Guide 2026: What First-Timers Need to Know
China runs on a phone. Get connected, get paying and get your passport habit right, and everything else about travelling here is easier than its reputation suggests. This is the whole setup, in the order you'll need it.
China Essentials7 min read
When to Visit China — A Season-by-Season Guide
There is no best time to visit China, only a best place for the time you're coming. Four seasons, the regions that peak in each, the weeks to avoid outright, and a month-by-month table.
China Essentials4 min read
China Visa Requirements (2026): Do You Need a Visa for China?
China's visa rules changed more in the last three years than in the previous thirty. Around fifty nationalities now enter visa-free for 30 days. The current list, the passport requirements, and the Hong Kong trap that catches people out.
China Essentials12 min read
Chinese Food, Province by Province
Saying "Chinese food" is like saying "European food." Thirty-two provinces, thirty-two kitchens, with the dishes worth crossing a province for and the allergens worth knowing about.
China Essentials3 min read
Safety in China: What Travellers Need to Know (2026)
China is one of the safest large countries to travel in, and most visitors notice it within a day. The genuine risks are environmental rather than criminal, which changes what you should actually prepare for.
China Essentials3 min read
How to Pay in China (2026 Guide for Travellers)
China didn't move from cash to cards to phones. It went from cash to phones, and left the middle step out. Two apps, one passport verification, a few days of lead time.
China Essentials2 min read
Internet and VPNs in China (2026): What Actually Works
China runs a parallel internet. Most Western apps need help getting through — and the help has to be installed before you land, because the sites that sell it are blocked from inside.
China Essentials3 min read
Getting Around China: A Complete Public Transport Guide (2026)
China's transport network is the best argument for the country's own competence. Here's how to choose between train, plane, metro and minivan, and how to pay for all of it with a phone.
China Essentials9 min read
China's 56 Ethnic Groups — A Traveller's Field Guide
China officially recognises 56 ethnic groups: the Han plus 55 minorities, spread from Siberian reindeer forest to tropical Buddhist lowlands. A regional guide to who's where and what makes each distinct.
China Essentials4 min read
How to Make Chinese Friends — A Foreigner's Guide
Chinese friendship runs on a longer timescale and a different set of signals than most Western social scripts. Ten things that actually work, starting with what guanxi really means.
China Essentials2 min read
The Truth About "Foreigner-Only" Hotels in China
"We can't take foreigners" is one of the most common sentences a traveller hears in small-town China. There is no longer a law behind it. Understanding what's actually going on turns a dead end into a five-minute problem.
China Essentials3 min read
Driving in China as a Foreigner
China doesn't recognise international driving permits, full stop. What it does offer is a temporary permit valid for up to three months, and some of the best road infrastructure on earth to use it on.
China Essentials4 min read
Where Foreigners Can't Go in China — and Where They Can
Almost all of China is open. The exceptions cluster into a handful of predictable categories — Tibet, certain border strips, undisclosed security zones — and knowing them takes ten minutes and saves a wasted travel day.
China Essentials4 min read
The Apps You Actually Need in China (2026)
China runs on six or seven apps, and two of them need days of identity verification before they'll take your money. Install those at home. Here's the working set and what each one is really for.
China Essentials4 min read
Survival Chinese — 50 Phrases That Do 90% of the Work
You don't need to learn Chinese to travel China. You need about fifty phrases, in six categories, and the willingness to mangle the tones. Locals meet effort more than halfway.
China Essentials4 min read
The Camera Kit We Travel China With
Every piece of this kit earned its place by replacing something that failed. What we shoot with across China, what each thing is genuinely bad at, and why you should buy drones here rather than at home.