Notes from the places
we send travellers.

Documents required, processing windows, and the visa-free transit options most first-time visitors miss. Updated for 2026.

Which apps are blocked, which VPNs still work reliably, and the eSIM setup that takes the friction out of the first afternoon.

Alipay, WeChat Pay, and the small handful of foreign cards that still work, set up in the airport before you even meet your driver.

High-speed rail classes, the seats worth paying up for, and the booking windows that open at exactly the moment you'll want a seat.

Why most international booking sites can't reach domestic Chinese inventory, and the apps, agents and workarounds that actually do.

Translation tools that actually hold up, the English-language sources we trust, and which hotels reliably accept foreign passports.