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What to know
before China.

the short version

Practical notes on getting around, local culture and everyday travel. Start with the essentials, then follow your curiosity.

WeChat Pay✕High-speed rail✕Chengdu is not Chongqing✕Eat at noon✕Skip the queue✕Ask a local✕

Six things
that actually matter.

Read this on the plane. The longer notes sit underneath.

支付

Your phone is the wallet

Alipay and WeChat Pay cover almost everything. Foreign cards work more often than they used to. Keep a little cash for the one stall that still wants it.

高铁

Take the train between cities

High-speed trains can be a convenient alternative to flying between many cities. Book on Trip.com or 12306 with your passport. Stations are their own small cities. Arrive early.

成渝

Chengdu is not Chongqing

Chengdu sits in a basin and moves slowly. Chongqing stacks itself over two rivers and never really sits down. Same region on a map. Different trip.

避坑

Skip the noon checklist

The famous photo spots at midday are a queue. Go at dusk, or go somewhere the guidebook finished in 2014. Leave room for a quieter neighbourhood, too.

吃

Eat on local time

Markets, breakfast stalls and hotpot restaurants each have their own rhythm. A teahouse is for sitting, not a quick drink. If a place is full of locals at 12:30, sit down.

向导

A local is for the layer under the book

Which door, which hour, which order to eat. That is the job. You do not need a scripted tour. You need someone who already lives here.

From the ground.

Longer notes, written when there was something worth saying.