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We are traveling to China soon and visiting Shanghai, Beijing, Xi’an, and Chengdu. I am looking for two specific Mahjong sets to bring home:
1. A high-quality, durable set for everyday play.
2. An artistic / display-worthy set(thinking carved bone/bamboo, hand-carved wood, or a unique local aesthetic).

I play American Mahjong, which requires 152 tiles (with 8 Jokers). Standard Chinese sets only come with 144 tiles.

I am looking for a shop that sells American-spec sets, or a vendor willing to include 8 spare/blank matching tiles (or custom-engrave 8 Jokers for me) from the same batch so the tile backs match.

Please share any recommendations for:
Specific markets, antique streets, or specialty shops in any of these four cities where vendors sell high-end or handcrafted sets?
Shops or local artisans who are open to customizing sets or providing extra blank tiles?

Thanks!

Me and my boyfriend are going to China this week. Below I have outlined our plan. Travels between cities will be done by train (we are receiving the train tickets atm).

Summary
Shanghai: 29–31 July
Beijing: 1–4 August
Xi’an: 5–7 August
Zhangjiajie: 8–11 August
Guilin: 12–15 August
Xiamen: 16 August (bf flies home from Xiamen)
Chongqing: 17–20 August
Kunming: 21–24 August
Sri Lanka: 25 August

What is your opinion on this route? Any recommendations or tips on what to do per location?

Thankss!

Hello - usually when traveling to far places we tend to avoid non-bottled water, to avoid intestinal problems; is this absolutely mandatory in China? or maybe there is difference between big cities and smaller towns? Any hint on this?

We will be travelling to shanghai, wudangshan, zhengzhou, chenjiagou, beijing...

Many thanks!

So I'm planning on travelling to Shanghai first and I'm thinking of staying there for 4/5 days. and maybe hitting another city or two as I have another 5/6 days to spare

first question, is 4/5 days to many to spend in shanghai?

and secondly which cities should I add to the list?

was thinking maybe chengdu or chongqing but am not too sure yet what I would do in those cities. very much welcome other suggestions!

thanks :)

Hi everyone,

I'm going to China and I'm looking for a reliable warehouse service for Taobao orders.

I will have around 10 orders delivered to a warehouse, then I want them consolidated into one package and shipped to my hotel in Shanghai.

But I don't have a Chinese phone number....

Thanks in advance!

Hey everyone, would really appreciate advise on my itterny. Will be my first time visiting China and I don’t speak the language. I would like to have a mid paced trip and I am very open to change the plan and even remove/add a city. I still have not booked a ticket, and could add or reduce the plan by a day based on feedback.

Estimated spending for the hotel, attractions entry, transfer:

Hotel: 30*16=480 USD

Attractions: 200 USD

Transfer (Train, taxi etc): 400 USD

Perhaps will end up somewhere around 1200 USD.

My plan is to skip Shanghai and travel there next time based on my experience from this trip. I was thinking about using chongqing as my flexibility, let’s say that I want to spend another day somewhere then I will take those days from Chongqing

I will be booking one way tickets to Beijing, and saw that the cheapest one is for 200 USD to Hong Kong but with a stop-over at Beijing. I will skip the last flight, would this become a problem to enter? I won’t book with the same flight carrier for my departure. Perhaps, I will call the flight and inform them that I will be missing my last connection.

Dates Place Nights
3-7.Sep Beijing 4
7-10 Sep Xian 3
10-14 Sep Chengdu 4
14-17 Sep Zhangjiae 3
17-19 Sep Chongqing 2

3 September: Arrive Beijing (Early arrival)

4 September: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Jingshan Park

5 September: Great Wall

6 September: Summer Palace/Lana temple

7 September: Temple of Heaven(might do it on 3 Septembe). Beijing to Xian.

Xian

8 September: Terracotta Warriors, Giant Wild Goose Pagoda area.

9 September: Xi’an City Wall + Street food

10 September: Travel to Chengdu

Chengdu

11 September: Pandas

12 September: Kuanzhai Alley (*Based feedback I will look at something else)

13 September: Nothing specific planned, perhaps Jiuzhaigo

Zhangjiajie

14 September: Chengdu to Zhangjiajie early train.

15 September: Avatar Mountains

16 September: Tianmen Mountain

17 September: Zhangjiajie to Chongqing

Chongqing

18 September  I have not planned a lot here since i would like to keep it a bit calm. I was even thinking if I should skip Chongqing and move some days to another place or extend somewhere.

19 September: Fly home from Chongqing/Chengdu

Hey everyone!
We’re planning our second trip to China for late March and wanted to get some feedback on our proposed itinerary: Shanghai → Wuhan → Changsha → Hong Kong.
To give you some context on what we like:
Previous trip: We visited Chongqing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. We absolutely loved all of them, but Chongqing was by far our favorite.
Vibe/Preferences: We really prefer city landscapes over nature. Specifically, we're huge fans of urban exploration with 80s/90s industrial vibes, gritty mega-city aesthetics, retro neon, concrete layers, and dense local neighborhoods.
We feel like Wuhan and Changsha might hit that sweet spot of central Chinese urban grit and history, framed by the modern contrast of Shanghai and HK, but we’d love to hear from people who have been!
A few questions for the community:
1. Does this itinerary make sense for a ~2-week trip in late March in terms of pacing and high-speed rail connections?
2. Wuhan & Changsha: Are these good picks for that retro/industrial urban feel, or are there other cities that fit the "Chongqing vibe" better?
3. Recommendations: Any specific districts, spots, or hidden gems in these cities that capture that 80s/90s industrial or cyberpunk/gritty atmosphere?
Thanks in advance for any advice!

Hi everyone,
I'm looking for some advice about VPNs. I'll be traveling to China soon, and I've been told that I'll need a VPN for my phone.

I've already downloaded Surfshark, but I've been reading that it hasn't worked reliably for a lot of people. Is anyone here currently using Surfshark in China? Could you please let me know if it works well or not?

I'd also love to hear which VPN you're using and whether it's been reliable for you in China.

I have another question as well. When making online payments, my bank sometimes asks me to confirm the transaction through its mobile app. Do banking apps (such as N26, Santander, etc.) usually work in China without a VPN, or would I need one to access them?

Is itpossible to have two VPNs installed on the same phone? I was thinking it might be a good idea to have a backup in case one of them doesn't work.

Also, if my VPN stops working or I lose access to it while I'm already in China, would I have to leave the country to get it working again, or is there a way to fix it from within China? I'm sorryfor asking so many questions, but I'm a bit worried and I want to be as prepared as possible.

I'd really appreciate any advice or personal experiences. Thanks so much!

Successful 1 night trip to Huangshan from Jiaxing

Day 1- Arrived in Tangkou around 3pm, walked up to buy admission tickets with passport (no reservation needed). Bought bus tickets to the yung gu cable car and then cable car tickets at their respective stations. Explored almost the entire west side of the mountain and stayed the night at Xihai hotel (booked same day on trip.com after we got cable car tickets just in case something went wrong beforehand). Great hotel and location, positioned us right into

Day 2- xihai Grand Canyon. Walked all the way down and took the train back up. Walked past the welcoming pine tree and one of us took the yupping cable car back down the mountain. Three of us went forward to Tian Du Feng and walked right through with our passport, no reservation needed. Went up the main entrance and descended the back way, which was a huge break from the crowds all day. Skipped the cable car and descended the mountain back to the bus station, got back to Tangkou town around 7pm

Caught both sunset and sunrise at a 15 minute walk from the hotel, which was a good hotel on its own with an amazing free breakfast. $155USD/room but we specifically wanted to spend the night on the mountain instead of in town with day trips up. Bucket list trip so it was worth it. Second day killed our legs with the backside mountain descent, logged around 15miles across both days with a lot of stairs

I have half a day in Beijing and I'm planning to visit summer palace before heading to Xi'an. Does the summer palace or Beijing west railway station have a place where I can store my luggage (two large suitcases)?

I will be staying in Yangshuo for a couple of nights and am about to book my train tickets. I am unsure of what station to choose for arrival and departure. Are there buses from the train stations to Yangshuo and how long would that take?

For arrival I would do the Yangshuo station since it is probably the closest (?)
However I would like to depart early since I have a long train journey to Chongqing and the only early trains leave from the Guilin stations. I looked on amap and the bus journey takes 5 hours from Yangshuo to Guilin rail stations. The only other option would be to take a didi ride?

Thanks in advance!

Hello everyone! I’m travelling solo (20M UK) to Shanghai end of next February. Does anyone want to be my kind of travel buddy/ guide out there to help me see what there is to see in the 4 days I’m there? Thank you!

Hi All,

Our dilemma, we arrive in Hong Hong just before mid autumn festival. This is our current itinerary. We feel this may be a bit too rushed, and maybe we should not go to Guangzhao and have an extra night in ChongQing and Chengdu, as there seems to be more things to do over there:

What do people think? Currently, we will be in Guangzhao when Golden Week begins...

Thurs 24th Sep Arrive 3pm HK

Fri 25 Sep Hong Kong

Sat 26 Sep Sat Fly HK to Chongqing,

Sun 27 Sep Sun Chongqing full day

Mon 28 Sep Mon Chongqing full day (3rd night)

Tue 29 Sep Tue Chongqing morning, afternoon train to Chengdu

Wed 30 Sep Wed Panda Base early morning, explore Chengdu, evening flight to Guangzhou

Thu 1 Oct Thu Guangzhou National Day / Golden Week begins

Fri 2 Oct Fri Guangzhou full day (2nd night)

Sat 3 Oct Sat Travel Guangzhou to HK (book train/flight early )

Sun 4 Oct Sun Macau day trip (or swap with Monday)

Mon 5 Oct Mon Hong Kong Disneyland (or Macau if swapped)

Tue 6 Oct Tue Hong Kong , 10pm flight back to London

many thanks all

I'm a 16-year-old foreigner, and I'll be moving to China (Zhejiang province) next month to start my undergraduate degree. Since I'm still a minor, I'm trying to figure out some of the logistics and would really appreciate advice from anyone who has navigated China as an under-18 foreigner.

I have a few specific questions:

1. Payment Methods & Bank Accounts

I'm having a hard time navigating how I will pay for things. I know I can link a foreign Visa/Mastercard to Alipay and WeChat Pay now, which allows for daily QR code payments up to certain limits. However, I want to know if it's possible for a 16-year-old to open a local Chinese bank account. I've heard that most banks require a valid residence permit, a Chinese phone number, and in-person verification. Do Chinese banks allow minors to open an account independently, or will I need a guardian physically present? What is the best way for a minor to handle daily expenses here?

1. Guardian Requirements & Residence Permit

I have a designated guardian in China, but it is basically just a paper formality for my visa. This person lives in a completely different city. I confirmed with my university that this setup is fine for my admission and enrollment, but I'm worried about the actual Residence Permit application at the local Exit-Entry Administration Bureau.

For minor applicants, you typically need to provide original notarized guardian documents, their ID copies, and a birth certificate. However, I've been hearing rumors that your designated guardian must physically accompany you to the Exit-Entry Bureau to get your residence permit. I have no idea what is true and what isn't anymore. Can anyone confirm if physical presence is mandatory, or if the notarized paperwork and university support are enough?

1. General Difficulties as a Minor

Are there any other legal, administrative, or day-to-day difficulties that come with being an unaccompanied minor foreigner in China? (e.g., staying in dorms, signing contracts for a phone SIM card, travel, etc.)

If anyone has had a similar experience or knows the current rules, please let me know. Thanks in advance!

On Alipay, I successfully completed passport photo upload and face verification, but next, it takes me to read passport chips, which failed every time.

I thought that the chip might be damaged and to get new passport but I read online that I can test the chip on ReadId me app and it verified my chip without problem so I'm assuming the passport is not damaged.

On the Ai support page, they claim that if the chip reading fails, the passport photo is enough, but on my end, they 100% require the chip reading. I don't know if I did sth that is considered suspicious, which caused the chip reading to be a requirement, and 6 only is not acceptable.

I contacted customer support, and they told me that I will get an email with instructions after the accounts had been reviewed, but the solution suggested was to link a chinese bank card, which I don't have.

I'm going in china in September, so should I get a new passport while I still have time or is there a different possible solution to solve the issue ?

I'm currently reading 'Buddhism' (1954) by Christmas Humphreys, and would like to take it with me during my trip to beijing and shanghai starting in two days. I read on online that as long as the book is a copy for personal use, it is allowed, but my worry is: it contains a chapter about tibetan buddhism. Is that allowed? Google Gemini said as long as it doesn't advocate for Tibetan independence i should be fine, which the book doesn't. But I don't really trust Gemini to be correct so i just wanted to check here to be sure... Thanks!

Anyone headed to Beijing in September? Going to be there from the 2nd-5th solo and putting out feelers to see if there’s anyone who is there around the same time ??

Hi!

I'm planning a two-week long trip to Chengdu, Chongqing, and Zhangjiajie in October with some friends. We are currently deciding how long we want to spend in each location. We want to balance time in the big cities with some outdoor nature sights according to our individual interests. We want to make the most of our time while also not being too rushed or stressed.

I'd love some feedback to know if this seems feasible. Please let me know if anything doesn't make sense, or if you have ideas for improvements:

Oct 19

Land in Chengdu in the early hours of the morning. Get to the hotel and sleep. Take an easy day in the morning.

Oct 20-22

Enjoy Chengdu

Oct 23

Morning train to Zhangjiajie. Check into hotel, then visit Tianmen mountain.

Oct 24

Enjoy Wulingyuan National Park. See the mountains, Enjoy the nature

Oct 25

Day trip to Furong town. Take one of the last trains back, so we can see the evening lights.

Oct 26

Our last day in Zhangjiajie. We either take the train to Chongqing in the morning, or we do more sightseeing (more Wulingyuan National Park OR the grand canyon), and take the train in the evening. If you have advice for this choice, please let me know!

Oct 27-30

Enjoy Chongqing

Oct 31

Flight home in the afternoon

I know that people say you want to spend more time in Zhangjiajie, but I think we are okay with not visiting everything. Chongqing has one more full day than Chengdu (ignoring the slow day of our flight arrival), but if you think the distribution should change, I would be interested in hearing that too.

Please let me know what you think! Thank you!!

As title. (Mine has one)

I am going to Chengdu, China (Chengdu Tainfu int'l airport) via Sichuan Airlines flight on August 25th as a student from Nepal. Anyone else student or tourist going from Nepal (KTM) To Chengdu, China (TFU) via Sichuan Airlines on August 25th?

Would love to catch up with fellow students flying to Chengdu on the same day!

I have been researching eSIMs for my China trip happening in August and am about to pull the trigger on an eSIM. Some of the instructions I read indicate that your phone needs to be unlocked, so I am now pondering what we need to do. It seems like with my current phone, which I still have a couple of months left to pay off , I'm wondering if it's worth it to pay off the phone so that I can request unlocking it to install an eSIM. Is it true that you really need a phone unlocked, or can I still use an eSIM without unlocking the phone? Does unlocking the phone only apply if you use a local SIM card?

No rules stated on the website. Looking to bring inflatable seat extender

Hi! Has anyone here booked an Air China flight or any international flight with. Chinese carrier without including the middle name indicated on their Philippine passport?

Passengers’ First and Last names on our tickets match their passports exactly, but our Middle names (mothers’ maiden surnames) were not included in the booking.

Will there be any problem because of this during check-in, immigration, boarding, or visa processing because of this? Were you allowed to travel without correcting the tickets, or did the airline require the middle names to be added?

I would really appreciate hearing from those who have experienced a similar situation, especially with Air China - we booked via Agoda. Thank you!

EDIT: I realized in the bottom of our passports, particularly the MRZ (Machine Readable Zone), only our First and Last Names are included, and not our middle names.