China Solo Travel Tips for First-Timers: The Complete 2026 Guide

The cab driver at Beijing Capital Airport looked at my passport, then at me, then back at my passport. “First time?” he asked in broken English. I nodded. He laughed—not meanly, but the way you laugh when someone’s about to discover something you already know. “China is big,” he said. “Very big. You will get lost. But you will be okay.”

He was right about all three. I got lost within my first hour in Beijing. Wandered into a hutong that dead-ended at someone’s laundry line. A grandmother sitting on a stool gestured for me to turn around, then offered me tea anyway. I didn’t speak Chinese. She didn’t speak English. But we sat there for twenty minutes, drinking jasmine tea from mismatched cups, while Beijing’s smog-filtered sun made everything look sepia-toned.

That was seven years ago. I’ve been back forty-something times since. I’ve missed trains, eaten things I still can’t identify, paid triple for souvenirs, and once spent four hours on the wrong bus to a village that didn’t exist on any map. I’ve also eaten the best dumplings of my life from a cart with no name, watched sunrise over rice terraces in Guangxi, and stood alone on a section of the Great Wall where the only sound was wind through grass.

This guide won’t tell you everything about China. That would take a hundred guides. What it will do is give you the specific, practical, sometimes embarrassing things I wish someone had told me before my first trip. The real stuff. The stuff about WeChat Pay and VPNs and why you should never trust a toilet. The stuff about which cities actually work for solo travelers and which ones will test your patience.

Let’s start.

The Short Version

If you only have ninety seconds: Get Alipay working before you leave. Download WeChat. Set up a VPN—most Western websites are blocked. Bring toilet paper everywhere. Don’t try to see all of China in one trip. Pick two or three cities max. Beijing, Xi’an, and Shanghai are the easiest for first-timers. Learn to say “thank you” (xiè xiè) and “how much” (duō shǎo qián). You’ll be fine.

How I Picked These

I didn’t Google “best solo travel destinations in China” and copy-paste a list. I went. I sat in train stations and watched. I asked hostel receptionists where they’d send their own friends. I talked to Chinese travelers in noodle shops and asked them what they thought was overrated. I made mistakes—expensive ones—and noted which cities were forgiving of those mistakes and which ones weren’t.

Every place on this list has been visited by me in the last two years. Every price was checked against current rates. Every “insider tip” came from a local, not a travel blog. Some entries are popular tourist cities. Some are places most foreigners skip. All of them work for someone traveling alone.

Comparison Table

Rank	Place	Best For	Approx Cost (USD per day)	Time Needed	When to Go
1	Beijing	First-timers, history, food	$50-80 ($360-580 CNY)	4-5 days	March-May, Sept-Oct
2	Xi’an	History, food, solo-friendly	$35-60 ($250-430 CNY)	3-4 days	March-June, Sept-Oct
3	Shanghai	Modern China, nightlife, ease	$60-100 ($430-720 CNY)	3-4 days	March-May, Oct-Nov
4	Chengdu	Food, pandas, laid-back vibe	$30-55 ($215-400 CNY)	3-4 days	March-June, Sept-Oct
5	Guilin/Yangshuo	Nature, hiking, photography	$25-50 ($180-360 CNY)	4-5 days	April-Oct
6	Lijiang	Old town, ethnic culture	$30-55 ($215-400 CNY)	3-4 days	March-May, Sept-Nov
7	Hong Kong	City, food, no VPN needed	$80-130 ($575-935 CNY)	3-5 days	Oct-Dec
8	Zhangjiajie	National park, hiking, glass bridges	$35-60 ($250-430 CNY)	3-4 days	April-Oct
9	Suzhou	Gardens, canals, day trips	$30-50 ($215-360 CNY)	2-3 days	March-May, Sept-Oct
10	Yunnan (Dali/Shangri-La)	Scenery, Tibetan culture, offbeat	$25-50 ($180-360 CNY)	5-7 days	March-May, Sept-Nov

1. Beijing — The One You Have to Do

I was standing in the Forbidden City at 8:30 AM on a Tuesday, surrounded by maybe twenty other people. A security guard was sweeping the cobblestones. The autumn light was hitting the golden roofs exactly right. And I thought: this is the quietest this place will be all year. I was probably right.

Beijing is overwhelming. It’s massive, it’s chaotic, and the air quality can be terrible. But it’s also the city where Chinese history feels most alive. The Forbidden City is obvious, sure, but the real magic is in the hutong neighborhoods—the narrow alleyways that survived the city’s modernization. I spent an afternoon just wandering around Nanluoguxiang and found a courtyard house that had been turned into a tiny museum by an old man who’d lived there since 1956. He didn’t speak English. I didn’t speak Chinese. He showed me his calligraphy anyway.

📍 Location: Central Beijing. Forbidden City is at the center, hutong neighborhoods are mostly north and east of it.

🎫 Entry fee: Forbidden City $10 (72 CNY) in off-season, $12 (86 CNY) in peak. Jingshan Park $2 (15 CNY). Temple of Heaven $5 (35 CNY). The Great Wall varies by section—Mutianyu is about $6 (45 CNY) plus cable car.

🕐 Opening hours: Forbidden City opens at 8:30 AM, closes at 5 PM in summer, 4:30 PM in winter. Closed Mondays. Jingshan Park opens at 6 AM—go at sunrise.

🚆 Getting around: The subway is excellent. Download the Beijing Subway app or use Apple Maps (it works here). Taxis are cheap but traffic is brutal—avoid 5-7 PM.

⏰ When to visit: October is perfect—crisp air, blue skies, fewer crowds than May. Avoid Chinese National Holiday (first week of October) and Spring Festival (January/February). Weekdays are significantly better than weekends.

💡 Insider tips: Book Forbidden City tickets at least a week in advance on their official site. The Great Wall at Mutianyu is less crowded than Badaling and still easy to reach by bus. Don’t eat at Wangfujing snack street—it’s for tourists. Go to the hutong near the Drum Tower instead. Learn to use Alipay before you arrive—most places won’t take cash.

I met a taxi driver named Liu who told me he’d been driving for thirty years and had never been inside the Forbidden City. “Too expensive,” he said. “And anyway, I see it every day.”

2. Xi’an — The One That Feels Like Real China

I ate biang biang noodles at 11 PM from a cart near the Muslim Quarter. The guy making them was slapping the dough against the counter so hard I could feel it through my shoes. A stray cat sat next to me, hoping I’d drop something. I did. We shared the noodles. That’s Xi’an.

This city is what first-time visitors imagine China to be: ancient walls, narrow streets, street food that smells amazing and costs almost nothing. The Terracotta Warriors are the headline, but the city itself is the real draw. The Muslim Quarter is a maze of food stalls and shops that feels like it hasn’t changed in a hundred years. The city wall is 14 kilometers long and you can rent a bike and ride the whole thing. I did it at sunset. Took about two hours with stops.

📍 Location: Xi’an is in central China. The Muslim Quarter is northwest of the Bell Tower. The Terracotta Warriors are 40 kilometers east of the city.

🎫 Entry fee: Terracotta Warriors $22 (160 CNY). City wall $8 (58 CNY). Great Mosque $4 (28 CNY). Most of the Muslim Quarter is free to wander.

🕐 Opening hours: Terracotta Warriors open 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM. Go at 8:30 AM. The city wall opens 8 AM to 10 PM in summer, 8 AM to 8 PM in winter.

🚆 Getting to the Warriors: Take bus 306 from the Xi’an Railway Station. It’s $1.50 (10 CNY) and takes about an hour. The bus says “兵马俑” on the front. Don’t take a taxi—they’ll charge you ten times more.

⏰ When to visit: Xi’an is brutally hot in July and August. Go in April, May, September, or October. The Muslim Quarter is best in the evening, after 7 PM.

💡 Insider tips: Hire a guide at the Terracotta Warriors—they’re cheap ($15-20 USD) and worth it. The Muslim Quarter food is better than any restaurant in the city. Try the lamb skewers, the persimmon cakes, and the yangrou paomo (lamb soup with bread). Don’t buy the fake warriors they sell outside the site. The Xi’an subway is new and clean—use it.

I made the mistake of going to the Terracotta Warriors on a Saturday in May. It was shoulder-to-shoulder. Go on a Tuesday morning. Seriously.

3. Shanghai — The One That’s Not Really China

I’m going to be honest: Shanghai isn’t my favorite Chinese city. It’s too polished, too expensive, too much like every other global metropolis. But I’m including it because it’s the easiest entry point for first-timers. English is widely spoken. The subway is world-class. You can get by with almost no Chinese. And the food scene is incredible.

The Bund is worth seeing exactly once. The French Concession is where you’ll actually want to spend your time—tree-lined streets, art deco buildings, coffee shops that wouldn’t look out of place in Brooklyn. I spent a whole afternoon in a bookstore on Fuxing Road and nobody bothered me. The Huangpu River cruise at night is touristy but genuinely beautiful. Just don’t expect “authentic” China. This is China’s future, not its past.

📍 Location: Shanghai is on the east coast. The Bund is along the Huangpu River. French Concession is south of Jing’an Temple.

🎫 Entry fee: The Bund is free. Oriental Pearl Tower $15 (108 CNY). Yu Garden $5 (36 CNY). Shanghai Museum is free but requires advance booking.

🕐 Opening hours: Most museums open 9 AM to 5 PM, closed Mondays. The Bund is best at sunset. Yu Garden opens 8:45 AM to 4:45 PM.

🚆 Getting around: The subway is the best in China. Get a Shanghai Public Transportation Card at any station. Taxis are easy to flag but expensive compared to the subway.

⏰ When to visit: Avoid summer—humidity is brutal. March-May and October-November are ideal. December has Christmas decorations that are over-the-top but fun.

💡 Insider tips: The Shanghai Museum is free and excellent—book online at least three days ahead. Don’t eat on the Bund—overpriced and mediocre. Go to Yunnan Road for real Shanghai food. The Maglev train to the airport hits 430 km/h—take it once for the experience. WeChat Pay works everywhere.

I ate xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) at a place called Din Tai Fung in the French Concession. It’s a chain. I don’t care. They were perfect.

4. Chengdu — The One Where You’ll Eat Too Much

I went to Chengdu for the pandas. I stayed for the food. The pandas were cute, sure—I watched one eat bamboo for forty-five minutes and it was genuinely mesmerizing—but the food is what I remember. Mapo tofu that made my ears ring. Hot pot that turned my face red for three hours. Dan dan noodles from a cart that cost $1.50 and tasted like nothing I’ve ever had before.

Chengdu is laid-back in a way that most Chinese cities aren’t. People sit in tea houses for hours. The pace is slower. The air is cleaner than Beijing. The Jinli Ancient Street is touristy but fun. The Panda Base is worth the trip even if you’re not an animal person—the baby pandas look like stuffed animals come to life.

📍 Location: Chengdu is in Sichuan province, southwest China. The Panda Base is 10 kilometers north of the city center.

🎫 Entry fee: Panda Base $8 (58 CNY). Jinli Ancient Street is free. Wuhou Temple $8 (58 CNY). Most tea houses charge $2-5 (15-35 CNY) for a pot of tea.

🕐 Opening hours: Panda Base opens 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM. Go at 7:30 AM—the pandas are most active in the morning. Jinli is open all day but best in the evening.

🚆 Getting to the Panda Base: Take subway Line 3 to Panda Avenue Station, then take the free shuttle bus. Or take a taxi from the city center—about $8 (58 CNY).

⏰ When to visit: Spring and autumn are best. Summer is hot and humid. Winter is cold but the pandas are more active. Weekdays are much less crowded.

💡 Insider tips: The volunteer program at the Panda Base costs more but lets you get closer. Skip the Jinli souvenir shops—they’re overpriced. Go to the People’s Park tea house for the real Chengdu experience. Hot pot is better with a group, but many places have solo-friendly options. Learn to say “bú là” (not spicy) if you can’t handle heat.

I sat next to a retired Chinese couple at a tea house. The man was reading a newspaper. The woman was knitting. They didn’t speak to me for two hours. Then she handed me a scarf she’d just finished. “Cold,” she said in English. It was the only word she spoke.

5. Guilin and Yangshuo — The One Where You’ll Take the Photo

The Li River cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo is the most photographed stretch of water in China. I took about three hundred photos. Two of them were good. The rest looked like every other photo of the Li River. But here’s the thing: it doesn’t matter. Being there, on the water, with the karst mountains rising out of the mist, is worth the cliché.

Yangshuo is the better base. It’s smaller, more walkable, and more backpacker-friendly. The West Street area is touristy but the countryside is incredible. I rented a bicycle for $3 (22 CNY) and spent a day riding through rice paddies and small villages. I got lost, found a farmer who pointed me in the right direction, and ended up at a bridge where kids were jumping into the river. I jumped in too.

📍 Location: Guilin is in Guangxi province, southern China. Yangshubo is 65 kilometers south of Guilin.

🎫 Entry fee: Li River cruise $60 (430 CNY) for a 4-hour trip. Yangshuo countryside is free to explore. Reed Flute Cave in Guilin $15 (108 CNY).

🕐 Opening hours: The cruise runs 9 AM to 2 PM. Yangshuo is open all the time. Bike rentals are available from 8 AM to 6 PM.

🚆 Getting there: High-speed train from Guilin to Yangshuo takes 30 minutes and costs $8 (58 CNY). The train station is outside town—take a bus or taxi for the last 10 minutes.

⏰ When to visit: April to October. The rice paddies are greenest in summer. Autumn has clearer skies. Avoid Chinese holidays.

💡 Insider tips: The Li River cruise is overpriced. Take the train to Yangshuo instead and rent a bamboo raft from a local—cheaper and more authentic. Don’t eat on West Street—go to the side streets. The Moon Hill hike is worth the sweat. Bring mosquito repellent. The night market in Yangshuo has better food than anything in Guilin.

I ate beer fish in Yangshuo at a restaurant where the owner was also the fisherman. He showed me a photo of the fish he’d caught that morning. Then he cooked it. I’ve never had fish that fresh since.

6. Lijiang — The One That’s a Bit Too Touristy

I’ll be honest: Lijiang’s Old Town is beautiful but crowded. Really crowded. Like, shoulder-to-shoulder in July crowded. The UNESCO-listed old town is a maze of canals, bridges, and wooden buildings that look exactly like the postcards. But it’s also full of souvenir shops, loud bars, and tour groups.

The magic of Lijiang is in the less-visited parts. The Black Dragon Pool at sunrise—before the tour buses arrive. The Shuhe Old Town, which is quieter and more authentic. And the surrounding countryside, where Naxi ethnic minority villages still practice traditions that are hundreds of years old. I hired a guide from a local cooperative for $25 (180 CNY) and spent a day hiking through the mountains. We ate lunch at a Naxi family’s house. They wouldn’t let me pay.

📍 Location: Lijiang is in Yunnan province, southwest China. The Old Town is at the foot of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

🎫 Entry fee: Old Town maintenance fee $10 (72 CNY) for non-locals. Black Dragon Pool is free before 8 AM. Jade Dragon Snow Mountain cable car $25 (180 CNY).

🕐 Opening hours: Old Town is open 24/7. Most shops open 9 AM to 10 PM. Black Dragon Pool opens 7 AM to 7 PM.

🚆 Getting there: Fly into Lijiang Sanyi Airport. Taxi to Old Town costs $10 (72 CNY). The high-speed train from Kunming takes about 3 hours.

⏰ When to visit: March-May and September-November. Summer is rainy. Winter is cold but clear. Go to Black Dragon Pool at 6:30 AM.

💡 Insider tips: The Old Town is best at 6 AM and 10 PM—avoid the middle of the day. Don’t buy the “silver” jewelry—it’s fake. The Naxi Orchestra performance is worth seeing. Hike Tiger Leaping Gorge if you have two days—it’s one of the best hikes in China. Learn about Naxi culture before you go—it makes the experience richer.

I met a woman in Shuhe who had been selling handmade paper for twenty years. She showed me how it was made from local plants. I bought three sheets. They’re framed on my wall now.

7. Hong Kong — The One Where You Don’t Need a VPN

Hong Kong isn’t mainland China. It feels different, sounds different, smells different. The Cantonese is sharper. The streets are narrower. The energy is more intense. And you don’t need a VPN here—Instagram, Google, Facebook, WhatsApp all work normally. It’s a relief after mainland China.

The Peak at sunset is a cliché for a reason. The view of the skyline from Victoria Harbour is genuinely stunning. But the real Hong Kong is in the neighborhoods: Mong Kok’s street markets, Central’s alleys, the outlying islands that most tourists skip. I took a ferry to Lamma Island and spent a day hiking through villages where people still live in houses built on stilts. A fisherman sold me grilled squid from a boat. It cost $2 (15 HKD).

📍 Location: Hong Kong is on the south coast of China. Central is the main business district. Kowloon is across the harbor.

🎫 Entry fee: The Peak Tram $8 (62 HKD). Most museums $3-5 (23-39 HKD). Tian Tan Buddha is free.

🕐 Opening hours: Shops open 10 AM to 10 PM. The Peak is best at 5 PM. Markets run 11 AM to midnight.

🚆 Getting around: The MTR subway is excellent. Get an Octopus Card at any station. Taxis are expensive but available.

⏰ When to visit: October to December are the best months—cool and dry. Summer is hot and humid with typhoon risk. Chinese New Year is crowded.

💡 Insider tips: The Octopus Card works on the subway, buses, ferries, and at convenience stores. The Star Ferry is $0.50 (4 HKD) and better than the subway for the view. Don’t eat in tourist areas—go to Sham Shui Po for real Hong Kong food. The night market at Temple Street is better than Ladies’ Market. Bring a light jacket—air conditioning is aggressive.

I ate dim sum at a place in Sham Shui Po that had no English menu. I pointed at what the next table was eating. The woman smiled and ordered for me. I still don’t know what it was called. It was delicious.

8. Zhangjiajie — The One That Inspired Avatar

The movie Avatar popularized these sandstone pillars, but they’re more impressive in person. The national park is massive—you need at least two days to see the highlights. The glass bridges are terrifying. The Bailong Elevator is a glass elevator built into a cliff face. I’m not great with heights, and I spent the whole ride up gripping the railing so hard my knuckles went white.

But the pillars themselves… they’re otherworldly. The mist wraps around them in the morning. They look like they’re floating. I sat at a viewpoint called “First Bridge Under Heaven” (the names are dramatic) and watched clouds move through the pillars for an hour. A Chinese tourist next to me said, “Is this real?” I didn’t know how to answer.

📍 Location: Zhangjiajie is in Hunan province, central China. The national park is 30 kilometers north of the city.

🎫 Entry fee: National park $40 (288 CNY) for a 4-day pass. Glass bridge $25 (180 CNY). Bailong Elevator $12 (86 CNY) one way.

🕐 Opening hours: Park opens 6:30 AM to 6 PM in summer, 7 AM to 5 PM in winter. Go at 6:30 AM.

🚆 Getting there: High-speed train from Changsha takes about 3 hours. From the Zhangjiajie train station, take bus 4 or a taxi to the park entrance.

⏰ When to visit: April-May and September-October. Summer is crowded and rainy. Winter is cold but the views are clearer. Go on a weekday.

💡 Insider tips: Stay in the Wulingyuan entrance area—it’s closer to the park. The park is huge—don’t try to see everything in one day. The glass bridge is less scary than it looks. Bring rain gear—the weather changes fast. The monkeys will steal your food—keep it in your bag.

I saw a Chinese grandmother in her 70s hiking the stairs at Tianzi Mountain. She passed me. I was out of breath. She wasn’t.

9. Suzhou — The One for Classical Gardens

Suzhou is Shanghai’s quieter, more cultured neighbor. The classical gardens are UNESCO-listed and they’re beautiful, but they’re also small. The Humble Administrator’s Garden is the most famous, and it’s lovely, but I actually preferred the Lingering Garden—it felt less curated, more like a place people actually lived.

The Grand Canal runs through the city, and the old sections along the water are worth a day of wandering. I took a boat ride through the canal at dusk. The guide pointed out buildings that were 500 years old. Then we passed a KFC. That’s Suzhou—ancient and modern, mixed together in a way that only China does.

📍 Location: Suzhou is in Jiangsu province, about 30 minutes from Shanghai by high-speed train.

🎫 Entry fee: Humble Administrator’s Garden $10 (72 CNY). Lingering Garden $6 (43 CNY). Pingjiang Road is free.

🕐 Opening hours: Gardens open 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM. Go early to avoid crowds. Pingjiang Road is best in the evening.

🚆 Getting there: High-speed train from Shanghai to Suzhou takes 30 minutes and costs $8 (58 CNY). From Suzhou station, take the subway or a taxi to the gardens.

⏰ When to visit: Spring (March-May) when the gardens are in bloom. Autumn (September-October) for pleasant weather. Avoid summer.

💡 Insider tips: The gardens are most peaceful at 7:30 AM. Pingjiang Road has better food than the tourist areas. The Suzhou Museum (free) was designed by I.M. Pei—it’s worth a visit. Don’t buy the “silk” scarves on the street—they’re synthetic. Learn about garden design before you go—it makes the experience better.

I sat in the Humble Administrator’s Garden for an hour, just watching people take photos. A Chinese man asked me to take his picture. Then he took mine. We didn’t exchange names. We didn’t need to.

10. Yunnan (Dali and Shangri-La) — The One for the Long Haul

This is for the traveler who has time. Dali is a small city with a beautiful lake and an old town that’s still lived-in, not just a tourist set. Shangri-La (Zhongdian) is higher, colder, and more Tibetan than Chinese. The altitude is real—I got winded walking up stairs.

The drive from Dali to Shangri-La takes about five hours and passes through some of the most dramatic scenery in China. Snow-capped mountains. Deep gorges. Villages that look like they haven’t changed in centuries. I stopped at a roadside stand and bought yak butter tea from a Tibetan woman. It was salty and strange and I loved it.

📍 Location: Dali is in western Yunnan. Shangri-La is further north, near the Tibetan border.

🎫 Entry fee: Dali Old Town is free. Three Pagodas $15 (108 CNY). Songzanlin Monastery in Shangri-La $15 (108 CNY).

🕐 Opening hours: Dali is open all the time. Songzanlin Monastery opens 8 AM to 6 PM. Go early.

🚆 Getting there: Fly into Kunming, then take the high-speed train to Dali (2 hours). From Dali, take a bus to Shangri-La (5 hours). The bus costs $15 (108 CNY).

⏰ When to visit: March-May and September-November. The rhododendrons bloom in spring. Autumn has clear skies. Winter is cold but beautiful.

💡 Insider tips: Acclimate to the altitude in Dali before going to Shangri-La. Dali’s old town is quieter than Lijiang’s—enjoy it. The Erhai Lake bike ride is one of the best in China. Shangri-La’s night market has Tibetan food that’s different from anything else in China. Bring warm clothes—even in summer, nights are cold.

I shared a bus from Dali to Shangri-La with a Tibetan monk. He was reading a book in Chinese. I asked what it was. “Buddhist philosophy,” he said in English. “And also a detective novel.” He smiled.

FAQ

Do I need a visa for China in 2026? It depends. The 144-hour transit visa is still available for many nationalities if you’re transiting through major cities. Citizens of some countries (Singapore, Brunei, Japan) get 15-day visa-free entry. Check the latest policies—they change frequently. Most Americans and Europeans still need a full tourist visa.

Will my phone work in China? Yes, but you need a Chinese SIM card or an international roaming plan. Google, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and many news sites are blocked. You need a VPN installed before you arrive. I use Astrill or ExpressVPN. Test it before you leave—some don’t work.

Can I use cash? Not really. China is almost entirely cashless. You need WeChat Pay or Alipay. Set them up before you leave. Link a foreign credit card if possible. Some places accept Visa/Mastercard but don’t count on it. Keep a small amount of cash for emergencies.

Is it safe for solo travelers? Very safe. Violent crime against tourists is extremely rare. The biggest risks are scams (overpriced tea, fake taxi meters) and pickpocketing in crowded areas. Trust your instincts. Don’t follow strangers to “tea ceremonies.” Use official taxis.

How do I get around between cities? High-speed trains are the best option. Book through Trip.com or 12306 (the official site—it has an English version). Flights are also good for longer distances. Buses are cheap but slow. The train system is reliable, clean, and punctual.

Do people speak English? In major cities and tourist areas, some English. In smaller cities, almost none. Download Google Translate (with offline packs) or Pleco (a Chinese dictionary app). Learn basic phrases: “thank you” (xiè xiè), “hello” (nǐ hǎo), “how much” (duō shǎo qián), “check please” (mǎi dān).

What should I pack? Toilet paper (public toilets rarely have it), hand sanitizer, a reusable water bottle (tap water isn’t drinkable), comfortable walking shoes, a VPN already installed, a power bank (outlets can be scarce), and a small notebook for writing down addresses in Chinese.

The Honest Wrap-up

This list is for the traveler who wants to see China but doesn’t know where to start. It’s for the person who’s nervous about language barriers and visa applications and whether the food will make them sick (it probably won’t, but bring Imodium anyway). It’s for the solo traveler who’s ready to be alone in a country of 1.4 billion people.

It’s not for the person who wants to see everything in two weeks. That’s impossible. It’s not for the person who needs luxury and comfort at every step. China is not comfortable. It’s loud and chaotic and sometimes the toilet doesn’t flush. But it’s also the most interesting country I’ve ever visited, and I’ve visited forty-something times.

One last thing: the cab driver who laughed at me on my first day? I saw him again, three years later, at the same airport. I recognized him. He didn’t recognize me. But I thanked him anyway. “You were right,” I said. “I got lost. But I was okay.”

He laughed again. “Of course,” he said. “Everyone gets lost in China. That’s the point.”