China: good to know
The general-information half of trip planning: how expensive China feels, what is considered polite, what is not, and the everyday practicalities - alongside our 472 written places.
Vast, fast and app-driven; patience with crowds and queues is the essential skill.
✓ Considered polite
- Set up Alipay or WeChat Pay with your foreign card before arriving - urban China barely uses cash
- Carry your passport - it is needed for tickets, hotels and many attractions
- Book big sights ahead - popular sites cap daily visitors
- Accept tea rituals when offered - hospitality is serious here
✗ Better avoided
- Tip - it is not practised in mainland restaurants
- Expect Western internet - many familiar apps and sites do not work without preparation
- Stick chopsticks upright in rice
- Assume English signage beyond big-city metro and airports - translation apps earn their keep
Worth knowing
- High-speed rail is superb and booked by passport number
- The 240-hour (10-day) visa-free transit covers many itineraries - check current rules before flying
- Squat toilets are standard outside malls and hotels - carry tissues
- Didi is the ride-hailing app that works with foreign cards
Plugs and voltage: Wikipedia, «Mains electricity by country» (after the IEC World Plugs list), read 15 October 2026.
Some links on this page are Amazon affiliate links - if you buy through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Keep planning
Customs are living things - regions differ, cities relax, generations shift. Take these notes as a friendly head start, watch what locals do, and when in doubt a smile and a greeting in the local language cover almost everything.