China, without the guesswork.
Visa-free for most European passports. Up to 10 visa-free days for Americans in transit. Bullet trains between 3,000-year-old cities. Here's what first-time Western visitors actually need to know.
Start here
All destinations →The cities on virtually every first Western itinerary — for good reason.
Beijing
The capital and the single strongest draw for Western tourists — Great Wall, Forbidden City and 3,000 years of imperial history on one subway map.
Xi'an
Eastern terminus of the Silk Road and home of the Terracotta Army — the ancient capital every history-loving Westerner comes for.
Shanghai
China's gateway city and the #1 inbound destination for both American and European visitors — colonial waterfront meets Blade Runner skyline.
Guilin & Yangshuo
The karst landscape on the 20-yuan note — the scenery Westerners picture when they imagine 'China'.
Chengdu
Pandas, hotpot and teahouse life — the laid-back Sichuan capital that became a top-5 inbound city in 2025.
Zhangjiajie
The real-life floating mountains of Avatar — the single most viral Chinese landscape on Western social media.
Chongqing
China's cyberpunk mountain megacity — inbound visitors up 170% in 2025, now level with Beijing and Shanghai in holiday popularity.
Go deeper
See all 21 destinations →Where returning visitors go next — and where the 2025 inbound boom is happening.
Hangzhou
West Lake perfection an hour from Shanghai — the landscape that defined Chinese ideas of beauty for a millennium.
Suzhou
The classical garden city — 2,500 years of canals, moon gates and scholar aesthetics, 30 minutes from Shanghai by rail.
Huangshan (Yellow Mountain)
Granite peaks above a sea of clouds — named to the New York Times' 52 Places to Go in 2025, now 2.5 h from Shanghai by high-speed rail.
Harbin
China's ice city — a Russian-built winter wonderland whose Ice and Snow Festival took over Western social media.
Yunnan
China's most diverse province — snow mountains, old towns and 25 ethnic minorities, now a favorite for returning Western travelers.
Datong
Grottoes and cliff temples — ticket sales up 7× in 2025 as foreigners push beyond Beijing.
Luoyang
Ancient capital of 13 dynasties — grottoes, kung fu and peonies, with inbound visits doubling in 2025.
Yangtze River & Three Gorges
The classic cross-country route — a cruise through the gorge scenery of a thousand Chinese poems.
Qingdao
German-era red rooftops, China's best beer and a breezy seaside pace — consistently a top-10 inbound city.
The visa question, answered
Full visa & entry guide →Entering China got dramatically easier in the last two years — over 70% of visitors now enter without a visa. Here's the short version:
European passports
30 days, visa-free for most EU and Schengen countries (through 31 Dec 2026) — tourism, business and family visits all covered.
US passports
240-hour (10-day) visa-free transit — route through China to Hong Kong, Macau or a third country with an onward ticket, and tourism is allowed. Most Americans don't know this exists.
Know before you go
Travel essentials →The practical stuff that trips up first-time visitors.
Payments
Alipay and WeChat Pay now take foreign cards — set them up before you fly.
High-speed rail
45,000 km of bullet trains. Your passport is your ticket.
Staying connected
eSIM vs. roaming — what actually works inside China.
When to go
Spring and autumn for most of China; deep winter for Harbin's ice city.