China - April '26 Trip Report

Recently went to China for two weeks as an American. I visited Chongqing, Chengdu, Yushu, Zhangjiajie, and Beijing. It blew me away. All costs below are in USD.

General Things to Know

You need Alipay and Wechat. Alipay includes payment (you can pay for everything from here, no cash, if in a taxi for example they'll give you a QR code to scan straight from the app), a translator, DiDi (similar to Uber), and much more. The Wechat app will also be useful, it has a similar payment feature and many people use it to translate as well.

I used a trip.com eSIM and had no problems. They're probably the cheapest and most reliable ones you can get. Connecting to any wifi or buying a physical SIM there will give you internet restrictions. For this reason I stayed on data the entire trip. Any eSIM marketed as HK/Macau will bypass the firewall.

I mostly used DiDi to get around in the cities. I always got a ride super quickly, even at night. If you're worried about not finding a ride you can prebook 2 days in advance.

Overall I felt super safe the entire time. There's a huge presence of cameras and police.

Almost any popular spot will be flooded with people by midday. If you're planning on hitting any super popular spots I recommend going as early as you possibly can. Traffic is also terrible in most major cities at most times of the day.

I mostly used Apple Maps to get around. Amap is another solid option, but Google Maps will NOT work even with an eSIM/VPN.

I booked all of my trains/hotels/attraction tickets through trip.com

which worked really well.

Chengdu

This was my first stop. I flew into Tianfu airport on one ticket from the US. From the airport you can either take a train or taxi into the city. I stayed for two nights at the JW Marriot Chengdu for around $130/night. Many people recommend more time but I found it to be enough. I visited Tianfu Square and People's Park, both of which I found to be pretty interesting. My second day I visited the Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Center in Dujiangyan and Mount Qingcheng through the hotel concierge, but there should be no problems taking a DiDi. The panda center had a lot of pandas out and even a few red pandas which are a bit harder to spot. Mount Qingcheng had a nice cable car but was still around a half hour of stairs to reach the top. There are super cool Toaist temples as you make your way up and the view is really nice.

Yushu

This was the furthest off the beaten path I've probably ever been. I flew TFU-YUS for $300 roundtrip and there was a long line of taxis available when my flight got in. I stayed in Yushu for two nights at the Qinggan Hotel for around $30/night. Yushu sits around 3800m above sea level, and the hotel I was at can provide portable oxygen concentrators and nose cannulas if you book a room with an oxygen concentrator if you're worried about the altitude. I felt a bit lethargic but no major symptoms besides that. The hotel has a small restaurant area with a selection of Tibetan food. There's a pharmacy about a minute away by foot that sells portable oxygen cans. My favorite thing in Yushu was the Jiegu Monastery, you can take a taxi up to it and it offered stunning 360 views of the entire city. You can also take stairs to the very top which has some prayer flags and more views. The language barrier is very real here, most people speak Mandarin but some people might only speak Khams Tibetan which is quite different than what you'll find on most translation apps. I would totally recommend a visit for a few days if you handle altitude well.

Zhangjiajie

I took a train from Chengdu to Zhangjiajie for around $70 and about 5 hours. I stayed two nights at the Qishi Li Cave Homestay in Wulingyuan for $190/night, it's about a 10 minute walk from the east gate of the park. I planned to spend four days here but ended up changing plans and leaving early for another city due to dense fog and heavy rain for the two days more I planned to stay. I visited the Zhangjiajie Forest National Park (Avatar Mountains) and it was one of the highlights of the trip. You can buy tickets that are valid for four days. Tickets include buses in the park and you can add on cable cars and other ammenities. You can visit most viewpoints without much walking and mostly along paved walkways. Had I stayed longer, I would have visited Tianmen Mountain and ridden the 30 minute cable car that was unfortunately down when I was there. Unfortunately not much more to say because my experience was limited but I would probably recommend Zhangjiajie the most out of anywhere else I visited.

Chongqing

I took a train from Zhangjiajie to Chongqing for $40 and 3 hours. I stayed two nights at the JW Marriot Chongqing for $180/night. I would recommend any hotel near Jiefangbei, a popular pedestrian street with tons of shops and restaurants. The city is known for its futuristic skyline. I didn't find it the most interesting but would still recommend it if you're into cities. I used DiDi but be prepared to be stuck in traffic for a while if you're doing this (30 minutes to cover 2km). I mostly went to the major tourist spots including Hongyadong, Liziba Station, and Kuixing Tower. Hongyadong especially was one of my favorites, there's a really nice view from the Qiansimen Bridge. I wouldn't recommend more than probably two nights here unless you plan to take day trips into the countryside.

Beijing

Beijing was an incredibly last-minute addition due to leaving Zhangjiajie early. I took a train from Chongqing for around $175 and 8 hours and stayed three nights at the JW Marriot Beijing Central for around $170/night. My first day was mostly spent hitting some of the popular spots. I went to Tiananmen Square which was pretty cool but I wouldn't consider a must-see. You need to book tickets online through the official Tiananmen Square Reservation Wechat mini-program which are free but need to be booked 24hrs in advance. I also went to Jingshan Park which is only $1 to enter and has a nice view over the Forbidden City. I unfortunately didn't make it in the Forbidden City itself, tickets sell out pretty far in advance and I came too last-minute. Day two was spent at the Mutianyu Great Wall through the hotel concierge. There is also a train from northern Beijing that takes 20 minutes. I recommend Mutianyu because it's much less busy than Badaling. If you want less crowds go as early as possible, I went midday on a Sunday (worst possible time) and it was still managable. There are cable cars up and down that drop you pretty high up. If you want to make it to the end of the preserved section, it's a pretty long walk and lots of stairs.

Pictures

1. Top of Jiegu Monastery, Yushu
2. Jiegu Monastery, Yushu
3. Red Panda, Chengdu
4. Mount Qingcheng
5. Avatar Mountains, Zhangjiajie
6. Liziba Station, Chongqing
7. Hongyadong, Chongqing
8. Tiananmen Square, Beijing
9. Mutianyu Great Wall
10. Mutianyu Great Wall