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China: 30+ Travel Tips We Discovered after Visiting 9 Cities on High Speed Trains
China High-Speed Rail Adventure: 30+ Travel Tips
This week, we wrapped up our epic 9-city China travel adventure in Shanghai and share everything we learned along the way to help you plan your own journey through China. In today's video, we share over 30 travel tips to help you navigate China. If you have additional questions, please leave them in...
This week, we wrapped up our epic 9-city China travel adventure in Shanghai and share everything we learned along the way to help you plan your own journey through China. In today's video, we share over 30 travel tips to help you navigate China.
If you have additional questions, please leave them in the comments.
Thanks for following along with us and happy journeys,
John and Bev
Retirement Travelers John and Bev share their invaluable insights from their recent nine-city adventure across China. Their journey, undertaken primarily via high-speed rail, provided a wealth of experience, culminating in over 30 practical travel tips. This video is a must-watch for anyone planning a similar trip, offering advice and insights that will make your Chinese adventure smoother and more enjoyable. Prepare to be inspired!
This week, we wrapped up our epic 9-city China travel adventure in Shanghai and share everything we learned along the way to help you plan your own journey through China. In today's video, we share over 30 travel tips to help you navigate China.
If you have additional questions, please leave them in the comments.
Thanks for following along with us and happy journeys,
John and Bev
John and Bev of Retirement Travelers summarize a nine-city trip across China, which they say covered more than 3,300 miles by high-speed rail. They share their own experiences with entry preparations, accommodation details, passports, safety, seasonal travel, mobile connectivity and payment apps. They discuss translation tools, hotel stays, timed-entry bookings, local guides, independent transit, ride-hailing, tipping, food, water, medical preparation and public toilets. Their travel advice is based on the trip described in the video and may not reflect current visa, entry, connectivity or attraction policies. The transcript identifies Hong Kong, Chongqing, Beijing and Shanghai clearly; several other city names are garbled by automatic transcription and are not included here.
John and Bev of Retirement Travelers look back on a nine-city China trip and share practical lessons from traveling independently. They discuss entry preparations, carrying a passport, mobile data and payments, translation, transport, accommodation, attraction bookings, guides, health and public restrooms. Their examples come from their own trip, which they say included travel in March and April; visa, connectivity and entry rules can change, so the video is a record of their experience rather than current official guidance.
John and Bev share practical lessons from their independent China trip, including payments, transport, attraction bookings and travel preparation.
China Travel Tips for Independent Trips by Train and Metro
10:20 John and Bev say they carried their original passports for train tickets, hotels and attraction entry. Their trip used passport checks in place of paper tickets at some sites; check current requirements before relying on this account.
13:22 Plan how you will keep your phone connected and charged. The couple relied on mobile data, used their phones as laptop hotspots and recommend carrying a power bank; their coverage and costs reflect their own service and trip.
14:13 Set up mobile payment options before the trip and learn where each app shows its payment and scan codes. The couple say they used both Alipay and WeChat Pay and sometimes switched phones when a code would not scan.
20:28 For busy periods or weekends, consider checking timed-entry availability in advance. The couple booked several attraction tickets through WeChat and say some booking pages appeared only after they were in China.
21:42 If an attraction offers age-based concessions, ask at the ticket desk. John and Bev say they received free or discounted entry at several places after staff checked their passports; policies vary by site.
22:23 Ask your hotel whether it can arrange a local guide if you want help navigating a site. The couple preferred guides arranged after arrival and also describe visiting the Great Wall independently by subway and high-speed train.
29:00 Carry tissues and hand sanitizer for public restrooms. John and Bev found that toilet paper was not always stocked inside stalls, although they also encountered newer facilities with western-style toilets.
10:20 John and Bev say they carried their original passports for train tickets, hotels and attraction entry. Their trip used passport checks in place of paper tickets at some sites; check current requirements before relying on this account.
13:22 Plan how you will keep your phone connected and charged. The couple relied on mobile data, used their phones as laptop hotspots and recommend carrying a power bank; their coverage and costs reflect their own service and trip.
14:13 Set up mobile payment options before the trip and learn where each app shows its payment and scan codes. The couple say they used both Alipay and WeChat Pay and sometimes switched phones when a code would not scan.
20:28 For busy periods or weekends, consider checking timed-entry availability in advance. The couple booked several attraction tickets through WeChat and say some booking pages appeared only after they were in China.
21:42 If an attraction offers age-based concessions, ask at the ticket desk. John and Bev say they received free or discounted entry at several places after staff checked their passports; policies vary by site.
22:23 Ask your hotel whether it can arrange a local guide if you want help navigating a site. The couple preferred guides arranged after arrival and also describe visiting the Great Wall independently by subway and high-speed train.
29:00 Carry tissues and hand sanitizer for public restrooms. John and Bev found that toilet paper was not always stocked inside stalls, although they also encountered newer facilities with western-style toilets.
0:00 Nine-city China trip overview
3:17 Visa preparation experience
5:14 Entry and accommodation details
6:22 Traveling as Americans
8:12 Air quality and seasons
10:20 Why they carry passports
11:36 Internet, VPN and mobile data
14:13 Using mobile payment apps
16:13 Translation and language
17:18 Hotels and breakfast
20:28 Booking attraction tickets
22:23 Local guides or independent travel
25:41 Subways and navigation
28:03 Health and hygiene
29:00 Public restroom essentials
0:00 Nine-city China trip overview
3:17 Visa preparation experience
5:14 Entry and accommodation details
6:22 Traveling as Americans
8:12 Air quality and seasons
10:20 Why they carry passports
11:36 Internet, VPN and mobile data
14:13 Using mobile payment apps
16:13 Translation and language
17:18 Hotels and breakfast
20:28 Booking attraction tickets
22:23 Local guides or independent travel
25:41 Subways and navigation
28:03 Health and hygiene
29:00 Public restroom essentials
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They say their nine-city journey covered more than 3,300 miles by high-speed rail.
Which payment apps did they use?
They used Alipay and WeChat Pay, and recommend learning how each app displays its payment and scan codes.
What did they use for navigation?
They say they relied mainly on Apple Maps for routes, including subway directions and platform information.
How did they book attraction tickets?
They used booking pages in WeChat for several sites, bought some tickets onsite when it was not crowded, and suggest checking ahead for busy periods.
What should travelers carry for public restrooms?
They recommend carrying tissues and hand sanitizer because toilet paper was not always stocked inside the stalls they used.
Did they use guides at every attraction?
No. They say local guides arranged through hotels were useful at some sites, while they visited the Great Wall independently using public transport.
