Your China Travel Guide: Organization, travel tips & checklist for a trip to China

From Suzhou to Nanjing: My journey to the Middle Kingdom & a small China guide for you

I was just sitting at the Frankfurt airport on my way to Bali when I opened the invitation to travel to China a few weeks later in my e-mail inbox. To China? Wow, although I already had a lot of ideas about China, I honestly didn't know exactly what to expect there.

I've already shared a little teaser of the trip in my blog post " Street Photography in China ." Before I delve into the details of this extraordinary journey, however, I'd like to share my travel tips for China with you. Therefore, I've prepared a short China guide for you, including organizational tips and a corresponding checklist. Of course, my travel guide is by no means applicable to all of China. The country is simply too vast and complex. Nevertheless, I'd like to share a few travel tips based on my own experiences.

Press trip to China

Planning & Organisation: How do I plan a trip to China?

Of course, I was very curious and accepted the invitation with great excitement. And then? Right, then the planning began. The trip was organized by China Tours in cooperation with the tourist offices of Suzhou and Nanjing. Most of the organization was taken care of for me, but it's still important to do your research before traveling to China. Since it was my first trip to China, I was also very happy to have had a competent and reliable contact person in China Tours, both on-site and in Germany.

Short & sweet: Your China Travel Guide

Do I need a visa?

Let's get to the most important question if you want to travel to China. Yes, you need a visa to enter the Middle Kingdom. Make sure you apply for it in good time, but not too early. It's recommended to apply for the visa one month before your planned trip to China , but not three months in advance. Why? Quite simply: A Chinese tourist visa is generally valid for three months from the date of issue. If you apply for the visa too early, it might no longer be valid by the time you plan to enter the country. If you have any questions about your visa, it's best to contact your country's foreign ministry (Auswärtiges Amt) well in advance.

Where can I apply for my visa?

You can apply for your Chinese visa at the China Visa Application Service Center . Currently, there is no electronic visa (e-visa) like you might be familiar with from other countries. All forms must be submitted either by mail or in person in paper form. However, there are also visa agencies that can handle everything online. I applied for my visa the traditional way and traveled to the China Visa Application Center in Frankfurt.

How much does the visa for China cost?

The tourist visa for a 30-day stay (single entry; valid for 3 months) currently costs €125,45 if you apply in person. It is slightly more expensive by mail, costing €161,15. You can find up-to-date information on costs on the China Visa Application Service Center website.

Checklist before traveling to China

Before we start, there are a few things to organize. Here I have put together a small checklist for you.

1. Vaccinations

Make sure you have the necessary vaccinations and whether you need to update any of them. The Federal Foreign Office provides information on recommended vaccinations.

2. Validity of your passport

Now let's get to what is probably the most important point: your valid passport. Please note: Your passport must be valid for at least six months from the date you apply for the visa.

3. Free credit card

The official currency in China is the renminbi, also known as the yuan. You can withdraw money free of charge worldwide, for example, with the Cortal Consors Visa, DKB Visa, DAB MasterCard, comdirekt Visa, wustenrot VISA and the norisbank MasterCard. In large cities such as Shanghai or Beijing, you can almost always pay by credit card. However, I have found that in some other cities, credit card payments are unfortunately not accepted everywhere and WePay is popular.

4. Health insurance when traveling to China

You should make sure you have adequate travel health insurance. If you want to travel to China, you need additional insurance or international health insurance, since the statutory and private health insurance companies in Germany do not cover the costs in the event of treatment.

5. Don't forget mosquito spray!

I really didn't think about that and was then allowed to get annoyed about one or the other stitch. The good news is: I survived my trip without mosquito spray without any damage. Since China is a modern industrial country, I simply suppressed the fact that the annoying mosquitoes are also spreading there. Depending on the region, summers can be quite warm and humid. Our trip took place right in the short rainy season. So there were always mosquitoes. Of course you can get a mosquito spray on site.

6. Internet & VPN in China

Let's get to the particularly exciting part of my journey: Internet access. In principle, the Internet can be reached almost everywhere in China and WLAN is available in almost all public facilities. But you've probably already noticed that access to the free Internet, as we know it in Germany, for example, is being blocked. Even the Google search engine is blocked. In order to be able to use the Internet and popular social networks such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook & Co. as usual, you need VPN access.

Don't despair: Which VPN worked for me

Before my trip, I downloaded four different VPN providers, but only one worked flawlessly in the end. VPN access is regularly blocked, so it's crucial to stay up-to-date on this issue. You should definitely download the VPN apps before your trip to China, as it will be difficult to find a VPN connection there. I had good experiences with ExpressVPN . NordVPN, for example, worked perfectly in the spring of this year, according to blog posts. However, access in China stopped working in June. Therefore, it's a good idea to download several VPN apps as a precaution. Many are paid, but they usually offer free trial versions, which can be ideal for short trips to China.

China individual trip or with a tour operator?

I was traveling in a small tour group with other bloggers and photographers. In addition, we had a German-speaking tour guide in each city. Although I usually prefer to travel individually, on this trip I was very thankful that we had local guides by our side in each city. The tour guides explained a lot to us and also translated. With one or the other dish in the restaurants, this was not only helpful, but also very interesting to learn more about the regional cuisine. There aren't that many western tourists in Suzhou and the region yet, so English is rarely spoken. Unfortunately, for many sights you will not find any information in English. With the tour guides we learned a lot of interesting things that we would not have understood otherwise. Otherwise you can go to Google Translate and use the image translation. Of course, you have to be careful here, too, because the quality of the translation is far from reliable.

China Tours travel modules

We felt we were in safe hands with China Tours. Everything went not only flawlessly, but also professionally. In my opinion, China Tours contributed enormously to making our trip an unforgettable and wonderful experience. By the way, you can put together your own individual China trip from several travel modules on China Tours.

Getting around China by train

We flew China Air to Shanghai and from there took a private bus to Suzhou. We took the train on the routes between Suzhou, Nanjing and Shanghai. The train connections between the cities are very comfortable and reliable.

Sense of security - Nice travel destination for solo female travellers

On my trip I experienced China as a very safe and pleasant travel destination. At no time did I feel uncomfortable and would therefore recommend the destinations Nanjing, Shanghai and Suzhou to solo travelers. When I travel, my sense of security as a woman is particularly important to me. Therefore, I would like to emphasize this point in particular, because I have rarely felt as safe in a country as in China (at least in the areas I have visited). I like to remember the evening walks in pleasant summer temperatures. Many shops and restaurants are open until late in the evening and you can end the day relaxed and comfortably. Above all, I was very surprised by the tranquility, after all I walked through cities with several million inhabitants. Nevertheless, it was relatively quiet, which is probably due in particular to the electric scooters. Only the honk reminded me that I was in a big city.

From Suzhou to Nanjing

I hope that my short and sweet China guide was able to give you some answers to your questions. I will explicitly dedicate my next blog articles from the China series to the cities that I have visited. Until then, I wish you lots of joy, impressions and a pleasant journey, no matter where you go?

Note: This research trip was undertaken at the invitation of China Tours and the Suzhou and Nanjing Tourist Offices . Many thanks for that!