About China Travel
China is a spectacular travel destination. From the mountains of the far west to the beaches of the south and everything in between, this is a country that can amaze you at every turn. Travelling in China can be difficult at times, but by asking questions to your hotel, hostel or apartment owner before you set off, you can save yourself a lot of hassle.
There isn't a lot of English spoken here, but don't let that put you off. Chinese people are generally really patient with tourists and they don't expect you to know any of their language. Hand motions and basic words can go a long way.
On this page, we have all of our posts about China. We have lived and travelled in the country for over a year and we love it. Here you'll find some of the best places to visit, things to do, the best time to go and much more.
Things To Do In China
There are so many different things to do in China that it can be overwhelming to list them all on one page. Below you'll find the best things to do in some of the major cities in China, as well as the things to do in some more off track places.
Whether you're heading to China for a week, a month, or a year, we can help you find the best things to do in the country. Click below to read more!
21 Best Things To Do in Beijing
There are few cities on earth that offer as much as Beijing. The Chinese capital has a history going back thousands of years and is full of significant landmarks such as the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. If you want to dive into Chinese history ...
A Travel Guide to Experiencing the Tibetan Monlam Festival in China
For four days every winter, Labrang Monastery in China’s Gansu province plays host to a breathtaking festival on an epic scale, a riot of color, music, and even smell, all wrapped in deep spirituality and centuries-old tradition. The largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery outside the Tibetan Autonomous ...
Places To Visit in China
Even after spending a year living and travelling in the country, Dariece and I have only barely scratched the surface of the best places to visit in China. Below you'll find a list of some of the best places to visit while you're visiting China.
The Villages of Dacangzhen: Southwest China’s Best-Kept Secret
Nearly every traveler to southwest China’s picturesque Yunnan province passes through the town of Dali, with its postcard-ready slender pagodas and peaceful stone-paved streets. But few travelers, including the growing number of Chinese who visit the region, know an even more fascinating enclave lies just a ...
Budget Guide To Backpacking China
This budget guide to backpacking China will tell you everything you need to know about travelling China. From the cost of accommodation to cuisine and culture, we’ll cover it all right here! We backpacked around China for a month and lived there for 13 months, so ...
China Travel Information
If you're looking for travel tips, information and help for when you're on the road in China, then you've come to the right place. Below you'll find all of our posts that include useful China travel info including the cost of living and travelling in certain places, pros and cons, cultural quirks and more. Click any of the links below to read more and learn more about China travel.
China Travel Guide
China is a spectacular travel destination. From the mountains of the far west to the beaches of the south and everything in between, this is a country that's sure to amaze you at every turn. We lived and traveled around China for more than a year, ...
About Chinese Cuisine
If you think you know Chinese food, you don't really truly know it until you travel around the country. The Chinese food that we get in the west is nowhere near as good as what you find in China. Don't get me wrong! I love a ginger beef and sweet & sour pork, but that's not authentic Chinese food, it's an American adaptation. Oh and sorry to burst your bubble, but there are no fortune cookies in China either. They were invented in the US.
Chinese cuisine is varied by region and no matter where you travel in the country, you'll be amazed at how incredibly flavourful and well-prepared the dishes are.
After living in China and travelling in China for more than a year, we figure we have a pretty good idea of the best Chinese cuisine, but we still have much to learn. Here are our blog posts all about the incredible food in China. Click the links to read more.
7 Seriously Strange Street Foods In China
We love eating at street-side vendors and have our favourite ones here in Yangzhou. However, those foods consist of delicious cold noodle dishes, soups, wraps and fruits — not insects! China is definitely one of the best countries for incredible cuisine in the world, but the ...
Our Travels in China
Below you'll find all of our personal travel blogs about living in and exploring the country of China. If you want to learn about China travel, then experience it directly through the lens of two people who have spent a lot of time there. If you're interested in travelling to China, I hope that these posts will inspire you to go there!
10 Things We Don’t Miss About China
As you know, we loved living in China, we loved our job and everyone we met was great. We’re always so incredibly positive about China and rave about how great it is. There are many, many things we miss about living here. However, as with every ...
Our Trans Mongolian Railway Journey: From Beijing to Ulan Bator
It was like Christmas morning, only better. The day we had been planning and anticipating for months had finally arrived! We were up at 6:00am for our Trans Mongolian Railway departure day. We were both so excited that we couldn’t sleep the night before and even ...
Goodbye China! We Will Miss You…
It’s hard to believe that we arrived in China over a year ago, and now we’ve already left. So many amazing things happened while we lived in China. We were able to learn a bit of a new language (more than we ever do travelling through ...
10 Things We’ll Miss About China
Living in Yangzhou, China for the past 13 months has been an amazing experience. An experience filled with fond memories, great friends, a new career and a cool culture. As we’re nearing the end of our time in China, we’re starting to get a bit misty-eyed ...
Sweet & Delicious Summer Fruits Of China
One of the best parts about travelling is experiencing new foods from different parts of the world. Chinese food is amazing, in fact, it’s one of our favourite countries for food, even the stranger street foods, and so are the seasonal fruits! It’s summertime here and the ...
Dumpling Making Party in China!
A couple of weeks ago, we decided to show our Chinese friends the western ways of BBQ’ing and picnics, a foreign concept here in China. They had a great time and wanted to show us something special from their culture. So, they invited us, Jhonny, Rose ...
Teaching English In Front Of 400 People On Children’s Day
The other day I received a text message from my boss saying that I was going to have to go and do a promo at the exhibition center. Usually this involves simply handing out flyers and looking foreign… but this day was different. When I met ...
BBQ’s and Picnics: A Foreign Concept in China?
One of the best things about living in China is witnessing our Chinese friends try new (aka, Western) things! Over the last couple of weeks the weather has been really nice and we’ve been trying to spend lots of time outdoors, and we’ve been trying to ...
Meet Standy – Our Personal Assistant in China
Shortly after starting our teaching jobs in China at Shane English School in Yangzhou, we met our friend Standy. Standy’s job is to provide the foreign teaching staff with full time assistance. Not long after he started, we all realized that he was going to be our ...
A List of Our Favourite Meals in Yangzhou, China
We all know what Chinese food is, right? Before coming to China, I figured it was ginger beef, sweet & sour pork, chicken chow mein, fried rice, spring rolls and insects & organs! Having travelled through China and lived here for 9 months, we’ve started to ...
Spring Has Sprung In China
Ah, spring time, one of the most beautiful times of the year. The flowers are in full bloom, the trees are blossoming, everything is green, the sun is poking its head out and everyone is coming out of winter hibernation! Spring here in China is lovely. ...
Weekends With Bernie!
Have you ever met a fabulous friend while on the road and then met up with them years later? We’ve gone to visit travel friends in England, but this time we were having someone come and see us! We’ve been travelling around for 3 years and have ...
10 Reasons Why Living in China Is Awesome!
When we set off from Canada to live abroad in China, we knew it would be awesome, but we didn’t know it would be this amazing! We’ve travelled around lots, but apart from staying somewhere for a month, we had never actually lived anywhere overseas. We ...
The Day We Got Paid To Be Foreign In China
Before we came to China, we had heard plenty of stories about “whiteys” getting hired by companies to pose as foreign employees but we never thought we would be involved in such a job. Turns out, these jobs are quite common in Yangzhou. We’ve been asked ...
Eating On The Street, On The Cheap: Our Favourite Food Vendors In Yangzhou, China
It’s no secret that food is a runner-up on our list of passions in life (others being travel, chocolate & wine), so what better place to be in than China?! The restaurants serve some amazing dishes; from tofu to chicken to noodles and frog, China has ...
Our Next Trip is Central Asia: The Most Epic One Yet?
We’ve been living in China for 7 months now and we’ve started getting The Travel Itch. We need to get going again. We need to get on the road and experience new things. There are people in the world who can live their lives, working all ...
I Miss Flushing Toilet Paper! – Living in China & Wanting Comforts of Home
Oh Canada, you have so many things that we cherish. Besides missing the obvious favourites from back home (friends, family and food), there are some things that I never thought I’d say I miss. We’ve travelled the world and have gotten used to not having certain ...
The Travel Itch – Why Us Travellers Can’t Stay Still
People always talk about the “7 year itch”, when you’ve been with someone for 7 years and you start to get sick of one another! Well, lucky for us we don’t have that problem, we have another kind of problem…the 7 month itch. We’ve sat still ...
Yangzhou, China: Exploring The Old Town
Yangzhou, China is full of hidden gems. We’ve been to the Old Town here a few times now, but no matter how many times we venture to that part of the city, we’re always pleasantly surprised at what we see! Last weekend we wandered around with ...
Suzhou, China: Visiting The Venice Of The East
One of the many great things about living in Yangzhou, China is that there are some beautiful ancient towns nearby. All we have to do is hop on one of the frequent local buses or make our way to the efficient bullet trains and within an ...
Celebrating New Year’s Eve in Yangzhou, China
Our very first Chinese New Year spent in China was a good one (make sure to check out our video below!) Although, we were slightly disappointed by the lack of red dragons, parades and other “Chinese’y” things we associate with this holiday back in North America. ...
Chinese New Year: The Year Of The Snake
Spring Festival (aka Chinese New Year) is fast approaching! This year, New Year’s Eve is on February 9th and the festival will continue for a week after that. Our school is decking the halls with snakes, the colour red, decorations and information about the festival. To ...
Why We Love Living In China
Deciding to put our backpacking lifestyle on hold for a year and move to China to teach English was a tough decision at first, but one that we will never regret! It was hard to say goodbye to our backpacks and hello to an apartment. However, ...
Celebrating Christmas in Yangzhou, China
Like most of you back home in North America, we were off for the Christmas holidays…well, 2 days of it! The Chinese don’t celebrate Christmas so we were glad to actually have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off. In all honestly, I don’t think we would have ...
Lost In Translation: Menus Of China
While travelling around China and now living here for the past 5 months, we’ve seen some strange things on the menu. Sometimes they make us laugh, sometimes they make us worry, but they’re always entertaining. If a Chinese restaurant owner decides to try to create an ...
Living In Yangzhou, China
The City of Yangzhou is set alongside many canals and has some beautiful parks, gardens and a great Old Town.  There are many nearby cities that can be easily explored on a weekend – Suzhou, Wuxi and Nanjing to name a few.  The sprawling metropolis of Shanghai is ...
Moving To Yangzhou, China
After travelling the world for 16 months, we weren’t ready to go home and settle down, but we needed a bit of a break from backpacking. Â Making the decision to move to Yangzhou, China and sign a 1 year contract teaching English was a no-brainer for ...
Tunxi, China: Visiting The Ancient Village
Arriving in the ancient town of Tunxi was a breath of fresh air, literally! Backpacking in China can trying at times. Beijing and Shanghai are massive, polluted cities with populations of around 20 million people. Tunxi is much smaller and has less than 100,000 people living ...
Shanghai, China: Skyscrapers & Smog
We were so excited to arrive in one of the biggest cities in the world, Shanghai. Meaning “by the sea” this massive city was a popular trading port for years in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. Shanghai is not exactly a budget backpacker’s ideal destination but it ...
Visiting The Great Wall Of China: A Travel Guide
“He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a true man.” Mao Zedong The next stop on our trip through China was the ancient, capital city of Beijing. It’s not exactly a budget backpacking ideal destination but this heavily populated city of 15.6 million ...
Xi’an, China – The Terracotta Warriors For Budget Backpackers
We arrived in Xi’an after a long train ride from Chengdu. We opted for the only budget backpacker option, “hard sleeper” class, which means that there are 6 bunks per berth, 3 stacked vertically on each wall. We ended up with the middle bunk this time, ...
Chengdu, China: Our Visit to the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base
After two nights in a great hostel, it was time to say goodbye to Guilin. We hoisted our backpacks over our shoulders, found the local bus to take us to the train station and began our epic 25 hour train journey to Chengdu in the Sichuan ...
Guilin, China: Visiting The Dragon’s Backbone Rice Terraces
We arrived in Guilin and checked in to our nice, big, clean room at The Backstreet Youth Hostel. Right away we started talking with the staff about organizing a ride out to the Dragon’s Backbone Rice Terraces, a sight outside of Guilin that has made this ...
Yangshuo – We’re Finally In China!
Even though Hong Kong is technically part of China, we still hadn’t felt like we had been to the real China yet and were really looking forward to crossing the border. We were on the super efficient metro line to take us from downtown Hong Kong ...
THE BEST TIME OF YEAR TO VISIT
When To Travel To China
One thing that we love about China is that it's a year-round destination. We know that because we lived there throughout all of the seasons. No matter when you visit China, you'll have a great time, but the north can be extremely cold in the winter and the south can be hot in the summer, so here's a little bit of help figuring out the best time to visit in China.
The Absolute Best Time To Visit China
April - May / September - October
As far as weather goes, the best times to visit China is in the Spring (April-May) and the Fall (September-October). This is when most of the country has the optimal weather for seeing sights and exploration.
This is also the two periods of the year when Chinese aren't on holidays. You want to avoid busy peak times like Chinese New Year and summertime holidays.
The Worst Time To Visit China
When visiting a country with a billion people in it, you'll have to consider public holiday times if you want to avoid claustrophobia from the crowds. You'll want to try to plan your trip to skip these festivals and events in China:
- Labor Day Holiday (May 1-3)
- Chinese National Day (October 1-7)
- Chinese New Year (sometime in late January to mid February)
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