A few days ago, we went on a video tour around China in five minutes here at the Transparent Chinese blog. Well, today you have the opportunity to cruise around this massive and fascinating country at your own pace. Throughout the years, we’ve posted tons of articles about great places to travel and ways to get there. To save you the trouble of digging back through pages of search results, here are some of our best travel related posts for you to check out:

Chinese Visas

Before you start traveling all around China, you’ll need a visa! Learn all about visa policies, costs, and more with this informative post.

Train Travel

Forget about flying in China, because the train is without a doubt the way to go! Kick back on your sleeper bed, look out the window, and watch the Middle Kingdom fly by. You’ll also need to brush up on your Chinese, which we help you with in this post about “How to Buy Train Tickets in China.”

Rockin’ out on the train.

Useful Travel Phrases

Traveling outside of major cities like Beijing and Shanghai, don’t expect to find many people who can speak English. Don’t worry, though – this is a great chance to practice your Chinese! I also put together another post called “Taking a Vacation” that gives you a lot more Chinese words/phrases.

24 Hours in Beijing

While you should definitely spend more than one day in Beijing, a lot of people are on a time crunch when they visit China. To get the most out of your one day in the Chinese capital, check out this post with some great ideas.

Beijing Day Trips

If you have more time to spend in Beijing, there are tons of cool places to check out that are just an hour or two away by bus or subway. Here are some examples:

Set up camp for a night on the Great Wall!

• Camp on the Great Wall: I think the title speaks for itself here.
• Shi Du: A scenic place out in the mountains with rafting, hiking, and even bungee jumping!
• Shangfang Shan: This Buddhist mountain makes for a great day-trip from the city.

Festivals

Who doesn’t love a good festival? There are tons to experience in China, but here are two of my personal favorites:

• Ice and Snow Festival (Harbin): Bundle up and head to China’s Ice City for the incredible ice and snow sculptures!
• Tsingtao Beer Festival (Qingdao): Raise a glass and get silly with huge crowds at this summer beer fest!

干杯！

Personal Favorites

In my nearly five years of living and working in China, I’ve been to tons of places. There are a few that stand out above the others, though:

Amazing Yangshuo

• Yangshuo, Guangxi Province: You have to see this place to believe it. Truly beautiful scenery with the Li River and amazing karst mountain peaks.
• Jiuzhaigou Eco-tourism Hike, Sichuan Province: Escape the huge crowds in the national park and get out on a 3-day hike up a sacred Tibetan mountain. It’s a challenge, but it’s very rewarding!

View from the top on the Jiuzhaigou hike.