A few days in Hong Kong on video with its impressive skyline, buildings and shopping centres.

First country during our round the world trip, China is and remains one of our huge favorite. A country that has left a strong impression on us and touched us a lot ( and in which we will hopefully return...) Besides the fact that it was there that Ben proposed, it was really a country that stole our hearts. On this page you will find a lot of "general" information that should help you plan your future trip, and at the end of the page you will find all our articles written during our 2.5 month trip.
In total, we spent nearly 10 weeks in China. It may sound like a lot, but believe us, if we take it back to the size of the country we have hardly seen anything of the country yet ;)
Moreover, if we have fun calculating according to the surface area of the countries, our time spent in China corresponds to the same thing as a Chinese tourist who comes to Switzerland for 7 hours!!!! (and we used to make fun of them...)
If you want to see all the articles we have written about China by location, we let you click on the button below to display the China map with all our articles on it.
China is an incredibly diverse country rich in beautiful landscapes and cities to discover! In terms of budget, China is probably a little more expensive than the countries of South East Asia (although not even sure...) but it is also a country in which there are strong differences between regions!
For our part, our itinerary led us to visit cities such as Beijing, Xi'an, Canton, Chengdu, or Guilin, but we did not visit Shanghai or Shenzhen (which are considered more expensive). In short, your budget will depend a lot on your activities and accommodation, but to give you an idea here is what we spent on average per day during our trip (prices are for 2 people). If we make the total we arrive at a budget of 22€ per day and per person.
Expense | Daily Budget |
---|---|
Accommodation | 8,5€ (9.5 US$) |
Transport | 11€ (12,3 US$) |
Food & Beverage | 15,8€ (17,7 US$) |
Extras | 4,4€ (5 US$) |
Sights | 4,6€ (5 US$) |
However, here are a few comments:
Above you have our "average" numbers for all of our 2.5 months in China. However, if you want to see more details by region then we invite you to check out our special budget article below.
Our Detailed China Travel Budget
Do you want to go to China? Then you will absolutely need a visa! And I'm sorry to tell you, but the acquisition of a Chinese visa is not totally trivial... nothing dramatic I reassure you, but between the online agencies that charge crazy amounts and the embassy and consulate websites that date from 90's, it's not that easy neither...
We are not Americans and therefore we did not make our visas in the USA.... But we did some research and here are the results:
A very good resource for chinese visa for US citizens would be this one.
For Switzerland there are also many agencies, but the easiest way is to go through the embassy in Bern. During the preparation of our trip this was what we had done and it had been without any problems. The price of the visa is CHF 70. This price is the same for a single entry, double entry or multi-entry visa valid for 6 months (the one we had). Price list
Whether you are Swiss or French or American it doesn't matter. In order to validate a visa application you will need to provide certain information:
Tip for exit flight ticket
If you need an exit flight for your visa application but you do not yet know how you will leave the country (especially if you are leaving by land) there are several solutions. We often talk about "air ticket rental". We have heard good feedback but have never tested it. In the case of China, another solution (and not necessarily more expensive) is simply to buy a low-cost oneway flight! From the south of China you can find flights at 20€ to Thailand, Singapore... In short, buy a flight around your theoretical exit date and you'll see if you take it or miss it;)
To find a cheap flight just go to Skyscanner and enter "China" as the starting point (it is possible to put the whole country) then enter "Anywhere" in destination. All you have to do is choose the cheapest combination! :)
The Internet is an important issue in China, or at least if you plan to connect to your social networks or Gmail account during your stay...;)
Internet censorship is still very present in China today and there are more than 18,000 blocked sites (gambling and pornographic sites certainly... but also less expected content such as the New York Times or Facebook).
If you want to surf freely on the Internet in China, we recommend that you use a VPN. ExpressVPN is the service we have been subscribing to for many years. Of course we are no longer in China, but we have continued to use it, especially to secure our connections when we are on public wifi. If you want to know more about our use and ExpressVPN you can take a look at our article.
Note: The VPN must be installed before entering China... VPN sites are blocked there, so it will be almost impossible for you to install one once there.
In all, we spent 9 weeks in China and here is a general outline of what we did:
Note: please excuse the sometimes unprecise placement of some regions... we did the best we could! The image is in french, but in short "jours" means days, thus this means we've spent 9 days in and around Beijing, 5 days around Xian, 11 days in the area of Chengdu, 19 days in western Sichuan, 10 days around Kunming, 9 days around Guilin and 4 days in Guanghzou.
As you can see, we have only traveled a tiny part of the country! But the good news is that we still have a lot to see for a future stay. If unlike us you don't have 2-3 months ahead of you, then we really recommend that you focus on a certain area for your stay. The distances are really important and even by taking national flights it seems unrealistic to do such an itinerary in only a couple weeks..
Regions like Yunnan and Sichuan combine very well for a tour and they are really great regions!
Beijing and Xi'an also combine very well because the 2 cities are connected by a night train. So in absolute terms it is possible to see Beijing, go up to the Great Wall and then go to Xi'an in 2 weeks.
If you would like more information about transportation in China (plane, bus and train) we invite you to read our very complete article on Transportation in China. We wrote it at the end of our stay and we all give our best advice.
For our part, we have organized 100% of our trip ourselves, but China is a country that can sometimes be a little "intimidating" if this is your first big trip. We know the Evaneos travel agency well and if you are looking for a trusted agency we really recommend them! They only work with local guides and guarantee that the price paid at home is the same as via the guide (but they carefully select the guides).
Overall we ate extremely well during our trip, although we will often admit that we did not understand 100% of what we had in the plate.
But so they really eat dog meat?
Yes, we can find some! But on the other hand, we are reassured, eh, the dog is a delicacy, so there is little chance that you will be served it without your knowledge because this meat is much more expensive than pork or beef!
Otherwise, in China it's a lot of vegetables, a lot of frying but especially parts of animals that we are not necessarily used to eating.
In China when they slice chicken they don't only take the white as they do in our country! The cutting is much more radical and the bones are part of the service. Nothing is lost and everything is eaten! :)
But the other most surprising point? it is SPICES!!!!! Mama mia, for some dishes (especially in Sichuan and Yunnan) we were in tears all along the meal! And little note: when it's spicy (very spicy) it tends to hurt twice... #JustSayin :)
Alternative to find accommodation easily: you can use the map below which compares hotels, hostels and apartments in one place. Simply zoom in on the city of your choice and use the filters to refine your search.
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A few days in Hong Kong on video with its impressive skyline, buildings and shopping centres.
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two months of travel in China, discovery of Chinese cuisine. You will discover this food under the frome of ten small commandments.
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After 2 months in China we reveal you our conclusions about the destination and budget / Our impressions but also the price of our trip to China.
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Our trip to China took us to the beautiful kharstic region of Guilin and more precisely to the village of Xingping. Magnificent landscapes and a region that will definitely have seduced us
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Visit of southern Yunnan and the rice terraces of Yuanyang... incredible landscapesyou should go visit as soon as possible (before it's too late)
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During the Chinese Golden Week we went to Yunnan province, a little with the idea of hiding from the crows... not our best idea so far :)
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Sport in China is often free and it happens everywhere... in parks, on the street, in front of a shop. We're showing you this in video
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China is a country in which it is easy to travel by local means of transport, here are our tips and tricks to make your travel easier.
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Two days of trekking in the tiger leaping gorge, north of Yunnan in China. Watch your eyes... the landscapes are breathtaking
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We tell you about our stay with the Tibetan nomads in western Sichuan. On the program, endless plains and breathtaking mountains
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We have been in China for 6 weeks now, and we are learning about chinese culture every day. A brief overview of the best of the worst of Chinese habits
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Our first contacts with the Sichuan region were made gently with a few days in Chengdu and then the visit of the giant Buddha of Leshan.
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Two days of hiking on Mount Emei, the birthplace of Buddhism in China. Be careful, it climbs sharply.... 2 days of walking for the summit!
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We take you to discover Mount Hua, one of China's 5 sacred mountains... Watch out, it's climbing fast!!!!! Escapade made from Xian
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Our second Chinese stopover took us to the city of Xi'an. The opportunity to discover a little better this multicultural city of China
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Taking the subway in Beijing is not exactly like we do here. There are a few things to know to get by in the Beijing basements.
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We spent a big week in Beijing. Enough time to give you our impressions and good plans for Chinese capital.
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During our stay in Beijing we took the opportunity to make a small 3-day excursion on the Great Wall of China, an unforgettable experience in Jinshangling
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Here are our first impressions of China. A confusing country, not necessarily easy to access but with so much to offer.
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If you go on a trip and open your laptop to give news to your beloved ones via Facebook or just to check your emails, you may have a dull surprise depending on the country you are in: CENSORSHIP. For example, China and its famous...