China, plainly
No affiliate links, no SEO fluff, no pretending everything is easy. These are the answers we give everyone who writes to us — the awkward parts included.
Alipay + WeChat Pay with your Visa/Mastercard, the limits that matter, the cash buffer, and the three classic failure modes.
10 min read → Updated Aug 2026What’s restricted, what works, and the two clean solutions (roaming + travel eSIM) — plus honest words on VPNs.
8 min read →What’s genuinely safer than Europe, the real risks (traffic, scripted scams, systems), and how to travel so the question never comes up.
9 min read → Our protocols, publishedLost passport, hospital, missed train, closed attraction, payment failure — our written playbook for each, before you ever ask.
Read the protocols → The invisible workAdapters, the 3C power-bank rule, hotel acceptance letters, allergy cards in Chinese, station protocol — the hundred small things decided before you land.
See the arrival stack →How many cities, which route for your days and season, our five pacing rules, and a realistic 14-day sketch.
11 min read → Aug 2026The civilisation Japan learned from — an honest comparison: where each country wins, and how to travel China the way Japan taught you.
8 min read → Real numbersPublished prices, what’s in and out of the land price, why 4 travellers pay less than 2, and the Quote Test for any operator.
8 min read →Still unsure?
Book a 30-minute sanity call or just write to us. Visa rules for your passport, whether this trip is right for you at all — we answer honestly, including “don’t book with us if…”.