1. Arriving without Alipay or WeChat Pay set up#
The single most consequential mistake. China runs on QR payment, your Visa card works almost nowhere, and verification can require an SMS code to a number that works. Install both apps, verify with your passport and bind a card before you fly. See money and payments.
2. Not installing a VPN before arrival#
VPN provider websites are blocked from inside China and their apps are removed from the Chinese App Store. You cannot download one after you land. Install and test it at home, even if you plan to roam on a foreign SIM and probably will not need it.
3. Buying a Chinese SIM without understanding what it does#
A Chinese SIM puts you behind the national filter — no Google, no WhatsApp, no Instagram. A foreign SIM roaming into China, or a foreign travel eSIM, usually routes through your home network and reaches everything. Decide deliberately. See internet, VPN and apps.
4. Not booking timed-entry tickets#
The Forbidden City, the Shaanxi History Museum, the Shanghai Museum, the Mogao Caves and most national museums now use passport-linked timed entry with daily caps, released roughly seven days ahead. They sell out. Turning up at the gate frequently does not work, and there is no queue to join instead.
5. Choosing Badaling for the Great Wall#
Badaling is the closest, the best-served, and by a wide margin the most crowded. Mutianyu is the same distance, restored, forested, has a cable car and a toboggan, and lets you walk away from people within fifteen minutes. See our Great Wall guide.
6. Trying to see six cities in ten days#
China is the size of Europe. Every city change costs about half a usable day once you account for checkout, station transit, security and getting to the new hotel. Three nights per major city plus one travel day per change is the sustainable rate. See how many days you need.
7. Travelling during Golden Week or Chinese New Year#
1–7 October and the week of Chinese New Year are the two worst travel periods of the year: sights hit their daily caps within minutes, hotel prices double or triple, and rail sells out weeks ahead. If your dates are fixed, book everything the day booking opens.
8. Arriving at the train station 15 minutes before departure#
Chinese stations are airport-scale, with security screening, waiting halls and gates that close three to five minutes before departure. They close. Allow 40 minutes.
9. Assuming a green light means you can cross#
Right turns on red are legal, and electric scooters are silent, fast, unlit at night and ride on pavements and against traffic. Traffic is the most likely way a tourist gets hurt in China. Look both ways twice, including on one-way streets, and cross with a group of locals.
10. Following a friendly stranger to a tea ceremony#
The teahouse scam is the most common fraud against foreigners in China: charming English-speaking strangers near Tiananmen, Wangfujing, the Bund or Xi'an's Bell Tower, a "traditional tea ceremony", and a bill for several thousand yuan. Never let a stranger choose the venue. See health and safety.
11. Booking a hotel that cannot register foreigners#
Chinese hotels need a licence to register foreign guests, and many small ones do not have it. Book through Trip.com, Booking.com or Agoda, or stick to national chains such as Atour, Ji Hotel and Hanting. See accommodation in China.
12. Eating only at restaurants with English menus#
An English menu is a signal of tourist pricing far more often than of quality. The best food in any Chinese neighbourhood is in a shop with plastic stools, a photo menu and a queue. Point and say 这个 (zhè ge, "this one").
13. Not checking which airport, or which station#
Beijing has two airports 70 km apart. Shanghai has two, one of which is next to the main high-speed rail terminal and one of which is not. Most large cities have three or four railway stations, and "Guangzhou" and "Guangzhou South" are 20 km apart. Check the code on your ticket, not the city name.
14. Planning a museum day on a Monday#
The National Museum of China, the Shanghai Museum, the Suzhou Museum, the Forbidden City outside peak season, and most municipal museums all close on Mondays. It is the easiest wasted day in China.
15. Not carrying tissues#
Public toilets in China frequently have no paper and no soap, and squat toilets are the norm outside hotels and modern malls. A pack of tissues and a small bottle of hand sanitiser solve a problem you will otherwise encounter within 48 hours.
Frequently asked questions#
What is the biggest mistake tourists make in China?#
Arriving without Alipay or WeChat Pay set up and verified. China's retail economy runs on QR-code payment, foreign credit cards work almost nowhere, and verification can require an SMS code — so it has to be done before departure.
What should you not do in China as a tourist?#
Do not follow strangers to a tea ceremony or bar they suggest, do not photograph security infrastructure or checkpoints, do not assume a green pedestrian light means the crossing is clear, and do not press local people on political subjects — the consequences fall on them, not on you.
Do I need to book Chinese museums in advance?#
Yes, for the major ones. The Forbidden City, the Shanghai Museum, the Shaanxi History Museum, the National Museum of China and the Mogao Caves all use passport-linked timed entry released about seven days ahead, and they sell out. Most state museums are free but still require booking.
Is Badaling or Mutianyu better?#
Mutianyu, for almost everyone. Both are about 70 km from central Beijing, but Mutianyu is restored, forested, has a cable car and toboggan, and is far less crowded. Badaling is the most visited and the least rewarding section of the Wall.
How early should I get to a Chinese train station?#
Forty minutes. Stations are airport-sized with security screening, and boarding gates close three to five minutes before departure. Chinese trains leave exactly on time and will not wait.