Prices below are in renminbi (¥, also written CNY or RMB). The dollar conversions here use ¥6.75 to the US dollar, and the euro sits near ¥7.8. Both move — the yuan strengthened about six per cent against the dollar over the past year — so treat every conversion as indicative and check a live rate before budgeting tightly. None of it is spendable until your payment apps work, which is the first of the four things to set up before flying.
What things actually cost#
Food#
The single best value in China. Eating well is genuinely cheap if you eat where Chinese people eat.
| Item | Typical price |
|---|---|
| Street breakfast (jianbing, baozi, soy milk) | ¥6–15 |
| Bowl of noodles at a local shop | ¥12–25 |
| Full meal for two at a neighbourhood restaurant | ¥60–120 |
| Hotpot for two, mid-range chain | ¥150–260 |
| Meal at a well-known restaurant (e.g. Peking duck) | ¥180–400 for two |
| Western-style café coffee | ¥25–40 |
| Local beer, restaurant | ¥8–20 |
| Craft beer, bar in Shanghai | ¥45–75 |
| Bottled water, convenience store | ¥2–4 |
A traveller eating Chinese food three times a day spends ¥80–150. The same traveller eating Western food in an expat district spends three times that. This is the largest single lever on your daily budget.
Accommodation#
| Type | Per night |
|---|---|
| Hostel dorm bed | ¥50–110 |
| Hostel private room | ¥140–250 |
| Chain business hotel (Hanting, Atour, JI) | ¥250–450 |
| Good 4★ or boutique | ¥450–800 |
| International 5★ (Beijing/Shanghai) | ¥900–2,000 |
| Ultra-luxury | ¥2,500+ |
Domestic chains such as Atour, Ji Hotel and Hanting are the value sweet spot: clean, modern, reliably around ¥300–450, and increasingly licensed to accept foreign passports. Note that some Chinese hotels will not register a foreign guest — filter carefully, especially in small cities, and know that the refusal is a practice rather than a licensing rule. See accommodation in China.
Transport#
High-speed rail second class, one way, indicative:
| Route | Duration | Fare |
|---|---|---|
| Beijing – Xi'an | 4.5–6 h | ¥515 |
| Xi'an – Chengdu | 3–4 h | ¥263 |
| Chengdu – Chongqing | 1.5 h | ¥154 |
| Shanghai – Beijing | 4.5–6 h | ¥553 |
| Shanghai – Hangzhou | 1 h | ¥73 |
| Shanghai – Suzhou | 25–30 min | ¥40 |
| Guangzhou – Guilin | 2.5–3 h | ¥215 |
| Beijing – Shanghai, business class | 4.5 h | ¥1,750 |
First class costs roughly 1.6× second class; business class roughly 3×. Overnight sleeper trains on non-high-speed lines are much cheaper — a hard sleeper from Xi'an to Chengdu is under ¥130 — and save a hotel night.
Within cities:
- Metro: ¥3–10 per ride, distance-based
- City bus: ¥1–2 — a government-set fare rather than a commercial one
- Taxi flag-fall: ¥10–14, then about ¥2.5/km — a 20-minute cross-town ride is typically ¥30–50
- DiDi: similar to taxi, often a little cheaper
- Airport express trains: ¥25–50
- Shared bike (Meituan/HelloBike via Alipay): ¥1.5–3 per 30 minutes
Entry tickets#
This is where budgets blow out. Chinese sights are expensive, especially scenic areas, which often charge separately for the park, the shuttle bus inside the park and the cable car.
| Sight | Price |
|---|---|
| Forbidden City | ¥60 peak / ¥40 low |
| Great Wall, Mutianyu (+ cable car) | ¥45 (+ ¥120 return cable car) |
| Terracotta Army | ¥120 |
| Temple of Heaven, through ticket | ¥34 |
| Chengdu Panda Base | ¥55 |
| Li River cruise, Guilin–Yangshuo | ¥215–450 |
| Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, 4-day pass | ¥228 (+ ¥72 Bailong lift) |
| Huangshan entry | ¥190 (+ ¥80–90 per cable car) |
| Potala Palace, Lhasa | ¥200 |
| Most municipal museums | Free (booking still required) |
A sightseeing-heavy day in a major city costs ¥100–200 in tickets alone. A scenic-area day can exceed ¥400 once cable cars are included.
If anyone in your party is over 65, that arithmetic can change: national law obliges parks, museums and scenic areas to admit older visitors free or at a reduced rate, and whether a foreign passport claims it turns on how the province worded its rule.
Older visitors are not the only named category. National pricing policy lists minors, students, disabled people, religious personnel and several military groups alongside them, and students in particular are usually in the half-price band rather than the free one — worth a line in the budget if you are travelling as one.
Three worked budgets#
10 days, backpacker — Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai#
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Hostel dorms, 9 nights | ¥720 |
| Food, ¥90/day | ¥900 |
| Intercity rail (2nd class × 2, one overnight) | ¥700 |
| City transport | ¥250 |
| Entry tickets | ¥700 |
| Data eSIM | ¥180 |
| Misc / buffer | ¥400 |
| Total (excl. international flights) | ≈ ¥3,850 (US$570) |
14 days, mid-range — Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu, Shanghai#
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| 3–4★ hotels, 13 nights at ¥420 | ¥5,460 |
| Food, ¥200/day | ¥2,800 |
| Intercity rail, 2nd class × 4 | ¥1,600 |
| City transport and taxis | ¥700 |
| Entry tickets and two guided days | ¥1,900 |
| eSIM, insurance, extras | ¥900 |
| Total (excl. international flights) | ≈ ¥13,360 (US$1,980) |
14 days, comfortable#
Same route in 4–5★ hotels (¥1,000/night), business-class rail, private guides in Beijing and Xi'an, and restaurant dining: ¥32,000–40,000 (US$4,740–5,930), excluding flights.
What surprises people#
Cheaper than expected: intercity rail, metro, street and neighbourhood food, beer in restaurants, laundry, domestic-brand hotels, taxis, SIM data.
More expensive than expected: entry tickets and cable cars, imported wine and Western food, international-brand coffee — though a domestic chain, or Yunnan beans by the bag is a different price altogether, and so is a Ningxia bottle instead of an imported one — guided tours in English, anything in Hong Kong or Macau, hotels during Golden Week (rates can triple).
Free: state museums, most city parks after a nominal fee, temple courtyards in some cities, the Bund, most historic streets, hot water everywhere.
How to spend less without travelling worse#
- Eat where the plastic stools are. A ¥20 noodle shop is frequently better than a ¥200 hotel restaurant. Over-ordering is the other budget leak: dishes are shared, so order by the table rather than by the head.
- Take second class on the train. The seats are comfortable, the difference is legroom, and you save 40% on your largest transport line.
- Use the overnight sleeper on longer non-high-speed routes: it replaces a hotel night and a travel day at once.
- Book domestic hotels on Trip.com or Meituan rather than international OTAs — the Chinese platforms list the domestic chains and price them lower.
- Avoid Golden Week and Chinese New Year. The same hotel room can cost three times more.
- Skip cable cars where a path exists. Walking up Huangshan takes 3 hours and saves ¥90.
- Refill your bottle. Boiling-water dispensers are in every station, train and hotel corridor.
- Buy a transport QR pass inside Alipay instead of queueing for single tickets — no fee, and often a small discount.
- Claim the VAT back on a serious purchase. Silk, tea, jade and electronics qualify, and the threshold fell to ¥200 in one shop in one day, which is far lower than most guidance still says. Ask for the form at the till; it cannot be issued later.
Money mechanics#
- Cash withdrawal: ATMs at Bank of China, ICBC and China Construction Bank accept foreign cards — though not every foreign debit card works at every machine. Expect a ¥100–500 per-transaction fee from your own bank plus a possible local fee. Withdraw larger amounts less often.
- Card payments: work at international hotels and upmarket restaurants only. Assume otherwise.
- Alipay/WeChat: bind a Visa or Mastercard before you leave home. Alipay currently charges around 3% on transactions above ¥200 and nothing below it, so smaller purchases are effectively free.
- Tipping: not customary and not expected. Do not tip in restaurants or taxis. Tipping a private guide or driver ¥50–100 a day is now common but still optional.
- Bargaining: expected in tourist markets and never in shops, chains or restaurants. Start at about 30% of the asking price in a market and walk away once. Where haggling is and is not expected is worth knowing before you try it in the wrong place.
For why things cost what they do — the scale of the rail network, the new districts, the cashless default — see the Chinese economy for visitors.
Frequently asked questions#
Is China expensive for tourists?#
Not particularly. Food, intercity transport and city transport are cheap by Western standards; hotels are comparable to Southern Europe; entry tickets are more expensive than most visitors expect. A mid-range traveller spends around ¥600–900 (US$89–133) a day excluding international flights. The longer answer breaks it down by what actually surprises people.
How much money should I bring to China per day?#
Budget ¥250–400 per day as a backpacker, ¥600–900 mid-range and ¥1,200+ for comfort. Bring only ¥500–1,000 in physical cash — everything else runs through Alipay or WeChat Pay. See how much cash to bring to China for where cash is still genuinely needed.
Are credit cards accepted in China?#
Only in international hotel chains, airports and upmarket restaurants. The practical answer is to link your Visa or Mastercard inside Alipay or WeChat Pay before you travel and pay by QR code like everyone else — see using a credit card in China, and whether foreigners can use Alipay for the registration steps.
How much is a high-speed train ticket in China?#
Roughly ¥0.45–0.55 per kilometre in second class. Beijing to Shanghai (1,300 km) is about ¥553; Shanghai to Hangzhou is ¥73. First class costs about 60% more, business class about three times more.
Do you tip in China?#
No. Tipping is not part of the culture in restaurants, cafés or taxis, and offering one can cause confusion. The exception is private tour guides and drivers, where ¥50–100 per day is now a common courtesy. Why a waiter may chase you down the street to return a tip covers hotels, spas and the awkward cases.