5 Mistakes Travelers Make Planning a Trip to China

After 13 years in China, I've seen the same five mistakes repeat again and again — among experienced travelers just as much as among first-timers.

They don't ruin a trip entirely. But each one can take a holiday you planned for months and turn it into a week of needless frustration. The good news: once you know about them in advance, every one of them is easy to avoid.

Here they are, in the order that costs people the most money and nerves.

Mistake 1: Trying to see all of China in one trip

The classic first-timer opens a map, sees Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai, Guilin and Chengdu, and decides: "I'll do them all in 12 days."

Stop right there. China isn't a country — it's a continent. The distance from Beijing to Shanghai alone is greater than the distance between entire countries in Europe. Just the internal flights and trains will swallow three or four days of your trip, and you'll spend your holiday in airport halls and train stations instead of in China itself.

Better to see three places in depth than ten through the window of a high-speed train.

What to do instead: Pick one region, two at most, and go deep. Beijing and its surroundings. Or Yunnan province. Or the Classic Triangle alone (Beijing–Xi'an–Shanghai). China isn't going anywhere — you can always come back for a different region next time.

Mistake 2: Landing without a VPN and without a digital wallet

This is the most painful mistake I see, because you can't fix it after you land.

In China, Google, WhatsApp, Instagram, Gmail and Facebook are blocked behind the digital "Great Firewall". Without a VPN you installed in advance — you're cut off from everything you know. And the cruel catch: you can't download a VPN inside China, because the apps that offer it are blocked too. You have to install and set everything up before you board the plane.

Then there are payments. China has all but abandoned cash, and doesn't always accept foreign credit cards. Everything goes through WeChat Pay or Alipay. Without setting them up in advance and linking a card — you could end up standing at a convenience-store counter, thirsty, with no way to pay for a bottle of water.

Mistake 3: Assuming English will be enough

In the main tourist areas of Beijing and Shanghai you'll find some English. But one step to the side — in a market, a taxi, a local restaurant, a small train station — you're on your own. Most Chinese people don't speak a word of English, and that's entirely fair from their point of view. It's their country.

The mistake is arriving without a translation tool, then getting stuck in front of a menu or a sign you can't read. And here it connects to the previous mistake — Google Translate won't work without a VPN.

What to do: Download a translation app in advance that works offline, or one that operates locally in China. The image-translation feature (pointing your camera at menus and signs) is real magic in China and will solve 80% of your situations. And learn three or four words of Chinese — it opens doors and hearts in a way that will surprise you.

Mistake 4: Relying on Booking.com and Google to plan everything

At home you plan everything on Booking, TripAdvisor and Google Maps, and it works great. In China? Google Maps is inaccurate and doesn't work well without a VPN, Booking shows only a small fraction of the hotels that exist, and reviews in English are sparse to nonexistent.

The real system in China is completely different — local platforms, local apps, and information that simply doesn't reach the West. When you plan only on the basis of Western tools, you see maybe 10% of the picture — and often miss exactly the best 90%.

What to do: Use platforms that are translated into English and do work in China (such as Trip.com). And if it's your first trip — consult someone who knows the ground from the inside and knows what doesn't show up on Google. The best recommendations will never surface in an ordinary search.

Mistake 5: Flying at the worst possible time without knowing it

There are weeks in China when hundreds of millions of people go on holiday at exactly the same time. It's called "Golden Week" — in early October, and during Chinese New Year (usually between late January and February). During these periods sites are packed, prices spike, trains are booked out months ahead, and the Great Wall looks like a central station at rush hour.

Someone who doesn't know about this and plans a trip for exactly then — because "it fit the calendar" — gets China in its least pleasant version, and pays more for it too.

What to do: Check the Chinese holiday calendar before you lock in dates. Aim for spring (April–May) or autumn (September, just before Golden Week) — perfect weather, landscapes at their peak, and fewer crowds.

The thread connecting all five

If you notice, all five mistakes stem from the same single principle: China doesn't work the way you're used to. What succeeds in every other destination in the world — Western apps, English, improvising on the spot, "we'll figure it out there" — simply breaks in China.

The good news: once you know that in advance, every one of the mistakes is easy to avoid. Most of the work is proper preparation before you board the plane — not resourcefulness on the ground.

In the coming posts I'll go deep into each of the topics: the full digital prep, how to choose the right region for you, and the precise timing. Step by step.