China

Reasons to go:

1. Beijing

Museums:

National Museum of China - a gigantic museum. It’s best to get the earliest ticket, bring a lunchbox, and expect to spend the whole day there. Book the free tickets on their website, not WeChat. Once you book, your passport becomes your ticket. The security checks to get into the museum are insane, arriving 2 hours before your tickets expire is a good idea, but even that might not be sufficient. Check your ticket for information on how to enter, I arrived at Tiananmen East station and followed signs from there. My favourite galleries were the two Discoveries from the Tombs, Revolutionary Artifacts and Five-year Plan; but there is so much more. You’ll have to be picky, as you won’t see everything. The most exciting gallery by far is the Shu Civilization, but you might want to skip it if you are going to Sanxingdui Museum near Chengdu (which you totally should). At the end of your visit (since you endured so many security checks already), make sure to exit through the door (39.903707, 116.394352) opening onto Tiananmen Square. Depending on the time of the year, you might want to wait for the flag-lowering ceremony.
★ Beijing Ancient Observatory (39.90618, 116.428352). I purchased the ticket on-site. Even if you don’t have much time, it is very much worth it to pop in and head straight upstairs to see the collection of beautiful astronomical instruments on the rooftop.
China Railway Museum. I purchased the ticket on-site (39.994207, 116.509699). Apart from the outdoor collection, there is the main museum (39.996605, 116.509666) and the highspeed train museum (39.997043, 116.510767). I visited on Saturday morning and the atmosphere inside was great - super lively, yet not very busy. After the museum, I walked to Caochangdi Village - a fun area to explore. This intersection (39.997961, 116.498333) is a good place to aim for. Twig Coffee Zhijian (39.997286, 116.499967) was closed when I visited. This is the 335 Art District, so there is definitely more to discover, like Three Shadows Photography Art Centre.
National Art Museum of China (39.923844, 116.40276). Tickets on WeChat. I enjoyed art galleries in Shanghai much more than this one. But it is mostly temporary exhibitions, so do check what’s on.
On my wishlist: China Aviation Museum (40.182676, 116.358607) - it was closed for renovation, Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall (tickets through their WeChat channel), The Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing Bell and Drum Towers, The Geological Museum of China.

Mostly-outdoor stuff:

Forbidden City. In China it is called The Palace Museum. Tickets on WeChat, get Treasure Gallery and Clock Museum extensions (these additional tickets seem to work the whole day, not just the entry hours shown on your ticket). These optional extensions sell out faster than general tickets, so book immediately once the tickets are released. Once you book, your passport becomes your ticket. Meridian Gate (39.911951, 116.390683) is the only entrance. The security checks to get in are insane, arriving 2 hours before your tickets expire is a good idea, but even that might not be sufficient. I arrived at Tiananmen West station, took exit B, queued for a security check at (39.907142, 116.385698), had to walk through (39.913373, 116.385659) and then queue at the entrance. There is an alternative route from Tiananmen East station. If you are in a rush, taking a bus (number 5?) to this bus stop (39.913054, 116.385222) might be faster, as you’ll skip the security checks around the metro stations. Treasure Gallery (additional ticket) is a large area; entrance at (39.917193, 116.393481) and exit at (39.920657, 116.39377). It is a good place to start your exploration of Forbidden City. Clock Museum (39.917437, 116.392879) is one big room. Also don’t miss Opera House, Medicine museum (39.919357, 116.39239), this out-of-character building (39.91887, 116.392404) and climbing up onto Meridian Gate (39.912576, 116.390202). See recommended routes and the list of pavilions on their website. You can choose between two exits - north (39.920926, 116.390575) or east (39.913705, 116.395203). If you can’t get tickets for the Forbidden City, visit Imperial Ancestral Temple instead.
★ 798 Art Zone and 751 Art Zone - a large area that is super fun to explore. An easy walk from Gaojiayuan station. My favourite bits were North Korea Wanshoutai Creative Agency Art Gallery (39.985778, 116.48965), Pifo Gallery (39.985177, 116.491994), viewpoint of the gas works from the elevated walkway (39.981722, 116.493243), the graffiti wall (39.983907, 116.487397), the cube square (39.985858, 116.489099). Co-located Beijing Bakeshop and Voyage Coffee (39.98142, 116.489968) are a great spot for re-fuelling. I was not sure about opening hours of the galleries, I visited on Saturday early afternoon and that seemed like a great time.
Temple of Heaven. Tickets on WeChat, get the ticket that includes the temples, not just the park. East Gate of Temple of Heaven station seems to be the most popular way to get here; I regretted queuing at what seemed to be the most crowded gate (39.8825, 116.413605). Once you are inside the park, there is a stark contrast between streams of tourists eager to see the attractions and calm areas of the park where the locals stroll. First, as a tourist, head to the ticket check (39.88106, 116.406705) for Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests - that’s the best bit, and the earlier you get here the less time you’ll spend queuing. Then you could go to the ticket check (39.876529, 116.406723) for Circular Mound Altar, I found it nice but skippable. There are more tourist attractions to explore, but everything gets very busy. Then, as a local, stroll past the outdoor gym (39.883107, 116.410985) and try to find the marriage market (I didn’t see it, despite it being a Sunday morning).
Jingshan Park and Beihai Park. Both have inexpensive tickets; I purchase them on-site. I took the following route: Jingshan Park ticket office (39.922027, 116.390627), best viewpoint of the Forbidden City (39.923527, 116.390485), exit through (39.924333, 116.387784), Beihai Park ticket office (39.92456, 116.384927), lap around the Temple of Eternal Peace (39.923594, 116.382756), Nine Dragon Screen (39.930473, 116.381309) - this one is much better than a similar one inside the Forbidden City Treasure Gallery (39.917101, 116.394189), exit through (39.931828, 116.385649). Beihai Park is open until late; I visited after dark when temples were closed, but it was very peaceful and I could marvel at the Nine Dragon Screen in solitude. From here you could continue to Houhai Lake area, but I found it too touristy and too brightly lit up.
Lama Temple - book tickets in advance, entrance at (39.945726, 116.410459). I was put off by the long queues, and visited nearby Confucius Temple and The Imperial College Museum instead. Tickets on WeChat, entrance at (39.944123, 116.408348), and don’t miss the Imperial College (39.945624, 116.406964). I saw many big tortoise statues and a whole (indoor) forest of stelae. But several areas felt dusty and semi-abandoned, making me think that I should have visited Lama Temple instead.
On my architecture wishlist: Central Park Plaza by MAD Architecture (including Phoenix International Media Center), CCTV Headquarters (Central Chinese Television HQ), Beijing National Stadium by Ai Weiwei, Linked Hybrid by Steven Holl, Galaxy SOHO by Zaha Hadid, National Performing Arts Centre by Paul Andreu.

Hutongs:

Hutongs south of the Forbidden City. Walking east from (39.895192, 116.395147), I enjoyed this street (39.895874, 116.399499) lined with newly built modern hutongs. From there it is not far at all until old narrow lanes like this one (39.896489, 116.40214) and this one (39.897757, 116.402496) connected via this super narrow passage (39.8975, 116.402529). This looked like a lane (39.889173, 116.407012) leading to another interesting area, but by then I ran out of time. Walking west from (39.892635, 116.391995), I followed this old narrow lane (39.892085, 116.390223) to here (39.891953, 116.386311), through this super narrow passage (39.893864, 116.385958) and onto this charming street (39.894451, 116.386877). I explored the area east from East Qianmen Road (39.895192, 116.395147) during the day and the area west from Qianmen Historic Street (39.892635, 116.391995) late in the evening - and it seemed like that was perfect timing. The area between East Qianmen Road and Qianmen Historic Street felt like an uninteresting tourist trap both during the day and in the evening.
Hutongs north of the Forbidden City. The whole area between the Lama Temple (39.945726, 116.410459) and the north gate of the Beihai Park (39.931828, 116.385649) is an interesting maze of narrow lanes. Wudaoying hutong (39.946994, 116.405395) and this narrow lane (39.943326, 116.404972) are charming. Nanluoguxiang (39.935688, 116.396898) is the most famous bit, and I totally missed it.

★ Mutianyu Great Wall Scenic Area near Beijing:

Book tickets on their website. I paid for “Ticket, Shuttle Bus and Cable Car Round-trip” (not Chair Lift), and that turned out to be the best choice.
I had no problem getting a Didi from/to Beijing. Drop off and pick up at (40.415531, 116.539087). When you arrive, there are 4 toilets between the drop off point and the shuttle bus - no need to join the longest queue for the most popular toilet.
There will be 3 passport/ticket checks - at the shuttle bus boarding (40.418258, 116.541477), at the entrance (40.433234, 116.558441) and at the cable car boarding (40.433879, 116.558673).
The last toilet (40.439798, 116.559078) is at the top station of the cable car. There are security cameras and guards all along the wall, so no matter how adventurous you are, there will be no more chances until you get back to this toilet.
From here, head left, following signs for “Hero Slope 15 to 20”. You can walk to Tower 23 (40.450559, 116.549262), but no further - there is a wall across the wall, barbed wire and guards. The hike to Tower 23 and back is 3.5km with 300m total ascent.
My favourite photo spot was at (40.444449, 116.555793), standing on the side of the wall next to the up-and-down stairs, with the background towards the cable car.
See Rachel’s blog for information on other visitable stretches of the Great Wall.

Beijing notes:

Vegetarian food: ★ Vege-Tiger Vegan Buffet (39.898351, 116.386936) was my favorite restaurant in the whole of China, and I don’t like buffets. The ratio of food quality to price is phenomenal, so be warned - once you try it, you are very unlikely to visit any other restaurants in Beijing. I also liked Liansu World (39.938768, 116.392821) and Gongdelin Vegetarian Restaurant (39.899172, 116.405277), and Yeye Puti might be good.
April Gourmet (39.895895, 116.45232) is an international supermarket and they seem to stock absolutely everything. It is Green Leaf Supermarket on Amap. It was a lifesaver for me.
Coffee places on my to-try list: Muse Coffee, CoffeeSpot (Beijing West Road 838 Long No.2 Unit Shop), Right Here Right Now Lai Helainao Coffee Shop, Xixing Liveliness Coffee shop (Peiwen Apartment Shop), Mer Coffee.
Le Fromager de Pékin - this cheese shop is on my wishlist.
Nostalgia Hotel Beijing Yonghe Lama Temple (39.942656, 116.405476) is a great hotel in an atmospheric hutong area. On Booking.com or find them by their ID y20011130yyy on WeChat. Nearby there is SOE Coffee (39.946923, 116.409113) - they are open early even on weekends and they don’t charge extra if you ask for “double shot extra espresso” flat white, Yebozhai Palace Vegetarian (39.946955, 116.407568) - an ok vegetarian restaurant, and a street with several grocery shops if you walk south from Andingmen station.
If you need luggage storage at Beijing West Railway station and all the lockers are taken: Follow signs for “Bus (North)” and “Exit 2”. When you see “Buses North” station, enter 食惠八方 restaurant. Inside the restaurant, immediately left from the entrance, there is a 24h luggage storage service. Yes, really. About 2 USD per hour per bag.

2. Shanghai

Museums:

★ Shanghai Museum East (31.222116, 121.534357) - great collection in an architecturally exciting building. Bronzes was my favourite gallery. The museum is huge, consider visiting twice. Foreigners can visit any time (no tickets, no pre-booking), just show your passport. Enter through B1 East Gate.
Shanghai Museum (31.22996, 121.471216) - this is the old location, best parts of the collection have been moved to Shanghai Museum East. When I visited there were collections of masks, furniture and textiles. Foreigners can visit any time (no tickets, no pre-booking), just show your passport. I would have enjoyed a second visit to Shanghai Museum East more than I enjoyed this.
On my wishlist: Aurora Art Museum, Shanghai Maglev Transportation Science and Technology Museum at Longyang Road station, Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall, Shanghai Maritime Museum (stunning architecture, but a long way to get there).

Art galleries:

Long Museum (31.185915, 121.460215) - an exciting huge gallery in an architecturally exciting building, and there is a second building too. It is expensive, so check their website for current exhibitions before committing. I purchased the ticket on-site; a single ticket gives access to all exhibitions.
China Art Museum (31.185238, 121.489268) - temporary exhibitions in an architecturally memorable building. There was a feeling of decline when I visited, but I still found several of the exhibitions very enjoyable. It may look shut, but keep walking around the fence and you’ll find an entrance. No tickets, free to enter.
Rockbund Art Museum (31.243174, 121.483021) - contemporary art exhibitions. I didn’t like the art I saw, but it was still enjoyable to explore the building and people watch. Free, on weekends you need to pre-book a free ticket on WeChat.
Power Station of Art (31.203059, 121.493896) - the building doesn’t look interesting from the outside, the beautiful pictures you see online are taken from the rooftop. I didn’t buy the ticket to enter. It is located in a new ex-industrial neighbourhood, which is interesting to explore.
On my wishlist: Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Center, Pudong Art Museum.

Daytime walks:

★ M50 art district - with many art galleries (mostly free), this area is much fun to explore. Island6 (31.25007, 121.444786) was my favourite gallery.
★ Fazangjiang Temple (31.219816, 121.477) - a big beautiful temple frequented by locals. Free, no tourists in sight. Find the staircase that leads up to the courtyard with big cauldrons where locals burn things for luck.
People’s Park is nice. If you visit on a weekend morning, you might find a marriage market (31.234182, 121.468167); it wasn’t there on a workday when I visited.

Architecture:

★ 1933 Old Millfun (31.256546, 121.487751) - a recently renovated slaughterhouse, now home to offices, cafes and shops. It was probably more fun to explore before the renovation, but it is still an architecturally very exciting building.
The area around Yuanmingyuan Road: buildings around (31.244829, 121.483565), Shanghai Trust Building (31.242809, 121.48192), Post Museum Building (31.246406, 121.480754), etc.
Along this road (31.237749, 121.507914) the skyscrapers finish abruptly and give way to residential lowrises. It is a thrilling contrast.
Shanghai Natural History Museum (31.236813, 121.45784) - beautiful modern building in a nice park.
Zhangyuan (31.229609, 121.455491) - a large shikumen compound renovated into boutique stores, still architecturally interesting. Xintiandi is another one, I’ve not been.
Cathay Theatre (31.22012, 121.456794) - an iconic Art Deco building.
Some interesting buildings around (31.213743, 121.471182).
On my wishlist: Shanghai Tower (observation deck on the 121st floor and the tuned mass damper), walking amidst skyscrapers in Lujiazui area (Oriental Pearl TV Tower, Jin Mao Tower, Shanghai World Financial Center, etc).

Evening walks:

The Bund. It is probably great during the day, but at night it was extra magical. A great view of architectural gems (31.245108, 121.485185) and the classic view (31.242257, 121.486462) of the river lined with heritage buildings on one side and new buildings on the other. Toilets at (31.233598, 121.489372).
Yuyuan Old Street. Super touristy area, but the buildings are truly beautiful and wonderfully lit up in the evenings (until 22:00) and decorated with lanterns. A beautiful entrance (31.229828, 121.486614), the main square (31.229132, 121.486795), Nine Zigzag bridge (31.22866, 121.487297), beautiful temples (closed in the evening) around (31.227397, 121.488669) and (31.228772, 121.486215). I believe visiting this area in the evening is much better than paying for the adjacent Yu Garden during the day. Fosun Foundation building (31.228866, 121.493699) nearby is interesting, before 20:00 you might catch it moving.
Tianzifang (31.210839, 121.463414) - super touristy area of shikumen. During the day it had a strong tourist trap vibe, but might be atmospheric for an evening stroll.

Coffee:

Lucky Draw (31.228282, 121.440497) - by far the most exciting coffee place in Shanghai. I’m still fantasising about the coffee beans I tried there.
CoffeeSpot (31.234045, 121.454713) - a small spot with outdoor seating and interesting coffee beans.
Always Coffee Roaster (31.237447, 121.477142) - great selection of beans, but I didn’t enjoy the cafe itself. Toilets in the adjacent commercial building (31.237463, 121.47759).
Blacksheep espresso (31.210502, 121.462641) - nice coffee. They have another location too.
On my to-try list: Captain George Flavor Museum - I believe it is really good, Lovely Thoughts (Fanghua Debi Sport Loft Shop) - might be by the same people as Lucky Draw, Parking Coffee (Gascoigne Apartments Shop), Rumors Coffee Roastery (Xingguo Road Branch), Cafe del Volcan.

Vegetarian restaurants:

Lotus Vegan (31.228272, 121.477782) - great food. On the second floor, surrounded by dark kitchens, but it is a very nice place once you find it.
Xiang Chun Gu Shi (31.225757, 121.440667) on the 3rd floor - great food. On the ground floor of the same building there is Jing’an Vegetarian Noodles Yuansu Jing’an that opens earlier. And there might be more vegetarian places in the area since Jingan Temple generates demand.
On my to-try list: Chunfeng Songyuelou (31.228266, 121.486596) and Jujube Tree (31.231703, 121.452274).
Masala Art (31.227421, 121.461885) - good Indian food with vegetarian options.
Bella Napoli (31.231969, 121.452127) - good Italian food with vegetarian options.

Shanghai notes:

Arriving at Shanghai airport (PVG) was smooth. I bought a sim card there. Maglev train to Longyang Road station is super fast, and it takes contactless bank card payments (in case you haven’t figured out mobile payments yet).
Campanile Shanghai Huaihai (31.22068, 121.458626) is a great hotel in a wonderful neighbourhood, which also happens to be a very convenient location. On Booking.com or 13482056268 on WeChat.
Groceries: City Super has several locations; I visited the one (31.217684, 121.452961) at South Shaanxi Road station. Drunk baker (31.209146, 121.462966) has good baguettes.

3. Chongqing

Iconic Chongqing sights:

★ Kuixing Building and Hongya Dong. I started from Cathay Arts Centre (29.563492, 106.574165) - it’s an architecturally exciting building and you’ll want to walk all the way around it. From the other side (29.561303, 106.571904) there is a park with interesting sculptures. Use the metro underpass to get to (29.562564, 106.570145) and walk into Datang Plaza (29.563224, 106.569917). The best view of the Kuixing Building is from this bridge (29.563884, 106.569971). There is also a great view (29.564269, 106.569952) of the river. Take the elevator down to the ground floor and walk along the river to (29.564698, 106.572849) where there is a toilet and a staircase up into Hongya Dong. You’ll pass many good viewpoints before you reach Daijia alley and Totomato coffee (29.564276, 106.57292) which has great coffee. Keep walking through Hongya Dong to reach (29.563606, 106.573456) where you started this walk. You can start anywhere on this loop, but do follow this direction, don’t try it in reverse.
★ Linhua Road Residential Buildings - built this way to circumvent the “buildings that have more than 10 floors must have an elevator” rule. From here (29.560636, 106.556985) take the stairs down (29.560429, 106.556933) and continue until you reach the playground on the lowest level (29.560606, 106.556487). There were several other tourists there when I visited; I couldn’t decide if it made me more or less guilty about taking photos of these unique residential buildings. When you are done, your nearest metro entrance is at (29.559477, 106.556848). From here it is a short ride to Crown Escalator.
Liziba station - where a train goes through a building. Take Exit 1 of the station for the famous viewpoint (29.556673, 106.53441) and Exit 2 for this much less crowded viewpoint (29.555236, 106.533702). Both have advantages and getting from one to another is fun too, so do visit both of them. From Liziba station you can continue to explore Testbed 2 creative area (29.553619, 106.536523) and/or Eling Park. I found Testbed 2 nice but skippable; it might be more fun in the evening than during the day, or maybe not.
Kaixuan Road Elevator (29.554731, 106.573128). I believe there is a small fee. I missed the opening hours and had to take the stairs instead, which was also really interesting. So I recommend you take both the elevator and the stairs.
Crown Escalator (29.555181, 106.545546). Once you arrive at Lianglukou station, take Exit 3. Before taking the Crown Escalator (for a small fee), there are two more things not to be missed: See the most impressive traffic junction from (29.554462, 106.546401). Take the stairs down into an atmospheric market with no tourist insight.
On my wishlist: Baixiang Building (29.558539, 106.581346) and the cable car viewpoint (29.558707, 106.581716).

Architecture:

Great Hall of the People. See this beautifully imposing building from the front (29.564579, 106.549016), then walk to this viewpoint (29.563817, 106.550374) for a close up.
Raffles City Chongqing. From Chaotianmen station walk to this viewpoint (29.568797, 106.584247) high above Chaotianmen Square. I’ve read that the best view is from (29.564941, 106.584151) where you can see the juxtaposition of traditional life of Chaodong Road and the Raffles City in the background; still on my wishlist.
Luohan Temple (29.562421, 106.577862). The best view of the temple is from Wadingding cafe (29.56291, 106.577492) on the 5th floor of S95 Chaociyuan Center. After having a drink there you can decide if you want to visit the temple.
Shibati and Mountain City Alley/Shancheng Lane. This is a walk between Jiaochangkou station and Qixinggang station. I started from this entrance (29.555629, 106.569792). Coffee Ladder (29.554516, 106.569474) has great coffee and great views. Then I walked through here (29.553456, 106.56859) and here (29.552868, 106.56533) to reach this staircase (29.552603, 106.564618). Walk past Jintangmen gate (29.553976, 106.561607) and follow “Ring Wall Footpath” orange arrows embedded in the pavement. This exit (29.556587, 106.558777) brings you close to a metro station and to Linhua Road Residential Buildings.

Evening walks:

★ Saturday evening drone show. Usually at 21:00 May to September and at 20:30 the rest of the year; you might find up-to-date information here. If you’ve not seen a drone show before, don’t google it, don’t spoil the surprise. While the drone show is visible from many places, Danzishi Square (29.578905, 106.583732) is definitively the best place to watch it, because it has magnificent views of Chongqing architecture and because this is the closest you can get to drone take off and landing site (29.578472, 106.584045). Seeing the drones take off and land is very memorable. The police block the river promenade around (29.578472, 106.584045) where the drones take off, so best to approach from Chaotianmen Bridge direction (29.580279, 106.581544) not Dongshuimen Bridge direction. The fastest way to and from Danzishi Square might be walking from/to Danzishi station, as both Didi waiting times and traffic jams are likely to be very long. It is a nice walk between (29.580279, 106.581544) and (29.583373, 106.585617) - fancy shops and restaurants that blend traditional and modern architectural styles. Tourist boats circled around the area before the drone show and left before it started, I hope they were not expecting to see a drone show from a boat.
You’ll get great evening views from many places along the river - a viewpoint above Chaotianmen Square (29.568797, 106.584247), Danzishi Square (29.578905, 106.583732), Chongqing Grand Theatre (29.572734, 106.577475), Hongya Dong (29.564698, 106.572849).
Jiaochangkou Night Market between (29.556725, 106.572345) and (29.559591, 106.574293) is a nice place for a stroll. Don’t miss the neon lights of Deyi World Unit B (29.556866, 106.57137) and the Liberation Monument (29.560102, 106.573393).

On my wishlist:

Take a Didi to Shichuan station (29.762306, 106.829761), aiming to arrive just before 6:00am. Then take the first Line 4 train back into Chongqing with all the commuting farmers. Just do it. If you need more convincing, see some brilliant writing here or (if you must) photos here.
Chongqing Grand Theatre (29.572734, 106.577475) and the surrounding area.
Walking Huangjueping Graffiti Art Street starting from Huangjueping station (29.498658, 106.533731).
Gangfeng Village somewhere around (29.572394, 106.540333), if it is still there.
The area across the Dongshuimen Bridge - Longmenhao Old Street (29.559052, 106.591155) and XiaHao Lane, this viewpoint (29.547944, 106.598882) and/or this one (29.544747, 106.598359).
Crossing Qiansimen Bridge and/or Dongshuimen Bridge on foot.
Chongqing Planning Exhibition Gallery (29.578653, 106.585117).
Cloud Eye Observation Deck on the 67th floor is probably cool, but spending mornings and evenings on the 30th floor rooftop of Yunqi River View Terrace Hotel was enough for me.

★ 816 Nuclear Military Plant near Chongqing:

Look for 重庆八一六景区 on WeChat to book tickets. You’ll need your QR tickets, your passport won’t be enough. You can also buy the tickets on-site, but there might be a huge queue.
Try to arrive around the opening time, the tour is much more impressive when it is not crowded.
I had no problem getting a Didi from/to Chongqing. You’ll be dropped off at the visitor center (29.549253, 107.497272) with toilets and the ticket office (which you don’t need if you have QR tickets already). Join the queue for the next shuttle bus that will take you to the entrance (29.556729, 107.507432). Once you are in the shuttle bus you’ve automatically joined a tour, from this point onwards you don’t need to do anything, just stay with your group. All admission tickets include both the shuttle bus and the mandatory 2 hour tour, there are no other options.
Tours are in Chinese only, but that does not detract from the experience. Read the Wikipedia page before you go, but try to avoid photos and videos to not spoil the surprise.

Chongqing notes:

If you’ve not seen a drone show before, this will be the most impressive thing you’ll see in Chongqing. So arrange to be in Chongqing on Saturday evening.
If you don’t yet know why you should go to Chongqing - you absolutely must, and the less you know the better (this article is totally enough). If I would have arrived in Chongqing without suspecting anything, seeing places like Kuixing Building would have blown my mind. But I did a lot of research to make sure I make the most of my time in Chongqing, and as a result China’s most surprising city felt kind of unsurprising. If you are planning to go because of everything you’ve seen online - tame your expectations, you’ve seen all the best bits already, there will be no more surprises. Still, only in Chongqing you can join farmers for their 6:00am commute to the city on a brand new metro line, then tour an underground nuclear weapons production facility (it was never used) and finish the day with a spectacular drone show.
The city center is full of traffic bottlenecks, often Didi is the slowest way to get anywhere.
If you are arriving in Chongqing by train, aim for a ticket to Shapingba Railway Station (29.556803, 106.456232) which is on a metro line that goes straight into the heart of the city.
Yunqi River View Terrace Hotel (29.561, 106.57833) is a great hotel with a 30th floor rooftop terrace with great views. It is also super conveniently located just across the road from Exit 5B (29.561068, 106.578969) of Xiaoshizi station. On Booking.com or 18883008366 on WeChat.

4. Xi’an

★ Shaanxi History Museum (34.224938, 108.950597). Halls 1, 2 and 3 were my favourite; 6 and 7 were under renovation. The ticket check is at the entrance to the courtyard, not the museum building, so bring a lunchbox for a lovely picnic in the courtyard. This is an outstanding museum and tickets are free, so they are sell out in minutes. See on WeChat how many days in advance they become available, create an itinerary in the WeChat Mini Program (enter date, time and passport numbers) on the morning of the booking day (it doesn’t matter when exactly you do it), then press “book” at precisely 17:00 when the tickets are released. If you can’t get tickets, explore Xi’an Museum instead.
Xi’an Muslim Quarter - a lovely place for an evening stroll. From (34.264733, 108.939005) lively streets stretch in all directions. Go beyond the touristy bits and explore the narrow dimly lit alleys. Lit up Drum Tower (34.261751, 108.938965) and Bell Tower (34.261012, 108.942343) are nice.
The Great Mosque of Xi’an (34.263545, 108.937763) - I was excited to explore a Chinese mosque, but it did have a dusty feeling of decline. Tickets on-site (QR payments, no need for cash). Only Muslims can enter the prayer hall (you can see it through the doorway), so no need to bring a head scarf for women.
On my wishlist: Ancient City Wall (as a 14km morning run, or an evening stroll starting from the South Gate that is open till late), Xi’an Beilin (Stele Forest) museum (34.255174, 108.948118), Giant Wild Goose Pagoda light show, Small Wild Goose Pagoda, Wanshou Road Traditional Chinese Medicine Market around (34.283515, 109.008658), Shuyuanmen (the calligraphy street).

★ Emperor Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum Site Museum (The Terracotta Army) near Xi’an:

Book tickets on WeChat. Your passport becomes your ticket. I had no problem getting a Didi from/to Xi’an.
Entrance at (34.389515, 109.278353). First go to Pit 1 (34.384945, 109.274224) - the most impressive and hence the busiest. As you enter, take the route to the left to see the “hospital” (34.384686, 109.272392). Then see Pit 2, Pit 3 and the museum.
Exit through (34.384774, 109.279133), ignore the taxi offers and board the free shuttle bus (34.391076, 109.279592) instead. It will take you to the entrance of the second part (34.38645, 109.259636).
From here there are two locations to explore: around (34.379359, 109.25086) there is Bronze Chariot and Horse Museum and Pit K0006; around (34.378256, 109.256967) there is Pit K9901 and Stone Armours Pit (was under renovation).
Hoping for a nice walk, I didn’t pay for the shuttle between the entrance (34.38645, 109.259636) and these two locations, and I think that was a mistake. Signage disagreed with reality, and I kept backtracking from dead ends, running into road works and climbing over bushes.

★ Xianyang Hanyang Mausoleum Museum (Hanyangling Museum) near Xi’an:

I purchased the ticket on-site. The place felt almost abandoned, there were barely any other visitors. Both the museum and the burial pit were excellent, making the lack of other visitors even more bizarre.
I got a Didi to the ticket office (34.444018, 108.943664), visited the burial pit (34.444421, 108.94232), walked through the South Gate Tower (34.441956, 108.940786), explored the huge museum (34.440352, 108.947872) until they kicked me out at closing time, then got a Didi from (34.44285, 108.947976) back to Xi’an.
Don’t believe those who say you won’t get a Didi here. Even after 18:00 I had no problem - the wait was only 12 minutes.

Xi’an notes:

I was under the impression that The Terracotta Army was unique; visiting Xianyang Hanyang Mausoleum with it’s own (smaller) terracotta army changed my perspective. If you don’t have much time, definitely prioritise The Terracotta Army - it is absolutely incredible. But if you can, consider doing Xi’an - The Terracotta Army - Xianyang Hanyang Mausoleum - Xi’an loop (in 3 Didi trips), which makes for a delightful day. Bring a lunchbox.
Coffee: Nanshi Specialty Coffee (34.251116, 108.960963) and Tinycoffee Xiaoxiao Coffee are on my to-try list.
Vegetarian food: Sumanxiang Vegetarian Cafeteria Suyan (34.269697, 108.960151) - I do not recommend this buffet, but it is an option if you are vegetarian and stuck.
Hantang Inn Hostel Xi’an (34.263813, 108.946979) is a great hotel (not a hostel) in a convenient location. On Booking.com or 13379292886 on WeChat.

5. Chengdu

★ Sanxingdui Museum near Xi’an:

This museum (31.004837, 104.217676) is the best place to learn about the Shu civilization, including discoveries made in 2019. From all the things I saw in China, this was one of the most interesting and the most memorable.
Getting tickets was not straightforward. The WeChat Mini Program worked well, but always failed on the very last step, presumably due to the foreign passport number. Their website says foreigners should email wbyy@sxd.cn. They never replied to my email. In utter desperation, I asked my hotel to call them. They told my hotel that ticket sales are through WeChat Mini Program and hung up. I tried again and suddenly ticket purchasing worked. I’m not sure if emailing them my passport number a couple of days prior made a difference or was it something else.
I had no problem getting a Didi from/to Chengdu.
If you want more Shu civilization artefacts, there is also Jinsha Site Museum. But if you only have time for one, prioritise Sanxingdui Museum.

Chengdu notes:

Kuan Alley and Zhai Alley is a touristy area; at (30.665707, 104.052806) there is one of the entrances and a toilet. People’s Park (30.660828, 104.055364) is nice.
On my wishlist: Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, Jinsha Site Museum, Chengdu Museum New Hall, Wenshu Yuan Monastery, Anshun Bridge lit up in the evening. If you are heading to the Dujiangyan Zhongshuge Bookstore, search for “Zhongshuge (Sunac Mall Shop)” on Amap, as Google Maps puts it in a wrong city.
Groceries: Sense bakery (30.647964, 104.11304) is great, and you can get everything else nearby at Ole Boutique Supermarket (The Mixc Mall Branch) at (30.652529, 104.113819).
Both my foreign SIM and my VPN were struggling in Chengdu. Maybe just a coincidence.

China notes:

Navigation:

You’ll probably need 3 mapping apps.
Google Maps. Advantages: If you don’t speak Chinese, Google Maps is the easiest way to find things you know by their English name. You can judge how famous (with tourists) things are by how many reviews they have on Google Maps. For visiting places that are not famous, reviews and photos often provide valuable information. Disadvantages: For many places Google Maps locations are completely wrong - it could be 2km away or in a different city. People leave “wrong location” as a negative review, but that won’t help you find it. You can’t get public transport directions. You can’t download offline maps of China.
Amap. If you can’t install it from Google Play Store, install APKMirror Installer first. Then download Amap Global from APKMirror and use the installer you got from Google Play Store. Advantages: Everything is in the right location. Even the opening hours are likely correct. You can get public transport directions and traffic information. With the international version of the app (from Google Play Store or APKMirror) both particular (“Sanxingdui Museum”) and generic (“vegetarian restaurants”) searches work in English. Just like in Google Maps, there are reviews (in Chinese) and photos. Disadvantages: Until you verify your Chinese phone number, you’ll be subject to severe usage restrictions and you won’t be able to save the locations you found. Even when you are in China and you’ve successfully verified your Chinese phone number, there are still some usage restrictions, don’t expect to be able to do dozens of searches within a short time. Sometimes, but not always, “vegetarian restaurants” will return only results near your current location and will refuse to search in a different city.
Organic Maps or any other offline OpenStreetMap-based app. Advantages: You can download an offline map of China. You can save locations in 16 different colours. Metro maps are available as a layer you can turn on and off, and you can get directions by metro (but not buses). Disadvantages: Since it is an offline map, some information is outdated. There are no reviews or photos. Just like on Google Maps, for some places locations might be completely wrong, and many places are not on the map. But if you figure out the location from Amap or a description like “across the road from Exit 5B of Xiaoshizi station” you can save it as a (usefully colour-coded) pin.
Once you are in China, you’ll use Amap a lot. Download Baidu Maps (if not from Google Play Store, then from Uptodown) as a backup, in case something bad happens to your Amap account.
You could also download metro maps as PDFs or in some transport app, but Organic Maps is perfect for that and you’ll be reluctant to use yet another map.
Due to Chinese restrictions on geographic data, every map of China is deliberately wrong. See this awesome article by Anastasia Bizyayeva. In practice, I totally didn’t notice it as a problem.
Names of museums, hotels and restaurants differ between mapping apps. It seems to be more than just imperfect translations. A restaurant called Vegetarian Lifestyle on Google Maps, is 枣子树 on Amap, and Jujube Tree is the actual name written on the entrance and the menus.
I provided GPS coordinates from Organic Maps for all locations mentioned in this article to maximise the utility to you and to my future self. These are actual locations I visited, they might be a bit off but should be within less than a minute walk. I did not try to list all the different names from different mapping apps, as it would be futile.
Yes, you guessed it - these coordinates match only with Organic Maps (and maybe other OpenStreetMap-based apps). Do not look for these coordinates in Google Maps because both maps are wrong and in different ways… see Anastasia’s article. Amap doesn’t work with coordinates.
I memorised Bei (North), Nan (South), Dong (East), Xi (West) and Men (Gate); which made navigation easier.
Note that in China a “scenic area” means an officially designated tourist attraction. 816 Scenic Area is indeed the underground nuclear weapons production facility you are looking for.

Transportation:

Trains are a fantastic way to travel between cities. Use China Railway website https://www.12306.cn/en/index.html to see train times, durations and prices. Train tickets are released 15 days in advance. Fastest trains at best times on the most popular routes sell out very fast, but for many trains you can buy same day tickets.
If you don’t yet have a verified account with 12306 China Railway, you are days away from being able to purchase train tickets. Start by creating an account and buying any random train ticket; at some point in this process (before the payment) you’ll have to upload a copy of your passport. If an upload fails, keep trying. Then try at a different time of day. Then try on a different day. Even if it failed dozens of times, it might still succeed on your next try, so don’t give up. Once the upload succeeded, it will be sent for manual verification, which will take several days. You can buy more than one ticket, but you’ll have to upload a passport copy for each passenger. It will take many tries and then several days of waiting for manual verification. You only need to do this once.
If the passport upload keeps failing, try the Chinese version of the website https://www.12306.cn/index/.
Once I arrived in China, I could no longer log into https://www.12306.cn/en/index.html. Eventually I discovered that I could log into https://www.12306.cn/index/ and easily purchase and cancel tickets.
To take the trains, arrive early as there might be long queues for passport checks and bag checks before you even get into the train station. You will have no tickets to show, your passport is your train ticket. Do not queue for automatic gates, as they don’t work with foreign passports. Look for “Fast Check Lane” which is operated by a human; ironically that will be the slowest queue.
In all the cities I’ve visited, I was able to easily use public transport (metro and buses) by using AliPay. Simply click on Transport, make sure that the city name on the top of the screen is correct, select Metro or Bus, and press “Get Now” to obtain a travel card (if there was more than one option, I always picked the first one). You only need to do this once in every city.
Didi is the Chinese equivalent of Uber. This was the only type of taxi I used. Waiting times were always surprisingly short, even for 2 hour rides. If you take a Didi for a long drive that includes paid expressways, you might have to pay twice the amount of expressway fees to allow the driver to return home without paying out-of-pocket. This will be handled in the app, the driver won’t ask you for money. If a Didi driver is asking you for a code, he wants the last few digits of your phone number.
You can use Didi through Alipay, WeChat, Didi app, Amap and Baidu Maps. I used Didi exclusively through Alipay as it worked brilliantly, and I could approve the payment after the ride. I tried it once through WeChat - I was swamped with adverts and they charged me for the ride before I was matched with a driver and found out the length of the wait.
Many things are shut on Mondays, making them ideal for long distance travel, hiking and having fun with autonomous taxis.

★ Autonomous taxis:

If you’ve never been in an autonomous car before, trying one in China is much fun.
There are several companies each operating in several cities, and the situation is changing rapidly, so look it up. When I visited, the main players were Pony.ai, WeRide and Baidu Apollo Go.
In Beijing, I went to Yizhuang Culture Park station, which is within Beijing High-level Automated Driving Demonstration Area (BJHAD). I arrived at 17:00 on a Sunday and WeRide app told me that their autonomous taxis were done for the day, so I switched to Pony.ai app.
McDonalds (39.804571, 116.48426) across the road from Yizhuang Culture Park station is one of the available pickup locations. Expect a car marked with BJHAD logo (in the shape of a car); it will unlock itself once your phone is sufficiently close to it.
In Pony.ai app, the pickup location is green; the drop off location is orange and can be changed during the ride. To prolong my experience, I changed my drop off location twice during the ride. Walking through this area is really boring, so try to end your ride near a metro station. After the ride, it took me a while to figure out how to pay for it; hopefully they’ll make it more obvious in the app by the time you use it.
To maximise your chances and/or to try more than one company, come to BJHAD area on a workday before 16:00 and avoid rush hours.
If you have no luck with autonomous taxi apps, look for 无人车 (driverless car) option in Amap or Baidu Maps.

Planning your China trip:

For many places in China you can only buy tickets through WeChat with a Chinese phone number (+86 followed by 11 digits) that can send and receive text messages. You might have to plan your trip around this.
Before purchasing your flights, make a list of everything you want to see. For each attraction, figure out how to buy tickets, how many days in advance are the tickets released (typically 3-7 days in advance), and how fast do they sell out (within minutes, hours or days). It might seem like a lot of work and, if your trip is still many months away, it might seem premature to do this, but this will save you so much pain and disappointment later.
Some attractions require no ticket (e.g. China Art Museum in Shanghai), allow tourists to enter without a ticket (e.g. Shanghai Museum East) or have an option to easily purchase a ticket on-site (China Railway Museum in Beijing). You don’t need to worry about these.
For some attractions you can buy a ticket through a website. It might still require a Chinese phone number to complete the purchase or the website might only be accessible from China (from inside the Great Firewall). Try to buy a ticket for a random day and see if you can get to the payment stage.
For most attractions you can only buy tickets on WeChat. And most of these purchases require a Chinese phone number.
For many attractions tickets are free, which means they sell out even faster. This could be through a website (e.g. National Museum of China in Beijing) or through WeChat (e.g. Shaanxi History Museum in Xi’an).
Planning your trip: If you want to visit Forbidden City in Beijing (tickets are released 7 days in advance on WeChat and sell out in hours; Chinese phone number is required to purchase), you might want to start your trip in another city. The earliest you can visit Forbidden City is on day 8 of your trip. Conversely, you don’t want to schedule your top priorities for your last day in that city. If you fail to get tickets for a particular day, it is nice to have an option to try tomorrow and maybe get the tickets for a day later than expected.
I did not use any ticket resellers. Of course, it is easier for them to get you a ticket - they are in China and they’ve done it before. But attractions don’t like resellers profiting from reselling their tickets, so they are implementing various restrictions to curtail their activity. Also resellers don’t have magic powers - a foreign passport verification with China Railway still takes days, tickets cannot be purchased before they are officially released, and no more tickets can be purchased once they are all sold out. On the day of the visit, you might get a refund from a reseller instead of a ticket.
I did use Trip.com (a reseller) website a lot, as they list useful information like opening hours and sometimes even how to purchase tickets without using them.
Cancelling train and attraction tickets during my trip was easy, and without me asking I automatically got all the refunds. Reshuffling your plan during the trip is totally doable, just remember that your passport number is attached to (almost) every ticket. In many cases double booking is not allowed. If you book a free ticket and don’t show up, you might not be able to book again, so do cancel free tickets too.

WeChat:

You’ll need WeChat as a messaging app to communicate with hotels (“Chats” at the bottom of the screen).
You’ll need WeChat as a payment app (“Me” at the bottom of the screen, then select “Services”) at places that don’t accept Alipay.
The easiest way to top up your pre-paid mobile phone account is on WeChat (click on “Me”, then select “Mobile Top Up” from “Services”).
There is a “Scan” function (in the menu at the top of the screen) that allows you to scan QR codes. This is both for square ones that look like a chess board (payments) and for circular ones that look like a sun (Mini Programs).
WeChat Mini Programs - you’ll need to use them to book tickets for attractions and to order at restaurants. If you don’t have a sun-shaped QR code for the Mini Program you need, you can search for it (“Discover” at the bottom of the screen). The international version of WeChat (from Google Play Store) has a “Translate” function for Mini Programs (in the menu at the top of the screen). There are usage restrictions, don’t expect to be able to use a dozen of Mini Programs in Translate mode in a short period of time.
Some attractions don’t have a Mini Program, you’ll need to find their Account (search in “Discover” at the bottom of the screen) and then Follow it. Afterwards, you can see all the Accounts you’ve followed under either Official Accounts or Service Accounts (“Contacts” at the bottom of the screen). Click on the Account you followed and somewhere there will be a button to book tickets. There is no Translate mode for this.
Whether you are booking tickets through a Mini Program or an Account, you don’t know if it will work until you’ve successfully paid for the ticket. Sometimes you get as far as approving the payment, and then just as you think you’ve paid, an error message pops up. Usually the problem is your lack of a Chinese National ID Card. If you can’t get tickets, carefully re-examine all options on the screen. Perhaps you pressed “Book Tickets” when you should have pressed “Book with Foreign Passport”.
For each ticket you are planning to book on WeChat, figure out how many days in advance the tickets are released and at what time (17:00 and 20:00 are popular). Start booking a ticket for a wrong day to validate your phone number and enter your passport details, this might save you time when the tickets you actually want are released.
You’ll need to develop confidence to be absolutely sure if you’ve pressed a button on your touch screen or not. If you’ve pressed a button once and nothing happens, it might be that something is happening just without any visual clues. Often it is better to wait for 30 seconds before pressing the same button again. Any repeat button press might be registered as a new button press on the next screen (the one you cannot yet see) and that might have negative consequences.
At the time when new tickets are released, many people rush to book them, which results in longer lag times, error messages and other erratic behaviour.

Alipay:

You’ll need Alipay for payments and transport (public transport and Didi).
Alipay has 12306 China Railway integration, look for “12306” under one of several tabs called “Transport”. Some resellers (e.g. Trip.com) are also integrated and might offer “Train Tickets”, avoid them by looking for “12306”.
If you have an account with 12306 China Railway and you’ve already validated a copy of your passport, then you might be able to log into your account through Alipay. You’ll need to validate your Chinese phone number. If it then asks you to upload a copy of your passport for verification, your best bet might be to use https://www.12306.cn/index/ instead (use the website in Chinese, do not switch to the English version which is not likely to work in China). Alipay is the most convenient way to check train times and ticket availability, even if you can’t use it to purchase them.
Alipay has a floating Translate button that is sometimes helpful.
Alipay works much better than WeChat; I only resorted to WeChat for things that cannot be done through AliPay.

Set up (not) your phone(s):

I am always skeptical of “you must do this before you arrive” advice. A country might be a holiday destination for me, but for millions of people it is a normal place to live. I don’t pre-book a private transfer from an airport (I take a bus like the locals do) or buy an eSIM beforehand (I get a local SIM card from a corner shop). But here are some of the main reasons why you must do a lot of things before arriving in China: you’ll be inside the Great Firewall when you arrive, everything works with National ID Cards which you don’t have, digital infrastructure runs on homegrown software (in Chinese) and hardware (apps are now built for HarmonyOS not Android).
First thing to consider - your phone will be constantly running out of battery. You’ll need your phone for everything - payments, public transport, ordering in restaurants, navigation and constant translation. Apps like WeChat and Amap drain batteries of Android phones at terrifying rates; and not only you’ll be using them a lot, but they also like to do a bit of background activity whenever you are not watching. Samsung phones have a “Local Battery Policy” mode that is designed to rein in Chinese apps, but the resulting battle (you are struggling to make the app work while your phone is trying to put it to sleep) only drains the battery faster. Bring a fast charger(s) and your least favourite power bank (they tend to get confiscated on domestic flights).
Even if you are not bothered by the permissions requested by Chinese apps you’ll have to install, consider bringing a burner smartphone to protect the battery of your beloved phone. If you are taking your (Android) phone into China, consider using an isolation app to install Chinese apps onto an island.
If you are travelling solo, bring two smartphones with you. You’ll constantly need to translate what’s on your screen, and you’ll want Google Translate in camera mode pointed at it. You’ll need to scan QR codes that are on your screen. You’ll be looking at several mapping apps simultaneously most of the time. You’ll be switching between SIM cards and turning your VPN on and off all the time. You won’t be able to switch between apps like you normally do, as everything is in one super app. If you’ve called a taxi before paying your restaurant bill, and now you need to use the same app for the payment, while your phone is trying to put the app to sleep…good luck.
The Great Firewall. There are two ways you can bypass the Great Firewall - using a foreign SIM you brought with you or using a VPN. I was actually excited about experiencing what it’s like to be inside the Great Firewall, and being disconnected from my daily life for the whole trip sounded good to me. But it doesn’t work that way. Your banking apps are outside the Great Firewall, and you’ll be stuck if you can’t approve transactions. You’ll be desperate for Google Translate in camera mode, you’ll want to backup your photos, you might need to look for medical advice online.
There is no guarantee that your VPN will work, so you must bring a foreign SIM with you. Any foreign SIM (physical or eSIM) will work, widely advertised expensive eSIMs have no advantages. I brought Lebara UK physical SIM with a pre-paid roaming plan that includes China (with Access Point Name (APN) set to uk.lebara.mobi while still in the UK, wap.vodafone.co.uk won’t work in China) and Nomad eSIM. Both worked equally well. If your phone is dual SIM, you might prefer a physical SIM for the ease of moving between phones; otherwise opt for an eSIM, as you’ll need space for the physical Chinese SIM. Buy more data then you think you’ll need - Chinese apps drain your data as fast as your battery. Bring one foreign SIM per phone. If you are travelling solo with a single phone, bring two foreign SIMs, so you can rescue yourself if you unexpectedly run out of pre-paid data.
Set up a VPN as an insurance policy, the less popular/advertised one the better. Set it up before you arrive, do not download VPNs in China. There is no way to know in advance which VPNs will work, as both VPNs and VPN blocking technologies are constantly evolving. One of my VPNs worked, but the other one did not. Sometimes you’ll need to jump between inside and outside of the Great Firewall repeatedly, then you’ll appreciate that turning your VPN on and off is faster than switching between SIMs. Also having a VPN will allow you to sync your photos with data from your Chinese SIM. If you accidentally run out of pre-paid data on your foreign SIM, you might need a VPN to rescue yourself.
Install international versions of WeChat, Alipay and Amap before arriving in China. I did not enter my real phone number into these apps, I waited until I had a Chinese phone number.
Make sure you have your banking apps on the phone you are bringing to China. Even if you think you’ve set everything up and added your cards to Alipay and WeChat, you might still need to approve your first transactions in China through your banking app. Not all banks work with Alipay and WeChat, so the more redundancy you can add the better.
Translation: I used Google Translate for translating text and speech in both directions, Google Translate in camera mode to translate what’s on the screen of my other phone, and Google Lens to translate screenshots of what’s on the screen of this phone. For redundancy, install Naver Papago from Google Play Store and Baidu Translate from Uptodown. While WeChat Mini Programs have Translate mode, English words are much longer than Chinese ones, which sometimes results in most of the translated text being off screen.
Save the name of your country/nationality in Chinese on your phone, or you’ll have a bad time when trying to select it from a list of almost 200 options. UK is 英国, and you might find it under “Y”.
Set up a convenient way to take notes about when to book which tickets and how.
Even if you don’t think you’ll need it, set up an account with 12306 China Railway and validate a copy of your passport. Whether an unplanned adventure or an unexpected airport closure, you might be glad to have an ability to buy train tickets.
Naively I was aiming for a perfect set up. I thought once I do all the figuring out, everything will just work. Then I accidentally opened Google Maps while using my Chinese SIM without a VPN - predictably it did not load, surprisingly it permanently disabled some functionality of the app. Since then I could not see any photos or reviews on Google Maps. Then I went to Chengdu and both my foreign SIM and my VPN started failing, they would only work for about 10 minutes after restarting my phone. Don’t aim for a perfect set up, aim for as much redundancy as possible.

Other practicalities:

Use your real name and passport number for everything related to your China trip. When in China, have your passport on you at all times.
Fill in an Arrival Card before departing for China.
Once you arrive in China, buy a physical Chinese SIM. I purchased mine at the airport, as I wasn’t sure if as a tourist I’ll have much success with SIM purchasing outside an airport. Both of my foreign SIMs connected to China Unicom, so I bought China Mobile SIM for diversity. Make sure you get an actual Chinese phone number (+86 followed by 11 digits), not just a data package. I was told that the package I paid for included data, phone calls and receiving SMS but not sending them. I totally forgot about it when WeChat asked me to send an SMS to verify my phone number; my phone balance turned negative and my account got blocked. Luckily you can easily top up your phone balance on WeChat. Get one Chinese SIM per person; sharing one between two people is doable but a bit of a pain.
As soon as you have a local SIM, create a WeChat account. It is likely to give you a QR code that another WeChat user has to scan before you can start using WeChat. Ask the people who sold you the SIM for help. Then you can try buying tickets to Forbidden City on WeChat, which will require receiving an SMS to validate your phone number - check that you can receive SMS before leaving the place where you bought the SIM. Don’t forget to switch your data connection to your new Chinese SIM to check that it works (you’ll have data from your foreign SIM, so it is easy to forget).
Using your phone: When you can’t achieve what you want, try it with and without your VPN, then try it using data from your foreign and Chinese SIM. One of those permutations might work.
Payments: There are two ways to make a payment in China. If you show the vendor your QR code, they’ll scan it and enter the amount you’ll pay. If you scan the vendor’s QR code, then you have to enter the amount you owe them and confirm the payment. It is more convenient to show your QR code and let the vendor deal with it. But if you are not completely clear about how much you’ll be charged, the best strategy is to quickly scan the vendor’s QR code and then negotiate with them what amount you should enter into the payment app. Once you let somebody scan your QR code, you’ve given up your chance to negotiate the amount or refuse the transaction. Most places accept both Alipay and WeChat payments, but some accept only one of these. Expect hefty transaction fees. If you use Wise, they now support Alipay transactions; I’ve not tried this.
There is no need to transfer money to your Alipay/WeChat accounts, simply add a bank card to your accounts (and have your banking app on your phone, so you can approve the transactions when needed). If you don’t have a bank card from a bank that allows you to approve suspicious transactions through a mobile app, bring as many bank cards as possible for redundancy. I had a completely cashless experience in China, and did not use my physical bank cards.
Hotels: I used Booking.com to book hotels before arriving in China, and to ask each hotel how to contact them on WeChat. Once I was in China, I booked hotels by messaging them on WeChat, avoiding resellers. Always explicitly ask whether the hotel accepts international guests, because many of them don’t. If you see reviews from foreigners, it’s a good sign. Hotels register all international guests with the local police, if you are staying in a different type of accommodation you might need to do this registration yourself. In general hotel reservations expire at 18:00; if you’ll be checking in after that, you should notify the hotel. I made a habit of paying for my rooms through Alipay/WeChat before 18:00, to avoid surprises when checking in late in the evening.
Visiting attractions: Most tickets are valid for a particular time period on a particular day. You have to enter during that time period, but then you can stay for as long as you want. Arrive early, as there might be long queues for security checks and bag checks before you even get to the ticket check. Sometimes you book a ticket, but you don’t get a ticket, instead your passport becomes your ticket. I brought a lunchbox and a spoon to all attractions mentioned in this article, and it was never a problem. If there is no courtyard to eat outside and no benches inside, you can sit on the stairs between the floors, like locals do.
Restaurants: Typically lunch is 11:00-14:00 and dinner is 17:00-20:00. Most restaurants close for at least two hours between lunch and dinner, even if Amap does not mention it. In most restaurants portions are much bigger than you’d expect from the menu pictures - I expected six tiny cubes of tofu as a starter, instead I got a giant plate with nine slabs of tofu. I always said No when asked about water, in most restaurants I then got a carafe of drinking water for free. Big temples have at least one vegetarian restaurant nearby; my favourite vegetarian restaurants in Beijing and Shanghai were not near temples.
Bottled water: I drank only Nongfu Spring (red labels), C’estbon (green labels) and Ganten (unique bottle shape). Without side by side comparison, I could not tell the difference between them.
There are a lot of public toilets in China, and they are all clean and free. Most coffee places don’t have toilets.
Don’t expect that locals will help you solve all your problems. For them things work differently, they have a National ID card and they use domestic versions of apps, they’ve not seen the “encryption field is blank” error message you are battling. In China people are good at following rules and not questioning them; if you missed the entry time on your ticket by a minute, sympathy is not guaranteed (or might not be technically possible).
China is changing rapidly. I enjoyed watching videos about Kowloon walled city and about the pace of hardware innovation in Shenzhen. Buildings shown in those videos no longer exist.
Look out for the belly forks.