What it is#
A 90-page PDF plus an editable spreadsheet, designed to be downloaded to your phone before you fly and used offline for the whole trip.
What is inside#
Route templates. Day-by-day skeletons for 7, 10, 14 and 21-day trips, each with real train times, opening hours, and a suggested booking order. Editable so you can swap cities in and out.
The booking timeline. A dated checklist working backwards from departure: when visa applications open, when hotels should be locked in, when rail tickets are released, when timed-entry museum slots appear. Missing the Forbidden City release window is the most common avoidable mistake on a China trip.
The setup checklist. Alipay and WeChat verification, card binding, eSIM choice, VPN testing, offline map downloads, translation packs — in the order that works, with the steps that must be done before departure marked clearly.
Printable phrase cards. Fifty cards with characters, pinyin and English, formatted to be screenshotted and shown to a taxi driver, waiter or ticket clerk. Designed to be legible at arm's length on a phone screen.
A budget spreadsheet. Pre-populated with real 2026 prices for hotels, rail, entry tickets and meals across twenty destinations, so you can model a trip before committing to it.
City cheat sheets. One page per major destination: what to book ahead, what closes on Mondays, where to stay, how long you need, and the one thing most visitors get wrong.
Who it is for#
People who have decided to go to China and now have to actually organise it. If you are still deciding whether to go, read the first-timer's guide instead — it is free and covers the decision.
Why it is paid#
This site is free and carries no paywall. The free guides are funded by affiliate commissions and a small number of ad slots, both of which create an incentive to recommend whatever pays best.
Paid resources reduce that pressure. They are the reason we can tell you to skip the four-hour Li River cruise in favour of a ¥100 raft, or to take second class instead of first — advice that costs us commission.
Frequently asked questions#
What format is the China Trip Planner in?#
A PDF for reading and printing, plus an editable spreadsheet for the budget and itinerary templates. Both are designed to be downloaded to a phone and used offline, since data access in China is not guaranteed.
Does it work offline in China?#
Yes, that is the design goal. Everything is a local file: no app, no login and no need to reach a blocked service. Download it before you fly.
Is the information different from the free guides?#
The research is the same; the format is not. The free guides explain and compare, and the planner turns that into dated checklists, editable templates and phrase cards you can act on without reading an article.