{"id":575,"date":"2025-11-21T08:00:27","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T08:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/?p=575"},"modified":"2025-11-21T08:00:27","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T08:00:27","slug":"14-things-we-wish-we-knew-before-traveling-to-china-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/99chinatravel.com\/?p=575","title":{"rendered":"14 Things We Wish We Knew BEFORE Traveling to CHINA in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"480\" height=\"270\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kSVUJS6z1v0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Don&#8217;t Visit China BEFORE Watching \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddf3<\/p>\n<p>After two months of traveling through China, we realized just how much we didn\u2019t know before arriving. So we put together a list of 14 things we wish someone had told us\u2014things that would\u2019ve saved us time, money, and a lot of confusion.<\/p>\n<p>In this video, we cover:<br \/>\n\u2705 China\u2019s ultra-modern cities (and why they shocked us)<br \/>\n\u2705 How to book and ride high-speed and sleeper trains<br \/>\n\u2705 Why you absolutely need Alipay\/WeChat Pay<br \/>\n\u2705 What to do when Google and YouTube don\u2019t work<br \/>\n\u2705 Food that completely changed how we see Chinese cuisine<br \/>\n\u2705 The 10-year visa we didn\u2019t know we could get as Americans<br \/>\n\u2026and a whole bunch of practical tips we had to learn the hard way.<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udd25 *Exclusive Discounts &amp; Travel Deals* \ud83d\udd25<br \/>\n\u2708\ufe0f 5% OFF Activities &amp; Tours \u2013 Use the GetYourGuide App: https:\/\/gyg.me\/mikeandashleytravel-app<br \/>\n\ud83d\udcf6 5% OFF Unlimited Data e-SIM for Travel \u2013 Stay connected with Holafly with code MIKEANDASHLEY: https:\/\/holafly.sjv.io\/ra2b4y<br \/>\n\ud83d\udd10 4 Months Extra with SurfShark VPN \u2013 Protect your data while traveling with code MIKEASHLEY: https:\/\/www.surfshark.com\/mikeashley<\/p>\n<p>*Apps &amp; Websites We Use in China*<br \/>\nTrip.com: https:\/\/trip.tp.st\/gFjbtFve<br \/>\nAliPay: https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/alipay-simplify-your-life\/id333206289<br \/>\nWeChat: https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/wechat\/id836500024?mt=12<br \/>\nDiangping: https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/dianping-discover-good-places\/id351091731<br \/>\nNordVPN:  https:\/\/refer-nordvpn.com\/cTNylWrUkPI<br \/>\nMullvad VPN: https:\/\/mullvad.net\/en<br \/>\nExpressVPN: https:\/\/www.expressvpn.com\/<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>*Stay Healthy on the Road with SafetyWing Travel Medical Insurance*<br \/>\nhttps:\/\/safetywing.com\/nomad-insurance\/?referenceID=mikeandashley&#038;campaign=instagram&#038;utm_source=mikeandashley&#038;utm_medium=Ambassador<\/p>\n<p>*Our Travel &amp; Filming Gear*<br \/>\nhttps:\/\/www.amazon.com\/shop\/mikeashley?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_aipsfshop_G66NRW702ZT34JR894ZB<\/p>\n<p>*Tools for Creators*<br \/>\nMonetize Your Travel Content: https:\/\/www.travelpayouts.com\/?marker=471051.youtube<br \/>\nMake Money While Traveling: https:\/\/partner.getyourguide.com\/en-us\/signup?partner_id=4ZVYOON&amp;cmp=communityreferral<br \/>\nGrow Your Channel: https:\/\/www.tubebuddy.com\/pricing?a=mikeandashley<br \/>\nRoyalty-Free Music for Content Creators: https:\/\/artlist.io\/referral\/3776725\/Mike<br \/>\n$100 Spotter Studio Membership Credit: https:\/\/partner.spotterstudio.com\/c47dizmpwus7<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>*Business Inquiries*<br \/>\nhello@mikeandashleytravel.com<\/p>\n<p>*Watch Our Vlog Channel*<br \/>\n@mikeandashleyvlogs <\/p>\n<p>*Support Our Work*<br \/>\nBuy Us a Coffee: https:\/\/www.buymeacoffee.com\/mikeandashley<br \/>\nPayPal: https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/paypalme\/mikeandashleytravel<\/p>\n<p>*Social Media*<br \/>\nInstagram: https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/mikeandashleytravel<br \/>\nFacebook: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mikeandashleytravel<br \/>\nTikTok: https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@mikeandashleytravel<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>If you click on a link in our content and make a purchase, we may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. These commissions help support our work and allow us to continue creating content for you. Thanks for your support! \u2764\ufe0f<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>00:00 Why we made this video<br \/>\n00:22 China&#8217;s Cities Are Next Level<br \/>\n01:02 China is Massive<br \/>\n01:55 It&#8217;s Easy to Get Around<br \/>\n03:31 Always Carry Your Passport<br \/>\n4:13 Language Barrier is Pretty Tough<br \/>\n5:39 There&#8217;s No Great Maps App<br \/>\n6:15 The Traffic Pattern<br \/>\n7:00 Plan Ahead, the Popular Spots Are Worth It<br \/>\n7:57 Everything is Cashless<br \/>\n9:33 Chinese Food is Incredible<br \/>\n12:12 You Need a VPN<br \/>\n13:15 It&#8217;s Crazy Affordable Here<br \/>\n14:21 There&#8217;s a Few Visa Options<br \/>\n16:51 Final Thoughts<br \/>\n17:41 Bonus<\/p>\n<p>#chinatravel #china #travelchina<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Don&#8217;t Visit China BEFORE Watching \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\uddf3 After two months of traveling through China, we realized just how much we didn\u2019t [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v17.6 - 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