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Notes from the road

What is changing in China travel, what we saw on the last trip, and the things that surprise people.

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Market · 16 September 2026

The five self-drive routes China ranks highest, and how they hold up for foreigners

Chinese road-trippers rank their own routes every year. We took the five at the top of the 2024 list, drove them with a foreign family in the car, and scored each for driving difficulty, physical demand, facilities and adventure.

Zhihui Shi · 15 min read
16 Sep 2026Trip reports

The Road That Became Dragon Roads: A Swiss-Chinese Family's Year Driving Across China

In 2023, Florian and Zhihui packed their two young kids into a car and self-drove more than 20,000 km across China. This is the story of that year on the road — and why it became Dragon Roads.

Florian Brutsche · 7 min read17 Jun 2026Market

China's Road-Trip Awakening: A Travel Shift Taking Shape

China's travel revolution is unfolding not in its glittering megacities, but on its vast, winding roads—where self-drive trips now dominate domestic tourism, revealing a country of staggering diversity, from Tibetan plateaus to Xinjiang deserts, and quietly opening up to international travelers armed with English apps, rental services, and a sense of adventure.

Zhihui Shi · 14 min read