First Time in China

Most people going to China for the first time want to see the Great Wall in Beijing, the modern Shanghai skyline, or a famous landscape such as Zhangjiajie. That is a good plan, and these are definitely places to see once (which is why our road trips start from these places). But there is a lot more to China beyond the big cities and the famous sights, and in our opinion, driving through China is the best way to really visit the country.

We often like to say that if you were going to France, you would want to see Paris and the Eiffel Tower, but you would be missing out if you did not venture into the French countryside to see the small villages, eat the local food, stop for a wine or a coffee, and talk to the friendly people you meet along the way. China is the same.

And if you have been to downtown Paris, with its rather narrow streets, heavy traffic, rare parking spots and stressed people honking at each other, you could start to think that driving in France is not fun for tourists. In Paris, you would be right. But driving in the French countryside is a completely different experience, and a lovely one. Again, this is very similar to China: you do not want to drive in Shanghai or Beijing, but how about through the bamboo forests of Zhejiang, the mountains of Yunnan or the vast grasslands of Inner Mongolia?

Of course, we know that a lot of people think that driving in China is not for foreigners, that you need a special driving license, that you need to speak Chinese, and that the roads are muddy or chaotic. But after driving more than 20,000 km (12,000 miles) across China as foreigners, with our kids in the back, we are here to tell you that it could not be further from the truth.

Where does the trip start?

We recommend that you land in Shanghai or Beijing and stay two or three days to visit them properly. These are exciting megacities with a lot to do. Visit the Forbidden City, see the Shanghai skyline from the Bund, enjoy the food, but do not drive there, as it is completely unnecessary: the subway and taxis are the best way to move around.

Two or three days here also give you time to see how things work before you venture further out: paying with your phone, ordering in a restaurant, checking in at the hotel. It is also where you quickly get the temporary driving permit that you will need later on the road. Getting it in these cities is very smooth and simple, and how to get it is on the permit page.

Then the road trip can start. You might set off from the outskirts of Shanghai, or take a domestic flight to Yunnan or Inner Mongolia, where things could not be more different from the megacities.

What is the driving like?

The routes we suggest for a first visit are well established destinations for locals, with roads in excellent condition and fuel stations, hotels and restaurants along the way. As an added bonus, parking is very easy outside the big cities, with plenty of space and parking available right outside the hotels.

No off-road experience or anything like that is needed for the first-visit itineraries you will find below: a standard sedan is enough, and with the navigation app, directions are easy to follow.

There is always an itinerary in China that fits your dates, no matter the season. If we recommend a trip below for winter, it keeps clear of mountain areas that can get snow. If it is a summer trip, the region we recommend avoids the summer heat.

What the driving is really like, the rules and the speed limits are in our driving guide.

Which region for a first visit?

China is huge and has many regions, each very different in landscape, food and people. For a first visit we have picked the regions where culture and landscape are packed closest together, with easy roads and a good itinerary whether you have a week, three weeks or more. The highlights are a short drive apart and the road between them is scenery in itself, so you are not spending every day covering ground.

Yunnan and Guizhou have the densest concentration of mountains, rice terraces, old towns and ethnic villages. Inner Mongolia has grassland, the life of the herders and roads that run to the horizon. Zhejiang has water towns, tea hills and bamboo forests, and the most traditional countryside of Jiangnan. Pick one and get to know it properly. You will understand China better that way than by skimming five cities.

Many things that people in China take for granted, a market, work in the fields, a musician at the village gate, may turn out to be the highlight of your whole trip. So we slow the pace down: an extra night at the important destinations, time to walk into a village and really talk to the people there, and some slack for the differences in language and culture. At every destination we also suggest a walk or a hands-on craft beyond the main sights, so that the trip is not only about looking, but about taking part.

How long do you need?

The simplest way to choose between our four first-trip routes is by how long you have. The lengths below are what we recommend to see each region comfortably, not a fixed number: every route can be shortened, extended or adjusted to fit your plans.

Around a week. Two options, in very different landscapes. Inner Mongolia is grassland, herders and a cool summer, reached with a short flight from Beijing. Beyond Shanghai is the water towns, tea hills and bamboo forests of Zhejiang, and it is the route with the least driving of all: you pick up the car in Shanghai and set off, with no domestic flight at all.

Around two weeks. Yunnan Wonders is a loop through the best of Yunnan: the old town of Lijiang, Lugu Lake, the Tibetan world of Shangri-La and Dali. Two weeks gives it room to breathe, but it works with a little less or a little more.

Close to three weeks. The Great Southwest takes the Yunnan loop and continues into Guizhou, adding the karst peaks, forests and Miao villages of a second province. It is our longest first-trip route, for those who want to see as much of the southwest as one trip allows.

If none of these fits your dates, or you are not sure which region is for you, write to us and we will tell you what we think.