How to Get Around in China: Transportation Tips for Tourists

Getting around China is fast, cheap and well signed in the big cities. What trips visitors up is rarely the train or the metro itself. It is the phone: the wrong map app, a wallet that is not set up, a ticket booked against the wrong passport number. Sort those at home and how to get around in China becomes a short list of good options.

How to get around in China by high-speed train

Rail is the backbone. China had 165,000 km of railway at the end of 2025, more than 50,000 km of it high-speed, and the bullet trains (G and D services) link every major city. Between Beijing, Xi’an and Shanghai the train usually beats flying once you count the airport time, and it delivers you to the city rather than a field 40 km outside it.

• Booking: Use the official 12306 website or app, both of which have an English version and accept a foreign passport, or Trip.com, which sells the same seats in English. Book a few days ahead, and well ahead for Chinese New Year, the May Day holiday and Golden Week in October, when trains sell out.
• Your passport is the ticket. Tickets are electronic and issued against your passport number, so type it exactly. There is nothing to print or collect.
• Classes: Second class is the standard 2+3 seat and perfectly comfortable. First class gives you 2+2 and more legroom. Business class is a near-flat recliner at a large markup. Overnight routes add soft and hard sleepers.
• At the station: Arrive 45 minutes early for a big station. You pass a passport check and an airport-style security scan to get in. At the ticket gates, many stations now read a verified foreign passport at the automatic gates; if yours does not open, use the staffed lane and hand the passport over. Boarding closes a few minutes before departure, and the train will not wait.

Getting around cities on the metro

Every major city runs a metro, and in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen it is the fastest way across town, signed in English and costing a few yuan a ride.

You no longer need a transport card. Three ways in:

• Tap your own card. Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen now let you tap a contactless foreign Visa or Mastercard at the turnstile, with no ticket and no app. Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen take Amex and JCB as well.
• Alipay’s transport code. Activate it once in the app, pick your city, and the QR code opens metro gates and many city buses in dozens of cities. WeChat has the same feature with more friction. Wallet setup is in the phone section at the end of this page.
• The ticket machine. Single-journey tokens are still sold at every station, and most machines have an English mode.

Let people off before you board, and expect rush hour in Beijing and Shanghai to be crushing. For route planning, use the map apps below.

Does Google Maps work in China?

No. Google Maps is blocked in mainland China, and even through a VPN or roaming eSIM its map sits hundreds of meters off true because of how China offsets its map data. Use Amap, which launched an English version in January 2025, or Apple Maps on an iPhone, which runs on the same Chinese data with no VPN. Both give English metro routing. The detail is in our guide to whether Google Maps works in China.

Taxis and DiDi

For short hops, or anywhere the metro does not reach, take a taxi or a DiDi.

• DiDi is China’s Uber. It has an English app that accepts foreign Visa and Mastercard, and it also runs inside Alipay under Transport, where it bills your linked card automatically. The in-app chat translates between you and the driver, and since you set the pickup and destination on a map, there is no address to explain.
• Street taxis are plentiful and metered. Use the official rank at airports and stations and ignore anyone who approaches you in the arrivals hall. Most drivers speak no English, so have your destination written in Chinese characters, and pay by scanning their QR code.

City buses and long-distance coaches

City buses go where the metro does not, for a yuan or two. Pay with the Alipay or WeChat transport code, or with exact coins, because drivers give no change. Route numbers are clear but stop names are often Chinese only, so follow the route on Amap and watch the stop count.

Long-distance coaches still serve towns the rail network skips, and some run overnight with sleeper berths. Tickets are real-name, so buy them at the bus station with your passport in hand. Where a high-speed train covers the same route, take the train.

Domestic flights

Flying makes sense for the long legs: Beijing to Chengdu, Shanghai to Kunming, anywhere to Xinjiang or Tibet. Air China, China Eastern and China Southern fly the trunk routes, alongside a long list of smaller carriers.

• Booking: Trip.com or the airline’s own site, using your passport details exactly as printed.
• Airport time: Arrive two hours ahead. Security is thorough, and Chinese airports are large.
• Baggage: Economy usually allows 20 kg checked and 5 kg in the cabin, less than many international tickets. Weigh your bags before a domestic connection.
• Power banks: Since June 2025 power banks without a Chinese CCC mark are banned from domestic flights, which rules out most bought abroad. The rule is in our travel to China checklist.

On routes under about five hours by high-speed train, the train is usually the better bet.

Shared bikes

Dockless shared bikes stand outside almost every metro exit: yellow Meituan, blue HelloBike and green DiDi Qingju. You scan the QR code on the bike from inside Alipay or WeChat, ride, and lock it in a marked parking zone. A half hour costs a couple of yuan.

It works for many visitors and not for all. Some of the mini programs choke on a foreign phone number, and the deposit-free unlock leans on a credit score a new foreign account does not have. Try it on day one, and do not plan a day around it. Ride with the traffic, keep to the bike lane, and watch for silent electric scooters coming up behind you.

Walking

The best parts of most Chinese cities are walkable: old quarters, riverfronts, night markets. Distances on the map are longer than they look, crossings are wide, and drivers turning right do not stop for a green pedestrian light, so look before you step out. Keep your hotel’s address card in your pocket for the trip home.

Set up your phone before you fly

Every mode above runs through your phone, and most of the setup is easier at home than at the hotel.

• Payments: Install Alipay and WeChat, verify your passport and link a foreign card. Payments of CNY 200 or less are free, above that the wallet takes 3%, and a foreign-card account pays merchants only. Full walkthrough in WeChat Pay and Alipay in China.
• Data: An international travel eSIM routes your data outside the mainland, so your usual apps work without a VPN. A Chinese SIM or hotel wifi will not.
• Translation: Google Translate has been blocked on Chinese connections since October 2022, though offline packs downloaded at home still work. See can I use Google Translate in China for what to use instead, and save your key destinations in Chinese characters.
• Arriving from Hong Kong: The high-speed line and cross-border options are in our guide to traveling from Hong Kong to Guangzhou.