Culture & Stories

Shanghai ended 2024 with 9,115 coffee shops, the most of any city, and its stone-gate lane houses once held 80 percent of the population. This reads the two together: how Shikumen was built, what the lanes still hold, how Tianzifang, Zhangyuan and Jinchao 8 Lane turned out differently, the five-kilometre walk that connects them, and the small timing rules that decide the day.

Guangzhou Baiyun led China's airports with 43.33 million passengers in the first half of 2026, and its international routes grew about 18 percent in eight months. This guide covers what the numbers show, how Terminal 3 and a fifth runway reshape arrival, why the new border hall clears foreign passengers faster, and which new routes - including Vancouver from May 2027 - make Guangzhou worth treating as a first stop rather than a stopover.

Train G8388 circles more than 1,200 kilometres of the Yangtze Delta in eight hours, touching twenty stations across Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui. This guide explains what the super loop is, how Jiangsu's ticket-stub economy turns a train ticket into a province-wide voucher, how to plan the circle around the days you have, which stops earn their own nights, and what foreign passport holders should know about 12306 bookings, payments and departure tax refunds.

Two quiet hours with a brush may be the richest cultural session in a China itinerary. This guide covers what happens in a beginner calligraphy class, from grinding ink to writing your own name, where to book one in Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an and Hangzhou, why the Forest of Steles is the place to see two thousand years of handwriting, and where the four treasures of the study are still made by hand in southern Anhui.

China's Muslim-friendly travel is uneven: excellent in a few cities and workable in most. A city-by-city picture of where to base a halal-conscious family trip.

Teahouses are China's original third place — refills that never stop, chess games that run for hours, snacks that come with the pot. A guide to the types, the rituals and the cities where an afternoon belongs to the table.

Hot pot is China's most social meal, and the regions run it differently — Chongqing's fire, Sichuan's layered flavor, Chaoshan's beef craft and Beijing's copper-pot tradition. A guide to the four styles, how to order and how to survive the spice.

Breakfast is China's most local meal: teahouses in Guangzhou, baozi stalls in the north, breakfast streets in Wuhan that run all morning. What locals actually eat, how the rituals work, and the cities where breakfast is worth planning a morning around.

Night markets are China's evening stage: skewers, dumplings, noodles and sweets cooked in front of you. A practical guide to choosing stalls, ordering with confidence and eating like a local.

Autumn turns Chinese markets and menus seasonal: hairy crab appears across the Yangtze delta, osmanthus scent fills the south, and chestnuts, persimmons and mushrooms follow. A field guide to what is worth eating in October and where each specialty is strongest.

In China, the serious conversation often happens around a table, not across a desk. A business dinner is where partners relax, relationships deepen and decisions soften — and it is also where many visitors, however experienced in their own markets, suddenly feel like beginners.

Ride snowmobiles at Yabuli, take horse-drawn sleds through Snow Village and Hemu, and ice-fish on frozen lakes from Harbin to Chagan Lake.

Snow-and-steam: sitting in a 40-degree pool while snow falls — the hair-freezing, body-warm ritual of China's outdoor winter hot springs.

Northeast China winter food: tieguo dun stew, guobao rou, Harbin ice pops, pig-killing feasts and where the locals actually eat.