What to Pack
Plugs, a power bank, tissues, and the small things that are annoying to source once you are there.
China is a manufacturing superpower and you can buy almost anything, almost anywhere, almost immediately — often within an hour via a delivery app. The packing list therefore focuses on the things that are genuinely awkward to replace: your medication, your documents, and a handful of items where the local equivalent is not what you want.
Documents and electronics
- Passport, plus a photograph of it saved offline on your phone
- Visa or visa-free entry confirmation and your onward ticket, downloaded
- Travel insurance policy number and the assistance line, saved offline
- Hotel addresses in Chinese characters, screenshotted
- A power bank — you will use your phone for payments, tickets, maps and translation all day, and a dead phone is a genuine problem
- Type A and Type I plugs. Chinese sockets usually take both; a universal adapter covers everything
- A second phone or a spare SIM tray tool if you are running an eSIM plus a physical SIM
The small things that matter
- Tissues. Public toilets frequently have no paper. Buy a pack of pocket tissues on day one and never be without them
- Hand sanitiser, for the same reason
- A refillable flask. Boiling-water dispensers are on every train and in every station
- Comfortable broken-in walking shoes. You will walk 15,000–20,000 steps on an ordinary sightseeing day, much of it on stone steps
- A packable rain shell — better than an umbrella on a mountain
- Any specific toiletry you are attached to; Western brands exist but are expensive and the range is different
- Deodorant, which is genuinely hard to find outside international supermarkets
Clothing by season
| Season / region | Pack |
|---|---|
| Spring & autumn, most regions | Layers, a light jacket, a rain shell. Mornings and evenings are cold, midday warm |
| Summer, eastern lowlands | Light breathable fabrics, sun protection, a change of shirt. It will be 35°C at high humidity |
| Winter, north | Thermal base layer, fleece, down jacket, hat, gloves. −5 to −15°C with wind |
| Harbin in January | Serious cold-weather kit: base layer, fleece, down parka, snow trousers, insulated boots, balaclava, two pairs of gloves |
| Tibetan plateau, any season | Layers plus a warm jacket regardless of month, high-factor sunscreen, sunglasses, lip balm. UV at 3,700 m is severe |
| Mountains anywhere | Assume 10–15°C colder than the valley, plus wind |
Conservative dress
China is generally relaxed about clothing, and city dress is much like anywhere. The exceptions are religious sites: covered shoulders and knees for mosques and temples, and in Xinjiang and Tibetan monastic areas a little more modesty than you would use in Shanghai. Removing hats and sunglasses inside temple halls is the norm.
What not to bring
- A drone, unless you have researched and registered it. They are prohibited over most scenic areas and all border zones
- Large quantities of cash. ¥2,000–3,000 equivalent is plenty; more than $5,000 must be declared
- Political, religious or news material in quantity — occasionally questioned at customs
- A car — see the transport guide. You cannot legally drive on a foreign licence
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Your First 24 Hours
A step-by-step for landing day, from the fingerprint kiosk to your first bowl of noodles.