China’s high-speed rail gets all the attention, and we’ve covered it separately, but the China sleeper train is a genuinely different experience with its own booking system, ticket types, and etiquette. We rode hard sleeper (硬卧) from Ürümqi to Fuyun as part of our Xinjiang trip, and this guide covers what we learned firsthand plus the practical…
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Altay City Xinjiang isn’t a bucket-list destination on its own. It’s the base most travellers pass through on the way to Kanas and Hemu Village, and that’s exactly how we treated it: two days getting here from Keketuohai, a first night finding our feet, and a full day actually enjoying the city before heading on. This…
Fuyun to Keketuohai National Mine Park: Xinjiang Travel Guide
Last updated: 7 August 2026 Keketuohai National Mine Park (可可托海国家矿山公园) sits in the same small town as the much better-known Keketuohai National Geopark. It’s a completely different attraction: an old rare-metal mine you tour through on foot, tunnels and all, rather than a hiking gorge. We travelled here on 7 August 2026, a few days after Heavenly…
Keketuohai National Geopark: Xinjiang Guide
Keketuohai National Geopark (可可托海世界地质公园) sits in Fuyun County, in the Altai region of far-northern Xinjiang, China. It’s a UNESCO Global Geopark, and it’s genuinely under-covered online. There’s almost no English-language travel writing about it. That’s despite granite domes striking enough that Western rock climbers were making expeditions here back in the 2010s. We covered Keketuohai as…
Heavenly Lake, China: A Day Trip to Tianshan Tianchi from Ürümqi
Heavenly Lake China, known locally as Tianshan Tianchi (天山天池), sits about an hour from Ürümqi in China’s far-west Xinjiang region, and Tianshan Tianchi is easily one of the best day trips out of the city. Heavenly Lake China isn’t the more famous Tianchi on the China–North Korea border (the “monster lake” one); this is the Tianshan…
Chongqing Wulong Zhangjiajie Itinerary: 6 Days Through Southwest China’s Wildest Scenery
If you are piecing together a Chongqing Wulong Zhangjiajie itinerary, you have landed on one of the best nature-focused routes in Southwest China. We travelled this exact path ourselves, starting in the neon chaos of Chongqing, slowing down in the misty limestone gorges of Wulong, and finishing among the towering sandstone pillars of Zhangjiajie. Consequently,…
Abuji Lake Hike from Shangri-La, Yunnan: Trails, Cost and Tips
The Abuji Lake hike near Shangri-La is one of our favourite hikes in all of China, and we’ve done a lot of them. Turquoise alpine lakes, yaks wandering about, and a trail that still feels something like a postcard out of Switzerland. It rained on us for most of the way up, and we’d still…
Shangri-La, Yunnan: 3-Day Travel Guide
After finishing the Tiger Leaping Gorge trek, we picked up our luggage and caught a shuttle straight to Shangri-La (香格里拉) for three days. Sitting at around 3,200 metres high in the far north of Yunnan, this is where the province starts to feel less like China and more like a slice of Tibet, with monasteries,…
Teaching English in China 2026: The Strategic Guide
If you are currently researching teaching English in China, you are likely looking for a way to turn travel into a more sustainable, long-term experience. We are two travelers who chose to extend our time abroad and fund our journey by working as English teachers in Guangzhou. We were not looking for a holiday; instead,…
Kunming, China: 2-Day Itinerary
If you’re planning a trip to the Yunnan province in China, Kunming is the perfect starting point. While the city itself is rarely a major holiday destination, its location, transport links lower altitude make it a practical transit hub. We came here from Zhangjiajie to escape the summer heat in June and spent two nights…
