Travel Guides
Plan Your Trip to Ancient China
Everything you need before you fly — booking museum tickets with a foreign passport, the visa-free transit rule, trains, SIM cards, and paying like a local. Every step on this page was tested with a real passport, not copied from a brochure.
Passport tested
Firsthand visits
Updated August 2026
Verified prices
Booking museum tickets with a foreign passport
Most top-tier museums in China — Sanxingdui and the Shaanxi History Museum most of all — sell tickets only through official WeChat mini-programs, often 3–7 days ahead, and the best weekend slots can vanish within minutes. A few big sites (the Terracotta Warriors) still sell at the window, but expect 1–2 hour queues in peak season. Here is the exact flow we used with a foreign passport.
- 1
Open the museum's official WeChat mini-program
In WeChat, tap Search (搜索) and look up the museum — e.g. "三星堆博物馆" (Sanxingdui) or "陕西历史博物馆" (Shaanxi History Museum). Use the official account, usually marked with a blue verification badge.
- 2
Tap 门票预约 / "Ticket Booking" and pick a date & session
Slots typically open 5–7 days ahead at a fixed release time. For Sanxingdui, the new museum sells a morning and an afternoon session — book the 8:30 opening to beat the tour buses.
- 3
Add a visitor and choose 护照 (Passport) as the ID type
This is the step that trips up most foreigners. Under ID type, select 护照 — not 身份证 (resident ID, which you don't have). Enter your passport number and name exactly as printed in the machine-readable zone.
- 4
Pay and save the QR confirmation
Pay with WeChat Pay (link a foreign Visa/Mastercard first — see Payments). Screenshot the booking QR. At the gate you scan that QR and show the physical passport — no printout needed.
Passport Tested: we completed this exact flow on a foreign passport for Sanxingdui, the Shaanxi History Museum, and the Hunan Museum. The "护照" option exists on all of them — you do not need a Chinese ID.
Visa & the 240-hour visa-free transit
Citizens of 54 countries can enter China without a visa for up to 10 days (240 hours) when transiting onward to a third country or region. All the gateway cities on this site — Hangzhou, Chengdu, Xi'an — are covered ports.
You qualify if you have…
- An onward ticket out of China within 10 days
- Entry and exit through designated ports in the same region
- A passport valid 3+ months beyond entry
If you need a full visa
- Tourist (L) visa: apply at a Chinese embassy before you fly
- Allow 4–10 working days; some consulates offer e-visa
- Carry a printed itinerary and the first-night hotel booking
Rules change — confirm your exact nationality and route against the official Chinese visa policy before booking flights.
Getting between cities by high-speed rail
China's high-speed rail connects nearly every site on this site, and you book with your passport on official channels. E-tickets are scanned by passport at the gate — no paper collection, no queue at a ticket window.
12306 (official) — bookRail.app / trip.com as backups
12306 is the state railway app and accepts foreign passports, but the English UI is rough. trip.com mirrors the same seats with a clean English interface and the same passport e-ticket. Xi'an–Chengdu is ~3 hours; Xi'an–Anyang ~2.5 hours.
At the station
Arrive 30–40 min early. Scan your passport at the automated gate (not a code). Hangzhou→Chengdu is long enough that most travelers fly instead of taking the train.
SIM cards, eSIMs & staying connected
Every booking mini-program, map, and translator needs data. Plan this before you land.
eSIM (easiest): activate a China-eSIM (Airalo, Holafly, etc.) before you fly. Data works the moment you land.
Tourist SIM: grab one at the airport arrivals hall (China Mobile / Unicom). Bring your passport — registration is mandatory.
Maps: Google Maps is unreliable in mainland China. Download Amap (高德) or Baidu Maps (百度) and WeChat before you arrive.
Money & paying like a local
China is almost cashless. Set this up once and you'll pay everywhere by QR code.
Alipay & WeChat Pay
Both now support foreign Visa/Mastercard with an English UI. Verify with your passport before you fly and you pay like a local.
Keep cash as backup
Taxis, street food, and small museums still prefer cash. Carry ¥500–1,000 in small notes; airport ATMs take international cards.
Cards work, barely
Big hotels and some chains take Visa/Mastercard, but don't rely on them for taxis, market food, or museum gates. Treat the card as plan C.
Do you actually need a tour guide?
Honest answer: usually no. Every site on this guide has English signage and tickets bookable by passport. A licensed guide earns its 300–600 CNY/day when you want deeper history (Terracotta Warriors, Yin Xu) or are heading somewhere remote like Qianling. For the 10-day itinerary, skip the guide and spend the budget on better hotels.
Ready to pick your sites?
Use the full planning guide above, then browse the sites and build a route that fits your dates.
Last updated: September 4, 2026. Written by Alex Chen.