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China
Terracotta armies, karst rivers, the largest high-speed rail network on Earth — and, since late 2025, direct flights from India again.
A civilisation
that runs on high-speed rail
China reopened to Indian travellers in a meaningful way in October 2025, when direct flights resumed after a five-year suspension. Services now link Delhi and Kolkata with Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Kunming, and the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra has resumed alongside them. For a generation of Indian travellers who had effectively written the country off, it is available again.
What is on the other side is a country that has become extraordinarily easy to move around. The high-speed rail network is the largest in the world and has turned journeys that used to take a day into a few hours — Beijing to Xi’an in around four and a half, Shanghai to Hangzhou in under an hour. A first trip that once required domestic flights and lost days now works as a rail itinerary.
The classic route remains the right one: Beijing for the Forbidden City and the Great Wall, Xi’an for the terracotta army, and Shanghai for the contrast of the Bund and the water towns beyond it. Add Guilin and the Li River if you want the landscape China puts on its own banknotes, or Chengdu for pandas and Sichuan food. The visa is the only genuinely demanding part of the trip.
The classic route,
and what to add
A first visit is normally Beijing, Xi’an and Shanghai, linked by high-speed rail.
When to go to China
A country this large has no single season, but the shoulder months work almost everywhere and the national holidays should be avoided.
How long you need
for China
The classic triangle needs ten nights. Adding landscape or Chengdu takes it to a fortnight.
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China entry — plan the visa first
Indian passport holders need a tourist visa obtained in advance. There is no visa on arrival and no electronic authorisation.
The L visa is the tourist category. Applications are made in person at a Chinese Visa Application Service Centre in Delhi, Mumbai or Kolkata, cost roughly ₹4,900 all in, and take about four to six working days. The requirement that changes how you plan is documentary: the application needs confirmed flight tickets, confirmed hotel bookings, a day-by-day itinerary and six months of bank statements. A typical grant is thirty days per entry with ninety days’ validity from issue.
Most destinations let you obtain a visa and then book. China requires confirmed flights and hotels as part of the application, so use refundable rates or an operator who can hold the bookings until the visa is issued.
China is effectively cashless and runs on Alipay and WeChat Pay. Both now accept international cards, but linking them takes time and is far easier done at home than at an airport counter.
Golden Week in the first days of October and Chinese New Year are the two periods to avoid. Domestic travel volumes make trains, sites and hotels genuinely difficult, and prices rise sharply.
For all China journeys we design, we prepare your complete visa documentation package — the forms, the supporting documents, the sequence of submission. Our visa specialists help travellers prepare complete applications with careful document guidance. Final visa decisions always remain with the relevant authorities.
China, practically speaking
China is safe, efficient and well organised. The friction is administrative and digital rather than physical.
China travel FAQ
What Indian travellers ask most before booking.
China for every kind
of traveller
The rail network means a first trip can cover three or four cities comfortably. What varies is whether you lead with history, landscape or food.
The Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven, a section of the Great Wall away from the crowds, and then the terracotta army and the intact Ming walls of Xi’an — four and a half hours apart by train.
The high-speed network is the most efficient way to see China and a genuine experience in itself. Passports are required to collect tickets, and stations operate like airports — arrive early.
The Li River between Guilin and Yangshuo is the karst landscape China puts on its own currency, best seen by bamboo raft or on the cycle routes through the valley.
The Chengdu research base is the most reliable place in the world to see giant pandas, and the city is the home of Sichuan cooking and of teahouse culture.
The Yatra has resumed alongside the direct flights. It is a demanding high-altitude journey requiring official arrangements well in advance and is not a conventional tourist itinerary.
The classic triangle takes ten nights. Tell us whether you want landscape or pandas added and we will route the rail.
How far in advance
to book China
China needs more lead time than most destinations, because the visa requires confirmed bookings rather than intentions.
The visa application needs a day-by-day plan matching your hotel bookings.
Confirmed flights and hotels are required before the visa can be submitted.
CVASC appointments in Delhi, Mumbai or Kolkata; allow four to six working days.
Link an international card to Alipay or WeChat Pay before departure.