A trip to China in 2026
In July 2026, I had the opportunity to visit China, as part of my trip around Asia and Oceania. I have always admired this country, full of contradictions and which culture stands so far away from ours.
Today, China is the second biggest economic power in the world, the second most populated country in the world and fourth by superficy. This alone is very enticing and urged me to start my visit with the economic capital Shanghai.
Moreover, considering China’s rich and dense history, I chose to visit some of the most famous chinese places such as the Great Wall or the Tian Anmen place, in Beijing!
On top of that, China’s preserved nature seemed so wonderful, I chose to go to the famous Avatar mountains in Zhangjiajie.
Throughout the trip, I tried to observe how people live in such an immense country, that is often criticized for its lack of individual freedom and lack of development. Spoiler: we, as Westerners, have a lot to learn !
So, in 2 weeks, I walked down the streets of Shanghai, saw the Bund, took 2 night trains to Beijing and the countryside, got lost in the Forbidden City and dreamed on the Great Wall, climbed the Avatar Mountains and talked to as many Chinese friends as possible!
Shanghai
In front of the Bund
Shanghai is the richest and most populated city in China and is, among others, a huge financial, technological, science and business hub. Everything is very clean in Shanghai (this is also true for the other places I visited). My first impression is that everything is so quiet, and the air seems very clean. Indeed, many pictures depict Shanghai with a huge smog and many thermal cars, but that is gone! Every car, every bus, every motorbike, is electric. MORE TO COMENight train Shanghai -> Beijing
The 6 beds !
I took a night train from Shanghai to Beijing. I did not take the plane because I was willing to use as many low-carbon means of transports as possible, eventhough China still generates 60% of its electricity from coal. Nonetheless, taking the train is much better since it lets you admire China’s beautiful countryside. Moreover, it’s way easier to meet awesome people such as my roomate :
My roommate for the trip !
Every 5 or 10 minutes, you can look through the window and see tons of huge buildings, that often collectively form cities of more than a million inhabitants. China is crazy big !
Example of gigantic city you see every 10 minutes
The trip lasted for about 15 to 20 hours. People can smoke in the parts between coaches, so it does not smell very good. But the food is great: for around 20 yuan, so around 3 euros in 2026, you can have a complete and delicious meal.
My train ticket cost me around 70-80 euros. But it was during the holidays, so maybe it was a bit more expensive than usual. Train tickets can be purchased on Trip.com, which is the app for anything “trip and transports”-related in China.
You can of course take a faster train during the day but it’s often more expensive than overnight trains.
We crossed many cities and a friend I made on the way told me about the Chinese Cities Tier List.
The view inside the night train and my friend
It is an unofficial ranking system that classifies Chinese Cities. According to Wikipedia, “Cities in different tiers often reflect differences in consumer behavior, income level, population size, consumer sophistication, infrastructure, talent pool, and business opportunity, among others”. For example, Shanghai and Beijing are in Tier 1, while Zhangjiajie is in Tier 5, according to this index.
Beijing
MORE TO COME
Zhangjiajie
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Hong-Kong
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