Introduction

Whether you are on a tight budget or just money conscious, it is always a good idea to know what expenses you can expect on your travels. Obviously every trip includes the cost of getting to your destination. This is usually by international airfare - unfortunately majority of places you cannot get to overland and even if you could, currently it would be very likely more expensive.

So in case of budget destinations, the factor that we need to focus on is where can we stretch our money furthest - and it that sense China can be considered a budget travel destination. Once you have your international flight costs and visa sorted, your daily budget can be quite reasonable.

In this post I will break down for you the trip to China cost on a budget.

TL;DR

You can organise a 3 week trip to China for as little as 1350$ (730$/pp for the to spend in the country, plus a plane ticket) assuming you are staying in the mid-range hotels and sticking to simple way of traveling, avoiding tourist traps and services in products targeting Westerners and affluent Chinese.

You can have a 3 week holiday as a family of 4 for 3400$.

Continue to read the article to find a detailed cost break down and tips on how to enjoy a comfortable holiday why being mindful of the budget.

What can you expect to be your daily expenditure when travelling on a budget?

Your daily budget on a non-travel day during your China trip can easily be around 15-20$ (per adult). Children under 1.2m can enjoy riding on trains for free (assuming they don’t have their own seat) and can stay in hotels for free.

A family with children who still fall into the “stay and ride for free” can manage a budget of 50$ a day when your intention is just to explore the city and eat delicious food. Naturally all additional attractions have to be added separately.

Here is a breakdown of the costs you can expect on your holiday.

Hotels

The quality and prices of the hotels vary, but looking at Trip.com (which should be your default app for booking hotels in China), even in capital city of Beijing there are hundreds of options under 20$/room for 2 people. If you are able to spend a bit more, around 50$ you can already get a nice room.

Public transport

Travelling around Chinese cities is cheap - really cheap! You can expect to pay few cents for a single metro ride - 2-10RMB.

Train

Train travel is cheap compared to Europe, but because China is a big country, it all depends how far you want to go and how much time you want to spend travelling - the fastest high-speed train are naturally more expensive.

Just to give you an idea of the prices, here are some examples:

Chengdu -> Chongqing (300km)

  • 20$ 2nd class on a fast train
  • 6$ 2nd class on a slow train

Beijing -> Shanghai (~1300km)

  • 80$ 2nd class on a fast train
  • 20$ hard seat on a night train
  • 40$ hard sleeper on a night train

Beijing -> Kunming (~2100km)

  • 150$ 2nd class on a fast train
  • 70$ hard sleeper on a slow train
  • 40$ hard seet on a slow train

Xi’an -> Urumqi (~2500km)

  • 60$ hard sleeper on a night train

Beijing -> Lhasa (~3700km)

  • 95$ hard sleeper
  • 45$ hard seat

Looking at these prices, when you think about train travel prices in Europe it is just incomparable - in Switzerland going from Zurich to Geneva (250km) on a full price ticket would cost you 90$ - same amount of money that can get you from Beijing to Lhasa on a sleeper train!

Street Food

Food costs are cheap. Really cheap. Unless you go to a fancy restaurant - where you still probably will end up paying not more than 80$ - your daily budget should not exceed 10$. You can easily buy a hearty bowl of noodles or dumplings for 20RMB, which is a little over 2$. 8$ per day is more than enough!

Souvenirs and everyday items

Since everything is made in China anyway, it is not surprising that every no name item is cheap. To give you an example - in Chongqing we bought a “bian lian” toy figure that cost 10RMB (1.3$). In an Asian supermarket in Zurich I have seen almost the same toy for 13CHF -10 times the price!

You can buy an umbrella for 10RMB (1.3$) - and be sure that if it is raining there will be someone selling them 😄

Naturally, buying artisan and branded goods is a different story - a bespoke designer shop will definitely have pricey items on the shelves - although still cheaper than in the West.

When planning your China tour, consider budgeting for souvenirs and everyday items, as they are often much cheaper than in other countries.

Entrance to tourist attractions

Entrance tickets to the tourist attractions are also reasonably priced. Here are some examples:

Great Wall of China (Badaling) - 40RMB/5$

Terracotta Army Xi'an - 120RMB/15$

Chengdu Panda Research Center - 55RMB/65$

Additional costs

Additionally to the costs of traveling around China, you need to add a cost of a plane ticket and a visa. Make sure you book in advance, and you can get a plane ticket for around 600$.

The cost of visa is around 150$, which is a lot compared to the rest of your costs

A HACK for budget-minded travellers - travel visa-free!

Since the end of 2023 China has been introducing a trial visa-free travel for up to 15 days for multiple countries.

And the list is growing. There is no limit of how many total days you can stay in China as long as each stay is up to 15 day each. There is also no limitation on how you enter the country. This visa scheme is currently time limited, but it is a great way to travel visa-free for many (not only) European counries.

This means you can lower the costs of your trip significantly by sticking to those 15 days, but also by including Hong Kong or Macau in the journey, as those count as exits from "Mainland China".

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