About the Guide

A Thousand Li is named for an old proverb — 千里之行，始于足下, "a journey of a thousand li begins with a single step." It's a guide to the parts of China that don't fit on a weekend itinerary: the overnight sleeper trains, the misted mountain valleys, and the old towns most itineraries skip.

China is less a country than a continent, and most of it sits well off the standard tourist trail. The aim here is simple — to look further than the average guidebook, favour the slow road over the fast one, and lay it all out clearly and honestly: which places are worth the detour, which aren't, and exactly how to get to each. Everything is carefully researched from reputable sources and kept current, with the facts that matter most — visa rules, transport, opening times — checked before each guide goes out.

What you'll find here

Every guide is meant to be useful as well as a good read. Across the site you'll find:

• Travel by region — from the karst rivers of Guangxi to the snow passes of the Tibetan plateau, organised so you can start where the landscape pulls you.
• Routes & itineraries — real, walkable plans rather than greatest-hits checklists.
• Practical guides — visas, trains, payments, eSIMs and the small logistics that make independent travel in China far easier than it looks.
• Food & photography — where to eat, and where to stand at dawn for the light.

How this guide is made

The focus is slow, independent, budget-aware travel. The guide favours guesthouses over chains, buses and sleeper trains over flights where it makes sense, and the kind of small towns most tours rush past. Each piece is built by pulling together reputable sources — official tourism and transport information, UNESCO and heritage records, and well-regarded travel writing — then organising it into something practical and genuinely useful. Where details change often, like visa policy and train times, they're verified against current sources before publishing and dated so you can see how fresh they are. No breathless superlatives — just places described as accurately as the research allows.

A note on independence

A Thousand Li is reader-supported. Some guides include affiliate links — for accommodation, gear, insurance and the like — and if you book or buy through them, the site may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It's what keeps the lights on and the guides free to read.

Who's behind it

A Thousand Li is a small, independent project, researched, written and illustrated by one person with a deep interest in China and a stubborn preference for the long way round. To be upfront: it's built on careful research rather than a claim to have personally walked every trail here — the goal is to gather the best available information, sources and local knowledge into clear, honest, genuinely useful guides, and to keep them current. Being small and independent is exactly why it can stay that way: there's no advertiser or sponsor deciding what gets recommended. Spotted something out of date, or know a place we should cover? Corrections and tips are always welcome at {{CONTACT_EMAIL}}.