Journalist Eamon Donoghue shares his insights for holidaying in China, from booking flights to visiting the Great Wall.
Standing atop the Great Wall as it stretched like a stone dragon across the mountains, or exploring the magical intricacies of the Forbidden City, one thought often came to mind: How incredibly lucky I am to be here, experiencing a place so few people I know have seen for themselves.
China is a fascinating and unique holiday destination - rich in history, culture, and modern marvels - but it's not a typical holiday.
Much like climbing the Great Wall itself, travelling here is incredibly rewarding, yet it requires significant research and preparation. While China is welcoming, safe, and impressively modern, it’s not a country or society built with Western tourists in mind.
Access to taxis, public transport, navigation, booking/ticketing services and day-to-day financial transactions are all managed through Chinese apps. Expect few places to accept cash or card, lots of physical security checks and cameras, and for your passport to become your key to everything from hotel check-ins to museum entries and even public Wi-Fi.
English is not widely spoken, and signage or menus in English can be scarce.
Even in the most international cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, there are many cultural differences; less pleasantries and more skipping queues being two. But all in all, I found the Chinese people to be helpful and kind hosts in the most practical way.
Visiting China can be a challenge, yes - but if you are well prepared, you’ll witness some of the most significant and inspiring historical sites on earth, as well as the opportunity to experience a different way of life, in a hyper-modern, functional and efficient country.
Before you go
As of November 2024, Irish passport holders have had access to 30 days of visa-free travel to China, and with direct flights from Dublin to Beijing now resumed by Hainan Airlines, getting there is easier - but spontaneous trips still aren’t realistic.
The most important thing to organise before leaving is your phone setup. To access Google, Instagram, WhatsApp and other everyday tools (all blocked in China), download a VPN before you go.
Equally important is Alipay, China’s main payment app - used for everything from metro rides to buying snacks or booking a taxi via DiDi (China’s Uber).
Set it up in advance, ideally while still receiving texts via roaming, which will make organising a taxi from the airport to your hotel a lot smoother.
Trip.com is essential for booking hotels, bullet or sleeper trains, and attractions. WeChat is China’s version of WhatsApp, used for messaging and mobile payments - crucial when dealing with tour guides. While few locals speak English, Baidu Translate helps you scan signs, menus, and hold basic two-way conversations.
A good eSIM (like Airalo), adapter, and battery pack are essentials. I’ve never relied on my phone more - you’ll be lost without it - so keep it charged and operational.
For a capital city, gyms are limited in Beijing, so locals often exercise outdoors. You'll see public fitness machines, tai chi and jianzi (a shuttlecock game). If a gym matters, choose a hotel with one - I stayed at The Livefortuna Hotel, inside Beijing’s second ring road, which is a great location to explore from.
Beijing is structured around a series of concentric ring roads, each one circling further out from the city centre. At its core is the Forbidden City, the former imperial palace, with Tiananmen Square and the Communist Party’s central leadership compound just south - now very much the symbolic and political heart of modern China.
Seasons vary there more than expected. I went in spring, and while it snowed once - on the Great Wall - it was mostly sunny. Summer is hot, humid, and crowded - which means thousands at major sites, long queues, and packed transport. Guides suggest travelling in autumn, for mild, clearer skies, and thinner crowds.
When you’re there
China is generally much more affordable than Dublin - for food, transport, accommodation, tours and experiences. Most tourists I met were relying on GetYourGuide to book the latter, however, I went through my hotel, which used a company called Beijing Tours.
Top of my list was the Great Wall - built over centuries, it stretches for thousands of kilometres across mountains and desert.
I visited the Mutianyu section via a small cable car through the forest. Up on the wall, the stone steps are steep, uneven and tiny, intentionally designed to slow invaders, but the final climb to the main viewing point is worth every deep breath.
Another Beijing highlight is the Forbidden City - a stunning example of masterful craftsmanship and intricate numerological design with deep historical significance. Its halls feature dragon wood carvings with motifs like "double happiness" and "more babies, more happiness", reinforcing the imperial obsession with lineage and succession.
While dazzling in scale and detail, the Forbidden City’s lasting impression is one of control - a fortress built to protect the emperor and tightly regulate life, especially for women.
The Temple of Heaven, an imperial ritual complex where Ming and Qing emperors performed ceremonies to pray for good harvests and maintain cosmic harmony, is another day tour paired with The Summer Palace.
Its Echo Wall carries whispers and is popular among tourists trying to master the acoustics. The Summer Palace offers a fascinating look into imperial family dynamics - particularly the relationship between Empress Dowager Cixi and her nephew, the young Emperor Guangxu, whom she politically sidelined there.
The palace’s Long Corridor is one of the world’s longest painted walkways, featuring over 14,000 scenes of myth, history, and landscape.
Peking duck, one of Beijing’s most iconic dishes, is an experience in itself at Da Dong, one of the city’s most famous restaurants. They carve the duck in front of you and serve it piece by piece. After dinner, the city’s hutongs - narrow alleyways of old courtyard homes - are a great place to find small pubs serving local craft beers*.
These bars are relaxed and friendly, often tucked behind unmarked doors with wooden interiors and courtyard seating.
After a week in Beijing, I travelled to Xi'an on a bullet train to see The Terracotta Army. I booked via Trip.com, where I also arranged my tour guide, who picked me up and dropped me off at the station. My ticket was my passport, but be prepared for a full carriage and smaller seats.
The journey takes five hours and is incredibly fast, speeding past endless sprawling cities - offering a glimpse of China's vast population and economic growth, alongside the unmistakable environmental cost.
The Terracotta Army is over 2,000 years old and was crafted to guard the tomb of the first emperor. Thousands of life-sized clay soldiers, archers, and cavalry are still standing, although many figures have lost limbs or heads due to centuries of erosion, making it even more of a privilege to see them before further deterioration.
While it's difficult to get a clear view around the crowded edges of the pits, the adjacent museum displays some of the best-preserved warriors up close.
The backdrop
Without drifting into political commentary, it’s fair to say that the security presence in China is immediately noticeable.
Beijing feels exceptionally safe: public spaces are clean, transport runs on time, and the police, when approached, are courteous and helpful. But the level of surveillance is unlike anything most foreigners are used to. You’ll be required to show your passport to book trains, buy tickets, or enter many attractions, and there are often eight or more cameras on virtually every street corner, traffic light, and public square.
Army and police patrols are common, and the further you move into the city’s symbolic and political heart, the more intense it becomes.
Nowhere is this more striking than at Tiananmen Square. Eerie initially in the context of being the scene of the horrific 1989 student massacre by the Chinese Communist Party, it is now primarily used as a grand display of military strength.
Despite its vast size, entry requires booking a day in advance and multiple layers of stern, airport-style security. Soldiers stand on constant guard, and cameras are absolutely everywhere. A miscommunication with a previous guide had led me to believe that access was included with my Forbidden City ticket.
Presenting my passport, I tried to explain. The response, delivered via a translation app, was simple: "Entry not possible. Please cooperate." I didn’t wait for a second message.
That experience aside, the constant surveillance was more surreal and unsettling than threatening. It becomes part of the backdrop, and while it’s a cultural shock for Western travellers, most locals I spoke to described it as a fair trade for efficiency, stability, order, and peace, especially when compared to periods of chaos in the country’s past.
All in all, China is a country of contrasts. I left feeling grateful for my own sense of liberty in Ireland, but more so to have experienced the culture, and in practical terms, how incredibly well-run things can be.
More than anything, I was grateful to have seen it all for myself.
