If you missed the Part 1 &2, you can read previous posts here.

This was the section I hadn't overplanned. It ended up being one of the most interesting.

Fuzhou & Quanzhou — 5 nights

This is about as close to a Santa parade as you get in China. During Chinese New Year, spiritual beings, gods, and famous historical figures march through the streets — except instead of a jolly man in red promising to deliver presents more efficiently than Amazon, you get ancient figures in black beards who bring wealth, good luck, and possibly, babies. The crowds line the streets the same way. The energy is the same. Plus fireworks.

Distinct Hokkien food culture, striking architecture, strong regional identity — traditions that felt genuinely unlike anywhere else on the trip.

Quanzhou's UNESCO old town is layered with maritime history — quiet and photogenic.

The photoshoot culture here is specific and wonderful — Fuzhou's "three knives" hairpins, Quanzhou's fresh-flower wreaths. Different from Xi'an, different from Hangzhou. Each city has its own version of traditional dress and its own way of making you look like you belong there.

Hotels: ~¥400/night · Activities: ~¥250/person Tip: hiring a guide in Quanzhou made a significant difference.

What I wish we added: an extra day trip to see the historic residential buildings shaped like a circle - the setting for the beautifully animated film “Big Fish & Begonia”.

Hangzhou — 4 nights

West Lake at sunset. Mist, willows and pagodas. The classic image of Hangzhou, and it totally earned it.

We skipped the tourist boat and took the local bus boat instead — equally beautiful, passes through lived streets, costs $0.50 for 20 minutes.

The Florasis makeup experience in the main shopping district is definitely worth doing for the story alone — a renowned Chinese beauty brand with a flagship store, free makeup session, and a beauty ideal (flawlessly pale skin, peachy blush, natural-looking effortless lashes) that is extremely specific and not remotely my cup of tea. I did spend $50 on mascaras, feeling guilty about the time the artist spent trying to cover my freckles. The mascara was actually lovely. I walked around for the rest of the day not feeling like myself, which is perhaps the most honest review I can give.

Hangzhou is also the setting of one of China's most famous love stories — the White Snake legend. We watched the animated films before and during the trip (White Snake 2019 and Green Snake 2021) and it made the city feel like it had a whole additional layer. Love, sacrifice, morality and sisterhood — I don't pretend to fully unpack what's in there. But it is really beautiful aesthetically, genuinely interesting discussion fodder while wandering the streets.

Hotels: ~¥500/night · Activities: ~¥200/person

If we had another day, OMG amusement park was definitely on the list. It delivers exactly what the name promises — which is to say, a lot of screaming, but not the bad kind.

Yiwu — 2 nights

I sold this to my daughter as "the centre of the universe," which is not entirely inaccurate. Think about the entire supply chain behind every cheap thing you've ever ordered online, concentrated into a single city.

Walls of hello kitties, Labubus and knockoff jellycats.

African stone figurines and woven baskets.

Thousands of stores of jewelry, sports equipment, outdoor wear, plastic tupperware.

You walk through it and realise: this is where everything comes from.

but Most of it is wholesale only, so don't expect to come home with to much.

My daughter came home with a bread-scented squishy, several boxes of slime in various configurations, a collection of keychains, and a Tamagotchi-style device with seemingly infinite battery life.

I came home with an appreciation for global manufacturing that I did not previously have.

Also: the best kebabs in China.

Hotels: ~¥250/night · Activities: free Honest take: strange, fascinating, worth seeing once

Hengdian — day trip from Yiwu

Film sets used for actual productions, most 1:1 copies of the actual palaces — the majority of Chinese drama and movies set in ancient cities are filmed here. Famous for the NPC interactions - dressed up characters that play their roles. Games, competitions, and you can win fake cash to redeem souvenirs at the exit.

You can dress up and participate in a mock production, see the result on the director's camera, watch 4D movies, and get a surprisingly good sense of Chinese architectural history across different dynasties.

Over 100 activities and performances throughout the day, scattered all through the park.

About 40 minutes from Yiwu by Didi. We only had a day and it wasn't enough.

Activities: ~¥400/person Honest take: surreal, especially with kids

Suzhou — 2 nights

Classical gardens with a design philosophy that rewards slowing down. Canals running through the old town. and is a quieter place for a enjoyable stroll.

A good place to land before going home — or before going back to Shanghai, which is 30 minutes away by high-speed train for less than the price of a coffee.

Hotels: ~¥400/night · Activities: ~¥150/person Honest take: a quiet, necessary ending

For the two of us, six weeks came to approximately ¥60,000 yuan.

That's roughly $10K CAD or AUD, $9K USD, €8K. Flights not included.

Shanghai pushed costs up. Yunnan pulled them down.

Slow travel is considerably cheaper, a very comfortable lifestyle with lots of activities is doable in most cities for ¥10,000-20,000 yuan for a family.

Stay longer in fewer places. Plan less in Yunnan, not more. Add proper rest days in the cities — not to recover, but to wander without purpose, which is where the best things happened.

Six weeks didn't feel long.

It felt full — of things we made, things we tasted, small moments of genuine surprise. The experiences that required us to actually show up: to a workshop, a teacher, a performance, a kitchen. The kind that leave something behind after the trip ends.

Back home, looking through photos together, my daughter kept pointing to things she wanted to do again — shows, crafts, food, hikes. Not to see more — to do more. Those are the experiences that stayed with us, and shaped how we want to travel next.

That's what I want to help you find.

— Wen

How I planned this without it becoming a second job — apps, trains, and the small decisions that made everything easier.

Detailed city-by-city itinerary:

Logistics guide:

For more details, click below to run the numbers for your family and cities you’d like to visit, and read more on price comparisons with other travel destinations