Questions before
you go?
What ROAM is, how the route packs work, what you book yourself, what the Chinese Digital Kit covers, and what to expect before you travel to China independently.
Search the FAQ
ROAM is a shortcut, not a travel agency.
The important distinction: we plan the route and remove the guesswork. You make the bookings and travel independently.
What exactly is a ROAM route pack?
A ROAM route pack is a digital PDF travel guide built around one specific China itinerary . It gives you a structured itinerary for each stop, curated accommodation, transport guidance, bilingual address cards and practical local information.
It is designed to remove the research and decision-making that normally takes hours when planning a China trip independently.
Are you a travel agency or tour operator?
No. ROAM creates independent travel guides. We don’t operate tours, arrange your trip as an agency, or travel with you.
You remain in control. You choose your dates, make your bookings, pay suppliers directly and travel independently.
Is ROAM a custom itinerary service?
No. ROAM sells carefully built routes rather than bespoke trip planning. The advantage is that the key decisions have already been made for you: where to stay, how to move between stops, what to prioritise and how to structure your time.
You can then adapt the pace around your own travel dates and preferences.
Why should I trust ROAM?
I built ROAM after my own disappointing solo travel experiences in China. I was stuck in dead neighborhoods, in generic budget chains. I knew I could find better for a similar budget, so I started keeping obsessive notes on how to find the boutique lofts, heritage courtyards, and vibrant neighborhoods instead.
ROAM is the exact research I wish I had back then—tested and refined over multiple trips. I am not a faceless agency; I am the traveler who is giving you the exact trip I wanted.
What makes ROAM different from a normal China guide?
Most travel guides are designed to give you information. ROAM is designed to give you decisions .
Instead of a long list of hotels, restaurants and attractions, the route gives you a clear journey to follow, with practical details around the places you are actually visiting.
Which route is right for me?
There isn’t one “best” China route. The seven packs are deliberately different.
What are the seven routes?
01 · Past & Future — €99 · 17 nights
Beijing to Shanghai via the Great Wall, Aranya,
Nanjing, Suzhou and Hangzhou.
02 · Above the Clouds — €79 · 13 nights
Chengdu to Changsha through Sichuan and Hunan,
including Chongqing, Zhangjiajie and Fenghuang.
03 · The Silk Road — €79 · 12 nights
Xi’an to Dunhuang through Lanzhou, Zhangye and Jiayuguan.
04 · Island Time — €49 · 6 nights
Haikou and Sanya for a compact tropical China escape.
05 · Coast Escape — €49 · 6 nights
Qingdao and Laoshan for coast, food, architecture and mountains.
06 · The Wild West — €79 · 8 nights
Urumqi, Turpan and Kashgar — desert, Silk Road history and the far west.
07 · The Diaspora Coast — €89 · 15 nights
Guangzhou to Xiamen via southern China’s historic
coastal and diaspora landscapes.
Which route is best for a first trip to China?
If you want the broadest introduction to China’s historic and modern east, Route 01 — Past & Future is the natural starting point.
If you already know you want something more unusual, Routes 03, 06 and 07 take you well beyond the standard first-time itinerary.
Can I combine routes?
Yes. ROAM offers bundles for travellers who want to build a longer China trip from more than one route.
How long are the routes?
The seven routes range from 6 nights to 17 nights . The exact duration and stops are shown on each route page.
Are the routes suitable for independent travellers?
Yes. Independent travel is the point of the product. You will still make your own bookings, navigate stations and airports, use local transport and make day-to-day decisions.
ROAM’s role is to make that process easier and less stressful.
What about the Chinese Digital Kit?
The Digital Kit is there to answer the practical questions that become important once you’re actually in China: payments, connectivity, trains, transport and what to do when something doesn’t work.
What is the Chinese Digital Kit?
The Chinese Digital Kit is a practical companion included with every ROAM route pack.
It covers the digital systems independent travellers are likely to use in China, including payments, VPNs, eSIMs, trains, DiDi, translation and troubleshooting.
Do I need both Alipay and WeChat Pay?
The Digital Kit recommends setting up both before departure. Different merchants and services can favour different payment systems, so having both gives you a useful backup.
The guide walks you through the setup process for international travellers.
Do I need a VPN?
If you need access to services that may be restricted in mainland China, such as Google services, Gmail, WhatsApp or Instagram, the Digital Kit explains the role of VPNs and the preparation involved.
The practical advice is to install and test your setup before you leave home rather than trying to solve connectivity problems after arrival.
What about eSIMs and mobile data?
The Digital Kit covers eSIM preparation and the basics of getting connected during the trip.
The important point is to set up and test the solution before travelling so you aren’t trying to troubleshoot mobile connectivity after landing.
Does it explain how to book Chinese trains?
Yes. The Digital Kit explains the basics of 12306 as well as the easier booking route through Trip.com.
It covers the practical details that matter to foreign travellers, including passports, booking, payment, seats and stations.
What is DiDi and do I need it?
DiDi is a ride-hailing service used in China. The Digital Kit explains how it fits into the wider transport setup and how travellers can prepare to use it.
What if I can’t read Chinese?
The Digital Kit covers translation tools and practical ways to work with Chinese-language interfaces.
The route packs also provide bilingual address information so you can show important destinations directly from your phone.
What happens if something doesn’t work?
The Digital Kit includes a troubleshooting section for common problems involving payments, connectivity, transport apps and verification.
It is designed so you have a practical fallback rather than having to search the internet for a solution while travelling.
What about hotels and trains?
ROAM makes the important accommodation and transport decisions easier. You still make the bookings and remain in control of the trip.
What kind of hotels does ROAM select?
ROAM does not simply pick the most expensive hotel, the most familiar international chain, or the cheapest property with a high rating.
The selection is about the right hotel for the route . We look for properties that make the itinerary easier and more enjoyable — especially location, access to the places you’re actually visiting, overall atmosphere, practicality, and value for the type of trip.
That can mean a well-located city hotel in a major centre, a smaller design-led property in an interesting neighbourhood, or a more distinctive stay that makes sense for the landscape and character of a particular stop.
The goal is not “luxury for luxury’s sake.” It is to give you a good base for experiencing the place rather than treating the hotel as the destination itself.
What makes ROAM different from a typical tour operator?
Traditional operators don’t just add a small fee; by the time you stack the international operator’s margin on top of the local ground operator’s (DMC) margin, the markup can easily reach 60% or more. This is exactly why they stick you in generic corporate chains in dead districts—it’s the cheapest, easiest logistics for *them*.
ROAM removes the middleman and their markups entirely. We give you direct booking links to Trip.com and curated, design-led hotels in the most vibrant neighborhoods. You end up paying the exact ground rate—often the same price as a budget chain—but getting a unique, boutique stay in the heart of the city.
Why does hotel location matter so much in the ROAM guides?
Because a good hotel in the wrong place can make an itinerary noticeably worse.
ROAM therefore considers how useful the hotel’s location is for the actual route: access to neighbourhoods, stations, restaurants, key sights and the daily flow of the itinerary.
The idea is simple: spend less time crossing the city just to get back to your hotel.
Are the hotels mostly luxury hotels?
No. ROAM is not built around luxury accommodation.
The selection is designed around character, location, comfort and value rather than star rating alone.
Depending on the route, that may mean a stylish city property, a smaller local hotel, a distinctive guesthouse, or a practical hotel in the right part of town.
Do you book hotels for me?
No. The route pack gives you the recommended property and relevant booking link, but you make and pay for the booking yourself .
This keeps the travel arrangement in your hands and avoids adding an agency markup to the hotel booking.
Why does ROAM use Trip.com?
Many of our curated boutique and heritage hotels are easier for international travellers to book through Trip.com, especially when you need an English interface and international payments. By linking directly to the property, you see the real-time price without the 60% tour operator and DMC markup.
You pay the exact ground rate, and no agency takes a cut of your bed.
Are the Trip.com links affiliate links?
Some Trip.com links are affiliate links. If you book through one, ROAM may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you .
Hotel selection is based on the property’s suitability for the route, not on commission alone.
Can I book somewhere else?
Yes. The recommendation is there to remove research and decision-making, but you are free to book the same property elsewhere or contact the hotel directly.
Simple pricing. Real-world estimates.
Route packs are digital travel guides. Your purchase covers the guide itself, while in-country costs are based on actual personal experience traveling these exact routes.
How does the price compare to the total trip cost?
ROAM is priced as a small, fixed planning fee—never a percentage of your trip. For a 17-day route, that’s just €2.90 per person, per day when split between two people. Compared to the 60% markup hidden in traditional tours, it’s the single best value item in your entire travel budget.
How much do the digital route packs cost?
01 · Past & Future — €99 · 17 nights (~€2.90 pp/day)
Beijing to Shanghai via the Great Wall, Aranya, Nanjing, Suzhou and Hangzhou.
02 · Above the Clouds — €79 · 13 nights (~€3.00 pp/day)
Chengdu to Changsha through Sichuan and Hunan, including Chongqing, Zhangjiajie and Fenghuang.
03 · The Silk Road — €79 · 12 nights (~€3.30 pp/day)
Xi’an to Dunhuang through Lanzhou, Zhangye and Jiayuguan.
04 · Island Time — €49 · 6 nights (~€4.00 pp/day)
Haikou and Sanya for a compact tropical China escape.
05 · Coast Escape — €49 · 6 nights (~€4.00 pp/day)
Qingdao and Laoshan for coast, food, architecture and mountains.
06 · The Wild West — €79 · 8 nights (~€4.90 pp/day)
Urumqi, Turpan and Kashgar — desert, Silk Road history and the far west.
07 · The Diaspora Coast — €89 · 15 nights (~€2.90 pp/day)
Guangzhou to Xiamen via southern China’s historic coastal and diaspora landscapes.
How are the in-country cost estimates calculated?
All in-country price estimates inside the route packs are based on direct personal experience traveling these exact itineraries . They reflect actual spending across our curated accommodation choices, high-speed rail, local transit, meals, and site entry fees.
To give you a realistic budget, each guide breaks down costs for both Solo Travellers (single occupancy) and Duo Travellers (per person sharing a twin/double room). Baseline figures reflect standard shoulder-season travel (April–May, September–October).
What does the Estimated In-Country Total cover? Can I spend less?
The estimates are a comfortable baseline based on what we actually spent on curated hotels, transport, and food. But China offers something for every budget.
Once you’re in-country, you can take the metro or a private DiDi, eat at local dumpling stalls or fine dining. The guide removes the anxiety of the unknown—you get the baseline, and you have total control to adjust your spending up or down based on your personal style.
Are the cost estimates guaranteed?
No. In-country cost figures are tested planning estimates, not guaranteed prices . Actual spending will vary based on your travel dates, dining preferences, and personal pace.
Peak Season Note: Traveling during high-demand periods like National Golden Week (early October) or peak summer (July–August) can increase hotel rates and train availability costs by 30% to 50%.
What isn’t included in the guide price?
The route-pack price covers the digital guide and its curated intelligence. It does not include your international flights, visa application fees, travel insurance, or direct payments to hotels, railways, and attractions.
You book and pay for transport and accommodation directly through recommended platforms like Trip.com with zero agency markups.
Do you offer bundle discounts?
Yes. ROAM offers multi-route bundles for travellers who want to combine journeys across China.
What’s your refund policy?
Route packs are digital products, and sales are final upon download, subject to the terms stated on the site.
If you experience a technical problem accessing your files, contact ROAM support and we’ll resolve the issue immediately.
A few things to know before you fly.
Do I need a visa for China?
Visa requirements depend on your nationality and can change. Check the current rules for your nationality before travel.
Do not rely on an old guide or booking page for current entry requirements.
When is the best time to travel?
There isn’t one perfect month for the whole of China. The best time depends on the route, but April–May and September–October are generally the most comfortable periods for many of the ROAM itineraries.
Spring (April–May) is a strong choice for the eastern, central and southern routes, with generally comfortable temperatures for cities, historic sites and walking-heavy days.
Autumn (September–October) is another particularly good window, with pleasant conditions across many routes and often clearer, cooler days. Early October can be busy and more expensive around Golden Week (October 1–7).
Summer (July–August) can still work, especially for travellers prioritising high-altitude or western routes, but many cities are hot, humid or rainy and accommodation can be more expensive.
Winter can be excellent for quieter travel and colder destinations, while Hainan’s southern routes remain attractive for warmer weather. Conditions vary significantly between regions.
The route pages give more specific seasonal context for each itinerary, so use the individual route as the final guide when choosing your dates.
Do I need to be comfortable travelling independently?
Yes. ROAM is designed for independent travellers. You will still make your own bookings, navigate stations and airports, use local transport and make day-to-day decisions.
The guide is there to make that process easier and less stressful.
Can I use the guides on my phone?
Yes. The route packs are delivered as PDF files. They’re designed to be used on your phone while travelling, with important addresses and practical information easy to reference.
What happens next?
How do I receive my route pack?
Your purchase gives you access to the digital PDF route pack. Delivery is handled digitally, so there is nothing to ship.
Should I read the whole guide before travelling?
You don’t need to memorise it. The guide is designed as a working travel document: use the itinerary while travelling and refer to the relevant sections when you need them.
Do you update the guides?
The current route collection is the 2026 edition .
Digital services, apps, prices and travel policies can change, so always check current provider information before departure.
Who do I contact if I have a problem with my purchase?
For problems accessing your files or questions about the route pack itself, contact support@roamtravel.eu .
For problems with a hotel or train booking made through Trip.com, contact Trip.com’s customer support directly.
Stop researching.
Start choosing.
Seven routes. Seven different ways through China. Find the one that fits the trip you want to have.
Explore the 7 Routes → Still have a question? Email us →