For scale and depth few countries can match. China offers several thousand years of civilisation and some of the world's great sights — the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Terracotta Army, Shanghai's skyline — alongside extraordinary landscapes, from karst rivers to the Tibetan plateau, and one of the planet's deepest food cultures. It is vast, varied and changing fast, and repays the curious like almost nowhere else.

Where should you start in China?

Hong Kong is the easiest and most worthwhile entry point — visa-free for many, intensely characterful, and a destination in its own right, which is where the club's China hotels are found. On the mainland, most first trips anchor on Beijing for history, Xi'an for the Terracotta Army, and Shanghai for the modern city, often linked by high-speed rail.

When is the best time to visit China?

Spring (April to May) and autumn (September to October) are the most comfortable across most of the country, with mild, clear weather ideal for sightseeing. The northern winter is bitterly cold and the southern summer hot and humid; the major public holidays, especially the October Golden Week and Chinese New Year, see huge domestic travel and are best avoided.

Is it easy to travel around China?

On the ground, yes — the high-speed rail network is fast, vast and excellent, and domestic flights are plentiful. The friction is in the setup: most visitors to the mainland need a visa, and the country runs on its own apps and mobile-payment systems that are worth arranging in advance. Hong Kong is far simpler, visa-free for many and easy to navigate.

How long do you need in China?

For the mainland highlights — Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai — a week to ten days is a sensible minimum, given the distances even by fast rail. Hong Kong works as a self-contained three-to-four-day trip, or as a gateway bolted onto a longer mainland itinerary. China repays more time than most countries; few visitors feel they have seen enough.

Boutique Hotels in China - Heritage & Design Stays

Hong Kong

For most travellers, Hong Kong is the natural way into the Chinese world — a former British colony turned global city where Cantonese culture, colonial history and a startling skyline meet on a tiny, vertical stretch of coast. It splits between Hong Kong Island, with its heritage streets, design-led hotels and nightlife; Kowloon across the harbour, denser and more local; and the green outlying islands, Lantau chief among them, with their monasteries, beaches and fishing villages. It is where all of the club's China hotels are found, and an easy, characterful stay in its own right.

Where to stay: the club lists six boutique hotels across Hong Kong, from heritage and design addresses in Central and Causeway Bay on the Island, through culture-led and harbour-view boutiques in Kowloon, to the remarkable Tai O Heritage Hotel — a restored 1902 police station above a stilt-house fishing village on Lantau. Each is covered in detail on the Hong Kong page.

The mainland

The mainland is the next frontier, and worth being opinionated about. If you have one trip, make it Beijing: the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the wild, unrestored stretches of the Great Wall beyond the tourist sections justify it alone. Xi'an earns its place for the Terracotta Army and the Muslim Quarter's street food; Shanghai is the one for travellers who want the modern country, its Bund and art-deco bones against China's most cosmopolitan present. Beyond the big three, the country opens up the further you go — the karst rivers of Guilin and Yangshuo, the pandas and fire-hot cooking of Chengdu, the canal towns of Suzhou and Hangzhou, and, for those with time and nerve, Tibet by the world's highest railway. It is some of the most absorbing travel in Asia, and the obvious direction for the club to grow.

Practicalities

China repays a little planning. Most nationalities need a visa, while Hong Kong is visa-free for many and makes the easiest first step; the mainland runs on its own mobile-payment and apps ecosystem that takes some setting up before you go. The high-speed rail network, by contrast, is a pleasure — fast, vast and far cheaper than flying. Spring, in April and May, and autumn, in September and October, are the most comfortable seasons, sidestepping the harsh northern winter and the humid southern summer.