Beijing

Shanghai

Beaches

Hong Kong

Airlines

Air China

China Eastern

China Southern

Shangdong Air

Shanghai Airlines

Sichuan Airlines

Thai

A single entry visa for UK passport holders only costs £30, you can apply direct to the embassy and they will turn it around in 4 working days; there is no need to use any of the visa companies who want to charge you for getting a Chinese visa.

For Hong Kong, UK passport holders can enter for up to 180 days without a visa. As with many other countries in Asia, it is far easier to visit China than was the case not so long ago.

Currently, only around 250,000 visitors from the UK make the trip each year. With the interest in the Beijing Olypics in 2008, the ease of travel to the country itself in terms of visas, and the great flight offers as a result of competition on the route, those tourist numbers are likely to rise rapidly.

KLM/Air France and Swiss generally show good availability for Shanghai routing through Europe at or around the £450 mark, whilst Beijing has the same availability but with the Middle Eastern carriers offering an alternative.

For those wishing to visit China from another Asian hub, Bangkok is a good place to start with China Eastern and Thai flying several times daily.

Favourite Useless China Statistic

There are fewer McDonalds restaurants per head of population in China than anywhere else on the planet.

Chinese Embassy UK

Visa Application / Advice

China Facts and Figures

Synotrip - Great Info Site

China Dot Com