Stories From The Field

Real encounters, local knowledge, and practical guides from the road — stories for travelers who want to look beyond the familiar and discover the China most journeys never reach.
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China Guides

Practical advice for travelling through China with more confidence.

Close portrait of a red panda looking toward the camera
  • China Guides

What a Red Panda Search Actually Looks Like in Sichuan

Searching for wild red pandas is less about covering distance than knowing where to look. In Sichuan, it means early starts, slow forest walks, scanning feeding trees and plenty of watching and waiting.
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Snow leopard yawning while resting on a rocky slope
  • China Guides

Tracking Snow Leopards in Qinghai: What Wildlife Travelers Should Expect

A snow leopard may be the reason to travel to Qinghai, but the journey works best when you understand it as a broader search across the Tibetan Plateau.
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Symmetrical courtyard and golden-roofed palace within Beijing's Forbidden City
  • China Guides

China Travel Checklist

China is easy to enjoy once a few practical details are settled before departure. The country is large, transport is fast, and a journey may move from imperial cities to humid mountain forest or the high plateau within days. This checklist
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Red panda descending through thorny branches beside clusters of red berries
  • China Guides

Where to See Wild Lesser Pandas in China

Sichuan is the sensible place to start because it holds the world's densest population of wild red pandas — roughly 3,000–3,400 animals, close to half of China's entire 6,000–7,000
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Illuminated Chongqing skyline reflected across the river at night
  • China Guides

Chengdu vs Chongqing: Which Is Better for First-Time Visitors?

Chengdu and Chongqing offer two very different first encounters with southwest China: one is easier to settle into, while the other is built around vertical-city drama.
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Field Stories

Notes from journeys, wildlife encounters and people across China.

Ornate tiled entrance gate at Baoguang Temple framed by leafy trees
  • Field Stories

Counting Arhats at Baoguang Temple: One of Chengdu’s Most Curious Temple Traditions

Walk into Baoguang Temple in northern Chengdu and you may notice people doing something unusual. They are not simply looking at the Buddhist statues. They are counting them.
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Three red pandas moving among thorny branches and red berries
  • Field Notes, Field Stories, Wildlife

Three Red Pandas in the Rain: A Wildlife Encounter in Labahe

A rainy morning, almost no expectations, and three wild red pandas — a first wildlife-searching experience that became a lesson in patience and possibility.
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Start With A Place That Interests You

Explore China through places, wildlife and the stories behind them.

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