Theme
Food, tea & regional kitchens
Dim sum mornings, Sichuan heat, Yunnan mushrooms and a tea hillside in Hangzhou — eaten in the places these dishes actually come from.
Bookable departures for this theme
Next dates on this theme
Chinese food is not one cuisine — it is at least eight, and each has a landscape behind it. We build journeys around markets, kitchens and tea hills, with guides who know which stall is worth queueing for and which is a tourist trap.
What this theme looks like
01
Chengdu & Chongqing
Sichuan peppercorn cooking classes, teahouses and a proper hotpot night.
02
Cantonese south
Dim sum mornings, roast goose in Sham Shui Po and claypot rice in winter.
03
Xi'an street food
Muslim Quarter snacks, hand-pulled noodles and lamb paomo.
04
Tea country
Longjing tea hills in Hangzhou and Pu'er tastings in Yunnan.
A sample route
One way to shape this theme — every route we build is adjusted to your dates, pace and budget.
- Days 1–2Hong Kong: dim sum, Temple Street, a Cantonese kitchen visit.
- Days 3–5Chengdu: Sichuan cooking class, teahouse afternoon, panda base at opening.
- Days 6–7Chongqing: hotpot, Liziba monorail and a night market crawl.
- Days 8–10Hangzhou: Longjing tea village, West Lake lunch and canal-side dining.
Bookable journeys
Ready-made departures for this theme
Fixed-date small-group departures — or ask us to run the same route privately on your own dates.
Chengdu: Pandas, Teahouses & Sichuan Flavours
Four relaxed days in Sichuan: pandas at first light, teahouses in the old lanes and a hands-on introduction to Sichuan cooking.
Shanghai & Jiangnan Water Towns
Five days moving between Shanghai’s riverfront skyline and the canals, gardens and stone bridges of the Jiangnan water towns.
Xi'an: Terracotta Warriors & the Silk Road
Four days in the eastern gateway of the Silk Road — the Terracotta Army, the city wall and the food lanes of the Muslim Quarter.
Reading list
Stories & guides on this theme
Travel GuideChina Food Guide Photography Spots: 7 Light Windows for 2026
Chinese food is the hardest thing you will ever photograph: small, hot, backlit and gone in ninety seconds. Here are seven spots with the exact light window, the viewpoint, the entry cost and the settings that actually work, from a dawn lane in Xi'an to steam in a Harbin winter market.
Read storyGuangzhou 3-Day Itinerary 2026: Costs, Dim Sum and a Rain Plan
Guangzhou in three days is one old-city day in Liwan, one skyline day across the Pearl River and one food day in Shunde, all of it on the metro. This plan pins down the fares, ticket prices, meal stops and clock times, plus the covered-arcade swap to run when the Delta rain arrives.
Read story
City GuideGetting to Dali & Kunming: Trains, Flights and Fares in 2026
Dali rewards travelers who plan the final transfer, not just the flight. Arrive through Kunming by rail or land at Dali Fengyi, settle the ride into the old town before dark, then let buses, e-bikes and the car-free Erhai shoreline do the rest, with a rail seat booked on 12306 before you fly.
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City GuideChengdu Food Guide 2026: 5 Signature Dishes, Prices and Where to Eat
Chengdu eats on tea-house time: a 7 a.m. street bowl, a 3 p.m. gaiwan, hotpot after dark. This 2026 guide prices five signature dishes, maps the Ma'an North Road breakfast street, and finds a vegetarian table at Wenshu Monastery and a halal hotpot by Tianfu Square, with costs, hours and the months that work.
Read story
City GuideHong Kong Photography Spots 2026: 7 Views, Light Windows and Tickets
Hong Kong is a car-free treaty-port island that photographs best on foot and by ferry, and the light decides everything. This guide gives seven spots their exact windows: Victoria Peak at blue hour, the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront at the 8 p.m. light show, Choi Hung's basketball court in the morning, plus tickets, crowd timing and settings for each.
Read story
City GuideHong Kong Food Guide 2026: Dim Sum, Dai Pai Dong and Market Eats
Hong Kong eats best at street level, and the transit is the trail: a HK$5.00 Star Ferry, a HK$3.30 tram and the MTR link dim sum teahouses, wet markets, roast-meat windows and Temple Street's night stalls. Budget HK$150 to HK$300 a day, chase the 2025 Michelin Bib Gourmand list capped at HK$400, and come between October and December.
Read storyQuestions about this theme
Can you handle dietary requirements?
Yes — vegetarian, vegan, halal, gluten-free and allergy needs are planned in advance and explained to every restaurant on your itinerary.
Is street food safe for travellers?
We only route you to stalls our team eats at, and guides carry basic medicine advice. Most travellers are surprised how well they eat.
Tell us which parts of this theme matter most and we will shape a route around them.