Private tours of China,designed around you and your companions.
Specialists who design the trip and stay across it, first enquiry to last airport pickup. Visa-free for New Zealand passports through 31 December 2026, with the application handled for travel dates beyond. One figure, every leg in, no forced shopping written into your booking.
Visa-free for ordinary New Zealand passports, confirmed through 31 December 2026.
Up to thirty days for tourism, family visits, transit, and short business visits, on entry. The window runs from the morning after you enter; re-entries reset the counter. Policy current as of June 2026 and verified with the Chinese embassy in Wellington every thirty days. If your travel dates fall after the visa-free window and the policy is not extended, we manage the visa application for you as part of your trip. The scheme also covers Australian and British passports under the same rules; United States and Canadian passports require a tourist visa, and we handle the application end-to-end when asked.
Flights and gateways
Direct flights run from Auckland into Shanghai Pudong, Hong Kong, and Guangzhou. Eleven to thirteen hours in the air on the direct routes; partner-carrier connections via Sydney, Singapore, or Hong Kong reroute the long-haul leg when timetables match better. We help you weigh airline, points programme, and entry city against the route the rest of the trip is built around.
Time-zone coordination
Mainland China runs one time zone, UTC+8, across the country. Four hours behind Auckland in winter, five in summer. Planning calls sit on Auckland business hours, replies inside one business day in yours. While you are travelling, the named specialist on your trip is reachable through the in-country 24-hour line.
Payments on the ground
New Zealand-issued Visa and Mastercard credit cards have linked to Alipay and WeChat Pay since the 2024 policy update for overseas travellers; per-transaction and daily limits sit inside the apps and have been raised twice since launch. Cash works at 4-star and above hotels and at international airport currency desks. Small restaurants, taxis, and convenience stores expect digital.
Travel insurance
Comprehensive travel insurance with medical evacuation is recommended, not optional. Public health and ACC do not cover routine medical treatment in mainland China; private supplementary plans typically exclude pre-existing conditions on overseas claims. We do not sell insurance and we take no commission on it. You arrange it through your usual broker before you confirm; we tell you what the policy needs to cover.
Quoting and paying for the trip
A first-draft route and an honest all-inclusive figure land in your inbox inside one business day of your enquiry. The figure on your quote is the figure on your card; optional extras are named and priced before you confirm. No deposit until you have reviewed the route, inclusions, exclusions, cancellation terms, and price. Card payments accepted, with the chargeback rights that come with them.
Routes others
have asked us for.
Beijing, Xi'an & Shanghai
10 days
The Great Wall, the Terracotta Warriors, the Bund.
Read this journey
Chengdu Pandas & Ancient Xi'an
9 days
Giant pandas, the Terracotta Warriors, Sichuan hot pot.
Read this journey
Lijiang, Shangri-La & Tiger Leaping Gorge
10 days
Yunnan's old towns and the deepest gorge in Asia.
Read this journey
What travellers from
your part of the world ask.
What about a visa?
Ordinary Australian passports have up to thirty days visa-free entry to mainland China for tourism, family visits, transit, and short business visits, confirmed through 31 December 2026. The broader scheme covers many other nationalities on similar terms; the live list is published by the Chinese embassy in each country. If your travel dates fall after the current window and the policy is not extended, we manage the visa application for you as part of your trip.
How do payments work on the ground?
Australian-issued Visa and Mastercard credit cards can be linked to Alipay and WeChat Pay since the 2024 policy update, and the same flow works for most overseas cards. Per-transaction limits apply inside each app and have been raised twice since launch, so we check the live figure before you fly. Cash is the fallback at 4-star and above hotels and at international airport currency desks; smaller restaurants, taxis, and convenience stores expect digital.
What does the price cover?
Private guides and drivers, the hotels you approve, internal flights and high-speed rail between cities, entrance tickets at the agreed sites, daily breakfast, and any meal we have written into the itinerary. International flights sit outside the figure so you can use your preferred airline and points programme. The figure on your quote is the figure you pay. Optional extras are named and priced before you confirm.
What about phones, data, and the internet?
An eSIM bought before you fly is the simplest option. We brief you on which providers route around the local internet restrictions for everyday messaging and email, and we set up the practical apps before you leave: Alipay, WeChat, the Didi taxi app, and a translation app. Hotels have working Wi-Fi. Your guide carries a backup hotspot on travel days, set to the home network of the country you flew from.
Do I need travel insurance?
Comprehensive travel insurance with medical evacuation is recommended, not optional. Australians travelling under the visa-free scheme are not covered by Medicare or any reciprocal agreement in mainland China, and the same gap applies to most overseas visitors. We do not sell insurance and we take no commission on it. You arrange it through your usual insurer or broker before you confirm the trip; we tell you what the policy needs to cover.
Is this a private trip or a group tour?
Every Everonia trip is private. You travel with your own companions, your own guide, and your own driver, on the dates you choose, paced to your group. We do not run coach-led group departures, and we do not combine separate bookings to fill a vehicle. A single booking typically carries two to six companions; larger family or multi-generational groups are handled with a second vehicle and a second guide on the long-walk legs.
When is the best time to travel?
Spring (late March to mid-May) and autumn (mid-September to early November) are the country's two clearest seasons, dry, bright, and warm enough for early-morning sites. Summer is the school-holiday window and runs hot and humid in the south and centre. Winter is cold but quiet, with the imperial cities at their most photogenic. The route is paced around the season you pick, not the other way around.
How far in advance should I be in touch?
Three to nine months before travel is the dependable window for spring and autumn trips, four to twelve months for Chinese New Year or Golden Week dates. We accept shorter lead times when hotel and high-speed-rail inventory allow, and we tell you honestly when they do not. A first-draft route and an honest all-inclusive figure usually land in your inbox inside one business day of your enquiry.
Is China safe right now?
Smartraveller is the Australian government source we re-read every month; its current advice for mainland China is to exercise normal safety precautions, the same level it sets for most of Europe. Comparable guidance is published by the UK Foreign Office, the US State Department, and the Canadian and New Zealand foreign ministries. We cross-check the live wording before every trip we send, and we brief you on anything specific to your route.
Does this work for families and multi-generational travel?
Yes. The pace shifts around the youngest and the oldest companion in the group: meal stops sit closer together, the long-walk days at heritage sites pair with a shorter alternative, and the day starts later when the night before earned it. Hotels we work with hold connecting rooms and family rooms when we ask. Groups of five and above run on a seven-seater vehicle, with a second guide on the long-walk legs.
Hand us the dream,
we carry it through.
Tell us when you want to travel and a little about your party. A first-draft route and an honest all-inclusive price will land in your inbox by reply.
Jack Guo
Senior Travel Specialist
Jack has spent ten years working with the guides, drivers and hoteliers across China. He'll be your contact from first enquiry to final airport pickup.
Tell us about
your trip
Five quick questions. We'll send you a first draft of your trip and the price within one business day. No deposit. No hard-sell.