Visiting the real China

China is vast, nearly a continent to itself with highly diverse ethnic cultures. It has become an easy place to travel, with 28,000 miles (45,000 km) of high speed trains, and cheap domestic flights. My guide to traveling to the most interesting places in China is an English-speaking YouTuber, Yan, who calls herself Little Chinese Everywhere. Yan records her explorations of her own country, usually to offbeat, little-visited places, far from crowds, but extremely enjoyable. She specializes in the border areas of China where it mixes minority cultures (Tibetan, Mongolian, Uyghur, Vietnamese, etc.). Her channel is perfect armchair travel because she captures a very unromantic view of China, taking buses, renting motor scooter, staying at expensive hostels, interviewing shop keepers. This is the real China, and if you wanted to get a sense of what the everyday country is like, watch her channel. Better yet, visit it. — KK