China for older travellers: is it possible?

China for older travellers is not only possible, it is increasingly common, and there is a practical reason that almost never gets stated: a private car with a driver costs a fraction of what it costs in Europe. That is what makes the country more visitable at seventy than many European cities.

What changes is not the places — it is the stairs, the toilets, the altitude and the distance between the hotel and the car. With those four things resolved, China is perfectly doable.

What really costs

The stairs. The Forbidden City covers 800,000 square metres and dozens of flights of steps. The Wall at Mutianyu, without the cable car, is 1,000 steps. The answer is not to give up: it is to choose the variant. Mutianyu with the cable car instead of Jinshanling; the low route through the Forbidden City; the flat areas of the Summer Palace.

The toilets. Outside hotels, shopping centres and airports, squat toilets predominate, and paper and soap are frequently missing. The solution is planning: we know where the good toilets are on each route, and we put them at the right point in the day.

The altitude. Lhasa sits at 3,650 metres. It is no accident that we leave it out of itineraries for older travellers: the breathlessness, the fatigue and the cardiovascular risk do not justify the visit. The alternatives — Yunnan at 2,000 metres, or nothing at all — are far more sensible.

The approach distances. Even with a cable car, almost every Chinese monument involves 400 to 800 metres on foot between the ticket office and the site itself. In Beijing, the south entrance of the Forbidden City is a 15-minute walk from the car park. That is why having the car at the door matters.

The rules we use

There are four, and they are not negotiable on our itineraries for older travellers:

1. Never more than two hours of road at a stretch. Beyond that, we stop. A fifteen-minute break in the middle of three hours changes everything.

2. Never two long days back to back. We always put a lighter day between two days of visits.

3. At most one big site a day. The Forbidden City or the Wall, never both. And with a free afternoon afterwards.

4. The car drops people at the entrance. Where that is not possible, we look for the alternative entrance — and we know the one for each site.

Where you get on well

Xi’an is the easiest of the classic cities: the centre is flat, the monuments have shade, and the wall is done by electric buggy. The Terracotta Army has electric carts between the pavilions, and the route is short.

Shanghai has the best pavements in the country — flat, wide, with benches. The Bund, the old concessions and the Shanghai Museum are accessible without effort.

Hangzhou and Suzhou are cities of gardens and lakes, flat and made for walking slowly. The West Lake is done by electric buggy, with stops.

Guilin has the raft and the boat, which are the most comfortable way of seeing landscape that exists: seated, in the shade, and without a single step.

Beijing is the most demanding, because it is the largest, but it is sorted with the right variants and with three nights rather than two.

What gets left out

Three things we recommend cutting, and we say so frankly:

Tibet, and the regions above 3,000 metres. Shangri-La at 3,200 and Lhasa at 3,650 require acclimatisation and are not worth the risk.

The walks that are not adapted. The unrestored Wall, Huashan on foot, the mountain routes in Zhangjiajie. There is an alternative for every one of them.

Five cities in twelve days. The mistake at any age, and the gravest one at this age.

And there is a fifth point, less obvious and more constant than the stairs: the distance between the car and the entrance. At the Terracotta Army it is 200 metres from the ticket office; at the Forbidden City, 500. On summer days, at 30 degrees in direct sun, that weighs more than any flight of steps. It is why we always carry water in the car and stop in the shade before going in.

The Yangtze cruise

For many older travellers, the best way to see China is not by train or by car: it is by boat.

The Yangtze cruise, between Chongqing and Yichang, runs three days and two nights, with a private cabin, meals included, a balcony and — the decisive detail — the landscape passes by you. The excursions ashore are optional, and the ones with stairs have an alternative.

It is the experience we recommend most to anyone who wants to see the country without crossing it on foot. And it is the backbone of our From the Tagus to the Delta itinerary, which was designed around a slow rhythm.

Practical logistics

Hotels. We always ask for rooms with a seated toilet, with a lift, and on the lower floors. In Chinese four-star hotels this exists and it is asked for: what you cannot do is arrive and hope luck sorts it out.

Trains. First class on high-speed pays off: two seats per row, with legroom, and the reserved numbered seat saves hunting around. We always book seats at the ends or facing the direction of travel, depending on preference.

Luggage. One of the biggest advantages of a private tour: there is always someone to lift it off the carousel and put it in the boot. And at the hotels, someone to take it up to the room.

Food. The Chinese table is excellent for older people: soup, rice, poached fish, vegetables and little fat. And whatever is spicy gets flagged up.

Medication and insurance. You bring your regular medication, with the prescription, and you take out insurance with medical repatriation. It is not optional at any age, and at this one it is essential. The details are in our health guide.

What it costs

For two people, twelve days on a private tour with a car, driver, guide in your own language, four-star hotels and the adapted rhythm: between US$ 3,400 and US$ 5,500 per person, in a double room. The private car, which is the central piece of this adaptation, is also the item that weighs least in the total — and the one that changes the trip most.

For anyone travelling in a group of six to eight, the figure per person drops significantly, because the car and the guide cost the same.

Our advice

If you are planning a trip to China with parents or grandparents, choose fewer places and more time, and choose flat ones. China does not have to be seen at a run at seventy; it has to be seen seated, in the shade, with the car at the door.

What we never recommend is the group tour: fixed schedules, up at seven, races to the coach, stops at shops. It is the format that exhausts anybody, and at this age it exhausts quickly.

All the practical details — from the cable cars to the toilets — are in our guide to travelling with older people. And if you want to start with one city, start with Xi’an, which is the easiest of them all.