Explore China, one city at a time
Fluentide has travel guides to 10 Chinese cities, from Beijing to Lhasa: how to see the main sight, when to go, how to get there and what to eat. Each ends with a short Mandarin story about the city, told at four levels with a transcript and English.
Where the cities are
Tap a city to open its guide. Grey dots are still being written.
20 cities











Chongqing 重庆
A city built up a mountainside, fed on fiery hotpot.

Guangzhou 广州
An old trading port where the day starts with tea and dim sum.

Shenzhen 深圳
A border town that became a tech city in one lifetime.

Qingdao 青岛
A seaside city of red roofs, fresh beer and sea breeze.

Xiamen 厦门
An island city of sea breeze, oolong tea and old seaside villas.

Sanya 三亚
China’s tropical south: palm trees, beaches and warm winters.

Zhangjiajie 张家界
Stone pillars rising out of cloud, like a world from a film.

Luoyang 洛阳
An ancient capital, with Buddhas carved into its river cliffs.

Hulunbuir 呼伦贝尔
Endless grassland, horses and the big open sky of the north.

Huangshan 黄山
The granite peaks and sea of clouds from Chinese ink paintings.
When to visit each city
| City | JJan | FFeb | MMar | AApr | MMay | JJun | JJul | AAug | SSep | OOct | NNov | DDec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beijing | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Good | Good | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Best | Best | Mixed | Mixed |
| Shanghai | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Good | Good | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Good | Best | Best | Mixed |
| Hangzhou | Mixed | Mixed | Good | Best | Best | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Good | Best | Good | Mixed |
| Xi'an | Mixed | Mixed | Best | Best | Best | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Best | Best | Best | Mixed |
| Dunhuang | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Good | Good | Mixed | Mixed | Best | Best | Mixed | Mixed |
| Chengdu | Mixed | Mixed | Best | Best | Best | Best | Mixed | Mixed | Best | Best | Best | Mixed |
| Dali | Mixed | Mixed | Best | Best | Best | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Best | Best | Mixed |
| Lhasa | Mixed | Avoid | Avoid | Mixed | Best | Best | Mixed | Mixed | Best | Best | Mixed | Mixed |
| Guilin | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Best | Best | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Good | Good | Mixed | Mixed |
| Harbin | Best | Good | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Good | Good | Good | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Good |
- Best
- Good
- Mixed
- Avoid
How the audio works
Pick a level
Every story has four versions, from short simple sentences to natural Mandarin. Start where you follow most of it.
Listen with the transcript
The Chinese scrolls with the audio; pinyin and English are one tap away.
Keep the words
Star a word to save it. You will see the place names again on the signs.