Beat the Crowds: Best Last Minute China Travel Destinations for the October Holiday

October 1 marks the start of the National Day holiday, a seven-day public holiday that is one of the most popular times in China to travel. This is one of China’s notorious “Golden Weeks” (the other being the Chinese New Year holiday),when hundreds of millions of people take to the roads (and rails) to visit popular sites around China. To give you an idea of the scale of things, during the 2015 October holiday, approximately 750 million Chinese people used railways or highways to travel domestically.

Don’t let scary statistics put you off, however, as October is a great time to travel in many parts of China, with temperate weather and minimal rain. The team at The China Guide (http://www.thechinaguide.com/) has rounded up a few of our favorite off the beaten path China travel destinations where, although not guaranteed, you are likely to encounter fewer crowds. https://www.thechinaguide.com/

 
Qufu
(http://www.thechinaguide.com/index.php?action=city/view&city_id=72)

A short two-hour train ride away from Beijing, this quiet Shandong town packs a lot of history into a small area. The ancestral home of the Kong family, Qufu is best known for being the birthplace of the family’s most famous member – Confucius. The grandeur and level of preservation of Qufu’s main historic sites, including the temple and cemetery of Confucius and the Kong Family Mansion (which were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1994) is a testament to the continuing importance of Confucius and his ideologies in modern China.

Qufu’s historic walled city, home to its three main sights, is small enough to be explored on foot and can be safely covered in one day. Adding on an overnight stay will give you the chance to sample Confucian cuisine, a refined form of dining based on strict Confucian principles. The China Guide can arrange a one-day tour to Qufu (http://www.thechinaguide.com/index.php?action=tour/view&tour_id=2803) from Beijing, including train tickets, admission costs, and lunch.

 
Shaxi
(http://www.thechinaguide.com/index.php?action=city/view&city_id=53)

Shaxi is a historic market town in Yunnan located about halfway between Dali and Lijiang. The drive may be only 90 minutes but Shaxi itself couldn’t be further away from these two bustling tourist hubs. Shaxi was first established as a trading point for tea and horses during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and became an important caravan town on the Ancient Tea Horse Road between Yunnan and Burma. Shaxi has avoided large-scale commercial development and its central square is still home to a bustling weekly market, giving a fascinating insight into the past and the culture of the local Bai people.

Shaxi is usually combined with a visit to either Dali or Lijiang (for example, in our six-day Kunming and Lijiang tour [http://www.thechinaguide.com/index.php?action=tour/view&tour_id=1218]), although both of these destinations will be busy during the Golden Week. Contact us if you would like to arrange a separate tour.

 
Dunhuang and Jiayuguan
(http://www.thechinaguide.com/index.php?action=city/view&city_id=79)

Dunhuang

Situated at the intersection of two key Silk Road trade routes, the city of Dunhuang in Gansu Province is most famous for the Mogao caves, a UNESCO World Heritage site filled with exquisite Buddhist art and manuscripts, some from up to 1,700 years ago. The name Mogao in Chinese actually means “peerless” and once you see the caves we’re sure that you’ll see why.

Jiayuguan

Since this part of China is far removed from some of the other cities on the main tourist trail, and travel times are long, it is worth seeing as much as possible while you’re in the area. We suggest combining a trip to Dunhuang with a visit to the Jiayu Pass (http://www.thechinaguide.com/index.php?action=city/view&city_id=90), widely considered to be the best surviving military fort on the Great Wall. Around 400km east of Dunhuang and accessible by car, bus or train, Jiayu Pass offers a great way to see the Great Wall without the crowds you will encounter at the better-known sections around Beijing.

Dunhuang

Dunhuang is around a three-hour flight from Beijing. Our “Treasures of the Silk Road” (http://www.thechinaguide.com/index.php?action=tour/view&tour_id=3958) journey takes in Beijing, Dunhuang and Jiayuguan, among other destinations, or we can arrange a separate trip to Dunhuang if you prefer.

Jiayuguan

Huizhou villages
(http://www.thechinaguide.com/index.php?action=city/view&city_id=54)

A historical region incorporating parts of southern Anhui and northeastern Jiangxi, Huizhou occupied an influential position in Chinese commercial circles for over 300 years thanks to its formidable local merchants, collectively known as the Huishang. The wealthy merchant families built elaborate mansions and villages to show off their wealth, many of which, such as UNESCO protected Hongcun and Xidi, have been excellently preserved. Although the larger villages are becoming more and more popular with loudspeaker-toting tour groups, the many quiet lanes and alleys mean there is always somewhere to find a moment of peace. We recommend staying in the sleepy village of Tachuan, just two kilometers away from busier Hongcun.

The Huizhou villages and surrounding scenic areas are close to Huangshan, one of China’s most-visited mountain regions, and the two are often combined into one trip (http://www.thechinaguide.com/index.php?action=tour/view&tour_id=1201). However, if you want to skip the Huangshan crowds, you can take local transportation directly to the Huizhou area from Huangshan airport or train station.