China family holiday with teenagers

Planet

We believe in keeping beautiful places beautiful. On this China family itinerary, you’ll stay in small-scale, locally owned hotels and guesthouses that are full of character and closely connected to their surroundings. These stays are chosen not only for comfort and atmosphere, but also for their lower-impact approach compared to large international chains, helping to spread tourism more responsibly and reduce pressure on the environment.

Travel through China is planned with sustainability in mind. Wherever possible, journeys between destinations are by train rather than short internal flights, which helps reduce carbon emissions and gives you a more grounded view of the landscapes you pass through, from dramatic karst scenery to historic cities and green countryside. Many of your experiences take place on foot, by bike or in small groups, which keeps your impact lighter while helping you connect more closely with each place.

Before and during your trip, we share practical guidance on travelling responsibly. This includes simple steps such as reducing single-use plastics, being mindful of water and energy use in hotels, and choosing ethical wildlife experiences. We’re serious about animal welfare and work with independent experts to help ensure all wildlife-related activities across our trips are responsible and respectful.

Back in the UK, we aim to practise what we stand for. Our Brighton-based team works from a B-Corp-certified office, operates largely paper-free and partners with nature-based projects that remove carbon, restore biodiversity and support local livelihoods. A small contribution is included in every itinerary, helping protect the natural environments that make journeys through China so special.

People

As a team, we believe that protecting the environment goes hand in hand with building stronger communities, which is why we have both led and joined in with beach cleaning initiatives with surfers against sewage, and local community gardening initiatives.

Throughout this itinerary, we work with small-scale, locally owned guesthouses, and characterful stays that reflect their surroundings and local way of life. This gives you a more personal experience, often in traditional neighbourhoods or scenic rural areas, while helping ensure tourism income stays within the local economy, supporting local businesses and employment. Along the way, there are plenty of opportunities to eat in local restaurants, browse neighbourhood markets and visit small workshops, where money spent goes directly back into the community.

We work with small, boutique style special stays full of authentic flare work twofold by offering you a unique experience and also supporting local business ventures and local employment, thus supporting the local economy. During your trip, there is a wealth of local shops, cafe’s, bars and restaurants to visit and enjoy, across all locations. This helps bolster the local economy further.

One of the key aspects of our itineraries is that we work with local partners who are based in country in order to provide the most authentic insight into everyday life in the destination, and divert from the usual tourist trail (which is important when considering the mitigation of environmental degradation in tourist hotspots) but also supports the country's economy even before our customer has touched down as the local partner helps to develop their itinerary.

We maximise local economic opportunities further by using only locally owned excursion companies where you will meet and learn from expert local guides throughout the trip on excursions, for instance when travelling around the Karst mountains, on your Xi’an food tour, and all of your other exciting excursions too.