About rutzgo

Routes Go — Travel Without the Guesswork

rutzgo is short for routesgo.com. The name says it: routes go. Travel should be smooth. No confusion, no dead ends — just clear paths from where you are to where you want to be.

Right now, we focus on one thing: helping independent travelers navigate China. Visa policies that change every quarter. Train tickets that require a Chinese ID to book. VPNs that work one day and break the next. Apps with no English interface. China is an incredible place, but the logistics can be brutal if you don't live here.

Who Runs This Site

rutzgo is an independent site, built and run by a solo founder based in China. I'm a software engineer by background, which means I approach travel content differently: I test things systematically, update data when it changes, and build the tools to keep information organized.

I've been living in China for years. I've helped friends and family navigate their trips — the same questions kept coming up: "Which VPN actually works?" "How do I book a train ticket without a Chinese ID?" "Is this scam or legit?"

rutzgo is my answer — a single place with honest, tested answers to those questions, written by someone who deals with these problems every day, not by a content farm that's never set foot in the country.

Why You Can Trust These Guides

Every guide on rutzgo is grounded in firsthand experience. Here's what that means in practice:

  • VPNs are actually tested. I ran 28 providers across four Chinese cities over six weeks. The rankings reflect real uptime, real speeds, and real failure modes — not affiliate commission rates.
  • Payment guides reflect the current reality. Alipay and WeChat Pay change their foreigner verification flows frequently. When they do, we update the guide — not six months later.
  • Food guides come from eating at the stalls. The Beijing street food list, the Chengdu hot pot rankings, the breakfast guide — all written from meals I paid for myself.
  • Transport instructions are verified step by step. The DiDi English guide, the 12306 booking walkthrough, the metro card tutorials — each one was screenshotted and tested end to end.

If something changes in China's travel infrastructure — and it changes constantly — I update the relevant guide. Every article shows its last update date at the top, so you know how fresh the information is.

How This Site Makes Money

rutzgo is free to read. No paywall, no subscription. The site is supported by:

  • Affiliate commissions — Some links to VPNs, eSIMs, and booking platforms earn a small commission if you purchase. The price you pay is the same either way. We only link to services we've tested and would recommend to a friend.
  • Advertising — We display ads on a small number of our most popular guides. We do not plaster ads on every page.

Transparency matters. Every page with affiliate links or ads is clearly marked. See our Affiliate Disclosure for the full details.

What's Next

Today, we cover China. The goal is to be the most practical, honest, and up-to-date China travel resource in English — covering every question a first-time visitor would ask.

Tomorrow, we'll expand to more routes. Because at the end of the day, routes go — and so should you.

Have a question, correction, or suggestion? Get in touch.