A journey across beautiful and exotic China is not like any other travel escapades we have been before. While the places, culture, people and food entice you, there are many more challenges one has to go through. Being fortified from the western society, travelling across China was a daunting experience at times but at the same time very fruitful. Please read below some of our Essential Tips while visiting China based on our personal experiences while we explore China.
- The very first challenge presented the moment we land is the “Language”. The vast majority do not speak a word of English and also do not understand basic hand signals. Even basic English words like Taxi, Chicken etc. are a pain to get across. This is where technology plays its part. We extensively used Google Translate App (iOS/Android) and Waygo App (iOS/Android) to help us in our translations. Though time consuming – This was the only way to break the language barrier at Restaurants, Taxi’s and even at times in the airport.
- China is known to block much of the western social networking and media sites/apps. So Google, Facebook, Watsapp, Youtube and many more are not accessible while in China. So the hack is to use a reliable VPN to get across this firewall. We used the Express VPN and a month’s subscription came handy while travelling across China. It was very fast and 100% reliable at even the most remote locations in China.
- Chinese are quite proud of their food and I say why not! However, if you are trying any local restaurant or eatery then “Chopsticks” are the only option at most of these. It was really hard for us to get a spoon or a fork, let alone a knife. So if you aren’t used to chopsticks please carry you own cutlery – Fork, Spoon and Knife. We carried them around in our travel bag everywhere we went and it came very handy.
- If You are transferring to different places within China by air then please ensure that you are at the airports well in advance. International passengers cannot self-check in and the normal check-in counters have very long queues.
- Further in the airports you are needed to remove all lithium batteries and put them in separate pouches. This is something which we hadn’t encountered anywhere else. We had to remove all our camera, go pro batteries and put them in individual zip lock bags. Do this beforehand to save a lot of time at the airports.
- The Inflight food for Domestic transfers is not something to cherish. However, most of the travellers carry food – mostly big pot noodles. There are hot and cold machines everywhere and this is a good option if you actually knew which pot noodles tastes the best – as the selection is quite vast.
- Toilet facilities at Tourist locations is something I really appreciated while in China. However that said, please be aware that most of these toilets are squat only and do not have toilet rolls. Even the ones in few airports are Squat only.
- Get used to a bit of pushing and shoving as the “Queue Culture” doesn’t exist in much of the Chinese mainland. Everywhere its quite crowded and everyone seems to be in a hurry.
- Major cities like Shanghai are well connected with excellent metro facilities and try using these to get around. Please click for more info – Shanghai Metro. Its very hard to strike a conversation while in a Metro or travelling around as most of the Chinese folks are busy with their mobiles – Walking zombies.
- Always write your Hotel name, Address, destinations where you heading etc. in Chinese. This came very handy for us to just show the names on a sheet of paper and get pointed in the right direction.
- Department stores are lined up everywhere we travel and are really cheap – 1.5Yuan for a bottle of water. Hong Qichan is one famous one and sells nice breakfast rolls and great snacks.
- China extensively follows a cashless economy where most of the payments are done by scanning a QR code. Also our western visa and master cards don’t work there – So keep some good enough cash handy.
- What to Eat turned out to be a Big Question while in China. Though we enjoy food during our travels China presented it as a challenge. China presents a huge plethora of options like nowhere else but Not everything which looks good , tastes good here. We had reached a point where we stuck with Fried rice (Egg/Chicken) and went about looking for McDonalds and KFC.
- Chinese tourists love clicking pictures. I’ve never seen such poses and enthusiasm anywhere else. However it can get a bit annoying at times.
- Maybe because of the Language barrier and cultural differences the Chinese folks comes across as a little rude at times. Also do get used to few stares as seems like they aren’t used to seeing people who look different. We were asked for pictures all across China which we happily obliged. No love lost!
I hope these tips come handy while travelling across China and helps you set the right expectations. If you have any questions around this please feel free to leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you at the very earliest.
This is Aldrin and my partner Amoli. We bring you "Earths Pilgrim" - a unique insight into our travel escapades while leaving life in a cubicle. If you are looking for some inspiration to break the shackles of a regular life, then you are the right place. Read more about us- Click here.
This is quite interesting…Save the article
Thanks for posting this. Quite informative.