| A foreigner and traveling alone to China; any recommendations? | |
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| Oct 26, 2007 09:05 |   |
| guestGuestTCN | Hi all, I'm planning to go on a tour to China during mid December for 2 weeks. I'm kind of nervous about going because I DO NOT know any Chinese and I will be traveling alone. I wanted to fly to Shanghai and find a hotel there for a few days and also to go sight seeing at Hangzhou, then maybe go to Beijing. I'm planning to find some local tours once I get to the cities. How hard is it to travel around China as a total foreigner?? What are your advice/tips/recommendations?? Thanks! |
| Oct 26, 2007 20:45 | #1 |
 | I advise you to learn some travel essentials about China as much as possibe before you come China. Such as the kowlege about Chinese climate, money, special food in Shanghai, Hangzhou and Beijing and also customs about China. Besides, in nearly two months' time before your travel, you are suggested to learn some useful Chinese. The city map also useful during your travel. As Shanghai, Beijing and Hangzhou are all large metropolis in China, English is widely used. So, communication with the local people may not as hard as you think. |
| Oct 26, 2007 21:13 | #2 |
| If you're visiting the major cities you've mentioned, you should have no big problems as they are used to foreign visitors. Most hotels have staff that can speak English and they will be able to help you with planning where you want to go, how to get there etc. They can also book train/bus/flight tickets. A good tip is to take a business card of the hotel you are staying at. If you need to use a taxi for instance, it is unlikely that the driver will be able to speak English, so if you get stuck anywhere and need to get back to your hotel, you'll need it's name in Chinese. It doesn't matter if you can't "say" it, as long as the driver can read it. Not all restaurants have English menus, even in the big cities, though many have pictures which helps. Heidi is right though. The Chinese will really appreciate it if you can learn even the basics, Hello, Goodbye and Thanks. You can Google the web and find this information really easily. Or buy a Mandarin phrasebook. Also, she is right in saying that you should find some information on the places you're going. This site is full of travel reviews on Shanghai, Hangzhou and Beijing. Just click on the city on the left under "Travel Destinations" and check out the reviews and tips from members who have been there. Winter is a great time to travel in China, not so crowded. Beijing will be pretty cold, so bring some warm clothes. Have a great trip. |
| Oct 26, 2007 21:20 | #3 |
| GUESTGUESTTCN, Below Tips FYI: 1) Learn some basic Chinese. ( Basic is ok considering your time) 2)Buy a guidebook like lonelyplanet. 3)Bank card to draw dollar or RMB from ATM machine. 4)Clothes: it is cold in Dec and you need to take your down coat here or you can buy new clothes in China market 5)Language commmunications: in big city, it should be ok since English is very popular now. 6)Any other you can prepare such as the spots data you want to explore. Enjoy! Yours sincerely, Susan Zheng(China Tour Guide) MSN: hotmail.com|Susan205060 |
| Oct 28, 2007 08:55 | #4 |
| Yes China is a hard place to travel in if you are not familar with life in a developing asian country. If you stick to flying or soft/hard sleeper on a train travelling will be fairly pleasant. The buses between large cities are generally OK. As mentioned earlier in the big cities you will be OK although be prepared for big numbers of touts and beggars. If you are only going for 2 weeks I suggest you visit the Guilin/ Yangshuo area if you like scenery. It really is the most remarkable karst landscape. There are large numbers of westerners here hence western food, english speaking locals and lots of things to do. It would be a relaxing holiday rather than an ordeal in the bustling cities. You could easily spend a week here then fly to Beijing and walk the Wall from Jingsheling to Simatai. We just spent 7 weeks bumming about on back road buses and these were the best things we did. At Yangshuo the best thing is the walk from Xeiping to Yangtdi....easily accomplished in a day. |
| Oct 29, 2007 07:24 | #5 |
| GUESTGUESTTCN | Thank you all for the advice! I'm looking forward to my 2 weeks of vacation and hopefully it will be an enjoyable trip! |
| Oct 29, 2007 17:50 | #6 |
| If you find out anything, please let me know. I'll be there at the same time. |
| Oct 29, 2007 20:53 | #7 |
| A lot of sales people will want to sell you stuff (in your face) and women will be friendly to you. You will be proposed or followed by many women, especially ones who speak English and /or want a business partner. You should learn some basic phrases like, "washroom (shi2shou3jian1), "No thanks!" buyao! (bu1yao4), hello (ni2hao3), but you can also bring your phrase book and point to food items when ordering in restaurants (ie meats or vegetables), and for directions. China is not an easy place to travel for non-Chinese speakers IMO. The signs are not in English at all esp in rural areas, and majority of people do not speak English, outside of the cities. hmm... but amazingly, I've had friends (who do not speak Chinese) just travel for two months at a time in China and get around fine. I would be very stressed out, but they did it just fine. I noticed that they found "girlfriends" quickly too. If you can, find a university student (on the Internet) and organize someone to show you around some places in exchange for a chance to practice their English, maybe a meal too. |
| Oct 29, 2007 21:02 | #8 |
| There's a fine line about how to treat the salespeople who are going to ask you to buy stuff or sell you services. When they see that you're a foreigner, they might charge you more than a Chinese person. And they might be very aggressive too. Sometimes they will follow foreigners long distances, before they give up. Just say "Buyao!" firmly and repeatedly if that happens to you. And just remember that they're trying to make a living; have some compassion. Sometimes when I was there, I got really annoyed and wanted to get cross with them, then the salespeople would give me a really good price or be a good companion for a while so I didn't have to walk alone in a rural area. So be nice. Whenever I got mad at someone, afterwards I felt like an *** , knowing that my life back home probably more comfortable than theirs. |
| Oct 30, 2007 02:44 | #9 |
| I have travelled a lot in China using local transport and finding hotels as I go. If you are staying in decent hotels yo will find it easier than I do staying in the basic ones.... the staff will be more tuned to your needs, especially in the major cities. Search around this website for info on planes and trains (tabs at the top). Planes are easy but don't buyfrom hotels without checking prices first, they charge what they feel like a sit ic uncontrolled. Fees for booking trains is controlled (more or less!). Find out the times and prices in here. As soon as you arrive in one city plan your travel to the next as you cannot always get tickets and sometimes you can't find where to depart from etc. genrally. allow some slack in your schedule. Do read up abot the cities in advance and consider where you want to go - I don't and I sometimes miss things, but that suits my objectives. Get maps which are at least partly in English. The major cities are fairly easy to travel in once you master the metro. Buses can be a bit difficult as you can't always figure out where they are going, but carry a compass and jump off if u are not happy with the direction, they are so cheap. Learn the characters for NESW as they are on many street name signs. Contrary to what others have said, you cannot rely on many people speaking English, even in big cities, especially when you really need someone! If you can learn some mandarin in the time great, but I have all but given up as it is too hard and peoplenever understand even when I have been coached on one phrase for several hours. I get by with apout 50 words. |
| Nov 1, 2007 07:17 | #10 |
| GUESTTCN | Wow, after hearing all this, I'm getting more nervous about traveling by myself now. I've been trying to look up tour packages, but they seem to be very expensive. I've also looked up hotels in Shanghai, and they are also expensive, but it might be because I wasn't looking at the right ones. Does anyone know of any "decent" hotels that is close to the international airport in Shanghai? What about the means of transportation from the airport to hotel? Thanks again for all your advices! REDROSES, will you be traveling alone? Which cities are you interested in visiting? Perhaps we could get to know each other and possibily meet up for the trip! |
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