China Travel Tips

China is a fascinating country in the world. It is a beautiful thing for you to plan a China tour with your friends or family members. However, traveling to China comes with some challenges since it is a very different country from your homeland. Here we have listed a few things for you to know before you leave for China. In order to be prepared for the unexpected and have an easy trip in China, please spend time reading the following China travel tips.

1. Download A Good VPN

It is a problem to access Facebook, Google, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and some other sites when you are in China. If you feel it is necessary to access those sites and apps while traveling in China, you'd better purchase a good VPN to make sure that you can use on your phone. It is a Virtual Private Network that can hide your IP address to help you log in to your accounts on those sites.

2. Get A Translation App

English is not a commonly used language in China. You may find that there are some people who can speak English in major cities of China, like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou. But still, it is highly possible that you need to chat with Chinese people who cannot understand English very well. It means that you may need some help. In this case, a translation app can be a very friendly item for you. If you haven't found a great translation app, Google Translate can also work well for you when you want to communicate with local people who don't speak English.

3. Knowing some basic phrases of Mandarin can help

Local Chinese people will be really appreciated to talk with you when you can speak some basic phrases of Mandarin. We all know that it is difficult to learn to speak Mandarin for foreigners because Mandarin is totally different from English. So, if you can spend time learning to speak basic Mandarin, you will find it is easy to travel in China. At least, you should learn to say ni hao (hello), zaijian (goodbye), xiexie (thank you), etc.

4. Toilets in China

Tourists can find western toilets in hotels, shopping malls, and some 5-star tourist sites. But you should be prepared to use a squat in many public places in China. You don't need to feel uncomfortable with it. It is definitely a different experience for foreigners who are first to China. Besides, those public restrooms usually don't offer toilet paper, which means that you must remember to bring your own.

5. Don't book budget group tours

There are some budget group tours provided for tourists who come to China for the first time. They don't know the facts about China's tourism, a disadvantage for those travel agencies to get benefits. Budget group tours will gather many tourists together. And in order to save costs, budget group tours are very rushed to provide you with a good service. If you want to experience the real China in depth, it is definitely not a good way for you to travel to China. You can do your search and decide on a trustworthy travel agency to book a customized China trip. Thus, you will surely get a chance to have an unforgettable tour in China.

6. Payment Method

Currently in China, most Chinese use mobile phone payment apps for everything even in some small towns. Usually, they use WeChat wallet or Alipay to pay for items and they also use those apps to transfer money to each other. It is simple as long as you have added one of your bank accounts to your payment apps. But for foreigners who don't have a mainland China bank account and account for those payment apps, they need to pay with cash. And some shopping malls, hotels, and some international organizations accept Visa Cards or Master Cards. It is suggested that you exchange some cash before you leave for China or you can withdraw cash from ATMs in China. Just remember that you are not allowed to enter China with more than 20,000 RMB.

7. You Don't Want to Travel to China During Holidays

It is never a good idea to travel to China during a Chinese holiday. It means that you will wait in long lines all the time and it is crowded everywhere. Chinese people prefer to travel during those holidays and they are able to make all train stations, airports, tourist attractions, restaurants, and even toilets crowded without a doubt. So, just stay as far away from China as possible during these holidays.

8. Prepare for the Different Food From Your Home Land

There is almost no similarity between Chinese food and the food in the U.S. or other western countries. You should be well prepared to try Chinese food with different features. There are some things that you will love, and you may not like some dishes at the same time. However, it is an interesting thing that different provinces offer different types of dishes and flavors. It is a chance to try so many dishes in China.