Request for tips for China Trip

[Didact]

Hi, we are planning a 12-14 day trip to China, mostly for sightseeing and wandering the country, but also as a way of understanding the country through its past.

Our itenary will take us to Beijing, then Xian, and then to Shanghai, followed by HK & Macau for the final leg.

Requesting advice/tips on what places/sights to visit, explore.

 

[rott]

Translator and a calculator.

 

[hiseen]

途牛 美团 If you know Chinese, It's two very good applications. Used to understand attractions and cuisine.

otherwise, Tour groups or google can help you.

And now the National Day holiday is coming~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[OIO]

Change Macau to Hangzhou if you dont want to play games.
Hangzhou is nearby Shanghai, and now it's best season for tourist.

 

[powastick]

No google translate, its blocked.

 

[OIO]

No google translate, its blocked.

mobile data is redirected to india.

 

[Didact]

Change Macau to Hangzhou if you dont want to play games.
Hangzhou is nearby Shanghai, and now it's best season for tourist.

Thanks for the advice. We were looking at moving within China using high speed trains (wanted to experience them firsthand). Anything else you'd recommend?

 

[OIO]

Thanks for the advice. We were looking at moving within China using high speed trains (wanted to experience them firsthand). Anything else you'd recommend?

All cities above including Hong Kong are linked to high speed railway except Macau.

 

[kankan326]

Are you Vegetarian? If not, Chengdu(or Chongqing) and Guangzhou(or Shunde) are good places to go for the delicious food.

 

[cirr]

Thanks for the advice. We were looking at moving within China using high speed trains (wanted to experience them firsthand). Anything else you'd recommend?

Shanghai to Hangzhou in 30 mins by high-speed trains.

Hangzhou is definitely worth visiting.

 

[Foxtrot Delta]

Use subways and trains instead of taxis or cabs to save money. Use baidu translator instead of google translate. If u are a Muslim and care about Halal food then u should know chinese don't understand "halal" or "koshar" . instead to have clean food u have to ask for "Qing Zhen" food which lotrally translates to real or pure food. all of china knows Halal as Qing Zhen . thanks to uncle of the Holy Prohphet PBUH who is burried in ghuanzhoh. (Rasi Allah Tallah unho. ) don't go there and consume alcohol and give bad name to pakistan or us Muslims if u are a muslim

Tell them you are pakistani and u will see friendly smiles and rarely a discount. Follow the common laws like don't litter or be immoral and u will be just fine. Do post photos here when u get a chance. From beining to great wall takes 20 yuan return ticket on a bullet train. With in beijing sibway costs 1 or 2 yuan max . u will find china most easy country to travel in.

All the places you mentioned have decent pophlation that can communicate in english. Use local pakistani or muslim students for advise via facebook we chat etc if u need more guidance its going to be fun.

Translator and a calculator.

Those were the old days. Cellphone has all those tools now.

 

[hiseen]

Hangzhou West Lake(xihu 西湖) is a place worth visitingBy the way, Beijing Wangfujing snacks Jie I don't recommend that you buy anything,They are good at cheating foreigners I am in Beijing.

Use subways and trains instead of taxis or cabs to save money. Use baidu translator instead of google translate. If u are a Muslim and care about Halal food then u should know chinese don't understand "halal" or "koshar" . instead to have clean food u have to ask for "Qing Zhen" food which lotrally translates to real or pure food. all of china knows Halal as Qing Zhen . thanks to uncle of the Holy Prohphet PBUH who is burried in ghuanzhoh. (Rasi Allah Tallah unho. ) don't go there and consume alcohol and give bad name to pakistan or us Muslims if u are a muslim

Tell them you are pakistani and u will see friendly smiles and rarely a discount. Follow the common laws like don't litter or be immoral and u will be just fine. Do post photos here when u get a chance. From beining to great wall takes 20 yuan return ticket on a bullet train. With in beijing sibway costs 1 or 2 yuan max . u will find china most easy country to travel in.

All the places you mentioned have decent pophlation that can communicate in english. Use local pakistani or muslim students for advise via facebook we chat etc if u need more guidance its going to be fun.


Those were the old days. Cellphone has all those tools now.

You'd better install an advance a VPN, TW/FB/YTB/GOOGLE are shielded

 

[serenity]

Try to work Hangzhou into your itinerary like others have mentioned. It is not far from Shanghai. Don't bother with Macau. One or two old colonial sites worth seeing there MAYBE, but really not an impressive place at all in my opinion. If you want to go somewhere close to HK, visit Shenzhen or Guangzhou instead. Hainan is also another okay option that's close to HK.

2 weeks or so isn't that much time and you say you're more interested in seeing cities and history so natural attractions you will miss but honestly the natural attractions like Guilin (Yangshuo to be specific), Huang Shan, Wuyi Shan, Jiuzhaigou, among others are really the best. Maybe for a first short holiday, check out the cities (I think there's a chance you will be bored though unless you are a savvy and experienced traveler).

Beijing - Great wall (best stretches are at least 3 hours drive from city), Forbidden city, Summer palace, Peking duck restaurants, otherwise I found food in northern parts quite bland compared to HK for example.

Xian - lot's of historic buildings, ruins, and temples inside and around the city but Terocotta soldiers are a drive out... not that much to see there but probably worth it just for the photos and experience.

Hangzhou - bit cleaner and nicer city than the two above, greener too. West Lake worth a day's trip. Some streets are rather nice but mostly just another metropolis.

Shanghai - large metropolis, can get some decent and cheap streetfoods if authorities haven't stopped street vendors these days. Has "better" nightlife than most chinese cities and posh establishments that are not fond of younger people (I got rejected and kicked out of a few when I went in Uni days)

All above are linked by bullet trains and purchasing them nowadays should be easier with the vending machines at most stations although you may want to research internet purchasing methods in case they are sold out.

HK - Great food. If you don't mind occasionally finding strange ingredients. Island hopping can be fun and some islands and parks around the main island offer an escape from the city. There's one with a giant Buddha but most of them are pretty average. Mostly just seeing city, parks, shopping etc. Maybe go visit Victoria's peak before dusk for sunset and then lights. The highlight of this city is really the food and the atmosphere but street level is messier, more crowded, and grimier than most mainland cities due to their age.

Good luck, hope you enjoy your time there.

 

[Mista]

Hi, we are planning a 12-14 day trip to China, mostly for sightseeing and wandering the country, but also as a way of understanding the country through its past.

Our itenary will take us to Beijing, then Xian, and then to Shanghai, followed by HK & Macau for the final leg.

Requesting advice/tips on what places/sights to visit, explore.

Always bargain for prices and be prepared to walk away if you feel like it's a scam. Browse around the area first for general price awareness before bargaining. I was in Malaysia just now and got 'scammed' because I forgot to browse around first, even though the price was bargained down 20%. Another store a few steps away and the exact same product is sold at half the price. Sometimes the mark up can be above 100% so you must be 'ruthless' in bargaining.

And yeah, install VPN. EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. Especially if you a total foreigner who doesn't understand Chinese and you can't use Baidu or WeChat. Install multiple VPNs instead of just one, just in case. WhatsApp was blocked the previous time I was in China and it will be a pain in the arse if you can't communicate with your friends or family.

Hangzhou West Lake(xihu 西湖) is a place worth visitingBy the way, Beijing Wangfujing snacks Jie I don't recommend that you buy anything,They are good at cheating foreigners I am in Beijing.




You'd better install an advance a VPN, TW/FB/YTB/GOOGLE are shielded

#在抖音，记录美好生活#你外国大爷还是你大爷 http://v.douyin.com/dfMVB2/ 复制此链接，打开【抖音短视频】，直接观看视频！

 

[serenity]

Always bargain for prices and be prepared to walk away if you feel like it's a scam. Browse around the area first for general price awareness before bargaining. I was in Malaysia just now and got 'scammed' because I forgot to browse around first, even though the price was bargained down 20%. Another store a few steps away and the exact same product is sold at half the price. Sometimes the mark up can be above 100% so you must be 'ruthless' in bargaining.

And yeah, install VPN. EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. Especially if you a total foreigner who doesn't understand Chinese and you can't use Baidu or WeChat. Install multiple VPNs instead of just one, just in case. WhatsApp was blocked the previous time I was in China and it will be a pain in the arse if you can't communicate with your friends or family.



#在抖音，记录美好生活#你外国大爷还是你大爷 http://v.douyin.com/dfMVB2/ 复制此链接，打开【抖音短视频】，直接观看视频！

LOL that video is so true. Although I would have been even more brutal and said nah how about $3. There is no such thing as an "offensive" offer when haggling. Vendors often feign anger and disappointment but just insist or walk away. There are PLENTY of alternatives and other vendors selling the exact same stuff. Try to avoid the fakes though. I don't know why but in my experience, vendors selling fakes often say idiotic things like "but this is ..." as if it's the real deal like somehow fakers making a fake of a super expensive product means the fake is worth more.

I bought a Chinese brand pen from a vendor selling legit Chinese branded ones but also fake MontBlancs and a savvy western couple next to me successfully haggled a price down from 150 RMB to 20 RMB. The shop listed the fake at a price of 300 RMB to begin with. All the way down to 20 RMB and the seller let it go showing they are not making a net loss even at that price. During the haggling argument the seller said "but this is MontBlanc!" hahahahaha.