Things you NEED to know before going to Chinaš
This blog will be a brief summary on what to do in advance, to prepare for your trip to China! The country is one of the most impressive ones weāve been to, it is so well organised and everything works extremely smoothly. However, it can be a complete culture shock and somethings they do there will really surprise you!
Things to do before arriving in China
Visa
Luckily for us, China recently changed the rules and currently UK Citizens donāt need a Visa to enter the country, we are allowed up to 30 days. However, things can change all the time, so make sure to always check on the government website beforehand!
National Immigration Administration
Make sure you do the Entry Declaration Receipt for Foreigners, it is very easy to do and you will receive a QR Code that you will need to show on arrival. You can do it once you land, but if the Wi-Fi doesnāt work/ you have no internet you wonāt be able to do it, so I would recommend to do it beforehand!
VPN & E-Sims
This is probably the most important thing to do beforehand! China has a total ban on social media and the use of Western Apps. Without a VPN or E-Sim, you will be unable to access any of your social media accounts, including WhatsApp and Google. So make sure you have either a VPN or a E-sim, ideally both, before you get to China. If you donāt have a VPN, an E-Sim also works the same way. I bought an unlimited E-Sim with Holafly, which was a little expensive for the three weeks, but I was able to access all social media and messaging apps without a problem. Ned ended up sharing my data as his VPN wasnāt working, so he used my hotspot and could access everything! However, for some reason my E-Sim stopped working for him after a week or so, even though I had data. Weāre not sure why and Holafly said it shouldnāt have stopped as I paid for unlimited usage. So, just take this into account if you share an E-Sim, I would recommend either both getting one or trying not to use a lot of data on the hotspot!
Two tips for VPNs, is apparently you need to have already turned it on before landing in China, you wonāt be able to connect once you have landed, which Ned didnāt do. I have also heard that if you turn your VPN off when you are in China, you will have trouble turning it back on, so make sure to not do this! That is why I chose to get an E-Sim instead, a lot less hassle and it worked perfectly!
AliPay
China hardly uses cash, so set up AliPay, which connects to your bank accounts. We added two of our cards and then any time we went shopping all we would have to do is show my account QR Code. It is a very efficient system and not that tricky to set up! Kind of feels like you have free money, so itās pretty dangerous when shopping!
I had this already set up, but it is basically the Chinese equivalent to WhatsApp. Ned didnāt have WeChat, so when we were split up in separate dorms in hostels, we had to go back to emailing each other to communicate! If you both have internet, you shouldnāt have a problem though! You can also pay for most things through this app as well so make sure to set it up beforehand.
DiDi
DiDi is the Chinese version of Uber, pretty cheap taxis everywhere, so donāt use private ones as they will 100% overcharge you! It also links to AliPay so you can book taxis through the app as well. It can sometimes be tricky to use as it is all in Chinese and the translate button doesnāt always work but overall very useful to have!
AMap & Baidu
Google and Apple Maps donāt work properly in China, so when you use it the directions are completely wrong. The alternative ones to use in China is AMap or Baidu, and they work perfectly!
Trip.com
Trip.com will be your best friend! You will book everything with Trip.com, flights, trains, attractions, hotels. It is so easy and handy to use, so make sure to have this downloaded!
Top Tips for China
Passports
Passports are used frequently, not just for checking into hotels/hostels. To catch High Speed Railway Trains, attractions like the Great Wall of China or Terracotta Army, as well as for shopping, you will need your passports on hand. All of your tickets will be linked to your passport so you will need them wherever you go, donāt forget them behind because they wonāt let you in without them!
Attractions
For some attractions, especially during peak season, it is extremely busy. Queues for entering sites such as the Forbidden City, Terracotta Army and Zhangjiang National Park can take an hour or so. One recommendation though is if you donāt bring a bag with you, you can breeze straight through security and bag checks. These sections take the longest as they really properly search you! Obviously if youāre out for the whole day you most likely need a bag, but if you arenāt this is one suggestion on how to make your day faster. Just make sure you have a spot to keep your passport safe!
Make sure to also book your attractions in advance. They do vary for each one, so make sure you do it correctly as otherwise you might miss out one! Recommendations on some attractions will be in my China Route blog here.
Best Time to Visit
The best time to visit is Spring and Summer, but make sure to avoid any major holidays as it will be horrendously busy! Chinese New Year, Labour Day or National Golden Week are prime dates to miss. This is because, as they are local holidays, a lot of local people will be travelling around the country to see their families meaning everything will be ten times busier!
High Speed Railway
The best way to travel around the country is through High Speed Railway trains. Tickets can be booked on trip.com and they are a really fun way to get from one place to the other. Most routes are very scenic and cuts the travel time down by a lot! We travelled around using mainly trains, with only a couple of flights when we were short on time. If you have more leeway on your route you can definitely get the trains everywhere. Tickets are also released a week before, so make sure to book them as soon as you can as some routes get booked up very quickly!
Power Banks
China is very strict when it comes to power banks, if your charger doesnāt have CCC on it they will take it from you! There is nothing you can do to prevent it, trust me I know, they took two of ours and they cost over Ā£100 so I was very pissed off! We have been travelling for the last ten months, had no issues with our chargers, even entered the country on a fourteen hour China Eastern flight and they were fine with it! So please take this into account if you fly domestically within the country as you donāt want to be losing expensive chargers. They did say we could get them express posted to another location but we needed a local mobile phone number, which we of course donāt have. We sadly had to take the L.
Culture Shocks
- The toilets - They will probably be the worst shock to you! In most public places, the toilets will be squat toilets, as if you are doing a bush wee in a festival. Some places may have the occasional one seated toilet or disabled toilet that you can use, but a majority of them wonāt. They also wonāt be the nicest or cleanest toilets either, so you just have to roll with it! Make sure to bring your own toilet paper and hand sanitiser as well as most of them will not provide them!
- Spitting and snorting on the street - What we find terribly gross everyone does it and it is totally acceptable!
- There is literally zero concept of personal space, social awareness or social etiquette - People will block walkways, push and shove each other to get onto trains and not let people off first. It would normally come across as rude to us, but in China it is the norm!
- No personal space will test you if you go into shops, as soon as you enter you will be pounced on and followed around the shop! They donāt mean anything by it but, so just let them haha!
- When people talk they are basically yelling - They are not angry or being rude, it's just how they communicate there.
- The Mandarin word "err" for pauses in English often sounds like a racial slur, so it is hard to get use to hearing it in every other sentence!
- People smoke everywhere - even indoors, can be very smelly but it is allowed!
- The positives on the other hand overall outweigh the negatives! China is extremely clean and super efficient! Everything runs smoothly, from paying, to transport, to checking in!
- The Metro is incredible, everyone uses it! It can be tricky to navigate at first, but once you have the hang of it, you can get anywhere easily! It is also soo cheap, compared to prices in London, with some long trips only costing 4 Yuan (Ā£0.40p). One difference is every time you enter, you have to put your bags through security scanners.
- Overall, a majority of things are pretty cheap, aside from tourist attractions. Some meals we have had, have cost less than Ā£5 and we have had five dishes between us!
- Everyone is super friendly and helpful, they love speaking to tourists and getting to know you! We have also had two free room upgrades at no extra cost!
- If we arrived before 12pm to our hostel, we immediately got to check into our room, thereās no waiting around like you do in Asia or Latin America!
- The majority of vehicles are electric, cars, mopeds, bicycles so the roads are pretty quiet.
Overall, this blog shares my tips on what you need to do before your visit to China, I hope this helps!āŗļø