Anyone traveled to China?

[FallingforPhil]

DH and I will be traveling to Beijing, Xian, and Tianjin this month with a group of students from the school where I teach. Most of our time is scheduled, as is usually the case when traveling with a large group, but I wondered if anyone had traveled there and could give us any "must do" or "must see" items for while we're there??? Also, any general hints for traveling to China would be great as well.

TIA!

[AmyE]

I went for work, and didn't get to have all that much free time, but ooohh, so much fun. The standard tourist-y spots really are impressive - wander around the Forbidden City, do the great wall, etc etc. You'll likely do all of that as part of your tour, so no worries there. Most Chinese in those areas are very used to foreign tourists now. Honestly, all the standard big city warning apply - watch your bags, beware what you buy.....

The shopping at the Pearl Market is awesome - near the Temple of Heaven - a lot of stuff is counterfeit though, so watch what you buy as far as bags and that sort of thing. No designer things there are real. Great, great prices on pearls in the shops at the next-to-the-top level. Bargain bargain bargain, of course. I got great pearl gifts for MIL and SIL. (oh, and me....)

[caramello]

I went to China last year and had a blast! As AmyE said, bargain, bargain, bargain. I got a "North Face" jacket with a detachable inner liner for less than $10 US. DH and I played good cop/bad cop and he was the bad cop - usually they caved in and agreed to our price. Just walk away - either they will call you back or you will find the item in another stall. Also, clothes run really small there. I asked for an XL of a t-shirt and they went to the back to get it. When I got home, I found out that they handwrote the "X" in and it was really just a size "L" which was not IMO the equivalent of a "L" by US standards.

Bring lots of $1 bills. The street vendors will gladly take them. Also, if you don't know, the conversion rate is the same in every hotel or bank, so no need to shop around for the best rate.

Check out the message boards on fodors.com. They will have lots of advice.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

[emmjay]

When you're in Beijing, I highly recommend trying "jian bing" which is a type of street food (they have it on the streets around Tiananmen Sq). It is a savory crepe which is rolled up with scrambled egg, cilantro, onions, chili sauce, and fried dough inside. It is SOOOOOOO good and it costs maybe twenty cents. They also have good street food in the Muslim area of Xi'an. This is assuming you are willing to eat street food. ;)

When you are shopping, I would offer 5-10% of the asking price if you are in the Pearl Market or any of the other more popular shopping areas in Beijing. As an example, we were there in the winter and we were freezing so we bought "cashmere" scarves in a local street market we happened to pass. We paid around $1 apiece without really bargaining at all - that was just how much the woman asked for them. Then later that day we were in the Pearl Market and we saw a woman who bought a whole bunch of the exact same scarves (same label and everything) and paid $10 each. So if you are in one of the more popular tourist markets, you'll probably pay more than you would somewhere else. You're still getting a bargain from our standpoint though!

One more tip - be prepared for a lot of people hawking loogies and/or blowing their noses straight onto the ground! I know Beijing has an initiative to curb this before the Olympics, but it's a cultural trait and I don't think it's going to be easy for them to force people to stop.

[Quartercentury]

I just got back from about a month in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, so no where that you're going, but my general impression of China was that it is a weird place.

Let me see if I can find a good picture to illustrate my point:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v448/quartercentury/P1202113.jpg
Outdoor restaurant (near a famous temple in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan) in January. It was about 30 degrees and lots of people still eating outside. This little girl was with her family a few tables over from us. First she brought her bowl of noodles over and just sat and ate with us. FH was talking to her, but she just stared at us. Later she came back and asked us for six yuan. Just because we should give it to her, she said. Then she came back with her mom's cell phone to take our picture... That's her little sister on the right, running over to slap her ass and make fake farting noises at us. Finally they got bored with us and went back to their table. But then, as the family was leaving, their *mother* came over to take our picture with her cell phone. People are so curious about foreigners, to the point of being what I would consider rude.

Emmjay is right about the spitting. Lots of spitting on the street. If there is a bone in your food and there were bones in *everything* at a restaurant, you can just spit it out on the table or the floor.

Chickens in open pens (or just running around) all over the place, even in Chengdu. Bird flu be damned.

In Beijing it may be different, but in Chengdu no one spoke English. FH speaks Mandarin, so we were okay, but even in shops or restaurants with their signs in English, very little English was actually spoken.

I read that the air pollution in Xi'an is so bad that the snow in winter is black.

This makes it sound like I didn't have a very good time in China, I know... I would call it more of an experience. One I'm glad I had, for sure, but not really a good time. Yunnan, and smaller cities, were more my style. Less traffic, less pushing and shoving (after four years in England, encountering people who don't know how to make a queue was a shock!), less pollution.

Things were such a strange combination of exactly what you'd expect them, being in China, to be, and modern/western-ness. Ducks in windows and red lanterns and old men with pipes and scenes like this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v448/quartercentury/P1202104.jpg

Next door to more traffic than Los Angeles and cement block architecture.

It's a crazy place. I'm glad I went. But it was nuts.

[emmjay]

ITA with everything Quartercentury mentioned (pushing and shoving, spitting out food in restaurants, pollution, people staring and taking your picture, etc.) And I had the same ambivalence about the "experience" after spending a month there, but I still want to go back! Also I think you will have a different kind of experience since you'll be in bigger cities and on a tour. In Beijing there are definitely more people who speak English, and there is even less spitting! ;)

Funny picture-taking story: we met some Australian guys in Beijing and one of them was of Korean descent. The other one was of Irish descent and was VERY pale with red hair. They were walking in Tiananmen Square and a family indicated that they wanted to take their picture. So the two Aussies went to pose with the family, and the family shoved the Korean-Australian guy out of the picture! He was telling us afterwards that it was like, "Get the hell out of here - we see people who look like YOU every day!" :D

[caramello]

Take wetwipes, antibacterial gel, and toilet paper with you. You never know what kind of bathroom you might encounter. At the biggest tourist spots, they rate the toilets - there are plaques outside with *** s on them. :D

Also, take cold medicine and throat drops with you. Lots of people get colds in China.

[Quartercentury]

Oh yes. The toilets. We only encountered western-style toilets in hotels. Public toilets were always squat-type, frequently were paid-access-only, and there is never toilet paper available - you have to bring your own. Then there are the public squat toilets with no doors, just sort of half walls between the squatting areas. So the people standing in line are basically watching you do your business. It takes some getting used to...

[caramello]

I saw western style toilets in all of the tourist spots (bathrooms that I ventured into) and the restaurants. The squat pots or Eastern style bathrooms are supposed to be more sanitary, but do take some getting used to (make sure your pants don't touch the floor :eek: ) I did not see any toilets without doors ... but we were on a tour in the main cities so that may explain the difference.

[FallingforPhil]

Wow---great thoughts and stories, ladies! We are finalizing our itinerary and should have something fairly concrete by next week. Our group will be performing 5 concerts (several at schools/universities, one on the great wall, and one in the grand theatre in Tianjin), which will keep us verrry busy, but I look forward to the little free time we will have. Anyone have suggestions for "must have" things to bring back???

Thanks again!

[KarenS]

You ought to PM Ki Ki Marcus. She and her DH spent some time in China recently and have a lot of information to share. :)

Karen

[caramello]

We brought back Mao's little red book and a Mao watch - souvenirs that definitely make you think of China. DH also bought a couple of fake Rolexes. Lots of people on our tour bought Chinese paintings and silk robes. I bought a bunch of chinese coin purses that were about 1/10th of the price of LA's Chinatown (I know because I looked because I didn't bring back enough for everyone!).

We also did a lot of exploring on our free time. We lucked out and hired a English speaking cab driver for the day and he took us to all the great shopping places and restaurants that we wanted to try. It was a fun day - I love bargaining!!

Here is a list of famous places in Beijing: Imperial Palace, Tiananmen Square, The Great Hall of the People, Chairman Mao's Mausoleum, The Great Wall at Badaling, The Ming Tombs, The Summer Palace, The Temple of Heaven, and Behai Park. If you want to get a little commerative "plaque" saying you climbed the Great Wall, its cheaper at the top than buying it from the peddlers at the base. Remember, you can bargain with them, too. Also see if you can ride a rickshaw to a hutong (its almost like a village with small narrow streets that only a rickshaw can manuever).

At night you should check out Wangfujing St. - its similar to 3rd Street Promenade (for those of us in LA) - its a street that’s closed to traffic. There's LOTS of shops and people and the side streets have lots of good restaurants. Not much bargaining there, though.

Xian is famous for the Terra Cotta Soldiers (this is a must!), Big Goose Pagoda, Imperial Tombs of the Han and Tang, and The Great Mosque.

Don't be surprised if you see lots of vendors waiting for you as you get off the bus. Even though I had been to China twice before, somehow I thought they were people waiting to get on our bus. If you're not interested in buying whatever it is they're selling, try to avoid making eye contact. Otherwise they will keep trying to bargain with you! DH loved bargaining with them and made me take a picture of the interaction!

I don't know what your eating or shopping needs are, but if you have more questions, let me know! Even though we went on a tour, we did a lot of research, which definitely made our trip more enjoyable!

[Quartercentury]

There was a good article in The Guardian today about urban growth and modern life in China. Here's the link. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1730925,00.html).

[TracieB]

My husband and I went to Beijing for 4-days about a year ago. We had a great time... saw all the touristy spots, did the rickshaw ride, etc. Let me know if you need suggestions!

We bought just one souvenir (we aren't big souvenir collector). We got an embroidered Chinese artwork fabric centerpiece thing (so hard to explain). We got it because all proceeds went toward the '08 Olympic fund.

Have fun!

[Rosebud]

Bumping up this old thread. DH and I are thinking about a trip to China in Fall '09-- so, not particularly soon. We'd be going to visit my brother in Chengdu, maybe stopping for a couple of days in Beijing beforehand.

Has anyone been out to Chengdu and that area of China? I hear there are lots of interesting things to see (pandas!!), but that transportation in the region isn't always the best. I'm surfing over on Fodors as well but just hoping to revive this China thread a bit in the meantime.

[emmjay]

We went to Chengdu for about a week and we did go to the panda center. You could take the train from Beijing to Xian (to see the terracotta soldiers - IMO that is a "must-see" and worth the stop) and then Xian to Chengdu. DH and I did that route in the opposite direction because we entered China from the south. But, that would depend on how much time you have - the train from Beijing to Xian is around 16 hrs, and then from Xian to Chengdu it's ~24. As for getting around, I thought the buses in China were really nice. Well, the "first-class" longer distance buses were nice, not the really local ones.

The pandas were awesome! We saw a bunch of babies that had been born and pandas of all ages, from "toddlers" to adults. There are also a lot of national parks and hikes that can be done in Sichuan province but we didn't go. Here are some of our pics of the pandas:

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m261/mollyj6/129_9.jpg

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m261/mollyj6/125_5.jpg

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m261/mollyj6/China014.jpg

[Rosebud]

emmjay- Thanks so much for the advice! Those panda pics are SO cute. :) I hadn't even thought about taking the train- just seemed like it would be too long of a trek- but it would be so cool to stop in Xian and see some of the countryside on the way. I'll definitely consider that, now. We could always fly back to Beijing to save a little time.

[SiValleySteph]

Hey Rosebud,

I haven't been to Chengdu area, maybe next time. I've been to Beijing, Xian, Shanghai, Wuyishan, Suzhou, Tong-Li, and Hangzhou.

Are you considering taking your baby along (1-1/2 then)? My son, who is 3, has been to China twice, so I just wanted to reassure you it is possible and can be fun to travel in China with your child!

We'll probably go again in summer of '09, with 2 kids that time.

[Rosebud]

I'm not sure about taking the kiddo or not. We'll need to wait until he's here and see how he travels, I think. Honestly, I wouldn't have thought about a trip of this nature while the baby is fairly young if my brother weren't going to be living in China for a bit- thus creating the perfect opportunity for us to go. It's all sort of a very vague plan right now and we'll have to see what happens after the baby arrives. Looking at photos of Chengdu got me really excited about the possibility, though! I haven't been to Asia yet and would LOVE to go to China.

[kimbyj]

I highly recommend flying from city to city as I think it's the most efficient way to get around in a shorter period of time. The flights are not that expensive and you could probably see more of the country.

[Rosebud]

Posting a link to an article I saw in the L.A. Times about a motorcycle tour of China's Silk Road. Although most of us probably aren't planning to see China via motorcycle, it had some interesting info about sights and hotels:

Revved Up For a Tour of China's Silk Road (http://travel.latimes.com/articles/la-tr-silk2dec02)

[Hello Kitty]

I think we're going to go to Chengdu - there's a Tibetan village nearby that we'd love to go to. Anything noteworthy besides the pandas?

[betsyboop]

DH is probably going to China on business next month and I'm going to go with him if his trip ends up happening. I just started looking online a bit and am confused about the visa thing. I've never gone somewhere where a passport wasn't sufficient. Do I just choose one of the many online places that do it for you or is there some other better way of doing it? Does anyone have a visa website to recommend? Also, my passport expires on Nov 9- so more than 6 months from now, but less than 6 months from the time of the trip. Will this be a problem? Should I renew my passport first? Like I said, I'm confused:o

[SiValleySteph]

betsyboop, We used a visa service for all 3 trips we've made. Just too time consuming for us to drive up to the consul (even though it's just 45 min away) during a week day. I'm not sure if I have the name of the one we used last time.

I'm not sure about the passport expiration date. You could do a rush passport if necessary. I had to do that for our last trip and we had to do that for my son the trip before. Sounds like we don't plan ahead! :D (Really, it was because the last time we were worried about an emergency trip due to DH's grandpa's health and the time before my son was a newborn, so we had to get his birth certificate before we could get the passport.)

ETA: I used Oasis China Visa (http://oasischinavisa.com/) 2 trips ago with no problem. I don't know if we used them last time or not as we took the sticker off the passports. The sticker was still on my old passport from the trip before.

[kalogrias]

Betsyboop -- I went to China from Korea, so things might be a little different, but here was my experience.

1. Visas -- We got ours at the CHinese Embassy here. There's a form to fill out and we needed to provide 2 pics...I think it was $75 (?). Took about 4 days. We had to drop off and pick up. If you're near a Chinese consulate or near the Embassy, that might be the easiest way to do things -- or call the nearest one's visa section. When I lived in the US and had to get visas, oftentimes I would have to send things into the Embassy in DC.

2. Passports. You need to have it be valid for 6 months after the date you arrive in China, otherwise there is a chance you won't be let in.

[betsyboop]

SiValley- Thanks for the recommendation for Oasis Visa. Yeah, after reading your post, I realized that there isn't even a consulate nearby anyway, so that's pretty much my only option.

kalogrias- Hmm, I just got off the phone with Oasis Visa and they said that I don't need a new passport... as long as it's valid for 6 months from the time of my application, that's ok. Now I'm nervous:p

[kalogrias]

Betsyboop -- I was coming in with a military tour group, so it's possible they were stricter with us than they would be with a "normal" person re: passports. If you have any doubts, call the Chinese Embassy in DC. They have a consular hotline.

[Shapsgrl]

I would double check about the passport issue. I was in Hong Kong traveling to Thailand and they almost did not let my friend enter because his passport was only good for 5.5 months. We had to prove that he had a return ticket, etc. before they would let him get on the plane. Better safe that sorry!

As for a Chinese visa, I have always done it from a local travel agent or in Hong Kong.

[Rosebud]

Saw this in the L.A. Times:

In China, a translator is a call away (http://travel.latimes.com/articles/la-trw-chinese20apr20)

Visiting China, but your Mandarin is, frankly, flawed? No problem. Just dial up an interpreter. At least two new companies offer over-the-phone interpretation services with live operators. You speak with them in English, then hand over the phone and they explain your needs to Chinese-speaking locals.

Beijing-based chinaONEcall offers packages starting at $79 for 60 minutes of talk time; (877) 660-2838, www.chinaonecall.com. Boston-based Fone-In Inc., which handles dozens of languages besides English and Chinese, charges $57.99 for a one-year membership plus $2.23 per minute; (877) 988-3556, www.fone-in.com. With both companies, you must pay your regular phone charges on top of these fees.

[Rosebud]

Another interesting China travel article from the L.A. Times:

Understanding China begins with a look at Mao Tse-tung (http://travel.latimes.com/articles/la-tr-mao13apr13)

The Chinese tourism administration encourages travelers to visit revolutionary war era memorials. In 2005, museums opened all along the route of the Long March, which ended in 1935. The arduous trek took the Red Army from compromised Communist strongholds in the south to the dusty town of Yanan in northeast-central China.

But few foreign visitors add these places to their China itineraries, partly because many of the landmarks are in remote regions. Then too, Westerners may know little about China's long, bitter and -- some would claim, ongoing -- struggle for freedom.

Mao's birthplace

Mao's idyllic-looking childhood home nestles in a narrow green valley shouldered by rice paddies a two-hour drive southwest of Changsha, the capital of Hunan province. His modest primary school is close to the entrance, overlooking a pond where I imagined the boy swimming. Like books, it was a lifelong passion.

From there a winding path leads to a tidy, 13-room farmhouse where Mao and his two younger brothers worked under the sharp eyes of their father, a comfortably well-off farmer. A steady stream of visitors -- mostly old people and students -- crowded into the room where Mao, the first surviving son, was born in 1893 on a now-fragile-looking canopy bed to a mother who practiced Buddhism and did housework on bound feet.