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天安門一九八九年 tour recommendations?

Bumping from last thread - What's going on with the flight cancellations from China to Japan?

It looks like the number of Chinese airlines and routes being cancelled keeps going up - but you will be safe just booking with a non-Chinese airline flying out of China to Japan? I just need a flight from Shanghai to Tokyo later this month. I can't imagine all international carriers for all routes will be shut down in and out of china to japan

Hey so wife and I dont speak any Chinese but she really wants to go to disney in shanghai and I wouldnt mind visiting china.

Anyone ITT have experience hiring a chinese tour guide?

>>2859925
you really don't need a tour guide even if you don't speak Chinese. You can just use your phone for translating, and in Shanghai quite a good amount of people speak English.

>>2859928
Tokyo levels of english or are we talking japanese countryside?

>>2859929
idk I've never been to Japan but restaurants etc will usually have one person who speaks some English. also literally just use your phone, it can turn English into totally understandable Chinese and can translate Chinese into ok English using the camera function. Also disney is like the last place on earth that you need a tour guide for

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AM I DOING THIS RIGHT

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Hubei recs? I only care about hiking and food. The 3 gorges stuff looks cool but also touristy. How cold is it there in March?

If I only have 10 days to tour around (transit visa), starting and ending in Shanghai, is Nanjing worth a stop or is it a waste of time?

>>2859945
more worth it than any other nearby city, I would definitely recommend. very different vibe compared with Shanghai and much more historical
the only potential contenders are Hangzhou and Zhoushan

>>2859944
>hubei food
Wuhan hot dry noodles are very good
theres also some kind of special chicken idk what it's called in English but very nice
>hubei hiking
shennongjia and enshi are good for this, 3 gorges I've not been but maybe worth to take a look before Taiwan destroys it
>cold in march
not really, above 10c and not much rain. significantly warmer than Hebei/Beijing area

to me hubei is one of the most boring provinces in China, even Wuhan is quite boring for such a big city. all of the bordering regions are more interesting, Hunan and Jiangxi have better food, and Anhui has better hiking

Where are the underground music/art scenes in China?
I know that Shanghai and Beijing are best for contemporary art, Shanghai/surrounding areas for certain indie rock/emo styles, Guangzhou for certain metal/punk styles, Wuhan for punk, Chongqing for rap and Chengdu for LGBT and general chill vibes
But I don't really know much and I feel like a lot of this info is hidden behind a language barrier and the great firewall (bands/promoters/venues less likely to post events on insta though it does happen)
Any recs?

>>2859929
Better English than Tokyo and Seoul. But only in Shanghai

I know it's absolutely not recommended to travel during Chinese New Year and apparently is a special kind of hell, but I already spent two months in Korea and had enough, visiting Japan was not practical for me, so I decided to go to China anyway because it's one of the only opportunities I will have to do so before going back inside the wage cage.

I'm already in Beijing as we speak and I don't regret it at all, I plan to go to Xi'an next for 4 or 5 days, and leave before Feb 13-14.
My question is, where would it be more comfy to stay holed up in a hotel for a week with booze and nothing to do except having a good excuse to shitpost because everything is closed. Shanghai or Chongqing?

I have heard Shanghai is somewhat pleasant during CNY because the streets are rather empty but some expats are still staying, and not everything is completely closed. I also know someone there who might be available.
I really want to visit Chongqing but I've heard it might be overcrowded due to domestic tourism, and if I go to Shanghai, I might skip it because I will then probably stay in the south in order to reach Vietnam by bus.

I'm pretty sure I will go to Shanghai anyway, but I'm posting this just in case any of you has any practical tips.

Oh, and another question for people who can benefit from visa-free stay: how easy is it to do a visa run from Vietnam or Hong Kong? Do the authorities give you shit if they see you already have recent Chinese stamps on your passport, as you long as you have a GTFO/return ticket?
To enter I booked a Shenzhen-Hong Kong ticket because it was cheap and it's impossible to book a Nanning-Hanoi bus ticket online AFAIK, but this might not work next time.

-What method of payment to use in China (Shanghai)
-Is it easy to navigate without speaking Chinese and sparse use of a translator?
-What is the uber equivalent?
-How essential is a VPN?
-Best dating app?
-Things to know?

Ty

>>2859947
Thanks for the good response, i like this board.
>Anhui hiking
You thinking of Huangshan or somewhere else?

>Hunan, Henan
>Shanxi, Shaanxi
Why are they like this

>>2859680
It's due to geopolitical tensions between China and Japan regarding Taiwan, you can read some stuff on China Daily to get the point of view of mainland China, but basically they interpreted some comments the new Japanese PM made as a possibility that they would militarily intervene in Taiwan if push comes to shove, so they cancelled all touristic flights to Japan for Chinese New Year, which is coincidentally when most Chinese people go abroad: https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202601/26/WS69776263a310d6866eb35d18.html

I would recommend you to transit by Seoul honestly, the South Korean president met both Xi Jinping and Sanae Takaichi very recently, SK has good diplomatic relationships with both, and Seoul is worth visiting for a few days if you have time IMHO.


>>2859978
I'm also researching this at the moment because the underground music scene in China is virtually unknown in the West, but does exist and have some pretty good bands.

So far all I know is that there is an alternative music club called Dusk Dawn Club in the Chaoyang district of Beijing. You can check thebeijinger.com/events/music for other Beijing stuff, and there is also this "lifestyle magazine" which might help: thatsmags.com/china/entertainment
Otherwise, everything seems to happen on WeChat, and I am as clueless as you are. What I usually do in a country is researching where bands I like played in the past, and see if there are shows there, but in China it's a bit harder to do so. Tell me if you know more.

>>2860030
this, my flights to japan from mainland china got cancelled twice, i ended up having to book a last minute flight from hong kong. cost me something like $600 extra

>>2860030
>>2860031
Which airlines? Even Japanese airlines like Spring Japan?

>>2860032
they were both chinese airlines, idk if non-chinese airlines are having their flights cancelled

Currently in Guangzhou with my wife. Plan on taking a train to Gulin tomorrow. Has any anons been there and recommend things to do? Was thinking about renting a moped and exploring the countryside. My wife is from the mainland , so the language barrier isn’t a problem.

>>2860029
yeah mostly Huangshan and Chizhou

Hunan = south of the lake (poyang lake)
Hubei = north of the lake
Henan = south of the river (yellow river)
Hebei = north of the river

Shanxi = west of the mountains (taihang mountains)
Shandong = east of the mountains
Shaanxi = west of the Shaan pass

also there is
Guangdong = east lingnan (lingnan = south of the ling mountains)
Guangxi = west lingnan
Jiangxi = east jiangnan (jiangnan = south of the yangtzi river)
Jiangsu = Jiangning (old name of Nanjing) and Suzhou city

>>2860064
kayaking and rafting is apparently pretty good there
really you should ask her to look on 小红书 what everyone else is recommending

>>2860030
great stuff anon and yeah I will keep you updated of course, you trying to teach/work over there or just a holiday?
Like you said, most things are hidden behind the firewall as well as the language barrier. Some bands will have an instagram but they're never properly active on there, moreso just seems to be the ones that want to promote to the western internet music/Rate Your Music scene.
I can't read a word of Chinese and I'm having trouble getting Wechat on my phone right now so researching has been hard to say the least lol, Japan's scene is hidden behind the language barrier too but they all use insta to promote and there's some western articles/awareness, so it's still possible to find out about it if you're skilled at going down insta rabbitholes like me

>>2860020
thought people in Seoul were at least conversational in English? Let me know because if not I'll start learning Korean as well and Japanese and Chinese

>>2860023
>payment methods
wechat pay and alipay. cash accepted relatively often but don't rely on it. Western cards usually not accepted, but bigger shops and restaurants might.
>how easy with no Chinese AND no translator
signage usually has English but the amount of people speaking it is quite low, if you use a phone translator you shouldn't have any problems tho.
>uber equivalent
didi taxi, gaode taxi, etc... didi and gaode integrate all local taxis into their interface so you can call on like 20 taxi companies at once in addition to their own drivers. Didi is easier to use since it has an all-English interface.
>how essential is a VPN
if you want to keep using whatsapp, instagram, google, etc... it is essential
>best dating app
idk, if you can't speak Chinese just keep using the western ones. The Chinese ones don't have English interfaces afaik.
>things to know
you will be targeted for scams, China is very safe in terms of no violent crime or theft, but scams are very common.

>>2860021
expats usually go travelling during CNY as well, they get time off and nobody wants to stay in an empty city
there will likely be minimal tourists in Chongqing city but the surrounding natural landscapes i.e. wulingyuan karsts might be crowded

>>2860128
more groups are on weibo and xiaohongshu, wechat is primarily a messaging platform

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>>2859928
I fucking hate all this technology we have these days, there's a cheat to everything so there's no struggle in what ever people do. Years ago people would think twice. Now Michelle can run amock care free anywhere and everywhere. And she WILL exercise her liberty and make sure she is everywhere being an annoying Instagramer

Also what happened to China banning access to Google and most other things? That turned out to just be literally made up

>>2860217
why are you black

>>2860218
google is blocked, you have to use a vpn to access it

>>2859668
Hey OP, just letting you know for next time. Don't make a new OP until the thread hits page 10. /trv/ is a slow board.

>lose phone or get it stolen or lose charge
>prefer to not live with a phone off grid
>starve as unable to buy anything in china

Why?

>>2860275
Doesn't happen in China because people aren't clumsy. If you act clumsy in any way people will literally yell at you, it's just not tolerated. Imagine you accidentally give a food delivery driver the wrong password to your apartment, he will call you in the app and yell at you for it because you wasted his time. It's that serious that I can't ever imagine someone ever losing their phone. It just doesn't happen. And for battery, people have powerbanks. Also you can rent them cheaply in many places.

I have a weird question for you all.

What’s the public library situation in China like?

Do they have a large selection of English language books? Are these editions censored?

Do they allow foreigners to have library cards?

>>2860284
Cool, there's a 1000 ways to lose function of your phone or have your carrier shut it off and the government's direct and then you are locked out of society. Bug people shit

>>2860275
There is actually a legal requirement for shops etc to accept cash, so no you won't starve, but it will be very inconvenient and everyone will hate you. Lots of old people refuse to use phones so they use only cash.

>>2860286
Very poor, cities maybe have one or two big public libraries and that's it. People read books on their phones or buy them. Usually they do not have English books (why would they) and if they do they would have to be editions accessible in the country which would be censored. Foreigners can easily apply for reader cards, I have one for the national library in Beijing, but a lender card requires you to have proof of address and pay a deposit usually.

>>2860225
Nice ad hominem. You're obviously a very intelligent person. I won't dare to challenge you to any sort of battle of whits

>>2860291
Anon is acting like modern Phones aren't known to mess up. One day my phone just wouldn't turn on, that was it, off to the shops to to hand over £600 for a new one without warning. It was inconvenient, but luckily I wasn't in China kek. I'd really have learned the definition of inconvenience that that day

Sorry, got to carry on the rant. These yellow cocksuckers are so dumb. I wouldn't rely on tech for something unless it's 1000x better than what it's replacing. I get all for GPS (even though I don't use it) because it beats walking around with a heavy book. And even besides that it works so much more efficiently that it makes the chance of it not working worth it

It's funny people are talking about phones and the underlying infrastructure today because AliPay stopped working at random times for me this very day and it basically ruined my plans to go visit an historical palace.
To go withdraw some cash, the nice lady in my hotel told me I have to go to a subway station 6km away, for foreign cards.
This is fucking ridiculous. Even when I got my card swallowed by an ATM in Serbia, I could transfert money to myself with Western Union. Here it probably doesn't work, or isn't practical at all.

Please Xi, if you hear me, between this and not being able to install WeChat on poorfag phones because the dev team suddenly decided to stop supporting the armeabi-v7a instruction set, please, fucking get your shit together if you wanna be future proof (like why? it's just an option in the compiler you motherfucker, do we need one more laggy screen exclusive to the arm64-v8 instruction set you fucking clueless middle managers??).

It's a great country, but this meme tech shit is completely killing any excitement I initally had. Just let me use cash like in Korea when tech inevitably fails, because tech WILL fail when it's managed by morons. I have been one of such morons, I know what happens in the back of the kitchen, and it's not pretty at all.

>>2860217
I will arrive next month and I plan to have my phone off the whole time so i can't be tracked and i will run ragged around the Taishan massif sleeping in shrines and living off supermarket food. When you begin to worry that no one is struggling any more, think of me eating dried squid and freezing at night, and be glad.

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has anybody been to the Zhuhai Airshow? I'm thinking of taking a trip to see it this year

>>2860438
Why are you doing this anon?

>>2859944
What's there to do at three gorges?
Never actually heard it talked about as a destination

>>2860328
did you not even consider getting it repaired??

>>2860333
>To go withdraw some cash, the nice lady in my hotel told me I have to go to a subway station 6km away, for foreign cards.
unfortunately she misinformed you, almost every bank's ATMs can use foreign cards for withdrawals, I know for a fact that any of the big six banks can do it.
Also the reason for alipay stopping working is usually because you kept your vpn on
and you can still use cash if you want, but the country is not designed for foreigners and old people, everyone else uses wechat pay and alipay without any issues

>>2860558
you can see the dam and all the villages they flooded to build it

>>2860561
Course I did. The guy in the shop said there's nothing that can be done. Now I just buy cheaper Chinese phones

I'm going to be in Shnaghai for about 4 days but I'm struggling in putting together a solid itinerary. Theres no big stand out thing or place, like Forbidden City and Great Wll in Beijing or Terracotta Warriors and City Walls like in Xian. Just a lot of "artsy" streets and museums, or maybe Im not looking at it properly, maybe overthinking things.

My plan is something like:
Day 1: Natural History Museum, Taikoo Li mall, Bund at nighttime
Day 2: Pudong side (Shanghia Tower, Century Park, Art Centre), Xintiandi
Day 3: Shanghi Museum, Tianzifang, Jingan Temple
Day 4: Yuyuan Gardens, Peoples Park/Urban Planning Exhibition

If anyone has been, are these places worth visiting? Anything I should add or remove? Never been to China so I dont know how it will turn out, but i think 2 main places is enough for a day.

>>2860201
>but scams are very common.
what kind of scams? If it's just trying to sell you worthless shit or saying i ordered 2 beers in stead of 1 I can deal with that.

>>2860662
yes, shanghai is just like that, there is nothing standout to do or see. you just walk around the overpriced cafes and pretend to be cultured.

>>2860675
mostly the kind where someone lures you into doing something that costs a lot more than you expected
i.e. someone standing outside a teahouse invites you in for a tasting, you've had 5 cups of tea and then they reveal that by drinking them you bought the entire block and now owe 500 yuan
girl you meet on a dating app suggests going to this specific restaurant, she orders super expensive wine and shit, you get forced to pay by the scammer's hired thugs

>>2860678
>yes, shanghai is just like that, there is nothing standout to do or see. you just walk around the overpriced cafes and pretend to be cultured.

It does sort of seem that way. I suppose in Chinese history Shanghai and the surrounding provinces are where all the scholars come from, whereas the warrior and generals come from the north and west lol.

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>>2860662
You could check out a nearby canal town. I went to Zhujiajiao which is a small canal town you can get to on the Shanghai metro, although if I stayed in Shanghai again I would probably go on a day trip to Suzhou instead

>>2860683
I am doing a day trip (didnt incluse in the itinerary), I considered Suzhou but am actually planning to go to Hangzhou. Theres the West Lake and some tea plantations that seems distinct. What do you do at those water towns? Am worried a load of crowds would ruin the quiet vibe they are supposed to have.

>>2860561
Thank you for the advice, but my VPN wasn't on, I use roaming data because I have a somewhat expensive but good data plan in my home country that works in China.
On top of that, Alipay blocked my account yesterday night because I tried to go a music club and it was deemed to be a "suspicious activity". Thankfully it is now okay after I uploaded pictures of my face holding my passport and shit, but it's another day wasted waiting for security checks. I might try to go partying again tonight.
I still think China is absolutely worth visiting, and I already want to go back again because I've only visited a tiny area of Beijing so far and time is running out fast. The Forbidden City is one of the most beautiful things I've seen in my entire life, and I've only seen a quarter of it.
I can also understand the impetus of the CPC not wanting to be cucked by American companies like Visa and Mastercard if push comes to shove. But all the meme tech shit is kinda ruining my trip.
All I have to say to potential tourists is make sure you have a recent phone to be able to install WeChat and DiDi, do upload every documents on AliPay ahead of time to verify your account, and make sure you buy a couple of powerbanks as soon as you arrive (if you bring powerbanks, they might be tossed away if they aren't ceritified with the correct label).
Other than these hoops, China is certified kino.

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>>2860868
>roaming data
yeah that might be causing it, basically if it thinks you are in a foreign country and you make payments in China it'll think you're a scammer and block your account.
you don't need to buy or bring powerbanks, you can use the shared ones. you may have noticed little blocks like this, you can scan the qr code in wechat to rent them for like 2.5y/15 mins

>>2860869
Yeah it's very possible roaming data is causing it, now that you mention it. The advantage is that I don't need to use my VPN to post here or check my Gmail account (even if LetsVPN works really for this with the hotel's WiFi) but from AliPay's PoV, it probably means I'm paying from Europe and makes no sense to them.

Oh and these powerbanks you can rent are life savers, that's one of the first thing I've paid for before I was about to take my night train to Beijing. But your payment methods need to be set up and work correctly, and you might not immediately find one station like this if you find yourself stranded at night.
I always carry a 10000mAh powerbank with me just in case, with an integrated USB cable, and it has been very useful so far. They cost like $12 at KKV. And I have an heavier 20000mAh one which stays in my hotel room or backpack.

A plug adaptor is also advised to carry around because their plugs aren't always what you expect. Sometimes I get a something that can accept Europlugs, sometimes I don't.

>>2860873
technically you can check the mini program for a map of where the power bank stations are if your phone's about to die, but I can understand that might be difficult for someone not used to it/non Chinese speaker
about your power bank being confiscated, you're only allowed ones with a CCC qualification on domestic flights (basically only certain models made in China, CCC is the Chinese version of CE)

>>2859929
english is totally random and hit and miss. you will be able to complete sales in shops but you are not getting anything explained. you can get to disneyland and do the whole day there without any issues.
shanghai is not difficult at all but it depends on what you are doing or expecting whether you want a tour guide who can make everything simple and smooth.

>>2859945
nanjing is worth a day or an overnight. cool city, historical things to see. chilled place. much better vibe than central shanghai.

>>2859978
if you want to go down a rabbit hole, visit Resident Advisor website and look for gig listings, although it is a electronic/club orientated website, for chinese cities you are interested in. there are club nights/promoters/venues who have instagram pages. many venues also have an instagram page and from that you can find names of other groups/bands/etc in the city.
idk why you say chengdu is particularly lgbt, they are everywhere.

>>2860021
shanghai's nanjing street to the Bund is the busiest place in china on chinese new years.

>>2860890
>idk why you say chengdu is particularly lgbt, they are everywhere.
chengdu and the sichuan-chongqing region in general is stereotyped as being home to non-masculine men and violent women (川渝辣妹), thus leading to there being lots of gay men there (especially bottoms, called 零 in Chinese). So there are lots of jokes about Chengdu having no tops etc etc.
but I would say there is a hint of truth, because chengdu has a lot more lgbt friendly stuff than the rest of China apart from Shanghai

>>2860897
辣妹 means hot women which theyre also known for

think the violent women one is 川渝暴龙 or something

Anyone ever been in Xinjiang?

>>2860944
yes, I was there for 2 weeks in summer 2025. I would like to go back this year if possible

>>2860937
ah yeah you're right

>>2860946
I was thinking to take a flight to beijing, visit beijing and then travel to Xinjiang (Turpan, Urumqi,Kashgar...) and finally cross the border with Kyrgyzstan (and visit Kyrgyzstan). I have to consume several days of PTO this year lol. What was your itinerary in Xinjiang?

>>2860962
Beijing (flight) Kucha Kashgar Yarkent (flight) Ili (day trip to Tangbulake grassland) Urumqi Turpan Hami (day trip to Barköl). All other travel was on trains
The best places were Kashgar Yarkent and Turpan
Urumqi was boring, the surrounding mountains are beautiful but the city is very similar to other normal Chinese cities. Hami was also a little dull, but I think maybe that's because it was the end of the trip and I was getting quite tired of travelling after two weeks on the road.
I met another British guy in Kucha who came to Kashgar with me then crossed the border to Kyrgyzstan there.

I will be in Shenyang this Spring for 6 weeks. Any recommendations for a week trip? (maybe to Mongolia?) or just general stuff to do in the Area?

>>2861381
Shenyang is boring as fuck so you will want to get out asap
Dandong, Dalian, Changchun are good for weekend trips
Yeah a week trip to inner or outer Mongolia would be good, you are near Hulunbuir which is really beautiful but the grass might not have grown yet in spring. Arxan forest park is also worth a visit.
Other than that you could also go to Beijing and Chengde to the south
I should add that Shenyang is one of the most heavily polluted cities in China, AQI can easily get above 500 in the winter, so you will want to bring pm2.5 masks

>>2860890
oh yeah RA is definitely a shout, will have to try for myself though because I'm definitely more of a indie/rock/punk kind of guy and I don't know if those scenes post on RA that much

Hey I’m traveling a lot for canton fair in china, do you know any factory that produces good quality Copy coins or euro bills? Also I’m interested in other “illegal” businesses

>>2861417
Thanks!
Sadly in Shenyang for work. I already heard it is a boring city. Great tip to bring some PM2.5, I think they are easiliy avalaible? Or would you suggest to bring some from home.
I was thinking of going to bejing for a few days and from there take the train to Hulunbuir. What are some nice travel companies within China. My local ones only offer full on holidays to china and not 5-7 day trips. Most stuff i find on the internet is stupid tourist crap. Anyone has some good advice for websites that show a nice itinerary or are possible to book?
Good advice to be there as late in the month as possible to give the grass its nice green colour.

>>2861696
You can definitely get pm2.5 masks in China but the quality might not be the best. Selling fake PPE and health products is a massive business in China since people are super worried about their health all the time especially old people who are easily tricked. I'd probably bring some from home.
It's faster to get from Shenyang directly to Hulunbuir (18hrs) rather than Beijing to Hulunbuir (28hrs). But it's fastest to fly anyway.
I don't know any travel companies in China since I never use them... If you speak Chinese you can find lots of itineraries on 小红书 but idk about in English.

>>2861711
Thanks i will bring some masks than.

Sadly i dont speak chinese just started taking lessons. So it will take some time to learn. How are chinese time habits? are they punctual? is it rude to be later or is it common?

I know this will be controversial, but this guy is my new favorite vlogger.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_SO056PYno&t=783s

>>2861884
before i clicked this video i was acutely thinking that it could be him, don't worry anon i feel the same way.
sure he's a little loud & obnoxious at times but overall he seems fun and i found some of his videos enjoyable

>>2861935
I like AlrightEddy

Not trying to have a political discussion, just genuinely curious how you can justify to yourself visiting China and giving money to Chinese businesses, which then give money to the Chinese government via taxes, rather than visiting pro-West nations and supporting businesses there. Doesn't it make you feel guilty supporting authoritarianism and bad guys?

>>2859668
>random field with high-tension lines
>something that looks like an open manhole
Why does the baker of the China travel thread suck so hard at taking pictures?

>>2862103
>"not trying to have a political discussion"
>proceeds to post a brainlet foxnews tier perspective about how paying some tax to one of the most efficient and productive governments on earth is a problem because "my goybox says China is bad"
If anything, anons who love the modern urban bughive kind of lifestyle should be happy to contribute their fair share toward the continuing beautification and improvement of their surroundings.

Alternatively, consider India as a destination where government coercion is minimal...in fact, I'm convinced that India is among the least coercive human societies in the world. That's why India's problems are so stubbornly persistent BTW.

>>2862112
:(

>>2861884
I lost it when he's talking to the camera

>>2862122
China is anti-West. It supports Iran, Nork, Venezuela, Russia, etc. It wants Taiwan. Visiting China is shooting the West in the face. Again, I don't want to have a political discussion, so I'm trying to steer clear of politics and keep the discussion about traveling. Do not travel to China.

>>2862256
You've never visited China and it shows. McDonalds is fucking everywhere in China. Every Western mass-consumption chain you can imagine on the top of your head, it's in every mall of China.
The truth is that once you arrive, China is kinda underwhelming because it's almost exactly like the West and other developed Asian economies. It's neither what reddit nor communists say about it.
Fuck off, we want real advice here, not moralization from a plebian belonging to a failing empire. Let the Chinese decide what they want for themselves. 99.9% of foreign tourists go to China to appreciate their unique ancient culture and to keep an eye on how they are developing. Get real. Also the booze and cigs are cheap as fuck, so I'm enjoying my time here.

>>2862256
You're claiming this isn't political but the reason you're giving "not to travel to China" is a political reason.
Chinese people travel to the west all the time and they don't care about what the governments do they'll still go (apart from Japan)
Somehow you have managed to have as much hate for China as China does for Japan which is really quite something
Also, if you spend a lot in China you can apply for a tax refund when leaving the country.
This entire discussion is retarded, the amount of your money that will go to the government is tiny, whereas (you)r own country's government's trade with China is probably billions and billions of dollars per year.

Going to Beijing for 2 week vacation end of March. What are some non normie things to do AI won't recommend? I already plan to visit FC, Summer Palace, Great Wall etc Looking for local immersion, food, activities. 20 years ago i remember a huge mall full of fake game boy cartridges and jewlrey, are replicas easy/cheap to buy nowadays in BJ? Looking to buy a (real) laptop as well, should I do it here?

>>2862307
Westerners choosing to visit China and spending money in the home of the leader of the authoritarian dictatorships of the world usually aren't buying Western products/paying for McD's. They're buying local products; plus, I'm pretty sure that the McD's franchise owner is paying taxes to local governments/Beijing. Also, the Westerner visiting China has to sleep somewhere--that gives more money to China.
>>2862322
Chinese people have every reason to want to give money to the West--this isn't about Red vs Blue, it's about Good vs Evil. People generally support Good, not Evil. Many Chinese (not most, but many) secretly want China to stop being an authoritarian dictatorship evil nation-state, and are more likely to visit the West/spend time in the West/seek to emigrate to the West, to be part of the democratic community.

>>2862372
Cancel your trip and book a trip to Taiwan instead, if you must visit China. At least then you'll be supporting a Western democratic state.

>>2862372
AI? Please kill yourself. Bonus, that's something AI would never recommend

>>2862377
Lol. China is as communist as the west is democratic. I rather just be a mercenary and live in/visit places that treat me good.

>>2862379
Sorry you're a retarded libtard against AI. Guess what, it's a better version of Google Search. I've been researching my trips with AI and it's been faster and better than any TikTok or bullshit normie influencer current thing you use to research your trips. It's great as a second opinion on matters

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>>2862385
You have the cheek to call me retarded kek, when your idea of tiktok is normal "research" never used it, nor any other little girl apps you have. And no I'm not a "library" I don't even follow politics, I can't make my own mind up. Google is used to search for things, not to be your advisor. Not sure why you're comparing it to AI. Carry on consulting your cyber friend on way to enjoy your life. Maybe you can tell him about your trip afterwards too

>>2862395
Way to spam the thread. No one cares buddy keep it moving

>>2862397
Nobody's spamming. I made a two sentence comment on your bullshit rambling

>>2862376
Why does your "good" government give billions and billions of dollars to "evil" China by trading with it tho

>>2862405
Because evil made themselves indispensable, and it was thought that maybe we could change Beijing's heart from the inside out, but that doesn't seem to be the case, and in fact China has walled itself off more like Nork than everyone else.

>>2862411
you're so retarded hahahaha where are you from? Why don't you visit china instead of parroting what you hear elsewhere?

>>2862385
If you do want to ask AI then ask a Chinese one like deepseek
Some of my friends asked chatgpt about 悬空寺 in Datong and it convinced them that they'd be able to see the temple from outside without a ticket and be able to queue for a ticket on the day and both were wrong lmao

>>2862412
responding to trolls makes you worse than the trolls.

I swear I did not kill any foreign African goons when the opportunity presented itself thrice while travelling in the zhongguo

>>2862585
You're a hero. This needs to become a trend. Tell the story

>>2862631
I was careening through an intersection on my way to a food delivery and clipped a lamppost, which flattened said waiguoren. i did not stop to help

>>2859675
That "protest" was a cia operation plain and simple.

This is a nigggafloid level chimpout over an insurrection.

>>2862844
So just a possibility innocent guy? That's nothing to be proud of. Fuck you

>>2862844
Well done comrade, you've mastered the ancient Chinese art of 肇事逃逸 (hit and run)

>>2862844
>>2862930
fucking kek

>>2862947
how did you get so good at chinese? That's totally correct!
https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?page=worddict&email=&wdrst=0&wdqb=%E8%82%87%E4%BA%8B%E9%80%83%E9%80%B8

Recently I have been watching this Zimbabwean Youtuber showing the African district of Guanghzou and I am interested in doing a trip around the Pearl Delta, mainly Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guanghzou and Zhongshan. I have only travelled to Japan in Asia but I am interested in doing business and start selling Chinese goods in my home country. Does China have a standarized IC Card system for metro or train systems and what apps should I download to survive there? I already know I will need AliPay and WeChat but thats about it

>>2863541
you use alipay to take the metro and bus, each city has their own QR code payment system which is one-tap to register. Hong Kong uses their own "octopus card" thing but I think you should be able to use it on alipay.
inter-city trains can only be travelled on using your passport, tickets purchased are linked to your passport/ID card

The Southwestern part of China is definitely the most interesting parts. I've lived in China for a decade and this part has the most diversity culturally, geographically, whatever you call it. Yunnan, Sichuan (Aba and Ganzi Tibetan Prefecture), Tibet, Qinghai, Xinjiang (Yili Kazakh Prefecture is the GOAT), Guizhou and Guangxi has some of the most beautiful landscapes I've ever seen in my life.

>>2863995
Qinghai and Xinjiang aren't south doe

What is the most Japanese-like city in China?

I don’t mean which city has the most Japanese people. I mean which Chinese city feels most like a Japanese city.

If you want to be more specific, it can be like “If you like Tokyo, you’ll [insert Chinese city]” or “If you like Osaka, you’ll like [insert Chinese city]”.

>>2864134
Probably Qingdao and Shanghai

>>2864134
I’d look up the sister cities of each Japanese city. Here’s a handy guide:

>Tokyo=Beijing
>Yokohama=Shanghai
>Osaka=Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tianjin
>Nagoya=Nanjing
>Sapporo=Shenyang
>Fukuoka=Guangzhou, Qingdao
>Kawasaki=Shenyang
>Kobe=Tianjin
>Kyoto=Xi’an, Qingdao
>Saitama=Zhengzhou
>Hiroshima=Chongqing
>Sendai=Changchun
>Chiba=Tianjin
>Kitakyushu=Dalian
>Sakai=Lianyungang

>>2864134
Guangzhou feels pretty Japanese

>>2864134
Same question from me but Korean instead of Japanese.

>>2864148
those are symbolic agreements they don't represent any similarities between the two cities

>>2864151
Yanji, Shenyang

Gf suddenly thinks 6 nights with 5 five full days to do whatever in Shanghai is too short, but we've already made reservations for the 8 subsequent days of our journey.

>>2864214
it's absolutely not too short, lol you will be bored out of your minds with five days in Shanghai
nothing to do other than sit around in disgustingly kitschy cafes or go to some state-sponsored art gallery
there aint shit to do in Shanghai!!! and the people are stuck-up morons who spend all day sniffing their own farts on the bund!!!

>>2864224
I'm a yokel whose biggest visited city is Berlin, so a Chinese megacity will be a totally new experience. I know about the 9-9-5 grind, but if some friend only have time to meet us the day we're departing Shanghai - and we're been planning for nearly a year - methinks though luck.
This >>2857951 is our itenary for now, if you care, with the hotels in Shanghai, Huangshan and Chongqing being reserved already. Thinking of shorting down the stay in Tianjin if there's some interesting place to stop on the way from Chongqing.

>>2864148
Fuck off

Do you guys bring a second phone for travel in China? My understanding is that this country relies heavily on apps for everyday life. Apparently WeChat Pay is the most commonly used payment method, and hardly anyone accepts cash. I assume at least some of these apps are spyware in some form, so I'm thinking of reusing an old phone that I stopped using.

>>2864369
It can be quite hard for Americans to get a Chinese esim on their phone so a lot of them buy a cheap Chinese phone to use over there. Most other people just use their own phones.

>>2864369
Everywhere takes cash. Have you been to China? And what's wrong with spyware?

>>2864235
Go see the Dazu Rock Carvings near Chongqing. There are lots of tours you can book through Wechat and they'll drive you there since it's quite far from the city. I've been to temples and seen rock carvings all around the world and Dazu still impressed me.

>>2859978
School bar in Beijing is a must go. Rock/punk gigs almost everyday.

REMINDER to not visit Ch-na. It is an authoritarian totalitarian nation that supports evil regimes like North Korea, Iran, and Venezuela. It suppresses its people. It is an enemy to the West and democracy. It is an enemy to human civilization. It is a tyrant.
>but how does visiting Ch-na support it?
You visit Ch-na and stay in local hotels, buy local Ch-nese products, all of which supports local governments, which supports Beijing.
REMEMBER- Tourism revenue contributes to the Ch-nese economy and thus strengthens Ch-na's capacity to project power and influence, which in turn hurts mankind.

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Which Chinese city has the most Wasians per capita?

>>2865271
hong kong, beijing, shanghai. but they will mostly be in high schools.

>>2864369
if you use an old phone with spyware they can still track your location, which no one is going to bother doing. crazy how important some people think they are. you can't travel without your ID so they know where you are and where you are going and can follow you on CCTV like a Jason Bourne movie. and could always put a secret policeman to follow you if they really wanted.
but carry 2 phones just incase they really want to hax your phone and read your text to a prostitute.

>>2865334
KEK right, people like this always makes me laugh. You literally have to get a visa, tell them where you are, and why you're travelling there. But even that I'm sure that stuff goes straight in the bin, how boring would it be investigating every average Joe's boring life. If you're actually someone significant they'll send a spy

>>2865335
MSS arrested a HOI4 mod developer because he created content for China that involved ousting Xi, anon. China is incredibly serious about perceived internal threats, to a degree unheard of anywhere in the world, including Nork.

>>2865360
Well then if you're a developer for them beware, and don't try to be some kind of knight. You're not going to bamboozle them with your phone tricks.
I don't think Chink underwear sniffer comes under that title though

>>2865360
"Perceived internal threats" are the keywords here.
If you are Chinese, you can be targeted if you are deemed to be a threat, but if you are Chinese, you already have a good VPN and know all the secret phrases to do your own stuff and talk about whatever you like.
As a laowai, you just have to respect the country and not start random political polemics. That's all the Chinese government ask from you. I can drink my beer can and smoke ten thousand cigarettes in front of cops while looking like a bum and they don't care at all.
Perhaps, if at a party, there is a zoomer you can trust, you can start asking about "involution" and that kind of stuff, but you already have to be aware of the internal sociopolitical situation inside China.

Otherwise, this is not your country, so just be an observer and nothing will happen to you.
Think about it this way: Would you go to Russia or Serbia and tell them to their face how NATO is good? Would you go to Ukraine and lecture them about how they deserved to be invaded by Russia? Would you go to Lebanon or Iran and tell them how great Israel is? No, you wouldn't.

So don't lecture Chinese people about "human rights" and "democracy" like a redditor and absolutely nothing will happen to (You).
They have internal problems but they manage their country and the one-billion people that come with it better than the US and Europe right now.
Think of it as "controlled anarchy", people spitting on the floor, smoking in bathrooms, kids shitting in trash cans, the government has to manage all of that, so respect.

It's fucking annoying that it's impossible to talk about China without getting lectured about how it's an evil country or something. No, it's fucking normal. Please tell me good practical tips about life in China instead of polemicizing from your gamer chair.

Was at a family gathering and my normie cousins are talking about travelling there now sounds like it's about to become the next big travel destination for ausfags now that everyone has been to Japan and it's becoming passé .
How much has it changed since I went last in 2014? I had a lot of fun and it was a good experience. I'm imagining the proliferation of phones and the internet has made it worse. Have the people changed as a result? Are things still as cheap as they were back then?

>>2865604
Widespread digitalisation has only made it easier for tourists. Back then (and now) basically no service employees spoke English, but now you can use your phone to access English versions of everything. This makes it actually feasible to visit without speaking Chinese and without a tour guide.
Tourist numbers are actually still below 2019, but the difference is that back then almost everyone went as part of a guided tour, and now more people are going solo.
Everything is still very cheap

>>2865632
English versions of everything?
Mapping programs suck.
Transit programs suck.

>>2865637
I will admit to not being 100% familiar with these because I speak Chinese but when I brought my parents over they were able to navigate completely fine with DiDi English version and gaode maps in English by themselves with no help

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>>2863995
I'd like to try living there, but I can only do it for 2 months for reasons.

Have you written about your 10 years in China? Even some simple blogposting?

I liked serpentzas videos up to 2016. They made mundane daily life so comfy. I visited China once 10 years ago, and it was quite peaceful. The countryside near shaoxing was particularly nice. Sometimes I imagine living there on rainy days and feel very calm

>>2865632
I managed to travel on my own without speaking much Chinese back then. All I had was Pleco and Chinese 101. Was part of the fun desu though not having to look up directions on Google maps in your hotel and then ending up 20 mins away from your destination is probably a good thing desu

How is Hong Kong these days? Is it worth a trip?

>>2866204
Difficult to answer.

It's not as good as it was, but I'd say it's a good thing to cross off your bucket list.

I don't have a lot of experience with China, but Hong Kong is distinct - Even different from the northern neighbor over the river.

If you're western, you can probably pick up on the colonial inspiration which is still here, but fading away.

>>2866204
The best time to visit was 1996 and the second best time is now. Go before 2047 when it becomes just another Chinese city.

I’ll just cut to the chase. What’s the best place in China to find a girlfriend if you’re an average white guy?

No, I’m not talking prostitutes.

>>2866358
Anywhere in Taiwan
if it has to be the mainland, then probably Shanghai since some people there can actually speak English
if you just care about sex then some dirt poor backwater like Gansu or Qinghai

All the train travel apps I've tried so far are so janky. I search for the same itinerary and dates and get totally different transfers. One app/site gives 11 hours travel time with a 43 minute transfer in city C, while another search engine returns a 2,5 hour transfer in city D (with the same total duration!!!).
Also it sucks that you can't order the tickets more than 15 days in advance, neither will itineraries with transfers show up before. My question is, which one do I choose? So far I have tried:
>trip.com
>wechat
>12306
>another one which is not available in English that the gf has

I might have gotten 3 women pregnant on this trip. I don't know who/if I should tell them if any do get pregnant. I was taking zinc supplements and had a drunken feeling for a week without a drop of alcohol and went crazy.

>>2867051
the same trains run every day (apart from a very small number of t and k trains that are once every other day and some c trains that don't run on weekends) so you can just check what the transfers are on the same day of the week that you intend to travel on
I use Xiecheng 携程 but it is Chinese only, 12306 never worked for me because the guy who had my phone number before me had his account banned for something
use http://cnrail.geogv.org/enus/about as a reference for where railway tracks actually are.
90% of journeys dont need a transfer so you must be going to some real hick backwater 3rd-tier city, probably where your gf is from. I'm guessing somewhere in Henan

>>2867052
China has probably performed the most abortions over its history out of any country on earth. you will be fine. but the girls will bitch about the abortion harming their body

>>2866358
To find a girlfriend literally anywhere, but I wouldnt recommend going too backwater because where people go wrong is wifing villagers and then years later being like omg how could my literal peasant wife be acting like a peasant all the time, who could have expected this. SO you are better off in T1/T2 cities.

But if by "find a girlfriend" you actually mean go on a brutal cooming rampage, then you need to seek out the best combination of city that is small enough to not get many foreigners but big enough that there wont be social consequences for being seen with you. And in general it should be southern China because northerners aren't awestruck by foreigners. So that means T2 or some T3 cities throughout the south like Changsha, Kunming, Chengdu, etc

>>2866411
Taiwan is a good rec. Gansu and Qinghai are not

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Can I discard my shit-tickets in the toilet in China? Or does it depend on the area?

>>2867060
It's possible for westerners to learn mandarin, you know. That site will come in handy, thanks! What are your rights as a passenger, and how likely is high speed trains to get delayed? Let's say I buy two individual tickets for our journey from Hungshan to Chongqing, are we screwed if the first leg gets delayed?

I'm just so accustomed with long distance rail travel being so susceptible to signaling errors, rolling stock breaking down, contact wire falling down and landslides here in Northern Europe, but maybe it's true that 中国很好铁路。

>>2867109
I always do, I don't care if it will block it or whatever, putting it in a plastic bin next to my face is disgusting

>>2867128
If you miss a train you can switch your tickets to the next one for 50% (I think) of the price of the original ticket
You can also change your tickets before departing for 10% of the ticket price. Idk what other rights you have.
Trains are almost never delayed, I have taken probably 70-ish train journeys in China, most of those being HSR, and none of them even overnight sleeper trains were ever delayed by more than ten minutes. I've never seen any other train delayed by more than ten minutes or cancelled. People book 20 minute transfers all the time with zero worry. I think if something like a wire fell down and all the trains had to stop for an hour the railway director would have his head cut off.
*中国的铁路很好

>>2867075
Is Chengdu still considered a T2?

>>2867313
Yes of course. The only T1s are Shanghai Beijing Shenzhen Guangzhou

>>2860333
This is what traveling in China is actually like for random white dudes thinking they can show up and make it work.

If "eye roll" was a country, it would be China.

>>2867313
>>2867328
Chengdu is 新一线 "new tier 1"
all of the cities you listed are new t1
also including:
>Chengdu, Kunming, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Nanjing, Tianjin, Suzhou, Xi'an, Changsha, Shenyang, Qingdao, Zhengzhou, Dalian, Ningbo
basically all the big cities that weren't part of the original t1
actual t2s are an immediately different vibe from new t1s. Much less foreigners, usually rely on lower-tech industry, less developed infrastructure and transport.

>>2867342
>actual t2s are an immediately different vibe from new t1s. Much less foreigners, usually rely on lower-tech industry, less developed infrastructure and transport.

Yes so you mean like
>Chengdu, Kunming, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Nanjing, Tianjin, Suzhou, Xi'an, Changsha, Shenyang, Qingdao, Zhengzhou, Dalian, Ningbo

I am aware of the "new t1" designation but its kind of a silly participation trophy, these cities are still nothing like the four real T1s. BTW I am not saying theyre not nice, I prefer most T2s to the T1s, but just think the designation is dumb.

Are Chinese city tiers an actual official standard of theirs, or is it just tourists ranking their favorite cities?

>>2867417
new t1 rely at least partially on high-tech or services instead of solely manufacturing like t2s
they have extensive metro systems unlike t2s
they have at least some expat community unlike t2s
Xi'an and Shijiazhuang are very clearly not in the same category

>>2867445
it's not official, it was actually made up by foreign businesses to understand how important a city in China is because 99% of foreign execs only know Beijing Shanghai and Hong Kong

>>2867448
Isnt (or wasn't) Shijiazhuang previously just a t3 though? again I understand the reasoning behind the new categorization I guess just from my foreigner perspective it makes more sense to stick with T2 rather than t1, new t1, t2

in my mind it will always be t1, t2, t3, and t88

>>2867450
there's no official classification for any city other than Beijing Shanghai Guangdong and Shenzhen are definitely t1
Shijiazhuang has a three-line metro, an urban population of 6 million people, and a $115bn gdp which in my mind makes it a solid t2.
t3 usually has no metro/only one or two lines, below 5mn pop, and more like $50bn gdp
anyway it's not official so cities and companies can say whatever they like, new tier 1 is mostly a marketing thing so they can add more cities to tier 2 and 3 without making the tiers meaningless

I don't plan on traveling until the end of the year. Should I start learning Mandarin now, or should I just be the annoying tourist who shouts really loudly and slowly in English?

>KNEE HOW WHERE CAN I FIND ORANGE CHICKEN

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So I get that when most people think of "ramen," they think of Japan. But ramen is originally Chinese. What Chinese region should one visit to get a taste of the original ramen?

>>2867771
Gansu/Lanzhou

>>2867452
Why does China tier list their own cities or is that something white people do to China? Its weird.

>>2867771
ramen comes from Guangdong. Lanzhou lamian is a completely different thing, still very tasty, but absolutely nothing like Japanese ramen.

>>2867774
both Chinese people and white people make this tier thing so they can understand which cities are big and important and which cities are small and irrelevant

>>2867771
Those look like the bland soggy noodles you get in Chongqing. Why is the food there either pointlessly hot, or boring? It must be the worst region in china for food

>>2867878
Sichuan and Chonqging food was originally quite plain and the main flavourings were bacon and vinegar
then they added chillis and majiao and changed nothing else
so it's just originally plain stuff drenched in chilli

>>2868002
Hah I knew it wasn't some great cuisine. So I was right, just being able to taste mostly chili and no interesting or deep flavours isn't about me not handling it, I can take very hot food, but Jesus make it taste nice too

>>2868008
You're right but you're making it hard to agree with you by saying it in the most smug and faggy way possible

>>2868022
Hey! Be nice to me.
Well the way I expressed it is justified though, what the hell are they thinking, it's just a retarded way to approach food. Ruined so many dinners for me I. That holiday, a good dinner makes a good evening.

>>2868008
if you want good spicy food they have it in Hunan and Jiangxi
also you don't have to eat local food all the time

>>2868035
I'm going to Lijiang next

Looking forward to visiting Shenzhen and trying the spiciest food imaginable in Chongqing

>>2868039
not very spicy food around there but make sure to try the mushroom hotpot 菌子火锅 and tongpiao hotpot if you can find it 铜瓢牛肉
loads of rare local fruits too
and for some reason they really like beef jerky in Yunnan (but it's not amazingly good)

>>2868043
Shenzhen is the Dubai/Tel Aviv of China

>>2868044
Always assumed Shanghai was that

>>2868045
Shanghai has at least a little bit of history and culture from the concession days
Shenzhen is just communist Dubai

>>2868051
true but at least there's no drones from a warzone hovering about

>>2868044
Hmm I really wasn't impressed with hotpot but I guess I can give it a try. I do live mushroom.

What else should I do there? Other than the flying tiger gorge and hike. Not too interested in temples but I'll have a look if I pass them

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>>2868077
the other big food in Yunnan is rice noodles 米线, they are so much better than in the other provinces. You can get whatever flavours you like with them.
closer to the border you can get Burmese and Thai food
I've not been to Lijiang but my friends who have said that the old town is the best
regardless Yunnan is just a place where you relax, drink tea, go on hikes in the mountain valleys n shit. Enjoy the good weather.

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>>2868078
Holy shit, I just looked up the mushroom hot pot. What a weird and wonderful dish. I'm going to try it without fail. Thanks for telling me, I probably wouldn't have found it. If I get bored of Chinese food I'll look for some Thai.
I know it's not a place for glamour and big attractions, sometimes there are some gems that aren't obvious and unique experiences. But fair enough, you haven't been. I'm sure I'll enjoy eating and lounging and just talking to people and finding some nice trails

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What's it like entering China under the temporary visa exemption? Do they just wave you through at the airport and then you register your location with your hotel/the nearest police station? Or are there any steps in-between that I'm missing?

>>2868152
I just did it last week. I think it probably depends on their mood and how shady or nonwhite you seem. For me it was very easy. First had to scan a QR code at the airport and fill out an annoying form. Then stood in line for 20 minutes with other foreigners to talk to immigration. Their biggest concern was that the country I arrived from was different from the country I was going to next. So showed proof of onward travel, and proof of accommodation (they only wanted to see proof for the first night).
I asked for 7 days but they gave me permission for 10 days anyway. I've read online that the 10 days doesn't actually start until midnight the day you arrive, so it's actually more time. Pretty generous.
You can fly into one city and out of a different one. Just make sure everywhere you plan on going is on their official list of approved regions for this type of waiver. A bunch of cool places, notably many around Sichuan and Yunnan, are off-limits. I mean, probably no one would know if you go these places, just don't tell immigration your real plan.

Hai guyz I’m going back to Chinarrrr

Teeheeheehehehe

Just got back from my first ever trip. I'll definitely plan the next one different to avoid disappointment.
I basically planned the whole trip just so I could go to this one hotpot joint. Couldn't even get in because of QR code bullshit, I'd had no problems with Alipay until that moment but all of the sudden staff was insisting I install like 3 different apps just for the privilege of giving them money. God forbid the West should ever fall so low.
The only other things I wanted to do the entire trip was browse manga in comfy bookstores, and photograph brutalist architecture in Shanghai. The bookstores turned out to be something out of my nightmares, as all books are wrapped in plastic, and hell no you can't unwrap them before you pay. I presume this is because a) the Chinese are the world's most dedicated and incessant nose-pickers, I wouldn't let them touch my books either; and b) the Chinese today understand books only as "IP" no different from funkopops, not as something that might be worth opening and reading. So much for browsing comfy bookstores. As for the architecture, as a poster in the shanghai thread warned me, looking for any interesting buildings in Shanghai was a big waste of time. 5 days in Shanghai and I literally did nothing except have drunk conversation in Chinglish with seed-spitting uncles on the Bund.
Thanks to >>2859947 for the Hangzhou rec, had a great time there.

>>2868187
I don't get it, which apps where you trying to use in addition to Alipay? I've only ever needed one app. And which restaurant was it?

>>2868199
I handed over control of my phone to the girls at the front, they scanned the code with both Alipay and WeChat, tried installing one of those 3rd party shenanigans within Alipay, asked me if I had some other app and got stressed when I said I didn’t. There were many other people in line behind me so I just said fuck it and walked away.
We can prevent this retardation migrating west if we say no to big data

>>2868209
What a disgrace. Do these people even think about how they're living now. I'd be so mad.
Imagine turning someone down from eating at your establishment because they didn't do the right thing with their super cool gadget, you'd be embarrassed

>>2868184
this sounds like the transit visa
are you American?
visa-free is at least 30 days

>>2868187
book shops in China basically can't make money off books because prices are set by the state publishers (they are also based on weight which is why almost all books are hardcovers). the plastic wrap thing is because dis not library.
if you wanted to browse manga, why didn't you go to Japan? serious question. Chinese people don't buy physical manga they just read it on their phones (because it's not worth it to publish Chinese translations physically)

>>2868209
you don't need to install miniprograms, they were probably trying to get you to order with it not pay, next time just scan with wechat and open the app within it

>>2868237
restaurants dgaf about turning people away, usually there are queues outside (as was the case with this guy's restaurant) so if you don't get with the program then find somewhere else. thank god China doesn't have retarded American service culture. 别服务小皇帝

Beijing = London/Paris
Shanghai = New York
Guangzhou = San Francisco
Shenzhen = Dubai

>>2868244
Seems counter intuitive to upset/lose potential custom. I guess if it's that popular they can't fail anyway.
I wish Wholefoods had the same attitude when I worked there. They'd actually like the most disgusting and vile, disruptive creature who probably spends £20 a month is gold to them, something precious they'd do anything to please. Wya to far on the other end of the spectrum

>>2868244
oop my bad yeah I was talking about the transit thing, didn't realize you meant something different.
That's interesting about book prices, no wonder they were so cheap. I took home a whole suitcase full, gambling on the contents of course. I'd be happy reading comics on my phone if it wasn't for all the gay popups and ads, I even pay the maximum premium subscription on 快看漫画 and it does nothing to reduce the distracting bullshit. Also I read Chinese, not Japanese.

Does China still issue 10 year tourist visas and can you get it done at any chinese embassy or consulate abroad or does it need to be in your home country?

Mine expired a few years ago

>>2868245

I thought guangzhou was a hot and muggy, humid shithole

>>2868248
aha I sent home about 20kg of books I bought during my trip

>>2868249
maximum length of visa issued depends on country. most have the option for ten years but you have to pay extra. I've not read of any requirements about having to get it done in your home country, but you should check.

>>2868250
yeah it is
probably a bit more like LA then, that has more of the hyper-capitalism, and SF culture is more similar to Shanghai

>>2868245
Beijing and Shanghai are backwards though if anything HK is NYC and Beijing is just...Beijing I guess not a good direct comp

Also if we must
Changchun = Boston
Dalian = Chicago
Xiamen = Miami

>>2868259
Beijing is like Paris because it's old and cultured and politically significant
Shanghai is like NYC because it's new and used to be cool now is all about finance

>>2868260
Shanghai has almost none of the density or verticality of NYC and is a less important financial center than Beijing anyway. And IIRC Shanghai has been commonly referred to as 'the Paris of the East' for as long as its been around

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>>2868267
>shanghai isn't dense
>shanghai isn't vertical
have you been to shanghai

>>2868275
I lived in Shanghai for a decade. In that time I went to your pic rel like twice a year at most. Its the only especially vertical part of Shanghai and its not ANYWHERE near as dense as Manhattan

>>2868152
I'm travelling visa-free with the 30-day exemption for EU citizens. I also just did a visa run by going to Hong Kong for a few days and coming back.

Like the other anon said, you need to fill some entry declaration either online or when you arrive (but online is better, their computers for this are shit), then you will get a QR code to show to immigration.
The first time, an agent took me aside and asked me where I was planning to go, at which hotel I was staying, what was my exit ticket, and a proof I had enough funds for the trip.
My exit ticket was a random Shenzhen-HK ticket I booked on trip.com and didn't even end up using, and I showed her I had 4000€ of savings and she was fine with that. My travel plan wasn't even clear, I just said I wanted to go to Beijing, Xi'an, then either Shanghai or Chongqing, she laughed saying I was disorganised, but telling her I wanted to go from north to south was fine for her.
Then you give your biometric data and they take a picture of you and you are good to go.

The second time was even easier. After getting the entry QR code stuff with a computer, the agent asked how me long I was staying, I said less than one month because I need to find a job soon, I acknowledged I already had a recent stamp, perhaps a couple of basic questions, and that was it. She didn't ask me for any exit ticket and I had none this time.
That said, I would do that once or twice max, but more than that in a row and they will think it's suspicious.

Compared to entering in Hong Kong for example where it's like "What's your name?" "Anon" "...OK, go", it's a bit more involved, but it's not as annoying and scary as I thought it would be.
As long as you have everything in order and you don't act like a retard, the worst thing that might happen is that they force you to book an exit ticket if you haven't one, and they might dispose of your powerbanks if they aren't CCC certified.

>>2868363
is this just the normal arrival card procedures?
when I filled mine out they didnt even scan the qr code they just looked at it and waved me through lol

Is China paying influencers to run PR travel campaigns to encourage tourism and improve China's global image? The western influencer pro China PR blitz does not seem authentic. I would say the most common travel influencer location I see being shilled is China with really hundreds of influencers going there over the past 2 years and posting videos titled like "China is INSANE"

Here's an example of something that appears totally staged. Some vlogger randomly runs into an English speaking Chinaman at a lounge in Thailand, both happen to be on the same plane to China. The chinaman then gives a free tour, brings his associate, and effectively just shill for chinese tourism. The vlogger also said at least one of his rooms in one of his China videos was comped

3:15 of this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpjn2v-uo_8

>>2868584
>Is China paying influencers to run PR travel campaigns to encourage tourism and improve China's global image?
yes and they have been doing this for like 10 years, get with the times
only recently did people who are not shills start actually making videos from over there
before 2020 all China travel content was shill-produced

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>>2868584
Man, fuck these people. Great, now everyone's going to be in China. Can we not have one thing on this earth?

>looking up how WeChat/AliPay works
>lots of (non-Chinese) people struggle with it
>sometimes it works for them, then stops working again
>some Chinese people (or people who frequently visit China) have tried to write step-by-step guides
Is this system really that janky, or is it mostly human error? Both are equally believable to me.

>>2868790
the parts of alipay and wechat that are specifically for foreigners (adding foreign payment cards, verifying passports) are super janky because they are basically never updated
some of the features that work fine for Chinese people are janky on non-Chinese people's accounts (credit/trust score for vending machines and renting things, stuff that requires a Chinese ID)

but in general I find Chinese apps to be very buggy, slow, prone to crashing, and packed full of adverts and irrelevant shit. Wechat is actually quite good compared to the rest, Alipay is ok

>>2868584
China has been running white monkey shills for decades bro. Recently it has stepped it up to include tourism shills, but as many have noted, the country simply is not ready to absorb millions of casual sight seers and revelers.
There are too many payment/lodging/internet use hurdles to make it an attractive 'mess around' spot.

But number 1 reason its going to be a struggle is that chinese DOMESTIC tourism is so fucking retardedly massive and growing every year, that anything worth seeing is fucking clogged with bumblefuck middle aged chinese with literally glassy eyed stares and slack jaws, and they dont know how to wait in lines. Or chose not to.

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It's fucking happening.

>>2869008
You're going to have a great time, brother.

Any anons got good recs for Shaanxi? (not Shanxi)

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How prevalent is tetraphobia in China? I know it's not a big deal for us and it's just a weird quirk of theirs, but I've always been curious about how far it goes.

I know that multi-story buildings will label the fourth floor as "3A" or even just call it the 5th floor.
Do they avoid the number 4 in pricetags? Will food vendors shit themselves if I order four dumplings instead of five?

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>>2869081
Huashan is essential. Assuming you're staying in Xian, it's an easy day trip. Leave by around 7 AM, take a high speed train to Huashan, then a taxi to the mountain. You can hike around it in a few hours and be back in Xian in the evening.

In Xian, there are loads of great historical museums. The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda is also very much worth seeing, and you can climb up it.

>>2869098
>Xi'an
FUCK I did mean Shanxi I guess, I already have Xi'an planned
Thanks though anon, Huashan looks gorgeous

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>>2869081
>>2869102
Shaanxi = 陕西 = Xi'an
Shanxi = 山西 = poverty
Datong is a must-see if you're anywhere nearby. Yungang Buddha-grottoes are some of the best in China, alongside Xuankongsi (temple suspended over the side of a cliff) and the Yingmu pagoda (oldest wood structure still standing in China). They have lots of other big temples in the city itself and one of the only three jiulongbi (nine-dragon walls) left in the world. They also have very good vinegar and local daoxiaomian (hand-sliced noodles).
The rest of the province is less interesting, Taiyuan is basically a giant coal mine disguised as a city, there are some cool waterfalls in the south but I've not been.
The area in the southeast between Changzhi/Jinzhong and Xingtai/Handan/Anyang has some pretty big mountains, good for hiking, very few tourists

picrel tiantongxia mountain area in Changzhi

>>2869379
Age is mostly irrelevant the answer depends on if you are actually good looking or not. Of course in a country of this size though the chances of you encountering one to several girls in any given city that go head over heels for you is 100%

>>2869379
They tend to date one guy at a time. I've never heard of a Chinese girl dating more than thirty men at once, and only white ones at that.

>>2869379
Asians will always lust for bwc, but Chinese/east asians are autistic as fuck and require more tact than say Filipinas.

There's 2 major obstacles to dating in China/EA: language and time. A girl hears that you're only in Shanghai for 1-3 more nights, and you only speak English, probably won't go out with you. If they hear you're there for long term and/or conversational in Mandarin, sky's the limit.

You can still smash plenty on short term trips with just English, you just have to search more thoroughly and have your app game tuned

First time in Hong Kong. Are English and Visa/Mastercard common here? And where should I go if want to experience the local streetfood/market vibe? And between Wan Chai and Tsim Sha Tsui, which one is more walkable?

>>2869492
>Are English and Visa/Mastercard common here?
Yes.

>And where should I go if want to experience the local streetfood/market vibe?
You can find street-style food almost anywhere in Hong Kong, but as for the street food culture itself, it's slightly neutered. Food carts were banned decades ago, so vendors sell their food from small storefronts that are attached to buildings.
Temple Street and Mong Kok are the go-to for vibe.
Mong Kok also has a general street market. They call it the "Ladies' Market," but it's for everyone.

>And between Wan Chai and Tsim Sha Tsui, which one is more walkable?
I'm not sure about this one, as I've never been to Wan Chai. But TST is very walkable, I just don't know how it compares to Wan Chai.

>>2869492
English? Depends where yo go.
Wan Chai and Tsim Sha Tsui? You'll be fine.

Visa/Mastercard?
Western companies? Yes.
Local companies? Likely not.
If local companies do accept plastic, you likely won't get listed price for cameras/electronics.

Street food?
Carts or Outdoor Seating or Stalls? Jordan to Yau Ma Tei
Street Food?
>>2869637 covered some good options.


Walkable?
Most of TST is fine, but there is a hill: Knutsford Terrace

Wanchai is alright, but does have a hilly area further away from the mountain. You probably won't go there, so you should be alright

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So I'm thinking of visiting China at the end of this year, so December, roughly 9 months from now. I do not speak any Mandarin except for nihao, xiexie, and dui bu qi. How much Mandarin could I realistically learn within 9 months? I know I'll never be fluent in it, but I mainly want to minimize communication troubles in stores, restaurants, and transportation.

>>2869823
enough to understand spoken numbers/prices, directions, commands. maybe order simpe things like water or rice, ask where the toilet is and understand the response. read a few basic signs

the issue is that signs are mostly written in literary language which you won't learn (for example beginners are told that "don't" is 别 or 不要 but on signs they will write 勿). And people speak in dialect/accents which you will have trouble understanding. so even if you studied for 2 years, it wouldn't make you fluent on the ground

>>2869823
It took me less than 30 hours of study to get to a level where I was having decent conversations. I won’t stay it’s an easy language but the fact that the grammar is easy makes learning very fast in the beginning (enjoy that pace while you can, now I’m at HSK 4 and feels like swimming through mud)

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>>2864134
Ningbo, in a "this is a decent and comfortable mid-level prefectural city".
It says something to me that the first Hankyu department store outside of Japan was opened in Ningbo.
I don't think I can substantiate my feelings about this without sounding stupid, so I won't.
Fun fact, 宁波话 sounds so much like Japanese that there's a local joke where you say something that sounds like "watashi wa azima wa", which actually means "tying shoes".

Is it difficult to get a local Chinese number? Everyone and their mother is saying stuff like "Be careful, some features in WeChat/AliPay don't work without a Chinese number!" and "Chinese eSIMs are data-only, you don't get a phone number!"
Neither of these sound like a big deal to me if you just get a SIM with a number in it. But the fact that countless other people warn each other about this makes me think it could be more difficult than I'm giving it credit for.

>>2870076
it can be a little difficult because you need a form of ID to buy them so the government can track you, but most places don't have the facilities to process passports so you usually get fobbed off and told to go somewhere else
also they don't really do pay as you go numbers so you also have to cancel the number when you leave which they deliberately make as hard as possible

I believe chinese are merely pretending to desire an increase in foreign tourism. They do not want actual foreign tourism.
Like everything else, if they can create the perception that something has been accomplished, then they will do that instead of actually doing (thing).
Therefore, we have this fake content and fake "openness", and China will then fake the numbers while paying some transparently obvious shills to make reels about it.
They desire to be seen in the same way as Japan, with lots of people desperately wanting to visit and "experience it". They are envious of Japan for being a cultural powerhouse overseas, but also do not understand fully why they are not, and why chinese media/tropes are not as interesting.
So they will fake it. Because that is essentially the same thing when it comes down to it.

Based on my experiences, the last thing China government actually wants is a bunch of foreigners stumbling around getting into trouble, or possibly more important, seeing what is behind the veneer in many places and generating authentic candid content.

>>2870117
it's a misalignment of national and local policy. national government wants foreigners for propaganda boost. local government wants them to fuck off

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I'll be moving to Chongqing later this year. Any advice on everyday life there? (is the verticality really that bad?)

>>2870381
I've not lived in Chongqing specifically so this advice is a bit more general:
>get a Chinese bank card asap
>some ATMs take foreign cards but demand a 6-digit PIN. just put in your regular pin plus 00.
>get a phone number that is "new" (starts with 137 or 138) and it will be less likely to be already registered for services such as the railway etc
>you will get fat eating restaurant food/takeout every day, try to cook for yourself
>get an air purifier and wear pm2.5 masks on bad pollution days, seriously
>buy an electric scooter if you're planning on staying for more than a year
>always, ALWAYS carry toilet paper

regards to the verticality afaik it's only a big issue near the river banks and in the city centre. In the suburbs where you are likely to be it's more similar to a typical Chinese city

>>2870139
Im not sure about that. Anywhere else in the world maybe, but if it is official party policy to "open" China to tourism, then there would be tons of people and more importantly the regulatory bodies falling over themselves to make it happen.
I think its actually a domestic psyop to convince Chinese that they are desirable worldwide. You can run that psyop at scale without actually giving access.

So I was just looking at hotel prices, and I was surprised.

>looked in a major city (Guangzhou)
>set date range to mid-December (almost Christmas)
>used Booking.com to search for the hotels
>the prices are really, really good
>am fully aware that Booking.com doesn't even have the best prices, which makes it all the more surprising
What is going on? Are mainland hotels really this cheap? Is it a scam? Are only the pictures pretty but the reality is worse?
Even if Christmas is not an important holiday to the Chinese, it's still a significant indication of foreign tourist movement

>>2870117
>>2870394
This seems like cope and projection to me. The China national government wants to increase their soft power mainly for geopolitical and business purposes. Making China look more desirable in the eyes of the average foreigner is one way of doing that, but I doubt they really care that much, otherwise there would be less controls at the border, installing WeChat would be easier with a foreign phone number, and so on.
But look, in every hostel I've been to (in major cities and touristic places like Guilin), I've meet some Europeans, especially French, German and Italian. There is also a big expat community in Shanghai.
They might not have modern cultural exports as appealing as Japan and South Korea, but ancient Chinese culture was the common basis for Japanese and Korean culture, hell kanjis are literally Chinese characters. It's one of the most ancient and major civilization of the world, there is so much stuff to experience that even after two months, I already plan to go back.
Also the fact that China is still developing and "rough around the edge" compared to Japan is appealing for some tourists like me. Different strokes for different folks, nobody is forcing you to visit or even like China, so I don't understand what's even the point of your posts.

>>2870535
What prices are you seeing specifically in USD per night and Ill tell you if it's abnormally cheap for Guangzhou. But Ill say 1) hotel prices are cheap in China certainly compared to western counterparts of same brands but also compared to other E Asian destinations 2) they're generally quite nice 3) Christmas has no effect on Chinese hotel prices, and certainly not a year out at that

>>2870535
No, I use booking.com too even if people told me trip.com is better, and I never got scammed so far. Yes, it's that cheap. In Guangzhou, I stayed in a comfortable hostel dorm for 60 RMB a night. It was clean, the bed was relatively spacious and had a curtain, a power plug, everything you would expect in a legit hostel. In Guilin I wanted a big room for myself, and I believe I paid 150-200 RMB a night, and I probably could have found something cheaper elsewhere.
Food is also very cheap, you can find something to eat for 20 RMB quite easily.
Beijing and Shanghai are more expensive than other cities, but still rather affordable. The only exception is Hong Kong, prepare to pay 400 HKD a night for a bedbug ridden dorm bed in a closet as your cheapest option.

>>2870551
I'm talking like $40-$80 USD per night. Maybe up to $100 per night if I look hard enough. And they don't look terrible either, I would feel very comfortable staying if the pictures are accurate.

>>2870554
For these prices you can find some very comfortable and conveniently located places to stay for sure. I travel on a more restricted budget than this and even then, I don't really count how much I spend. Americans and Europeans have a good purchasing power in China.

>>2870440
basically what happens is
>national government orders every local government to make their tourist industry more foreigner-friendly
>i.e. add English to signs, hotel registration easier, maybe even stuff like foreigner service desks and card payment
>big cities which were already getting foreign tourists do it
>90% of other cities don't want to do it as it's a massive waste of money
>but the government will come and check
>so they half-ass it

How bad is China going to fucked by this war in Iran?

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>>2870675
price of gas/oil will go up with global prices but China doesn't rely on the strait of Hormuz for most of its imports (and has not insignificant domestic production) so it will most likely not face shortages
China is a lot less reliant on cars for transport (compared to the US), especially in urban areas. I imagine this might also make more people want to switch to electric cars
oil and gas make up only a tiny portion of electricity generation, most of it is domestic/Mongolian coal. so electricity prices most likely will be unaffected. central heating is provided by the government so it will also be unaffected.

tldr; China will be almost entirely unaffected

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This is what ¥68 worth of goose bones look like.
How come I can post here hassle free?

>>2870762
My understanding is that 4chan itself isn't blocked, but the captcha services that it uses are. But the last time I checked that information was years ago, and I'm a Pass user so I have no idea what captcha service 4chan uses today.

I'm assuming you're either a Pass user yourself, or 4chan switched their captcha provider to something that isn't blocked in China.

>>2870772
>>2870762
4chan isn't blocked by China, China is rangebanned by 4chan. 4chan captcha has been in-house for years so it's nothing to do with that. When I was there last (January 2026) I couldn't post on any network I used and had to use an unblocked proxy to post here. Maybe they have un-rangebanned the country, which I think is unlikely, or you are still using your home country's network through data, or you managed to get some new IPs which haven't been blocked yet.
also goose is like really not that great, try the beef ribs 铁锅炖 next time