I'm going to China in a week and I was wondering if anyone has any tips. It's with a student group called People to People and we're staying there for 17 days. I'm going on a couple of trains, planes and to the Great Wall and The Imperial Garden and a soccer school, if that helps anybody. Thanks in advance!
China - 7 Answers
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1 :
i am beijing people, i can guide for your group. in beijing , not to be Badaling Section of the Great Wall. Mutianyu or Jinshanling Or Si matai section is wonderful, amazing. forbidden city, temple of heaven, summer palace, ming tombs, larma temple also, hotong culture and beijing roast duck must to try. contact me : alan198192@yahoo.com +86-13910872782
2 :
been to shenzhen when i was visiting hong kong. i only can tell you my experience as a tourist. i was in a tour - the hotel was fantastic..the room was huge and the food was alright. but we were brought to factory that sells antiques, chinese tea and chinese herbs - we were told these are the a "must" place to visit for all tourists. in my tour, there was a bunch of middle age ladies and when we were at the chinese herbs factory, after a short presentation of chinese medicine..the worker/doctor went to those ladies and brought them into a room...it is a one-to-one thing. the dr listened to the person pulse and then told her she needs to buy some herbs to be in good health. instead of just prescribing her with a few weeks of medicine, he prescribed her some herbs that she will need to take for at least 6 months and total of those herbs cost about thousand. i have heard of such cases before thus me and my friends just stayed in group and away from the workers there. i've been on tour to other asian countries (i'm asian myself) but i've never been to one which is this bad.my tips for you: always make sure you have your wallet with you as in, keep it safe...don't bargain if you don't intend to buy the item ...cos some of the shopkeeper will start shouting at you (this also happened in other countries..nothing new), try their roast duck and pigeon, if you are into tea, try the laichee tea - different from chinese tea and have a very nice smell to it. btw, the train ride will be very packed and planes will always be in delay (i've never been on train or plane there but my colleagues work in shanghai and that's what they encountered). anyway hope your trip will be better than mine though
3 :
Well I am a native Chinese. China is so vaaaaaaaaaaast! There are many many places for you to go. I think you are going to Beijing - North China. In Beijing, you would try these places: Great Wall, Imperial City, Tian'an-Men-Square, Wang-fu-Jing Street, Shi-Cha-Hai (all the pubs there), Yi-He-Yuan (imperial gardens)...Too many places to go Reference my blog here: http://synyan.spaces.live.com/?_c11_BlogPart_BlogPart=blogview&_c=BlogPart&partqs=cat%3d%255b%25e6%2597%2585%25e8%25a1%258c%255d%2b%25e4%25ba%25ac%25e5%258d%258e%25e7%2583%259f%25e4%25ba%2591 Well, all in Chinese but you can see the photos. Other places of China would be: East China: Shanghai (modern metropolitan city), Suzhou (ancient medium city with some modern facilities), Zhouzhuang (Venice-like small town which is about half hour away from Shanghai), Hangzhou (was called paradise city), Wuxi (famous for its traditional pottery), Pu-tuo-shan (Buddhist's wonderland) West China: Xi'an (terri-cotta warriors, and it was once the biggest city in the world called Chang-An, literal meaning "Eternity City"), Lan-zhou to Jiu-Quan to Jia-Yu-Guan to Xi-Chang to Urumchi (ancient silk road) South China: Hongkong South-West China: Cheng-Du (the hottest and spicy foods in the world), Tibet (you know what Tibet is like..)
4 :
its disgusting there. people there have no education or morals. they spit everywhere they pee in alleyways they yell at you when they are at fault i think the worst is that they don't understand the point of a line. they always try to find a way to get to the front of the line.
5 :
I was in Beijing for two weeks last May. If you go to the Great Wall, I recommend the Mutianyu section. It's BEAUTIFUL. Most people go to the Badaling section because it's closest to Beijing, but seriously... spend a little extra time in the bus, get away from the crowds, and go to Mutianyu. If you go to Beijing, hunt out the entrance to the semi-secret tunnel network under the city. There's only one public entrance left, and it's down a little alley with no signs for it until you're at the door. Only a little section of the tunnels are open, but there's a mini silk factory down there, and they'll let you try stretching silk. Info here: http://www.china.org.cn/english/travel/125961.htm The food is awesome in China. It reminded me more of Italian food than the stuff that is called Chinese food in America. My favorite main dish was a bowl of noodle soup that had a broth made of tomato and beef and bits of tomato, beef, and spinach in the soup. Delicious!!! All the little restaurants seemed to sell it. As a side dish, I loved the greens with "black fungus" (it's a type of black mushroom, but it was always translated as "black fungus"). Be prepared to haggle in the markets! It's considered rude, weird, and wasteful if you don't. The salespeople will try to intimidate you, but stand your ground! Ask them the price, and then let the haggling begin. Offer them a fourth of what they ask initially. A fair price is usually ONE THIRD of the price that they start out asking for. We're not used to this kind of thing in our culture, and it takes some practice and some guts, but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty fun. People will stare at you. It's not considered rude to stare there, so go ahead and stare back if you want to. They'll also point you out to the little kids and teach them to say "lao-wai," which means "foreigner." It's weird at first, but just enjoy being a celebrity. If you go to Tiananmen Square, Mao's Tomb, or some of the other big attractions, you'll get to see tourists from all over China! Some of these people are from small villages, and you'll notice that they stare at the Chinese city-folk too (not just you) to check out their clothes, their haircuts, etc. Dont' be surprised if strangers walk up to you and indicate that they'd like their picture taken with you. Again, just enjoy being a celebrity. A lot of them will try to sneak pictures of you with their cell phone cameras :) If any "art students" approach you to get you to come see an exhibition of their work, don't buy anything from them. It's a scam. Young people will walk up to you and start speaking to you in English. If they just want to practice, this can be a fun way to interact with a local person. If they want to give you a tour, excuse yourself and move on. My friend did People to People in high school, and it changed her life. She's in college now, and she still talks about it and keeps in touch with the friends she made. A friend of my younger cousin did a different trip with People to People, and she said that it changed her life, too. Both of them said it was the best experience of their lives up to that point. I'm sure you'll have fun! Just remember -- enjoy EVERY minute! Even when you're bored and waiting in the airport and someone's annoying you, tell yourself, "Before I know it, this will be over, so I should appreciate every moment, even this one. When this trip is over, I'll wish to be able to relive any one minute of it, even this minute."
6 :
I live here,Beijing, welcome!
7 :
i've been to china four times on different occasions and different places. beijing is the most tourist friendly city in china. the subway is quite cheap and so is the taxi. it is advisable that you write down the destination on a piece of paper for easy reference. when you want to buy at tourist stalls always bargain because you could get shirts which they sell for 60 yuan for only 20 yuan. refrigerator magnets could be had for 4 yuan instead of the 20 yuan initial price. if you are not amenable to the price just walk away because if they really can sell it to you at your price they will call you back. if they won't call you then remember that price that they offered last and ask for that price in another stall.
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