China FAQs! Tips/Travel Advices from an Insider!

Good morning everyone. Welcome to the channel. Recently China has reopened its borders and I've also got a lot of questions in the backstage asking me about the traveling advice in China. Some of the very commonly asked questions include, for example, I don't speak Chinese or my Chinese isn't good. Is it difficult to travel in China? I am a vegetarian, vegan or Muslim. I'm worried about the food. Do you have any recommendations for mobile phone apps in China? Is it hard to move around? How's the public transport? How to book tickets? How about the hotel cost? How to book hotel rooms? Can you fly the drones? Isn't it illegal? So I've decided to make this video and help you to navigate your trips in especially for those who want to travel independently and also for a longer time. This video has two parts. In the first part, I will address some of the most commonly asked questions and in the second part, I will give you some personal advice especially for first-time visitors. As to the English level in big cities in China, for example, Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou, it's very easy to find English-speaking young people. But in more remote part of China, in rural China, it's hard. So remember that you have a Google Translate on your phone and you can pull it out anytime when you have a question. But don't be intimidated by the language barrier because Chinese people, most of them are very helpful. They are willing to help. So with the help of a translator, I'm sure that most of your questions will get answered. There is a list of apps that will make you travel in China much easier and I will go through them one by one. If you want to access, for example, Gmail, Google, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, then you really need a VPN on your phone. The most commonly used ones include, for example, ExpressVPN, NordVPN. So feel free to choose which one suits you. Personally, I have a shadow rocket on my iPhone. I don't know how it works. A friend helped to set it up for me. But make sure that you have this VPN service ready before entering China. Otherwise, it's going to be very difficult to even download a VPN app on your phone once you are in China. Translating apps such as Google Translate or Wego is completely necessary. And also you need WeChat. WeChat is like a Chinese version of WhatsApp but comes with more functions. And it's the most common way to connect, to communicate with Chinese people. So it also comes with a mobile payment function. You can link your international credit card with a WeChat account and this allows you to pay in, for example, in the supermarket, to the street vendors, to buy tickets, etc. So WeChat is definitely a must in China. Alipay is another useful mobile payment app. But I found WeChat is more useful, especially when you are paying to street vendors. More people accept WeChat payment compared with Alipay. You will also need a map app. There are two choices, either Baidu app or Gaode map. Both are standard Chinese map. They are more accurate compared with Apple map or Google map. But they are only in Chinese. However, as long as you type in the pinyin, the spelling of the place names, those apps will recognize it. Personally, I don't really use the app for metros. I use Gaode map instead. However, this Metro Man China has English version. So it's very friendly for foreign tourists. There are three apps that you can use for online travel services, to book a hotel, to buy tickets, rent a car, etc. And they are Trip, which is international version and it's in English, and Ctrip and Qunar. Ctrip and Qunar are in Chinese. They are a domestic version, but they are more powerful. For those who doesn't speak Chinese, then Trip is the best app because you can book hotel rooms, train tickets, flights, rent a car. And also in China, not all hotels accept foreign visitors because some of them don't have the qualification. However, all the hotels that you can find on Trip have this qualification. So you can book hotels through Trip without worrying too much. For those who understands Chinese, you can also use a more powerful version of Qunar and Ctrip. Those two apps are quite similar. They have more hotel choices and they also allow you to book bus tickets online, which is not available on Trip. However, when booking hotel rooms, remember to check the criteria, which means foreign visitors accepted, so that you can choose from hotels that have the qualification to host foreign visitors. Personally, as a Chinese citizen, I use Qunar more often because I found the hotel price on Qunar, it's slightly cheaper compared with Ctrip, although it's the same room, same hotel. Hotel accommodation in China is not very expensive. In big cities like Shanghai and Beijing, a standard hotel room would cost in between 30 to 40 US dollars. And in smaller cities, the price would be around 20 US dollars. And my personal traveling budget for hotel rooms is 15 US dollars. And I end up often paying something around 70 or 80 yuan. So this is my hotel room. Just to show you, it's not very fancy, but it's good enough. Although not all hotels accept foreign visitors, you still have plenty of choices. For example, all the star hotels, all the chain budget hotels, as well as all the hostels accept foreigners. As to transportation, China has perhaps the world's best public transportation system. It's very easy to move around, it's affordable, and it's very efficient. So most of the big cities have train stations. And for smaller cities, without train station, you can go there by buses. And within the city, there are always buses. And you can also take taxis. And in smaller cities, sometimes there are informal rickshaws that you can use. And the price is often cheaper than taking the taxi. For very long distance travel, for example, from Beijing to Kunming, from Beijing to Guizhou, I would recommend that you travel by air. Because sometimes the flight tickets are much cheaper than the railway tickets, and it's much faster. All the flights, train tickets, bus tickets can be booked through trip. But in remote places in China, sometimes there are other ways of local transportation that are not really available through sea trip. So I highly recommend that you check with your hotel reception. Because sometimes there are private shared taxis or local shuttle buses. And they can always help you to plan your trip. And that's also what I do very often. China has a long and profound food culture that almost every Chinese is so proud of. There is little reason for you to worry about the food. Because whether you are vegan, Muslim, or vegetarian, you have plenty of choices. I'm pretty confident that you will have a lot of fun discovering new dishes. And me as a native Chinese, I am also discovering new food in every place that I travel to. As to filming and drone use, China is actually a very camera friendly country. Most people don't mind to be photographed, but try to avoid taking pictures of, for example, policemen, of soldiers when you go through the custom security check. And as to drone use, all the drones must be registered with your identification card or passport. But this website is only in Chinese, and you need a Chinese mobile phone number. So if you want to use the drones, remember to ask some Chinese friend to help you with that, to register that drone first. In general, flying a drone is very relaxed in China. But some cities are stricter, for example, in the capital city of Beijing. And also in terms of some big public events, sometimes you have to pre-register with the local police station. But otherwise, in most touristic attractions and also in rural area, you are free to fly the drone as long as you follow the local regulation. Okay, now let's enter the second part, my traveling advice. Get prepared for the Chinese stare. If you are foreign looking, Chinese people are very curious towards foreign tourists. So sometimes they stare at you for a long time. Don't worry, they don't mean anything. They just do it out of curiosity. So whenever you need help, you can always ask, for example, policemen, hotel reception, passengers on the street. And believe me, most Chinese people, despite the language barrier, they are very willing to help you to solve the problem. Unfortunately, there are some tourist scammers in very popular touristic area. So don't buy expensive jewelry, don't buy expensive tea in touristic area. And also be careful of those who are approaching you and offer you taxi ride, hotel rooms, because it's very likely that it will be overpriced. So if you are not very sure about those services, please, please ask, again, staff who is working in the train station, ask the shop owners for more local information and to avoid unnecessary financial loss. My next tip is to embrace Chinese hospitality. To my experience, Chinese people are very similar to, for example, Turkish, Iranians, Malaysians. We like to offer other people free food, free drinks. And don't be surprised if you get a dinner invitation or meet someone for the first time. It's our deep-rooted tradition to extend our warmth to foreign visitors. So if you're open enough, you will make some very good experiences and make some local friends. There are certain times that you should try to avoid traveling in China. For example, the first week of May and also of October. That's our national holiday. Everyone wants to travel. There will be a lot of traffic. Everything will be much more expensive. Another time that is not so good to travel is the spring festival because that's the time when everyone goes back home and shops will be closed. But besides that, China is a big country that you can find pleasant places to visit almost at any time of the year. So that's it. I hope all my information will help you to plan your trips in China. And if you have any other questions, you can also leave a comment. And finally, welcome to China and enjoy your trip!