'''China General:''' The other

>>1202865
well, messed up the bold text but...

Created this thread to ask about jobs in China, ESLfag moving from cozy Japan to Urumqi for some adventure, but worried about company hiring me.

1) Is it common for Chinese schools to have semi-shit English over email?

2) Is it normal for companies to have you wait in country on a L (tourist visa) while the Z visa is processed? I'd rather go straight there than go back home.

3) Anyone have experience Urumqi? I used to work in Kyrgyzstan, so figured it'd be somewhat similar.

I want to go to Urumqi too, but heard it's polluted as fuck

>>1202865
glad someone made a new one
shame the old one didn't get archived

>>1202868
I believe asking anyone to come in on a L visa is symptomatic of a scam

I don't think you can go from an L to a Z visa while still in china, and I hear companies doing this are just trying to get illegal labour

if they have a job for you, they should just give you a letter of invitation and tell you to apply for a Z visa

what was kyrgistan like, by the way?

>>1202868

>2) Is it normal for companies to have you wait in country on a L (tourist visa) while the Z visa is processed?

No, its not normal or legal. Don't fucking do this. I came in on a Z visa, and I saw many others who did do the L to Z. They had to leave the country again. At the time that could've been Hong Kong, but now thats not even possible.


Urumqi and the "Stans" are similar but Urumqi will be much more advanced.

>>1202868
>1) Is it common for Chinese schools to have semi-shit English over email?

Yes, even if Chinese people speak English well, their writing will be shit.

>>1203167
Sorry I forgot to finish the thought. They left the country because thats how they accept the Z visa.

>>1203167
Well to be fair (or naive) they offered it as an alternative to staying in Thailand or India until its ready - and yes they suggested sending me to Hong Kong once its ready. I could just fly to Bishkek and back.

>>1202886
Kyrgyzstan was by far the best time of my life, I miss that soviet shit hole so much. Just no money there. Ugly but beautiful soviet architecture, Qt Asians speaking Russian, and just off the grid no tourists, but at the same time crazy like Russia

>>1203179

Just be careful. If you are caught working illegally in China you will be banned from the country forever.

>>1203167
Urumqi is a lot more Chinese than the stans and you can't forget the heavy security presence with apc's patrolling the streets

>>1202885
I heard the exact opposite, that it's less polluted there since it's in the mountains. I had a chance to choose that city but decided against it since I'm Muslim and I heard they're hard on them there. Chose Hefei, still working on the visa.

I also heard the food is good and the women are prettier. Although Chinese girls put the bar pretty low

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So I'll be studying in Tsinghua University in Beijing from February to July. My only previous experience with China was some 2 week trip I did with my family last year.

I just wanted to kindly ask some essential tips for someone who's gonna be living in Beijing for 5 months or so and who doesn't know the first thing about Chinese language (though I will be taking a Chinese course for foreigners the University offers) or what actually living in Beijing is like.

>>1203367
>I'm Muslim
>starts discussing prettiness of girls

Pretty sure the commies would have no problem with a "Muslim" like you

>>1202868
1) Yeah, Engrish isn't just a meme.
2) DO *NOT* attempt to work in China on _ANYTHING_ but a Z Visa. If discovered, you risk arrest and being fined, but you will absolutely be deported and banned from the country for at least five years, possibly for life. Any company asking you to enter on an L visa is a scam.
3) Sorry, no experience with Urumqi. I'm heading for Shijiazhuang in three weeks, myself. Best of luck to you, anon

>>1203367
I've travelled to China with a Muslim friend, and he said he found Xi'an, Ningxia, Qinghai and Gansu to be really interesting for a Muslim

Xinjiang is also quite interesting, but you've gotta be careful

There's a saying or something that the most honourable women in China are from Ningxia or something, if you're into that

>>1203179
why don't you just stay where you are until the visa clears?
why would they want you to do that

perhaps they want 20 people to fly at their own expense for a "job" that is really just a job interview
they tell the best candidate to come back with a working visa, and tell the rest to get fucked

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>>1203472
Japanese contract ends at the end of January

>>1203463
the company, Thomas School (if anyone's heard of it), said just a "few observations and training" in the meantime. the training worries me as just work until the z visa is ready. but damn i wanna go to xinjiang so bad

Anyone know of what crimes are common in xinjiang? I remember reading something awhile back about some guy getting held up in the desert by nomads? they sprayed his government truck (armored?) with bullets as he sped by.

japan is fun, good food cute girls but life is work here

>>1203427
I've lived in Beijing for a month (in Zhonguancun, Haidian)

I kinda loved it, but Zhonguancun is really super advanced, so I don't know if my experiences would count for the rest of Beijing, but I really liked it

>>1203478
Urumqi is 75% Han Chinese btw and only 12% Uyghur. It's not dangerous at all, the last attack was two and a half years ago in May 2014.

>>1203500
damn really? I thought it was the largest concentration of Uyghur. Han invasion.

And yes I figured so, Russians int he states told me i'd die in my first week in Kyrgyzstan, never had a problem....but the second week...

>>1203436
I pray five times a day but I'm still flesh and blood. I mean I'm looking forward to marriage one day since I don't date.

>>1203464
>Xi'an, Ningxia, Qinghai and Gansu
All in the western parts I assume? There's only one mosque in Hefei but oh well. I'll try to visit the other bits and also North Korea.

Any tips on how to learn Mandarin Chinese?

>>1203179
>>1203179

They'll likely make you pay for everything out of your own pocket, and possibly fuck you over later (not pay you). Especially if they know they have your balls tied to a string (you don't have any money to leave China).

There was an article recently about two European guys working illegally in Beijing and the school didn't pay them for 2 months. The chinese owner of the McEnglish school shut it down and disappeared over night, completely ripped them off. This is the norm in China, it's not some land of milk and honey. kek

How do you guys find out if a school is legit? Most of the time I can't find any discussion on them, except for the big school chains or recruiters (EF, Dipont, etc.).

>>1203765
there are a number of forums with a good community for ESL in china, and to some extent other workers

you just have to be REALLY conscious about not believing things just because they are on the forum, you have to work out who is who first

>>1203682
NK is super hard for a Muslim

Sure you can pray in your room, but if your out and about, you can't just say "give me 5 minutes, I need to pray to Allah"

Which city would you choose to work in?

>Nanjing
>Suzhou
>Qingdao
>Xi'an
>Dalian

>>1203427
I just visited Beijing for a short while so I don't know much (although I did a similar study thing like you in Guangzhou), but this is what I noticed in Beijing:
1) Air is dry as fuck. Bring plenty of moisturizing or greasy cream
2) Air pollution is bad, but what the fuck can you do?
3) Tonnes of scammers that target Westerners in the tourist areas. Read up on the tea house and artist scams. I can imagine falling for this shit if you're completely clueless about it
4) Bar scene is kinda ruined because of the absurd amount of hookers, pimps and African drug dealers at Sanlitun

>>1203953
Yeah that's what I'm really worried about in going to North Korea. I wanted to find a practicing Muslim who's been here to ask before going. I mean we can shorten and combine prayers when traveling but I heard the North Korean handlers are pretty close by at all times. They have weird stuff about taking pictures of their leaders' statues, so I don't want them to try to make me do something weird either

>>1203982
>I don't want them to try to make me do something weird
North Korea isn't the place to assert your right to freedom of conscience. It's not like politely declining a beer at a party. If you go to NK you pay polite tribute to the Eternal Leader by bowing and presenting flowers at his statue. If you tell them, "no thanks, that's idolatry," then enjoy 18 months of prison while your government bargains for your release.

The company im applying to give me 3 choices of cities and I'm guaranteed one of them, my list is
1. Shanghai
2. Chengdu
3. Chongqing

How'd you guys rate that list? I want a mix of big cities and the real China

>>1203989
Exactly, that's why I need to look into it more before I try going. It might be fine to bow, I'll have to see. Is this a common ceremony for people visiting? How deep is the bow? I was more worried about them trying to stop me from praying and whatnot. I can say I'm vegetarian if they try feeding me pork. I mean I heard they're tough on all religions there. I just won't go if it's too risky


In other news, the company sent me my letter of invitation and confirmation letter. Is this all I need to take to the consulate to apply for a visa other then my passport and probably I'm guessing some money?

I'm in the US if that matters

>>1204024
Also the paper says three months valid for a stay of 180 days but also does mention it's for work. The contract is for a year. Is this standard? I would reapply for an extension later?

I know sometimes they drop you like a sack of potatoes but the risk is fine to me as long as I'm on a legitimate work visa so I don't get in trouble with the government. Though I'd like a heads up if it's likely or possible they'll fire me early

Thinking of doing a week in China this year, but I'm not sure what part to go to.

I want to avoid tourist traps but I'm still newish to traveling so going too far into the wilderness probably isn't a good idea.
Any cities that aren't too touristy?

I'm thinking of visiting Beijing in the first week of April this year. Will it still be smoggy as fuck, or will it be better by that point?

>>1203427
I hope you're good at memorizing a lot of stuff. Depending on where you come from, your courses here could have a lot more emphasis on pure memorization than application.

Also, once again depending where you come from, be ready to compile and rewrite all group assignments if you have any.

>bought my first SIM in Inner Mongolia, 3 GB for 100 RMB
>run out of data seven days down the road in Luoyang, spent hours walking around the town, no one could top it up or get me a new one because they have no idea how to register a sim on foreign passport and no one speaks english
>finally manage to top up via hostel manager's smartphone
>they ask me whose id card i used to get the sim (lol)
>still no one knows how to add a data package
>finally some kind-hearted chicks in unicom office buy me a data package via a smartphone app
>spent like 300 RMB somehow
>7 more days, data is over again
>walking into an unicom office in downtown shanghai, getting told they can't top up my inner mongolian sim, they ask me if i have alipay or wechat
>ended up getting a new sim with 6 GB of data for 400 RMB

Hotel wifi almost never works too.

Why getting internet has to be such a hassle in this country?

How do I get a visa for a single visit as an Australian?

Well lads I just got them email saying my letter of recommendation et al is in the mail, pretty soon I'll be applying for the visa and then in the country. All you fellows once were like me, totally green, is there anything you wish you had known before arriving; about what to pack, what to expect, any random nuggets of wisdom?

heading over soon

not sure if I should land in hong-kong or the southern mainland

>>1204335
worried about this myself, I hear nobody knows how to give a foreigners sim cards/data packages; and that some people think it's illegal
not sure if I should bring my laptop or a phone
considering wiping my data and only taking what I need

not sure about visas either
what's the best way of booking then canceling a hostel to avoid giving a full itinerary (which I don't really have)

>>1204335
but you can also top up the balance yourself online...?
you have the website on the package on the sim.
the guy who sold me the sim also pointed out how to text unicom to check the balance, i don't remember the number, but it's also on the package.

also use wifi more... you probably know by now that every password is like 88888888 or 12345678 or so, just use them.

>>1204478
>worried about this myself, I hear nobody knows how to give a foreigners sim cards/data packages; and that some people think it's illegal
It would seem that it's easy in the centre of larger cities (Beijing, Shanghai). I presume you first arrive into one of these by air, so no worries.

Also, get a vpn. Astill works well enough for me.

>what's the best way of booking then canceling a hostel to avoid giving a full itinerary (which I don't really have)
Easy. Use booking.com. Just be careful about cancellation policies as not every hotel allows you to cancel for free.

>>1204489
>but you can also top up the balance yourself online...?
>you have the website on the package on the sim.
Can you pay with a foreign credit card tho? Gotta find somebody to teach me to use the site.

>>1203991
Chengdu for the food

>>1204520
thanks anon, big help

I live in China. I've never tried traveling during CNY because I thought it'd be too much of a hassle and headache, but this year I'm deciding to try it.

When is the best time to travel internationally during this time?

From January 28th to February 11th will all the airports across the country be packed to the brim with pushy people traveling, or just on and during those two dates?

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Hey guys big life choice here I love china and travel there often but between the 3
China, korea and japan where is the best place for a foreigner to live and why?

Serious Question -

If a job in China is advertising as British and Irish only need apply and you aren't one of those.. how likely is your application not going to get deleted as soon as they read you're not a Britbong..?

>>1204565
If you are american there's a chance you can get in other than that they won't look at you. Just apply for a different spot.

>>1204567
Australian..

>>1204568
No I'm sorry unless you can fix your accent I have seen aussie's get reject for russians of all people because your countries accent is so thick and chinese cannot understand. Don't get me wrong you can still find a good job just probably not that one.

>>1204386
Bump on this

>>1204569
Haha fair enough.. thanks for the advice tho

>>1204570
http://www.visaforchina.org/
it's about $100

What are some nice hostels in Beijing?

Best places to go in Chengdu? Food, sights, etc. I'll be there in February so already planning on going to the light festival.

>>1204386
the chinese embassy does not handle visas directly

they have offices in major cities which handle applications

either you submit to them
or you get an agency to submit on your behalf

I can't see why anyone would pay an agency
if your application is typical, it goes through without a hitch
if your application is odd, I hear you have better chances applying directly

>>1204579
posted the link for you

>>1204645
I was thinking about the light festival, but I'm not sure if it's worth going near chinese new year

Quick question, for those of you who know more about Chinese culture: is it normal or acceptable to wish someone a happy Chinese new year before the actual new year? I won't be talking to some of my Chinese friends until at least a few weeks after, so I figure I would just send them my good wishes now. But I'm not sure if there is anything in Chinese culture which would forbid this.

Shay-shay, my niggas.

Is 10,000 RMB a good salary for Beijing? accom & transport paid for

>>1204839

lolno. it's terrible

>>1204838

>shay-shay

kill yourself nigger

>>1204843
>lolno. it's terrible

Really? should add it's for 9 months not 12 but I'll take that into consideration

>>1204839
>>1204843
Isn't that a pretty standard salary for starting out?

>>1203427

I literally just came back from that shithole. Beijing isn't a Tokyo or even a Shanghai. It's a great place to be culturally enriched as a tourist because the city had rich history (as far as Chinese history goes).

Living in this city can be abysmal. Air pollution, severely crowded, kinda dirty. You're literally dealing with with a lot of farmers on the streets because of the urbanization. The place is kinda disappointing for a capital city, but you can get used to it. If you're lucky you'll develop a Stockholm syndrome. You might eventually fall in love with the prison called Tsinghua University.

Memes aside. Tsinghua has a great campus. You can survive inside the campus with minimal or no Chinese. Outside the campus could be more troublesome.

Inside the campus. Try to hang around with the local students. Ask if you can join to play basketball or football when you're bored. They're nice lads. Often they'll let you join them, and maybe you'll make some friends. Hang with the Chinese to learn Chinese faster. Also take this opportunity to travel around the country. China is a big and diverse country. It's more than Beijing and Shanghai alone. Chinese teachers know foreigners don't take the classes seriously. So it's not much of a problem if you skip classes to travel to cities.

In summary, for me Beijing is kinda crappy, especially if you have seen all the touristic attractions. After that it has no charm anymore. The Tsinghua campus life is great. Try to make the best of it.

>>1204839

It's kinda shit, senpai.
Rent is fucking expensive here. For 2000 rmb you live far from the city center and you still have to share a place with 2/3 roommates.

For city center you'll spend 4000/5000 rmb/month at least. For this money you also have 2/3 roommates. In the worst case you share a place with lousy farmers who use your utensils.

You probably should need 15,000 rmb at least for a semi-comfortable living. Implying you're talking about a starter salary with chances to promote or increase salary.

>>1204159

Wintertime like December and January are the shittiest. So you should be ok in April.

I think you can find like a monthly air pollution average somewhere on the Internet to be sure. I'm too lazy to Google it for you. So good luck finding it.

>>1204917
He said his accommodation and transport was paid for

Filling out the visa for the Z visa, a few questions:

For current occupation, I put unemployed, is that alright? I will have a job in China by my inviting employer, but none in America right now. Do I put a previous employer in the "School/Employer" section, as some web guides say to, or my old college, or N/A?
"Who will pay for your travel and expenses during your stay in China?" - I put "Myself", but should I put my Chinese employer?

The photo should just be a 2 inch by 2 inch normal passport photo, right?

Sorry if I'm being pedantic and annoying, but I have to drive all the way to Los Angeles to submit this shit, and if I have it rejected and I have to do it again and go all the way back I'll be pissed. Can I bring what I have and fix it in the consulate on the spot if they see any errors?

>>1202865
someone please reassure me traveling china solo is not a stupid idea if you speak no chinese
(maybe a few words, and I can use a phrasebook reasonably well)

there will be other travelers around in feb/mar, and people working in tourism will speak some englich yea?

my travel agent was like "you idiot, you will just be wandering around by yourself and you won't be able to do anythign"
...but the guy then gives me a group tour guide, so I suspect he was just a dickhead

>>1204936
Oh, Wew. That would actually make the 10k a bit more reasonable.

>>1204839
Could actually be plenty to live a normal Chinese life

>>1203962
>Nanjing
Quite pleasant; a nicer, greener, smaller Shanghai.
>Suzhou
Nice but small
>Qingdao
Don't know.
>Xi'an
Good nightlife but filthy air.
>Dalian
Polluted and cold but popular with foreigners, seems to be a meme city that people want to live in, though I don't know why. Less polluted than neighbouring cities.

>>1203179
>they suggested sending me to Hong Kong once its ready
FWIW, I know people who have done that without issues. I also know people who had lots of problems and didn't get paid for several jobs.

>>1203991
Chongqing for the 'real' China, it's a crazy city. Polluted and terrible in Summer but it has charm.

Chengdu is pleasant but feels like cheating after Chongqing.

>>1204335
>SIMs running out of data.
Chinese SIMs are for a province, they charge roaming when you're out of the home province and run out of credit really quickly.

Just ask someone to top you up on wechat and give them the cash value, it's really easy to do. Once you have a Chinese bank account, you can do it yourself.

>>1204489
>check balance on China Unicom
Text 'ye' or 'yex' to the info number that spams you daily. 10010

>>1204520
Use ctrip and book hotels that are pay-on-arrival. It's easy and works fine.

>>1204546
The whole period but it's a little better about two weeks afterwards.

>>1204729
FWIW, that site is legit and efficient. They can get you visas in HK really quickly with no possibility of problems. They seem super dodgy but I'm on my third visa from them.

>>1204839
After accom paid for, it's super reasonable

Just spent a month in China hostelhopping. Shanghai -> Suzhou -> Hangzhou -> Chouxing -> Shanghai -> freedomguo. Made a lot of expat and chinese friends, ate tasty stuff, and had some tame encounters with the police/military a couple times.

I'm def going to south china next time as well as checking out inner China and tier 3+ locations.

Would anyone be interested in some sort of "poor man's travel guide?" Even though I speak conversational Mandarin there are plenty of things I wish I knew my first time before coming here.

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anyone ever heard of thomas school?
supposedly all over china but cant find any reviews

>>1205792
anything you know man

>>1204044
Hunan tourist bureau reporting in.
Me and my friends had a similar thought process, that's how we ended up in there. Zhangjiajie is full of Chinese and Korean tourists, Phoenix Town with Chinese tourists, but that ended up being part of the fun. Hunan has some awesome spicy cousine, home to some minorities (dong architecture!! miao language!), there're the Mao things... Window of the World lol
Maglev from Changsha airport to town. Hot springs, etc.
All of the neighbors are interesting for various reasouns, too... Sichuan, Hubei, Guangxi etc

>>1205145
I went with friends, but had zero problems when we wandered off alone...
Oh and none of us speak Chinese. Or spoke Chinese beforehand, we picked up some during the trip.
Just have your route written down both in Chinese (to show when asking for directions) and English (so that you know what to point at).

The hand gesture game is strong there. Lot of pointing at things, too.
Chinese were incredibly helpful. I was the dumb foreigner and didn't understand the numbers a guy was showing me with his fingers (departing time of the bus he was the driver of), nor did I see which time it was on the sign... The driver fucking climbs up a few meters on a pole to put his finger next to the relevant departure time on the sign that was waaay up high. I was like thanks, I get it, I get it, please don't fall down and die. lol
But most people, even in dirt poor villages know how to say the numbers in English at least.
Also at all major train stations I saw clear English signage, and all cashiers spoke English. Bus stations -- there were official translators! People who stand around do nothing all day, till a foreigner pops up, then they escort the foreigner, help with tickets, finding the bus, etc.
This at mid-sized stations.
Smaller stations: we had our destination in Chinese on our phones, showed it to someone, they would point at someone else, the pointing game would continue till we had the right ticket and boarded the bus. It was always at least 4-5 people involved, sometime up to 15, but it was always incredibly quick, and no back and forth.
Also the moment a Chinese bus driver gets someone to translate for him cause they want to explain that there are seat numbers assigned... Bless him. (In all fairness, even the locals seemed to stick to the numbering on that specific ride, but it was an exception.)

Is it possible to get a 60 day tourist visa? I can't find any real information about it but heard it's possible. All the 'visa websites' advertise double entry 30 day visas.

Also does anybody know if the visa offices in Hong Kong are open during chinese new year and it's still possible to get a visa in hong kong? It would be so much easier and cheaper for me to get a visa in hong kong but I'm scared that I might get denied there and my plans would be ruined.

Studying abroad in Nanchang. Does anyone have any experience with the city or Jiangxi province in general. Also, what can I expect price wise to fly to places like Beijing? (although im told the train is one of the best ways to go)

>>1206256

Lel. why would you choose that dump in the middle of bumfuck nowhere?

Does anybody know any "overnight" services for a Chinese visa in America? I'm trying to have a Chinese visa by Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest.

Didn't China an hero their culture during the revolution? Is it even worth visiting for those kinds of things? The only city I can think of worth visiting is Hong Kong.

Is there a high chance of teaching in china a bunch of kids like in a standard public school? Or is it more relaxed with half a dozen people and adults learning english possibly on a one on one basis?

I'm also afraid the internet will be shit and I won't be able to access my mongolian cooking for children image boards.

>>1206270
My Mandarin is fluent and I would rather go there than sit in Beijing, die of lung cancer, and not experience what I would consider the "real" China.

>>1206311
You could just go to the consulate that services your area of residence and request a same day service, if you get there early Monday you could potential get it that afternoon. If not, if you get expedited, you can pick it up in 2 or 3 business days.

Make sure to have a scanned copy of your passport photo page, drivers license, any old Chinese visas, and to fill out your application using all capital letters. If it is a tourist visa you also need to bring a print out of your hotel and flight bookings.

Is visa rite legitimate?

>>1206467
I am using them right now and they seem really put together and on top of it. So far I would recommend of course I havent gotten it back yet.

>>1206575
Getting your no criminal commitment verified? I'm doing that right now after my background check comes back from the state capitol. What a hassle man, and the medical exam just let the doctors jew me out of a lot of dough

>>1206698
Im just using them for a long term student visa. What I can tell you is that their customer service responds in literally a couple min and they give you a lot of FAQ and FYI information. Plus, I think the people that run it are native English speakers and are based in like New Jersey so they will understand your questions and stuff like that.

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Is the hostel life any good in Shanghai?
I heard talk its stereotyped as a club city which I can't stand

>>1206704

Shanghai isn't a backpacker city, if that's what you're asking. It isn't for poor, smelly scrubby Western hippies. It's about as expensive as Hong Kong, New York and Tokyo now.

Your type is suited more for Southeast Asia.

I set my ringtone and alarm to https://youtu.be/W73Gnr9nwl4?t=46 the part where Kanye says "Eating Asian pussy all I need was sweet and sour sauce" and so far no one seems to have picked up on it, shit makes me kek hard everything I wake up or get a call.

>>1206740
Man fuck that then

>>1206704
It's about 80 cny a night for a place near Najing pedestrian road. Decent mix of people when I was there some cool middle aged people, a bunch of Mexican skaters filming a vid in shanghai, some esl teachers on leave and just the usual Aussie/Euro/upper middle class Brazilians no one was really roughing it but plenty of people living out of backpacks. Also i think they had a maximum stay so no long termers thinking they own the place.

>>1206075
seconding this

I'm confused about the duration of visas
my travel agent says they are three months validity...but he also said the chinese don't speak english

there also seems some seperation between "length of visa validity" and "length of stay"
like I can stay for X amount of time, but I must enter the country within a few weeks of gettign the visa

>>1206318
maybe you should read the wiki before trash talking a whole country

the chinese government websiteds seem totally silent; it doesn't even say on the aplication form

>>1207135
Generally, a visa must be used within a certain time frame, and is good for a specified duration in the issuing country.

I'm going to overnight in Xiamen before heading to Japan for work. Never been to China before- any suggestions on what to do or how to not fuck up?

>>1207187
Make sure you wear a green hat in the country, it is used to distinguish guests in their country, people will afford you more respect due to your awareness of this ancient tradition.

>>1207224
I knew about this meme but still wore my green Packers hat in China. Nobody said a word. I think laowai can get away with this stuff or nobody cares.

>>1206704
Just came back from there. Check out "Hidden Garden Hostel" which is near Pudong Ave subway stop. 50-60 kuai for a 8 person dorm. Nice staff.

If you want to go more western style with more expats, find "Shanghai Central Hostel".

>>1207187
别担心兄弟我们法国特中国人是特别祝你一路平安!

Lived in China for 2 years AMA w(ﾟДﾟ)w

>>1207187
Well no one screamed when I said Xiamen, so I'll take that as a good sign.

>>1207347
谢谢!

>>1207365
You fucked up a little, Xiamen is only nice on the island but it takes a while to get to and from it and you only have overnight.

You won't have much time to see anything. Go to the big temple opposite the university if you have a few hours.

>>1207351
What's your favourite colour?

I've only ever been to Hong Kong and Macau; I had a fucking wonderful time.

Is Mainland China still worth visiting, or did I already visit the good parts?

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>>1207351
apart from avoiding illegal transactions, how does one avoid the jaibi

what's the best way for a tourist to do money?
I usually make large withdrawals and do everythign n cash for a few days

Hello Chinamen. Does anybody know if it's possible do aquire a chinese visa in central asia right now? I heard the sitation is fucked there.

Also how do I into 12 or 6 months multy entry visa?

>>1207802

why would a negra go to china?

>>1208005
To enjoy all the little people gawking at the mysterious 大黑人

Currently working in Australia with 2 years of experience as a software engineer, have been studying Mandarin for just less than six months. I've been considering working in China for awhile but would like some personal advice or stories about how a qualified foreigner landed a gig over there.

>>1208266

IT gigs pay low in china. and they don't hire foreigners typically anyway. You can only be an English teacher, bar owner, or run a school in China. kek

>>1208277
That's inspiring, thanks.

>>1208278
it's what I hear broadly

employments standards are low and many westerners find their office culture unbearable

>>1208278
Let's be real here.

Human rights and workers' rights are pretty bad in China. What makes you think what little they offer would be afforded to foreigners?

I'm starting plans on spending 2 months travelling around China. I've found out that there are heaps of websites and books banned by the country. How do you guys keep in contact with your family at home while over there? and what is the best way to be entertained in your down time?

>>1208412
i gave a rough plan to my family so that they are aware where my kidneys would be stolen (i went off the map a little bit, actually people were much nicer then expected, so no trouble).

skype was working perfectly fine, it does need to be installed before you enter the country.
i made a sina.com mail address, cause i sure as hell wasn't going to bother with vpn... but i ended up being lazy and just pinging the family via skype every couple of days.

i wanted to post here, but captcha is banned... lurking is fine, though.

>>1207973
I get long visas through the agent in this thread. 12month multi etc.

HK travel agents are good for fast tourism visas.

>>1208425
>4chan passes work fine though

>>1202865
for my visa I need proof of onward travel

since I don't know when I will leave the country (within my visa period of course) I'm not sure how to go about this

basically I want the cheapest proof of onwards travel I can get

do train tickets to hanoi work?
what about flights to hong kong?
if not, which is the cheapest flight out of china

>>1208572
>proof of onward travel
>post examples of things that'll get you out of China
Now you're getting it.

>>1208575
don't be an asshole

in the past, people have run into trouble because of inconsistent enforcement
sometimes train tickets to hanoi couldn't be book far enough in advance

sometimes a flight out of hong kong counts as a flight out of china, but sometimes it doesn't

>>1208572
For a double-entry visa (while they were only doing single-entry by default, unline now when it's multi-entry 12 month by default) they only needed a printout of a booking from Hong Kong. Which was obviously two clicks to cancel later, but the mainland Chinese didn't give a fuck.

>>1208591
chinese visas online??

in Australia you have to make a written application to a third party provider

but you are saying a flight FROM hong kong onwards counts as proof of onward travel

>>1208590
If Hong Kong doesn't work, then try Macau or Taiwan.

>>1203684
I'm curious to try this one:
http://www.speedmandarin.org

>>1203962
Suzhou because it's close to Shanghai, the only place in China worth living in

>>1203982
>religious nut
>worried about "weird"

>>1203991
You can quite easily enjoy "authentic China" in Shanghai. Or you can go to the Canadian bar and get your food delivered from Kate and Kimi. It's really up to you. Either way Shanghai is the best.

>>1204335
>Why getting internet has to be such a hassle in this country?
because they don't want you to read the news

>>1206740
>It's about as expensive as Hong Kong, New York and Tokyo now.
what a load of bullshit.
¥1 = approx USD$0.20

In Shanghai,
street breakfast: ¥5
single trip metro: ¥4
convenience store beer: ¥5
street dinner: ¥10
taxi 2km: ¥14
taxi 5km: ¥30
bus: ¥2
Mcdonalds meal: ¥30
and most tourist sites are practically free
and the rent doesn't even compare to those cities. Shanghai is only expensive if you have expensive habits

>Shanghai isn't a backpacker city
that is true
>>1206704
it is a GREAT club city. But they do do pub crawls at some hostels, you poor, smelly scrubby Western Hippie

>>1208266
by working for a foreign owned and managed company, dumbass

>>1205792
No, but I want to go to some of inner China with you if you want someone to tag along. My Chinese is crap, but the pronunciation is decent, so can pretend I know stuff.

>>1207781
It's quite different. Hong Kong and Macau I don't even consider China.

>>1208592
*until now

No, just hotel booking, no plane ticket.

>>1202865
中国共和国万岁!
打死百鬼!

>>1208277
There are foreign companies paying lots if you have the skills
Foreign IT workers in China is pretty rare however
But there is a large startup scene in Beijing and there are openings there. I'm working as backend engineer for 18,000RMB right now (could have asked 20,000 easy)

>>1208714
>Hong Kong and Macau I don't even consider China.
And I consider that a good thing.

I actually do hope they become their own countries someday.

Here's a fun hypothetical...

Let's say an American is in China when war breaks about. As unlikely as that may be, let's say that American had to get out of the country quickly by land crossing with as little interaction as possible with authorities.

What's the best escape strategy, and which country would be the best route? Mongolia? Kazakhstan?

>>1208832

probably a raft to Hong Kong

kek

About to go to the consulate tomorrow to get my no criminal commitment form authorized. Any tips and or advice before I go?

>>1208857
Make EXTRA sure you have any previous authorization needed on that document. I got turned away at the embassy's authentication office for not having a signature that the website didn't say I need.

My friend and I plan to go to the Yulin Festival in 2018. We've budgeted the trip and are ready to chow down on some Chinese food. However, I don't know any good Chinese manners or basic stuff to get by. I'm guessing Mandarin is kinda required in more rural areas of Guangzhou, China.

Would anyone here like to come hang out with us from the 21st - 30th of June and be a translator of sorts? Or I got a year and a half and some friends with families in Hong Kong. Should I just try and learn me some language? This will be my second time going over seas, but the first time handling myself.

>>1208858
Yeah as in the background check that was authorized by the secretary of state? Other than that and my passport what should I bring?

I assume I need what is mentioned in the website below when I go in person. I don't need anything specific from my employer at that point right?
http://www.visarite.com/no_criminal_record_report_for_China.htm

It's confusing because the company had me fill out a form that I sign about this and then said to get it authorized so will I just bring the stack of background check papers or will they also stamp that form at the consulate?

>>1208862
I had a different document that needed authorization, my BA diploma, so I can't help you on the specifics for that. Bring more than you think you need and a photocopy of everything, passport too.

>>1208859
You mean the dog meat thing?

They won't like that. The Chinese government is getting very sensitive about that festival these days because, you know... it makes Chinese look like a bunch of backward, soulless bumpkins. And that doesn't fit the "we're going to take over the world" meme that the Communist Party has been trying to force for a couple of decades now.

>>1208883
Shucks man, I was getting hyped for it. What other countries could I try dog in a fun, alcoholic environment?

>>1208871
Photocopy my passport? Can't they do that there if needed? I guess I will brig everything so far doing paperwork, I've hit a ton of snags

>>1208906
When I went to the consulate in Los Angeles at the end of the hall there was a travel company that let you use their copy machine for 25 cents per page, but you can't be certain ever consulate will have something like that.


But yes, I have no doubt at all they will want a copy of your passport's photo page.

fuck me, it's a disaster

getting my visa done this week, and was just told my visa is only valid until the end of my declared ittinery

so my visa is valid for three months, but if my itinerary is only listed for two weeks, staying longer than two weeks is a visa violation
WTF

I was also told my listed accommodation had to be paid for
no book and cancel
no bullshit itinerary
no listing "sightseeing" for every day
they said they had a visa rejected three times this week for having unpaid accommodation listed or a day missing from the itinerary

either I've been mislead by /trv/ and the internet for three months, or my travel agent is full of shit
australian here

Going to Chengdu in April. It's a sort of spur of the moment thing for a trip abroad. Not well researched. I know I want to eat tons of street food and take a trip out to Jiuzhaigou Valley.

Also considering a short trip to Chongqing for a few days of my 2 week trip.

Want to do some hiking/camping but aside from that I wonder if anyone has any good tips on stuff to do there.

>>1208918
Why are you going through an agent dude?

I got my visa at the Chinese consulate. No restrictions like must have accom and itineraries. Landed in Hong Kong. Bus to Guangzhou. No problems the whole time.

>>1208961
well anyone chime in if I'm wrong here

in Australia the consulate does not take visa applications directly; they just won't
instead you have to go through one of their offices, which are in major cities

to apply, you have to list your ENTIRE itinerary
every day, what you will do; where you will stay
and not just where, my travel agent tells me these need to be booked in advance

I CAN land in hong kong and do 90 days there without even having a visa, provided I'm just a tourist.

but a combination of the information going through the chinese foreign office, then the consulate, then their office, then chinglish; and the less than trustworthy nature of my (dude nobody speaks english in china) agent has me in a real pickle

there is also a lot of information online that sujests he official policy can be "varied" because of a lack of enforcement etc, but this is usually talk from '05 and there is no way to verify it

>>1208889
Korea
>>1208832
Depends which part you are in, but if the war is with China and not Russia, I would leg it north to Vladivostok. Nice long border and natural cover

>>1208945
that sounds great. pandas...?

>>1208962
okay not samefag, but why the hell are you going through an agent again? obviously their interest is to make themselves look like they're doing anything, when in fact they don't really do anything.

nowhere does the chinese consulate take visa applications directly, but who cares? that visa application office china runs is basically the same as if you were applying through the consulate or whatever.

your agent is full of crap when saying everything needs to be booked in advance. book 3 night after your entry/entries to china.

itinerary idk, i did have a detailed one, if i told you how to write one, can i charge you as well?

either way, no one freaking checks, so my itinerary was...

day 1
arrival x town
sightseeing
staying at x hostel (same as booking)

day 2
town
sightseeing
same hostel

day 3
another town
sightseeing
another hostel (also booked, booking printed)

day 4
one more town
sightseeing
no more bookings from here at all

day 5....

and it went on to day 20 or something, all that changed was the name of the town.

they didn't really care about it, just circled my point of entry on the plane ticket. (which is not even listed in the itinerary, cause of the domestic transfer in china)

idek why i'm writing this, it seems like you love being ripped off be agents

>>1208966
not a samefag, but kudos for noticing
I'm bouncing my IP

I'm only using my agent for their secure courier service to the visa agency, not sending my passport any other way
fuck actually booking through them

you think I only have to provide bookings a few bookings for the first week or so?
I'l be on the road months, so I can't really book everything in advance

there must be some flexibility in the chinese system, otherwise things wouldn't work

>>1208917
Okay well I'll make copies before I go then, better safe than sorry

>>1209006
travel fag here

consulate employees are used to dealing with tourists, but there is a limit to their patience
photocopying your own passport at least shows you made an effort

ask them to make an invalid visa application and they are like "meh"
turn up asking them to do our office coping for you, prepare to get told to fuck off

>>1208979
if you book the first week, that's more than enough.
i read 3 days on many travel forums, so i booked 3 nights, they were happy with that.
also the chinese visa ppl are used to dealing with bigger idiots than you or me, and will be relatively helpful.

>>1209009
They were closed, probably for Chinese New Years. I guess I'll keep calling and checking back

I need to print out an important document on my PC. I don't have a printer.

All the print shops are closed due to the holidays. Any ideas as to where I can go?

>>1209208
Convenience stores?

Buy a printer from an electronics store and return it later?

Put up an ad on craigslist asking if you can borrow someone's printer?

>>1209208
It's one of those things that's best if you ask irl.
Go to the nearest print shop and ask passers by, or to a convenience store and ask where you could print stuff.

is Guangzhou worth a visit, or should I just pass through it on the way to guilin/yangshuo

>>1209325
Second this. In Guangzhou for a weekend. On my way back from SEA. What's good to see and do there?

where can i find love hotels in beijing. i tried google and bing, both say that they are super popular for couples but gives no info on where to find them.
any help?
staying with family of a friend that is inside the first ring

>>1209325
Tbh I love concrete, steel, glass, so for me Guangzhou is great. http://www.archdaily.com/tag/guangzhou

But I'm kind of a weirdo, so normal people should just pass through Guangzhou...

Guangxi people are gonna come with their snail powder (??) soups and dog stews and whatnot, but go for Guilin Noodles (Guilin Mifen 桂林米粉) instead. Even in tourists as hell Yangshuo there are some cheap and good Guilin rice noodle shops. Some of the toppings they put in for you, others you choose yourself in the corner of the place, and then you mix it and then foodgasm.
Locals seemed to talk shit about Guilin, but to me it was actually a chill place compared to others of similar size. Like good for just strolling around. Best gaming cafes I've seen in the country. No Hong Kong or Shenzhen levels of English, but just chatty open people. The inner city is walkable, but the bullet trains to Guangzhou go to Guilin North, which is faar compared to everything else, like an hour bus ride from the other main train station.

File: fenghuang.jpg (1B, 486x500px)

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Anyone been to Fenghuang? I think it looks really cool.

>>1209733
yea I'm going to stay in guilin for a day or two, but I'm hoping to move somewhere nearby where there are less tourists

I'l be there late feb, so I'm not sure how crowded it will actually be

So I'm in Shanghai for a month and wondering what to do. Any recommendations? Besides the obvious tourist stuff that is. I have the next week completely free. What are some good places to eat and drink?

Any good day trips from here?

>>1209714
I would like to know this as well

>>1209799
I loved Fenghuang. Do note that it's full of mainland Chinese ktv lovers, hence it doesn't look like an ancient town at all during the night, it's more like a party town with loads of LED. To me that was part of the charm. Charming old town by day, touristy af mess by night. The South China Great Wall is a 30 min bus ride away! Nothing too fancy, but a nice short hike, and important for miao people. Also had the freshest and cheapest baozi in a shabby village on the way.
Anecdote time:
We ended up staying at this 'Ruyi hostel' that had a great view of the whole old town. Our room became cheaper than the booking, apparently the view is cheaper than the rooms looking at the rocks?!
The owner.....idk I guess it might be also that we had a memorable entrance, but he just took care of us so well. Like we asked this random family next to the bus station (other side of town) to point us to the direction of the hotel. They ended up getting us a free transfer. When we left we also got a free transfer to the other bus station (these weren't supposed to be included in the price). The owner insisted we entered the old town via the sidestreet he showed us, it later turned out that it meant we could check out the old town for free, it was the only entrance where they didn't check for tickets... The owner spoke zero English, and dressed like an Eastern Euro pimp, but behaved like he was our sweet grandma, like we managed to book our next bus trip trough him and all, made us tea, etc etc and this is a cheap ass place. Oh and they only check for tickets from 8am till 6pm or something. You do need it for musea.
The boat ride included in the ticket is ?? I preferred just to walk up and down next to the water.
It only stayed there 3 nights, and one afternoon fully spent at the South China Wall and the small rice yards close by... For some people I think 24hrs is enough, if you like the vibe, you can easily use Fenghuang as a base for daytrips in every direction for weeks.

just found out the whole of tibet is closed in march

hold me /trv/

>>1209714
There aren't really love hotels, but if you plan on bringing a girl, you will most likely up in wudaokou or gongti (sunlituan), right across the street of gongti are a few love hotels, but they're very casual. So expect to pay around 200-300 rmb.
There aren't really themed love hotels here, just the spa's where you can pay 100-150rmb for the whole day, that shit is fun. But you need dianping app for that.

Doing the ESL thing for at least a year. I want to get a good camera. Should I buy it before or after I go to China? I figure they might be less expensive there, but that it's also likely the quality won't be as good.

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>>1210398
How come anon?
Why is that so bad for you?

>>1210418
Foreign electronics in China are taxed out of the ass due to protectionist trade policies, and the only decent cameras produced domestically are fish eye action cam gopro clones, and even then, only a few of those are good. Buy the camera in your country and bring it with you.

I was in your exact position so I bought the a6000 when it was on sale during the holidays.

bu yong xie desu fampai

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>>1210426
Can I buy a very good/superb camera for $1000 USD?
If so which one? What setup up?
Any recommendation?

>>1210427
Like he said, a Sony A6000. If you can afford it, a Sony A6300.

>>1210294
>>1209799
how did you get in?

I've got as close as chonquing, but there doesn't seem to be a rail link and the closest station seems to be Huaihua 怀化, which doesn't seem to have any information on it

I would just go there and cross that bridge, but I need my whole itinerary for a visa

>>1210422
apparently they are really tight now on only people on genuine guided tours getting in

and only chinese agencies offer tours, they even require you to be taken by the guide from your point of arrival

...and because of some punishment for a tibentan uprising that happen dog knows how long ago, the region is generally locked down in march
there seems entirely arbitary, and the actual dates fluctuate wildly, so chinese tour opperators won't take bookings apparently

no way of knowing if this is a serious problem, or just requires tea money, but I'l be in lijiang in early march

>>1210438
for the rail tracks this map might explain things https://www.travelchinaguide.com/images/map/hunan/hunan.gif
not sure how close to reality this is, point is you can't get to fenghuang by train.
i got in by a direct bus from zhangjiajie, but i hear most people coming from the north transfer at jishou (also has a train station). from zjj we crossed the aizhai bridge, i kinda wish i stopped there, pretty cool. (also we had a host? steward? on the bus for whatever reason. in between entertaining the chinese with making them sing popular songs... he was a miao guy, and he sang a few miao folk songs in between, i ain't into that folk shit, but damn the tears just started forming outta nowhere).
huaihua i crossed when i was going further down south. it is a trainsportation hub, but avoid it for anything else, other than switching buses or whatever. huaihua is the most bland i've seen in hunan. the only good thing about it is its vicinity to some nice villages with dong architecture. those drum towers and bridges nearby are pretty nice.

rambling aside, coming from chongqing, you probably want to go via tongren. it's closer to fenghuang than huaihua. looking at ctrip, the trains are a little bit faster to tongren... 7-8 hrs compared to 9 hrs or so, so still very slow. you might even consider overnight sleeper buses, but trains are probably safer.

>>1210456
thanks for the help man

I'm having thoughts about going from Jiuzhaigou nature reserve where I am already going to langmusi across the mountains

but I don't drive or even speak chinese
am...am I mad?

where do you find current information on the region?
seems like everything listed as a frontier town is now a 200,000 person city with a highway and han low rises

>>1210473
nah that looks doable, it's going to be fun. i haven't been to sichuan yet, but based on hunan... it should be easy, and some spectacular scenery along the way, too.

if it makes you feel any better, even if you had a driver's license, it wouldn't be valid in china. you would need to get a chinese license.

you will find buses running from every small village. the public transport system has its shortcomings (buses can be anything from rusty to fancy new), but it's very extensive, so you won't have a problem with getting from a to b. no matter where you are. (they told me in western china hitchhiking is popular, too...)
when you suspect there is no direct connection, just copy-paste names of bigger towns/villages along the way, and try each.

make sure of one thing (i saw you did this above already, so you'll be fine), always have your next destination written down in chinese. it'll all be smooth. ask your host the evening before you want to take off, they'll tell you about transport to your next destination. even if you don't speak any common language, if you have the name of the place written down, you'll figure it out.

when you feel lost, remember that many of the mainland chinese would also be lost, they also don't really understand each other when talking to people from different regions, so they also rely on hand gestures and pointing at things. you won't even feel lost for long anyway, there's always someone that sends you the right way.

there is no comprehensive guide on china online, you'll have to rely on your search skills. depends on your search preferences obviously, but i use a mix of google (forget google maps, though), wikitravel, tripadvisor, lonelyplanet, rough guide, baidu, amap, ctrip, elong

amap is ridiculously detailed. it will show you the public toilets even, atm's, all hotels unlike booking.com, you don't need to know chinese, there are icons. also you can type in the name of the places in pinyin there, it will find it.

>>1210473
cont'd
also i found some english info on all provinces on their own websites. as with everything in china, take it with a grain of salt.
http://www.sc.gov.cn/10462/10758/index.shtml
http://www.sc.gov.cn/10462/10758/11801/11802/index.shtml
http://www.sc.gov.cn/10462/10758/10761/10768/l10001135.shtml
you never know which part is just propaganda, which is true. but these texts are not totally useless to read, there is always some random information in there that you won't find anywhere else. like your rights and obligations as a tourist lol
desu the hunan province website is better, with food guides and all

>>1210473
sorry for the spam, one more
http://www.gochengdu.ex2.www.ipv6.chengdu.gov.cn

>>1210426
So should I get a laptop before I go for a year (I'm someone else). I have a tablet but it's slowly disintegrating and I was just planning on buying one there.

>balding (like Jason Statham bald and getting worse)
>planning to go to China

How fucked am I?

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>>1210576
I would try to buy as much as I can outside of China, before going to China.

The stuff made in China that passes QC is what gets exported. The Chinese often get the rejects.

Why do you think you hear about exploding chair incidents happening in China, but little to none of them happening outside of China?

>>1210752
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm really fires up the old neurons. I've never heard of am exploding chair incident but duly noted.

My only other concern is getting an adapter for the outlet and potentially breaking the laptop. I broke an electric trimmer like that in Egypt

>>1210919
you can try and get just the 'official' charger in china. (or in europe, all my european chargers work fine in china.)

I have a question about China, I'm only spending around a week near Shenzen and don't really have too much of a plan yet. How bad is the great firewall? How do you get around it? I have a mobile phone with a plan that should work in China (google fi) and am bringing a laptop. Anyone ever hear any robbery stories in China around that area? How safe is it? (I'm pretty sure it's fine just curious if anyone has had a bad experience so I can learn from their mistakes).

I'm thinking about doing a trip to China next year. Would you people say that it's worth it traveling around China and visiting different cities/regions as a solo traveler? I mean is there a lot to see/do/experience.

China intrigues me, and I'd like to combine the trip with a trip into North Korea (thinking about using Young Pioneer Tours), which has always been a dream of mine.

I don't really want a trip that feels too touristy. I've never done backpacking or solo traveling outside of Europe, and my idea of SE Asian countries like Vietnam, Thailand, etc. is that a trip can quickly come to feel VERY touristy. But on the other hand, I'm not sure if China (outside of the largest cities) is not touristy enough and that there won't be enough to experience. would you say there's enough to see outside of Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, etc. to warrant a trip to other parts of mainland China? Tibet seems a bit far away considering that I want to go to North Korea, but I've been looking a bit at Chengdu and Chongqing.

I'd like to add a country more, but it might get too expensive.

>>1210987
Yes and yes and yes.
Chengdu sounds like a great base to start off. The problem with China is that there is too much to see, and there's very little info online in English.

>>1210989
Thanks a lot! Yeah, it's strange not to see more tourist-links when researching (at least by European standards) quite large cities. Are there any specific places/cities you'd recommend between Chengdu and Beijing?

I've just started "approaching" this trip, so I've got no concrete plans yet, but I'm thinking that either I limit myself to North Korea and China, and then go to several different places in China, or I limit my time in China and maybe go to Japan/Vietnam/Pakistan/other place. If you've got anything to say about that, feel free! I'm not very experienced with traveling.

>>1210548
>>1210551
fantastic, big help man

ok guys, probably last question from me

can i take cash in AUD and open a bank acount with bank of china as a tourist?

I seem to get the best rate by far changing cash at BOC, but im not sure they do exchanges for non customers

it would also mean i used a local debit card that was more widely accepted, and didn't have to walk around with thousands in cash

I wouldn't have trouble closing the account?

So I have simplified chinese downloaded on Google translate in my phone. How feasible is it to use it to have basic interactions with the people of Beijing?

Also, I have my bachelor's in history and would obviously like to see some historical sites, any recommendations that wouldn't be too touristy?

Few questions about prostitution in the big cities.

What's the quality of the prostitutes?
How hard is it to find them?
Are you likely to get caught or in trouble if you're an American traveler?
Are they expensive over there?

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>>1211398

>>1210989
>>1210993
Going on instagram and search tags for chinese nature and places of interest? Sometimes I'll see photos of cool looking places with the exact location marked and I'll mark it down for later.

>>1210993
This is one of the very few things google maps is useful for in China.
I bumped into the awesome tianmenshan skywalk and zhangjiajie np via the images on google maps, loved both. But there are similar things in each province along the way. Xi'an can be cool too.

Okay gents, applying for my Z visa to work in chink land today. I'm taking the original and two to three copies of everything, my passport, myself, what else do I need that I'm forgetting?

I assume that the plane ticket is bought after the visa is given to me?

Also does a visa application need a photo without glasses or does it not matter?

Are cockroaches as big of a problem in northern China as they are in the south?

Will I regret/ feel lonely on a 2 week solo trip to Beijing and Shanghai if Im only 20 and don't speak any mandarin?
I stopped in Guangzhou for 20 hours on the way to Seoul in December and loved it but I at least had a friend with me

>>1208889
Hanoi I believe is barbecue dog capital. Guangzhou and Guangxi used to have it, but the youth have been shamed from eating it now.

What are some things to do in Shenzhen in one day?

>>1213067
How? There are still dog restaurants all over Guangxi, maybe not as many as before.
Also these 20-something Guangxi guys I follow post dogs every couple of weeks, from cute dog to stew, every step. Maybe they're ~edgy~ but it's not some basement pics.

>>1213110
It was on my last day in China, so all I did was shopping... Which is what the locals do, too. There is a mall or neighborhood of everything. From the used phone market to eg. malls that sell only teacups, others that just sell towels, etc. Mall for everything, really.
The food wasn't as good as the rest of the area (but I would still take it over the white flour and sugar overloaded Hilong Kong anytime).
There are all sorts of theme parks, with Window of the World being a weird ass mainland experience.

(They had officers that all looked like models at the airport, some nice eye candy.)

>>1210427
the sony recommended is alright, prices are similar as the american market and slightly cheaper than most of the yuropean. they're all mirrorless which means they are smaller than the interchangeable lens cameras, with some cost of quality.

a6000 - 500 bucks
a6300 - 1000 bucks, shoots 4k and has a couple more features. better camera for sure
a6500 - 1400 dorrar shoots 4k, stabiliation,
a7 II - 1400 stabilization, usd full frame camera, i got this piece of shit. loud as fuck and buttons doesn't configure as I'd prefer but I guess it's alright.
last two have 5 axis stablization if you're michael j fox and still want to snap great photos. might be out of your price range though

those prices are off jd.com, they offer decent warranties if your cheap chinese shit breaks.

>>1213110
A spa ( sauna steambath jacuzzi foot massage body massage private parts massage all you can eat food and booze).
Shopping for bootleg everything a LoWu (Luo Wu) station.
Eat eat eat and drink lemon iced tea.
There isn't much more to do in Shenzhen but this is going to keep you busy all day.

>>1213637
more info on spa please

>>1213637
How good is the English spoken in Shenzen, if at all?

I hear that it's a popular tourist destination for Hong Kong residents & Hong Kong tourists who get tired of Hong Kong.

>>1213726
I don't really have much info, spas in general are a great value for money in China. I have been very impressed with one in Guangzhou, but I don't remember the name of the ones we went to in Shenzhen. I'd check in this list tho https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g297415-Activities-c40-Shenzhen_Guangdong.html

>>1213730
Enough to get by.
You are correct but Shenzhen is also one of the fastest growing metropolises of the past 15 years so it's actually pretty alive.

>>1211894
I got an L visa and I have to book a flight out before I got it
not sure about Z

any ideas about helpful apps for china?

struggling to find non-shill sources
I hear there are some camera intergrated translation apps
what is the tinder of china?

How long should I stay in beijing?

>>1213985
Bing translator
I know MS is evil and all that, but it does offline camera translation, so I find it extremely useful. Just download the english and simplified chinese language pack in advance.

For dating... I just use the WeChat people nearby function.

Amap has great map data for China, but basically all of them are better than Google, eg. Baidu maps or Here maps.

I use WeChat and Weibo the most to chat with Chinese ppl (both of them available in English).
Weibo also has a Didi integration I think...? Never used it, though.

Also obligatory China Unicom plug: they are the ones selling pre-paid SIM thst can be used across the whole country and has decent data plans.

Have my visa already and buying my ticket to China now, woot woot.

>>1214010
Have fun

How do I pay my taxes as an American? I didn't even realize I had to file taxes since I was teaching in China.

How much Chinese will i need to know to get by in Shanghai for 3 months?

I'll be living with my girlfriend who is Chinese but so far I can just do very basic sentences.

>>1211902
No glasses at all. Don't play around.

>>1211398
Why don't you do yourself a favour and go somewhere else, you fucking monkey. Go beat off instead. You're what gives us foreigners a bad image. Go to Thailand or Philippines for your sex tourism.

How's areas aroung Guangzhou for traveling and landscape photos? Any temples or traditional shit worth seeing?

Also, what's the status of hole in the ground shitters? I just can't deal with that

>>1214432
Most shitters are not western, Chinese are more into squatting toilets. Let's say a good 15/85% deal. In fancier places, it's almost always western toilets.
It's alright, you get used to it, don't forget to always have some tissue with you.

Landscapes : yeah, Guangzhou has some nice urban places to discover (traditional and modern with some great lights). If you take buses to leave the city around Foshan and elsewhere, you can find some nice plots of nature (hills with temples, abandoned villages covered in jungle trees...).
Don't expect too much green though, Guangdong has been developing into Coruscant mode for a few decades now : a lot of it is built.

>>1214437
Wouldn't it make sense for someone planning a roundtrip in China to just enjoy the urban side of Guangzhou and then explore nature further north in Hunan, and in Guangxi, Yunnan and Sichuan?

>>1214441
That's probably the best roundtrip you can do in China at the moment. There's a good mix of rural vs urban, new and old, overpopulated and scarcely populated... The landscape is varied, too.
On the Eastern leg of the trip you can surely do bullet trains, the Yunnan/Sichuan part may be a tad bit slower.

>>1214483
Great, it seems like some very exciting, and, as you say, varied places. I've not been this excited about the prospect of going somewhere or traveling for a long time!

Do you - or others - have any suggestions regarding my route/direction from there? I'm thinking that I'll:
Fly into Hong Kong, see that, then > Guangzhou, then > go to Guilin and see Yangshuo, the city, other places in Guangxi, then > then go to Yunnan (maybe go near the border regions to Vietnam/Laos/Burma - worth it?), then > Sichuan, where I'd like to see both Chongqing and Chengdu, the panda place, nature (including Tiger Leap Gorge), etc.

Where should I go then? Right now my plan is to either go to North Korea or at least travel around the border region, so I'll have to get to the other end of the country. What would be the most interesting way of doing that? Either I'm thinking going through Hunan, kinda straight through the country, so I'll end up on the east coast near Shanghai. The other possible (roughly speaking) route would be to go further North and instead see a place like Xi'an and other places.

Both routes seem interesting, and I'd like to take a long, very scenic train journey across the country in some way.

>>1214119
Literally like 5 words, and even then that's optional.

Most of the official signage is in English, most people will speak at least a little English. For those who can't you can just point.

>>1214090
>Teaching English in China

Lmfao calm down bud, you didn't make nearly enough this year to have to file for taxes.

>>1215148
and what are those 5 words haha

I'll have to go grocery shopping

>>1215165
Wo yao & Ni you?

Those are useful for pretty much any shopping/eating out situation.

>>1215178
谢谢 我已经说一点中文但不很好

>>1215178
I want you is only useful in clubs

>>1214090
You are technically supposed to file taxes, yes.

This anon >>1215150 is obviously ignorant about US tax law.
>He also wrote "lmfao" and you can safely disregard everything said by anyone who does that

I'm not sure how much you'd be on the hook for; it probably won't be too much... but compared to Asia-based lifestyles, it may feel like a hit.

That being said, you're a small fish (assuming your income is under $150k!) and the chance of being audited is extremely low.

>>1214119
你比我的女朋友漂亮

我的女朋友很开放

你要喝啤酒吗?

>>1215218
不客气

>>1215220
哈哈。 I remembered learning in my college Chinese course 你给我打电话? It's amazing how many times that actually worked for me desu...

>>1205911
thank you for the explanation kind person. I'm planning some internships in Summer this year and didn't think quite well how I would manage to travel by myself.

Just making sure, I have a z visa (for work) already but it has 000 days permitted stay and one entry. I assume it just allows me in and then when I get in the country, I do more paperwork? Just making sure, my flight is soon and I'm hoping everything will be okay because I've noticed the Chinese are pretty particular about visas and paperwork

>>1214432
Baiyun shan is your best bet. There's a good amount of decent photography level stuff at the top of the peak and elsewhere. The University of Foreign Studies is fairly nice for a few shots (it really feels like a Chinese epic up there), and the restaurants nearby are superb.

As for the city, it's urbanized significantly, but has more green space than Northern China. Flowers are in bloom everywhere, and they're making sure the streets are cleaned. The massive imposing highways makes the city feel a bit like Los Angeles however, not one of those classic urban chaotic clusters, except for a few portions. Guangzhou isn't as nearly as scenic as Suzhou, but there's pockets of peace. I stayed at the 华侨新村 (overseas chinese village) and it was quite peaceful. In a ways, it's feels less imposing then Shenzhen.

I know Huizhou is fairly scenic as well.

95% of toilets in GZ are squat

Anyone has a suggestion about Fuzhou?
Will travel there for a couple of days for business, the factory will be OK to drive/show me around but should I check anything worthwile?
Cheers!

How common is sushi in China?

Yes I know it's Japanese

>>1216094

unless you want thousands of tape worms inside your body, I'd avoid it

>>1216110
Because health standards and regulations are low in China or because of sushi in general?

This is sad, I get sushi like once every two weeks.

>>1216174
Not him. As much as I'm wary of Chinese food safety standards in many aspects, I have never worried when I have eaten sushis in big chains in China. The one I remember most, because there were some in HK too, was Genki Sushi. But basically any fancy sushi bar in a posh (western style) mall in any major city should be fine. Same goes for any sushi place in a westernized CBD.

I'll hopefully be going on a tour to China in early june and it seems I'll have a day free at Yangshuo. Any tips on what i should check out while there?

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What is the best vpn for in China, I'm willing to pay. I'd prefer unlimited data and high up time, don't need to have it router through a specific country just general open Internet would be nice.
Some good security is also a majour point.
As long as the speed is reasonable i guess it'll do