Best Chinese cities to visit

Sichuan

>>852655
Just curious but what makes you say that?

Hangzhou. Heaven on earth? Probably not but its nice. Close enough to Shanghai to drop in for a couple of nights.

>>852655
+1 sichuan and chengdu

>>852654
Macau, go see the Portuguese ruins

>>852654
>I want to avoid the super touristy bullshit.

Such as? The Great wall? Tiananmen square? The Forbidden City?

I just return from a 3 weeks trip in Shanghai, Xi'an and Beijing, that ended in HK.
No surprise with HK as I have lived there before, but I was super enthusiast with the other 3. I had only stayed in Shanghai for business before, and never been to Beijing and Xi'an.

First of all, it's stupid to go to such places and "avoid" the terracotta army or the Great Wall. You shouldn't want to miss out on those, and saying "yeah I've been to Beijing but I'm not a tourist, so I only got drunk in clubs" will not impress anyone.

To sum up: All cities have been much cleaner than I expected, being used to the southern parts of Ghina (Shenzhen and Guangzhou) that are filthy.
Shanghai has a NYC feel to it, with large avenues, small and large parks scattered along the city, and the Bund is really nice for an evening stroll, despite the people everywhere.
The city really feels western, Xintiandi and the old french concession were really. Confucius Temple was pretty cool too. Qibao is a bit of a tourist trap, but an agreeable one anyway.

I was suprised by Xi'an, which is extremely alive. A lot of Young people everywhere, lots of things to do, and food to have, round the clock. The city walls are nicely renovated and make a pleasant sight at night. The main POI of Xi'an is the terracotta army, we really enjoyed that. We took a driver for the day, took us to a small paleolithic village first, BanPo, pretty dope if you are into archaelogy and early civilizations.
Only downside of Xi'an: you need to pay for every attraction, and the prices are much higher than usual in china. The reason why we didn't visite the bell tower, the drum tower, the goose pagoda or the mosque. Muslim quarter is nice though. Everything within the town center is walkable distance.
Beijing:see next post

Beijing: very enjoyable, more of a Paris feel to it, with Eastern block architecture. Forbidden City is compulsory for its "wow" factor, but to be honest all the pavillions look quite the same. It's not too expensive though.
Most other attractions are free if you show your passport.
Try to see the flag ceremonny at Tienanmen square (sunrise/Sunset) and we enjoyed the Great Wall. We went to Mutianyu which is supposed to be less touristy than Badaling, went early in the morning and indeed, the place wasn't too crowded.

Other questions let me know, about HK there's a thread on the 1st page already, I posted in it too.

BTW I'm not that fucking loser wimping about his forced trip with his mommy, just a trip I whipped up to show China to my parents in law, they would never dare to go on their own, so I bit the bullet and took them around. Was quite fun actually.

>>852654
>February
>same time as chinese new year
>avoid super touristy bullshit
Not gonna happen

>Beijing, Xi'An
shitty city
shitty pollution
everything is fucking expensive

>Shanghai
very westernized in terms of architecture
more foreigner-friendly
expensive food

>Guangzhou
>capital of Africa
cheap food, lots of drugs

>>852735
>Beijing
>Paris feel
seriously?

>>852732
I guess I mispoke (mistyped) when I said I want to avoid touristy stuff. I want to do more than just go to the touristy things. I know people who go on vacation ~ once a year to different places and all they do is touristy stuff.

>>852735
>needing to show your passport to visit tourist attractions for free

This is such authoritarian third world shit.
>mfw spending hour+ waiting in a queue for the national museum
>get into the room where you have to scan your passport to print the ticket
>no passport
>some technicians start messing around at the back of the machine
>reluctantly give me a ticket, tell me i am lucky and I should bring my passport

Only in china

>>852963

>implying you know what third world means

top kek western education
inb4 backpedaling

>>852974
>muh pedantry

>>852963
>No need to scan shit, the clerk just look at ID/passports and give tickets away.
>Clearly written Inside and outside of museum, as well as Mao's Mausoleum, as well as in any travelbook "free entrance over proof of ID"
>Waiting hour+ (what's above hour? day?) without noticing any of this happening.

You are the third world shit, just sayin

>>852800
>>Beijing
>Paris feel
seriously?

Yeah I typed that in a rush, I meant architecture/lay out wise, Chang'an Avenue (also the surroundings: Tienanmen Sq, the Streets all around the forbidden city, and most of that neighborhood) has something Hausmannian. Think the Champs Elysées/Etoile/Concorde/Trocadéro with communist building instead of mansions and small castles. I guess that's because they were both designed during an imperialistic/autoritarian era and are supposed to show the country Capital's superiority.

>>852655
see >>852655
&
>>852674

why? only provinces with good food.

>>852800
>Shanghai
expensive food

but some nice bars along the bund that are cheap, $1 for a whisky/ vodka/ rum/ malibu coke

>>853071
Oh ok. I thought you was saying blowjin city itself has Paris feel.

Yeah, some architectures have some predominantly foreign looks because foreign traders would do business with the emperors

>>853079
>expensive food
Yes, it's damn expensive.

>nice bars along the bund
I'd agree as well but avoid the heavy liquors cause these fucks give fake alcohol

>>853096

how does beijing compare with shanghai?

i've heard its more polluted and a dirty shithole, locals and girls are fat and ugly, lots of africans, etc

>>853104
>blowjin
shitty air quality
shitty services
expensive food

>Shanghai
expensive food but better quality
more social night life

>Africans
they are everywhere.

>>853067
All I know is I don't need a passport to visit the British museum, which is by the way much better than The national museum of china

Cry harder 50 cent shill

>>853348
All I know is you need to cherrypick one of the only free major museum of a capital city to justify your irrational grudge against another museum that did nothing but make you realize how truly helpless you were.

Cry me a river candy ass bitch

>>853355

go pick tea you colonial pleb

>>853363
non sequitur ad hominem is the lamest form of trolling. Apply yourself or don't bother.

Also if anything I am living in a former colony of my home country, so you couldn't be any more wrong.

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>>852654
How about some Dalian m8

>>853067
haahhahahaha well said!

I went to Guangzhou and loved it.

But consider this:
- lots of Africans
- everybody tries to rip you off
- taxi won't stop because I'm white
- overall rudeness (which I liked)
- some seedy men led me to their counteirfeit shit shop and locked me in threatening to give them money (got away with it though)
- one night I was given fake whiskey, got incredibly drunk and lost all my money
- no one speaks English

I enjoyed it big time though. Actually it's been the best trip of my life.

>>852654
while we are on the subject of chinese cities.

im looking at flights over to China and alot of them have a layover in Hong Kong followed by a shorter flight from the mainland. flying in from Canada will i have to go through customs in HK before hopping on the next flight or will i not have to deal with that shit until i get to mainland China?

>>854684

you'll clear customs in mainland China, NOT in HK.

>>854703
That's what I figured, I've had to deal with customs before on other layovers but that involved traveling between different concourses while UK international is one line of gates.

>>852656
Great fucking food to eat in the winter time. My best memory of China is eating amazing hot pot and sipping ginger-brewed Coca-Cola around New Year's while watching the snow fall outside. It's a surprisingly non-touristy region on the whole.

If you just visit Beijing, Shanghai, and Xian, I'm betting you'll probably be disappointed and not want to go back to China ever again.

>>854721
For me, I've traveled almost everywhere in china except Xinjiang & North East (been to Dalian).

cities I liked were inner Mongolia, Kunming & Shenzhen cause people were more open as well as food was good; cities I disliked were blowjin, central china, Xi'An etc. It has serious pollution & traffic as well as rude, uncivilized faggots & faggot drivers.

>>854777

How are girls in Kunming and Chongqing? I've heard theyre really qt

>>854791
It depends. I can't say for sure they're all cute and beautiful.

A friend of mine who lives in Chongqing told me the prostitutes look like models or pop-stars.. he invited me to go & I said when I get a chance.

>>854791
Having lived in asia a couple of years I wouldn't take much stock in these sayings unless you're asian yourself. Even if you can tell apart asians its pretty damn true that whiteys and foreigners have different tastes and also we don't see the differences as clearly as the asians do. for example the japs always argue about which prefecture is the hottest and shit like that but the differences beyond makeup/clothes are minuscule for the most part.

If you can even tell between different north asian countries/ethnicities (eg: han chinese vs korean vs Japanese) you're pretty much as discerning as you're ever going to be.

somewhat unrelated as it's more of a specific question about beijing than cities in general - for a foreigner living in beijing for an extended period of time, what places should be investigated and explored in more depth and what areas should be avoided?

>>854681
I went to Guangzhou for two weeks last Christmas, but I swear it's a different city than the one people in this thread are describing. My experience was

> lots of Chinese.
(in the 2 weeks, saw about 1 African, and maybe 4 Whites)
> No English. At all. Except on the subway maps, thank gods.
> No rudeness (compared to Philippines or Indonesia).

The most was a couple of stares, or an over-inquisitive guy in uniform who may have been a bored security guard, or may have been a cop
> nothing shady at all.
>Didn't bother with the taxi's cause I couldn't speak Chinese well enough.
> No one tried to rip me off. Not even once.

>>855287
oh, and I forgot to mention
> great food. Except for their habit of leaving the bones and gristle in whatever they're cooking.

>>855257
>what places should be investigated and explored in more depth
Inner Mongolia, Tibet, Xinjiang
>what areas should be avoided?
all the developing cities because you ain't gonna see shit except fake artifacts in museums

>>855290
>bones and gristle in whatever they're cooking
Did you try the infant soup?

>>855293
Maybe. I honestly had no idea what I was eating. I'd just look for a restraunt/diner with pictures of the dishes they served, and point at it. They'd say something, I'd nod, and they'd go and make it.

>>855293
you know those famous infant soup pictures are by chinese artist Zhu Yu right? That it was a doll's head put on a roasted duck?

Shaman or Xiamen as they write

Oh and Macau isn't worth more than a day.

Thanks for the thread OP, I was wondering about this kind of stuff as well.

Don't mean to derail the thread, but I'm wondering about obtaining a Chinese visa in the USA. Does anyone know if the Embassy in DC still does same-day visa returns if you get there and apply earlier? A few of the websites I've checked on this are pretty outdated, and I know theres been a few changes in policy recently.

>>855315
No, even the chinese confirm there's 'infant soup'

>>855389
>same-day visa returns if you get there and apply earlier
Never heard of same day visas.. usually, it takes a week to process visas

>>855287
no rudeness compared to phillippines and indonesia? what kind of hellhole did you go to to get disrespected in two of the friendliest asian countries with the best customer service????

Beijing - Great Wall, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Fragrant Hills, all the hutongs with the nice bars and interesting people (beware of hipsters)
Shanghai - more westernized, nice food, more english speakers. Compared to Beijing with it's huge buildings and boulevards, Shanghai will seem more to human scale and a nicer place to walk around. French concession - if you are interested in architecture and a more european feel. Lots of nicely dressed pretentious foreigners.
Hangzhou - Western Lake area is beautiful
Suzhou, Wuzheng - both close to Shanghai and Hanghzou. "Venice of the East" because of the canals
Xi'an - terracotta warriors, some interesting snacks and food
Yunnan and Sichuan - the cities around there aren't that nice, but you should go there for the beautiful nature, lakes, and the food.
Shenzhen - hot, rainy, close to Hong Kong (you can get there by bus, ferry, subway). Other than that, quite an average city
Qingdao - drink beers out of plastic bags on the beach
Harbin - Ice sculptures in winter, and cold as hell
Dalian - prostitutes

>>855423
+1
never been to indonesia, but people in the philippines we're some of the nicest people i've ever met. Talking about people working in restaurants, shops, boat rentals etc

>>855433
What do you think about Luoyang and Nanjing? I think they look nice and are along the route from Shanghai to Xi'an. I;ve spoke to some Chinese people and they recommend it but the more inside advice the better.

>>855438
Haven't been to any of them yet. Not a priority on my must-see list but that's maybe because I don't know much about them. Would visit Nanjing because of the historical significance. To be perfectly honest, Once you've seen some of the tier 2 cities (not Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen), they all start to look alike, same temples, same city walls/gates. Sure there are some differences, but might not be worth it. China is huge and full of beautiful nature. Maybe use the cities as an HQ and go visit the surroundings. Oh, and try the food everywhere you go, there are great differences from province to province. I recommend Yunnan food, Guizhou food, Sichuan

I've been to quite a few cities

>Beijing
The capital. It's crowded, it's dirty, and it's well-policed. If you can get past that, it's obviously a really interesting place. Lots of culture and history.

>Tianjin
The port city an hour's drive from Beijing. I lived there for a year. It's almost as polluted as Beijing. There's some interesting new shopping areas, tourist attractions like the old market and the "Little Italy", and great bars. Going down the ?? at night is fantastic.

>Xi'an
Cool city with culture and history on par with Beijing. Air pollution is relatively low. The terracotta warriors and the surrounding museum are a must-see. Other attractions include the imperial hot springs. The city itself seems interesting and the cuisine is quite famous for the abundant use of ?? (dumplings).

>Chongqing

Seriously the most underrated city in China. It's the largest metropolis in the world by sheer land area (and probably population one of these days). It has large underground shops and streets that are notably hilly. The cityscape can be very cramped and gritty in some areas (much like Hong Kong or Kowloon before it was destroyed). Take a Yangzi river cruise sometime if you ever get the opportunity to visit. The cuisine is spicy, like neighboring Sichuan province.

I've been to several others for travel. I'd also recommend Jin'an, Shandong province. It's a nice little jewel with charming inhabitants. City square is interesting.

My Chinese visa is going to expire in a few months.

Does anyone know if they give you a deal or something if you renew it before it expires? I'm an american, btw.

>>855512
what kind of visa?
deal?

in general, business and work visas are harder to get now

>>855519

I mean like cheaper to renew it than it was when I first got it. Tourist visa

>>855438
>Nanjing
I'm currently living there and don't come until October. Right now, it's already 35+ Celsius outside on daily basis; during July, it could reach over 40 and rarely rains.

If you do come, I can take you around the place. Nanjing is relatively small and can be finished within 3 days.

>>855525
>cheaper
>China visa
nah, it's gonna cost you

>>855535
Hey, not the guy you were responding to but I'm going to be living in nanjing for a month around october-september. If you promise not to rape and kill me it'd be cool to know someone who's familiar with the place.

>>855556
N-NO HOMO

Yeah, I can show you the places. Which part you gonna be staying at?

I really enjoyed Yellow Mountains. I'd say its worth going to if you go anywhere in that region eg Shanghai, Hangzhou

Really want to go to Sichaun, Tibet (don't keep up with news, probably have to go in tour groups if it is open to foreigners at all) and
>>854681
>lots of Africans

Whereabouts did you stay? Africans are quite concentrated in the Xiaobei area; not too much elsewhere.

>taxi won't stop because I'm white

Metro is so good, I usually use that and walk the rest of the way.

>>855287
>(in the 2 weeks, saw about 1 African, and maybe 4 Whites)

From my experience, Africans mostly live in an area that isn't much of a tourism area.

>>855535
>I'm currently living there and don't come until October. Right now, it's already 35+ Celsius outside on daily basis; during July, it could reach over 40 and rarely rains.

To be fair, I don't like many parts of China in summer. I've seen 40C days in Beijing. Never expected somewhere that north could get that hot.

>>855512
I hear you can go down to Hong Kong to get it renewed. Renewing it in country might be a little harder.

Getting a taxi is a real bitch in china.

I remember I was supposed to meet a girl at a club on a Friday night. Tried getting a taxi but they were all fuckin taken by Chinese couples going out to party at KTVs or whatever they do.

Since we're talking about weather, what city is generally the coolest during the summer in China?

>>855638
none

>>855617
Oh god I've been there just a few days ago, the horrors...
Now I'm just staying in HK for the rest of my trip.

Anyone here been to one of the smaller towns with <50,000 people? I hear that you essentially become a local celebrity at that point.

I want to know what a rural Chinese village is like.

Also, anyone spent any time in Xinjiang?

>>855638
>what city is generally the coolest during the summer in China
Xiamen

>Getting a taxi is a real bitch in china.
that's why always save a taxi operator number

>>855710
>smaller towns with <50,000 people
>essentially become a local celebrity at that point
It's a rumor to rustle your jimbros

>Xinjiang
can't go there now

>>852654
make sure you go to Shanghai and hit the town on the weekend its fuckin nuts brah

>>855839

nah it sucks, third world spitting farting rude chinese

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>>855877
Who gives a shit? Make your own fun. I'm here now, naked with a girl in a hotel room at 9:45 am on a Sunday morn, still high from last night

I wanted to take a photo but the room's too dark and she's asleep, sorry bros

>>855571
no idea, my boss just I was going there for a month to use the laboratory they have there. I'm in beijing at the moment.

>>856116
update: living near nanjing university

>>855761
bullshit I'm going there in a month

>>856123
have fun getting stabbed/blown up

>>855535

yo. I'll be in nanjing for about 2 weeks. wanna meet up? don't know shit to do there. i'll be staying near the confucius temple. hmu

[email protected]

>>856280
Sure

>>856122
Which campus? Downtown, Xianlin or Jiangning?

I always leave china during golden week because every thing closes and domestic travel is a shitfight, but if you insist
>Xian
the terracotta warriors are packed with tourists but its still worth it. It's an amazing sight (as well as the Tomb of the First Emperor).
>Beijing
If you visit the wall, go to "Mutuanyu", NOT "Badaling" for a much quieter and beautiful experience. It's a bit further but worth it. Good night life in Beijing too (it's all in one area - forget the name)
>Shanghai
Where I have lived for 2 years. great for parties and shopping and shit. The most fucking fun and crazy place I have ever been in my life. French Concession is where it's at. Good museums aswell (propaganda museum is sweet, aquarium was impressive too)
>Hangzhou
beautiful lake, worth a visit, kinda busy regarding tourists
>Wenzhou
i dont even remember why i went here. it was ok i guess
>Wuzhong
nice little canal town outside of Shanghai. good place to take a girl. interesting enough
>Sanya
cool place. touristy. expensive. lots of russians and seafood. I was there for NYE, it was fun
>Hong Kong
Also mad parties and shit, cool sights and museums, expensive. Good for prostitutes and food. I could live here
>Fuzhou
nice temple and island, great food, interesting kinda city

I've also heard good things about Ningbo, Guilin, Moganshan, Huangshan, Qingdao, Macau, Taiwan

hope you find some good stuff

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>>856102
>naked with a girl in a hotel room at 9:45 am on a Sunday morn

>>856533

why do people on here always say sh is "crazy" and great for "partying"?

i mean, after a weekend of clubbing and getting wasted/snorting coke and taking pills, doesn't it get old after a while? and the chinese chicks that go clubbing are becoming more westernized i've noticed, so they're more bitchy and harder. won't settle for anyone unless you're 6' 2"+, blonde and blue eyed and rich. or the racist ones that will only be seen with chinese guys.

>>856977
so they need to keep their standards low just because you are butthurt and can't get a girl?
Only a few chinese girls go clubbing (western style) and those are usually slutty/easy. The ones that go clubbing China-style, forget about it. Plenty of other places to find girls..you just need some basic and i mean really basic skill

>>856977
>why do people on here always say sh is "crazy" and great for "partying"?
I really don't know. Honestly, the craziest part about SH (from my POV) is the amount of fucking high end cars roll around downtown area especially in The Bund, HuaHai Rd. HenShan Rd. & Pudong.

>a weekend of clubbing and getting wasted/snorting coke and taking pills, doesn't it get old after a while?
Yeah, it gets old quick that's why I don't do any of that shit aside from smoking weed & shisha/hookah.

>chinese chicks that go clubbing are becoming more westernized i've noticed, so they're more bitchy and harder
No, they were the same as before.

>>857210
>clubbing
>China-style
SO MUCH FAIL. I do not understand why these people would enjoy listening to some shitty song and background music is a random techno/trance

In the winter, it's all about Dongbei.

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>>855556

I am also in Nanjing for that part of the year, I can show you around some if you like. Mostly I just do shopping, karaoke etc with friends, but there are also great museums, historical sites and restaurants around here too. The dumplings are world famous!

(email above btw)

>>856977
> won't settle for anyone unless you're 6' 2"+, blonde and blue eyed and rich.
So if you ARE a 6'2" "aryan" type its easy to score a girl in china?
And what about long hair/beard? "swedish jesus"-look gonna be a problem for chinese girls?

Is Beijing always smoggy and gross?

>>852655
Not a city

>>857353
Why the fuck would you want to be in Dongbei in the winter? Also, not a city or province.

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i understand it's hard to bang girls like this in sh and bj if youre not rich or an exceptionally good looking (preferably blonde or blue eyed) white guy. i'm 6' 1" but in average shape, average faced white dude with brown eyes and short hair.

in tier 2 cities, would it be easier to pull girls like this?

>>858527
She is hideous

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>>858529

meh.. whatever. better pic cuz i'm bored

>>858527
I second >>858529
Also if you base your expectations for chinese girls on 4chins, you'll be extremely disappointed.
There are a lot of cute girls, but the extremely gorgeous ones will likely either be from outside China, or hookers.

>>858527
>in tier 2 cities, would it be easier to pull girls like this?

I have some bad news for you.

Virtually none of them look like that and you almost certainly will not meet any let alone sleep with them.

>>858543

>dat jealousy

>>858547
He's just stating facts.
Anyone who has been to China will tell you he won't see a single girl looking like that, so he won't meet one, so he won't fuck one.
Also if he did bump into this girl in a chinese street he would probably not even notice her, without the heavy editing and forced pose/angle.

Reality check =/= jealousy; stop thinking everyone who disagrees with you is after you.

>>854791
i confirm the chongqing girls are hotter than those in beijing, shanghai and hong kong.

>>858493
worst in the winter. They have good and bad days, and I hear they are getting better, but some days, you cannot see across the street it is so bad.

>>857306
yeah clubbing in china is shit, it's just a bunch of people trying so hard to have a western style youth culture, but it's all a bit off.