Asia Travel Advice
My Experience
Whether it is a Visit, Business trip, Immigrating or Backpacking for the first time to and and around China.
There are many precious thoughts you should consider, appreciate and familiarize yourself with, these are undoubtedly going to make your arrival and onward journey easier, less frustrating and certainly more enjoyable!
Though you will find my asia travel advice will help to make you aware of situations you will encounter, it. goes a long way to cover eventualities and scenarios. to assist you in reaping the best experience, rewards and opportunities.
Starting with mode of transport to Hong Kong and then on to China. Regarded as the HUB of Asia Hong Kong aka [HK] boasts an incredible array of Airlines and special deal Flight companies and hotels on the mainland HK or indeed the collective periphery HK Islands which are worth a ”look in” for a day or more
Your plans to Mainland china is perfect from this HUB, with numerous access to the mainland and its fascinating landscape and cultural settings
Suggestions:
First thing I recommend is getting yourself a good set of Stereo earphones, strong backpack, Notebook and Pen, Computer Case and Quality Sandals. Don’t leave it to chance, maybe this will help, it did for me with decent quality and prices. ==> quality shopping==>
Let’s assume we are going to South China, Shenzhen, this can be reached in less than 50 min, using the following transportation. Once inside china your plans and routes are countless, like rice!
Planes
shenzhen
International destinations to Hong Kong are amazing, Australia, New Zealand, UK, USA, Canada, Africa, West-Indies, Europe, Pan Asia, India, Middle East, arriving daily. getting good deals on trips to Hong Kong are good and depending on out buying dates and holiday or business schedules you can secure good prices and on comfortable planes in my opinion and experiences.
From Europe, you can expect to have a Flight duration from 9 to 15 hrs with 1 stop
Trains
china’s bullet train
HK to Shenzhen
Once in China bullet trains, there are standard services, local and nationwide readily available, the Modern Cities support better facilities, Public transport, and Payment Options, train tickets can be arranged on-line using your mobile by scanning a QR code from an app, like We-Chat or pay at the Train station counter in the same way or cash if you so wish.
I suggest payment on-line especially during busier holiday periods and weekends to be less fuss and stress. January and October you still find it impossible to find a ticket as the culture is geared up with millions returning to their families for these holidays, hence tickets are a premium, exhausted weeks even months prior to holiday periods.
Ferries
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- hk to shenzhen ports
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- hk to shenzhen ports
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- hk to shenzhen ports
Services are frequent and high-speed ferry services make it easy to reach to China from the Special Administrative Regions of Macao and Hong Kong, with multiple crossings every day lasting no longer than an hour. For international services, South Korea and Japan longer haul service are also available
Guangzhou
Zhuhai
Shenzhen
Macao
These public services operate from 8 am to 8 pm, note be sure to arrive 1hr before if from international flights to get your last ferry or you may have to sit it out in the waiting room or incur additional cost renting a room in a hotel nearby
Ports
Into China from Hong Kong, are more than 6 routes, Ferry, Fast Train, MTR, Private Limousine, Quality Air-con Coaches / Buses via bridge offering Scenic views of Hong Kong and Shenzhen Bays
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- shenzhen bay
- Yantian port
- luohu
- Futian
- Huangang
- Shekou Ferry port [Direct From HK Airport]]
Boats
The More Sophisticated Cruises Liners that land in Hong Kong from worldwide destinations are endless and super ships from across the Globe, [….names and links….]. access to Mainland China to Shenzhen port are then easily reached in 30 to 40 mins
hk to shenzhen ferry ports
For the rich and wealthy who arrive from relatively close islands and countries, the Philippines, Japan, Korea, Singapore in yachts build to cover these distances. [photos and links]
Travel Companies:
Are widely used for international travelers
Payment Systems and Social App
Payments Methods: [Yuan/ RMB/ Kuai]
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- WECHAT AKA-[Weixin]
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- QQ [ older system less flexible but works]
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- ALI-EXPRESS AKA- [zhi fu bao]
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- Are the most convenient and secure means of payment today, the days of paper cash, coins and credit cards are gone in many locations, particularly outside of simple villages and tiny towns
- The focus from the government and TENCENT the developers or applications for e-commerce and payments systems has shifted in this favor of purchasing online and shops.
International Superstores to the local stalls on the streets are already geared up with BAR scanners or codes for QR codes to be either scanned by you or scanned by them as a point of sale [POS] route,
QR codes are generated when you download the applications [APP] to your mobile devices, these applications are linked to your bank account [Chinese] for which in a few hours in a bank you can have set up and ready to ”rock n roll”
China Offers a Number of routes for travelers to enter the county especially from the Hong Kong borders on the southernmost point, travel around the provinces, and use the fast bullet trains, ferries and of course Car and Buses
Some are workable in developed cities and interconnecting superhighways, but in the majority of smaller towns, cities and suburban buses and coaches or Taxi are likely to be your only options.
Let’s consider the larger cities and better infrastructures, shenzhen, shanghai, zhengzhou, guangzhou, beijing, Wuhan, Chongqing, Chengdu, Shenyang These will be well developed from the infrastructure and transport aspects
shenzhen evening view
This post was designed to offer support, advice, and overview of best approaches to arriving at Hong Kong, spending time in the islands or city, then on to Shenzhen then Mainland and onward into China. I hope it has given you some insights and clarity for your next trip.
I hope this post has been of particular cultural interest and you can be energized to go see China it is certainly worth Effort and respectable costs.
What a nice post you wrote! I really enjoyed reading it and I could not be silent about your post so I decided to leave my comment here and say Thank You! For sharing this quality post with others.
Actually this is exactly the information that I was looking for information about traveling in China and when I landed to your website and read this post, it answered all my questions in details.
So I’m happy that you decided to write about this topic and share it with people. It’s very useful and can definitely be used as a great source for everyone.
I will come back to your website again for sure and I’m looking forward to reading your new posts.)
Thanks!
hello Ali
apologies man been busy recently, glad you found the post informative and useful,can you tell me what else you saw could be better?
so now china grip is geared up i guess? just posted another site you can review and find more to your use.
tell me you found this site from WA platform or from google search? so i know?
whats your site url?
chris
Thank you so much for this! I have been planning a getaway to China for awhile but haven’t really known where to start in terms of research beforehand. This came at the perfect time!
The section on payment methods and the popular apps to use was especially helpful. I wasn’t really looking forward to the exchange of physical money.
All the best,
Ben
hello Ben
your questions and concerns are understandable,
yes you can download wechat international version from apple or google play store
rules in China change frequently and at a moments notice,to keep track who’s where traveling, so be ready for that but you are still able to find alternatives pretty easy
As we-chat is a Chinese company app you must go to any Chinese Bank to connect an account to the mobile card to use the facility
1.
outside any shop or stand you can buy phone cards from 50 kuai /rmb equaled to £5 UK pounds [ 100 if you want]
a. wo yao da dian hua card > [i want a phone card]
b. wu shi kuai > 50 rmb
c. yi bai kuai > 100 rmb
[ if you need Chinese as most speak enough English in the cities] they will need to see your ID or passport to confirm who you are [new government rules].
then a local bank i.e: Bank of China or China Merchants Bank, to open a standard account [about 1hr ] many banks everywhere!
so go and make it happen
chris
Hi, thank you for posting. I have a question about the payment systems. I will be coming from Australia, and will be on a budget. Once I have arrived in China, I imagine most of my travel will be done in trains, so I will need to download one of the apps. Are you able to comment on whether I can set it up for automatic top up payment like I can do with the payment systems in Australia? And what would be the minimum top up amount?
hello Josie your questions are good ones
about traveling really depends on where you expect to travel, if between bigger cities then trains standard and super-fast, if outside of these you may uses coaches/Buses for long distance trips, internal flights are moderately cheap and faster too!
then applications for buying Online tickets are many and most in chinese Hanzi written format, but you can use
we-chat [weixin in Chinese] this is a international version in English, you can download from google shop in readiness, then when you arrive you go to the bank of china or china merchants bank open a standard account [about 1hr] then outside any shop or stand you can buy phone cards from 50 kuai /rmb equaled to £5 uk pounds
this can last you months as it did with me, now your phone is ready to use and we-chat is ready to be linked to the number.
if in doubt visit the bank [with [id/passport] and tell them what you are trying to do, they have a English spoken reception in most cases. then would even assist you to load it,
your bank account then is accessible to be primary payment for all trips and purchases,just by scanning the app code in shops trains and so forth, top up payments i would not recommend on purchases, just use the app as you need to buy anything
i hope this answers your questions but let me know if you have other requirements happy to help
chris
This is a lovely travel piece for visitors to China, especially the first time visitor as it gives information about aspects that I would not have thought about ie the payment apps and setting up a bank in China. Is that a definite must do?
People who may not be so tech knowledgeable may have problems with this.
The travel information about how to go about getting to and from Honk Kong is very interesting too and invaluable.
louise hi
thanks for your concerns and perspective, i have added recently another posts that may be able to cover your questions but i will consider expanding more on specific tips you raised
the Payment app is a easy option but you can take cash RMB/ YUAN/ are one and the same in fact you can carry up to 10,000 of local currency as i remember, but going to a bank to set up a account is pretty easy they do all to assist with English spoken counter staff positions, Bank Of China or China Merchants bank are good for this even with linking it to your wechat app, how good is that? [international version]
I would consider downloading then payment using wechat or alipay now
you can do that now http://www.wechat.com / or apple or google store to have it ready, it is also a social chat room application.
Seriously don’t let language be your reason not to go loads of foreigners and locals speaking more than adequate English to assist you !
i am sure you will not regret your visit
chris
First, i love this article.
going to china is a dream i have held close to my heart for years now. But just haven’t been able to achieve. One of the things i like about China is how vast and advance in technology the country is. I also hear that they have rich organic food. so i guess it will be a wise widely welcomed idea to get travel tips. because you just never know.
My question is, Do you offer Chinese entertainment related tips that visitors to that country can relate with?
As an English speaking person, i am mindful of the language barrier. which is my first fear when i think about traveling to China. what tips can you offer someone like me to overcome this fear.
Lastly, it was pretty hard for me reading the white text against that black background. would you consider changing that? But this is a great post.
Cheers
hello Sam
thanks for your perspective, i like the ideas you mentioned, i have added recently another posts that may be able to cover your questions but i will consider expanding more on specific tips you raised here, thanks
the Payment app is a easy option but you can take cash RMB/ YUAN/ are one and the same in fact you can carry up to 10,000 of local currency as i remember, but going to a bank to set up a account is pretty easy they do all to assist with English spoken counter staff positions, Bank Of China or China Merchants bank are good for this
but the payment using wechat or alipay is pretty easy to download
you can do that now http://www.wechat.com / or apple or google store to have it ready, it is also a social chat room application.
Seriously man then language is not a major issue, many foreigners and locals speak about English to respond to you, so dont let it be a reason to not go i was there in the earlier days and that was tough!
happy travels
chris
Hi Chris, I like the passion you express in talking about China. I feel tempted to visit there as a result of reading through your post.
As this is expected to be an honest appraisal of the topic or overall article, I’ll do just that.
The background colour is black. It doesn’t appeal to me in any way. I patiently read through the post because that is required from me to give useful comment about the piece. I should also add that black is a colour not well received in some parts of Africa, where I’m from.
Again, I struggled through the post because of the punctuation, spelling and grammatical errors and the improper use of lower-case instead of upper-case alphabets. It was quite confusing! Here is an excerpt from the post: “Once in China bullet trains, standard services local and nationwide are readily available, the new and bigger Cities of course will support better facilities and infrastructure, public transport and payment measures, train tickets can be arranges on-line using your mobile by scanning a QR code from an app, or pay at the Train station counter in the same way,
i suggest if you can to do it on-line especially during busy holiday periods and weekends, in come cases during holiday periods in January and October you still find it impossible to find a ticket as the culture is ramped up to return to their home town or village at all cost, so tickets are exhausted weeks or even months prior to holiday periods.”
Chris, can I suggest you take another domain name, because I see “Idiot” as a very offensive word. I may not want to visit a site that call me an idiot because I want to learn about a place from it – chinese4idiots. Really?
It may not mean anything to you, but I’m the visitor not the website owner.
hello Akpobor
practical criticism i like and yours have been well received here, it will allow me to make corrections,
The idea is to offer information and in a humorous ”tong in cheek way” to travelers wanting more than the normal ramblings.,
your points are valid and will and currently being remedied, i must say that the site color i have chosen as i have tried many other that didn’t feel right for the purpose of my style, also i have been told from website professionals that bright colors like red and purple and gold don’t also appeal to visitors, so there you go, Black no good Red not good, lol so lets just go with a choice that makes me feel good and that others out there will also be happy to visit.
The name was again on the side of Humor, like ”Spanish for dummies” it is meant to express a openness to humor and comedy in approaching learning for anyone at any level, so the Domain stays i’m afraid
chinese4idiots.com
chris
Hi,
First of all i want to thank you for sharing this article with us.I found your article so much helpful. Actually i am looking for this types of article for so many days. I am a travel freak . And i travel once in a month from country to country .But i never traveled to China . Your article gave me some tips and advice on travelling in china .It was helpful for me. I came to know much about so many things which i need for travelling in chine from your article .As it helped me it will help everyone who want to travel china .Because you described everything so smoothly in the article that it will sound good for everyone .
Thank you again for sharing this post .I will share this with my friends and family .
Farim hi
appreciate the direct reply apologies been busy recently than expected with family in CA
the idea is to tel it as it was in my stay and living there, so if it opens others attitudes to china then its good and adds some purpose to my work here,
go do the traveling man its the richest thing anyone can do as you are aware
chris
Hi Chris, Just read about the various comments that put up by readers around the world. I should think is a great help for those who wants to know more about China and how to get around travelling. Keep up the good work Chris!
hello Anthony
This is good news to hear from you and your ideas and comments, i am still a foreigner and therefore still learning, most of this you read is from experiences and research and friends living in china
I will take your advice and make more posts that allows travelers to see another aspect of china and also Asia, like Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia and Singapore, so this will develop as time goes on.
regards
Chris