China General
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You are currently reading a thread in /trv/ - Travel
You are currently reading a thread in /trv/ - Travel
/TRV/ China General
Hu Jintao edition
General info:
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/China (preferred, the 'new' one)
http://wikitravel.org/en/China
Hotels:
http://hotel.elong.net/
http://english.ctrip.com/hotels/
Buses:
http://bus.ctrip.com/
http://www.chinabusguide.com/
Trains:
http://www.cnvol.com/
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china-trains/
Domestic Flights:
http://www.elong.net/
Expat restaurants/supermarkets/bars:
http://listings.echinacities.com/
Apps:
Pleco (dictionary)
baidu maps/google maps
Dianping 大众点评 (Yelp/Groupon clone; Chinese only)
VPNs: (be advised, the CPC is cracking down on VPNs)
Astril/VPNNinja
4chan: get a pass or use a vpn or both (might be blocked now)
(VPNs might get you b& on 4chan if used outside of /trv/)
Previous thread: >>1117626
>>1125424
Anyone doing anything special for Dragon Boat Festival?
>>1125678
Eat zongzi, that's the only thing there is to do.
Third for Wumao Warriors.
>>1125689
>Eat zongzi
We eat shaomai here.
How brutal are those long train trips? The train rides that take like 20 hours, non-sleeper, sitting in a chair the whole time?
I imagine it's pure hell and torture, especially with all the poor nong farmers on board and loud Chinese families.
>>1125839
You are 100% correct.
The combined smell of urine and stale cigarettes is particularly unpleasant and becomes unbearable by the second day. Also, don't expect anyone in the non-sleeper carriages to actually shut up during the night.
The longest I did was Shanghai-Urumqi, which was roughly 44 hours.
You may want the bragging rights of having done one or two of these trips, but trust me, for 300 kuai less than a sleeper it's not really worth it.
>>1125934
>the train has to be one of the worst experiences by far
I like the trains. Admittedly I usually take soft sleeper.
I did Hohhot<>Shenzhen several times, each time I had a cabin with power to myself and just spent 33 hours playing vidya on a laptop or eating in the dining car or drinking black russians made with horse milk wine mixed with kahlua.
Easiest trips ever.
>>1125951
>soft sleepers are more expensive than plane tickets
They're half the price of plane tickets. On most lines anyway. Which line is actually more expensive than a plane ticket?
>>1125951
>you still have nasty toilets, the smell of piss and cigarettes wafting in
The soft sleeper toilets are usually ok, they get cleaned regularly. I've certainly not smelt piss or smoke in my cabin, people smoke at the end of the carriage which sucks but you don't have to experience it very often and only for a moment.
>>1125990
>you can get a plane ticket for about 20% cheaper on the chinese sites
I use the wechat flights app which is in Chinese and always cheaper than ctrip.
I still have never seen flights cheaper than trains.
Can you post a screenshot with an example?
I mean maybe there is one somewhere but I've literally never seen a flight cheaper than a train.
>>1126005
>often flying is cheaper than hard sleeper, and is usually cheaper than soft sleeper
Can you please give a single example of where that is true.
>>1125950
Did any chinese try to sneak into your cabin while you went to the john or go to eat dinner?
>>1126045
>Did any chinese try to sneak into your cabin while you went to the john or go to eat dinner?
If they did, they left no clue. I locked up my laptop when I went for dinner, left it there while I went to the WC. No problem either way.
Hay folks! American here trying to see if i can pick up my visa for China in Hong Kong. The gaol is to be flying into Singapore and out of Ulaanbaatar. Will they require me to have a fight going into china? I know they want an itinerary, was wondering if i can show them this flight plan as well as my hostel bookings that i book once I'm done traveling though SEA and in Hong Kong.
>>1126373
>Will they require me to have a fight going into china?
Go through a travel agent in HK and you can get a 30day visa with no paperwork, they'll take care of anything needed. Short turnaround and pretty cheap.
Lots of travel agents can do it, the one I use is opposite the main entrance to iSquare in TST, 4th floor. There's usually a sign out front on the street.
>>1126380
Excellent info! Thanks bud!
>>1126373
>out of Ulaanbaatar
If you need a visa for that, you can get it in Beijing or Hohhot pretty easily. You can even get it in the border town at Erlian.
Needs a photo and some cash.
Will be in Guangzhou in a few weeks. Anyone know the average price of cellular data? Would it be cheaper if buy a plan from hk?
>>1126669
>Will be in Guangzhou in a few weeks. Anyone know the average price of cellular data? Would it be cheaper if buy a plan from hk?
Buy it in the mainland. Expect about 30RMB-50RMB/month. It gets more expensive if you use it in other provinces.
Any /fit/izens here? Gonna be staying in Hangzhou for a few months soon. Does anyone have experience with gyms in China? Specifically for barbell lifting.
First-time traveller to China here, I have a couple of questions:
1) I am applying for my visa from the UK- should I worry about filling out the forms myself then risk getting them rejected (I've heard they can be very strict with regards to how the forms are filled out) or should I spend more and apply through a travel agent just to play it safe?
2) I plan to take a military bergen as my main bag. Will this be an issue? I've heard about people getting harassed by police in nearby countries due to them wearing military style clothing / accessories.
>>1126729
>Does anyone have experience with gyms in China?
None at all but I can't imagine that it's any different to the west. There are plenty of high-tech gyms in malls that look like western gyms look like.
I haven't been into a western gym in a decade though so I can't be sure that they're as up to date. I would think they'd have the same shit though.
>>1126835
>should I worry about filling out the forms myself
No, don't worry about it. There aren't *that* many forms to fill out. Just tick the boxes and get your bookings, real, fake or real but unpaid and about to be cancelled.
>take a military bergen as my main bag. Will this be an issue?
No. No issue at all. Chinese wear and carry mil-clone stuff all the time, they won't blink at it. I guess you might get asked if you're a soldier but probably only out of curiosity.
Anyone near the non-event in Shanghai Pudong airport?
>>1126902
Kek. What's not going on in Pudong?
>>1126904
This guy is no longer cooking up a storm
>>1126904
The world's worst suicide bomber failed to blow anything up and die, using a Molotov and a knife.
this seems like a good place to ask as there isnt a china general in int, I got a chinese teapot from some antique shop a while ago for pretty cheap and would like to know what it has written on it
>>1127137
2/3
>>1127138
3/3
>>1127139
now that I think of it the guy in the store said it came from macau, not sure what they speak there apart from portuguese, cantonese?
>>1127137
>>1127138
>>1127139
>>1127140
The written language is the same anon. That being said, the text is written in cursive and it's rather hard to decipher. The bottom says "China" something. The big words on the side says Tao Ran which is an obscure way of saying happiness (the state of), I can't make out the rest. The single big word says hua (I think) which can mean "Chinese" or "prosperous/luxurious/beautiful".
>>1127137
Not an antique bro, sorry.
>>1127100
so who were the bombers? ragheads or ugyurs?
>>1127233
They haven't said, probably just someone that was fucked over by a flight cancellation or something.
How is Northern China during the summer?
Harbin, Shenyang, Changchun, etc. Worth visiting for a few days or a week?
>>1127575
Best time to visit, unless you want snow.
You can easily spend a few weeks on those places.
Rate me and my friends month long trip. We have a few days to spare, what else should we do?
>>1127613
It looks like there's only one non-city destination (Huangshan I presume?) on your route. Are you sure you don't want a change of scenery?
>>1127617
How do you make non-city stops? Where are good places to go for non-city stops?
>>1127628
you just go there.
I recommend a few days out of Zhengzhou. visit Kaifeng, then back to Zhengzhou, up to anchang on the way to Lanzhou. spend a few days there
pic related
i hear zhengzhou is a massive shithole
is that just a stopoff city, or do you have a particular reason for stopping there
>>1127628
Hell, I dunno. There are tons. Temples, mountains, caves 'n' shit.
What you need to do is read up on the travel websites. But ideally a much better way of travelling is not planning everything in advance and allowing circumstances on the ground to dictate what you do when you're there.
>>1127648
>not even a single tourist on those stairs
I'm impressed
>>1127649
>zhengzhou is a massive shithole
I like it, good nightlife. But it's really close to a lot of other places, that's the main reason to go there.
>>1127696
basically, Lanzhou is real traveler approved. Which is funny given its history, it was massively overdevelopped, so it's cheap, has no tourists but incredible facilities.
>>1127696
Tourism photos always look so compelling when the crowds are cropped out. There are so many places in China that turned out to be major disappointments for me many years ago, before I learnt this valuable lesson.
>>1127710
100% agree. Just didn't consider that the pic anon posted had the tourists removed
>>1127830
It doesn't, I did wait a minute for some people to walk behind the rock but that's all.
Lanzhou doesn't get many people. That's the taiheng canyon btw
>>1127841
>I did wait a minute for some people to walk behind the rock
That's the point. I'm not saying they photoshop their pictures to remove people, but they do what you did or simply frame people out of the shot, or simply wait until no one is around, or get up at 5 a.m. to take photos before the masses arrive. By doing this, even the most crowded AAAAAAAAAAA scenic spots will look like your picture.
>>1127930
Promo shots are taken while the site is closed of course.
That shot just didn't have many people there. You could never wait for an empty stairway at Huangshan.
Lanzhou isn't so easy to get to, I rode my bike through a mountain pass to get to that mountain park. The descent on the way back was awesome.
What happens if you overstay your visa?
I know you might have to pay a fine and all that, but what if it's more than a few days? Would you really get thrown in jail or blacklisted?
Same guy as >>1126835 here.
>Completing the itinerary for my Visa application.
>Saw pic related.
Does it really have to be that detailed? I was kinda hoping to just face each day as it comes. I mean, I've got a rough Idea as of where I want to be and when- but nowhere near enough to be able to produce pic related.
Hi folks, I googled a lot and couldn't find a direct answer to this question: if I visited China and stayed in a rural village home for several days and never registered with the local police, what are the consequences? By now I'm already back to my home country and nothing happened (no fine, etc), but what might happen in the future when I go back? If I follow directions and register in the future, will they see the 'missing' days and fine me then? Thanks...
>>1128101
also, will that hurt future visa applications or something?
>>1128097
Belgian guy here who got a visa a few weeks ago. They didn't seem to really check it very well, seems like they only do it if you're suspicious for some reason. If you want you can just pick random dates with the places you want to go to, it's not like they will follow your ass in China and deport you if you don't follow it.
And if they require you to show hotel bookings and stuff (which was the case here): just book some hotels you can cancel for free so you can still change them after getting the visa.
>>1128097
no, it doesn't have to be like that. You can just list your hotel/inviter address for the entire length of your trip. it won't matter if you change your mind after getting the visa.
>>1128071
>What happens if you overstay your visa?
I overstayed by one day once, forgot to account for a month with 31 days. I nearly made it out but the immigration officer had a supervisor there who noticed, I could see her counting days in her head and then she took me aside to the small room where I was interrogated by three uniforms, the supervisor asked questions in English and translated the answers to her minions who wrote something down. Had to sign a 'confession' type of document in Chinese that I couldn't read and apologise. I was let off with a warning and told not to do it again. My flight was delayed, she checked that first thing, so if it wasn't delayed and I was in a hurry, maybe she might have let it slide. Anyway, we had lots of time so I got the full treatment. After everything was done and I apologised and explained that I had miscounted days in July or something, I asked her a lot of questions about, she said that I could be fined 500RMB/day and deported at my own expense and b&. Probably only if she thought I did it deliberately or it was more than a day or two. She said that the warning wouldn't stop me getting a new visa (it didn't).
>what if it's more than a few days? Would you really get thrown in jail or blacklisted?
Most likely just fined, possibly jailed until you paid the fine. Probably deported at your expense too. Definitely b& for 10 years or so.
>>1128097
>Does it really have to be that detailed?
I do nearly that detailed.
2016/06/16 - on train to Xi'an
2016/06/17 - Terracotta warriors
2016/06/18 - on train to Beijing
2016/06/19 - tourism in Beijing
2016/06/19 - shopping in Beijing
That was good enough for me one time when they WERE suspicious. Which they were right to be because all my bookings and flights were fake but they didn't prove it.
>>1128101
>If I follow directions and register in the future, will they see the 'missing' days and fine me then?
No. Also, their bureaucracy is sufficiently disorganised that there are perfectly legitimate reasons for those details to get lost. It's also usually province based, not national. If some local cop forgot to file your form, shit would get lost. Happens all the time. I got to see my record once, it was only for the one province and it was missing lots of hotel stays. There was a pissed-off immigration officer but he wasn't pissed at me, he believed that I had stayed in hotels and the hotels or the local cops just didn't have their shit together.
I suppose it's possible that an unrecorded stay might get your visa denied but I doubt it. I think you'll be fine. It's really only a problem if you're basically living somewhere. If you live in a community or apartment building then the cop in charge of the place will probably hear some gossip about a foreigner moving in and they'll realise that you haven't come to see them. In my xiaoqu, the cop knows every foreigner who lives there and lots of the residents know her, she'd hear the gossip and there's definitely gossip about me and my wife.
I will quiet likely visit Dalian this year from about 10th to 21st October.
Any advice,warnings or recommendations /trv/ can give?
>>1128211
thanks.
How is English teaching in China/Taiwan? Is it worth it, or are places like Korea/Japan better?
>>1128490
>English teacher
At least teach Science or Math nigga.
>>1128491
I would, if I was any good in those.
I'm specifically talking about ESL stuff, and if anyone has any information/experience it would be greatly appreciated.
>>1128502
For making straight up money but probably working in shitholes with awful bosses?
China
With actually not hating your life everyday but making shit all for money?
Japan or Korea
>>1128507
is there any middle path?
Is Taiwan any different form Mainland China
>>1128508
You're in an oversaturated as fuck field full of losers.
>>1128490
I've been teaching in China for around 2 years.
You'll likely be stuck teaching kids, which is hell. You'll either be doing training centers or kindergartens. The hours are shit, the pay in most cases is shit, the kids are little bastards, your bosses and co-workers are backstabbing, gossiping scum or they'll just try to cheat you.
Training centers will have you working evenings during the week, then suddenly you'll be excepted to show up to work at 8am or 9am till 5 or 6pm on Saturday and Sunday. Kindergartens are a little more linear with their Monday - Friday schedule, but they're very tiring.
All in all, it's very demanding, shit work. Not worth it IMO. These jobs are like revolving doors because they have a high turnover rate too. Most people don't seem to last long.
I'd recommend Japan or Korea, but from what I hear they're just the slightly lesser evil.
>>1128526
>>1128512
Ah shit. I'm actually away with the British Council in august to head to Beijing for training as an ESL then I'm off to Wuxi. I like that it's an less than an hour outside shanghai and that I get my weekends off but as much as I'm looking forward to it I'm a little nervous.
I'm 24 and I'll be away for ten months then I'm meeting up with friends to head to Russia. Can anyone give me some advice about China in general? Has no-one here had a good experience teaching in China?
>>1128615
>Wuxi
It's a nice place, you'll do fine. Go visit the Red Lion to drink with expats. Good food too. Just on the edge of the old town oppose the big Hotel Niko.
>>1128615
>Has no-one here had a good experience teaching in China?
Lots of people do. Legit teaching jobs in tier 2 cities are fine, you can be treated well and have fun. Provided you like children of course.
I know lots of teachers, most of them enjoy their work and think that most of the children they teach are cute.
>>1128617
Hey thanks man. I appreciate that!
Never know until I get there I guess.
>>1128615
I did one year in Shenzhen and loved it. I think it really depends on who you're teaching for, I worked for a company that pretty much supplies all of the foreign English teachers in Shenzhen, so I had a bit of a support network which was nice. I've heard of other people ending up in tier 30 cities where their school fucks them over again and again, so I guess it varies haha. Overall if you are interested in the country and are easy going, you'll have a good time. Don't let the "seasoned expats" bring you down, China seems to produce a particularly bitter breed of alcoholics in that regard (don't stay more than 2 years imo).
What's the deal with prostitution in China? It seems like its illegal but not really enforced. Any experiences?
>>1128674
>paying for sex
>in China
I'm basically a fucking autist and I can get laid with a new girl every week in China.
>>1128674
>What's the deal with prostitution in China? It seems like its illegal but not really enforced
It's illegal but not really enforced.
A few places are rumored to bust foreigners now and then but I've never actually heard of it happening, just rumors.
It's pretty seedy desu but you can get laid that way.
>>1128690
>not really enforced
More like never enforced and openly tolerated.
Every now and then there is a crackdown somewhere like Shanghai but it's just for show and you would have to be very, very unlucky to get caught up in it.
I've seen pink windows next to a police station before.
>>1128708
So pink windows are the sign?
>>1128684
which city are you in?
if you're overly ugly, morbidly obese or ethnic this won't be the case.
I'm a fat ass and slightly ugly, and I only manage one or two bangs a month. One time I banged 4 or 5 girls in one month in a tier 1 city.
>>1128713
>So pink windows are the sign?
One sign, they're usually pretty obvious.
Basically there are shopfronts with women sitting in them waiting for customers. It's usually just what it looks like.
What are these 'tier' cities you keep mentioning? Are they /trv/ ratings or actual things?
>>1128770
Actual things.
Tiers are about the size, density, and economical activity of the city.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_China#The_tier_system
>>1128771
And are higher tier cities better for English teaching, or does it not matter?
>>1128776
I know nothing about teaching.
However, I may give few of my personal opinion on this matter:
Higher tier cities are obviously the biggest ones. The quality of life is also among the highest one, and it's not that cheap. It's easy to find anything accommodating expats, and anyway, there aren't many of them. Basically it's Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou.
Many of the tier2 cities are very decent (Qingdao, even though it's boring as fuck; or Chengdu); and sometimes you won't even notice a big difference with tier1 cities (especially for Chengdu), and many of them are provincial capitals. They're still huge but they are significantly less important for Chinese politics and economics.
Tier3 cities are hit or miss. Some of them are shitholes (well in a Chinese sense, if you know what's a Chinese shithole, pretty different from other countries), some others are nice but still "small" (on a Chinese scale again) and utterly boring if you stay for a while. It's a more genuine Chinese experience, but the pay is obviously lower.
So yes, I think it still does matter at the end.
>>1128771
>tier system
>Actual things.
The tier system is used widely, even sometimes officially...but it's not an actual system, it's completely unofficial but everyone understands it.
>>1128776
>And are higher tier cities better for English teaching, or does it not matter?
T1 cities are often meat grinders of rip-off schools who are always bringing in fresh meat to teach illegally before stopping paying them. T2 cities have less teachers and can't afford to fuck with them as much so they don't have as many problems and their schools are often (never always) trust worthy.
>>1128815
>Where do you go for this in the bigger cities?
Night clubs usually. Sometimes you can just sit in a mall and talk to girls that stop and ask you where you're from.
I've never had much trouble meeting random girls.
Several from skout and the near-by feature in Wechat
>>1128814
It's still widely used by everybody, for different reason. Usually to grasp an idea about the city.
>>1128814
>T1 cities are often meat grinders of rip-off schools who are always bringing in fresh meat to teach illegally before stopping paying them. T2 cities have less teachers and can't afford to fuck with them as much so they don't have as many problems and their schools are often (never always) trust worthy.
There are some exceptions to this, like Chengdu.
Talking from experience, Chengdu is as bad as any T1 when it comes to that stuff. Place is full of Slavic types, Southern Euros and Africans working for pennies.
Also, you'd think Russians and Slavs would all flock to the T2s and T3s because they can't afford to live in T1s, but they're starting to come to Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen in large numbers. I don't know how they afford it.
Has anyone had any experiences with learning Mandarin? How long does it take to get to the stage where you can have basic conversations (Where is X/how much is Y etc.). I'd very much like to travel around China and I guess the language is necessary for a lot of this.
Do most English teachers in China learn the language? How quickly can you learn once you are out there?
Thanks
>>1128865
I've done the 0>A1 course of the local Confucius institute, and it teaches you the absolute basics (My name is X, where is X, how much is X). Mostly pronounciation stuff, but also a lot of vocab and writing, which was nice. The course was 3 months, 2 hours of class a week with 2 hours of homework/selfstudy. If you want something more intense, you'd have to ask them about that. My conversation is a lot better than my writing, but I haven't really kept up with homework, so it's my fault. I think I can hold superbasic tourist conversations as long as the other person speaks clearly and slowly.
If you're into language learning or China, I'd recommend it.
>>1128865
>Do most English teachers in China learn the language?
Not really. Most learn the absolute basics and maybe some swear words for fun and get no further.
Basic getting-by Mandarin doesn't take long to learn. You just need to learn numbers (for money and buying shit), basic directions (for taxi drivers), some food items (so you can feed yourself at restaurants) and maybe some other basic shit like "ce suo zai na li?" (where is the toilet?), "ni hen piao liang" (you are very beautiful) and "tai gui le" (too expensive!). It doesn't take long and you shouldn't bother with characters if this is all you want to do.
Now, if you actually want to get so good that Chinese girls are even more attracted to you than they would normally be, then that is a project my friend and not worth it unless you're planning to spend several years in the country at least. You have to learn the characters. You have to put in a lot of effort. And people are not very mature about helping you. In the English speaking world, we'd generally think you're a dickhead for making fun of the accent of a Chinese guy trying sincerely to make himself understood in English, but in China they have no such self-awareness and it's easy to be put off by the casual rudeness you sometimes encounter.
That said, learning a language so different to our own is immensely satisfying, it opens up many job opportunities as well as off-the-beaten-path tourist spots that your typical foreigner-in-China has never heard of and there are plenty of awesome people in China who really open up to you and enjoy telling you unbelievable stories once they realise that you actually do understand what they're saying.
>>1128865
a LOT easier than i thought it would be!
"Where is X/how much is Y etc." -> few months if you are learning 1-2 hours a week with a good teacher. and probably a lot faster than that if you are already in china and can/have to talk every day.
How is the airport in Shenzhen?
I'm thinking of sleeping there since I will arrive late and stay one night in the city. I don't really want to fork over money for a taxi and hotel
>>1129133
>How is the airport in Shenzhen?
It's ok but the part outside security is pretty small.
Sleeping there would be hard but I guess you could try the McDonalds upstairs, they have a room at the back that you might not get kicked out of.
People nap and stuff but I've never seen anyone actually properly laid out sleeping, just hunched over a table. On the other side, there's a tea house/restaurant/massage place, they have private massage/rest rooms that you could sleep in but I don't know what they charge.
>>1129133
>I don't really want to fork over money for a taxi and hotel
Hotels are cheap enough but a taxi from the airport is bloody expensive. About 70rmb to OCT where the YHA is, even more to Luohu. The metro is cheap but it runs 6:30-10:30ish.
There's probably a hotel close to the airport though, just not sure where it is.
Check ctrip for one maybe. There might be something cheap.
>>1129133
>I don't really want to fork over money for a taxi and hotel
This hostel is fucking close to the airport. A taxi will be dirt cheap to get there, you could probably walk if you wanted. It's dorm only but it's cheap.
http://english.ctrip.com/hotels/shenzhen-hotel-detail-3180270/hotelname/?city=30
The combination is probably cheaper than the food you'd eat at the airport.
>>1128815
OKC works wonders.
>>1128893
shiet
>>1129271
>some words a foreigner will never know, like dinghy, or flotsam
There's plenty of native English speakers that wouldn't know either of those words.
A lot depends on how much you read, an English literature student would know both of them, as would anyone that 'reads the classics' or just modern highbrow literature.
Or sailors/fishermen, since they're both maritime technical jargon.
So, anon would need to read a bunch of Chinese literature, probably with a dictionary on hand, to learn those obscure characters that are the Chinese equivalent of dinghy and flotsam. This means that anon would first need to learn the 2000 or so characters necessary to read basic literature. At least obscure characters/phrases like that are often easy to partially decode from radicals or component words, dingy is just 'small boat', flotsam doesn't seem to have a direct translation, I get 'waste material'' which is pretty far from the incredibly specific English meaning of 'floating wreckage or debris that is lost by accidental damage or destruction of a ship'' (deliberately tossed debris is jetsam)'. Even a casual glance however probably tells a fluent speaker that the word means 'floating shit' in some sense.
tl:dr; get gud then read books
>>1129237
I dunno. I approached like 10 grills from Beijing and I think only a couple replied, without it leading to anything. So either I was doing something utterly wrong, the numbers are too low, or...?
>>1129352
>>1129355
Guess you are ugly as fuck.
Sorry anon.
>>1129352
>>1129355
"Laowais only get to bang desperate peasants" is a meme that Wumao Warriors tell themselves to feel better.
It's a learning curve for sure. Mainland Chinese girls aren't the easiest in the world, but a lot of them are very curious about foreigners still (including the ones living overseas), especially foreigners in good physical condition. They like the way don't give a shit about playing the silly "face" game that will always hold Asia back. They still wet their panties for me when I bust out the Mandarin in Chinese restaurants back in Freedomland. But they think differently to Western girls in some important ways. Their major concern is that you will bang them once or twice then leave - and if one friend finds out then her entire social network will know in ten minutes or so and possibly be cruel to her about it. She'll worry that every new prospective Chinese husband she meets will be told "she is a bad girl who fucks laowais". Feichang diulian! Lots of Chinese men in particular are extremely nasty to girls who have/had laowai boyfriends.
So get phone number (Chinese girls give their phone number out very readily in my experience especially if no one they know is around), take them on a date somewhere their friends would probably never think to go to (e.g. Greek, Arabic or even Mexican restaurants... most Chinese only think to eat food of countries they respect like Japan, Korea, US or West European... one of the reasons that KFC is huge but Taco Bell, perceived to be Mexican, failed abysmally), buy dinner, don't try to fuck her on the first date (unless she's really keen), then have another date in another exotic restaurant and on date 2 you are good to go buddy.
What I would say is: be aware of her life. She is of course welcome to hang out with your friends, but don't get in to her life at all unless you have been together a while and you are seriously thinking about marrying her.
>>1129370
Seeming really defensive there friend.
>>1129383
I hear you buddy.
And yes, I know the type you mean. You can lose touch with reality over there, especially if you've figured out the local scene but the women back home won't look twice at you. I have seen flabby middle aged ESL teachers insist "they love us because they know we have big dicks" as they crack open their second pack of cigs of the day. These are the guys who are indeed banging peasant prostitutes and they get dumped the same month the wife's new passport comes through.
The major reason I took a (temporary) pay cut to return to the West was because I wanted to make sure I didn't end up like that.
>>1129390
>Seeming really defensive there friend.
Anon isn't defensive, they're just consistent. They even said:
>#1 rule of human existence: people love to protect their pride
They're no hypocrites, they're conforming to the rule of human existence.
>>1129394
>accept a certain amount of rape, and suicide bombing are a fact of life
We do not have the same kinds of friends. And my friends are mostly liberals.
>>1129418
*tips fedora*
>>1129442
huh?
I've spent the last 5 months teaching English in Chengdu to kids in the 14-15 year old range at a high school, whilst tutoring privately on weekends. My private students are mostly young children and 2 older people in their 30's (one in her 40's) who need to learn for their jobs. The pay is alright and I'm managing to actually put away some savings, although I'm quite low maintenance and can cook enough to keep myself fed with little.
My apartment is small but it's cozy. I hate how the shower is fucking right next to my toilet so when I go to take a shower I get water all over my toilet. It's annoying but not really a deal breaker. I get really good wifi speeds and mobile service. Building I live in is quiet and safe.
I've made so many friends it's become a hassle to keep in touch and see them all. Every night I'm being asked out for hot pot or some shit, and it's mostly girls. The few chinese guys I've met are bro tier and just want to play Dota 2 with me. Getting laid is as easy as using the look around function on wechat. I'm decent looking, white, tall and in shape so I suppose that helps. I am going bald but I shave my head pretty much every week and at first I was getting a lot of stares. Apparently it's common in china for thugs and criminals to have shaved heads, so they associate it with me. Girls seem mostly intrigued and many have said I look like statham or beckham (I really don't but because I'm white and shaved I guess we arr rook same to them).
Air isn't too clean. It makes me tired a lot and by the end of my working day I barely have enough energy to go to gym, which for the first month I was paying out the ass for but a girl I hooked up with told me I basically went about it the wrong way and set myself up to get ripped off. So now I pay native rates. The food here is fucking spicy and while I don't mind a little bit, they put chili on nearly everything. Got pretty bad diarrhea for the first week or so.
So yeah, that's my experience so far.
>>1129492
How is your Mandarin?
>>1129397
Yes, some expats in Asia are oblivious sleazes... although there are plenty of honest Western dudes out there too so let's not tar them all with the same brush. And the fat neckbeards that angry Asian dudes love to spam post with their teenage Thai brides are a minority.
I'm not convinced the Western world (assuming that's what you mean) is falling apart. No way. We're still richer, stronger and smarter than everyone else, even though they love to tell themselves that they're smart and rich and we're dumb and broke. However I agree there are some worrying trajectories that our leaderships seem unwilling to acknowledge, let alone fix. Fight for your country, bro. Educate yourself and whenever politics or whatever comes up among your social circle, make people think about the future of their country without letting them paint you as a Nazi. "OK, I get you're a humanitarian. But seriously though, how many refugees do you think is too many refugees?" is a good question to ask.
>>1129755
This isn't /pol/
Go back to your containment board if you can't talk about travel without frothing at the mouth.
>>1129352
I fucked girls in Shanghai as a bald and ugly fat white guy last year. I went to a mall and only approached about 3 or 4 girls, but it took 2 dates to lay the chick.
But yeah, the tier 1 cities are getting harder because of this swarm of desperate foreigners coming here. 6' 2", six pack ab, pretty boy European guys are coming to China in fucking swarms due to their bad economy, and African and Arab bucks fucking all their women has them running scared to Asia. There's been a HUGE increase in foreigners from even 2 years ago.
Then they date these ugly 5s and 6s and fuck up the dating dynamics. I fear the free ride will be over soon
>>1129355
>>1129355
Not quite. You wouldn't believe how ridiculously easy China used to be. Even a fat ugly balding fuck like me could get dates with hot, white skinned, middle class Chinese girls, and occasionally have sex with some.
Now the tide is turning. Same thing happened to Japan and Korea though, so it was inevitable. Now you need to look like Chris Hemsworth to fuck a Japanese 5.
I'd just like to say, fuck all you European beta pussies who come here and date down.
>>1129882
>6' 2", six pack ab, pretty boy European guys are coming to China in fucking swarms due to their bad economy, and African and Arab bucks fucking all their women has them running scared to Asia
There's so much wrong with that sentence that I really don't know where to begin.
I suppose, I could start by asking any 6' 2", six pack ab, pretty boy European guys here if that's why they came to China.
>>1129882
>approached
>2 dates
But from this I take it that you either stayed there for a long time and/or speak some Chinese then?
I got the impression that a lot of them don't speak all that great English
How did you approach them/what did you start with?
I can't say I'm a pro at this or anything. I didn't have a oic of my face on wechat while I was there, but that's mostly because I was already with someone when I got there. I managed to get this creepy stalker from okc, she was from Tianjin. Was rather weird and desperate
If I want something more serious with a girl there I probably need to stay longer as well...
>lief
>no committed submissive Chinese waif
>China General
>devolves into sexchat
lmao.
I'm planning a trip to Shanghai in November for the whole month (working out the details, maybe a whole month is excessive).
How would a yuppie Chinese American who speaks fluent English and Mandarin fare with the ladies? Asking for a friend.
Also, how are your experiences with hostels? Might try to couchsurf one of the weeks.
pic related: something to avoid being
>>1130002
It's literally every China general thread. 40% sexchat 40% English teaching and the rest us with actual info and bants
I'm in Tianjin for the next three weeks, doing weekend excursions to Beijing over the next two weekends, and then going to Qingdao for the next month.
We were thinking about going to Qinhuangdao instead of Beijing for one weekend. Could I get some thoughts about that? Also, I've read information about what to do in Qingdao in the wikivoyage, but I'm curious about other anon's experiences.
Thanks in advance
I really want to get into china, but honestly I have no clue how to start
how do I find things worth seeing?
how restrictive is it traveling within china?
is it really cheap any more?
do...do they have hostels? or like places with white people?
Additionally, for the trains to Beijing, I've read that you don't need to do a reservation ahead of time. Can I trust this info? We were going to take a train out from Tianjin at 8:00, so would arriving at 6:45 give us enough time to find a ticket vendor and buy tickets, or do you need to go ahead and buy the train tickets ahead of time?
>>1130002
>pin money
I haven't heard it called that before. It's obvious what it's for but I wonder that the name is supposed to mean?
>>1130046
>how do I find things worth seeing?
Lonely Planet
>how restrictive is it traveling within china?
Not much, you need your passport a lot but most of the time that's all. There are small communities and occasionally residential streets that you're not allowed to enter because they're for army officers or something but it's rare and usually only around army bases. Come to think of it, there are a lot of army bases. You won't encounter that sort of stuff unless you really go exploring or live somewhere long-term.
The only time you're barred from large areas or need permits is if you want to go to Xinjiang at the wrong time, or Tibet, or the remote parts of Inner Mongolia where the spaceport is.
>is it really cheap any more?
Still pretty cheap.
>do...do they have hostels? or like places with white people?
There are YHA hostels in most places worth going and lots of non-YHA hostels anywhere that Chinese want to go.
>>1130052
>do you need to go ahead and buy the train tickets ahead of time?
It depends on demand. Sometimes you do and sometimes you don't. Best to make sure.
Booking in advance is never compulsory but sometimes it takes ages to line up in the queue to buy them and they can sell out quickly in peak times and seasons. I've ended up stranded places for a day or two because I didn't book in advance.
I use wechat to buy them.
>>1130046
One of the vestiges of the communist era is the certificate hotels need to have in order to host foreigners legally. For the most part, small and cheap hotels in remote places will not have them.
The purpose of such certificates is two-fold: to prevent tourists from seeing the darker side of China's hospitality (crummy hotels with broken facilities and terrible service) and to encourage tourists to spend more money by going to more expensive hotels.
In many parts of China hotels WILL NOT be flexible regarding this rule. In fact, once when I went to the great wall by the sea (Shanhaiguan) I could not find a single hotel or motel willing to let me stay, and this is coming from someone who knows the culture and the language.
But basically, if you visit touristy areas this is a non-issue.
how do you get to shenzhen airport by the metro subway?
internet says take the green line to houri station and then take a bus from there? or is that wrong.? which bus are you supposed to take
>>1130159
>internet says take the green line to houri station and then take a bus from there? or is that wrong.?
That's correct. I forget the bus number but it's reasonably clear and I think there are some signs in English.
Basically follow the horde of other people with suitcases.
>>1130294
>there's usually big red warnings for places that can't take foreigners
There's nothing on ctrip or elong I don't think. Several times, I've booked hotels and had them call me and tell me that they can't take foreigners. I've turned up to a hotel once and been refused my confirmed booking but only once out about a hundred bookings.
Unfortunately, information about foreigner accreditation isn't listed on ctrip, it's not even held by them, they just don't know whether a given hotel can take foreigners so usually, those hotels are listed on the English version of the site just the same as ones that can take foreigners.
>>1130319
>well then that makes it a good idea to use a service that caters to foreigners, and has specific warnings then, doesn't it?
Meh, they call you if there's a problem and 90% of hotels on ctrip have their act together enough to get the accreditation (it's not hard, they just ask the local police and sometimes buy a passport scanner and a book of forms).
I've used ctrip shitloads and only had a few hotels cancel on me and I just had to book somewhere else, only one forgot to tell me or tell ctrip who would call me. Almost any hotel that has their shit together enough to advertise on ctrip/elong will have their shit together enough to have the accreditation. Shitty 50RMB/night railway station hotels don't advertise on ctrip in the first place.
>>1129755
It will last because democracies are so much more resilient than everything else and they also tend to correct themselves (slowly, after everyone has got mad first). People get fed up of retards when they've been around too long, forcing us to go along with their bullshit. Nothing new. Nobody likes obese blue haired dykes screaming about our privilege - their nonsense will not prevail. Old countries like the US and UK have experienced many drastic corrections in the past. They'll have more.
>>1130327
>hey also tend to correct themselves (slowly, after everyone has got mad first)
Very slowly.
Someone once said that the USA always ended up doing the right thing but only after trying every possible alternative first.
>>1130336
>>1130333
>>1130328
This is way off topic for /trv/.
Chinese politics is only slightly on-topic and in-depth discussion really belongs in /int/. International politics and the merits and lifespan of democracy are really /pol/ material (without that being an insult).
>>1130343
>in-depth discussion really belongs in /int/
>>1130336
(1/2)
Absolutely disagree.
There have been very intense debates in the past. Street battles that make those Mexicans outside Trump rallies look like kids playing in the park. In genuine, domestically developed democracies, one side eventually beats the other through argument - and has done since the American Civil War 150 years ago and longer again in England, France and some other European nations. They start with strongly opposed camps (often violently opposed)... and end with one camp dominant after winning the argument and the vast majority of the population on their side. No need for war or revolution (which always goes wrong and ends up killing lots of innocent people... even if the people directing it are decent people, which they usually aren't).
Examples of democracies solving major problems include Teddy Roosevelt's trust busting, FDR's New Deal cure for the Great Depression and the Civil Rights Movement. The UK, by the way, ditched slavery long before the US and did it through democracy and later introduced the incredibly-progressive NHS.
There are many more examples.
Plus, democracy solves problems permanently; the gains of dictatorship are never as secure. Ask the USSR.
>wen there IS a deep societal divide, democracy does a worse job at creating a solution.
Nonsense. In a democracy, you get a solution eventually after a lot of people getting mad.
In a dictatorship, you just get mass-scale oppression of the weaker group (which always blows up eventually), civil war or genocide.
So, no... you're just totally wrong there.
>>1130336
(2/2)
You pointing to old, extreme situations (the weirdly divided pre-Civil war US) and democracies imposed upon humiliated countries that hate the imposer (Weimar) and dodgy client states (Suharto) doesn't contradict my point at all.
It may also benefit you to reflect that all of mankind's major disasters in the modern age happened under dictatorship; Kaiser Wilhelm starting WW1, Japanese invasion of China, Hitler starting WW2, Stalin's concentration camps and famines, Mao's Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution, Pol Pot's genocide, etc...
Even the horrendously brutal Vietnam war has nothing on the above crimes.
Imperfect Free Speech & Pluralism or Full-Retard is the only choice.
Plus free states are demonstrably far superior at the innovation that truly moves humanity forward.
>>1130343
Anon who just wrote a long defence of democracy here.
No plans to add another big post like that.
>>1130351
I said I'd be good so I'm gonna keep it short.
>first bit
Don't agree, incorrect facts
>second
Never said the Civil War was solved peacefully. I said since then the US has sorted problems out (relatively) peacefully.
>third
They voted to support Teddy in his trust-busting platform. Wouldn't have worked if he didn't have support
>fourth
The New Deal is the economic program that fixed the Depression.
The US also benefited from WW2, but that's a separate issue. I didn't say democracies cannot benefit from war - the US has repeatedly - I am just insisting that democracies can (and often do) benefit hugely from just being sensible democracies in a world full of dictators, commies and religious nutcases.
>>1130354
I can tell I'm not going to convince you to change your mind in any way so this is my last post.
I don't agree with your defence of dictatorship. As I said, democracy is certainly imperfect (and looks uglier the further you go back) but I believe that the alternatives are reliably worse.
And by the way, even though this only applies to some examples (and nothing close to a majority) of democracies solving problems peacefully: if a democratically elected president uses executive powers in emergencies then that's okay as long as he maintains support of the population while doing so and steps down at the appropriate time. I don't agree that this means democracy gets no credit for that success (even though he was democratically elected) and all credit goes to dictatorship (even though he has no pretensions whatsoever about power for life, hand-picking successors, violently purging dissenting views, etc...)
I don't think it's right to say "killing people works". I said that it's bad that dictatorships - or whoever - attempts to solve problems by murder. People have families. And it always causes blowback, even if you don't care about the families. More oppression means more blowback means eventually your dictatorship becomes untenable, falls and there's a power vacuum for the next dictator to step in to as ordinary peoples' lives go to shit. Anyway, if a person isn't doing any harm to you personally, you can't really be in favour of killing them. Maybe limiting numbers of new people with fundamentally different views coming in to the country along with deporting those here illegally, sure. I support that. Trump 2016! But not killing them. I guess we see that differently.
>>1130350
>this_triggers_the_wumao.jpg
kek
>>1130360
>I can tell I'm not going to convince you to change your mind in any way so this is my last post.
You're arguing with the anon from last thread who claimed that Germany is a police state jailing any journalist who reports crimes by refugees.
Best to walk away.
>>1130131
honestly that seems like a big issue, I've heard bout it before
I will be reasonably touristy I suppose, but I would like to venture off the beaten track a bit
I particularly want to see how the majority of Chinese live, not just the eastern coast and the tourist hotspots
>>1130343
this
>>1130402
When I went off the tourist track to find a hydrofoil down the Yangtze, I ended up staying a night in a tier4 downriver from Chongqing called Wenzhou.
I found a cheap hotel that couldn't take me but language barrier meant that they eventually just gave up trying to explain and took me off-the-books. I've stayed in a few random cheap places that didn't really know what to do with my passport but just kinda wrote a few things down or photocopied a page and gave me a key.
there are so many touts for fake taxis at the airport in shenzhen. even more than shanghai and beijing. was surprised.
police don't seem to give a shit and aren't cracking down on them. not exactly a nice welcome for foreigners coming in; SZ is a big international city, makes them look a third world corrupt shithole
>>1130426
>there are so many touts for fake taxis at the airport in shenzhen. even more than shanghai and beijing. was surprised.
>police don't seem to give a shit and aren't cracking down on them. not exactly a nice welcome for foreigners coming in
I know, right?
I try and stomp on their insteps if they shuffle in to close to my path, if they follow along-side me then I turn around to look at some sign and accidentally whack them with my big backpack. Those guys really piss me off.
>>1130002
Jesus christ.
>>1128071
I wouldn't recommend it. I overstayed my visa for about an hour and a half before I boarded the plane. Received little more than a remark from the officer at the scene, but they probably let it slide because I was in a rush to catch my flight. Considering it was just an hour at and a half, there were a lot of people buzzing around my passport though.
>>1128208
>>1130592
I once missed it by one day. Lady at the counter confronted me about it, and looked like she was phoning her superiors to ask what to do next or was thinking about bringing me into a room, but then she let it slide and told me not to do it again. Guess she saw my flight was about to take off.
So apparently sometimes you can get away with it if it's one day. More than that, you probably wouldn't want to risk it.
>>1125424
Which is cheaper?
A week in China, or a week in Thailand?
>>1130765
Thailand obviously.
I'm assuming youre a sex tourist as well. You probably wouldn't get laid in one week in China unless you're good looking and white and not autistic. Whereas you could get laid almost every day in Thailand even as a pudgy slob
>>1130767
Thailand is cheaper AND you can breathe without respirator. Thailand seems to be the obvious choice.
Don't assume, you make an ass of you and me.
I'm not interested, I'll probably be going with my gf. I think the main problem with your suggestion
>you could get laid almost every day in Thailand
Is that you'd have to have sex with Thai women.....I'm sure you can use Google.
What does /trv think of this trip?
Want to do it early/mid september to late october.
Thinking about taking trains for shorter distance, the rest with flights and a rental car between Yinchuan and Beijing
>>1130919
Its an intredasting one. Out of curiosity, why are you going to Hohot, Shenyang and Dalian?
>>1130928
Hohhot - Inner Mongolia seems like a nice place, want to experience some mongolian culture and see the grasslands and deserts.
Shenyang/Dalian - hope them to be "authentic" northeastern chinese citys, less multicultural than Beijing.
>>1130935
Is it really THAT BAD?
I was driving rentals cars and bikes in the philippines before and imagine china will be similar in terms of traffic rules being more like vague suggestions?
>>1130765
Why the actual fuck would you ever pick China over Thailand. Not even a sex tourist.
>>1131020
I've literally lived in China for 10 months and I would never tell someone to go there for vacation.
>>1130919
>car between Yinchuan and Beijing
Check that route in baidu maps, it will tell you the distance and road tolls. Then calculate the distance as a cost in petrol.
>>1131038
t. butthurt wumao warrior
>>1131038
>20 dollar blowjobs
Plus, you probably can do bjs for that price in Shanghai brothels.
>>1131026
sure, i could do all trips between multimillion cities via train or plane.
but if i want to see a remote part of the great wall way outside yinchuan or get into the grasslands at hohhot - is there a cheaper alternative to driving myself?
renting private cars with drivers every other day ist probably quite expensive?
>>1131091
Dude, all I said was to use Baidu maps to calculate the road tolls and petrol cost. That will allow you to make a more accurate estimate of the cost of your route.
>>1131038
>China
>built for its own people
>white people on every other ad and billboard
>every major city is Westernized as fuck
>>1131136
Bitch pls, try to find any respectable Chinese person advocating miscegenation.
>>1131122
>if youre going to inner mongolia youll need a car
The train network covers neimenggu as well, there are also buses between everywhere too. Cars are just if you want to go out to the grasslands or desert and don't want to go on a tour through a hostel.
>>1131140
>>what country is automatic wheelchair accessible? (walking is hard)
Haha, one China does very, very well is make you walk up steps.
China has a fuck load of steps and it's pretty rare to see wheelchair ramps anywhere.
Most of the mountains I've been to, had very expensive sedan chairs for anyone that couldn't walk up 1000 steps. I sometimes saw very old people being carried in them as well as a few soft-looking business types.
>>1131140
I'm not the same guy, I was just pointing out how misinformed you are
China is not a sex tourist destination that caters to lad douchebags on holiday and geriatric sex tourists, but it's not exactly built for their own people lol
>>1131122
>sorry the whole world wasnt built for your obese diabetic tv addicted needs.
Holy hell you are butthurt as fuck.
>accidentally ordered mcdonald's delivery in the hotel i was previously staying at in another city
>forgot to change the address back
>wondered why my food never came
>guy called me like 10 times
>some poor chinese couple or western tourists probably had their hotel door knocked on by an angry chinese delivery guy
kek
I'm in the middle of China, staying in a rented room.
These little bastard insects keep getting into my room, and crawl on my bed towards me. They look like a cross between ants and wasps, but I've never seen them flying around. But they do have wings. They're all black.
One just disturbed me from trying to fall asleep and I think bit me or stung me. Anything I should worry about?
How are the bastards getting inside my room when the windows are closed?
I'm assuming it's going to be extremely difficult to find women in China interested on hooking up or even going on dates with another woman. If it's hard enough with dudes who are foreigners, I'd have to find a obscure gay bar or something- if they even have the latter.
Would Thailand be better? I think any LGBT scene in the East is going to be hard to find, but might as well look for when I'm out there.
>>1131333
>I'm assuming it's going to be extremely difficult to find women in China interested on hooking up or even going on dates with another woman
Yeah, not easy definitely. There are queer wechat and QQ groups but they're not that easy to find, if you speak Chinese it will be easier, those groups are more for support than dating but you'd at least get to find queery groups in your city. Only quite big cities have known gay bars and they aren't that easy to find with a simple web search.
OTOH: Any chinese women wanting to hookup will probably seek you out because even-straight foreigners are less judgemental and foreigners have a reputation for the lax morals that China assumes all gay people have.
OTOOH: Lots of straight Chinese women will approach you out of curiosity, so you'll have to sort them out, or just corrupt some straight girls.
China has the same percentages of queer as anywhere else but they keep it on the DL.
Best way is probably just to look 'gay' and wear a rainbow patch and let girls find you, that should work ok.
>Would Thailand be better?
You'd probably have to pay but I bet there would be hookers that would do girls.
>>1125424
anyone been to Guilin or anywhere else in the Guangxi province?
what is it like to live there?
>>1131535
>Guilin
I haven't lived there but the city is touristy as fuck and scams are plentiful.
So I have a multiple entry tourist visa, and in September I will be returning to China.
Do I still have to provide evidence of hotel bookings, etc. like when applying for visa? Or can I just breeze through customs?
Was never asked anything about my travel plans once I got my visa last time, but I guess they already 'knew' what I was doing in my last visit - this time they won't.
>>1131960
>Do I still have to provide evidence of hotel bookings, etc. like when applying for visa
nope
>>1131960
>So I have a multiple entry tourist visa, and in September I will be returning to China.
So you already have a visa, then you don't have to tell them shit. At least they won't ask except for an address where you're staying but that can be anything really.
>Do I still have to provide evidence of hotel bookings, etc. like when applying for visa? Or can I just breeze through customs?
You're not applying because you already have one, right? If you're applying again then you'll need to provide all that stuff. Customs isn't a visa application, they only want a simple form filled out.
>Was never asked anything about my travel plans once I got my visa last time, but I guess they already 'knew' what I was doing in my last visit - this time they won't.
They never ask at customs, they probably don't have records from when you applied for the visa but even if they did they wouldn't ask about it.
>>1131586
that bad? is it worth seeing though? pictures of it look beautiful.
>>1132141
Most anons on this board are huge fucking hipsters with
>muh real traveller
Shit.
>>1132141
>that bad? is it worth seeing though? pictures of it look beautiful.
It looks great.
It is a big drawcard for tourists though, with everything that that means.
And like the Bund in Shanghai and Tiananmen Square in Beijing, there are scammers there trying to prey on tourists, some of them also trying robbery. You have to be on your guard.
How are the woman in Shanghai? I will be there for 5 months studying abroad.
Also what are the better neighbourhoods to get an appartment?
>sim card requires Chinese id
Can't you just pay extra or something, as a small incentive?
>>1132553
>>sim card requires Chinese id
> Can't you just pay extra or something, as a small incentive?
If you paid the retailer a few bucks then they might use their own id but they'd probably just tell you to use your passport. I believe passports are sufficient for the government requirements, if only Chinese IDs are accepted then it's more likely a problem with the telco.
>>1132597
>Do Hong Kong SIMs work in the Mainland?
Well they do if you have roaming activated on them, sure.
You can buy special HongKong/Mainland SIMs that have local accounts in each country, I don't know much about them.
Hong Kong is basically a different country for almost any actual purpose.
>>1132538
Close to where you are studying, obviously...
You do realise that Shanghai is a BIG city, right?
>>1132597
Do Canadian SIMs work in the United States?
Do Mexican SIMs work in the United States?
>>1132553
You can use your passport at China Telecom stores in Shanghai, not sure if it is different for other regions or telcos though
I get into Baiyun airport in Guangzhou at 5pm and need to leave from there to get to Seoul at 11am
I've never been to China, is it worth my time/money to stay closer to the centre or should I just stay at a hotel near the airport.
Also, from what I've read, hotels won't let you stay without a visa, what if I'm using the 72 hour visa free rule?
>>1132776
>Also, from what I've read, hotels won't let you stay without a visa, what if I'm using the 72 hour visa free rule?
I don't think they expect you to sleep under a bridge but yeah, hotels normally check your visa. That's an interesting problem.
It turns out that you have to apply for the transit visa on arrival, make sure you don't go through immigration without asking someone about it. Once you get it, they'll stamp your passport with something that says so and that's what the hotel will look at and probably scan in their passport scanner.
Some random info from google:
https://www.travelchinaguide.com/embassy/visa/free-72hour/
Basically, visa-free in this case means something like visa-on-arrival.
Hey /trv/
Expat here, I've got a 9am appointment tomorrow to do a photoshoot for an advertisement. I get 500RMB for a few hours work. It's fuck all but I could use the cash and I was just going to be shitposting and jerking off anyway.
Someone advertised on an expat wechat group for people of a certain age etc, I messaged and they asked for a few pics and then we made a time.
I'll let you know how it goes.
>>1132782
Cheers lad
>>1132695
Can you access Facebook in the United States?
Is the population of the United States over a billion?
Any tips for learning Cantonese?
I'm rotating between learning vocabulary, memorising/practicing grammar and trying not to fuck up tones.
Any good tv series or anything like it to watch to aid the process?
I'm planning to maybe go to China - Shanghai and then Hong Kong (1 week each), from the 10th October to the 25th October. The idea is to go after the Chinese national holiday at the first week of October so it's not busy, and from what I understand the air pollution is also to a minimum around this time (is that accurate?), and the weather is cooling off from the hot summer months. Does this seem like a good timeframe?
So I will fly to Shanghai then to Hong Kong then back. I plan to use Southern China Airlines, Eastern China Airlines, Cathway Pacific - are they all good/reputable/safe airlines? Trying to avoid AirAsia (need luggage) and Malaysian Airlines.
I haven't really planned anything, just wanted to get immediate feedback on dates and airlines and whether my reasons for choosing those dates are accurate.
Thanks
Oh yeh also, how much Chinese do I need to know for Shanghai and HK? Do they have English menus, how is the English of the local people, etc
>>1132941
shanghai has quite a bit that caters to english in terms of menus. almost no one will actually speak it, though.
in HK there are more fluent speakers, but most of the lower class/cheaper establishments will have even less english than shanghai. as in, not a bit of english, not even a menu
just my 2c
>>1132952
So how would I go about ordering food and such?
JHo
>>1132940
In my experience Shanghai is quite easy to get around and order food knowing only English, if you are concerned you can stick to eating in the tourist hotspot areas like The Bund and anywhere along Nanjing Rd.
A lot of Shanghai locals in these areas will understand or speak at least some English and almost all menus have numbers or pictures that you can point at and try to cover the language gaps that way.
You can use Uber or the Chinese equivalent (can't remember the name) to get around or even some taxis, if you are staying at a hotel the staff will help translate for you to the drivers.
The subway is also very easy to navigate with English translations on pretty much everything.
I fly with Cathway Pacific to HK but expect delays, it has been fairly common for me with most airlines arriving or leaving Pudong.
I usually travel to China in September and the weather is pretty good and haven't had too much of a problem with pollution.
I've been there about 3 times so not the most experienced with China but hopefully that helps.
>>1132957
speak chinese, kekelolelelekek
no seriously tho
>>1133038
>You can use Uber or the Chinese equivalent (can't remember the name)
There are several but the main one is Didi. Good luck using that without English. Drivers call you and they don't usually speak English.
>>1132784
>Rent a laowai
It was pretty easy, they just paid peanuts. The usual rate is ¥3000.
We just stood around pretending to be scientists business owners or something. Smile, shake hands, do a little science.
There were two eastern European hotties, a teacher and me. One of the girls got me the job.
>>1133057
That's the one, i've only been a passenger in it twice with a Chinese friend who ordered it but one of those drivers spoke English so maybe i was just lucky. Thanks for that info though.
>>1133065
I've used it a few times but it uses all the Chinese I know.
>>1132940
>after National Week
Good idea. National Week in China is a God-damn shitshow. It will be a quiet time after it.
But there's potential for it to be cold in Shanghai at that time, too (maybe not so much Hong Kong). The weather may be great, but it may not be. If not, you won't get to hang out in the street drinking beer and eating dubious BBQ til 5am. Sure you wanna miss that? And there will be less girls going out. And when they go out there'll be wearing more clothes...
If it was me, I'd go just before national week instead of just after. Definitely not during.
>air pollution
By First World standards it is awful most of the time in every city you visit. It will be particularly bad in the north but it looks like you're avoiding that.
Just accept that you're going to be breathing in a lot of shit for a couple of weeks and take blue sky days as a bonus.
>Asian airlines
It's all basically the same shit, bro. Cathay is probably considered more prestigious but it doesn't make much practical difference which one you go for. There are lots of pretentious faglords who like to compare airlines to imply that they're big time but for short haul it's all the same (unless you are building up air miles) as long as you can check your bag without hassle, and for long haul there are 2 things that matter:
>do you have a TV screen for yourself?
>do you get free booze?
Source: me. 10 years of traveling between Europe, the US and Asia for work.
And what that other anon said about delays is correct. I think some study had China as the worst country for airline delays... due to the PLA having to basically sign off on every flight or something dumb like that. And that record is really saying something given O'Hare's winter record.
>>1132695
>>1132798
>being triggered by the fact you can't use HK sims in China.
I want to go to china but I have no idea what there is to do
So, I just applied for a credit card (accident) today. When will I know if it didn't work?
I gave them my temporary resident application whatever since my visa is set to expire in two weeks (they had asked for professional certificate whatever, woman didn't seem to mind the different form).
So, yeah. Like I said above, gave them something different because I don't even have a copy of my certificate whatever; the uni has it. Has me thinking my application will be rejected, and I almost want it to. Students didn't tell me it was a credit card I was applying for until I had finished all of the paperwork in the woman's office.
She said a month, which fucks with all of my travel plans. Think it will finish before then if all is golden?
>>1133127
Sounds like you need the Club Med.
>>1133127
So why they fuck do you want to go there in the first place normie
>>1133149
Is it a Chinese credit card? Can foreigners even apply for credit cards (re: not debit or atm) in China??
>>1132940
let's just say, all of the taxi drivers I've gotten out of the airport in Shanghai did not speak a word of English. All the ones in HK airport always speak English, and are nice
>>1133064
I know a guy that used to do modeling in a 2nd or 3rd tier city. Said he got paid peanuts, and there was massive competition because of illegal Russians and slavs that all went after the same jobs. Can't imagine how bad it is in tier 1 cities.
I once had a part-time job as a rent a white guy, but was fired shortly after I started. Too bad, I was going to get paid about 10,000 RMB a month, and all I had to do was go to business meetings maybe 3 or 4 times a month. Job probably wouldn't have lasted long though.
For these modeling jobs, do you generally have to be in top shape and super good looking? Or would they hire average joes too?
>>1133262
>Students didn't tell me it was a credit card
Yeah, they can. Maybe they couldn't a couple of years ago, but they can now.
>>1133273
>For these modeling jobs, do you generally have to be in top shape and super good looking? Or would they hire average joes too?
Depends on what they're selling.
The girls were 9/10, 10/10. Tall, very slim, big tits. No older than 25.
Me and the other guy were middle aged, I think he was about 50, neither of us are standard model material.
We were being managers/scientists/CEOs, they didn't need young and fit, they needed respectable and boss material. A bit fat is kind of desirable I guess.
If you were selling yoghurt or something then it would be different.
I'm thinking of teaching English in China oncell autumn rolls around. I have a certificate and experience teaching so I imagine finding a job won't be too difficult. What is difficult however is deciding where in China.
I have visited Beijing and Zhengzou in the past and quickly learned that my lungs are too sensitive to tolerate pollution. I am hoping to find an area accessible to natural beauty so I can go on hikes on weekends or at least have something that isn't drinking to keep me interested in the area.
My biggest preference is a bohemian environment so if anyone can recommend a couple of places conducive to creative activity, I will keep them in mind as I look for work.
>>1132957
Learn some characters.
Just getting a clue what meat is in it and if its with rice/noodles or a soup take around 10 characters.
If you're feeling lucky you can just point at some names in the menu and hope it's not something too fucked up.
>>1133448
>find an area accessible to natural beauty
>clean air
You want clean air and mountains. The mountains are pretty easy to find, the clean air is probably easiest in coastal areas.
Wenzhou might not be a bad area, it's not that far from the coast and the air is good. It's not bohemian though.
>bohemian environment so if anyone can recommend a couple of places conducive to creative activity
Kunming is one. Shenzhen OCT-Loft is another.
Both places have decent air, Shenzhen is pretty good depending on where you are in it. It has so much jungle and sea breezes/storms that it's air is usually pretty fresh. It also has wetland parks and a mountain or two for hiking etc. Probably your best bet. Unfortunately, it has shitloads of foreigners so teaching jobs might not be so easy to get but that's one place to aim for.
You could also try for Ningbo, it has some natural beauty around (Putuoshan is quite close), clean air...the bohemian thing isn't super strong but I guess there's a bit.
Most of the bohemian stuff I can think of is in the form of just one or two eccentric Chinese who run a pub or YHA or something and kind of get their counter-cultural fix from making friends with foreigners. Target pub in Zhengzhou is like that, lots of hostels are like that.
>>1133460
>Just getting a clue what meat is in it and if its with rice/noodles or a soup take around 10 characters.
This. It's easy to recognise the characters for beef, chicken and lamb. Pork has about three characters but one is much more common than the others. Soup is usually one character, Rice is one of two characters, noodles have a lot of characters but two of them cover most uses.
>If you're feeling lucky you can just point at some names in the menu and hope it's not something too fucked up.
Google and baidu translate work pretty well on menus. Google needs a vpn though.
Made a post about this a few days ago with no response. Guess I'll try again.
I've got two 17-hour overnight layovers in Shanghai. Never been before. What should I do in that short amount of time? My Chinese is decent and I love 小籠包. Thanks
>>1133497
2 overnight layovers? How does that work?
You should probably just see the basic sights:
People's Square -> Nanjing Road -> Bund -> Lujiazui
>>1133510
>People's Square -> Nanjing Road -> Bund -> Lujiazui
Captain Hostel is between Nanjing Road and the Bund. You could sleep there if you need to and they have a decent rooftop bar with a view of the Bund.
>>1133510
>2 overnight layovers? How does that work?
Probably via Shanghai each way on a return flight. My uncle is doing the same thing when he comes to visit me.
>>1133695
>I'm thinking about drinking a bunch of coffee and pulling an all-nighter, how terrible of an idea is this?
Depends on the flights, whether they're long enough to sleep on and how you sleep on planes.
If you're well rested when you arrive in Shanghai then sure. Otherwise, maybe get a few hours sleep in a bed and a shower. I have no idea how long your journey is and what you're going to feel like in Shanghai.
I love having a shower and a nap between legs of long-haul flights but I only need it if they're very, very long legs.
>>1133705
I should be fine flying in the first time. My internal clock is set to Taipei time, which is the same as in Shanghai. Going in the second time will be coming from Toronto, so I have no idea how I'll feel then.
>>1133497
Just got back from Shanghai a few days ago. Try going to the Oriental Pearl Tower or Shanghai Art Museum (pic related)
>>1133745
My flight leaves at 12 in the afternoon, so I want to be at the airport at 9 am at the latest. I don't have any time for day activities, unfortunately.
I really hate how abnormal my experience teaching in China has been.
>got a job through an agent
>university is rundown
>everything is broken in my apartment
>schedule seems to change every other week
>whenever i mention something is broken in the classroom, not working, someone fixes it within ten minutes
>whenever i mentioned something was broken in my apartment, it was fixed or replaced with something brand new within a week
>complain about the slow internet in my room
>school installs private high speed broadband connection whatever comparable to my U.S. internet
>school randomly started paying me an additional 4,000 RMB after i complained about something being broken for four consecutive months
>school pays me overtime for attending English Corner sessions and English Contents even though it says in my contract that they don't have to
>receive really negative student feedback because i was teaching too much like a Chinese professor (lecture, lecture, lecture) the second semester
>nobody at the school seems to mind because that same month i get my contract renewed
>agent i mentioned before is apparently a complete slimeball with negative reviews up all over the internet about him
>goes out of his way to make me happy
>negotiated for a summer allowance in the new contract that i never even mentioned
>has taken me out to lunch three times just to talk about how the school is
>introduced me to his son who is entering college (arranged lunch)
I mean, what the fuck? I literally was telling family and friends that I was going to be fired every month because of shit I fucked up that, in every story I have read online, has gotten someone fired. I have been so paranoid this entire year because every experience I have had teaching has been the polar opposite of what I have read online.
>>1133778
Unis don't care about the quality of teacher, just that you're in the classroom teaching. If it was a training center or kindergarten, your ass would've been fired on your first mistake.
Kinda why I'm looking for a university job for the Fall or Spring term. lol
>>1133795
>If it was a training center or kindergarten, your ass would've been fired on your first mistake
Depends on the school and city, nothing is guaranteed in China. Good or bad.
>>1133778
>i get free money
>i'm not good at my job
>everything has been a comfort cruise with the world essentially bending to my whim
>this sucks
Sounds truly terrible, snowflake.
>>1133835
I suppose "hate" was a bad introduction. Doesn't change that the situation made me extremely paranoid: looking for new jobs every other month because I was convinced I had made a mistake, that something had to go wrong.
>>1133778
Well this is why you need to listen to people on /trv/ and maybe Shanghaiist. Yes they are trollfests but people talking bollocks reliably get called out and you will quickly be able to see for yourself who knows their shit and who doesn't. I remember looking at some of those ESL forums back in the day and there is so much whinging and bitching going on... they are populated by people who have grown tired of the memelife and hate the country they live in but are afraid to face up to the real world back home. Miserable people, possibly deliberately giving others bad advice so as to potentially limit their competition.
Good that your university are looking after you. As the other anon said, you have to take China on a case by case basis. It can be awful, it can be wonderful. One thing for sure though: don't trust the buggers - you always need to verify - and they will think less of you if you do trust things they say without verification.
>>1133925
>there are lot of trolls on ESL forums, especially dave's
Dave's ESL Cafe is also famous for shills and b&ing anyone that calls out shills etc. The business model is advertising based so advertisers get forum protection, more or less, even the scammers. That's what people say anyway.
Anyone have experience in Hong Kong? I am thinking of teaching there.
>>1134156
>Anyone have experience in Hong Kong? I am thinking of teaching there.
Not easy to get into. Do you already have an offer?
>>1134162
No but I have a 120 hour certificate and experience. I found some positions online but know nothing of what life would be like there.
will I finally get laid in china?
i will be going this summer.
please respond.
>>1134202
Are you from europe? then you could have gone to Ukraine already and just fucked a 10/10 girl that is also not an asian.
>>1134203
is that a yes?
>>1134205
Yes, even in the motherfucking first world this is possible. Jus a lower price and easier everywhere else. Also, scratch that, with the current degeneracy in the west it is almost impossible not to get laid for free in the western world. If you are not fat or autistic that is.
>>1134210
I probably fall into the latter category, to be honest.
>>1134156
I'd also like to teach there, but I don't have a degree.
I hear it's easy if you have a degree.
You can also make pretty good money tutoring privates, but you have to hustle to find them I guess,
>>1134213
>you won't get laid if you're complete moron that doesn't know how to push things forward with girls.
i guess i'll just go see the wall, then
>>1134213
For me because I already taught in Thailand and the pay in China is more attractive. Also Chinese women are more attractive than thone in SEA
>>1134215
go to the gym and lift weights, become an interesting person and stop being a fat autist posting sad guy memes on a taiwanese carpet weaving forum
Rate my cheat meal
:^)
>>1134184
>>Do you already have an offer?
>No but I have a 120 hour certificate and experience
>No
Good luck. I don't like your chances. You'll probably need a degree also. Hong Kong has higher standards for English teaching than SEA and China and it's basically a western country for most purposes. Their high school English teachers are also a higher standard so honkies don't necessarily consider private English lessons as valuable. Rich families probably will though because they're likely to send children overseas for uni.
Hong Kong is awesome and you could have a great time there but it's not SEA in any way. Rent is very expensive and standards are high. Hong Kong worships wealth and it sucks to be poor there. It sucks a bit to be middle-class there surrounded by shops full of things that you can't afford.
It has lots of benefits but casual backpacker english teachers aren't well positioned to enjoy them. Hong Kong is more for careerists and such.
>>1134203
>>1134210
>>1134213
>>1134253
Stop replying to the bait please. If feel memes are posted in /trv/, it's not a genuine query, it's trolling hoping that you rage about anon not reading the sticky. Just ignore.
>>1134380
amerifat/10
What's cheating about it? Are you getting it delivered to the Great Hall of the People in beijing?
Anyone been to the tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi in Xi'an? I went there last year with a tour group but never got any closer than pic related. The tour guide said you can't get much closer and definitely can't climb it, but I see pics on Google of walkways right up to the base, and I hear you can (illegally) climb it along paths. So two secondary questions:
1. Can you in fact get close to the burial mound?
2. If I were to climb it, how sneaky will I have to be and what are the consequences of getting caught?
>>1134439
>5.27 MB, 5312x2988
>picture for australians
Shitposter, please go
>>1134380
You're paying 60 for a Big Mac? I'm laughing at you now.
>>1134472
>You're paying 60 for a Big Mac?
Anon is paying Y60 for three, but they're only 18 so I think they're using Ele.me or something and being charged a commission.
>>1134452
>picture for australians
>file size is half their monthly internet allowance
can you buy cheap electronics in shenzhen? which city is best for this
