Travel Tips for China Trips
Visa, Money, Manners, Meals, Wi-Fi, Cell Phones, Credit Cards, Doing Business

Welcome and congratulations on your upcoming trip to China, the opportunity of a lifetime. Here are travel tips for you to make your stay in China pleasant. Learn how to get around in China, tips on currency exchange, the electric current, Internet access and Wi-Fi. Everyone wants to know how to make telephone calls and use a cell phone. Of course, there are tips here for using your credit card. A few health tips may come in handy, too. There are tips about dining, manners and Chinese business etiquette. For a memorable time on your China travels, appreciate the fact that you are a guest in an exotic, mysterious country with a six-thousand-year history. I hope you have an incredible trip.

How to Get Around in China, Visa, Airport and Restricted Items

To travel to China you need a passport and a tourist visa. Standard visas are valid for 90 days after they are issued, and cover 30 days in China. A tourist visa to China costs $130. To enter Hong Kong, you need only your passport. If you fly into Asia on a SkyTeam airline, which includes Delta and Continental, you can purchase an Asia Pass, coupons for air flight between 15 major Chinese cities.

The major airport for northern China is Beijing Capital International Airport. There are also international airports in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Kumming, Xiamen, Shenzhen, Xi'an, Chengdu, and Cuilin. Air China is the major Chinese airline.

Arrive at the airport at least two hours before your flight time to allow time for going through customs.

You are not allowed to bring narcotics, firearms and plants and animals into the country. To get through customs hassle-free, don't bring certain restricted materials into the country. These include religious, pornographic, and political items and also materials about Tibet. It is not necessary to fill out custom declaration forms. If you are bring money into the country, say several thousand dollars or more, you should declare it upon your arrival.

China Money, Currency Conversion and ATMs

Chinese money is the yuan, which is also called RMB. Prices are posted as 10Y, 22Y and so on. The yuan is divided into tenths, or ten-cent units. Paper money has a different color for each denomination. One dollar is worth about 6.5 yuans, and the exchange rate varies daily.

In Hong Kong, the only currency is the Hong Kong dollar. One US dollar is worth about 7.75 Hong Kong dollars.

Convert your dollars into yuan at a major bank or the hotel or an ATM machine. ATM machines automatically have English language screens. Your pin number should be just four digits long. Advise your local bank that you will be traveling to China.

Before you take a walk around a Chinese town, ask someone to write the hotel name and address in Chinese for you, in case you get lost or want to take a cab.

Tips About Internet Access in China

In China, Wi-Fi is usually available in larger cities, where hotels and cafes often provide it for free.

Internet access to some sites and blogs is restricted in China. To avoid the restrictions, you can subscribe to a VPN, Virtual Private Network, or use proxy servers. For a VPN, try AnchorFree or subscribe to WiTopia.

How to Use Phone Calling Cards in China

There are two kinds of phone calling cards in China, an IC card and an IP card. Both types of cards are available at convenience stores, post offices and newsstands. To make phone calls within China, you will save by buying an integrated circuit, IC, calling card. To call long distance within China to other Chinese cities from a public phone, you need an IC card. You can use the IP card for international calls from any phone.

Tips for Making Phone Calls in China

Long distance phone rates within China are very low. If you use the hotel phone, the hotel adds on a 15% fee.

International direct dialing is available at all hotels, post offices, shopping centers and airports. To make an international call from inside China, dial 00 for international access, then the country code, area code and phone number. The country code for the U.S is 1.

Telephone numbers that begin with 800 are toll-free in China. But if you call an 800 number in the U.S. from China, the call is not free. To save money on international phone calls, download the U.S. version of Skype to your computer.

Tips for Using Your Cell Phone in China

If your cell phone has a tri-band GSM or is a CDMA phone, you can use your cell phone while in China. But first you must buy a local SIM card from any China Mobile or China Unicom shop. They are usually at all the airports. You'll get a local phone number, too. You must then buy prepaid cards to charge minutes onto your SIM. Pack an adapter for your cell phone charger.

Etiquette and Business Manners on Your China Trip

1. If you get pushed or shoved in line while sightseeing, don't be offended. It's not considered rude to do this in China.
2. Always address people as Mr. and Ms. until they suggest otherwise.
3. Business cards are very important. Have your card printed with English on one side and Chinese on the reverse.
4. Offer your business card by holding it in both hands. Accept a business card with both hands, and take time to read it.
5. Gifts like clocks and knives are considered unlucky in China. The number 4 is also unlucky, because it is associated with death. Never give a gift of four items. Food baskets always make a suitable gift.
6. Practice eating with chopsticks as a courtesy to your hosts in China. If you aren't comfortable with chopsticks, carry a plastic spoon and fork with you. Never leave your chopsticks standing in a bowl, because it is a reminder of the incense at funerals.
7. Your dinner host will tell you where to sit. Don't eat before the host eats, and never eat food directly from the serving bowls.
8. Never take the last piece of food on a platter.

Tips for Meals and Dining During China Trips

1. Many restaurants in China do not accept credit cards.
2. Breakfast is usually served only until 9 AM. Lunchtime is between 11 and 2. Dinner is served from 5 to 9 PM.
3. The typical Chinese breakfast is conge, a type of rice porridge. But your hotel may provide a western style breakfast, and there are lots of new coffee shops in the cities.
4. Eat at local restaurants to immerse yourself in the cuisine and to save money on meals. Try the street stalls for a snack of grilled meat and chicken kebabs, noodle soup or stuffed dumplings. American style fast food chains are often available.
5. Alcoholic beverages are served everywhere, because a liquor license is not required. Beer is by far the beverage of choice. Chinese wine is either a sweet fruit wine or a distilled rice wine. The popular Chinese liquor is Maotai, which contains 35% to 53% alcohol. International beverage brands are also provided.

How to Use Your Electrical Appliances in China

The electrical power in China is 220 volts, so you need a transformer for your 110 volt appliances like shaver and hair dryer. You also need an adapter to fit the shape of the electric outlet. Your computer can probably use 220 volts, but it, too, will need an adapter.

Health Tips for China Travel

1. No immunization shots are required to enter China, but travelers should prepare by getting shots for typhoid, Hepatitis A and B, tetanus-diphtheria and measles booster shots.
2. Take a supply of prescriptions drugs and a doctor's written prescription with you.
3. Drink only bottled, boiled or purified water. Wash fresh fruits and veggies in bottled water before you eat them, and brush your teeth with bottled water.
4. Many public restrooms have only squat toilets and do not provide toilet paper. Bring your own paper. Shopping malls and large hotels have western style toilets.

How to Use Your Credit Card in China

1. Keep a list of your credit card numbers and bank phone numbers in case of a loss.
2. Notify your credit card company in advance that you will be charging purchases from abroad.
3. DCC, Dynamic Currency Conversion, is the new practice of charging your credit card in yuan, and then adding a 3% fee to convert the yuan to dollars. This is in addition to the usual fees. You can avoid DCC by asking that your card be charged in dollars.
4. Here's an important heads up. Many restaurants and stores you come across in your travel through China do not accept credit cards.

I hope you have an exciting vacation.
I wish you a very happy day.

Travel Guide Jeff, for Travel Welcome

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Travel Tips for China Trips



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