Win a coupon
Your opinion is vital for us to improve our service and further to offer you an excellent China trip. Now, your golden ideas are needed and they may earn you a coupon. Join us for your chance to win a prize!
With your green fingers make an easy but visible difference to the environment along your trip way
China Travel Tips - Social Facts:
China is, for the most part, a pretty safe place to travel - in which you don't have to worry about accidentally venturing into the wrong part of town. But it can't be denied that there are a few customs that foreign guests to China sometimes find unsavory. Being aware of these points will help you prepare for likely events without coloring your trip unsatisfactorily and experience the true China.
Queuing
Possibly the most annoying thing you'll experience in China is standing in line. Pushing, shoving, cutting in line without even a glance is common. Expect it, and deal with it. Here's how:
Breathe deep.
Stand your ground.
Indicate you were there first if someone cut in.
Cut back in front of the person who cut in front of you.
Get close and personal – don't wait back at what seems to you a normal distance.
Get right in there and fight for your turn.
May your queues be short but interesting!
Begging
You can see beggars at big markets, upscale restaurants and bars & clubs as well as ATMs by large hotels. If you meet children in rural Tibet who may extend their hand to you as if asking for candy or money, they are actually asking for pens or pencils for they're too poor to afford school things. On the other hand, a desperate woman beggar with a poor little boy in her arms who might not be her own child. It's up to you whether to economically express your mercy. It's difficult to witness poverty and the eyes of a begging child are hard to forget. Your money may be better spent given to a charity that works with the poorest.
Cigarettes
People allergic to cigarettes may have a hard time traveling in China. There are a lot of smokers in China! Especially in Yunnan, the province of planting most of the tobacco. It is now forbidden to smoke in planes, trains, air conditioned buses and public places. But smoking at meals (at a restaurant or in a home) is going to happen and you will be offered cigarettes many times on your trip. This does not mean, however, that you have to endure passive smoking. A few things that you can do: Cough and show you don't like the cigarette: some polite Chinese will extinguish it, most should direct the smoke to another direction. And you can choose non-smoking restaurants or non-smoking section when you eat. There is etiquette on smoking in China, and whether you smoke or not, it might be interesting to pay attention to that.
The Crowd
- Be prepared for nudges, step stomps when in the crowd, especially on weekend and the golden holiday---the National Day (October,1). Regard them as the special welcoming gestures
- Be prepared to be starred at, laughed at, and just paid special attention to. The local always show their curiosity and welcome in these obvious ways without any bad purpose. Just relax, respond them with your smile or directly say nihao back
- Be prepared for annoying incidents like, the loud ringtone of the cell pone on the public transportation, the spitting passenger in the scene spot, the volume competition of the crowd and so on
Toilet Using Advice
- Due to the different culture and situation, an overwhelming majority of China's public restrooms don't have toilet paper, soap and restroom are usually the squat kind. Bring toilet paper with you as well as tissues to use as napkins along your trip
- Preventive precaution or going before you go out is a good way to avoid getting trapped in a place without a nice, exactly clean toilet. If you happen to wander in the downtown, you could choose the international hotels, upscale restaurants and shopping malls where there are clean washrooms with most of the amenities (toilet paper, Western toilets, soap and towels)
- Be prepared for the bathroom without hookers and locks (Do not place too many things in your bag to avoid the inconvenience like this occasion)
- Be prepared for the long queue, especially in the lady's room. If you are not sure whether it is occupied, just knock the door instead of pushing in (locks of some bathroom may be broken)
- Scare but you still need to know that some washrooms are pretty wet for the mop wash of the washroom cleaner. Be aware the slippery floor and roll up your trousers to avoid getting wet when you are squatting down to do your business… Try to step your feet on the grooved places on either side of the toilet and get somewhere in the middle, feet flat on the floor to get balance and aim for the potty
- To avoid the block, please remember to discard the used tissue to the nearby basket
It is, in fact, not so difficult and complicated as you imagine. It sort of adds special touch to travelling experience, so please relax and do not let it discourage your China trip.
Pollution
In some of the modern cities in China, the air condition is in inverse proportion to their modernization level. If you have a weak respiratory system, please take some precaution, like bringing the mouth mask or some medicines.
Photograph
Please remember to ask for permission before you take pictures, especially in temples. Many temples don't allow pictures taken for some religious rules.