China

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Revision as of 18:22, 10 December 2012 by Gusgusgus (talk | contribs)
Li River Guangxi

Basics

PAGE CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION (as of 5 June 2011)

The CS China Wiki is a collective of information contributed by members and volunteers of the CS China group. It is not supposed to be used by non-CSers and does not replace your guidebook/ travel research. It only addresses the question that are frequently being asked by CSers on the CS China group and contains only the information relevant and useful to CSers.

If you have a general question about travelling in China or a particular city in China, we recommend the website of Wiki-travel for all the basic information:

http://wikitravel.org/en/China

Note that you are responsible to do your own research, the information contained here is only to assist you as a beginner's guide and may not be up-to-date.

CS China Wiki Editing Guidelines

1) CS Terms and References Please observe the CS Terms and Reference.

2) Factual Guide The Wiki is a neutral and impartial guide that serves as a beginners reference for CSers visiting China for the first time. Please be impartial in your writing and do not favour or dis-favour any Chinese city or town. The content here should be basic facts about China, no personal views or comments.

3) No Promotion No promotion of hostel, travel services, job-hunting agencies, estate agencies, e-shops or any business

4) No discussion of politics Couchsurfing is a website created solely as a platform for travellers to share travel information. No discussion of any political issues here - you should note that wikipedia is blocked in China for various reasons surrounding this and we do not want to see this happen to our dear website.

5) Photos [Please add photos that show the diversity - ethnic, climatic, geographic etc. - of China.]

Photos must be copyleft, public domain etc. or your own personal photos that you are willing to allow others access to via a release to the public domain or via a Share-alike licence. See here for an example of the licence I'm talking about. Wikimedia Commons is a good source of free and share-alike licensed photos.

Do not use any images without permission, clearance etc. Do not just copy and paste photos you like from the web without checking copyright, ownership, authorship etc.

Getting To

Visas and Permits

Note that as of April 2012, it was announced that authorities would be focussing on fining and deporting foreigners in the country without the proper credentials. This would include people who have overstayed their visa as well as those using incorrect visas, such as teachers using tourist visas, and teaching is one of the areas they are focussing on. There have also been previous announcements that government departments would improve collection and storage of data related to visas and enhance the tracking of arrivals to and departures from the country by foreigners and Chinese citizens. See post here.

On June 30, 2012 China enacted a new Exit-Entry Administration Law which comes into effect officially on July 1, 2013. It applies in particular to those who will be working in China. Click here for highlights of the law. Please note that these are preliminary highlights of the law only and that you must do your own further research and due diligence.

Applying For a Visa in Your Home Country

It is strongly advisable that you obtain your Chinese visa in your home country.

The Chinese Government has a uniform policy on visa application fees, meaning no matter which Chinese embassy you are applying your Chinese visa in (be it your home country, Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand or Vietnam), you will pay the same amount of application fee - ie. the only difference is that you are paying a different currency.

Differences between different types of visa: Discussion

Applying For a Visa in Hong Kong/Macau

Hong Kong CS Wiki

Applying For a Visa in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

The visa section of the Chinese consular in Ulaanbatar is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:30-12:00. Get there early as people start lining up around 8am, although it's probably not as busy outside of high season (summer). The door for visa services is on the west side of the embassy, not the front (south). There will probably be two lines at the door: One line for people submitting applications and one for those picking up their passport. For applying, most nationalities will need:

  • Passport with one blank page.
  • Copy of passport.
  • One recent photo on a plain, light background.
  • Ticket (train or flight) out of Mongolia into China as well as ticket out of China. (Tickets in and out of China are required for each entry you request).
  • Accommodation booking for at least the first few nights in China.
  • Filled out application which can be done at the embassy or in advance by filling out these forms here .
  • Price varies by nationality and express services exist for an extra charge (same day, pay extra $30; 2nd day, pay extra $20). Pay on pick-up in new (post 1996) US dollars that are clean and crisp.

Note: Number of entries and length of stay will depend on nationality, previous trips to China, and flight/train tickets provided. Please check the Chinese embassy in Ulaanbaatar's website for further information.

Visa Renewal Within China

Discussion

Tibet Permits

Have a look at this discussion thread.

Overland Trips

Ferry from Shanghai to Japan - Discussion

Overland Trip to Vietnam - Discussion 1, Discussion 2

Ferry to Korea from 6 cities in China - Link Route Link 2 Discussion 1

Train to Mongolia/ Russia - Link

Bus to Kazakhstan - Link

Getting Around

Flights and hotels

For booking flights and hotels, there is a very convenient English website: www.ctrip.com. Here you'll find the lowest rates for flights and accommodations of your choice. (again I hate to promote a specific commercial company, but it is the best site out there widely used by the Chinese themselves!). However you will not find the backpackers or youth hostels listed there...

For those who know a little Chinese, also try www.qunar.com to find cheap flights in China. This is just a search website that will direct you to other, independent agencies. Investigate payment methods since foreign credit cards are usually not accepted.

These are some of the hostels recommended by our group members: Discussion

Train

China has one of the best train networks in the world. Taking the train in China is the most convenient way to travel the country. Distances from one big city to another can be quite long. Some provinces are bigger than the state of Texas or France! An expanding network of high speed trains is adding both comfort and speed to the otherwise fairly slow pace of the trains.

Buying a train ticket

Buying yourself a train ticket is not the easiest task. If possible, ALWAYS buy your ticket one or two days in advance. If you go to the train station, the bigger the city, the more you have to be careful of pickpockets, harassers and stalkers who want to sell you all kinds of business (train tickets, hotels, transport, even maybe mei-mei (prostitutes!)). The train tickets are the hottest commodity on the black market in China. Although it's illegal to trade train tickets in China, enforcement is scarce, so many black market traders or brokers will just go to queue the lines at the ticket counters, buy tickets in bulk, then sell them at black market price.

To buy tickets you can actually find official train tickets counters in specific shops in the city. At the train station the tickets counters are usually located in a special 'ticket sales hall' or 'center', it is usually just a big hall that's not the departure nor the arrival hall with lots of people queueing.

Holiday season: If you are travelling around the month of the Chinese New Year, the week of May 1st or the week of October 1st, do book your tickets at least weeks in advance. That's when the entire population of China seems to be taking the train and public transportation to go on holidays, tourism, go home to visit family...etc

Online ticket purchase?The National Rail Department does not sell train tickets online. There are travel agents who claim that they can assist you to purchase train tickets if you transfer money to them online. However, in our CS-ers experience, there are plenty of online scams that we have heard of - do watch out. We do not recommend that you purchase train ticket through an online agent unless you do not have any other option.

Around China on Train

National Rail Map

You can search trains schedules and fares on these websites: http://www.tielu.org/

http://www.seat61.com

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china-trains/

More train trip advice: Discussion

The 4 train seat options

Hard Seat (yìngzuò, 硬坐) - the cheapest There are 3 seats on each side of the aisle which makes this the most crowded choice. The seats are not as hard as wood but the upholstery is not as comfortable as the soft seats. They are also not as consistently clean.

Soft Seat (ruǎnzuò, 软坐) This is a fairly comfortable seat. There are 2 seats on each side of the aisle. Getting a soft seat ticket will usually get you into a “soft seat lounge” as well. The soft seat lounges have sofas and are not as crowded as the hard seat lounges.

Hard sleeper (yìngwò, 硬卧) Hard sleepers are usually arranged in a triple bunk bed type set up. There are two triple bunk beds in a berth (a berth is like a small door-less room). That is, there is one bed on the bottom, one on the middle and one on the top. On one side of the aisle there are triple bunk beds arranged perpendicular to the windows. Opposite every berth is one or two seats and a very small table. Sheets, blankets and pillows are included.

Soft Sleeper (ruǎnwò, 软卧) - most expensive There are both 2-bed berth and 4-bed berth soft sleepers. 4-bed berths are the standard. Due to the higher price, it is easier to book a ticket for a soft sleeper than it is for a hard sleeper. The beds are more comfortable and it’s a quieter environment inside. The berths are lockable.

Group Post

Travelling by Train During The Peak Seasons - Chinese New Year (Jan/Feb) and National Day Holiday (Oct)

Discussion 1

Discussion 2

Phone and communication:

In China, there are 3 mobile phone networks, all 3 of them are owned by the same state-owned entity.

While more than 90% of the SIM cards sold in convenient stores across the country can call/receive calls everywhere in China, in some provinces there are certain SIM cards issued by a local telecom company (local subsidiary of 1 of the 3 telecom companies) that you can only call/receive calls from within the same province (at a cheaper rate).

Voice Calls

For the most common type of SIM card, you are charged only for making calls. However, for some SIM cards (which are usually cheaper), you are charged for both making calls and receiving calls. Do check the package or to ask the shop owner when you purchase.

National roaming - Every card has an "issuing province".

  1. For making calls, the calling rates for intra-province (cheaper) and inter-province are different.
  2. When you are picking a call on your "province A sim card" when you travel to province B, you are charged an extra inter-province roaming surrcharge.

Data usage

If you are staying in China only for a short time (say, less than 9 months). Your best (and only) option is to get a pay-as-you-go GPRS/3G internet card.

Most GPRS/3G internet data plan require you to sign up for 12 months or more and that you pay a huge deposit.

There is no short-term (10-day or 1-month) data package. The group has been asked many times:- http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=111&post=9998364 http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=111&post=9986918

FAQs:

The following questions are frequently asked on the CS China forum.

The members of the CS China group will be happy to answer any question about travelling in China that you have, however, it will be helpful to both you and us if you read these following "classic" previous posts before making a new post on the same topic. Chances are that your question have been asked and answered by someone already and you will get the info you want by just one click on the following links (and... to be honest, our members are getting bored reading and answering the same questions again and again):

1) Advice on travel itineraries

Two Weeks in China

Thirty-two Days in China

Three to Four weeks between Shanghai and Beijing

1 month in China - Discussion 1 Discussion 2 Discussion 3

2 months in China - Discussion 1 Discussion 2

Destinations between Beijing and Shanghai

From Chengdu to Lhasa

2) Budget

Daily expenses Discussion

Budget for a month Discussion

Hostels/food Discussion

3) Getting a job in China

Caution: From the experience of our CSers, we have heard MANY scams from many self-proclaimed "job search agencies" who promised you everything to lure you to sign to them and many of those promises turned out to be untrue and it became very difficult for the person to get out from the situation.

For highlights of China's new Exit-Entry law from July 1, 2012 - click here

English teaching jobs 1

English teaching jobs 2

General work/ intern/ work visa sponsor

4) Chinese Visa

Discussion 1

Discussion 2

You do not need to provide an "Invitation Letter" if you are applying for "L" Type Chinese Visa (ie. Tourist Visa), Read discussion here.

5) Hostels recommended by our CSers

Thread covering recommendations in various locations

6) Police registration system for foreign travellers

If you're an independent traveller at low to mid-range accommodations, beware that you may be turned away or asked to self-register at a nearby police station if the hotel does not have the registration system. This is a bigger concern if you're off the beaten track or it's late and you cannot self-register at a nearby police station. See discussion and examples here

Active CS groups in China

(in alphabetical order)

  • Beijing Has 3 regular weekly meetups and other regular weekly events. Check the link for details.
  • Shanghai Has several weekly meetups. Check the link for details.
  • Shenzhen Meetups every Thursday at different locations. Check the link for details.

And from the island so beautiful that everyone wants to call their own...

Culture Shock / Etiquette Issues for CSers to note in China

  • Recommended Reading: Factory Girls by Leslie Chang is the best book I've read on modern China in this regard.
Kids in Nanjing playing in the snow

Culture Shock is a given when you come to China. Read up before you arrive and do your best to know a bit about the place beforehand. Be aware that this is preparation, not a solution or preventative measure. Even up to date reading you do beforehand might be out of date by the time you arrive due to the rapidly changing nature of the country. Also, please try to be sensitive to the fact that even locals may be trying to understand the most recent changes in their lives and may not be able to easily explain them to you.

Although there are some commonalities across the nation, be aware that there may be differences in perceptions / behaviours / customs / habits / traditions from neighbourhood to neighbourhood, city to city, province to province, region to region and differences among the generations.

Keep in mind that many cities in China are centres for migration and people from all over, with their own habits, customs, traditions and dialects, are living and working next to each other. Don't assume that behaviours or attitudes are shared or practiced by all just because you've seen or experienced them from some people.

If you have complaints or need to vent about certain behaviours that you do not understand or that you find frustrating, please do your best to seek advice from other expats in private... and do so sparingly. Please don't voice your complaints around local people or others who may take offense or feel unfairly stereotyped. If you do need to ask a local about a certain issue, please do so calmly and sensitively in order to find an answer or a solution.

Some issues surfers have come up against:

- Foreign Couchsurfers should technically register with the local police when staying with a Host. You can find this information on the arrival card you fill out when reaching China, so nobody can really claim ignorance here. When staying in a hostel/hotel/guesthouse, they will do it for you, but to avoid trouble for your Host, you should spend the time to go to the station. In the city you should register within 24 hours of arrival, but in the countryside you have 72 hours. Usually, it will be necessary to bring a Chinese speaker for translation. Although there are no reports of foreigners being stopped at the border and asked about their whereabouts for "missing days", it is mainly beneficial for your Host. The police might get upset with a Host who has foreign strangers going in and out all the time. Realize that foreigners are very noticeable in China and that the police may have concerns about their presence.

- Be aware of sensitive topics and who you are speaking to. Please don't ask a local person about an issue that may make them feel uncomfortable or 'put on the spot'. Also be aware that although Chinese people discuss and joke about many topics freely among family and friends, they may not want to discuss these same issues with a relative stranger or with a foreigner.

- It may take some local people a long time to 'warm up' and feel that they know you or feel that you are now a friend rather than a passing acquaintance.

- Some people, especially those from outside major cities, may engage in spitting, nose-picking, uncovered sneezing etc. The government has engaged in health campaigns to discourage this and to promote spitting into tissues etc. to prevent the spread of colds and flus but old habits are hard to break.

- Toilet facilities and plumbing may be different from those you are used to back home. Be prepared to be flexible. Pun intended.

- In general, showers or baths are taken in the evening and it may be seen as unhygienic not to bathe before bedtime so please note this and ask your hosts if they prefer that you shower at a certain time of day.

- Be aware that some parts of China have strong 'drinking cultures' when it comes to social events. Men in particular may be expected to drink large amounts of alcohol - often straight hard liquor - in order to bond with locals. If this is not your thing, have a polite excuse on hand about a medical condition or other polite technique at hand to moderate your alcohol intake without offending anyone.

- Please remember that common courtesy never goes astray. A smile, a thank you, a gift or any other appropriate show of gratitude for hospitality received is always appreciated.

China At A Glance

  • Most populous nation on Earth - over 1,300,000,000 people.
  • One of the largest nations on Earth by area along with Russia, Canada, the US and Brazil.
  • 55 recognized minority groups.

China CS in the press/blogosphere

Books about CS in Chinese language

  • 你家沙发借我睡 by 林鸿麟 ISBN: 9787208088368
  • 我,睡了,81个人的沙发 by Rose Lien ISBN: 9789573909002
  • 22岁走遍世界:我睡沙发去旅行 by Leo Long ISBN: 9787214075567
  • 7500元28天游港澳大阪京都-35岁单身女子的沙发客之旅 (赵菊阳) ISBN:9787538455243
  • 沙发旅行 by Momo ISBN:9787807297659

A movie about CS in Chinese:

  • 第三十六个故事 (Taipei Exchanges)

Useful references:


Other material that used to be on this page has been saved here - China miscellaneous