China - anyone been and have tips?

[jellybeanteaparty]

Thinking of China in August (Beijing, Xian, Guilin) Using bullet trains x2 and 1 internal flight. Family of 4 with older teens used to travel and a more adventurous itinerary. Love some tips on how long you stayed in places and must do"s etc. Thanks

Thanks bubbles and spider, that's reassuring. I suppose I am anxious about booking a guide that rushes us around. I'd rather spend the money on a few more focused tours such as a hutong food tour or a cycling trip in the countryside, if we can manage the major sights independently. Actually maybe I just have to hire a food guide 🤔

Also looking at airbnb for some locations which may be more relaxed and better value for the five of us,although I have to weigh that against the convenience of the whole hotel support network. So many considerations OK I'm rambling, time for bed. The planning really takes over doesn't it?

A hutong food tour is fairly easy to do yourself. Do not forget that the tours are highly organised. It might be worth researching an individual guide who can help rather than you being part of a group. It is easy to hire bikes for a trip around the city walls in Xian. It is 14 kms and worth it. I think you can hire bikes in the Li River area. Bike hire in the "countryside" may be difficult. It is not set up for tourists. Tourist areas are set up for tourists. Chinese ones. What country areas are you thinking of?

I just would not do Airbnb for China. You will have no support mechanisms. How will you tell the taxi driver to get you back home? You could be far away from any sights. Chinese cities are Massive!!! Forests of highrise. You would find it difficult to research guides/trips from a Chinese home. Would you have wi fi? Hotels do, but you may be cut off from the world as you know it in a Chinese home.

Also, have you seen Chinese homes? High rise is everywhere and normal. The standard of living is low inthe countryside. Your cooking facilities might be minimal. Unless you are very keen on diy, I would not do it. Hotels are not that expensive but you should find a friendly face and someone who can speak English! You might be grateful for that!

For a first visit, I would get as much as you feel comfortable with organised by a tour operator. Certainly logistics and hotels.

I am not sure about air B and B in China. As a foreigner you need to register in every place you stay. Hotels do this for you automatically, but if people stay in my home I need to register them at my local police station and need to take my house contract with me. You would need to be registered within 24 hours in every place you stay which would be quite onerous if doing it yourself.
There are cheaper hotels - ibis, hanting express - which are decent enough, although breakfast may not be great.
You can easily hire a car and driver to take you to eg terracotta warriors and then spend as long as you wish at the site. Lonely planet is an excellent resource.
Yes, cities can be massive. (I live in one) and even in a hotel you are not going to be near everything you want to see, but it's easy to get around by metro or taxi. Take a card from your hotel and you can show this to the taxi driver when you need to get back.
I have done bike hire in the countryside in Guilin without any difficulty. I find if there is a product or service you want in China, the Chinese will find some way of communicating with you!
Download wechat before you go as this has a translate function and is invaluable when communication becomes tricky. Virtually everyone (slight exaggeration) has wechat here.

I have never been (and never want to, based on what I've heard) but several of my friends have been and all but one of them loathed the place.

Having said that, I seem to make a habit of going on holiday in other south East Asian countries at Chinese New Year so I get a flavour of the the people, if not the actual country.

If you go, you need to go with a very open mind, and a very strong stomach, some anti bacterial wipes for the loos, a great deal of patience, some sharp elbows and some earplugs.

Sorry, what I meant was, the Chinese seem to go on holiday mob handed at CNY, so they are everywhere in enormous numbers and very large groups wherever else I am in Asia.

you really can find western loos with no difficulty!

Yes but you'll need to wipe the filthy shoe prints off the loo seats before you can sit down. Hence why I said take antibacterial wipes.

Probably a good idea to go everywhere with an open mind.

The rise of the middle class in China has seen a huge growth in travel and for those that do not speak English, the group tour is their preferred choice. However, I have noticed that mandarin is becoming more common in SE Asian countries. I was in Cambodia over CNY and a chap spoke to me in mandarin to ask if I wanted to buy a pineapple.

Thanks again for the replies, they really are helping. No airb&b then, I'm happy with that.

Thanks spiderpants for updating and for all the other comments from others.

So Beverley, you have not been to China and don’t want to go! Great contributions from you then!!!

OP - I did a fairly expensive tour with an expensive tour operator. There are cheaper options such as Exodus and Wendy Woo. If you find you have a specialist interest, there are specialist tours available at a price. When I visited the museum of Chinese arts in Shanghai, I was blown away by the minority people’s costumes and dress. I would love a tour to see minority peoples. They exist, but at a price.

There are elements of being a tourist in China that are a bit annoying. The Chinese do tour in large groups often with a guide with a loud hailer. There could be lots of them at the Forbidden City for example. However with a good guide book such as Lonely Planet, you can do a good job yourself.

For what it’s worth, we never visited a yuk toilet. Do have wet wipes with you and a loo roll just in case, but facilities were modern everywhere we went. Staying in a decent hotel is a treat at the end of the day.

I was immensely impressed with the museums we went to. Full of marvellous objects and I now know my Tang Dynasty horse from my Ming vase!

Closing your mind to the fantastic art, inventions, and discoveries made by the Chinese is a real shame, Beverley!

I really didn't find the toilets that bad, some off them did stink but that's because they don't have a water trap and go straight down to the sewers, most of the toilets I went into were clean and had hooks inside the cubicles for your bags. also most had at least one western loos that you could wait for if so inclined.
plus side of squat loos is that people don't hang around in the cubicles, so queue's move quickly.
one price of advice is keep tissue in your pocket at all times as it's rarely provided.

ps we are already planning to go back and explore some other areas

Ni hao from China 🇨🇳

I managed to get on a hotels WiFi and get onto Facebook with the snap VPN 👍🏻👍🏻

NI Hao Qod!
Huan Ying zhong guo - welcome to China!

Zàijiàn! 🇨🇳

En route to 🇯🇵 now so practising
Kon'nichiwa and arigato 🙏🏻

Nihao QOD. Hope you had a good time in China? Glad to hear Snap VPN worked for you.

Hi reporting back from our trip! It was amazing and intense experience. Not a relaxing holiday but we got to see some amazing places. It was hot, humid, hot so got very drenched in sweat (naice) so needed to launder clothes more but on t.he plus side didn't use any public loos to comment on their state! Travel was easy and trains good . Food generally easy to access something tasty and not too extreme. Feature on phone could hover over a Chinese menu and translate it which helped in some places.

We started in Xian taking the local bus to the terracotta warriors. These are quite surreal but the crowds heat and jetlag dimmed their impact a little. An overnight trian to Beijing was fun and enjoyed the temple of heaven, forbidden city, hutangs and most of all getting out to the wall. With four of us it was cost effective to have a private taxi who waited for us and we went to a less crowded section. We took a train to gulang and visited the rice terraces then a river trip to Yangzhou where we had a few days by the river cycling and relaxing. From here a flight to chang du and seeing pandas at the research centre then train to Xian a cycle around the walls some shopping and home. The Chinese culture took a while to get used to as although not rude at times it felt people were rude and selfish. We did get a lot of attention mostly friendly interest but one of my children hated it that people would film us. We didn't get hassled to buy things or go to places though like you may get in other countries like turkey Morocco or India. Overall worth being hot and slightly jostled in crowds - you don't get to see some breathtaking places without some effort! I can see why people would book an organised tour however it was not difficult and very cost effective to do it ourselves. We stayed in some lovely hotels but also youth hostels in private room which was great. Thanks for all the advice. Happy travels all

Beijing was horrendous and I'd have to be paid to go back. However I was in a group of 12 and the only person who hated it so it must do something for some people.

Oops just seen your update! Ignore me. Glad you enjoyed it!

Did you go in the school summer holidays, jelly? This would account for the heat. I’m glad you found it worthwhile though and managed to cycle the city walls in Xian. It’s a shame you couldn’t enjoy the terracotta warriors and the associated museum though. There are other tombs around Xian which are also fascinating.

I cannot see why anyone wouldn’t enjoy what there is to see in Beijing. Just going out to the Great Wall is one of the best things we have ever done! Awesome!

Hi Jellybean
So pleased you had a great time! Heat and humidity can be quite debilitating. when it gets up to 40 where I live I spend many a day hiding in my house with the air con on!