China…anyone been recently?

[FeltCarrot]

I’ve long since wanted to go to China and see Beijing, the Terracotta Army, visit the pandas at Chengdu…
Just wondering if anyone had been in the last year and how easy/difficult you found it, what time of year is best.

Went quite a few years ago pre pandemic so possibly not what you are wanting. Just to Bejing for a long weekend.
The visa was quite pricey I recall.
We loved it . Got a private guide and went to all the sites plus's the Great Wall of china.
Food was interesting.
Not many tourists we were asked for photos wherever we went.
Hopefully someone will come along with more information

Yunnan is lovely. I recommend Lijiang old town

Went for work 6 months ago. Fascinating but not easy travelling. In Beijing, none of the shops would take my English bank card, internet is very limited without a vpn and you need a local phone & local apps to do anything. So it would be hard work without an organised tour or local guide.

We went in 2019, & did a 3-week tour, so not really what was asked.

You do need an organised tour, it would be very difficult to get around without a tour manager to get you on the right 'plane etc.

Will have a look at organised tours. Thanks everyone.

The main change in recent years is the degree to which everything has become smart/ digital in major cities which can make paying for things/ ordering things like taxis tricky- definitely need some sort of digital wallet. It used to be all via WeChat but I’m possibly out of date on that as not been for a while and things move fast. In some ways it makes the country harder to navigate than in the 90s as if you don’t have the right app sometimes there’s just no workaround. Take cash as an emergency back up but don’t expect many places to take it in cities- rural areas is a different story.

If you want to see a lot of the country with minimal
stress I’d say get an organised tour or if not at least get a guide/ driver when you go to each place.

Also just a heads up- do not engage your guide in any political discussions esp around HK/ Taiwan/ TS. You won’t gain any useful insights and It’s likely to stress them out/ could even cause trouble for them

We are in Beijing now.
We arrived 2 weeks ago, on 4 September.
Since then we have took the high speed train to Zhangjiakou to visit her sister.
Then we took the high speed train back to Beijing north railway station, where we got a taxi to Daxing airport for a flight to Weihai to visit het father.
Then a flight Weihai to Harbin, visit friends. Then fast train Harbin to Daqing, visit her uncle.
Then flight from Daqing to Beijing, where we are now.
In a few days we get the fast train to Tianjin, there for a few days, then back on fast train to Beijing.
Then a few more days in hotel, and fly back to Manchester.
We have been all over China, and to all the places you mention.
Ask away.

We are in Beijing now.
We arrived 2 weeks ago, on 4 September.
Since then we have took the high speed train to Zhangjiakou to visit her sister.
Then we too the high speed train back yo Beijing north railway station, where we got a taxi to Daxing airport for a flight to Weihai to visit het father.
Then a flight Weihai to Harbin, visit friends. Then fast train to Daqing, visit her uncle.
Then flight from Daqing to Beijing, where we are now.
In a few days we get the fast train to Tianjin, there for a few days, then back on fast train to Beijing.
Then a few more days in hotel, and fly back to Manchester.

Very easy to buy a local sim
Put Weechat on your phone before leave uk.
Put Alipay on your phone, link it to your uk credit card.
Simples

We also did an organised tour, once again just before lockdown, with Wendy Wu visiting all the places you mentioned.
Enjoyed it except for the obligatory shop stops we had to do (we eventually went "on strike" and refused to go in them.

I went 15 years ago now, so not a lot of help, but I disagree that it is especially hard. You can get apps on your phone now which translate when you hover over text which is a complete game changer. The Chinese earn english at school so lots were able to talk with us, particularly the younger generations, and seemed enthusiastic to help. We used cash for everything. But as a couple of twenty somethings we could get between the main sights just fine/ purchase internal flights and trains while there. You might need a tour for anywhere really remote. I never felt unsafe, with the exception of some crazy taxi driving, whatever is going on with the government, day to day citizens were generally sweet or ignoring us.

Echoing the suggestion to put weechat/weepay on your phone if you can. Cash has almost disappeared in China and it's now very, very difficult to use trains/taxis without having weepay.

I'm wondering if we were on the same tour?

Worst tour guide ever, Chen/Stephen ?

We had a lot to complain about Wendy Wu , & got a 10% refund.
There are better operators than them.

Was there a week or so ago for work, all good

Agree Wechat and Alipay on phone,
new 144 hour visa also for UK if you are going as part of the longer multi country trip (or just willing to go home via 3rd country)

I dont think UK are on the 144 hour free visa.
Probably because UK governments just cant keep their big mouths shut.

You can visit the whole of China just by using and booking on Trip.com.
This is the newish name of CTrip.

For this trip,
I have booked
6 fast trains,
8 hotels,
3 internal flights.
Its super easy on Trip.com

Trains can only be booked 15 or 15 days in advance, be ready to buy train tickets as soon as they become available, like, within 5 minutes.

Also as mentioned earlier, English is the curriculum second language.

You will find many of the 35 year olds anc younger, really want to engage in an English conversation with you.
Sure some are very rusty, but some just cant stop chatting.

The airports are amazing for nursery and baby play and change areas. All free nappies, wet wipes, etc.

I was there pre-pandemic. I did get a WeChat account, but in fact, I couldn't use its wallet. It was either automatically partially suspended or we couldn't get it fully activated. I was there in spring and think this was a good time. Summer seems far too warm.

Weechat dont use international bank cards yet, thus the need for Alipay for now.

If you are going to be in China for a while, or a frequent visitor, then its not to difficult to open a basic bank account, and drop some GBP in it.
Then straight forward to link your Weechat.

That isn’t correct

144 for UK citizens is definitely possible, that was what I used …

Thanks for the update.

6 days (144 hours) is good to visit 1 or 2 cities.
We have almost a month here.