China Travel Forum

[Robert]

what i need to know is how much money do i need once i get to china, what kind of gear and supplies would i need, how much chinese should i learn to speak, what things should i know about the chinese people, and anyother good tips for a first time traveler.

i don't have to much money so completely low budget is what i want, i know NO chinese as of now, i have never traveled abroad by myself, i want to be mostly out of the eastern big cities, i'have no idea what i am in for. i want to go as light as i can backpacking or buses, trains.

what are some good web site's for me to get info about these things and any personal info you all could provide me would be very helpful.

what kind of trips do most people do when going to china?

[Eric]

the first thing you should think of is what is your plan.do you want to visit the cities or natural views.big cities ,such as beijing,shanghai are worthy of being visted.and if you want to see natual views , I suggest you go to the southwest,such as yunnan,sichuan and tibet.
The longer you are there, the more you will learn.
As for the money: getting to China is expensive, but once there everything is super cheap. Again, stay away from tourist traps and you will find great guesthouses and restaurants that literally cost like $2 for a huge meal that would feed 5 people.
The Chinese people we encountered were either really nice or really rude.
I would defnitely recommend getting a native Chinese person to make certain accomodations for you like long distance travel -- train tickets are hard to get and the transportation system is very difficult to navigate alone if you don't speak any Chinese. She took the hard part out for us so that we could have fun trying to find our own accomodations and stuff.
I am a student, so we did everything on a super tight budget.
when you do stuff, make sure it includes everything.
Learn the culture. If you have Chinese friends have them explain the culture. There are differences in culture, such as personal space, elders, food, staring, etc...
Learn a few words of Mandarin, every Chinese LOVES a foreigner who tries to learn the language. Tho you will encounter many dialects on your travels, but generally everyone speaks or understands Mandarin.
Always have toilet paper and some spare change. Not all toilets have paper and some toilets require payment.
Don't want to turn you off about the trip. Just wanted to give a few words of advice. China is fun, tons of history, culture and nature. And its CHEAP