Upcoming trip to China.

General General Discussion
1

So in two weeks I will be traveling to China for a much needed vacation. The trip is just for fun, and the plan is to hit five cities in thirteen days. Flying into Beijing, then taking the train to Shanghai, flight from there to Shenzhen, then on to Hong Kong, with Macau in the mix too. We have three days in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, along with two in Shenzhen and Macau.

Of course, if anyone should have any advice, please offer it up. This is my first trip to China, and while I know that we aren’t hitting up everything we could see, my Visa is good for ten years, so I can go back for more visits in the future. (EG: Xi’an was not in the cards this trip, and several clients have told me to drop other cities to make Xi’an happen, maybe next year.)

Places I must go?

Things I must see?

Places to eat, drink?

Places to avoid?

I appreciate any words of wisdom.

2

I have a friend, which I also work for, that has worked in China a few times and he loves it over there. He invited me to be his relief over there, but I declined. When he works there, it is out away from any big city. I know he is just blowing smoke, but he talks about wanting to stay over there. If I were going, I would want to get out of the cities and check out the rural, less populated areas. However, I don’t ever plan on going to China.

Oh, avoid any tour that is headed to North Korea.

3

Places to avoid - JAIL

Do take your shots - Hepatitis, Typhoid, Japanese encephilitis, etc. Consult your local travel health clinic for their recommended immunization.

Places to eat - China/Hong Kong are full of eateries, from a hole in the wall to the fanciest/most expensive restaurants. Some of the gems are the small places. Be careful though of the street food. While they are great food, Americans may not be used to their local lack of cleanliness and may get food poisoning or diarhia. It’s a hit and miss though, you might get sick eating food at a supposedly clean international airport restaurant and then be ok eating local food. Try not to eat uncooked vegetable or sliced open fruits at street stands (flies and dust). I don’t know about ice in China or in their local remote provinces. The water they used to make the ice may or may not be fully treated and may contain contaminants. Ice in big restaurants are usually ok.

Just have an open mind and enjoy the adventure.

4

Can only speak to HK, but haven’t been there since 1993 when I was a kid. There is a tram ride up to mountain peak. Stanley Market is a bus trip, but its a small place to buy random crap. Mody Rd had some good Dimsum, can’t remember any names. Ocean Park is an amusement park if you are bringing kids.

Hong Kong was the closest Toys R Us for us (in Harbour City). Always looked forward to going there. And eating Burger King. Didn’t have those where I lived either.

Good luck!

5

13 days in 5 cities is not much at all. Does the 13 days includes the inbound and outbound flights? that’s two days gone.

6

I haven’t been to China, but I have been to Taiwan and I can absolutely agree with Sam’s recommendation of being weary with street food. I got horrible food poisoning after eating some food at a night market, but my cousin was fine (he was born in Taiwan and raised on that stuff, I was born in the US). I’ve watch street vendors not use soap/detergent when they rinse off plates/bowls from previous customers and the oil used to fry things in probably haven’t been changed in a while.

7

I wouldn’t take any electronics I planned to keep after the trip. (Phones, computers and tablets)
The Chinese are notorious for bugging diplomatic residences, and not being sneaky about it either.

8

First, go to a travel doctor and get caught up on all shots!!

Shenzhen is an industrial city near Hong Kong- its where to (middle class) live and work. Its like Cincinnati but with a lot of rice patties and marshes. DO NOT GO TO THERE AMUSMENT PARK!!! There are some cool beaches there and sights from ancient China- you can get laid for about $20 USD!

Hong Kong is a fun place - its a global city like New York, Paris, London so expect to see a variety of people and cultures. Great food, but don’t eat where they tell tourist to eat, ask to eat at the best local places. They have a lot of knock off stores like Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Rolex, Cartier, Hermes, Tiffany etc. The are some stores that look totally legit down to the décor and employee name tags- but they are 100 % fake!! So be careful where you shop.

Shanghai - is a huge banking city on the water, lots of wealthy people from around the world live here-its the upper class/ upper society and much like Hong Kong, it is very global and diverse in culture and people- lots of Americans live here. Great food, shopping, stuff to do. Cool go-go night clubs and karaoke bars where hot girls dance in lingerie while some Chinese man is singing Fleetwood Mac. - You should defiantly check out the Swan Massage Parlor there- its not what you think but you do get to pick 2 scantily clad girls out of like 50 to give you a table shower, massage you, manicure, pedicure, facial and cleanse and you get to lounge around all day and use there steam rooms, saunas, hot tubs and exercise room- there’s no private rooms, its like one huge facility and everyone is wearing a robe. If you have time- go to some of the old Wushu and Wing Chun- kung fu temples that have been around since the 1500’s- they still practice there and there is one I believe where Bruce Lee, Jet Li, IP Man and a few others studied at-I do believe they are still open to tourist.

Beijing is a modern city, a lot of new infrastructure mixed with old. Its like ancient china with modern buildings with neon lights built around it. The Great Wall is there and there are lots of festivals and cultural rituals you can watch. A lot of people live here- traffic is a nightmare. 90% of people were a dental mask to keep from inhaling toxic air.

If you have time, go to Tianjin- its an industrial city with one of the largest ports in the world. Got lots of stuff to do. Got a few beaches and tourist attractions as well as where most of the Chinese Navy docks there boats. Its also home to one of the largest explosions ever recorded with a 4.0 magnitude on the Richter Scale. Cool bars and clubs

A couple other people have stated about street food- they are 98% right- Its ok in Hong Kong and Tokyo but China doesn’t exactly have an FDA that restricts certain chemicals and food that can cause certain illness or death. Eat what you know!

Most important- learn how to say no!- its spelled Bu and pronounce Bul with a silent l. The Chinese people see Americans as a bunch of Bill Gates walking around and want to sell you anything and everything! Just say NO!!

9

If time permits, visit the Crane’s Nest and pay your respects.

http://www.scmp.com/news/article/1856039/future-bruce-lees-hk100m-hong-kong-home-hangs-balance-after-tycoon-owner-yu

10

In Beijing definitely consider doing the Forbidden City in reverse. Start outside the North Gate in Jingshan Park which has a hill that overlooks the whole city. Then start your tour at the North Gate and work your way through the rear support residences to the stunning front courtyards and eventually the hugeness of Tianannmen square.

Doing it the normal way starts awesome but ends up in boring detail…

Have Peking Duck in Peking! It’s like nowhere else.

Hong Kong is one of my favorite cities in the world. Incredible skyscrapers and vibrant city lining a deep water port. Take the iconic Star Ferry from Central to Tsim Sha Tsui around 730PM and watch the nightly coordinated skyscraper laser light show from the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront to your right as you exit the ferry building.

Hit Maks Noodle House in Central by the mid level escalators for some delicately perfect wonton noodle soup. Then go up the escalators and see a neighborhood based on escalators going up a hill!

There are plenty of incredible foodie restaurants in HK too. Google or Yelp it and take your pick. Don’t just eat whatever you see, a bit of internet will find you something good and local and nice. Anything near the Lan Kwai Fong expat party district will be trendy and fun. For locals shopping and lights and energy galore hit Causeway Bay. Visit Man Mo Temple for an easy access temple experience and light some incense for luck!

Hit me up if you have any specific ideas. I always hate for people to miss out on the best HK has to offer :slight_smile:

Dennis.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

11

No, I didn’t count the days flying to and from country. Only the days we are actually there. The flight home from Hong Kong is going to be a really weird beast at sixteen and a half hours, landing “three hours after we look off.” Done the Japan trip twice when I lived in Seattle and getting home before I left according to my watch always shook me up.

I appreciate all of the good tips so far. Of course, immunizations are current, registered our trip with the state department already, and I always travel with color copies of my passport just in case. We travel internationally three or more time a year, so all of the common stuff errors are things we have learned to avoid through advice or experience. Staying in Western Hotels is more expensive but worth it, opted for the car service to and from airports/train stations because having someone waiting for you who knows where you’re staying is worth the extra bucks, we also have a fixer hired for Beijing and Shanghai which makes some stuff a whole lot easier.

12

Western, or at least high end hotels will have a breakfast buffet with all kinds of western food so that you at least won’t starve. So many western brand hotels and restaurants in the cities you are visiting. I’d short Shenzhen and go long on Hong Kong. Hong Kong is magical. Took the tram up to the old Gov mansion at night for a great view of the city and bay. It’s like Disney designed a city.

One thing that my people there pressed on me was the lack of yielding to pedestrians by vehicles.

When I go to China I am in a double bubble of my western reps that have a lot of experience there and local distributors, so I don’t have to deal with the nitty gritty details.

This goes in general globally, but don’t order steak. I know there have to be good ones out there, but steaks suck 99% of the time outside of the US.

The better the English, the more I assume that they are intel related and trained.

You’ll land at night. Go to sleep and stay in bed until the sun comes up. Don’t start the next day with an early start. You’ll never get close to right on jet lag. (Actually, I think they run day and night flights to China now. But whatever flight, first night stay in bed and try to sleep and wait for daylight to get up.)

13

I follow this rule everywhere, and stateside I will not order a steak if I am not at a steakhouse. Screwing up perfectly good beef is far too easy.

This is a crazy one. We depart about noon and arrive just before three in the afternoon the next day. I’ll remain awake until about nine and crash with alarms set for the morning. Lag always kicks me in the butt on the way back from a trip. Falling back into the time cycle at home is more of a pain.

14

This just happened to me in Paris more than once but there is ordering steak at a random restaurant and taking advantage of incredible types of beef unavailable in the US.

True Japanese Wagyu and Kobe Beef is available in HK and I like it best served bbq yourself at the table “Yakiniku” style. Think Korean BBQ with much higher grades of beef. Many Yakiniku places in HK serve it but this one specializes in it.

https://www.openrice.com/en/hongkong/r-japanese-wagyu-yakiniku-pure-tsim-sha-tsui-japanese-roast-meat-r184497

Note that many high grade marbled meats actually do better cooked through, and I’m a die hard medium (very) rare bone in Ribeye guy! But the best part of cooking slices on your own grill at your table is trying all kinds of ways!

Absolutely worth a try. You can ask the concierge for a good Yakiniku Japanese BBQ place close by your hotel and they will likely have some high end Japanese Beef selections.

Dennis.

15

I haven’t been to China and HK, but if or when I do, I’m going to eat at Din Tai Fung and get the soup dumplings and spicy won tons. Whenever we go visit friends and family in Seattle, we go to the Bellevue location.

16

Lived a block from their Seattle location… It is really good food.

I will say that I don’t consider wagyu or kobe to be steak. That’s a whole different category of cow.

17

There was a place in Milan where they rolled a cart of meat to your table and you told them how many 100grams of what cut you want. Then they pretend to cook it and serve it really rare. That was gooooooood.

18

If you like dumplings and soup noodles you definitely need to hit Mak’s noodles in HK under the mid levels escalators. The escalators themselves are a unique experience in how a neighborhood can grow around a bunch of escalators going up a hill…

https://www.yelp.com/biz/4bRcKkQkH45JIhsMKN_GBA?utm_source=ashare&ref=yelp-android

http://www.vogue.com/article/hong-kong-food-guide-michelin-star-affordable-wellington-street

http://danielfooddiary.com/2014/12/14/maksnoodle/

http://www.hong-kong-traveller.com/midlevels-escalator.html#.WaOZ0XNlDgA

Also, Din Tai Fung is originally Taiwanese :wink:

Dennis.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

19

I’ve been to Suzhou a couple times for work, but I unfortunately spent most of my time there on the factory floor. My experience with Shanghai is limited to the airport and Nanjing Road / The Bund. That place is a trip. You’ll definitely get a lot of practice saying bú yào.

Some random thoughts:

  • The Chinese people are very welcoming in my experience
  • It’s a pretty safe country. There are scams/pickpockets/etc, but you won’t have to worry about getting kidnapped or murdered.
  • The traffic is bonkers. It’s a free-for-all. Be careful walking around because traffic won’t ever do what you expect. Traffic lights and signs are a suggestion…
  • In my experience, only about half of the taxi cabs have working seatbelts.
  • There is amazing food to be had, but you have to be kind of careful what/were you eat. It’s really easy to get REALLY sick there. Street food can be a crap shoot, but I’ve had several co-workers that got super sick at sit-down places (one hot-pot and one Korean BBQ). I’d shy away from sushi and any under-cooked meats on the mainland. Raw veggies like salads and such are also a no-no.
  • The water is not safe to drink. Stick to bottled. At restaurants, order sparkling water and make sure they break the seal at your table. You can boil it to kill the bugs, but it’s still heavily contaminated with industrial pollutants.
  • The air is terrible. Take a mask to wear when you’re outdoors.
  • Everyone smokes cigarettes. All day, every day.

I’m sure you already know this, but I’ll mention it anyway…You need a multiple-entry visa if you want to go from mainland China to Macau or Hong Kong then return to mainland China. Even though those places are “China” that still counts as an exit/re-entry if you go then come back.

I think it’ll be a great trip. Keep an open mind and have a sense of adventure and you’ll have a lot of fun!

20

Im sitting in Hong Kong right now in Mongkok… I have been in hong kong at least 30+ days this year.

I didnt care for Mak’s personally. Didnt live up to the hype. Right next door is Butao Ramen, which is admittedly japanese ramen, but IMO better than Mak’s. There is also Tsim Chai Kee across the street thats pretty decent and cheap(35 hkd). For Dim Sum in HKG I like Dim Dim Sum, I think there are 3 or 4 locations, can stuff yourself for 100hkd. Tim Ho’s is a michelin star dim sum restaurant and is the cheapest michelin star restaurant in the world. If you want to hit the grocery there is Market Place, Taste and Mark Spencers… If you want to hit up a fast food place I recommend Jolibee. Its a Philippine fast food place that has fried chicken, hamburgers and spaghetti(i like the chicken fingers personally). Otherwise there is fast food mcdonalds and KFC, have never seen much else. Like was said most hotels will have a western breakfast, but its expensive, like 30-40USD… Breakfast is not high on the food list over here it seems as I have only found 1 decent breakfast place near my hotel in Mong Kok(Kam Waw Bakery and Cafe in Mong Kok…their pineapple rolls are KILLER, im going to buy 5 right now to take with me when I fly out later). I eat mcdonalds breakfast quite a bit over here.

If you need to get cash, use the ATM’s at a China Bank. I do it all the time and never been hit with fraud or anything like that. Dont use random ATM’s in my opinion. Cash is roughly 8:1… its really like 7.75:1, but 8:1 gets you close enough for quick math.

I would maybe recommend an Octopus card(MTR, Bus, 7 eleven, etc…) but to buy one costs 100hkd and then you put 50hkd on it(150 total at purchase). For 3 days in HKG I dont know if you will ammortize the cost of the 100hkd out though, but the convenience factor is high. You can put money on the octopus card and then use it at a ton of places besides the MTR and bus’s. TONS of places take octopus. Read up on it and see if its something you would want to get. I think you can return it to the MTR and get 50hkd back, or so I have heard.

As far as places to visit: Victoria peak on the island. Tung Lung cable cars out by the airport. Take the Star Ferry at some point from TST to either Central or Wan Chai. You gotta at least go to Wan Chai and experience it a little(its where all the hookers hang out LOL). Central is a very cool area, has the escalators and lots of shops and restaurants. LKF(lan kwai fong) is a big party area. Mong Kok has some shopping and some decent food places. The Ladies Night market is also is Mong Kok and is cool, doesnt get going until 8 or 9pm and goes until like 2am. There is the Golden Computer Centre in Sham Shui Po as well as an electronics market and a ton of street markets up in Sham Shui Po as well. Stanley beach on the island is pretty cool, but busy busy busy on weekends.

Get your hair cut before you come over, because you aint going to find a good hair cut over here, or at least not one you want to pay for.

I agree with the others to skip Shenzhen and do an extra day in Hong Kong. You could spend 2+ weeks in Hong Kong.

Ive only spent short time periods in Shanghai and havent been to Beijing.