Adelaide

I'm planning to go on holiday in China during this summer; I'd like to visit Beijing and Xi'an, but I'm going on my own - without an organised tour - and I'm quite worried about the language. Is it possible to be understood by speaking only English or is strictly necessary to know a bit of Chinese? What about finding streets, catching the right busses, buying tickets... can you do it in English? Are people open and disposed to help the foreigners? And which areas of Beijing are dangerous and should be avoided? <BR>Thanks very much!

Adelaide

...sorry for the grammatical mistakes!

kang

While I was traveling in China last March, I met quite a few people from Europe travelling alone in Beijing, and even in some remote places where hardly any locals speak English. They seemed to be comfortable and enjoied their adventures. So It is definitely doable. <BR> <BR>Get yourself a good tour book. I used "Let's go China", a book for budget travellers, very helpful. For the most part, the contents are quite up to date. All those "foreigners" I met are heavily relying on their tour books. On the book, most attractions and hotels are printed with both English and Chinese. <BR> <BR>A bit of Chinese doesn't do much good. Just make sure you have the Chinese version of the places you want to go. You can find those Chinese characters either on the tour book, or have someone write it down for you. Especially in places like Beijing or Xi'an, you shouldn't have any big problems. And I can assure you that most Chinese you meet are going to be very friendly, and willing to offer their assistance. <BR> <BR>I cannot really think of dangerous areas in Beijing. Apply traveller's common sense; then Beijing is a very safe city. <BR> <BR> <BR>

Cara

I traveled through Beijing and Xi'an without knowing a word of Chinese. I must admit that it was a big help staying with a friend who was able to write us notes to the taxi drivers for each day's excursions. But you could have the hotel do the same task for you. We did this in Xi'an and were able to get around. The younger people that you run into are more apt to know some English, so if you're out and about and have questions, try and seek out younger individuals. In Xi'an, we found that we were able to get a lot of help at the Hyatt even though we weren't actually staying there. <BR>At the Forbidden City you can rent an English speaking self guided tour tape. Unfortunately most of the other sites don't offer this service. But you'll do just fine getting around. Just smile alot and you'll find that the Chinese are quite friendly to tourists. Have fun!

Andrea

You can ABSOLUTELY get around in China with no ability to speak Chinese. <BR> <BR>It would be NICE if you could at least learn common courtesies, but the Chinese are SO used to Westerners that DON'T speak any Chinese that finding one who does is a novelty. <BR> <BR>The best way to "survive" is to make sure that you ALWAYS have with you a card with the name of your hotel written in Chinese (all hotels will have these), and that you get your destination written down for you in Chinese. <BR> <BR>I would stick to taxis, if I were you. They are very cheap (about US &1.25 for a 10 minute ride in Shanghai - slightly more in BJ and Xian, but not too much). In busses, the announcements are only in Chinese, and IMO, it's too intimidating if your Chinese isn't great. <BR> <BR>Chinese people who speak some English (in the industries and places you are likely to run across) are pretty rare. At the nicer hotels, all staff will speak English (the nicer the hotel, the better the English). At the very touristy spots, many of the souvenier salesmen will speak enough to do deals, but even when they don't, all transactions can be completed through miming and typing in the calculator that they will ALL have. <BR> <BR>Restaurants are a bit trickier - in most local Chinese restaurants, no one will speak English, nor will there be any English menu. <BR> <BR>There are two things that will make the language barrier easier for you. <BR> <BR>The first is to carry with you a tourist guide or phrase book that has the English and Chinese CHARACTERS for common phrases. The characters MUST be there - many Chinese can not read the pin yin (like "xie xie"), only the characters. We used our Berlitz pocket sized book until it fell apart. <BR> <BR>The second thing is that the Chinese are EXTREMELY friendly, particularly to foreigners who are nice and need help. They are both eager to help and curious about you, and any time you are standing on a street corner with a map and a puzzled look on your face, I guarantee you will have 5 Chinese people trying to see if they can help you. <BR> <BR>Have fun!

pat

I could not speak any words of chinese either, however, i did enjoy my trip to Shanghai and Beijing very much. In Beijing i think you will be fine, because it seems quite international and they are preparing themselves to host the Olympic! <BR>Have a wonderful trip.