Laura

I will be traveling to China in a few months, visiting Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Guilin, Hong Kong and some other minor locations. Although this is a tour, there is quite a bit of free time. Any advice on customs, food, Chinese law, health, safety or other relevant topics would be appreciated. <BR>

Meg

Sounds like Laura and I are taking the same trip - except I'm leaving next week. I would also appreciate any advice anyone has to offer. Laura, when I return from my trip in late May, I'll post a report for you.

Karen

Sounds like the tour we went on in 1994. <BR>Don't drink the tap water. Brush your teeth withbottled water. Eat only cooked foods or peeled foods. Veggies are great. We got addicted to bok choy. Take some hard candies to give to the children; parents and children will welcome you with big smiles! The Chinese will want to practice their English with you; it's fun! We went in October. You may need a light jacket or layers for Beijing. And then shorts of Hong Kong. Have a great trip!!

Meg

Karen - thanks for the info. Your comment about shorts in Hong Kong left me wondering. We've been to Thailand before, and most research I did prior to the trip indicated that shorts, short skirts and sleeveless tops weren't consdired proper or polite. Is China more relaxed about the dress code? Nothing I've read has said anything about it, so I assumed it wasn't a problem but just wanted to confirm that.

Ricky

I went Shanghai, Suzhou and Hangzhou last Oct. Get enough local currency (Rmb) because US$ & credit cards are not accepted in most shops & restaurants (except big hotels). Also, ATM are not so common in China. So, you can change for Rmb in hotels or banks, rather than strangers on the streets. Hong Kong is much better here. Credit cards are widely accepted, ATMs are all over. <BR>Regarding the dressing, shorts are ok (but not really mini or sexy) in most places, except a few temples. In Hong Kong, wear whatever you like. No difference from US. <BR>Email me for further info.

Laura

Thanks to Karen and Ricky for the information. Meg, I printed a day by day account of "A travelogue by Doug Burnett", which pretty much describes the trip that you and I are taking. I found this at http://home.msen.com/~burnett <BR>Doug Burnett's email address is [email protected] This was extremely interesting and informative. <BR>

Meg

I will check out the Burnett travelogue. Thanks for the info everyone. I'll post about my trip when I return in late May.

Larry

Just got back from a 12 day tour with Pacific Delight. Had a grand time. Take lots of $1 bills for tips, etc. Capitalism is alive & well in China. We found USD $$ were widely accepted & were warned not to convert too much into RMB as may be a problem converting back (save conversion reciepts). Guides all want USD $$ for tips. Maybe kids will go for candy. Tried using some of the new US gold-colored coins but they were sure they were bogus. Watch out for pickpockets & street vendors can slip it to you. Most stuff on streets is poor quality or knock-offs. Lots of 'factories'where good stuff is available.

Tex

Shorts are definitely OK in Hong Kong but then summer has not really started yet. So you will need jeans or long pants and a light jacket for the evenings and restaurants/air-con buses. It will start getting hot late June or July. August and Sept will be major sweat season since you will be doing a lot of walking even though most places are comfortably air-conditioned. <BR> <BR>There are a few restaurants that have a dress code, but then there are plenty of others to choose from. <BR> <BR>As for the major cities in China, my guess is that shorts are ok too because you are a tourist. <BR> <BR>Tex <BR> <BR>www.12hk.com <BR>Hong Kong - the unofficial guide

hrh

Just returned from HK & Beijing. Arranged in HK for Beijing tour with China Travel Service for personal tour guide and driver for my family of 4. Stayed at Prime Hotel (about 2 blks from Forbidden City) - able to walk to Eating Street and big shopping mall (can't remember name) at night. Went to Great Wall at Mutianyu - what a great adventure. It's awesome. <BR>2 tips: bring own toilet paper/kleenex and hand sanitizer (kills germs without soap, water or towels)at ALL times! Many places (even nice restaurants) do not have toilet paper, soap and sometimes running water. After being caught once without, we never travelled again without these 2 items in China.

Cara

Laura, <BR> <BR>I was in Hong Kong in October and it was so hot and humid that shorts were the only way to go. As for the other parts of China, I'd stick to pants and skirts. A male friend of mine wore shorts out one day in Beijing and got quite a bit of stares (of course not as much attention as my blonde hair). As for food, I was recommended to be cautious about eating from street vendors, but otherwise we had no problems. Definitely stick with bottled water (brush your teeth with it as well). And I'd recommend taking along power bars like we did...a great thing to have in your backpack when you're out sightseeing and don't feel like searching for an acceptable restuarant. We never encountered any problems with travel. It's much more westernized over there than you would ever imagine. We often stopped at Starbuck's in the afternoon while in Beijing. Please feel free to write me directly if you have any questions that I might be able to help you with. Enjoy the China - it's a great place to visit!

Al

We traveled within China and came away with many of the observations listed above. However, you should be forewarned about the toilets you are likely to encounter. With no exceptions, they are some of the worst anywhere we have found in many years of travel to many parts of the world. Pack along a bottle of Purell, the waterless hand cleaner, and use it religiously. Keep your fingernails clipped short. Keep your fingers away from your mouth and your eyes. Your hands and nails carry an amazing amount of nasty bacteria. Be sure to take along a supply of Imodium-AD, too.

yan

Cara, <BR> <BR>You can feel free to wear anything you like, except bikini, in most part of China, at least in Beijing. You might want to tell your friend that the stares he got on street were definitely not embarrassing. Very likely what happened was the weather was not warm enough for Chinese people to wear shorts yet. Those a few stares probably showed their admiration to his strong body. In China, it is considered as a common sense that the western people grow up on cheese and butter, helping them hardly catch a cold.

Julia

Hi Karen, Laura &everybody who wrote about China here. Thanks a lot about these infos- I will go travelling with friends soon to Beijing, and other major cities in China. I would love to get advices about where to go, the most baeutiful spots offf the beaten tracks, rexing little cafes &parks for a break in Beijing, Shanghai, Xian . As I'm living in Hk for almost a year now, please feel free to contact me anytime about Hk! I'll be happy to give you some information on what's going on in the city!

Meg

Laura - I just returned from my trip. It was fascinating. If you have any specific questions about specific cities, please e-mail me directly. I just have too much information in my head to even begin editing and trying to post it all. <BR> <BR>As for general pointers.... it was warmer than we expected - and we had no rain except for two very short, very light sprinkles. I only took one pair of shorts and wished I had two, but felt more comfortable in pants or skirts in the cities. On excursions we took while cruising the Yangtze or on day cruises on canals and other rivers, shorts were the way to go. I took mostly linen clothes and one light jacket that I only needed in Beijing early in the morning and at night - but I'm very warm natured - most people in our group carried a jacket on most days. Take as few outfits as you can. We had laundry done every few days. It wasn't exactly inexpensive, but the domestic airlines in China are fairly strict about baggage. We were told only one 44 pound suitcase per person and one 10 pound carry on. DO take toilet paper, Purell, and wet wipes. I kept a zip lock bag in my purse at all times with these three things in it. Another thing that our incredible tour guide had was a can of air freshener. Every time he took the seven women to the "happy house", he would hand us the can as we walked in and then would meet us coming out with Purell. He was GREAT! We were very glad that we had a small tour group - only 14 which really helped us get around and in and out of places much quicker. We expected to have more free time, but things just always took longer than they were supposed to - especially in Beijing where the traffic was worse than anything I've ever seen. The driving all over the country was just unbelievable - lanes are merely suggestions, cars pass on the shoulder or in the wrong lane, water buffalo cross the street in front of buses - just crazy - far worse than anything I've seen anywhere in Europe or other parts of Asia. We were very careful about what we ate. No one got sick, but we all packed Immodium, antibiotics, and were taking malaria pills just to be safe. I was sick to death of Chinese food by the middle of the trip. I love Thai, Japanese and Vietnamese, but Chinese is my least favorite of all Asian food, so I wasn't a big fan at the beginning of the trip. Now, I will probably never eat Chinese food again. I always try to eat local food and not be the ugly American tourist, but anytime we saw a McDonald's, Pizza Hut or even a Hard Rock (which is pretty embarassing for me to tell you), we jumped at the chance. I did pack a small jar of peanut butter, Ritz crackers, Power Bars, and some Fig Newtons that came in very handy - especially on the cruise. At most of the airports, you could buy Snickers, Oreo's, Chips Ahoy, etc. I'm addicted to Diet Coke and had trouble finding it at times, but could always get my hands on a regular Coke. All of our hotels offered Western foods. <BR> <BR>I've written far more than I planned, but I hope it helps you. Have a great trip!

Andy

I recently spent three weeks in China. The focus of our stay was Guilin. You should finf this a great place to stay. Downtown Guilin is a disaster area. Entire roads are torn up and traveling can be hard. If you get the chance ride a bike through the streets og Guilin, this will offer one of the most authintic experiences in China. The surronding country side is beautiful. One of he main attractions are the caves, I don't recommend these. These are tourist traps with artificial ligthing. Climb the mountains ifyou get a chance. Also, don't expect the food the be like our "chinese" food. You will not see one eggroll or beef and brocoli. Be open to trying new things, but don't drink the water. I had a great time while in China, if you have any other questions I will be more than willing to answer them. <BR>