A First-Timers Report on Traveling in China, Part I

No, the Forbidden City isn't forbidden any longer

We’ve had the privilege of traveling a lot, but nowhere was harder for us to wrap our brains around than China. My wife Caryl and I were invited to spend two weeks in The Middle Kingdom (China’s own self-description). All we had to do was pack, and be where we were told when we were told. And smile. And promote my two recent books. And begin work on one more.

In advance of the trip, we studied the history and geography of places we would visit. The “why” seems obvious; can you imagine traveling to Texas, seeing the Alamo, but not understanding its place in Lone Star history? A completely wasted experience.

But China’s history dates back to the Xia Dynasty, around 2700 B.C. That’s about the time that Abraham and Sarah were begatting Isaac. In addition to that, if you go to China and ask about the Zia Dynasty, people will look at you funny.

X is pronounced sh, not zzz. So it’s the Shea (sort of) Dynasty. Likewise, the city of Xi’an, where you can see the terracotta warriors, is pronounced more like Cheyenne (as in Wyoming) than anything else I can think of (Shee-ahn).

After months of investigation, followed by two weeks of travel covering over four thousand miles, here’s what we learned that may make China a lot more accessible to you:

If you want to read up on China before you go, start with the history of The Great Wall, the Forbidden City, Genghis Khan, The Three Kingdoms, and Mao. That will give you a good beginner-level handle on China.

Other basics:

Chinese money is known by three terms: RMB, yuan (u-ahn), and quai (kwy). The last term is the least formal. Stick to RMB or yuan.

Change your money at the airport. It is fast, easy, and of minimal expense. Changing it at banks in China involves a mountain of paperwork and took us at least two hours each time, if you can get them to change it. The further you get from Beijing and Hong Kong, the more trouble you’re likely to have.

The exchange rate is extremely favorable right now for Americans, around sixteen to one.

American credit cards are not accepted in many smaller cities (those under five million people). They’re not trying to be obstinate or anti-American. It’s just that the bank card processing software often isn’t in place.

China has one hundred and forty-five cities with more than a million people. The largest is Guangzhou (say Gwan-joe and people will know what you mean) with a metropolitan statistical area of roughly forty-four million people. Just because you haven’t previously heard of a city in China doesn’t mean it isn’t of major importance. There’s a lot more to China than Beijing, Hong Kong, Macau, and Shanghai.

China is both a world power and a developing country. It is not usual to see beautiful skyscrapers and hovels in the same neighborhood.

A traditional neighborhood in
the foreground and the new apartments
to which the residents will soon be "relocated"
in the background

Hotels in China must be certified to accept foreign tourists. Therefore, you can’t just stay anywhere. We typically paid about $50USD per night for a decent hotel. Most Holiday Inn hotels in China cost less than $68USD per night, according to Expedia.com. Luxury hotels shouldn’t cost more than $150 a night USD. Just make sure they have western/Muslim toilets.

Most cities in China are gigantic and the traffic is unbelievable. Stay in hotels close to the attractions you want to see and walk everywhere possible.

Sleeping on a Chinese bed is different, like sleeping on box springs in the US. Seriously.

"Non-free" accessories

A “Business Hotel” in China doesn't necessarily mean Courtyard by Marriott. It usually means it also features an hourly rate so people can go there to do their “business,” if you get my drift. That doesn't mean it isn't a reputable hotel; it’s just multi-functional. And there may be “non-free” prophylactics waiting for you on the bedside table, along with some "non-free" toiletries to help you freshen up before your "date." In a country where multiple generations live in the same small houses, sometimes people rent their privacy by the hour. These are called “micro-stays.” Also, people traveling long distances can use these hotels to take naps before their journey. Pretty nifty.

Most things in China are identified by where they are in relation to the “ring roads.” Ring roads are equivalent to our loops. If something is inside the first ring road, it’s near the center of town. Something outside the sixth ring road (if the city has that many) is out in the boondocks. Plan accordingly.

If you are trying to find the name of a tourist attraction, the best way we’ve found is to start your search on Google (if you’re not yet in China) or Yahoo (if you are). Sometimes places can have multiple names. For example, you can simply Google “Beijing Night Market” and learn that the real name of the place is Dong Hua Men Night Market. Now you can ask your hotel to write it down in Chinese, along with the address, for the taxi driver. Some places have multiple names, and the name can vary from guide book to guide book. Using Google to start your search allows you to figure out which multiple names refer

The welcoming committee at Zhangjiajie

to the same location. We found that in Hunan Province (a province is like a state in the US), the names Zhangjiajie, Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, Wulingyuan, Wulingyuan Scenic Area, and Baofong Lake all refer to roughly the same area. One guidebook listed it as Zhangjiajie, another as Wulingyuan. Without Google to sort it all out, we wouldn’t have had a clue.

China is one of the most polluted countries on earth. However, because of their political system, the factories can be turned off anytime the government says so. Hence, if the prime minister of Pakistan or trade officials from Australia are coming to town, suddenly the sky is crystal clear. If you can find a time when important people are heading to the city you want to visit, go then.

If you get lost in an airport, start asking for someone who speaks English. Often, the person who shows up will offers to walk you to where you need to be, including getting you through security in record time. Just don’t be surprised if he expects a couple of hundred RMB for his trouble (about $32 USD). Compare that to missing your flight and it seems like a pretty good deal.

Our guide at Zhangjiajie

Speaking of guides, you can book a guide in advance, but you’ll pay prime price. Most tourist venues have English speaking guides wandering about listening and looking for lost Americans (of course, so are the pickpockets and scam artists). You can hire these impromptu guides for much less than you pay online. Use your own judgement.

People in China eat at round tables with Lazy Susans in the middle. The food is placed on the glass Lazy Susan and rotated. You don’t load up your plate. You take a bit with your chop sticks, hold your small bowl under the food to keep from dropping it, and take it to your mouth. Everyone at the table is doing the same. Hence, double-dipping with your chopsticks is the norm. When you go, take antibiotics. Strong antibiotics. And Imodium.

Canadian pharmacies sell an excellent OTC anti-nausea medication called Gravol. We tried it after some bad food in China and found it worked like a charm. In the US, the same active ingredient at the same strength is sold as Dramamine. We just take one Dramamine, instead of two, for the Gravol effect.

Spitting, slurping, and nose picking are not social faux pas in China. Get used to it.

A formal setting with Lazy Susan

When you check into your hotel, you will see business cards for the establishment resting on the counter. Take several. They usually list the name of the hotel, the address, and directions regarding how to get back. Simply give one to your taxi driver when returning from sightseeing.

Have your hotel write down the name of the places you want to sightsee in Chinese, along with the address, so you can give the information to the taxi driver. Have them write it in English so you can keep it all straight.

People in China aren’t big on standing in lines. Go with the flow; don’t get mad, and don’t wait for people to let you in front of them. You have to gently, but persistently, nudge your way onto subways, into queues for places you want to visit, etc. When in Rome…

Subways are busy, even when
it's not rush hour

You are a guest in their country. Always assume that people around you understand English. Talk nice.

Chinese LOVE getting their pictures taken with westerners. They assume if you can afford to come to China, you must be rich-rich-rich. Who doesn’t want their picture taken with a super wealthy person?  You might be famous, too. Who knows? China is very good for the self-esteem of western tourists.

If you travel by train (which I highly recommend), make sure you book a “soft” sleeper. That means you are staying four to a compartment and your bed will be the most comfortable you sleep on while visiting the country. Take your own food, as selections on the train are expensive and limited. If you accidentally book a “hard” sleeper, you are in for an experience: Six people to a compartment, beds like rocks, and people who can’t read no-smoking signs in any language. By the way, if there are only two of you in a soft sleeper, that means you are sharing the compartment with two strangers. The only way around that is to book all four beds. However, if you only have two passports, that might be a nifty trick. Let me know how it works.

I was always a sucker for the upper berth

A First-Timers Report on Traveling in China, Part II

In a word, steep.

The Great Wall of China is steep terrain. Wear your most comfortable shoes. Badaling is a great access point located just north of Beijing. There’s a gondola/cable car that saves hours of climbing, though you will walk plenty once you’re at the top. Like most places in China, it is not very handicapped accessible.

Having said that, a blind woman from Great Britain said Beijing in the most blind-person-friendly city in the world.

Hotel rooms all feature electric kettles/hot pots that heat water to boiling. Essential for purifying your tap water and making tea, coffee, Raman noodles, etc. Hotels everywhere should have these.

China is known for tea, but they almost never have it in the breakfast areas of hotels. BYOTB (bring your own tea bags).

Same with coffee. A good cup of black coffee is almost impossible to find. We even visited a Starbucks that didn’t have coffee. Whaaat? They make it a pot at a time and were all out for that day. The closest thing you can find in convenience stores is Nescafe packets that also include sugar and creamer. Folgers makes coffee bags that travel well.

Take hand sanitizer and pre-packaged baby wipes. You can use the baby wipes as napkins, to clean surfaces  and chop sticks, and wipe your hands after climbing the Great Wall and other places where millions of other hands have been.

Bottled Cokes, beer, and wine won’t make you sick (depending on how many you drink). Avoid drinks with ice or from dispensers. Bottled water from stores is safe, but if you order a bottle of water from a restaurant, you don’t know but that it was filled there or poured – as a courtesy – into a dirty glass.

My wife reports Chico’s is a great place to buy women’s no-wrinkle travel clothes for your trip.

How NOT to pack
for China

Pack light and carry clothes with lots of polyester or Dacron so you’re not one big wrinkle. Rooms usually don’t have irons. Traveling light is imperative. Getting around with multiple bags is a nightmare. Plus, taxis have very little trunk space for your luggage. If you pack heavy, you will pay for it every day you are there. I even brought socks and underwear that I could discard along the way, so the bags got lighter and there was room for souvenirs.

Speaking of bags, suitcases over forty-four lbs get extra charges that can add up to $100USD on Chinese airlines. Did I mention, “Pack light?”

Make sure that if your passport is expiring within a year, you get it renewed before you apply for a Chinese visa. A ten-year visa is no more expensive than a one-year, but you can’t get one if your passport is expiring.

Certain areas of China have their own visa regulations. If you apply for a visa to Tibet, you probably won’t be approved; it’s a politically- and religiously-sensitive area. Hong Kong and Macau also have their own visa requirements. One size does not fit all when it comes to visas in China.

Beige air in Beijing

Carry sinus pills. The pollution is not your friend.

Ditto for peanut butter crackers and granola bars.

Your new best friend, food-wise, will be the simple, lovely, fried eggs they serve during breakfast at many of the hotel buffets.

I don’t care what the talking heads on TV say about all the exotic foods in China; starfish tastes like crackers and fish oil, and bugs taste like bugs. You’re probably not going to want to eat spicy duck head or chicken feet. And most chicken is cut up with the bones and cartilage included so you get “the good marrow.” Go to China for the history and the beauty, not the cuisine.

Speaking of beauty, take time to explore the parks and natural areas of China. Zhangjiajie National Park is one of the most incredible places on earth (or on Pandora, as seen in the movie Avatar). The city parks in Guangzhou (near Hong Kong) rival any urban green space you could visit.

Plenty of green spaces in Guangzhou

If you are a Christian and want to attend church in China, many large hotels offer an “international service” on Sundays. There are also registered Christian (Three-Self) churches in most cities. Visiting house churches is more problematic, as a westerner’s visit could bring down persecution on them from the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA).

Persecution in China rarely involves throwing someone in jail; too expensive and too much bad press. The most common forms of persecution involve a SARA official visiting a religious person’s work place or landlord and asking if that person is a troublemaker. That will usually be a “word to the wise” for the landlord or boss that it’s time to find a new tenant or employee.

As a visitor, you’d never want to intentionally or unintentionally cost someone their job or their residence. Be careful what you say at all times about religion, the Christians you may have met, etc. (James 1:19, Proverbs 17:28) Taxi cabs are not safe zones. Neither are translators. Just because they speak English doesn't mean they share your values.

China Southern Airlines features some of the nicest planes on which we have ever flown. Air China, not so much.

To understand the Chinese government, don’t compare it with that in the United States, Canada, or Germany. Compare it with Exxon Mobil, Microsoft, or any other large corporation. The citizens are employees. They are there to do a job. You, as a visitor, are on a factory tour. If a Chinese person grouses, but does his job, he is ignored. If someone is impeding productivity, that’s a problem. If Christianity, or any other religion, is thought to be impeding productivity, it gets shut down. If it improves productivity, it is, to a degree, encouraged. (Colossians 3:22-25)

Don’t count on Google, Facebook, or Gmail. They aren't available in China. If you want to communicate with the folks back home, find out the international texting rates (often not as expensive as you’d think. With Verizon, I paid about fifty cents a text, as long as it didn't include pictures). Also, set up a Yahoo or Hotmail e-mail account before you go.

If you like diet drinks, Coke Light is about your only choice, and it’s not widely available.

One of the most insightful things we did before going was to download the podcast Letter From China by Peter James Froning. He was an American teacher at a Beijing university for one year, sending back weekly e-mails on his experiences. Endearing and entertaining…and free, though you are encouraged to make a voluntary contribution if you listen to it.

Inner Mongolia is not the same as Mongolia. Inner Mongolia is part of China. Mongolia is more closely aligned to Russia, but regards itself as an independent country.

In spite of what you’ve heard, China is not free from religion. Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, and Daosm/Taoism are all to be found. One of the most problematic religious groups for the Chinese government is Catholics, because of their loyalty to the pope as the ultimate earthly authority.

Welcome to China

And finally, let’s talk about toilets. Western-style toilets, often called Muslim toilets, can be impossible to come by in public. Even universities and nice businesses feature squat pots, not western toilets. If you don’t have good knees, this is an issue, pure and simple. Spend some time locating western toilets. And BYOTP. Seriously. At all times. Forget and you will be sorry. Yes, sometimes there is one giant roll outside the restroom, but sometimes not. I call it the Roulette Wheel. You guess how much you need, spin the wheel, and hope to get lucky. If you’re wrong, you crap out. (Hotels for foreigners have western toilets, but it never hurts to ask, just to be sure.)

Questions? E-mail me at wwbearmills@gmail.com. Happy travels!

Planning a trip? Don't do it without Chris Christensen, aka The Amateur Traveler

Chris Christensen is one of America's top travel reporters. His podcasts, website, and videos feature the most interesting people and places in the world. I dare say it would be impossible for your Bucket List to not expand dramatically as you listen to and read his reports. 

Chris's iconic image, found on
the Amateur Traveler podcasts

The website, http://amateurtraveler.com/, is an incredibly handy site for perusing various destinations, deciding what you want to do once you get there, and choosing the best way to travel there and home again. If Chris hasn’t been there, he knows someone who has and will share their insights. It truly is a travel community.

One of the things I most appreciate about Chris’s interviews is that through his Dick-Cavettesque questioning style, you learn not only information about a place, but the biases of the interviewee. That can be invaluable, and you don’t get that from travel books.

The Amateur Traveler, his podcast, often includes the kind of information you usually don't find in tour books. Most importantly, his podcasts are completely entertaining. If you've never heard them, make a beeline for iTunes. The podcasts are free.

First, Chris, this interview is being conducted following an extended boat trip off the coast of South America. Tell us where you went and what you were doing there. I was on a cruise around Cape Horn from Buenos Aires to Santiago, Chile. I was sponsored by Holland America to take this cruise. We saw penguins in the Falklands, tango in Buenos Aires, and glaciers in the fjords of Chile.

Mr. Christensen's Penguins,
photographed during his trip to South America

I believe your professional career was originally centered around Silicon Valley. How did you transition from that to being a professional travel writer? I actually still make my living from software, both my own start-up company (BloggerBridge.com) and part time contracting work for my old employer, TripAdvisor. I used to be their director of engineering for TripAdvisor Flights and SeatGuru. Travel writing and podcasting are my third job.

You call yourself and your website The Amateur Traveler, but I just referred to you a professional travel writer. That sounds like a contradiction, but I know it's not. Clarify that for us. When I chose the name Amateur Traveler, I had in mind “travel for the love of it.” Amateur meaning to do something for love. Remember you used to have to be an amateur to be an Olympic athlete, yet they were considered the best in the world. The ark was built by an amateur and the Titanic was built by professionals.

Chris took this picture at the Great Wall

While people might think about travel writing as a fairly right-brained activity, what I see is that you approached this in a very left-brained way. Tell us about The Amateur Traveler as a business. I think I find the travel writing is right brained, creative; but being a travel blogger or podcaster also means that you are not just a writer, but a publisher, with all that implies. You need to sell ads if you are going to have them, set schedules, set and meet deadlines. Some parts of that I have done better than others. I am not the best salesperson for instance.

You have well over four hundred podcasts available through iTunes and on your website, www.amateurtraveler.com. Talk about what's involved in putting a show on the air. An episode of Amateur Traveler probably takes about eight to nine hours of production work starting with the interview, then editing the interview, adding in other elements, publishing, and publicizing. We also do "This Week in Travel" which takes less because we don’t edit that show. Fortunately, I hire an editor to take care of the editing of the audio, and also adding in the photos and links that we have in the iTunes enhanced version of the show. That takes 5 hours off my plate.

How do you select guests for your show? I find they are all extremely effective communicators. What's your audition process? I reach out to some people directly who I have heard speak, or ask the travel blogging community who would be a great guest for a specific destination. I also get unsolicited pitches (http://AmateurTraveler.com/pitch-me) for being on the show. You need to pitch a place, not a person. Sometimes the shows just don’t work. Not every interview gets aired.

Chris as Yosemite

What are some of the highlights of your own travels? If you were putting together a "greatest hits" list of your adventures, what would make the cut? Some of the most memorable destinations would include Tanzania, Egypt, Istanbul, China, and Japan. Rafting down the Green River in Dinosaur National Park and blackwater rafting in New Zealand were some memorable adventures. The most unusual may have been working as a photo journalist for the day in Jordan covering a visit by the pope and the royal family (http://asia.amateurtraveler.com/day-papal-paparazzi/) or an invitation last December to the White House (http://amateurtraveler.com/white-house-wants-study-abroad/).

You've traveled all over the world. What locations are still on your bucket list? I have published a Bucket List (http://amateurtraveler.com/my-travel-bucket-list/) and am working through checking things off. I also use the UNESCO World Heritage list (http://amateurtraveler.com/unesco-world-heritage-sites/) and the list of U.S. National Parks as a bucket list.

A walk among the ruins
with Chris Christensen

How do you see your work as being unique from, say, travel books like Frommers or websites like Tripadvisor? I am a big fan of both Frommers -- I consider Pauline Frommer a friend -- and TripAdvisor. I sometimes describe an Amateur Traveler episode as an audio guidebook for a destination. We won’t provide all the information you will need to go there but we will help you decide if you want to go there.

In addition to writing about travel, you are also periodically leading travel groups. Tell us about that. We have not done that very often but in April we are having the second Amateur Traveler group trip (http://amateurtraveler.com/amateur-traveler-trip-morocco-april-2015/). We will be with a group of eleven people, or a few more if anyone is interested, counting my wife and I heading to Morocco. We did an Amateur Traveler photo tour of Egypt back in 2010, just before the Arab Spring. That trip was part of a larger group trip, so I am looking forward to a more intimate trip. I am working with a great tour company that is doing all the logistics.

The Amateur Traveler,
Chris Christensen

I believe I am correct in saying that you come from a Lutheran background. Your website also has links to some Bible study options. What is the connection, in your mind, between our physical journeys and our spiritual journey? Yes, in addition to three jobs and two travel podcasts, I also lead two bible studies a week. One is a podcast, The Bible Study Podcast (http://TheBibleStudyPodcast.com), and the other is in a lock-down unit for violent youth offenders in the local Juvenile Hall. I view all of life as a journey, only some of which comes with jet lag.