10 Things to know before traveling to China

Traveling to China may be quite a journey. Their culture is way too different to ours, and if you are not mentally prepared, you might get some bad experiences that can ruin your trip, so read this 10 things to know before traveling to this amazing country.

10 things to know before traveling to China:

1. Download a VPN.

I recommend the Express VPN, you have to pay for it, although it is very cheap, it is so helpful and once you return home you can cancel it without any problem. The service is very good and it saved my life. That’s my number 1 thing to know before traveling to any part of Asia.

2. Get WeChat.

It is the most popular app in all of China and so useful. It’s like your WhatsApp, your wallet, your Skype, your phone, your everything. Seriously, download it and ask your loved ones with whom you have more contact in your country to also get it so you may never have a communication problem.

3. Print in Chinese.

Do not stress out in learning Chinese words or making weird signs. Seriously, when traveling to China just try to stay with your itinerary and talk to the people from the tour agency, most of them will send you everything written down for you to print it and just show it to the people in charged.

4. Try to have bills lower than 100.

Never give a 100 yuan bill to a taxi driver. NEVER. It is the most common way in which you are scammed. Always change your big bills.

PINK TIP: In all the hotels they offer to exchange your bills for a smaller amount just to avoid this.

It happened to us, the taxi driver gave me back the 100 bill, he started shouting who knows what, so we “returned” the bill that was already false and still made us pay with another bill. We learned about it, but never got our 100 back.

Check out in my blog the most common ways to get scammed in China

5. Hire an authorized Tour.

If you are invited to an art exhibition in the street, or to take tea for tourists, do not go! This is a very common way to attract tourist and scam you. Try to do all your activities by means of an authorized tour.

Really we are the kind of people that like to do things independently, even though my mom (I hate she’s always right) had already been in China and suggested to get a tour specially in Beijing, because people just won’t help tourists.

6. Know how to cross the street.

I know this sounds like talking to a kid, but I promise it’s gonna help you to get around safely. My Mexican friend that has been living in Beijing for more that 30 years explained to me why every time we tried to cross the streets even though we had the green light, cars wouldn’t stop.

They do things different than us, it’s a cultural thing. The big one has the priority. So when a Chinese sees a couple or one person trying to cross the street, they know they are tourists, why? because they know that they have to get in a crowd to successfully cross the street. So follow the crowd, wait till there’s enough people and go for it.

7. Be chill.

People are going to shout at you, do not lose your temper, under no circumstances use physical violence. In China, even though people shout a lot and get angry, the issue of physical violence is very punished and they tend to always sue, as it is highly illegal.

8. Avoid using bike taxis

As you are a foreigner they will try to charge you like hell. Use regular taxis, just check which ones are the official ones, ask in the reception whats the code for each region.

9. Keep an eye when you walk on the sidewalk.

You have to be careful with bicycles and motorcycles on the sidewalk too, they do not care and they rush in without mercy.

10. Always take a look before…

Take a look before leaning on the wall or sitting down, you may find out that Chinese people are spitters.

Going to China can be an amazing experience, but this tips can definitely save your trip from chaos.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve experienced in other countries? Let me know in the comments below…

xoxo