I feel pissed off when some people keep saying" oh, it is so frustrating that not so many people in China speak good English". To me it is so stupid. Have you ever heard that Chinese tourists complain about Americans who don't speak good Chinese? So knock off those nonsense foreign tourists.
i totally agree with it ,as u know ,it is definitely that china do not have many plps speaking english ,we have long history which charged by chinese ,not others .so we have own words ,if u go to uk,,,of course .
Bien Got typical westerners. They just focus on some negative even fake news about china 1989, pollution. Look at this guy , typical westerners, self-concentrated. They still get information from English world ! So stupid brainwashed westerners
I don't think the English level in EZ China is necessarily that bad though. Furthermore, Chinese are pretty approachable; they are used to people. Cold people w/ an overrated English level if frankly a better description of Japan (not that Japan doesn't have interesting food and cities and so on)
The thing is, china have their own social media apps and they're as good as those you said, so I don't see the purpose of finding ways to install them unless you're foreign and decided that you can't live without western social media
The things is, when a lot of foreigners talk about them, most of them will talk about it with a sense of arrogance and prejudice that will piss off Chinese. So its better for them to not talk about it. If you are really interested in it, be open minded. You have different culture background, don't expect people to think the same way as you do, and listen before you talk!
Funny how it's only westerners who are told how different certain cultures are and how flexible and open hearted and respectful they need to be. The funny thing is that same advice given to us is never what chinese give to each other. The chinese talk of standing up for each other when they go abroad and having each others backs. But if we even just talk about doing that in china among each other, the chinese get pissed off. Chinese are not culturally flexable, we don't need to be either. Besides no matter how open hearted and open minded you truly are, no matter how willing you are to adapt to the local culture, customs, and ways. You will never truly belong. People will not accept you no matter how willing you are to adapt and immerse yourself into their society and ways. So we don't need to be so concerned about whether we are doing something right or wrong in accordance to their culture and ways. Cultural advice and norms, things like not putting your chopsticks in a bowl of rice in a certain way. Don't worry about it. You are not one of them and you never will be. Just live like a westerner if you go to china. Don't try to learn their culture. You are not one of them. It's okay to be white!!!
And when it comes to human rights issues, it's not our concern. As unlikely as it is that any chinese person will talk about human rights issues with you, if one ever does, just say you don't care. If another westerner talks about it, just say it's not our concern.
I'm travelling to China next month, so this video was so helpful and I appreciate the time you put into it! I'm so scared about the whole toilet situation but I'll have to deal with it! Thanks again for the video.
it’s only been 4 years since this video was posted and SO much has changed😂 payment methods and the bathroom situation (*soooo* much better) specifically
I loved everything about China except for the toilets 😅 I lived in Qingdao for a year it’s a beautiful city. Interesting point about tipping, I tried to tip several times and was refused each time.
Thanks Paul. We have been gone for 6 weeks in China (hence no new videos for a couple months really) but we are back from our trip and lots of China videos on their way... and a few European ones as well. All the best and thank you for the support!
about the toilet : 1. Modern medical research shows , that hole on the ground toilet is more healthy for human (it should be easy to understand , because it is a natural position our ancestors use , and avoid contact.), sitting toilet increase the chance of getting cancer . 2. We don't pee on the ground , it is a small long shape pool you pee into , it's ok , just aim at the bottom end of the wall , usually there are live water keep running down the wall so it is actually pretty good , the fantastic thing is in really busy areas , a lot ppl can pee at once and you don't have to wait , for a country with huge population , it is kind of necessary .
Man, I love how straight to the point you are. I wasn't bored for one second, because you didn't ramble on or anything. I sped this up to 1.25 and it was perfect. Also, when you all watch this video, remember he took this video in 2013. I'm sure some things have changed slightly since then, like cash is king theory etc. but over all he seems accurate.
Love your videos! I've lived in China and traveled around for about a year and I wanted to add some tips of my own. China is changing really quickly, at the time of writing this it's been 5 years since you posted the video, which in China can mean a big difference. 1. Cash is definitely king if you are a tourist. Many tourist locations will only take cash payments for tickets. And you will mostly be able to get around pretty easily with cash. However for day to day living, Mobile payments are now king. Unless you go to a tourist location or some of the villages more inland, almost all stores and restaurants, and even cab drivers, will take WeChat or Alipay for monetary transactions. If you plan on travelling or living for an extended period of time I suggest setting up either WeChat or Alipay, it is far more convenient. I actually hope services like those can come to the USA soon. 2. Meter taxis work for sure, but I would suggest downloading an app that allows you to "dadi", meaning "call a taxi". The price will be predetermined and the cars will usually be nicer (since they are essentially like ubers, someones personal car). If you have WeChat, alipay, or even BaiduMaps (
Paying with Visa or Mastercard is not a easy thing in China. Yes it is easy to pay with Chinese Credit Cards the UnionPay or Wechat or Alipay, but not friendly at all to the foreigners who do not have a Chinese mobilephone number and ID card.
Yeah, mobile payment is how most Chinese people pay nowadays, but without Chinese bank account and phone number, it is not an option for foreigners/ tourists, so for those people cash is still the one they will need to carry and pay with. If you can pay with Wechat etc.. then of course not.
This is great, love your informative videos, Wolter. I am from Portland, OR and have been talking to this amazing woman who lives in Shenzhen, so this was very helpful. I am also going to be taking courses to become an English teacher in Asia/Europe and love to travel, so this is a plus!
Hi Rohan, sorry that I have not replied to you. I try to get back to people on here, but they do not notify me of all comments, just about 10% of them it seems like. I am hoping to get to India in the next few years. I had the opportunity to teach about 200 km from Dehli but the program fell through the last minute so now I am not sure when we will get over. But hopefully in the next few years. Thanks for all the comments (sorry about not replyin) and thanks for the thumbs up! all the best!
thank you for the kind words. the trolls (slanders) happen regardless of country. I just am trying to help people enjoy china even more. I loved it and would go back in a heartbeat. so much to see and enjoy. I cannot even eat Chinese food in the US anymore because it is NOT Chinese food, it is some kind of American horrible version of Chinese food... oh how I miss the food in shanghai and the lamb soup in Xi'an... I am drooling now :) thanks for all the kind words!
i was surprised how little English is spoken but its better if you want to learn Chinese. In my Hotel there were normal sitdown toilets. i loved China the people are really nice and i can't wait to visit again.
canadian people will need to bring converters hehe. And do watch your step, every place in China seems to like putting tiny unnecessary steps in inappropriate places and random metal bar/wall things across doorways that are an inch or two high for you to break your toes on as you walk through, same with the toilets, the stalls will be on a step(sometimes only a few inches high and sometimes as high as a stair) i get to see lots of people tripping when exiting the bathrooms lol. also watch when you are crossing the road not to trip on the little stumps that prevent cars from turning onto the sidewalk, they are not tall like ones elsewhere and have seen a few people trip on them when there is a big crowd crossing.
only one time at tianamen square I had a police officer ask me to stop. he was smiling and friendly about it... and of course I stopped right away :) scared me though. but he was very nice about it. and thanks for the kind words
the water is not clean or sanitary. the hotels, the state department and all the locals say do not drink the tap water. If you boil it it is fine. I had a fun time in china. I have a 5 thigns you will love nad hate about visiting china video that will give you an idea :) but yeah, it was a great trip. 6 weeks. great people. awesome food. I was amazed jjust how beautiful china is.
Wow! Thanks! It helped me a lot to understand a little bit more about China and everything around there. Gonna be heading for China soon, and, thanks to you, now I know 12 things everyone should know before going to China! Take care.
That is why I am telling them that they should avoid these topics as they are typical questions I receive about china. In the usa and europe politics are normal topics to talk about. Thanks for watching and commenting.
I don't think we will be heading for at least a few years. 2014 is set up for Europe and Canada. 2015 is South America & Europe. So it would not be until at least 2016... unless work takes me there sooner :)
why? I am trying to help tourists get ready to enjoy the beauty and awesomeness of china. it is a great place to go and now they are even more ready. saying I am stupid doesn't really advance the cause of more tourism :)
Toilets are pretty bad, but considering how many people visiting those tourist sites everyday I would say it's ok. you're taking a dump there after all, not sitting there enjoy your afternoon tea or something. Btw Japan has the same style toilets as in China but cleaner because of less frequent usage. It's actually cleaner without any indirect body contact.
I disagree with the English part. Taxi drivers in Beijing rarely speak English, hotels (even nice ones) do not always have English speaking staff on hand (Shanghai is much better than Beijing in the English department for sure). Young people can speak English but the problem is the people that are learning English very well do not usually end up working in the service industry as they have better paying job prospects, so tourists do not get as many really good English speakers sometimes
I do not know why you guys always talk about toilets in China. For me, i never have trouble in it. If you do not choose the cheap hotel, servers can speak English and the bathroom is qualified. I recommend the at least 3 star hotels in China, because they are cheap and good service.
on bartering: They will HOSE you. An example, a pair of knock off jeans is about 130 RMB (on the high end) and I had more than 1 vendor start the bartering at 4000 RMB I kid you not. The 50% off rule does not apply in China. Do research on how much individual items are and assume they are going to rip you off... sad but true. I lived there for years and spoke the language and I still had to fight to pay local prices (on a local salary)
Totally agree with the video. Public washrooms are awful in China. You can either book English local tours in Chinese hotels or simply join a China tour in your home country. Unless you speak mandarin, it is very challenging if you travel on your own. People in general don't speak English in China.
Have you thought of doing an epic silk road backpacking from xian to kashgar in China? and then tell us what about the 5 hates an 5 loves of this trip. What are the top 10 sites that one must absolutely visit on this silk route and perhaps what to be careful about. Or how about the 5 hates and 5 loves about backpacking through vast China. Personally through my own experience backpacking in Europe and CHina, In Europe, most stations are located at or near the city center (even for the smaller towns and cities) and buses and trains are quite well connected, even for some of the more remote regions its quite accessible by trains. China, on the other hand, has most of their train stations not located in the centre or near the center, except for the major cities, it's also not very connected to the metros. The high speed trains are great, but they mostly do not stop at the city center, you either have to take a taci or another long distance bus to get to the center. And some train journeys can take more than 20 hours on slow trains. It's not very easy therefore to travel around China, esp to the smaller but more interesting sites, as it can be very inconvenient as said previously.
hmmmm.... Germany and most of Europe you can drink the tap water and it is fine to drink. in china you can't as you most likely will get sick... and what about the other 11 things? are they so obvious too? because some people are a bit surprised by the porcelain hole toilets ;)
:) thanks... though he does have a pbs show and book empire... and I just have awesome fans who watch my videos :) I think I win :) all the best to you and thanks for the support!
I'm chinese living in Chengdu, you're welcomed to discuss any issues related to politics tibet taiwan and human rights with me if you like. I don't think it will be an issue with the authorities cuz how the hell would they know what our conversations are about? no one would follow you around as long as you're not any foreign official on an official visit. If you're here to post on weibo about any sensitive topics then it's an entirely different story.
I was putting China on the back burner however, it is a superpower. What is holding me back is the polution. Just returned home from England and France. Miss it already.
I'd love to go to China! Its such a beautiful country. Im in two minds whether to learn Mandarin or not. Its an amazing language but the difficulty kinda scares me
I'm an American learning mandarin right now. I say go for it. the difficulty comes at the beginning and then it gets much easier after you learn a few things
Mark S Depends on your pump station, most cities will have terrible water, I live in a rural area, actually have a modern well and the water is fantastic.
(part 2) and to continue, it's usu the most beautiful landscapes (eg. Jiuzhaigou natl Pk, Zhangjiajie -as seen in the Avatar inspiration, Kanas Lake etc), the weird but interesting historical and cultural sites (The Hanging Coffin, hanging monastery, etc) that are really diffficult to get to. Not a bad thing so less intl tourists will go there and tr theample too much on these beautiful places. though im sure the domestic tourists sure know how to get there. Sometimes knowing Mandarin may not be helpful at all in some inland regions because the locals there speak a different dialect altogether.
I heard in China, there used to be some agencies that bring their tourists to visit and join movie making, particularly war movie that require lots of side actors. Tourists can experience wearing ancient armor (or costume), ride horse and charge together with all other actors while the director rolls the camera. Any idea about that? I asked few agencies and they said there is nothing like that anymore since China doesn't make much war movie anymore, except low budget ones that only required 10-20 actors who usually also their staffs.
The cold water in China is also very clean, if u want, just drink it! it's just because we Chinese have a habit of drinking hot/warm water. What u said makes me speechless. Pollution Pollution, yes, there is air pollution in some days, but! not every day.
Thanks for all of your China videos! I move to Beijing to start a new job with China Radio International in a week, and they told me about most of these, but forgot to mention a few. You saved me getting ripped off in a few open air markets!
The only problem is the language. It’s very hard to learn and not only the words, but also the writing as a whole. It’s very confusing and there’s no alphabet.
Wait a minute, I just looked it up. The US edges out China in total area. The US has 9,833,000 km² vs China's 9,596,961 km². (The US becomes even larger if you count its many islands and territories it has.) Also part of China's land is claimed by other countries or it's in dispute. I guess if you were to add Taiwan then it may change things a bit. (Not that it really matters though, since China and the US are technically tied in size no matter how you look at it.) But even if the US were slightly smaller than China, it still has more habitable land regardless. And China, India and the US are all bigger than Canada and Russia in habitable land. (The US is actually bigger than Canada by total land area too since Canada has so many lakes.) The 7 largest countries by area: Russia, Canada, United States, China, Brazil, Australia and India. The 7 largest countries by arable land: United States, India, China, Russia, Brazil, Canada and Australia. The 7 largest countries by land area: Russia, China, United States, Canada, Brazil, Australia and India. See a theme here? All above are massive! :D If your country isn't in the list above, then it's safe to say that it's dwarfed by the countries that are listed above since there is a big drop off in size once you go to the 7th largest and especially the 8th largest. Example Australia: (6th largest) 7,692,024 sq miles. India at number 7 then drops off a cliff with 3,166,391 sq miles. And the 8th largest is Argentina with 2,780,400 sq miles. If you take the UK which is way down the list at number 70+ something, then it's just 242,495 sq miles. Enough to fit inside of India 13x over! Or the US at 40.6x over. Pretty cool I thought. ^_^
Is there a certain distinction to tell what's the black cabs and metered taxis? How will I know that I'm in a metered taxi? I mean, if I'm just about to ride it.
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I feel pissed off when some people keep saying" oh, it is so frustrating that not so many people in China speak good English". To me it is so stupid. Have you ever heard that Chinese tourists complain about Americans who don't speak good Chinese? So knock off those nonsense foreign tourists.
i totally agree with it ,as u know ,it is definitely that china do not have many plps speaking english ,we have long history which charged by chinese ,not others .so we have own words ,if u go to uk,,,of course .
Bien Got typical westerners. They just focus on some negative even fake news about china 1989, pollution. Look at this guy , typical westerners, self-concentrated. They still get information from English world ! So stupid brainwashed westerners
It's not the same thing! English is learned and spoken everywhere. Chinese is not.
I don't think the English level in EZ China is necessarily that bad though. Furthermore, Chinese are pretty approachable; they are used to people. Cold people w/ an overrated English level if frankly a better description of Japan (not that Japan doesn't have interesting food and cities and so on)
@@princeicio it's really not, it may be a SECONDARY CHOSEN language, but it is NOT required to learn in ANY curriculum, except, oh wait, AMERICA
one more, you can't access TH-cam, Facebook, Instagram and Google . make sure to install a good VPN app
Yup. Simple VPN app gets around all that. Censorship may exist, but the government half-asses it.
What about beijing airport? I have a connecting flight there
Yes
yes~
The thing is, china have their own social media apps and they're as good as those you said, so I don't see the purpose of finding ways to install them unless you're foreign and decided that you can't live without western social media
Cash is king, see how things change in 4 years, now you don't need cash any more across the country
Anonymous Anonimity Ali baba
Foreigners can`t talk about Human Rights and all those things in China??? I am a Chinese and I did that all day when I was in China.
Foreigners can, but it's best not to
They never know more about real East world lol
The things is, when a lot of foreigners talk about them, most of them will talk about it with a sense of
arrogance and prejudice that will piss off Chinese. So its better for them to not talk about it.
If you are really interested in it, be open minded. You have different culture background, don't expect people to think the same way as you do, and listen before you talk!
Funny how it's only westerners who are told how different certain cultures are and how flexible and open hearted and respectful they need to be. The funny thing is that same advice given to us is never what chinese give to each other. The chinese talk of standing up for each other when they go abroad and having each others backs. But if we even just talk about doing that in china among each other, the chinese get pissed off.
Chinese are not culturally flexable, we don't need to be either. Besides no matter how open hearted and open minded you truly are, no matter how willing you are to adapt to the local culture, customs, and ways. You will never truly belong. People will not accept you no matter how willing you are to adapt and immerse yourself into their society and ways.
So we don't need to be so concerned about whether we are doing something right or wrong in accordance to their culture and ways. Cultural advice and norms, things like not putting your chopsticks in a bowl of rice in a certain way. Don't worry about it. You are not one of them and you never will be. Just live like a westerner if you go to china. Don't try to learn their culture. You are not one of them.
It's okay to be white!!!
And when it comes to human rights issues, it's not our concern. As unlikely as it is that any chinese person will talk about human rights issues with you, if one ever does, just say you don't care. If another westerner talks about it, just say it's not our concern.
I'm going next month and I can't contain my excitement
then don't
123e90 I'm going on Saturday!
How was it??
voongnz he dead
@@motab9981 Covid 19. lol
I'm travelling to China next month, so this video was so helpful and I appreciate the time you put into it! I'm so scared about the whole toilet situation but I'll have to deal with it! Thanks again for the video.
+Julie Ten Shit in the hotel toilet before you go out, you should be fine.
it’s only been 4 years since this video was posted and SO much has changed😂 payment methods and the bathroom situation (*soooo* much better) specifically
“Okay” count: 182
I loved everything about China except for the toilets 😅 I lived in Qingdao for a year it’s a beautiful city. Interesting point about tipping, I tried to tip several times and was refused each time.
Thanks Paul. We have been gone for 6 weeks in China (hence no new videos for a couple months really) but we are back from our trip and lots of China videos on their way... and a few European ones as well. All the best and thank you for the support!
about the toilet : 1. Modern medical research shows , that hole on the ground toilet is more healthy for human (it should be easy to understand , because it is a natural position our ancestors use , and avoid contact.), sitting toilet increase the chance of getting cancer . 2. We don't pee on the ground , it is a small long shape pool you pee into , it's ok , just aim at the bottom end of the wall , usually there are live water keep running down the wall so it is actually pretty good , the fantastic thing is in really busy areas , a lot ppl can pee at once and you don't have to wait , for a country with huge population , it is kind of necessary .
Wow you travel everywhere! You pretty much know the world like your backyard haha! Great videos, keep it up!
thank you. I appreciate the kind words! All the best to you!
i wanna go to china after this whole virus thing is over
same :( i hope it ends soon
@@poopoo6894 well, it didn’t.
Maybe in 2024 it will be safe again.
@@silversheep4605 almost there
Hello I’m from the future I have come to inform you that it is over
Man, I love how straight to the point you are. I wasn't bored for one second, because you didn't ramble on or anything. I sped this up to 1.25 and it was perfect. Also, when you all watch this video, remember he took this video in 2013. I'm sure some things have changed slightly since then, like cash is king theory etc. but over all he seems accurate.
Love your videos! I've lived in China and traveled around for about a year and I wanted to add some tips of my own. China is changing really quickly, at the time of writing this it's been 5 years since you posted the video, which in China can mean a big difference.
1. Cash is definitely king if you are a tourist. Many tourist locations will only take cash payments for tickets. And you will mostly be able to get around pretty easily with cash. However for day to day living, Mobile payments are now king. Unless you go to a tourist location or some of the villages more inland, almost all stores and restaurants, and even cab drivers, will take WeChat or Alipay for monetary transactions. If you plan on travelling or living for an extended period of time I suggest setting up either WeChat or Alipay, it is far more convenient. I actually hope services like those can come to the USA soon.
2. Meter taxis work for sure, but I would suggest downloading an app that allows you to "dadi", meaning "call a taxi". The price will be predetermined and the cars will usually be nicer (since they are essentially like ubers, someones personal car). If you have WeChat, alipay, or even BaiduMaps (
Mobile payment like apple pay is the most popular payment method in China now; no more cash
Paying with Visa or Mastercard is not a easy thing in China. Yes it is easy to pay with Chinese Credit Cards the UnionPay or Wechat or Alipay, but not friendly at all to the foreigners who do not have a Chinese mobilephone number and ID card.
Yeah, mobile payment is how most Chinese people pay nowadays, but without Chinese bank account and phone number, it is not an option for foreigners/ tourists, so for those people cash is still the one they will need to carry and pay with. If you can pay with Wechat etc.. then of course not.
WeChat pay is pretty easy too
So THAT's the temple the Chinese build in Age of Empires 2.
This is great, love your informative videos, Wolter. I am from Portland, OR and have been talking to this amazing woman who lives in Shenzhen, so this was very helpful. I am also going to be taking courses to become an English teacher in Asia/Europe and love to travel, so this is a plus!
water can not directly drunk also in paris.
abc abc USA most of water In public have some strange smell too
Hi Rohan, sorry that I have not replied to you. I try to get back to people on here, but they do not notify me of all comments, just about 10% of them it seems like. I am hoping to get to India in the next few years. I had the opportunity to teach about 200 km from Dehli but the program fell through the last minute so now I am not sure when we will get over. But hopefully in the next few years. Thanks for all the comments (sorry about not replyin) and thanks for the thumbs up! all the best!
hope the class went well. thanks for the support!
I can understand. China was super safe. Though it was a bit crazy crossing the street :(
) thanks for watching and commenting.
Traveling to Beijing this year with the family, cant wait and thanks for the advice.
Go have fun buddy
thank you for the kind words. the trolls (slanders) happen regardless of country. I just am trying to help people enjoy china even more. I loved it and would go back in a heartbeat. so much to see and enjoy. I cannot even eat Chinese food in the US anymore because it is NOT Chinese food, it is some kind of American horrible version of Chinese food... oh how I miss the food in shanghai and the lamb soup in Xi'an... I am drooling now :) thanks for all the kind words!
i was surprised how little English is spoken but its better if you want to learn Chinese. In my Hotel there were normal sitdown toilets. i loved China the people are really nice and i can't wait to visit again.
canadian people will need to bring converters hehe. And do watch your step, every place in China seems to like putting tiny unnecessary steps in inappropriate places and random metal bar/wall things across doorways that are an inch or two high for you to break your toes on as you walk through, same with the toilets, the stalls will be on a step(sometimes only a few inches high and sometimes as high as a stair) i get to see lots of people tripping when exiting the bathrooms lol. also watch when you are crossing the road not to trip on the little stumps that prevent cars from turning onto the sidewalk, they are not tall like ones elsewhere and have seen a few people trip on them when there is a big crowd crossing.
Very educational. I would definitely share this with my friends. :)
I can agree with the amount of people going through I am usually OK with the level of cleanliness,
only one time at tianamen square I had a police officer ask me to stop. he was smiling and friendly about it... and of course I stopped right away :) scared me though. but he was very nice about it.
and thanks for the kind words
the water is not clean or sanitary. the hotels, the state department and all the locals say do not drink the tap water. If you boil it it is fine. I had a fun time in china. I have a 5 thigns you will love nad hate about visiting china video that will give you an idea :) but yeah, it was a great trip. 6 weeks. great people. awesome food. I was amazed jjust how beautiful china is.
Wow! Thanks! It helped me a lot to understand a little bit more about China and everything around there. Gonna be heading for China soon, and, thanks to you, now I know 12 things everyone should know before going to China! Take care.
***** we have a few other china videos that will help you out. We enjoyed going to be honest so have a great time!!
+wonders world
That is why I am telling them that they should avoid these topics as they are typical questions I receive about china. In the usa and europe politics are normal topics to talk about. Thanks for watching and commenting.
good to know. thanks!
Thank you my good sir, lots of help & great advice. I’m glad I watched !
I don't think we will be heading for at least a few years. 2014 is set up for Europe and Canada. 2015 is South America & Europe. So it would not be until at least 2016... unless work takes me there sooner :)
why? I am trying to help tourists get ready to enjoy the beauty and awesomeness of china. it is a great place to go and now they are even more ready. saying I am stupid doesn't really advance the cause of more tourism :)
Toilets are pretty bad, but considering how many people visiting those tourist sites everyday I would say it's ok. you're taking a dump there after all, not sitting there enjoy your afternoon tea or something. Btw Japan has the same style toilets as in China but cleaner because of less frequent usage. It's actually cleaner without any indirect body contact.
I may be teaching there next summer :)
Awesome video, thanks
I disagree with the English part. Taxi drivers in Beijing rarely speak English, hotels (even nice ones) do not always have English speaking staff on hand (Shanghai is much better than Beijing in the English department for sure).
Young people can speak English but the problem is the people that are learning English very well do not usually end up working in the service industry as they have better paying job prospects, so tourists do not get as many really good English speakers sometimes
This video is 8 years old. Wow!China has changed.
quite sensitive. I was told the "don't talk about Tibet and Taiwan" by at least 30 Chinese people when I asked about taboos in china.
This video is super helpful thank you
I do not know why you guys always talk about toilets in China. For me, i never have trouble in it. If you do not choose the cheap hotel, servers can speak English and the bathroom is qualified. I recommend the at least 3 star hotels in China, because they are cheap and good service.
on bartering: They will HOSE you. An example, a pair of knock off jeans is about 130 RMB (on the high end) and I had more than 1 vendor start the bartering at 4000 RMB I kid you not. The 50% off rule does not apply in China. Do research on how much individual items are and assume they are going to rip you off... sad but true. I lived there for years and spoke the language and I still had to fight to pay local prices (on a local salary)
That's because you'll never be treated like a local because of how you look. You're always going to be a foreigner.
You observation is very accurate, esp. the toilet part LOL
Ma ChienLi sb
as a Chinese, i am really sorry for the air-pollution in big cities.
Jack Xie 傻逼
Totally agree with the video. Public washrooms are awful in China. You can either book English local tours in Chinese hotels or simply join a China tour in your home country. Unless you speak mandarin, it is very challenging if you travel on your own. People in general don't speak English in China.
Have you thought of doing an epic silk road backpacking from xian to kashgar in China? and then tell us what about the 5 hates an 5 loves of this trip. What are the top 10 sites that one must absolutely visit on this silk route and perhaps what to be careful about. Or how about the 5 hates and 5 loves about backpacking through vast China. Personally through my own experience backpacking in Europe and CHina, In Europe, most stations are located at or near the city center (even for the smaller towns and cities) and buses and trains are quite well connected, even for some of the more remote regions its quite accessible by trains. China, on the other hand, has most of their train stations not located in the centre or near the center, except for the major cities, it's also not very connected to the metros. The high speed trains are great, but they mostly do not stop at the city center, you either have to take a taci or another long distance bus to get to the center. And some train journeys can take more than 20 hours on slow trains. It's not very easy therefore to travel around China, esp to the smaller but more interesting sites, as it can be very inconvenient as said previously.
Great vid Mark, Quite practical and virtually true from a Chinese perspective. And also apologize for those slanders from my kind
thanks!
Those kids are so lucky to have explored the whole world at such a young age. :P
I hope they remember that when they are 13 and say "why can't I ever play summer baseball" :) thanks!
That is an unusual clear blue sky for China ..
FlyWithVicky Perfectly aware about the pollution issue, and I apologize for being rude.
Nice video! I'm actually going to be taking a CELTA class in one week, so I might be over there in the future! Keep making videos!
hmmmm.... Germany and most of Europe you can drink the tap water and it is fine to drink. in china you can't as you most likely will get sick... and what about the other 11 things? are they so obvious too? because some people are a bit surprised by the porcelain hole toilets ;)
I may be teaching there next summer :) so let me know what you recommend.
great advice. dont ever ever ever get in a taxi that isnt marked. unless you really have a lot of extra money to toss away.
This is so helpful!!
The smog is worse than you think. My lungs hurt.
I love China
:) thanks... though he does have a pbs show and book empire... and I just have awesome fans who watch my videos :) I think I win :) all the best to you and thanks for the support!
I'm chinese living in Chengdu, you're welcomed to discuss any issues related to politics tibet taiwan and human rights with me if you like. I don't think it will be an issue with the authorities cuz how the hell would they know what our conversations are about? no one would follow you around as long as you're not any foreign official on an official visit. If you're here to post on weibo about any sensitive topics then it's an entirely different story.
Thanks :)
I was putting China on the back burner however, it is a superpower. What is holding me back is the polution. Just returned home from England and France. Miss it already.
rememer:u can hang out anywhere anytime cz its safe😊
Thank you for the tips and advices
Wolters World recommended wearing masks before it was cool
Thanks mate this vid is super useful! :)
Very informative. Thank you.
thank you very much!
+jesuischien you are very welcome
Nice vid!!!
I'd love to go to China! Its such a beautiful country. Im in two minds whether to learn Mandarin or not. Its an amazing language but the difficulty kinda scares me
I'm an American learning mandarin right now. I say go for it. the difficulty comes at the beginning and then it gets much easier after you learn a few things
Tom Rebman
youre right. im learning french at the moment so maybe when im done i'll start Mandarin, but well done you for giving it a go!
MultiSuperllama 加油！
I can teach you Mandarin!:)
I would've never thought about the tipping thing as we don't tip in NZ or Aus.
Anabellw0w Never understood tipping till i heard what waiters actually get paid!
It's ~5 aus/nz per hour.
Yeah, it's ridiculous! It's so disgusting that they aren't paid a fair wage!
+kpop-anabell; Hey, it's THEIR country and they do things their way!
Walter Strong Your point? I'm entitled to my opinion. Go be a sideliner somewhere else thanks.
+kpop-anabell Don't tip in China , it would be embarrassing , your service money is included in the price always .
no you are right
u miss one thing to describe. bag must carry infront. don't carry behind
Thanks for your video!
water？you know when you ask for a bottle of water,someone may give you a bottle of hot water even in summer.
Good tips ;-)
+China Non-Stop now you will be prepared to go to China hahaha!!!
Thank u for the info !!
I heard it's an app that helps tell people what is being said in another language.
You shouldn't drink tap water in the US directly .either
Mark S Depends on your pump station, most cities will have terrible water, I live in a rural area, actually have a modern well and the water is fantastic.
It depends on the city
Mark E - That’s not true
Thanks for the tips!!!! A+
thanks good advice
(part 2) and to continue, it's usu the most beautiful landscapes (eg. Jiuzhaigou natl Pk, Zhangjiajie -as seen in the Avatar inspiration, Kanas Lake etc), the weird but interesting historical and cultural sites (The Hanging Coffin, hanging monastery, etc) that are really diffficult to get to. Not a bad thing so less intl tourists will go there and tr theample too much on these beautiful places. though im sure the domestic tourists sure know how to get there. Sometimes knowing Mandarin may not be helpful at all in some inland regions because the locals there speak a different dialect altogether.
You can use WeChat to pay nowadays :) That's the king in major cities. Love your videos, keep them up!
I heard in China, there used to be some agencies that bring their tourists to visit and join movie making, particularly war movie that require lots of side actors. Tourists can experience wearing ancient armor (or costume), ride horse and charge together with all other actors while the director rolls the camera. Any idea about that? I asked few agencies and they said there is nothing like that anymore since China doesn't make much war movie anymore, except low budget ones that only required 10-20 actors who usually also their staffs.
The video takle about China in 2013 thought now is very different in China.
agreed
The cold water in China is also very clean, if u want, just drink it!
it's just because we Chinese have a habit of drinking hot/warm water. What u said makes me speechless.
Pollution Pollution, yes, there is air pollution in some days, but! not every day.
Thank you for a balanced view.
Thanks for all of your China videos! I move to Beijing to start a new job with China Radio International in a week, and they told me about most of these, but forgot to mention a few. You saved me getting ripped off in a few open air markets!
The only problem is the language. It’s very hard to learn and not only the words, but also the writing as a whole. It’s very confusing and there’s no alphabet.
Looking back on this in 2021, You now need to wear a mask for a very different reason other than pollution.
Wait a minute, I just looked it up. The US edges out China in total area. The US has 9,833,000 km² vs China's 9,596,961 km². (The US becomes even larger if you count its many islands and territories it has.) Also part of China's land is claimed by other countries or it's in dispute. I guess if you were to add Taiwan then it may change things a bit. (Not that it really matters though, since China and the US are technically tied in size no matter how you look at it.) But even if the US were slightly smaller than China, it still has more habitable land regardless. And China, India and the US are all bigger than Canada and Russia in habitable land. (The US is actually bigger than Canada by total land area too since Canada has so many lakes.)
The 7 largest countries by area: Russia, Canada, United States, China, Brazil, Australia and India.
The 7 largest countries by arable land: United States, India, China, Russia, Brazil, Canada and Australia.
The 7 largest countries by land area: Russia, China, United States, Canada, Brazil, Australia and India.
See a theme here? All above are massive! :D
If your country isn't in the list above, then it's safe to say that it's dwarfed by the countries that are listed above since there is a big drop off in size once you go to the 7th largest and especially the 8th largest.
Example Australia: (6th largest) 7,692,024 sq miles. India at number 7 then drops off a cliff with 3,166,391 sq miles. And the 8th largest is Argentina with 2,780,400 sq miles.
If you take the UK which is way down the list at number 70+ something, then it's just 242,495 sq miles. Enough to fit inside of India 13x over! Or the US at 40.6x over.
Pretty cool I thought. ^_^
Nice weather.
They are actually five or four time zones in china...but don't worry, we make Beijing time zone as the standard time zone
Jingying Fu it was funny when I got there and we had an 8 hour train to Xi'an and it was still the same time :)
woltersworld hahahaha！
Is there a certain distinction to tell what's the black cabs and metered taxis? How will I know that I'm in a metered taxi? I mean, if I'm just about to ride it.
what to bring b4 going to USA...just 1 thing. a bulletproof vest
Thank you! This was very helpful! I think I might be going to China in August of next year. :)
greenchucka did you have fun?