I have lived in China for many years, your tips are accurate and could be very helpful to people who travel to China. One minor correction, VPN is not banned in China. Many people I know in China use VPN. Also, starting quite recently, foreigners don’t have to report to police stations anymore. And hotels cannot refuse your stay.
As a chinese, the VPN is actually not legal, but not literally illegal. But if you want to use it, and do not want to do some dangerous things then no one would give a shit. The police won't bother to arrest you, so actually nobody cares.
For some second tier cities and others, many hotels still need a license to accept foreign tourists. I once was in zhengzhou, and they couldn’t check me in because their hotel didn’t acquire the license to take foreigners. So I had to cancel that hotel and book another hotel that has the license
VPN is legal if you use a registered one by the government for business purposes - but those will not be private and have surveillance. Personal VPNs are not "legal" but they can't really police people who use it.
Or if for a short period of time, just keep using your overseas phone but have the roaming pack on. That way, you can just use your phone like in your own country and no need for VPN.
@@NateGGdog The reason I said that is because I have a friend working in the land office, which is a government department, she is using VPN. They call those Accelerator apps, which are actually VPNs. If China really want to ban it, no one could use it.
6:42 Weather wise, yes; practicality wise, HELL NO!!!!! Avoid National Day in early October at all cost. It's the busiest time in the year when everyone is traveling. Places are so cramped that you won't be able to move around, like literally😅
Wow! I’m so impressed how much content and useful inform you gave. Not only did I click like to support your channel but also making sure to comment and follow! 🥳
No !!!!!!Big no-no! A lot of places are closed during Chinese new year, including shopping malls, official offices, places need tickets to entre, all closed during Chinese New Year.
Visiting Tibet in the summer or Hainan island in the winter is actually highly recommended, wise to avoid the big 3 national holidays if you plan to visit tourism sites. About spitting, I think it's mostly a thing of the older generations, they typically went through the difficult years of post-war reconstruction w/o receiving higher education. I can't image millennials and younger gens doing that en masse as they're taught exactly not to do that, in primary schools already.
I also experienced the issue you mentioned about Alipay payments not going through. Later, someone told me that it was because the store hadn’t enabled support for credit card payments. Generally, slightly larger vendors will have this service enabled, so there’s no need to worry too much. The solution is to link a debit card. Hope it helps.
@Joelfriend the reason is because the smaller vendors are using their personal account instead of a business account. Credit card companies such as Master card or Amex would see this as a bank transaction and not a merchant transaction ans therefore decline.
China's card organization is called UnionPay. Compared with Visa or MasterCard, the handling fee is very low, usually 0.6%, while Visa and MasterCard require about 6%. Therefore, many stores are reluctant to accept Visa or MasterCard cards
Spitting is exclusive to old men. They have not adapted to city life. They smoke all the year round, which is of no quality. Young people don't like that. They hate those people.
Not only the old Chinese but also the young Chinese spat on the floor. I remember the Chinese tourists who kept spitting on the lobby floor at a hotel in Singapore. They were around 30 to 35 years old. Eventually, the hotel refunded their expenses and deported them out of the hotel.
Thanks for this great information, Joel! Very helpful! BTW There are countless amazing places to visit and explore in America. Hope you guys get over here one of these days. Wishing you well…
It is recommended that you choose a date after October 7th, because October 1st to October 7th is China's National Day, most people take the day off to travel, and many tourist attractions are very crowded.
The two subway stations as your example are bsically a place and the place plus a character (-xi) meaning "west". They used to be like "Chegongzhuang West" so westerners can comprehend but it's not useful when you say them to a Chinese person. So in recent years all the English names were changed to the exact pronounciations to hopefully solve the problem. At the end of the day, it's better to learn some direction word before you travel to China, like dong - esat, xi - west, nan - south, bei - north.
Great tips. Don't go in October tho, cuz 10.1-10.7 is the national holiday (the most crowded time of the year). Chinese New Year is actually not that crowded in the major cities as people go back to their hometowns. But the traffic can be pretty bad at the beginning and end of the holiday.
Best time for traveling in China would be March，April，middle and end of May，June，beginning of September，end of October，November，and December. You can choose to go different side of China depending on different seasons. Hope everybody enjoys traveling time in China❤
It's hard to make an overarching statement about when are the best times to go to China as it's so vast and climates vary from region to region. It all depends on where you are going and what you want to see. For example, if you want to see the dreamy yellow rapeseed fields in Wuyuan, Jiangxi, you should go in mid to late March; if you want to see the romatic autumn colors of Hangzhou, Suzhou and Nanjing, you should go in late November. Also summer is a great time to go to the western parts of China such as Yunnan, Qinghai, Gansu and Xinjiang as weather is mild. If you want to see Tiger Leaping Gorge and avoid the wet season, its best to go before June. It is safe to say that all should try to avoid chinese hilodays though.
11:10 just a little background info to add here fyi, all those websites/apps are not just banned like there’s no freedom of speech in China. They did not want to adhere to Chinese laws like monitoring groups for antiterrorism reasons (which I think is fair, since any company is supposed to follow the laws in any country if they operates there) , that’s why they chose to leave China. China was like you either follow our rules or leave.
Do you know why foreigners must use the passport as ID.? Simple the passport is a standardized international format document that is issued by the traveller's countries. It has many anti counterfeit features. Driver's licences from other countries are not standardized and may not contain English or security features. As well each state or province in Canada, Australia, USA and many other countries each issue their own driver's licence. I think that these are the reasons only a passport is accepted as ID.
The followings you mentioned in your video is not really accurate : 1) China is a "Secretive" country?? You have been manipulated by your country's government. 2) Passport required in a convenient store?? I never had to show my passport when I bought from convenient stores in Beijing. 3) VPN banned in China? I do not think so. Many locals also use VPN. 4) You make it sound like China's so called "great fire wall" is preventing you use Google and that is so terrible. 😱 China can similarly use "National Security" as a reason to ban Google/Facebook/etc., just like the USA uses "National Security" to ban garlic from China, Huawei, EV cars, etc.!! 😂😂😂 5) Guests staying in small hotels have to register with the Police?? Maybe in remote areas in China? But most foreign tourists to China do not visit remote regions of China. In fact, many places I visited in Beijing, I only see local tourists, hardly any Western tourists. 6) China is a very friendly country, with lots of ancient sites to visit. Cost of living is low and people are helpful. Do not be influenced by lying politicians and media.
@@leenieledejo6849 I may be biased but I will stand up for any country being Bullied by any Western country. I will speak out when the Bully tries to smear another country, just to stop that developing country from progressing. China stories should be based on facts and Evidence, not deliberate bullying and lies. I have been to China a few times, and I see what I see.
The beginning of May and Oct are NOT good time to visit China because there would be bank holiday. Especially the first 7 days in Oct, they are the worst. I used to go to the Forbidden City on 2 Oct; it was a nightmare. The staff there told me there would be 300k visitors per day. I think March and November are reasonable months to visit China.
@@metalthrashingai2238 It should be good. I used to walk by west lake in Hangzhou in the early spring, and I could feel the growth of grass as I walked.
using a vpn isn't banned in china. selling vpn services within china is illegal. that is a big difference. a lot of chinese use vpn providers in hk since it's a special region and doesn't follow all mainland regulations. how do you think people/companies do business with the outside world? how do you think your chinese viewers watch your yt videos? yes most people won't use a vpn because there is no need for it. china has equivalent apps for everything. probably only the younger professionals who know a bit of english might use a vpn to check western social media.
Spitting on the street is not cuz of any medicine. Just bad behaviour from the old days. My grandma finally stopped doing it after being told off maybe 100 times by me and my mom.
vpn more users in china now，but its not legally，if you are foreigners no worry，because govt will not punish you if you only download it，but they will punish Chinese if caught by them unfortunately.but actually govt does not care this issue recently.
actually china government has declared hotel cannot use any excuse to refuse foreigners to check in , especially when they said you need to register at police before checking in, just tell them you dont need to register and they cannot refuse you to check in.
I love your video,because this video is objectively ,just a small thing,the spitting in public,the old people or the low quality people like to do that
Not only the old Chinese but also the young Chinese spat on the floor. I remember the Chinese tourists who kept spitting on the lobby floor at a hotel in Singapore. They were around 30 to 35 years old. Eventually, the hotel refunded their expenses and deported them out of the hotel.
Get SafetyWing here - safetywing.com/?referenceID=joel&Ambassador
Dont go early oct. 1-7th typically national holiday, everyone travelling.
China is a huge country, and its natural landscape and human culture are very diverse.
It is well worth traveling with many times.
Yes, so true - great comment
I have lived in China for many years, your tips are accurate and could be very helpful to people who travel to China. One minor correction, VPN is not banned in China. Many people I know in China use VPN.
Also, starting quite recently, foreigners don’t have to report to police stations anymore. And hotels cannot refuse your stay.
As a chinese, the VPN is actually not legal, but not literally illegal. But if you want to use it, and do not want to do some dangerous things then no one would give a shit. The police won't bother to arrest you, so actually nobody cares.
For some second tier cities and others, many hotels still need a license to accept foreign tourists. I once was in zhengzhou, and they couldn’t check me in because their hotel didn’t acquire the license to take foreigners. So I had to cancel that hotel and book another hotel that has the license
VPN is legal if you use a registered one by the government for business purposes - but those will not be private and have surveillance. Personal VPNs are not "legal" but they can't really police people who use it.
Or if for a short period of time, just keep using your overseas phone but have the roaming pack on. That way, you can just use your phone like in your own country and no need for VPN.
@@NateGGdog
The reason I said that is because I have a friend working in the land office, which is a government department, she is using VPN. They call those Accelerator apps, which are actually VPNs. If China really want to ban it, no one could use it.
6:42 Weather wise, yes; practicality wise, HELL NO!!!!!
Avoid National Day in early October at all cost. It's the busiest time in the year when everyone is traveling. Places are so cramped that you won't be able to move around, like literally😅
Wow! Very helpful information, and I think I need to watch again and again whenever I need it. Thank you very much.
Entering the vibrant world of Chinese 中国航拍 中国堵车 中国汉服 中国古筝 美国媳妇 俄国媳妇 youtube searc
warm welcome to your future visit to CHINA
Very detailed and useful information, thanks Joel!
This is very helpful, thanks a lot for the tips!
Thank you for the tips! Will be going next month to Beijing. I’m super nervous and excited!
Wow! I’m so impressed how much content and useful inform you gave. Not only did I click like to support your channel but also making sure to comment and follow! 🥳
THANK YOU! so so helpful!!
"probably safer than london" yeah that doesn't take much these days
ahaha
Safer meaning less crime. But you might get hit by a window or have the road collapse under you. Crime in china is more unusual and focused attacks.
@@NateGGdog As a Chinese, have never encountered such a problem. This is almost as difficult as winning the lottery for me.
Much safer in China
Actually Chinese New Year is a great time to visit for example Beijing, because a lot of people go back to hometown
No !!!!!!Big no-no! A lot of places are closed during Chinese new year, including shopping malls, official offices, places need tickets to entre, all closed during Chinese New Year.
I go to Shenzhen, and it's great - not many people
Lots restaurants and shops are closed, just not that interesting to travel during the CNY period.
I was working in Beijing and had no idea how closed it would be during New Year and could barely find food ending up at a Pastry shop for days.
I had no idea that 15 days are visafree how gorgeous is this
Yes, not you can visit - enjoy
Yeah it's amazing, I swore never to go again after my last visa debacle but I'm going this december now. It looks like China is hungry for tourists.
Visiting Tibet in the summer or Hainan island in the winter is actually highly recommended, wise to avoid the big 3 national holidays if you plan to visit tourism sites.
About spitting, I think it's mostly a thing of the older generations, they typically went through the difficult years of post-war reconstruction w/o receiving higher education. I can't image millennials and younger gens doing that en masse as they're taught exactly not to do that, in primary schools already.
yes，I quite agree with you.I am 00, since I can remember being told by my mother can not spit, from small to large around the students will not do so.
Thanks for the valuable tips 😍
so love you two welcome to china again
I also experienced the issue you mentioned about Alipay payments not going through. Later, someone told me that it was because the store hadn’t enabled support for credit card payments. Generally, slightly larger vendors will have this service enabled, so there’s no need to worry too much. The solution is to link a debit card. Hope it helps.
ohh this would make sense, but we did have debit cards linked to Alipay not credit cards but maybe it's a similar kind of thing! :)
@Joelfriend the reason is because the smaller vendors are using their personal account instead of a business account. Credit card companies such as Master card or Amex would see this as a bank transaction and not a merchant transaction ans therefore decline.
China's card organization is called UnionPay. Compared with Visa or MasterCard, the handling fee is very low, usually 0.6%, while Visa and MasterCard require about 6%. Therefore, many stores are reluctant to accept Visa or MasterCard cards
Spitting is exclusive to old men. They have not adapted to city life. They smoke all the year round, which is of no quality. Young people don't like that. They hate those people.
Some less educated young people do it too
Not only the old Chinese but also the young Chinese spat on the floor. I remember the Chinese tourists who kept spitting on the lobby floor at a hotel in Singapore. They were around 30 to 35 years old. Eventually, the hotel refunded their expenses and deported them out of the hotel.
@@saryanglee3752 bro ,it's more up to if they have got well educated. china's domestic level of development is also different.
I lived in Beijing 1998-2000. Both my wife and myself has never felt so safe. Great time to live there too 😁
As Chinese I thought that period was the most dangerous, crime-prevalent era 😢, compared to nowadays
Welcome back visit Beijing again...😊😊😊
你必须来见识下新的 中国.
You should lived in Beijing in 1989
Thanks for this great information, Joel! Very helpful! BTW There are countless amazing places to visit and explore in America. Hope you guys get over here one of these days. Wishing you well…
Excellent Tips, I believe that lots of people are going to benefit from your valuable suggestions
Do you recommend staying at hostels? Specifically in Beijing and Chengdu.
Enjoyed your video 👍
Thank you so much ☺️
Enjoy watching great video as always!!
Entering the vibrant world of Chinese 中国航拍 中国堵车 中国汉服 中国古筝 美国媳妇 俄国媳妇 youtube searc
Thank you for the tips! Going there this October!
It is recommended that you choose a date after October 7th, because October 1st to October 7th is China's National Day, most people take the day off to travel, and many tourist attractions are very crowded.
Im going in two days!!!!!!
Have the best time!
It is recommended that you go to Harbin in winter. There are ice and snow festivals every year，they build huge cities and castles made of ice.
Entering the vibrant world of Chinese 中国航拍 中国堵车 中国汉服 中国古筝 美国媳妇 俄国媳妇 youtube searc
The two subway stations as your example are bsically a place and the place plus a character (-xi) meaning "west". They used to be like "Chegongzhuang West" so westerners can comprehend but it's not useful when you say them to a Chinese person. So in recent years all the English names were changed to the exact pronounciations to hopefully solve the problem. At the end of the day, it's better to learn some direction word before you travel to China, like dong - esat, xi - west, nan - south, bei - north.
Great tips. Don't go in October tho, cuz 10.1-10.7 is the national holiday (the most crowded time of the year). Chinese New Year is actually not that crowded in the major cities as people go back to their hometowns. But the traffic can be pretty bad at the beginning and end of the holiday.
Mad respect to you for having the balls to travel to China and giving us a realistic perspective and experience.
Aw thank you! :)
Does is take THE BALLS to travel to a country which is as safe as Japan? It takes intellectual effort fr
You really dont need any "balls" to go to china, it is probably safer than most part of the world.
Get over here, come see it - you will love it
Best time for traveling in China would be March，April，middle and end of May，June，beginning of September，end of October，November，and December. You can choose to go different side of China depending on different seasons. Hope everybody enjoys traveling time in China❤
Objective and useful suggestions🎉
Very helpful Info
It's hard to make an overarching statement about when are the best times to go to China as it's so vast and climates vary from region to region. It all depends on where you are going and what you want to see. For example, if you want to see the dreamy yellow rapeseed fields in Wuyuan, Jiangxi, you should go in mid to late March; if you want to see the romatic autumn colors of Hangzhou, Suzhou and Nanjing, you should go in late November. Also summer is a great time to go to the western parts of China such as Yunnan, Qinghai, Gansu and Xinjiang as weather is mild. If you want to see Tiger Leaping Gorge and avoid the wet season, its best to go before June. It is safe to say that all should try to avoid chinese hilodays though.
For Maps: If you use iPhone you can just use Apple Maps, it’s a bit basic but get the job done just fine
GOOD LUCK
Good news, now visa free extended to 30 days!
11:10 just a little background info to add here fyi, all those websites/apps are not just banned like there’s no freedom of speech in China. They did not want to adhere to Chinese laws like monitoring groups for antiterrorism reasons (which I think is fair, since any company is supposed to follow the laws in any country if they operates there) , that’s why they chose to leave China. China was like you either follow our rules or leave.
这就是为什么朝鲜是个民主的国家
Great video thanks for the tips! Are you doing a cost breakdown of your time in china?
Suggest using Gaode map when coming to China
Vpn not ban in china.
Curious, if Google maps doesn't work what app did you use to navigate ?
Apple Maps and maps.me mostly, but even they didn’t work that well ah
Amap is another recommendation
I am just starting figuring out how to do all this lol
pretty sure it's actually 30 days visa free.
Yes, they changed it recently if you are from one of the countries you can now stay 30 days Visa free!
"China probably safer than London" 😁😆😅
Not hard to beat isn’t it. 😎
11:32 You forgot to put the link to the astrill VPN
Ayy thanks for that, I have added it now :)
I just don't get the reason why you always have to bring passport and I don't see this requirements anywhere.
欢迎大家来这玩
For a Chinese person who knows Feng Shui more or less, it is an agony to see a bed position right behind a door🤣 Great info though.
Do you know why foreigners must use the passport as ID.? Simple the passport is a standardized international format document that is issued by the traveller's countries. It has many anti counterfeit features. Driver's licences from other countries are not standardized and may not contain English or security features. As well each state or province in Canada, Australia, USA and many other countries each issue their own driver's licence. I think that these are the reasons only a passport is accepted as ID.
To be fair Kiev is probably safer than London these days
More thieves than missiles I suppose
哈哈哈哈
Don't be ridiculous. Don't be offensive.
Visit London so that you know what you're talking about.
@@leenieledejo6849 I lived in London for 8 years in several different boroughs. Don't talk shit about people you know nothing about.
not October. you will see more domestic tourists during national day long weekends
🎉🎉🎉
Forbidden city: So you did forget me😢
The followings you mentioned in your video is not really accurate :
1) China is a "Secretive" country?? You have been manipulated by your country's government.
2) Passport required in a convenient store?? I never had to show my passport when I bought from convenient stores in Beijing.
3) VPN banned in China? I do not think so. Many locals also use VPN.
4) You make it sound like China's so called "great fire wall" is preventing you use Google and that is so terrible. 😱 China can similarly use "National Security" as a reason to ban Google/Facebook/etc., just like the USA uses "National Security" to ban garlic from China, Huawei, EV cars, etc.!! 😂😂😂
5) Guests staying in small hotels have to register with the Police?? Maybe in remote areas in China? But most foreign tourists to China do not visit remote regions of China. In fact, many places I visited in Beijing, I only see local tourists, hardly any Western tourists.
6) China is a very friendly country, with lots of ancient sites to visit. Cost of living is low and people are helpful. Do not be influenced by lying politicians and media.
Maybe you're biased.
Have you ever considered that?
@@leenieledejo6849 I may be biased but I will stand up for any country being Bullied by any Western country. I will speak out when the Bully tries to smear another country, just to stop that developing country from progressing. China stories should be based on facts and Evidence, not deliberate bullying and lies. I have been to China a few times, and I see what I see.
I use Baidu map. I can read Chinese.
Entering the vibrant world of Chinese 中国航拍 中国堵车 中国汉服 中国古筝 美国媳妇 俄国媳妇 youtube searc
刚在国内看到你的视频，又在这边看到你
The beginning of May and Oct are NOT good time to visit China because there would be bank holiday.
Especially the first 7 days in Oct, they are the worst. I used to go to the Forbidden City on 2 Oct; it was a nightmare. The staff there told me there would be 300k visitors per day.
I think March and November are reasonable months to visit China.
I'm going in March. I hope the weather will be pleasant.
@@metalthrashingai2238 It should be good. I used to walk by west lake in Hangzhou in the early spring, and I could feel the growth of grass as I walked.
Avoid Chinese new year , national day , school break
wtf if ur using a map app that u can’t read of course it’s gonna be confusing
spitting is an issue in a lot of city. but the gov is working of it so it should be getting better, a lot of young people don’t do it.
To be honest we noticed this, it’s not that common with young people at all
Although spitting is common in China, it is impolite, but it is usually done by middle-aged and elderly people.
WHAT? DD got English version?
using a vpn isn't banned in china. selling vpn services within china is illegal. that is a big difference. a lot of chinese use vpn providers in hk since it's a special region and doesn't follow all mainland regulations. how do you think people/companies do business with the outside world? how do you think your chinese viewers watch your yt videos? yes most people won't use a vpn because there is no need for it. china has equivalent apps for everything. probably only the younger professionals who know a bit of english might use a vpn to check western social media.
When setting up weChat it prompts i need an invite from someone who already has weChat. Is this common?
I think it's not that normal
Spitting on the street is not cuz of any medicine. Just bad behaviour from the old days. My grandma finally stopped doing it after being told off maybe 100 times by me and my mom.
so if VPNs are banned would coming into the country with one be...illegal? hmmmmm
no
高德地图 Gaode Map is much better than Baidu Map.
这个我赞同
👍👍
Hello sir..can I work for you
I can make your video more engaging with
Color grading
Color correction
Cinematic transition
Sfx sound!
vpn more users in china now，but its not legally，if you are foreigners no worry，because govt will not punish you if you only download it，but they will punish Chinese if caught by them unfortunately.but actually govt does not care this issue recently.
actually china government has declared hotel cannot use any excuse to refuse foreigners to check in , especially when they said you need to register at police before checking in, just tell them you dont need to register and they cannot refuse you to check in.
Next trip? Where are you going??
1:32 bruh 😱😱
Secretive country?!? wtf?
I love your video,because this video is objectively ,just a small thing,the spitting in public,the old people or the low quality people like to do that
10月国庆日超多😂
welcome to Nanjing and try Nanjing duck. that is the most delicious duck in the world. Beijing duck is just from Nanjing.
Spitting is really annoying, I hope the government will take some legal measures to prevent it.
spit everywhere? not seen that much...
Jumping the cue line, spitting and smoking.. bad bad
*queue!
Nice package down there 😋🌈,my eyes couldn't resist.I bottom.
I will see you in the next one. be quick 😂
Advertising video, sorry thats a no go !
错误的中国地图，请注意
Only some old people will spit everywhere in China, and it is hard to see the scene, young man never do this. Please don't exaggerate.
Not only the old Chinese but also the young Chinese spat on the floor. I remember the Chinese tourists who kept spitting on the lobby floor at a hotel in Singapore. They were around 30 to 35 years old. Eventually, the hotel refunded their expenses and deported them out of the hotel.
@@saryanglee3752 Haha, fine. Whatever you like.
spitting is a shame. It's kinda normal but we young generation here know it's a shame to do that.
中国用vpn不范法，你只要触法中国法律
现在很少见到吐痰的人了，一般都是老年人，以及少部分没素质的年轻人，我们也很讨厌这些人
You know China very well!
No he doesn’t.
Oh, come on, 10 videos for just one country. are you making the money from the Chinese government?