What You Need To Know BEFORE You Visit China (don't make these mistakes!)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ส.ค. 2024
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รักนะครับ😊❤🎉
Sad to see you didn't get a chance to visit Xinjiang. Beautiful scenery and amazing culture.
Yep lots to see not enough time. Was there 5 days. The natives were happy and making a good living on the main streets.
India is also a very beautiful country. India is a country that respects women very much. At night, women can walk in the street with peace of mind.
@@hwe4600 Don't put her in danger lol.
As a Chinese, I have to say that this is really the most practical and detailed explanation I have ever seen. I will save it and send it to my foreign friends who are about to travel to China.
Aw thank you so much 😊
I also did it😂，easy for me. Thank you，Alina😊
There are travel warnings to China 🇨🇳, and they are not jokes!
@@AhmetTekin101 See you everywhere，work so hard😂
@@lanmei130😂😂😂
As a Chinese, I recommend that tourists who come to travel avoid public holidays in China as much as possible. You definitely don’t want to compete with half of the Chinese people for scenic spots, transportation and hotel resources, and bear prices that are three times more than usual.
There are three public holidays of more than 3 days in China, namely
1. The first week of May (Labor Day)
2. The first week of October (National Creation Day)
3. (Chinese New Year) Between January and February each year, a different calendar is used. The specific time varies every year. During this time, many shops will be closed (including restaurants and shopping stores, but public transportation, scenic spots and hotels will be open as normal). , need to focus on
Of course, many people will take leave before and after holidays to pursue longer rest time for traveling, so when planning a trip, try to avoid the four days before and after these times.😜
Avoid the holidays and avoid the weekends. lol
This is very informative... Thank you😊, really need to plan ahead for my trip to China.
also avoid the hot summer, July and August. 40+ degree in major China.
@@seanqu1143 Oh, you can go to the north of China (Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Heilongjiang) or Tibet and Xinjiang in July and August, where it is quite cool due to the latitude and altitude;
Of course, the urban construction there is not as developed as that in the coastal areas, and the population density is lower. As a foreign traveler: The advantages are that there are fewer people, the scenery is more magnificent, and you can experience a different China The disadvantages are that people there have less contact with foreigners, and your communication, travel (sparsely populated, public transportation is relatively scarce), accommodation (due to China's registration policy, many hotels are not qualified to receive foreigners), car rental, etc. will be more difficult (compared to Beijing and Shanghai)
Here I recommend another TH-camr's video, he shows the magnificent scenery and difficulties encountered along the way in detail. Few people who travel to China for the first time can overcome the above complex problems and explore a different China
th-cam.com/video/lj3-RPKd-zM/w-d-xo.html
Specially in Chinese new year (Lunar New Year Festival) holiday, you can visit big cities, such as Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen etc. These cities is not crowd as normal days. Because many people living there are back to home.😊🎉
Never before have I seen content from China that is as culturally uplifting and diverse as yours. And the fact you created it within a relatively short duration of your stay makes it truly remarkable. Bravo 👏
Aw thank you so much, happy you enjoyed it 😊
China is more difficult to travel to than most other countries in Asia, and I think if you are not a patient person, you will not have a good experience; but for those who are more easy-going, and willing to give it more time, it is one of the best places to visit in the world right now.
and yes: extremely safe, people are awesome, amazing cities and rural areas. it just takes time to learn how to make the experience more enjoyable.
China is safer than North Korea. That's all.
An open mind and a compassionate heart is all you need. China has it all, and so glad that you have fully enjoyed it.
Would like to add more:
1. Although tap water in China is soft and of better quality than in most areas of the US & UK, it is still not recommended for direct consumption. Bottled water is super cheap, costing less than 0.2€/$0.2 per 500ml bottle + good quality.
2. The number of vegetarian restaurants in China is beyond imagination. However, unlike vegetarian restaurants in other countries, they often have various custom names and may not clearly indicate "we are a vegetarian restaurant" in their names. Additionally, many dishes in Chinese vegetarian restaurants are made from soy products (such as tofu), and while they may look and taste like meat dishes, they are 100% vegetarian.
3. Regarding "Dress Modestly" , it's possible that you may not be visiting China during the hottest season. Additionally, women in China, Japan, and Korea often favor white skin for its association with beauty. Health and UV protection are common purposes of them.
4. Food allergies are a significant concern. Peanut allergies are relatively uncommon in China, so it is advisable for tourists to prepare in advance with a translation of "Does this contain peanuts? I am allergic to peanuts" on translation apps to show when dining in restaurants.
tap water better quality than most areas in UK and US? not even close.
@@JalomMatia Yeah, not even close in terms of lead content.
【这食物里面含有花生吗？我对花生过敏，如果误食花生制品我会有很严重的过敏反应。】
I am afraid you had better stick to western restaurant when you visit China because peanut oil(not peanut butter) is quite a wide used oil for cooking in China and you can not even find a way of getting rid of peanut ingredients. @@ghost-crab
yall dumb, poisoned water is a planetary issue caused by agriculture, shit the state i live in has enough nitrates in the ground water to kill ya, they dont even want ya to bath in the shit.... there are very few untainted water sources left and most of those are springs in high altitudes and they are all owned by bottling companies... my water is cleaner that yours is just horse shit
Fellow Canadian here. Glad to see that you had a great time and appreciate the guide, as always :)
A tip for vegetarians or vegans, you can eat near a Buddhist temple. There are Buddhist temples in every Chinese city, and there are vegetarian meals available around them. Vegetarians in China are essentially the same as in other countries, but because it has more to relationship with traditional religion, they don’t call themselves “vegan” or “vegetarians.”
Thank you so much!🙏🙏🙏
do note that some of these places are melli-lacto-ovo, so you may need to inform them when you're ordering to skip honey, dairy, and eggs. if it's a restaurant run by the temple monks, then they're more than likely fully vegetarian, but ones run by practising civilians, are likely okay with using non-kill animal products.
Yes. Buddhist vegetarian diet is essentially vegan diet sans the smelly garlics, leeks, unions etc. 净素is literally "clean vegan".
把要吃素的需求写在一张图片上放在手机里，给餐馆看就行了，每个餐馆都可以素食
Ya they do call it vegetarian. Su 素菜。
WOW, this was simple, and to the point, with no frills, no unnecessary hype and just information that travellers need. EXCELLENT. 🤓
I'd say if you are not a tech savy person, you can still use your Chinese cash. If you're staying in a major international chained brand hotel, you should also be able to use your own Visa or Master card, but it's best to have cash to fall back to.
If you have enough time, I'd say you should stop by Hong Kong because you can get a sim card for your phone easily and the sim card you get from Hong Kong does not confined by the "internet great-wall of China". A Hong Kong phone number is helpful in China. You may even be able to get a China mobile phone number in Hong Kong which is even more helpful. You don't have to worry about VPN, you can still use Google and Facebook. You can also set up your Alipay in Hong Kong before you go into China Mainland. Hong Kong Alipay has an English version.
Correct entry method
Appreciate your guidance about China tour trip. Really helpful video.
My pleasure!
You're from Canada! You don't need to visit Jade Dragon Mountain! You should traverse the whole Tiger Leaping Gorge instead (by hiking or by car, it's at the back side of Jade Dragon Mountain), it got one of the most stunning scenery in China. It had the honor of National Geographic's Top Ten Hiking Trails.
In Shangri-La, not far from Lijiang, there is the Meili Snow Mountain, which ranks third among the most beautiful mountains in China. This snow mountain is the prototype of the Karakal peak of Shangri-La in Lost horizon. The sunrise over the Meili Snow Mountain, known as the 'Golden Mountain' in the sun, is very famous, and it's exactly as described in 'Lost Horizon' (because it's the inspiration!). You can also find the prototype of the lamasery in Lost Horizon - Ganden Sumtseling Monastery there!
You can also visit the former residence of Joseph Rock in the Stone Village of Lijiang, which is the inspiration for 'Lost Horizon' as the author referred to his travelogue, and he lived in Lijiang for 16 years! In the Lost Horizon book, traces of both Lijiang and Shangri-La can be found!
Would definitely love to do the Leaping Tiger Gorge hike!
So happy you enjoyed China Alina. It was a special experience to see it & you got to do it. A lifetime of memories for sure 😊.
It sure was 🙂
Your shares is very useful for foreigners. thx.
We in Serbia dont need visa so i already watched lot off travel blogs in my language ,and is always young people ,i think older from my country would be lost with no cash and everything on apps,young people don't have that problem,they actually like it
Yeah older people would definitely struggle!
President Xi is visiting Serbia. his next stop is Hungary.
Welcome to China, dear Serbia friend.
Most significant countries in Europe, including the 3 biggest nations of Russia, France and Germany, enjoy visa-free travel to China. Plus many nations in the "Global South". The uploader was incorrect about that so "don't make this mistake"🤣
I love your image, I love Yugoslavia 🥰🥰🥰
I am Chinese.🇨🇳
A lot of great information Alina! Thanks so much!
Thanks Alina for that piece of info have good week and weekend .
Thanks for the advice. Very helpful
I always enjoy your content!❤
You will definitely be back as China is so big that you can spend years travelling there
Thank you for sharing your beautiful journey. Lots of love from Montreal
Thank you Alina for the lovely videos
Thank you for sharing your experience❤ I have learned something for my next trip.
Great episode with lots of information !
Great tips and very helpful info👍
What a great channel. Thank you for the great work. Love it.
These are very helpful tips. Very true.
Thx for the list. It's very helpful.
You should know the regulations and various knowledge of China, entry and exit very well. There will be no problems. and stay and travel happily
Glad to see you to travel to China and love it so much! And also thanks for provided so many useful ideas. Looking forward to having you here again!
Thank you so much for sharing your experience and tips for more people to know. China is incredible.
Excellent video! Its going to help so many video!
Thank you very much for all these highly useful info!
beautiful videos. Thank you.
thank you for a video!
Well done !! You did so well in preparing these very useful information !! Thumbs up Alina !!
Thank you for the thoughtful advice ❤
Very interesting. Thank you very much.
Very helpful tips and great summary
Great stuff
I am Chinese, and I want to provide you with some tips. First of all, thank you for respecting our local culture. In terms of dressing, there are not many restrictions in China. It may be a habit, or it may be because we feel that the weather is a bit cold. In the hot summer, more people will wear shorts and short sleeves. So this is not a offense. As long as you respect local laws, don't expose the privacy parts.
Finding vegetarian food is a difficult problem, mainly because it will not be marked with whether it is a vegetarian on the menu. But in fact, many restaurants have meat and vegetarian food. You can ask them "我不能吃肉，请问你有素食吗？
(I can't eat meat, do you have vegetarian food?) " If you are worried about eating wrong, you can eat at a nearby halal restaurant(清真饭店) or a restaurant near the temple.
I use a translator, I hope the translation will not cause misunderstandings.
but halal means no pork. They serve beef and mutton...
每个城市基本都有专门吃素菜的地方（在地图上搜素菜就有了）
Thanks Alina for all the valuable info!
My pleasure!
Great vlog!
I have been trying to get these kind of informations for a while! Thank you so so much and well done!
Kind regards and I look forward to seeing you travel China 🇨🇳 in the near future!
Sabrina 🇫🇷🇬🇧
Alina thank you for your information 🙏
Love from Toronto Canada ❤
That was very helpful thank you
I really enjoy all your advice and adventure. Thank you for all your videos
My pleasure!
Great tips... really valuable information. Spasiva.
Thank you, these are very helpful tips. I want one day to visit China. Be safe traveling.
This is a great summary and will be very useful for many who plan to visit China. Thank you so much!!
Very informative! 🎉🎉
Great video😊
That's very kind of you, Alina. As always your videos are informative, beautiful in many ways just as you are. Looking forward next videos of your journey. May God Bless You
Thank you very much!
Great sharing.
Very helpful guide - Thank you.
Quite a hassle, its better than I thought. You did great work explaining this, thanks!
Thank you so much this video is really helpful. I want to go China again soon ❤
Thanks Alina
Thank you for the tips, Alina. Welcome back anytime ! : )
In 2019, China had almost 100 million inbound tourists - no small number !
Thank you! Will definitely be back 🙂
@@AlinaMcleod You can't escape for long ; )
Looking forward @@AlinaMcleod
@@AlinaMcleod*Second most Internationally touristy place on Earth almost tied with the first place, only France received more International Traveler in 2019 with 116 million International tourists - - so it is not just domestic tourists*
Here are the number of foreign visitors going through customs, as registered by the Chinese 🇨🇳 government:
2019: 14,000,000
2023: 500,000
*96.9% drop.*
Nearly half of those troubles are because of BIG population. Since there are more than enough domestic tourists for all the big attractions, the whole tourism industry had developed wildly. They don't need to improve their service for more incomes. Either don't they need to internationalize their service. The English friendly thing almost only happens in major cities like Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing, so make sure these cities are your first stop in China, which will help you blend in for awhile. These things not only are problem for foreigners but also for us local Chinese. So don‘t go to China in major holidays like labour's Day（5.1-5.4）, National Day（10.1-10.5），Spring Festival(Lunar 1st to 7th of Jan.). There is also too many people everywhere during summer vocation(July and August) and winter vocation(Jan and Feb.). So as a Chinese I highly recommend foreign friends travel to China during late Oct. to Jan, which has the least public holidays. Most problems triggered by too many people will not exists during this time.
As for me, your videos provide me with a new perspective to see those places I've been to. And also helped me to practice my English listening. Your vocabulary and pronunciation are very Chinese friendly.
100% true, China is a communist country with over 1,4 billion people, its tourism is already overcapacity, China welcomes foreigners but doesn’t need more tourists.
暑假寒假不算旅行高峰期，拥有暑假寒假的毕竟是少数人
@@华夏独领风骚 人多着呢...不要小看人口基数，那为啥每年夏天318都堵车
感谢！这是一个非常好的体验、总结、教程！
This is excellent. I sent this to my friend who is visiting China and they found it very helpful.
Glad it was helpful!
Best video thus far
Knowledge is power! Thank u Alina.😃💙💛🗼⛩
Aw thank you so much, Katzu! Glad you liked the video!
总结的真好，真的是用心旅行，用心体会。
great video
Thank you so much for the tips greatly appreciated it 💘 😊
My pleasure!
Thank you Alina for the greatest, but yet not too comprehensive summary from your time in China from a practicality perspective! You earned my subscription after your first live stream from Guangzhou (in replay though), and I have watched your uploads and live streams since. Personally, my first time traveling China, which happened to be 1-2 weeks before you arrived, I had to learn everything the hard way due to my sparse research in forehand. Thanks to you, my next visit to China would hopefully become more relaxed. Cheers 🤗
Aw thank you!
very good and useful
Thank you for the advice ❤🙏🏻👍🏻
The wechat réservation system is for locals.
When we ( from Canada too)needed to book for the forbidden place and great wall etc, we just googled a tour for foreigners. It turned out that every Chinese popular destination reserved spots for these foreign guided tour groups(a little more expensive, but guides are fluent in English or French, you learn so much about the history and culture)
I hope this will help your future travel.
That's great you were able to make it happen but I personally don't think tourists should be forced to hire a guide unless they want to. Also in Lijiang there's no English group tours. You can hire a private English speaking guide on your own, but it's very expensive.
@@AlinaMcleod Around the year 2000, there were so many foreigners in Lijiang, more than anywhere else in China, you can see more than 50 foreigners in every street in Lijiang. Now there are none left, maybe it's because of Russia war, Covid-19 or the losing of its originality, hopefully one day it can become its best self again.
That's worse to have guides fluent in English or French. It's better to take the normal guide locals do and get the tour in Chinese. If the goal was to just hear English or French, there's no reason to go to China.
@alchemist_one You are very wrong as going to China is not only about what you see . Without the french guide, my husband would not understand the history and culture of the each unique building in the forbidden palace. They go to same route as locals but it is so interesting to get to know more of the history , arts, and insights of these ancient architecture
Thank you so much❤
Regarding visa, it is important to note that since November 2023 citizens of France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia, since March 2024 citizens of Ireland, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg and Hungary, since June 2024 Australia and New Zealand and since July 2024 Poland can go to China for up to 15 days without a visa. So it makes quite a number of countries whose citizens can come to China without a visa.
Our first experiences parallels yours. Your guide to China is so well done. We made a few mistakes but learned and prepared better for the next trips we took. Our biggest issue was translation Thank you so much for the info. It makes your trip much more pleasurable and less stressful. This series was outstanding from start to finish . Sending you much love❤️❤️❤️
from Harriet, Jim and Yuki
Absolutely, thanks so much!
Thank you for your tips! Very practical, helpful, and instructive. Your explanation is great!👍
Agreed totally with you on the booking of the bigger main attractions and cable cars.
确实说得多 很实用 感谢up主
All good stuff to know.
Regarding visa free countries, if you are from those 5 eyes countries yes you will need to apply for Chinese visas. For those living in traditional Western European countries China provides temporary visa exemption for 15 days till end of 2025. (Only UK and Portugal are not on that visa free list but Hungary is on).
Yeah just hearing about that now, very nice option for them!
Well well I hold Australia passport. Why do we need visas to enter USA or Canada? If not welcome then I don’t go
There are travel warnings to China 🇨🇳, and they are not jokes!
Also Poland since July. And recently also Australia and NZ got that exemption.
China is actually a very secular society and has no special requirements for clothing. Chinese girls also dress very avant-garde in summer, so just dress casually.
For sure, but I just didn’t see anyone in skimpy clothing so if a foreigner wants to blend in, it would be better to be more covered.
@@AlinaMcleod it's true, over exposed clothing for adults doesn't seem to be common in China.
@@AlinaMcleod 那是因为还没有到夏天，夏天很多女孩穿的很少！
@@AlinaMcleod Dressing in public places in China is relatively conservative, which shows respect for others, but there are no rigid rules. All clothes in the world can be worn casually.
@@cloudwithwind574 translate for him: "That's because it's now not yet summer, in summer many girls show their bodies." and I can verify that at least for girls in the South like Guangzhou.
This is by far the most comprehensive and practical for those are interesting to visit China. I will book mark that and to whomever want that. Thank you for the exceptional work to put this together. Also if possible, get help from the local tour guide. It can cost some but avoid to blindly tumbling around and waste time.
Very true, glad you liked it 🙂
Welcome back anytime. Next time I'd highly recommend some more remote area like natural spots as you've already seen enough cities in China😁
Hello from Vancouver BC Alina. Kudos to you for taking on China especially for one coming from a small town in rural Canada. 🇨🇦
i think she has lived in Toronto for some years.
you are bright and considered universal english teacher take good care from the philippines
Your China content was is outstanding! So many beautiful places. My wife and really enjoy your videos.
Thank you so much 😊
Hi Alina, so glad to see you again ❤
Chinese government just announced 12 Europe countries can visit China 15 days without a visa until end of 2025❤
她是加拿大人，享受不到这个福利
Not many want to come to China.
@@AhmetTekin101 like to Rap*stan?
@@AhmetTekin101 so ridiculous,open your eyes
🤡🤡🤡@@AhmetTekin101
Thanks!
Aw thank you! 😊
Important correction to your first point: the visa-free program has now included many European countries. I think there are 11 countries on the list and the program is valid through end of 25 (and could be further extended)
There are absolutely a lot of vegan restaurants in big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen. But it will be difficult to find vegetarian restaurants in small cities and towns.
Thanks so much for this video, very informative
Glad it was helpful!
Some are facts. Some are options. You should come to see 👀 yourself. Welcome to China.
Good work!
一些大的景点必须网上提前订票，是为了控制访问的数量。有的地方不控制的话，有的时候人多的难以想象，这样比较危险，为了大家的安全，大的景点必须网上提前订票
Yes that is fine, but it’s the booking platform that is not easy for foreigners to use.
@@AlinaMcleod You're right, the booking interface should be more user-friendly and internationalized.
That's a good point. 👍 Otherwise, hundreds of thousands of tourists would flock to the gate to queue up for a ticket simultaneously, which would be dangerous.
*Yes but it is unnecessary make it so much step they can just use sign in with a fingerprint or something takes half a second*
*Sign up to a touristy place with a fingerprint no not necessary to fill up the whole 5 page form go to hotel or go to a touristy place - of course for Chinese Nationals are much easier*
Thank you very much for sharing your travel videos in China to the world and showing the most authentic China. If you will visit China in the future, I will welcome you very much to Qingdao, Shandong Province. This is a coastal city, very beautiful. Finally, I wish you a happy trip!🎉🎉
Alina, thank you for sharing. The mountains and clouds behind you are beautiful
We stayed in a place like that in Lijiang in 2017 with a view of the town from the rooftop. Beautiful destination, will definitely return.
It takes a couple of days to figure these things out. But once you setup those apps and learnt how to use them, the travel became very easy and enjoyable. I would say much easier and enjoyable than anywhere else on the earth since everything is on your fingertip, and you don't need to worry about your safety.
The way you ve captured the touristic sites of China is absolutely mindblowing... superb vlogging ❤❤❤
Thank you 😊
China is really beautiful and has a lot of beautiful scenery.👍
I'm glad you went through this, so I don't have to :)