Specifically, if any of you have been in China fairly recently (the last several years), would you have any practical tips or advice for me? I'll be leaving for China at the end of March for a couple of weeks, staying in Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai.

Bring a gas mask.

I'm in China now, have been since Xmas.
if you want to pick my brain about anything at all, just ask.

If you are going to China,
make sure you eat their dumplings
They are quite famous in Japan.

And do try the Chinese Caviar.

People planning to travel to Japan were warned yesterday to steer clear of China-produced caviar sold there that has been mislabeled as originating from Russia.

Liu Ching-fang (劉清芳), a division chief at the Consumer Protection Commission, urged travelers to be careful when buying caviar in Japan and to be on the lookout for falsely labeled Chinese products.

Liu's warning came after the economic division of the Taiwan representative office in Japan notified the commission that two Japanese department store chains -- Seibu Department Stores and SOGO Department Store Co -- were found on Feb. 7 to be selling Chinese-produced caviar which was labeled as coming from Russia.

When I went in 1998, I read and brought a copy of the Lonely Planet series on China. I see that the reviews of the latest edition on Amazon are mixed, with the Rough Guide series getting slightly better reviews.

I suspect most anything I could tell you about what to see or where to go is no longer relevant, since stuff changes so much there in 10 years.

But I doubt this advice has changed in 10 years: Avoid eating uncooked food, especially fresh fruit that you can't peel, unless you want to risk some serious intestinal discomfort.

Xi'an was lovely. Shanghai was amazingly vibrant. Beijing at the time was rather depressingly concrete grey & Soviet urban.

--Steve

Thanks, Rabga. Basically, I'd like to know what to eat/not to eat, what to expect re: local washrooms, what to expect with the local people, just generally staying healthy and safe. I am travelling with a group, so we have specific places that we are going.

Thanks, FoolYap. I'll be eating in the hotels a fair bit but also when out and about. I will stick to cooked foods.

What do you think I can expect with the people? Did you find them to be friendly/helpful?

One thing I wanted to know was about swimming pools/hot tubs: are they treated the same way as they are in NA?

I have seen a couple of specials on the tube about China today, and Beijing seems to have a more vibrant downtown area now. We will be seeing the palaces and the wall.

I can't wait to see Xi'an!

I'm expecting this but hoping it won't be a problem. No one in our group has asthma, at least that 's been diagnosed as yet.

Well, I don't know about china but I'll give you some general travel advice...

* Copy all your documents and keep them in a plastic bag. In
Ukraine a water pipe burst in our apartment and there were
certainly enough freak rainstorms. And copies of documents is a
good thing.

* Banking, many banks abroad employ people who also know
English, so even if you're not too confident with the language,
banking, money transfers, safe deposit boxes, all those things
probably won't be much trouble...

* Safe deposit box, depending on the length of your stay and
where you are staying, you may want a safe deposit box. Most
banks around the world offer cheap rates on safe deposit boxes.
They aren't much trouble and if you are worried about storing some
things they are a good option. You can store plane tickets, copy of
documents, western union numbers, jewelery.

* Have an extra copy of the address where you are staying on you,
critical numbers, useful phrases if you aren't to good with the language.
"Where is a phone?"
"Where is a toilet?"
"Where are the police?"
"Please write down how much this is?"
In Ukraine, some people spoke polish, ukrainian, russian... But
usually not all three. So my situation might have been different.

* Use a travelers wallet for your passport.

* Carry your cash like everyone else or at least don't keep it all in
your travelers wallet. IMO there's no point in using a travelers wallet if
you are always pulling it out where people can see it.
Also keeping an extra 20 in your travelers wallet is a good thing,
that way if your regular cash leaves you one way or another, you
can still go home or get a soda...

* Western Union yourself some extra cash and keep a copy of the
info with you. That way if you lose your cash or need some more
quickly, it's not any trouble. Also then you don't have to carry much
cash on you, credit cards, or keep cash where you are staying. Also
western union may be much more reliable and available abroad
then access to credit cards...

* Water
Depending on where you are staying, if the water is good or not...
You may want to buy a big water jug in the evening or when you're
out. I often would boil up a big pot of water in the day just as
drinking water. When out of the country you have to think about
clean water more then you do here, but it's not that much trouble.

* Aspirin, Pepto, Benadryl, you don't need to take the whole
medicine cabinet but it's usually good to bring along a few things
you're used to. These may not be readily available or immediately
recognizable when you need them...

* Weather Gear
I would suggest bringing a few cloth handkerchiefs and an extra
cowboy style one might make a nice gift. Also regarding weather in
general, whenever traveling I've found that it's useful to take along
a cheap pocket size raincoat and a plastic shopping bag. They
never take much room and help out when you need a bag, raincoat
or a place to put wet shoes or put away a wet raincoat. So it's a
good combination.

* Make a list, think about how you're going to use the things on the
list, what you need and what you don't need... Do you need two
harry potter books for a plane ride with in-flight movies? They have
shoe stores too, do you need two pairs? On one three month
summer trip to Ukraine I wore a suit, some nice black dress
sneakers and I had one gym bag. That's what I traveled with and
that's what I came back with. Though on the way back I did ditch
most of my cloths to fit in souvenirs.

Anyway, have a nice trip...

steam_cannon, thank you for all of your travel advice; I am making notes right now. I haven't travelled far away from home for the last 25 years, so that information is very useful.

My doctor actually gave me a prescription for Cipro (in case of troublesome intestinal upset), which I will fill before I leave. Benadryl is a good idea also.

Rabga, I just thought of something else I could ask you. Do you think I need to bring a winter jacket for the end of March to mid April, or should a lighter jacket be enough?

Also, bring bottled water from the hotels with you. At least when I was there, some street vendors selling "bottled" water were selling tap water in bottles. The water can be unsafe for visitors, for the same reason as uncooked food.



Both, unfailingly! A couple of times I had people approach me who clearly just wanted to practice English. Once a giggling group of teens gave me loud, "Hallo!"s and "Good Day!"s to peals of laughter which was pretty funny to listen to.

In those large cities, most people are pretty used to Westerners walking around. In a couple of the smaller cities we visited (Kunming, Guilin and Dali) we attracted more stares and double-takes, but I never felt unwelcome. On the contrary, I sometimes met people (especially older Chinese) who asked if we were Americans, and when we said yes, brightened and shook our hands and were very friendly.

Not sure if the political stuff that's happened since 1998 will affect how people there feel about you as an American (assuming that you are) today.

Sometimes the street vendors can get a bit aggressive. I had one woman literally grab me by the arm and try to drag me back towards her stall. If that kind of thing bothers you, just be firm and walk quickly past the loud ones. FWIW, I had fun haggling with most of them, and they seemed to enjoy that I was playing the game correctly -- walking away as a bargaining tactic is apparently expected.



Not sure what you mean? We didn't use any public bathing or swimming facilities while there.



Xi'an is a lovely city! The Forbidden City was a bit overwhelming. The Empress' Summer Palace is of a bit more human scale, and was lovely.

--Steve

Here's what I see...


http://www.traveljournals.net/explore/c ... nghai.html

Xi'an (50 - 70F)
http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/fin ... ry=Xi%27an

Beijing (50 - 60F)
http://www.wunderground.com/global/stations/54511.html

Shanghai (40 - 50F)
http://www.wunderground.com/global/stations/58362.html

Shanghai is having 40's to 50's this week and it should be getting
warmer. So I would think unless you're hiking, a light jacket and a
hat would probably be more then enough.

If you are hiking, you might want something layered. Like a fleece
zip up jacket with a thin light windbreaker makes an excellent winter
coat that fits in a shopping bag. In Walmart's sporting section they
sell truly "waterproof breathable" windbreakers in mens and
womens sizes for $25 And a fleece with that would be more then enough.

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Whatever you're doing, I still highly recommend having a cheap
pocket size raincoat. Waiting for buses, taxis, bicycle taxis, walking
in the rain... Regular jackets don't help much with those situations.

Do believe the picture regarding smog....I spent a couple of weeks in Bejing two years ago and it was so thick you could hardly see where you were going. Every once in awhile the wind picks up and cleans it all out and you get to see some spectacular sights.

My suggestions of must see:

Great wall, Ming's tomb, Tianamen square, Xiang

And another must see...

Many westerners are surprised that our kind of toilet is not commonly
used in the rest of the world. And googling "China Toilet" came up with
images like this one. So I suspect as in many parts of the world this
is the most common style of toilet...

Chinese Public Toilets
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rivard/50151405/

Honestly, I was a little perplexed the first time I saw these in
Europe and some instructions would have been nice.
Some instructions and info:

How to use a Squat Toilet
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~AD8y-hys/movie.htm
http://www.worldhum.com/how_to/item/use ... _20060923/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squat_toilet


And carrying a pack of tissue with you can be a good idea too...