This is the first in a series of what I hope will be valuable tips for travelling in China. I have been to China about 10 times in the last 6 years. I have learned a lot of things that I want to pass on to fellow travellers. I will be covering some creative tips from landing at the airport to being homeward bound.
- luggage choices
- GSM cell phones
- money conversion cheat sheets
- bargaining
- student guides for free
- going solo
- trains and busses
- tour groups.....big mr. NO
- travel light
- but wait...there's more
OK...Lets start with luggage choices. It is really up to you. Here is my choice for me. I use a very large, high quality, 'hard shell' suitcase. I use this choice to accomodate my love of shopping. Before leaving I pack some bubble wrap to bring with me. What I don't use I abandon in my last hotel room. But you don't want to take time trying to find bubble wrap when you are there. In China they just use old newspapers. Not a very good choice for something highly fragile that you really want to bring home in one piece. Now if you love to shop and don't want to drag a large suitcase around with you there is another very good option. Buy one there. You can buy a very good quality hard shell suitcase for about $20-25 at any Chinese Dept Store. Not a bad choice. Another variation is a suitcase inside a suitcase. Go to a flea market, thrift store, or a whole bunch of garage sales and find a second suitcase to stick inside another. It can be a matter of luck. Too much trouble I 'spose. But maybe you will be lucky. But keep in mind how EZ it is to pickup extra luggage in China. You might also want to buy some of those big canvas straps that you see some foreigners using on their bulging funky suitcases. Along this line you can also buy, for next to nothing, wooven vinyl open top suitcases [bags] that work well but are not fashion statements. But they will certainally earn respect from other foreigners and for some are a fashion statement. They look good with 'croc' polyvinyl shoes.
BTW...everything in this blog will be countered by a future blog on travelling light.
So back to luggage. Another part of luggage is a small bag to carry over your shoulder at all times for your camera, phone, passport, water bottle, and those sorts of things. Again this is a matter of choice. Whatever you choose it should be like your skin. I can not say enough about this. It is easier for women to get into this [BTW I am a guy]. I use what I call a 'man bag'. It is a bota shaped bag that comes in 2-3 different sizes and simple bland colours. It is almost impossible to be attacked by a pickpocket. Yes there really are pick pockets out there. I will discuss in a future blog how a pair of pants that I was wearing saved a man's life in Morocco. Not a joke. Anyway these bags have lotsa pockets Too many really, but they are really very good for travelling. You can find them in sporting good stores with travel departments. You can also find the kind of pants that spared a man to live another day. A regular two strap day bag will work well if you use one strap only over your shoulder and sorta slung under your arm.
2 comments:
I am glad you have started this blog as I have thought about traveling to china but it seems so intimidating. Before I concern myself about getting a phone, passport photos etc. I want to know if a woman should even consider traveling alone to China. And if so which part? I don't speak any of the dialects.
"I once met a woman in Yunnan."
That could be a limmerik, but in this case she was a single middle aged woman from Florida who was travelling throughout Southern Asia. I crossed her path in Dali. Dali is the Chinese historical entry to Burma. This is Tribal Country. No need to speak anything other than English there. Actually unless you get really off the beaten path you will be OK with English. A chinese/English phrase book can help also. As a single woman I would suggest visiting China with a friend, or stick to major cities. I say that only feeling that your trip will be enhanced with the company of another on a first trip. Then go for it alone if you feel comfortable.
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