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LentThem posted:As a voice of dissent I'd just like to warn you that in China you absolutely get what you pay for. If you are eating a 45-cent bowl of noodles and staying in a hostel for $4/night, keep in mind that you are literally eating industrial waste and you are living in absolute squalor. You'll be submitting yourself to the worst China has to offer just to save a few dollars. Hold up, what's wrong with those noodles?
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Mar 12, 2015 03:43
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Grand Fromage posted:Look for reviews though. I got a perfectly nice private room at a hostel basically right next to the Forbidden City for $10 a night four years ago. Things are likely more expensive now but good deals exist everywhere. Saga Youth International which isn't that far from the Forbidden City, walking distance if the weather is good, but if not it is like three underground stops away, is like 50rmb for a dorm room. Right in downtown Beijing. caberham posted:Prices in China have gone up quite a bit in the last 5 years, so adjust accordingly. Most of the goons here went on Chinese vacations years ago. Yeah, my breakfast burrito that I love eating has actually gone up from 3.5元 to 4元.
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Mar 12, 2015 03:49
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goldboilermark posted:Saga Youth International which isn't that far from the Forbidden City, walking distance if the weather is good, but if not it is like three underground stops away, is like 50rmb for a dorm room. Right in downtown Beijing. That's actually a big jump percentage wise. China is still a cheap place to visit and all if you eat local food, but I'm not so sure if you can really get "French Steak House and western food" every night and all on a 5000 rmb budget. I guess if you don't drink then maybe?
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Mar 12, 2015 04:02
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The nicest French restaurant I know in Tianjin is usually about 100rmb for a plate of whatever, maybe 150 for a good steak, and then 35 or 40 for a glass of wine or a beer. I mean I'm sure there are some ridiculously priced upscale places here but you could come to Tianjin and eat at Starbucks/Expat bar for two meals in your day and not spend 100rmb. Tianjin is not T1 though, so Shanghai and Beijing and Shenzhen and of course HK/Macao are much different. Also, I think Zipline was talking about a 5,000USD/month budget. Which is close to double what my budget was when I backpacked Japan for almost a month lol
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Mar 12, 2015 04:12
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My info is from March->July 2014, so not that far out. Although yeah, you could easily bolt on 5Y to all of my prices, because everything changes. Also, some ho(s)tels have strong seasonal variation: a decent hostel in Shanghai (City Central International Youth Hostel forevah!) cost 40Y / night for a 4-bed dorm in March, but 65Y / night in July. Happily, the best place to holiday in China (Central->South->Southwest) is always nice and cheap (except Hainan, HK and surrounds, obviously). The section where I wandered through Zhangjiajie (Wulingyuan) -> Guilin -> Kunming -> Dali -> Shangri-La (Deqen) was both excellent and cheap compared with more Northern-Eastern areas. Yunnan in general is pretty awesome, although there's the theoretical possibility of malaria there if that small chance unrustles your jimmies. If pushed to it, I'd rather compromise on ho(s)tel quality than on food; you can see what a ho(s)tel is like, and any problems are pretty up-front. With food... well, you never know. That said, with the stuff I saw when working with food in the UK (stricter hygiene standards than most places, including the US) makes you wonder how much worse China could realistically do things...
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Mar 12, 2015 04:24
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30,000 RMB? Buy a used up BYD and drive around the country  Man I got to go to Tianjin
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Mar 12, 2015 04:25
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Tianjin is absolute poo poo for travel and absolutely amazing for living.
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Mar 12, 2015 04:28
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caberham posted:That's actually a big jump percentage wise. China is still a cheap place to visit and all if you eat local food, but I'm not so sure if you can really get "French Steak House and western food" every night and all on a 5000 rmb budget. I was getting my hotel prices from hotels.com and restaurant prices from some popular Beijing expat website with a restaurant section. You could actually do it if you don't buy anything else.
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Mar 12, 2015 04:53
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goldboilermark posted:Tianjin is absolute poo poo for travel and absolutely amazing for living. How is nightlife on the Hai He?
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Mar 12, 2015 05:01
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kenner116 posted:How is nightlife on the Hai He? I've been a happy hour once or twice along it but I am the wrong person to ask about the nightlife, sadly.
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Mar 12, 2015 05:11
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GBM has always been more the type to stay inside at night watching Star Wars or playing some online games. I don't know north China as well but for stuff around the Pearl River Delta I can give you some tips about where to go and what to do for reasonable midrange prices where you're not going to be living in squalor but also not spending Europe money.
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Mar 12, 2015 05:31
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Zipline posted:And I need to factor in airfare to the nearest Chinese consulate to get a visa, that's going to set me back. You need to read the OP more. You absolutely do not have to go to the consulate to get your visa. There are a many China visa firms that will do it all for you for about $80 on top of the visa fee. That's a lot cheaper than actually going there unless it's nearby.
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Mar 12, 2015 05:45
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fart simpson posted:I was getting my hotel prices from hotels.com and restaurant prices from some popular Beijing expat website with a restaurant section. You could actually do it if you don't buy anything else. Most of those prices are just for daytime. It sucks.
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Mar 12, 2015 06:25
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To avoid the too expensive/too cheap thing when buying food, you can try viewing the city you want to visit on dianping.com and looking at a bunch of restaurants that have 3.5-4.5 star ratings. Every restaurant has an "average cost per person" field you can look at to give you an idea. After a while you'll figure out what sort of range would be considered acceptable when you actually arrive. I left out 5 star ratings because restaurants sometimes get that rating from people by virtue of being super cheap.
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Mar 12, 2015 06:37
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Zipline posted:During the time in Chengdu I'll be going to Xi'an The costs being quoted feel low, even for a second tier city like Xi'an. Eg. Say you want to do a day trip to Hua Shan (you do). Basic costs would be 2nd class seat to Hua Shan Bei - 60 Taxi to ticket office - 20 Ticket - 180 Bus to north peak cable car - 20 one way cable car ticket up to north peak - 80 one way cable car ticket down west peak - 80 Bus back to ticket office - 30 Taxi back to station - 20 Return ticket to Xi'an - 60 Total, 550 kuai, and that's not including any food or drink you'll want to purchase while climbing the mountain. You can cut costs, by taking buses, splitting taxi cab costs, walking rather than taking shuttle busses or the cable car. But for most lazy people, it'll be a reasonably expensive outing from Xi'an. The only French restaurant I've been to here, La Seine, cost over 1,000 kuai for two people. Hai Di Lao hotpot costs a minimum of 130 kuai usually, for two people. Breakfast of Rou Hulatang costs 5 kuai on the street. A typical dish of 3 in 1 noodles costs 13 kuai. Beijing Duck costs 120 kuai per duck. Starbucks is 32 kuai I think for a large latte; that's more than 5 USD. The prices are incredibly variable and complicated  Bloodnose posted:Actually just don't go to China, it's easier.
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Mar 12, 2015 07:53
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I'll never get why people continue to buy and complain about the price of starbucks here. The real offender is haagen dasz and their 10 dollar scoops of ice cream.
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Mar 12, 2015 08:54
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I paid 25 euro for some kind of ice cream BBQ at Haagen-Dasz in Nanjing and I enjoyed every loving bite.
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Mar 12, 2015 09:37
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Jeoh posted:I paid 25 euro for some kind of ice cream BBQ at Haagen-Dasz in Nanjing and I enjoyed every loving bite. Same for a Blizzard in Chongqing's Chaotianmen. Oreo cookie Blizzards are priceless, so it's a good deal.
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Mar 12, 2015 10:14
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kenner116 posted:Same for a Blizzard in Chongqing's Chaotianmen. Oreo cookie Blizzards are priceless, so it's a good deal. Those are like 17 rmb in Tianjin, how much are they in Chongqing? I don't mind dropping like 3 bucks for a good Oreo Brownie Blizzard.
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Mar 12, 2015 11:32
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goldboilermark posted:Those are like 17 rmb in Tianjin, how much are they in Chongqing? I don't mind dropping like 3 bucks for a good Oreo Brownie Blizzard. In Chengdu the big one is only like 24.
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Mar 12, 2015 12:42
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Hao Li Lai has coffee slightly better than Starbucks for around 1/3 the price
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Mar 12, 2015 13:09
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angel opportunity posted:Hao Li Lai has coffee slightly better than Starbucks for around 1/3 the price Dude, who cares about the price, go to Starbucks for the atmosphere, the fact that the employees have been trained in the Starbucks model, and the fact that they play decent jazz music.
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Mar 12, 2015 13:17
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I usually got my coffee to take to the arcade and drink while I played street fighter; to me the friendship of my streetfighter friends and the smoke-filled dark arcade was the superior atmosphere
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Mar 12, 2015 13:19
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i went to starbucks on my first day in shanghai and then i realized you need a chinese phone number to use the free wifi there hosed up
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Mar 12, 2015 13:21
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Jeoh posted:i went to starbucks on my first day in shanghai and then i realized you need a chinese phone number to use the free wifi there I actually emailed Starbucks about this, it says "Wifi for everyone!" at the top of their page and then it says "Enter your mobile number" and I wrote their HQ an email about how I am a person that doesn't have a mobile number so it wasn't for everyone, this was a few months ago but they never emailed me back >:[
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Mar 12, 2015 14:08
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goldboilermark posted:I actually emailed Starbucks about this, it says "Wifi for everyone!" at the top of their page and then it says "Enter your mobile number" and I wrote their HQ an email about how I am a person that doesn't have a mobile number so it wasn't for everyone, this was a few months ago but they never emailed me back >:[ There was a period when you specifically needed a China Mobile number, Telecom and Unicom wouldn't work. Ironic cause Unicom people tended to have more money at that time (they had the exclusive iPhone deal). I convinced a barista to let me use their cell number a couple of times when this was a case. Starbucks actually has the shittiest atmosphere imo. Every one (and there are 1000000) in Chengdu is always super busy and filled with parents who let their kids run around or white people loudly having "language exchange" with chinese college girls. Also the internet is poo poo. There's a place by my office, called 此刻咖啡 and I dunno if it's a chain but it has a way nicer setup, super fast internet (guy told me they have a 100M fiber connection), and basically the same level quality coffee. That said I have a Starbucks gold card and get infinite free coffee since I always use it for my whole office's orders, but I almost always get it to go. angel opportunity posted:I usually got my coffee to take to the arcade and drink while I played street fighter; to me the friendship of my streetfighter friends and the smoke-filled dark arcade was the superior atmosphere The arcades I go to have SF and Tekken but it's always little kids playing those. The real men are playing KOF 98 or 2002, which I'm fine with since KOF 98 and 02 are rad. I wish I could find a SvC2 machine...
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Mar 12, 2015 14:16
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I kind of had to "shop around" and find the arcade with the biggest SF4 scene. It's definitely true that in China KOF is king (in Chongqing it was always 97 and not 98 for some reason). Some arcades in Chongqing had decent Tekken scenes, but it seemed to me you had to either play: KOF, Tekken, or SF4. In some arcades it was definitely the case that you had to go at a certain time to play SF4. Aren't you in Chengdu? I went to one arcade there once that had a kind of small but very skilled SF4 scene.
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Mar 12, 2015 14:31
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Starbucks has an atmosphere? I've rarely ever been to one but it just seems like a mcdonalds that only sells coffee? Where are the arcades in Chengdu? The only one I know is on the top floor of the Ito Yokado near hongpailou and its a bit crappy.
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Mar 12, 2015 14:32
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Jimmy Little Balls posted:Starbucks has an atmosphere? Different from every other place I go to on a daily basis? Absolutely. I've never seen a person smoking or pissing in a Starbucks before.
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Mar 12, 2015 14:46
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Jimmy Little Balls posted:Starbucks has an atmosphere? I've rarely ever been to one but it just seems like a mcdonalds that only sells coffee? You generally have to baidu for which game you want to play. I probably found this back when I was there: http://zhidao.baidu.com/link?url=HtrN_bmlz7emXCPck6m450ivytVxhiVbcffkMa_FFMIh3WPFxP6Q_dCT24LmXZVYeXTXyMGISQCodUkjwZK3ja I always just tried to google where the best players went to play and went there. Based on that post I'm pretty sure I went to the Wan Da one
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Mar 12, 2015 14:50
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angel opportunity posted:It's definitely true that in China KOF is king Well obviously!
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Mar 12, 2015 15:28
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I honestly didn't realize I was doing that, it sounds so dumb now
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Mar 12, 2015 15:29
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The best is the toms world at the top of IFC. It has like 12 KOF 98 machines, a few USF4, some Tekken Tag 2 and even a GGXrd machine.
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Mar 12, 2015 15:39
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angel opportunity posted:Hao Li Lai has coffee slightly better than Starbucks for around 1/3 the price angel opportunity posted:I usually got my coffee to take to the arcade and drink while I played street fighter; to me the friendship of my streetfighter friends and the smoke-filled dark arcade was the superior atmosphere These are both Correct Posts®
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Mar 12, 2015 18:55
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goldboilermark posted:Dude, who cares about the price, go to Starbucks for the atmosphere, the fact that the employees have been trained in the Starbucks model, and the fact that they play decent jazz music. These are reasons to not go to Starbucks.
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Mar 13, 2015 18:16
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VideoTapir posted:These are reasons to not go to Starbucks. It helps to remember gbm is a soccer mom so those are pros to him
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Mar 13, 2015 20:15
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I'm late, but everyone talking about their cheap travels in China seems to validate what everyone seems to say about Urumqi being expensive. Seems like decent street food is hard to come by here, and most of the little local joints don't ever seem to be cheaper than 20 kuai for a plate of noodles or whatever. My school gives me a decent lunch for 5, but that's kind of a special situation. It's been awhile since I've been out and about in the not-so-hinterlandsy parts of China. Is everything really so much cheaper out there, or have I just kind of gravitated towards more expensive places? Is the local impression of Urumqi being a place where everyone's getting raped by cost of living true?
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Mar 14, 2015 02:18
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Woah, last time I was there (a long time ago) it wasnt really more expensive than Chengdu or anything. Other places in Xinjiang were cheaper, though.
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Mar 14, 2015 03:17
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I've been here two years now, and there was a noticeable uptick in prices sometime last summer. I'm guessing after so many night markets got closed, some places increased their prices because customers didn't have a billion other places to go. Ugh, we had snow here two days ago. Can't wait for this place to thaw out.
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Mar 14, 2015 03:39
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VideoTapir posted:These are reasons to not go to Starbucks. Seriously if coffee shops didn't have takeaway cups I'd never go, because there are so many other places id rather be hanging out with friends/alone Minus1Minus1 posted:I'm late, but everyone talking about their cheap travels in China seems to validate what everyone seems to say about Urumqi being expensive. Seems like decent street food is hard to come by here, and most of the little local joints don't ever seem to be cheaper than 20 kuai for a plate of noodles or whatever. My school gives me a decent lunch for 5, but that's kind of a special situation. The only reason anything ends up being super cheap is that there's no enforced baseline of quality here. I mean theres a reason you cant find a pair of new shoes in america that cost $3. China gives no fucks; oh you want a pair of shoes for 70 cents, sure i can get you something resembling shoes for that price...
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Mar 14, 2015 07:05
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