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If I'm in a city without a hostel I'll just walk around looking for the characters "宾馆" written on a building. 40 yuan will usually get you a cheap little room in a bīnguǎn. Private bathrooms are available for a bit more. If there's no room at the inn or if they just don't accept dirty laowai, I will ask random people standing near buildings, "yǒu fángjiān ma" and make a sleeping gesture to imply I want a place to rest for the night. Hasn't failed me yet.
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Jun 25, 2013 13:33
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systran posted:I think you're the first person to do this in all of the China threads. Pīnyīn without tone marks is like simplified characters — crippled.
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Jun 25, 2013 16:11
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Arakan posted:So uhh what am I supposed to do with an old Chinese entry visa that has fallen out of my passport? Glue that poo poo back in? Is it gonna cause problems if it's not in there when I apply for future visas? Shouldn't be a problem. I had one fall out years ago and it was never mentioned after multiple entries and exits.
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Jun 27, 2013 06:01
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I've only been to Zamyn-Uud, the border town closest to Beijing. Here is all I know about traveling in Mongolia: No visa required for Americans, lots of yurts, many sandy unpaved roads in the Gobi, and Cyrillic. I can't imagine wanting to hang around Ulaanbaatar for very long, even though it has nearly half of the country's population. Seeing the vast steppes and experiencing nomadic culture is what brings tourists to Mongolia. That and taking a break from their long train ride from Moscow to Beijing. Transport will probably be your biggest challenge in Mongolia. It's not China and small cities only have a few thousand people rather than a few million, so you may have to wait a couple of days or more for a bus. Hitchhiking is also an option. Renting a jeep and driver is probably your best bet if you are on any type of schedule, but that's much pricier of course.  Welcome to Mongolia! kenner116 fucked around with this message at 14:21 on Jul 17, 2013 |
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Jul 17, 2013 14:16
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xcdude24 posted:I'm in the very very early stages of planning a trip to SE Asia, but was thinking about starting in Hong Kong and going overland to Hanoi. Is there a decent amount to do in southern China? I know very little about tourist attractions in China, and almost all of it has to do with stuff going on up north. If you have enough time I would first travel all around the Pearl River Delta (HK, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Macau, and Guangzhou). Then take a sleeper bus from Guangzhou up to Yangshuo near Guilin, and rent a bike to ride to Xingping and other nearby villages. Spend at least four days around here to explore the area by bike. The Longsheng rice terraces are about three or four hours away by bus and can be done in a couple of days round trip from Guilin/Yangshuo. Then go down to Nanning (overnight train from Guilin, or by bus) and take a bus to Daxin, where you can catch another bus to Shuolong, which is right next to Detian falls. The waterfalls are split between China and Vietnam, and you can walk across the border if no guards are around (don't do this by more than a few meters). After heading back to Nanning you can take a bus down to the border at Dongxing 东兴, then walk across a tiny bridge into Mong Cai, Vietnam. That's the border crossing closest to the sea and Ha Long Bay.
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Jul 29, 2013 15:11
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I've got a 14 hour layover in Beijing on Thursday night. Will hang around Gui jie then walk over towards Gulou. Might go to Great Leap if any goons want to come.
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Aug 20, 2013 07:53
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Back in Beijing, sans visa. Got stamped in for one day for my layover here. Air China flight from New York was good but I slept through the second meal. Really need to get a smartphone soon. Life without Weixin goonchat is hardly worth living. Now it's just me and PPL in the old QQ group.
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Aug 22, 2013 15:46
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I'm in my second day of Chinese class and am already drowning in traditional characters. Almost everyone in the class had studied them as a kid and/or are Japanese, so they're all quickly taking notes in Chinese while me and my Thai buddy are just scribbling down the pinyin.
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Sep 3, 2013 16:46
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caberham posted:1. The longer route and bigger hassle route is to Yunnan you can bus to Kunming and bum around lijiang and make your way to go north. I think Kenner116 is the person to ask about the Yunnan Vietnam border. Once you reach Chengdu say hi to my Chengdu goons -#2 goon paradise after HK. From Chongqing you can take a cheap flight from Spring Airlines into HK I haven't crossed the Vietnam/Yunnan border, but I've been to southern Yunnan (Jinghong) and northern Laos (Luang Namtha, Oudomxay) and there are buses that run between those cities. Laos is my favorite sleepy country. I ended up spending a month there, longer than my time in Vietnam or Cambodia. There was also a ferry that ran between Thailand and Jinghong on the Mekong/Lancang but I believe that stopped after 13 Chinese were murdered along that route a couple years ago. But if you feel adventurous you could try hitching a boat ride. I have crossed the Guangxi/Vietnam border at Dongxing, which is the closest border crossing to Ha Long Bay. There is a bus from Dongxing to Nanning for 60 RMB (in January 2011). If you go to Nanning you should definitely visit the Detian Waterfalls on the China/Vietnam border. Take a bus from Nanning to Daxin and then from Daxin to Shuolong, where you can walk along the river (and international border) to Detian.   As you can see, the border is not heavily guarded. This was technically my first time in Southeast Asia. If you have enough time in China I would second caberham's advice and spend time in Yunnan. Dali and Lijiang at the minimum, then go north to Chengdu via Lugu Lake. If you have even more time to spare then do what I did last summer and cross from Zhongdian, Yunnan into Xiangcheng, Sichuan and explore the Tibetan regions of western Sichuan. kenner116 fucked around with this message at 20:46 on Oct 20, 2013 |
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Oct 20, 2013 20:41
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DontAskKant posted:Has anyone applied and received a multi entry yearlong visa as an American? I need it for travel and interviews. The embassy in Korea doesn't handle visas and the travel agencies here don't want to do multi entry. At least I haven't convinced them yet. I would mail your visa application to an agent in the US. Of course you will have to be alright with not having your passport for 3+ weeks. I've used mychinavisa.com before, got a 1 year 90-day per entry multi-entry visa through them, but I was in the US at the time. I've heard Houston is a good consulate to go through but I got mine through Chicago. Since then I've applied in person in New York and received a 1 year 120-day per entry multi-entry tourist visa. Visa rules and types have changed a lot in the past year so I'd send them an email first with your questions.
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Nov 19, 2013 18:58
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Qufu is also nice. You can visit Confucius temple/mansion/graveyard then rent a bike and ride around the nearby villages and cornfields.
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Feb 13, 2014 06:21
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Jus soli and jus sanguinis both count as natural-born. If this weren't the case then Calgary-born Ted Cruz wouldn't be running for president in two years.
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Mar 9, 2014 12:32
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Definitely go to western Sichuan, it's more traditionally Tibetan than most of Tibet proper. I took the Yunnan to Xining route via Zhongdian and Yushu over the course of about five weeks. Unlike Magna Kaser, I took a billion photos. Northwestern Sichuan has the worst roads in China,  but if you survive your journey you'll be rewarded with some great experiences in a region that feels a world away from the rest of China. Here is a Tibetan Buddhist gathering I attended in Manigango, a small outpost town a long ways from Chengdu.       
kenner116 fucked around with this message at 11:16 on Mar 17, 2014 |
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Mar 17, 2014 11:08
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caberham posted:I feel bad having a holiday. I want to work. How is the baby formula smuggling industry these days?
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Apr 18, 2014 11:29
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A month in Sichuan is definitely not too long, and of course you'll be visiting mountains after a few days in Chengdu. You've got the giant buddha in Leshan but besides that and Dujiangyan and Emeishan you should be heading deep into the mountains of the north (Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong) and the west (Garze, Litang, Tagong, Daocheng, Yading, and others depending on where you want to end up (back in Chengdu, or Yunnan, Qinghai, Gansu, or if you're feeling especially adventurous/stupid, Tibet). My favorite architecture in China may be the Tibetan buildings around Xiangcheng, near the border with Yunnan. I forgot that Lugu Lake is also partly in Sichuan, if you want to take a faster and less Tibetan route into Yunnan.
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Apr 21, 2014 16:49
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Given its history I'm surprised there isn't as much interest in claiming Mongolia. If you asked me a hundred years ago if either Tibet or Mongolia would become an independent country I would have probably guessed Tibet. Given its proximity to the capital (I think it was around a ten hour bus ride when I made a border run) and a total population only one-seventh of Beijing's it wouldn't seem any more likely to exist as a country today compared to East Turkestan or even Manchuria (before the big Han migration in the late 19th century.) Perhaps it just wants to preserve its current chicken-shape.
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Apr 23, 2014 18:33
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Anarkii posted:Hello chinagoons! Taking the Zhongdian to Sichuan route though Xiangcheng->Daocheng/Yading>Litang->Kangding is amazing and I highly recommend it, but you don't have nearly enough time for that route. I'm guessing you've already been to Dali and Lijiang since you're hardly spending any time there, so I recommend going from Lijiang to Lugu Lake, which is on the Yunnan/Sichuan border. After Lugu, head towards Chengdu and spend a night in Yanyuan or Xichang. I'm not sure if visiting Zhongdian is worth it now since the old town burned down, but there are Tibetan villages outside of the city to walk or bike around, and you can visit the monastery several kilometers north of the city, which is very nice. If you really want to see the Tibetan areas of western Sichuan then you're going to need more time. The roads there are probably the worst in China and you'll be spending a lot of time on bumpy/muddy unpaved roads winding up and down the mountains. Zhongdian to Tagong (near Kangding) took me two weeks (including a detour to Batang on the Sichuan/Tibet border). From the Tagong/Kangding area you can then head back to Chengdu or go north towards Gansu or northwest to Qinghai. Northwestern Sichuan is really remote has a bit of a wild-west feeling to it. 
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May 1, 2014 19:31
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Anarkii posted:I'd imagine Spring or Fall to be the best times to visit, however is early December workable or do routes get closed during the winter? I took the Chengdu-Xichang-Yanyuan-Lijiang-Zhongdian route in mid to late December. Lugu Lake gets down to about freezing at night, Lijiang and Tiger Leaping Gorge as well. Zhongdian was much colder, got down to -10C (14F) at night, but was comfortable during the daytime. Lugu is quite nice at that time of year since there aren't many tourists then, so it's very peaceful. I was there in 2010 and there should be a new road between Lugu Hu and Lijiang now, but I'd guess it would still be pretty empty in the winter. edit to add luguhu photos:     kenner116 fucked around with this message at 11:35 on May 2, 2014 |
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May 2, 2014 11:07
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Can't beat burritos and beers. Caberham is truly a goonhosting legend.lokk posted:If there's any HK goons around I'm in town until Wednesday just wandering around while getting drunk. I like this place a lot so far. People actually drink here, unlike Taiwan. Come to my university and discover our foreigners-drinking-in-front-of-Wellcome culture.
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May 10, 2014 18:45
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Just take 1% of all future lifetime earnings. Or buy a share and get rich when he goes public.
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May 18, 2014 15:14
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There are public buses from Dongzhimen station that go directly to Mutianyu. The bus station is a bit hard to find, just walk around the outside of Dongzhimen station and you should come across an outdoor lot with a few bus lines.
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Aug 8, 2014 06:08
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My last tourist visa was a one year 120 days per entry visa. If the ten year is the same then you could live in Beijing and hit the Mongolian border three times a year for ten years.
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Nov 12, 2014 15:59
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blinkyzero posted:Though you're not supposed to be able to get an apartment without a residence permit but there are probably about a hundred thousand ways around that, including the time-honored "residence permits look like RMB notes, dui bu dui????" I've had two apartments. One in a Chinese friend's name and the other with the teaching agency. Never even thought of needing a residence permit for that.
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Nov 12, 2014 22:56
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SB35 posted:I'm going to attempt to get a 10 year tourist visa in a month or two... I'll let you know if I'm successful! Apply for 120 days per entry and see what happens. I heard that the default for the 10-year is only 60 days, but might as well ask for longer.
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Mar 1, 2015 04:31
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Two days each for Fenghuang and Wulingyuan/Zhangjiajie is enough. Especially for Fenghuang; it's a beautiful little old town but you can see most of it in a day. I would also take a couple of days from Wuhan and take a detour through Guilin/Yangshuo. Or you could maybe go to Huangshan if you haven't been. I took a really indirect couple of trains there from Wuhan via Jiangxi (Yingtan), but there's probably a more convenient way. kenner116 fucked around with this message at 20:05 on Mar 9, 2015 |
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Mar 9, 2015 19:58
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Zipline posted:What do you think a tour like was mentioned earlier will cost? I'm set to pay $600 for a 4 day trip around Beijing, that seems pretty reasonable, right? I'm assuming it's cheaper to book in China than to do it here early, though. And I need to factor in airfare to the nearest Chinese consulate to get a visa, that's going to set me back. If that was a typo and you meant 4 weeks then yes that sounds pretty reasonable.
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Mar 11, 2015 06:47
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Actually Angkor is Korean now.
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Mar 11, 2015 07:35
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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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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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All of caberham's advice is good but Yunnan is the best travel province. The southwest in general is great so you shouldn't skip it. Sichuan, Guangxi, and Yunnan, and maybe the Tibetan plateau in western Sichuan if you're feeling adventurous. Edit: Hangzhou is OK because of West Lake and the bike rental system but it's the only place in China I'd ever had trouble finding lodging. Seemed like everyone in Shanghai came down there for the weekend. kenner116 fucked around with this message at 06:42 on Mar 18, 2015 |
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Mar 18, 2015 06:40
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bad day posted:Also keep in mind only like a quarter of Americans even have passports.. Actually it's closer to 40%, with the great state of New Jersey leading the way at about 60%, and Mississippi at the other end at under 20%. Though it's only that high because of 9/11.
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Apr 8, 2015 08:56
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Magna Kaser posted:I'm just curious if he's gonna get a .cn domain cause I'd like to know how long that actually takes outside of the anecdotal "forever" I've heard. http://www.imgay.cn/
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Apr 23, 2015 03:38
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Yunnan is the best province to visit, so if you're going to cut out some cities they should be Shenyang and Shanghai/Suzhou/Hangzhou. If you like nature and diverse cultures than I would just spend your entire trip in Yunnan and Sichuan.
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May 17, 2015 04:43
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SB35 posted:I did this literally 2 months ago and got my 10 year visa without issue. Nothing appeared on my credit card. How many days per entry did you get? I've heard 60 but I'm curious if it's possible to get more.
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May 29, 2015 03:36
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Bloodnose posted:One time I got scammed into joining a group of goons for a thing! One could say you were shanghaied.
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Jul 20, 2015 03:53
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socketwrencher posted:Also, about 25% of the people I know who've been to China recently had the ol' diarrhea issues. They only drank bottled water and drinks but food seems like a crap shoot. Any inside tips? Stop worrying and learn to love the laduzi.
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Sep 13, 2015 00:01
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Tytan posted:Hi Chinese goons from a SE Asia goon. I'm in Chengdu at the moment and wanted to explore a bit more of this province/see some Tibetan stuff without actually going into Tibet (second time in China, I've done a lot of the big touristy stuff previously). A guide recommended me to visit Kangding, Tagon, and Seda - is this a dumb idea considering I basically speak zero Chinese? I've never had an issue getting around here before but that was in big cities or tourist places. Getting around western Sichuan is no more difficult than in the rest China, except you'll be taking buses and vans everywhere, and some of the roads are in poor shape (as of 2012). Don't worry about language issues, you'll actually hear much less Mandarin there anyway as the main language is Tibetan. As for itinerary, it depends on the amount of time you have. I'd recommend taking the route from Kangding all the way to Zhongdian in Yunnan. You'll need a couple of weeks, but you'll see some diverse parts of the plateau in a relatively small area.  google maps       
kenner116 fucked around with this message at 08:40 on Oct 15, 2015 |
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Oct 15, 2015 08:37
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Tytan posted:Is Seda worth a visit? It looks amazing from what I've seen, and I saw buses run from Chengdu. If I headed directly there, would there be anywhere else I could visit in the time that I've got? I'm quite happy just hanging out in cool places for a few days, but it would be nice to see more of the region if possible. Here's some info about getting to Seda.  The white line was my original planned route; colored lines are GPS tracks of my actual path.
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Oct 15, 2015 20:11
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Warbird posted:My lady friend wants me to come meet the future in-laws in Shandong after I finish up school this December. Problem is I start work pretty early come January. What would be a reasonable amount of time for a "short" visit? I'm going to try and wait until after I start work, but I accrue vacation days pretty slowly and basically only get 2 weeks after a full year of working. Go for a couple of weeks between school and work. No need to go anywhere outside of Shandong, just do a grand tour of the province ‒ Jinan, Qingdao, Qufu, Tai Shan. Two weeks per year is pretty terrible though so I would seriously consider quitting your job.
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Oct 23, 2015 00:25
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fart simpson posted:People in my office are spreading a rumor that ISIS is planning to attack Shenzhen and Guangzhou today. Here's to hoping.  In Shenzhen too, no less.
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Dec 25, 2015 07:02
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