6 most needed things you should prepare before going to China!
- Sid Lin
- Dec 18, 2016
- 4 min read
Going to China is exciting, but are you fully prepared? After all, there are things different from the way you used to. If you search the Internet, you will see a lot of articles talking about getting prepared for tour in China. Such as “34 things to know before you visit China”, “19 Things To Know Before You Visit China”. Well, they are too long and many of those things they talked about, are just common travel tips or not really necessary for a trip to China.
As a person who grown up in China and live in Europe, here I recommend you 6 most important things that Westerners better prepare before departing for China.
(1) Good quality air masks
A Chinese woman wears a mask as haze from smog caused by air pollution hangs over the Forbidden City in Beijing on Nov. 15, 2015. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images) (Source from http://www.theepochtimes.com/)
The air pollution in China has become a big problem. Especially in the Northern China (the region north to the Yangtze river), due to burning coal in winter for heating, the air pollution problem is extremely severe. It doesn’t mean that there is no blue sky in the Northern China. When there is strong wind, the pollution will be blown away. However, once the weather condition is bad, the dirty smog can come with 12 hours.
Polluted Beijing vs. Blue sky Beijing. Image from: stoplusjednicka.cz
A good quality air masks is highly recommended! Especially for the first timers, they might not used to the polluted air and begin to cough. Good quality air masks don’t need to be expensive. There is a test about the effectiveness of air masks and here are the ranking of results:
The most effective one is this kind: The least effective one is this kind:
(80%-90% protection) (30%-40% protection)
You can also buy air mask from pharmacies in China, they are called “药店” (Yào diàn). Or you can buy them from some convenient shops. The Chinese for air mask is “口罩”(Kǒu zhào). (Want to learn the most useful Chinese for traveling in China? Click here:…)
(2) Some regular medicine for stomach and cold/cough
Although you are prepared with the air mask, there is still a chance your throat or lung doesn’t feel well. Another reason might cause discomfort is the spicy food and some street food. Spicy Chinese food may taste great and be fun to try, but your stomach might not agree. Therefore, I suggest you to bring the regular medicine you think you’ll need for those potential problems. After all, it is quite a problem to get what you want from a Chinese pharmacy, if you don’t understand Chinese.
A Chinese pharmacy and a regular medicine for cold
(3) Cash rather than credit card
I know you may read articles or watch videos that tell you it is easy to use credit cards in China. However, things have been changing recently. With the rising of e-payment methods such as AliPay, WeChat Pay. Many Chinese business owners switch off their card payment option and turn to those mobile phone payment options. That is because those mobile phone payment services are mainly free of charge or really cheap. Accepting credit cards means they need to pay more money to the bank or the card organization. Thus they are becoming less and less welcomed. There are still many shopping malls and supermarkets that you can use credit card. But if you are going to restaurants, convenient shop, local market, there is a high chance that you can’t pay with your credit card. Therefore, if you don’t have a Chinese bank account that connected to AliPay or WeChatPay, which I think most of you don’t have, it is the best that you exchange money in advance and get your cash prepared.
The most popular pay method now in China, mobile phone paying. It usually requires a Chinese bank account.
(4) Get a VPN for China
There is still Internet control and sensor in China. This means many of the web service that you are used to do not work or work really slow in China. Here are a list of the most used websites in the West which are not functioned in China:
1. Gmail, Google map, basically everything “Google"
2. Facebook
3. Twitter
4. Instagram
But there is always a solution! Download and set up a VPN on your devices and you will be fine! Here are some links for VPNs you can consider: click here
(5) Download a local map app
I know you are highly relayed on Google map nowadays. That is exactly why I suggest you to download a local map app, because, as I said, Google map doesn’t work in China! It will also be a bit hard to find your way in China if you don’t speak Chinese. Therefore an e-map is the most convenient solution. Here are two most used Chinese map app that you can consider: Baidu Map and Gaode Map (高德地图)
(6) List of words translated
Most Chinese people know some simple English, but far from communicate without barrier. That is why you’d better prepare the most used words in Chinese in advance. I suggest you to print them out in both Chinese and translation. So that you can easily show the words cards to the Chinese person that you want to communicate. The most useful words to prepare are the name of your hotel, names of public facilities such as “Toilet”, names of the food you especially like, names of the places you want to visit. Want to learn more about the basic Chinese for travel? Click here: 15 most useful Chinese words
Well, those are the 6 most important things that I suggest you to prepare before you go to China. If you have more recommendations or any questions, just leave a comment down and we’d like to know! I hope you will have a great time in China!
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