China is a country monthly attracting millions of tourists. Right now, while you are reading this article, more than 6,500 foreigners are crossing the Chinese border. Some are heading there to learn the ancient culture and traditions, the others are craving to see the lives of megacities and technical achievements.
If you visit China with a tourist group, you will hardly see anything but the buildings, nature and what the guide will show you. Of course, you will get some impressions, but not more than in any other country.
The self-traveler gets a chance to get in touch with the local culture. And this is what can bring you spiritual discoveries and bring the changes only foreign countries can give.
How to Organize a Self Trip to China?
Getting a Visa
There is nothing difficult in submitting the papers for a visa on your own. But keep in mind that the officers of the Chinese consul offices are very demanding.
Even the size of your photography in millimeters matters. It doesn’t mean you have to buy a tour from a travel agent (unless you find a really attractive offer cheaper than the self-trip). You can make your life easier – cooperate with the intermediaries who help the tourists to get visas. They will make an invitation from the Chinese party, fill in the questionnaire, submit the papers to the office and return your passport with the visa in it.
Usually, the tourist visa is valid for 30 days. It is more than enough to go sightseeing around Beijing and Shanghai. But this is nothing, of course, to see the whole of China. Don’t be greedy. It’s better to visit the country several times than only once and do a shallow tour.
Airline Tickets
The easiest way is to use Hotwire, Priceline.com and Megabonus cashback. Just enter your destination, the starting point, and the dates and you will see the prices for the tickets. Choose the most suitable options, buy the tickets online and save on the flights with the help of cash back.
Here is a trick: check the box “Show prices” and you will see an approximate cost of the travel.
There is one more method. It is a little bit more complicated but also helps to save more. Follow the services like Wind Blows and monitor all the promotions for airline tickets. This option is suitable for planning a trip. You never know when there is a promotion for the tickets to the country you want to visit.
Booking Accommodation
There are several options. The most useful one is to live for free. Use Couchsurfing for this purpose. By signing up for this service, you can find residents and expats who welcome foreign tourists for a few days and are ready to show you around.
If this option isn’t for you, Booking.com will help you. It is a service for searching for hotels all around the world including China. When you are looking for a place to stay, check not only the price but also the reviews.
It is especially true for Asia. A bad hotel can be really, really bad there. And don’t forget about cash back on Booking from Megabonus. It will help you save up to 2.31% of the booking price.
We suggest you opt for hostels. The hostel is not a shelter for the homeless. This is a modern type of lodging where tourists from all over the world choose to stay. This is a great chance to make new friends and find a group for sightseeing. Check all services for booking hotels with cash back here.
Food
Remember, that the Chinese cuisine in Europe and Chinese cuisine in China are two different things.
If you don’t like spicy food, print and take with you the hieroglyphics:
不辣的. It means “Not spicy”. You can also say “pu lado” but you might be not understood in some parts of China.
Pay attention to allergens. If you are allergic to some ingredients (for example, peanut oil which is a part of many dishes), find out in advance how to say it in Chinese or print out as well. The machine translators don’t work fine with the Chinese and can give exactly the opposite variant of what you mean.
In general, Chinese cuisine is weird but interesting. It’s definitely worth trying a grilled duck that is often sold at the street markets. It is really tasty. You also have to try various mixes of noodles and rice with meat during your trip.
There are 2 pieces of advice to a self-traveler. The first one is to eat at the places where the local people eat. The second is to try street food. This way you will dive into the national cuisine and save some money as well.
Transport
Public transport works really well in China. The buses and the metro trains circulate within the city. There are maps all around the city making the commuting easier but not faster. For example, in Beijing, there are 10 lines of the urban metro and 8 lines of the suburban metro.
Shanghai has even more. If you are staying in a cheap hotel in the suburbs, it will take you around 2 hours to get to the city center. You can sometimes see tuk-tuks and pedicabs in China. The tuk-tuk is a cycle-car that looks like a tiny car. And the pedicab is a bicycle with a sidecar for passengers.
There are also trains and fast trains moving between the cities. You can buy the tickets on websites like China Ticket Online.
If you are going to buy the tickets from the cashiers, remember that not everyone speaks English in China. It is better to write down your destination and the date with the hieroglyphics in advance not to have any unpleasant surprises.
Entertainment and Sights
The prices for sightseeing are not so high by the way. The admission fee to the Great Wall is about $9 and to the Forbidden City in Beijing is from $7 to $10 depending on the season.
Of course, there are some fancier activities such as the Avatar mountains. But a savvy traveler knows that it is possible to get to any destination by public transport. The only question here is how much time you have.
As China is a really large country, we suggest devoting enough time to check out services like Tripadvisor where you can read about the sights. Choose what’s most interesting for you and start planning your trip.
Gifts and Shopping
There is a myth that you can buy good electronics at a low price. Actually, the prices for brand products here are the same and even sometimes higher. What’s cheaper is Chinese replicas. It’s not worth going so far to get them though.
But, of course, everyone wants to bring a memorable souvenir from the trip. As everything is made in China, you can imagine how wide the range of souvenirs is there.
We have a tip for you – bargain. The shops offer fixed prices but in the street, you can change the price from 50 to 20 yuan. The seller might be the first to drop the price to retain you.
A Short Follow-Up
A lot of work is necessary to organize a savvy trip on your own. It’s a bit more complicated than buy and go. If you like to look for the tickets and hotels on your own and are sure you won’t get lost in a foreign country, then you will get much pleasure from your planning.
Alternatively, there are services like Time 2 Travel where the agency will organize a trip for you and support you during the trip for little money.
China is an astonishing country that is definitely worth visiting. But remember – everything is different there. So be ready to reconsider your beliefs and start getting new impressions.
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