Don't "don't.period"

 

I am in Guan Dong right now visiting my relatives. I flew China Southern airlines and I will be staying in a hotel in the Tsim tsa sui area in Kowloon, Hong Kong. There are many hotels in this area and shopping and eating are also very convenient. Since you are going to visit northern China you might want to look another airline called China Eastern. I chose China southern mainly because it was one of the bigger airlines in China. Hope this help.

 

i really want o go

 

For those who have been there...

I've always been REALLY weird about going to non-democratic countries. Just sheltered I suppose... but do you have any fear of fair treatment incase something happens while there?

 

your american. they love americans because they spend very large amounts of money there. trust me, if you go, youll get treated equal if not MUCH better because of your status. I know i was. of course i am chinese

 

I went to Beijing and Shanghai a few months ago and wouldn't worry about language barriers at the hotels. Nearly all of the staff at 4-star and up hotels (on the Chinese rating system) speak passable English.

If you're venturing out of the usual tourist areas, then a lot of visitors join tour groups to make it easier. But they'll rush you through attractions at a breakneck pace and I'd personally advise against them. It's just as easy to find and hire a guide who will drive you to wherever you want and speaks enough English to get by. The rates can be negotiated and are very cheap by US standards.

For what it's worth, the folks on tripadvisor.com can offer a lot of useful advice. I hired this dude for a day in Beijing and he was awesome. Nice guy and speaks better English than 90% of people there:

http://www.beijing-driver.com/

Also if you plan to hang around just the tourist areas then you're probably okay just speaking English and pointing. If you go shopping at the streetside stands they'll usually have a calculator that gets passed back and forth during negotiations -- the seller punches in their number, you punch in yours and pass it back, etc. Oh yeah and be sure to bargain extremely aggressively i.e. if the price is marked to be 800 RMB you should start negotiating around 80 RMB (or 10% of the initial offer).

 

My wife and I are planning a trip to HK/China this October. You need a visa to gain entry into China. You don't need it for HK, or Macao, but you need it for anywhere in China. Make sure your US passport is up to date with plenty of time before expiration. If it's less than 6 months or 1 year, renew your passport now. Your appliation could be rejected if theres not enough time on your passport. To get a visa into China you need to submit an application along with your US passport along with two passport pictures to the Chinese embassy. Your travel agent can probably help with this process. I live near NYC and the Chinese embassy is on the west side of manhattan so we submitted our application by hand. It takes about 3 to 4 business days and you can come back to pick up your passport. The fee is between $50 and $150, depending on how many entries into China you want on your visa and how long the visa is valid. We opted for two entries within a six month period and the fee was $75 per person. But I understand this fee has gone up since August. Do a search on US Chinese embassy website and read the FAQ on visa application.

China is one of the few places in the world where the US passport alone is not enough to gain entry. You need a visa to gain entry.

 

If you're chinese, how did you experience better treatment??

Of course Gweilo's get treated better. They usually are the easiest to make money off of. And its not just Americans. lol.