Thoughts on traveling to China

I was wondering what your opinions for me on traveling to China this mid/late December. I will be in Shanghai and Beijing, possibly Guangzhou. I've never been to those areas before and I was wondering if it would be safe, since with the Avian Flu and all. Any thoughts and opinions are appreciated. Thanks

-John

 

I travel to China 4-5 times a year. I would not worry about it unless you are going to be travelling outside the big cities and into the farm areas. If you eat chicken there make sure it is well cooked and it should be no problem.

Have a good trip.

 

I went to China for about 10 days back in January. I stayed mostly in a small farm town where my Mom's side of the family currently lives. But I did go out to GuangZhou with my Dad for a couple of days. It was nice to see a Semi-big city. We stayed at a "4 Star Hotel"... but I was freezing in there, my Dad told me the hotels don't have heaters!

The fun part about Guangzhou was the shopping. Doing the calculations from Dollar to Yen, and realizing how cheap everything is! It was also fun because the lady workers (all the stores have female workers) spoke to me in Mandarin, and I don't speak a bit of Mandarin! So I just stayed close to my Dad so he can fend them off.

On another note.. As I was typing this out I saw on the news something about the bird flu. It said something about the humans victims had some kinda mutated strain of the flu!? Something like that.. but it also said that it can't be transfered from one person to another YET. It ended by saying the World Health Organization says there's nothing really to worry about.

Have fun on your trip.

 

Shanghai, HK & Kowloon is a blast! Though Guangzhou is a bit 'dumpier', your trip should be fun. I learned after my first trip to pack light and buy just about everything there. If you can have a shopping day your first day, just fly over with a duffel bag and buy clothing and a large suitcase there. A good sized suitcase will run you about $40 (for a good one) and clothes are cheap. You will also see a few electronic devices that are yet available in the states.

Travel is very safe and the people in general are very nice to tourist. Just stay in the better or best hotels and you will be fine. If you are a coffee junkie (like I am), bring a French Press and your own ground coffee. All of the rooms have water boilers for tea. If your laptop (I assume you will bring one) does not have an auto-sensing power supply for their voltage (220VAC), the hotels will provide you with a 110V power supply. If you can hook up with Erick (Judge4re) in Shanghai, you will again be impressed with yet another fine FChatter that is fun to hang with for cocktails.

 

I would pack some Immodium, large cans of Lysol, and at a pharmacy you can buy a box of 100 individually packed sterile hand wipes, take a few of those. If you havent been to Asia yet they're bugs are different from the ones you are used to. Both times I went people got sick by touching stuff then putting their hands to their faces.

People laughed at my Lysol & hand wipes, I'd even wear gloves occasionally.

a week later when people were sick & I wasnt, nobody was laughing at me anymore

 

don't get ripped off when you go shopping, and if they give you change in american dollars, watch out for fake ones.

 

Thank you all for your wonderful responses. I truely appreciate all the help.

 

Why are you going (i.e. who is paying the bills?). There are two ways to do China, on the cheap (not recommended) or 4-5 star (not bad).

The country is safe so long as you don't stir up the political pot in public. Same as all of the big cities, watch for pick pockets. They are getting more brazen in Beijing, but Shanghai is still safe. Coworker from Brazil went after a guy that took his camera out of his bag. No guns allowed so you can use size to your advantage. Not a recommended strategy but it can be done.

Shanghai is a boring town culturally with some nice expat hang outs. Beijing is a big museum with a political feel to it (like DC). Guangzhou is a business city that is only nice in the winter and hot as hell in the summer.

Let me know what you want to see and I'll try and help out (ask Peter, I can get you drunk in very nice places if that is what you want).

2 years was enough for me, even NJ looks good after Shanghai...

 

The drunk level or the quality of the places?

 

Just.....

Bring
Out
The
Hooch
!