I remember my first time in China. I was like a deer in the headlights!
China can be a crazy and confusing place. But with some preparation, an open-mind and a healthy dose of patience, you’ll have a ball there.
For this short list, I’ve focused on things I had no clue about beforehand, but certainly wished I had!
So without further ado, so here are my 10 tips for your first trip to China.
(If you’re looking for a longer list, check out Mike’s 40 China travel tips.)
1. Use Google Translate
I used this every day in China. Image by Dennizn on Shutterstock.
The language barrier in China can occasionally lead to frustrating and embarrassing situations.
All I can say is thank goodness for translation apps!
Google Translate is widely used among tourists, though there are lots of other options.
You’ll find restaurant staff and shop assistants will usually be able to engage in a simple conversation using Google Translate.
Its real-time camera feature is also handy.
This allows you to scan Chinese characters and translate them to another language. It’s awesome for reading menus – even if the translations aren’t always entirely accurate!
Just note that you’ll need a virtual private network (VPN) app on your phone to use Google and most other major non-Chinese apps. More on this below.
You should also check out the other great China travel apps.
2. Use a VPN
Having a VPN app on your phone will give you access to Western sites like Facebook. Image by Pixabay.
This is one of my best tips for your first trip to China.
Have you heard of the Great Firewall of China? Its a tool employed by the Chinese Government to block citizens from accessing certain online content.
You might think a couple of weeks’ break from Facebook is a good thing. However, the list of apps banned in China is far more extensive than you might have realized.
It includes Instagram, YouTube, Gmail, Uber, Reddit and Dropbox. It also includes many international news outlets, and even using WhatsApp in China is problematic for tourists.
Fortunately, the firewall is pretty easy to get around, with the help of a VPN app. A VPN anonymizes your identity online by masking your IP address and assigning you a temporary IP located in another country.
Not all VPNs work in China. For an up-to-date list of VPNs that do work in China, check out this helpful blog or go straight here:
Just note you have to download the VPN before you arrive, as you can’t do it once you arrive.
3. Learn the Chinese version of queuing
Get used to queues like this on your first trip to China. Image by Humphery on Shutterstock.
It’s a well-known fact that the Chinese aren’t fans of lining up.
A typical Chinese ‘queue’, rather than being single-file, more closely resembles a football scrum.
Queue-jumping is extremely common and takes on various forms, from all-out body barging to stealthy squeeze-ins and even verbally asserting one’s right to go in front of every other person in the room.
This part of daily Chinese life can be pretty stressful, especially if you’re traveling to China for the first time.
However, to learn to line up like a local, all you need is a bit of practice, and preferably, a healthy sense of competition.
A few essential tips:
- Never stand still – the second you stop moving, five people will have crammed themselves into the space left by the person in front of you.
- Keep close – glue yourself to the person in front and don’t open any gaps.
- Stand wide and angle your elbows out – don’t be afraid to use your arms or body to block them, and use your backpack to provide a bit of extra cushion for the pushin’!
- Don’t wait for the cashier to call you – as soon as they’re done serving the person in front of you, go straight up, hand them the money/passport/tickets/whatever and start talking to them.
Occasionally, people will try to butt in just as you’re about to be served. But don’t feel bad about pushing them aside either.
Remember, the Chinese have a different concept of personal space.
Definitely don’t get aggressive, but asserting your intentions by physical means really isn’t considered rude at all.
4. Pay attention to the tones
Getting the tones right is crucial to being understood. Image supplied by The Helpful Panda.
If you’re anything like me, you’ll find Mandarin difficult to comprehend.
That’s partly because it’s a tonal language – an unfamiliar concept to most European language speakers. These are the changes in speaking pitch.
If you’re learning basic Mandarin before your first trip to China, absolutely do not ignore the tones.
Even if your pronunciation is dead-on, utter a word without the correct tones to a native Chinese speaker, and you’ll likely receive a blank stare.
If you have time before you leave for your trip, you could learn Chinese online which would give you a confidence boost, especially if you’re going to be traveling China on your own.
Otherwise, just see how you can travel in China without any Mandarin skills. That’s what I did!
5. Walk away from crowds
The Panda Research Base in Chengdu is always super-crowded. Image supplied by Mike Cairnduff.
Too many crowds at that famous tourist spot? Just walk away!
Any popular attraction in China is bound to draw in large crowds of domestic tourists.
The best strategy for avoiding crowds is visiting earlier or later in the day. You should also avoid national holiday periods.
If you’re on a package tour though, you probably won’t have a choice.
Sometimes you’ll arrive at the exact same time as 10 busloads of excitable local tourists. But this isn’t always the huge problem it’s made out to be.
The values of a typical Chinese group tourist are different to most crowd-averse Western tourists.
Rarely do the selfie-stick wielding masses wander far from the tour bus, their group or the main path.
I found that if you walk a few minutes away from the madness in any direction, the crowds all but disappear.
Of course, depending on the tourist attraction in China, this doesn’t always work. But you’d be surprised how often it does!
6. Stay calm in Chinese train stations
You may experience a very busy train station on your first trip to China. Image by Maciej Zarzeczny on Shutterstock.
Chinese train stations can be crazy!
Although I didn’t experience one as busy as the photo above, crossing the border from Hong Kong to Shenzhen North Train Station was, without a doubt, the most stressful moment of my first trip to China.
I’d bought my high-speed train ticket in advance and all I knew was I had to swap out the receipt I’d received from an online agent for an official China Railway ticket.
English signage was non-existent. No official-looking person I accosted either spoke English or seemed to understand what was printed on my booking confirmation.
I was stranded, utterly without help.
After wandering around the colossal terminal building for what seemed like forever, I finally spotted people walking away from a series of cashier windows with tickets in their hands.
Joining the back of a 50-person strong queue, I hoped and prayed I was in the right place.
Over an hour later, my prayers were answered and I returned from the ticket booth triumphant.
My saving grace was that I had arrived four hours before my train’s departure time. This turned out to be slightly excessive, but I never worried about missing my train.
If you’re with a tour group visiting China for the first time, you’ll be fine.
But if you’re traveling solo like I was, make sure you buy an online train ticket from an official agent like Trip so you don’t have to do anything at the station.
7. Take care when crossing the road
Pedestrian crossings in China are a free for all. Image by J. Lekavicius on Shutterstock.
The only road rule in China is size matters. Trucks, buses and cars are king.
Pedestrians? Way, way down the bottom of the pecking order.
You’ll most likely come across zebra crossings painted at some intersections.
While pedestrians do use them, motorists seem to regard them mainly as decorations. Stopping at them is completely optional.
Traffic light crossings tend to have a slightly better strike-rate when it comes to cars actually stopping, but even a green pedestrian light doesn’t guarantee right of way.
A red light means nothing to a Chinese motorist on a mission. It’s always up to you to get out of the way.
I think it’s fairly safe to say that pedestrian rights are non-existent in China!
So, how do you cross a Chinese road and survive?
The best advice is to follow the locals and seek safety in numbers.
Cross in a group whenever you can. But if you are on your own, try to cross only at intersections.
Keep scanning the road for a break in traffic until you have enough of a gap to walk swiftly through.
If you see a driver speeding up to get through an intersection – wait, because he ain’t stopping!
8. Get used to smoking and spitting in public
Lots of people smoke in China, particularly older men. Image supplied by Doctor X.
Smoking indoors, and free-range spitting in China even more so, are two things I couldn’t get used to during my first time in China.
But if you’re aware of how common these practices are beforehand, witnessing them in the flesh hopefully won’t come as such a shock.
Nearly one-third of China’s population are smokers. This is one reason why many Chinese people often feel the need to hack up a chunk of lung whenever the urge arises.
The combination of tobacco smoke and pollution contributes to the common Chinese pastime of hocking up phlegm onto footpaths, along with the traditional belief that “out is better than in”.
As a foreigner, you’ll find this rather unsavory. But remember, every culture has its own idea of ‘normal’.
For example, blowing your nose into a handkerchief and stuffing it back into your pocket is considered deeply disgusting by many in Chinese society.
9. Get the right visa
Visa rules can be confusing when visiting China for the first time. Image supplied by Mike Cairnduff.
Make sure you do a little research on Chinese visas and whether you even need one.
I recommend referring to this guide for getting a visa for China.
If you have a passport from a certain country, you can visit China visa-free for up to two weeks. Yay!
But even if you’re not from one of the special countries, you might still be eligible for visa-free transit for up to 144 hours. This is a great way to enjoy your first trip to China without the hassle or expense of a traditional visa.
You just need to be transiting through China on the way to another country.
For instance, your itinerary is Los Angeles – Shanghai – Tokyo – Los Angeles (i.e. your flight is USA to China to Japan to USA).
See also: Flight time from USA to China
10. Avoid Chinese beer at bars
Like cold beer? You may need to ask for ice! Image supplied by Mike Cairnduff.
I could turn a blind eye to the spitting, tolerate the pedestrian crossings and learn to enjoy the ‘sport’ of competitive queuing in China. But this one… this one got to me on my first trip to China.
I was at a bar, looking forward to my first cold, thirst-quenching beer of the evening.
I ordered my drink, and upon taking my first sip, the shock to my system was immediate. The cool, refreshing beverage I’d been craving was neither cool nor refreshing.
In fact, nowhere in this entire bar did there seem to be a fridge in sight!
Drinking ice-cold beverages isn’t particularly common in China. Conventional wisdom has it that cold drinks are bad for digestion.
Many Chinese will opt for warm or even hot water and beverages, as warmer liquids aid in breaking down and digesting fats.
See also: Craft beer in China
From what I’ve read, this is an idea which has some scientific merit behind it.
Since there are few health benefits to sinking copious amounts of beer at a KTV joint in any case, I really didn’t see the point in even beer being served warm!
But while cheap, warm beer certainly doesn’t sit well with my palate, my Chinese friends seem to like their lukewarm lager just fine.
If you really can’t stomach warm beer, try some authentic local liquor instead, like good quality baijiu (white spirit) or Chinese whiskey.
So, these are the main things to know before traveling to China. As I mentioned at the start, you should also check out Mike’s ultimate list of China travel tips. It’s awesome.
FAQ about visiting China for the first time
Where should I go for the first time in China?
Most tourists head to Beijing to see The Great Wall of China or to Shanghai for the shopping and food. But I’d recommend getting a bit further out to experience different cultures, such as Guangxi Province.
What is China like for tourists?
In a few words, I’d say it’s safe, fun, culture-rich and different to what you’d expect!
Is China expensive as a tourist?
The big cities can be a bit expensive – it depends on things like your hotel, the food you eat, and if you go on any fancy tours. If you’re traveling to China for the first time, I suggest shopping around for tour packages as there are plenty to choose from.
