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55 of 57 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nice quick overview, August 11, 2009
This review is from: China Survival Guide: How to Avoid Travel Troubles and Mortifying Mishaps (Paperback)
I am ethnic Chinese but do not speak or read Chinese. However I was raised with Chinese sensibilities so the subtleties of the culture were already ingrained in me. I went to Shanghai,Hangzhou, Xi'an and Wuhan. I traveled with a friend from China who now lives in the US. There are some good tips especially about etiquette in the book but there are others that are missing. Some tips may be dated because the pace of change in China is so fast. Foremost is that you don't need to bring US $100 bills. There are Bank of China ATMs with English menus everywhere that work fine and have much more security features than in the US. At Shanghai airport, there is a currency exchange machine that sucks your money in and dispenses RMB but that is the only place I used dollars. You need RMB for everything because the only places that accept US credit cards are hotels. The other cards you see people using in store are debit cards that require PIN numbers and they only accept debit cards from Chinese banks. You should warn your bank that you will be in China so they don't freeze your cards. Bring a couple of cards because they will be refused sporadically. Hotels charge 8% service charge to exchange money which is pretty steep so go to the ATM.
Make sure you write down the taxi driver's cabby license number so you can report him if necessary. We were taken for a ride (over an hour)in Xi'an to drive up the fare from the airport and we were terrified that he would drop us by the side of the empty highway at 10pm.
The biggest problem when using the squat potties is the stray puddles of urine. I don't know how women wear sandals! You have to roll up your pants and swing your handbag across your back so it doesn't touch the floor. Most places do have Western style toilets but you have to wait.
I did not see any diet drinks anywhere so you have to drink bottled water. The juices are less sweet than in the US but you have to be sure to ask for cold otherwise you will be given room temp.
Anything that is imported is the same or more expensive than in the US. Japanese snacks like Pocky are the same price. My friend's suitcase was filled with Lancome cosmetics for her cousin so that is a good gift for hosts. People are very conscious of real brand names and will pay through the nose at the Nike or Adidas store.
Lastly, most of the tourists you will see are Chinese, not Western. There is a vast middle and upper and even uber class. Tourist sites are geared to the Chinese not Westerners. There was a Porsche dealer in every city we visited. In August2009, the ten story Superbrands Mall in Shanghai Pudong was packed to the rafters with people shopping at Western priced stores. Malls in the US are half empty.
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72 of 77 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Out of date info., October 12, 2009
This review is from: China Survival Guide: How to Avoid Travel Troubles and Mortifying Mishaps (Paperback)
For a book with a publishing date of 2008, this is stunningly out of date. Just got back from my trip to China (Beijing, Shanghai and Xi'an) and virtually nothing stated in this book was true. One stand-out: yes, they're right: most toilet stalls don't have paper. But no, there is none for sale or available by the door. BYO tissues or moist towels - those are useful anyway for keeping your hands clean through the day, too. Also, the info. on how to bargain is good; yes, skimpy tops do raise a few eyebrows [more amused and surprised than angry]; and certainly, non-queueing is an art form especially among seniors.
But dead wrong (for my three stops): taxi drivers are literate and can read your hotel address in Chinese if you bring it with you; crossing the street is fairly easy as long as you keep your eyes open and obey the electronic signs (which even count down to tell you how many seconds you have before they are going to change to red); taxi drivers are aggressive but don't drive particularly fast so it's hardly a white-knuckle experience; western-style toilets are available at almost all markets, tourist sites and restaurants; and everything in our hotel rooms was clean and in full working order (4 hotels). Shorts are fine, too.
The stories of the authors' travels are cute, and I can't comment on the business etiquette or medical info., but unless you are traveling back in time or to the remotest hinterlands I doubt you will encounter many of the problems mentioned here. I also found the politics somewhat suspect although I understand that praising dictatorship as the only way to control so large a population may go down well with the officials the authors have to deal with to get their forthcoming documentary made. In any case, I left my copy in Shanghai as it wasn't worth bringing home and I hope the hotel maid had a good sense of humor as she perused it on her way home in the city's brand-new subway system that night.
Other hints for travelers: I had no idea going in that so much info (road signs, restaurant names and menus, tourist info. signs, etc.) would be in English. That, the warm people and the wonderful taxis made getting around much easier than I expected. Also: try to avoid visiting during the first few days of the National Holiday (Oct 1-8). The first two days are military parades and regional spectacles in Beijing, so Tiananmen Square is in use and the Forbidden City is closed to the public, which makes Oct 3-5 *very* busy as most Chinese get the whole week off and flock to visit the sights (esp. the Square, the City and the Badaling section of the Wall). The Mutianyu section of the Wall is a bit further from Beijing but a much better choice -- it was not at all crowded even on the 4th. By about the 6th, things are calming down all over, as the Chinese start to head home. Finally -- if you go to Xi'an, make time to visit the "little warriors" at Xianyiang[sp?], near the airport, as well as the more famous (and admittedly very fabulous) Qin warriors.
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21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Useful!, April 10, 2008
This review is from: China Survival Guide: How to Avoid Travel Troubles and Mortifying Mishaps (Paperback)
This is a very useful little book that picks up where most sight-seeing guidebooks leave off. The section on customs is invaluable. We learn how to be polite (take and offer gifts and even business cards with both hands) , where to be assertive (those people aren't cutting ahead of you in line - there is no line!), and when to bargain (not my strong suit, but now at least I know to start at 20% of the suggested price).
The section on the Chinese language is unusually comprehendible. The authors, who have taught Chinese for years, make basic communication surprisingly easy. This has become the book I send to China-bound friends who have no previous Chinese language experience.
China Survival Guide contains lots of good information on a wide range of subjects. With the authors' personal (and often self-deprecating ) travel stories woven throughout, the book is a delightful way to get inside contemporary Chinese culture and equip ourselves for the variety of situations that we may encounter in our own travels.
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