Visiting China For The First Time – What To Expect

On the first trip to China, you will probably have to see all the main attractions of the country. You will not want to go home and have someone tell you “If you have not seen, then you have not really experienced China”. If you are visiting China for the first time then it will be useful to know which cities to go to.

Tips For First Time In China

If you are visiting China for the first time, then here are some tips that may come in handy. We know it can be quite overwhelming for tourists coming here for their first time. You may even experience culture shock which takes some getting used to. Hopefully these tips will help make your travel time less stressful and more enjoyable. You can also check out our travel to China checklist guide to know what to bring before you arrive.

Exotic Buildings Old City District Of Shanghai

Hotels in China

Always try and stay in a more international friendly hotel, where the hotel staff can generally speak some English. It will be an ordeal for you not being able to understand them.  There are some lower class hotels in China which do not even allow foreigner visitors to stay. Make sure to check ahead of time if you are allowed to stay before booking.

If you are staying in bigger cities, most of the hotels there will be very convenient and welcoming. Only when you start to travel into more deeper parts of China do the hotels become less likely to allow foreigners to stay. This has to do with the way in which foreigners are registered with the police in each city they stay. Smaller hotels usually don’t have the proper procedures in place for handling this.

When to travel to China

In general, airlines in China may increase their ticket prices during the holiday season in the northern hemisphere. July, August, and during the Chinese New Year are more expensive. Dates on which It is also difficult to search for available flights and with-it better rates.

Hotels are especially expensive during trade shows such as Guangzhou or Hong Kong, Global Sources, so you’ll have to be ready to invest more money in accommodation if your goal is to go to a fair in China.

If you do not care about the date, the most pleasant months to go to China are between March-May and September-November, when the temperature reaches comfortable levels. In the summer, heat and humidity can be a serious problem in the provinces of the south coast. Make sure you take pre-cautions to avoid getting sick. Traveling during the boreal winter, it can be a challenge if you go to the north of China, it can get very cold, we are talking between -10 and 5 degrees Celsius during the day.

Buy yourself a prepaid Chinese cell phone

It is a good idea to buy a prepaid Chinese cell phone, you can access the Internet and many minutes at a very reasonable price. If you travel for business, the mobile phone will be very useful to call your provider in case you get lost and also to check your email, when you are out of the hotel without getting ruined by paying for roaming.

Do not forget your universal adapter

Take a universal multi-adapter since Hong Kong and China have different plugs among themselves, and probably with your country of origin, it would be terrible to not be able to charge your computer, phone or another device. Check out our post about adapters needed in China to learn more about this.

Reasons To Visit China

So, is China worth visiting? There are many reasons why if you have not decided to visit China yet, you should consider visiting China for the first time. It is a huge country, full of valuable historical places and of great cultural richness. Because of its large size, China has all the landscapes you can imagine and also offers all kinds of activities for its visitors.

Know the wonders of the world

China is one of the countries with the greatest historical wealth in the world, this is justified by the number of buildings of impressive architectural value and their unique pieces of engineering.

An example of these is the so important Great Wall of China, a huge wall of more than 500 km of extension and more than 2000 years old, that even today remains standing and that can even be observed from the Moon. Visit the sacred cities of the ancient Chinese Empire

In many places in the Chinese territory, there are ancient cities that date from time immemorial. One of the oldest and most important is the ancient city known as “the Forbidden City”.

This city bears his name because for hundreds of years his entrance was prohibited, and it was not until the 20th century that he was allowed to enter. It consists of buildings of great architectural value, with a traditional Chinese style and with several sacred temples.

Check out its spectacular landscapes and animal life

Besides such an important historical and cultural heritage, China has all kinds of spectacular landscapes. From deep jungles to deserts, coasts, beaches to meadows, snow-capped mountains, and cities that are much more than overpopulated.

The vast majority of China’s territory is uninhabited and provides the perfect space for the development of wildlife. So, the country has a great diversity of flora and fauna, being the home of the panda bear, the golden-haired monkey, the white dolphin, the Chinese southern tiger, etc, and it is the country with the greatest animal diversity in the world.

Shopping in China

From experience, we all know the incredible offers that the Chinese market always counts with; Cities such as Shanghai, Hong Kong or Beijing are perfect for shopping.

Hundreds of thousands of clothing stores, markets, home appliances and all kinds of shops have unimaginable offers so shopping in China can be a very, very good idea. Make sure you bring enough cash with you or have a credit card accepted in China. You should also look into using Wechat pay for shopping as it’s a preferred method of payment among Chinese shops.

Interesting Cities To Visit While In China

Beijing

For the first trip to China, most tourists visit Beijing since this destination offer travelers an overview of the nation of China, from its history, its culture to its development and prosperity today. If you’re just going to, go to Beijing. The capital has it all: history, culture, prestige and decent landscapes to the north around the Great Wall. If you want to visit its many world-famous restaurants.

Xi’an

Next, you must discover where the nation of China really started. Visit Xi’an, where the First Qin Emperor (pronounced Chin, therefore, China. ruled from the first capital of a united China. See your great Terracotta Army. Xi’an is an excellent place to experience life in the pre-Beijing dynasties. Enjoy a banquet of the Tang Dynasty and see and admire temples, a mosque, pagodas, and towers of more than 1,000 years.

First Lady Michelle Obama In Xi’an

Shanghai

Shanghai is the largest city in China, and some say it should be visited for its meaning. There are not many world class tourist attractions, and it could be traveled in a day. Make sure you see the colonial architecture and the skyscrapers of its urban center and take the Maglev train in China to/from the airport.

Shanghai is a comfortable city to get to and from it. And if you are going to China for the first time for business, then Shanghai is the city to go to since it offers many startup companies.

Read more:

• China Travel Guide Tips
• Food safety tips in China

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