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Come and see China now!
Traveling around China can be a very rewarding experience, but it comes with its share of challenges.
With the right expectations and a little preparation (such as reading our China travel tips), a visit to China can be an incredible experience.
Many people travel here on a tour, eliminating the challenges of organizing itineraries, transport, hotels and meals.
As we discovered, it is certainly possible to travel independently in China.
We avoid walks whenever possible.
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Traveling in a large group of people, jumping from milestone to milestone, with everything arranged, seems like torture to us.
We prefer to go out on our own, to find our own way.
Of course, we make mistakes and sometimes get lost, but independent travel is the best way to immerse yourself in the culture.
Traveling on our own, we were able to interact with the local people.
Instead of traveling in the "safety" of a large travel group with a guide.
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Culture in China
The people in China are some of the friendliest we've met and the history and sights here are world-class.
For those thinking of traveling independently to China
Here are some travel tips to help make your visit a little easier.
Many of them we discovered for ourselves during the trip.
The Great Firewall of China blocks all access to Facebook, Google, Twitter and YouTube.
There were periods when I was blocked even on this Earth Trekkers site.
It can be incredibly frustrating, especially during long-term trips
Internet blocked
Losing access to websites used to keep in touch with people at home.
One way around this is to buy a VPN or virtual private network.
A VPN disguises your computer's IP address so that it looks like you're connected from the US or Australia, even if you're in China.
We used VyprVPN for the month we were in China, paying a small monthly fee (around US $ 10) for the service.
It worked reasonably well, but it wasn't perfect.
While in Shanghai, I was totally unable to access this site, although I could still access Facebook.
Still, it was worth having this service.
Without him, I would have spent a month in China with no access to the outside world.
Knowing Mandarin is not a necessity, but it helps A LOT.
If you only plan to visit the bigger cities like Beijing and Shanghai, you can use English.
The younger generations can speak basic English and many are eager to help when needed, from our experience.
If you plan to visit the smaller towns off the main tourist trail, such as Zhangjiajie and Yangshuo, speaking basic Mandarin is invaluable.
We would have had a very difficult time here if we hadn't been able to speak the basics.
Also, a simple ni hao (hello) or xie xie (thank you) is much appreciated.
Speaking in complete sentences and attempting simple conversation has made us many friends in China.
Complicated Language
This is a country where people really appreciated our efforts to speak their language and those moments are some of our favorite memories of China.
There are many language learning applications and computer programs to choose from.
Tyler and I use Fluenz to learn basic Mandarin.
We started the program a year before our trip to China.
I've also used Fluenz to learn Spanish, French and a little German.
It also helps to have a Chinese translation app on your phone.
We use it to communicate a lot too.
