China Trip Part 8 Shanghai

Arriving at Pudong Airport in Shanghai was a welcome scene after a 15hour Delta flight from Atlanta. Delta managed to make the flight as comfortable as possible, but this is difficult with my 6ft 4in frame. We were welcomed by our family with our 3 suitcases full of American foods not available or affordable in China.

Because we were staying with relatives the first couple days, we had time to adjust to Shanghai. We started with a shoulder/foot massage and a coffee at Starbucks. The next stop was the "fake market". The fake market is basically a place were designer items are sold at much lower prices. It is the place were Rolex, Montblanc, Apple, Gucci, Prada etc copies reside at unbelievable prices. The qualities of these items vary widely. The seasoned shopper usually knows were the best copies can be found. This could make the differnce between a Rolex that runs for 2 days or runs for many years.

Our next stop was the Pearl Market which is nearly a full department store floor with only pearls and pearl jewelry of every kind. You will likely find a set of pearls just for you; however, determining quality is difficult unless you are an expert.

The downtown in Shanghai is split by the river. On one side is the Bund which is an older section with classic buildings like the Peace Hotel. The other side of the river is the financial district with Pearl Tower and the tallest building, the Financial Tower. Shanghai to me was a combination of New York and Las Vegas. It seems the most progressive of the big cities in China and also the most glitzy. You will find many familiar names suchs as Starbucks, KFC, McDonalds and most high end designer stores. There is a lot of money in this city and lots of young entrepreners looking for places to spend their money.

The old Shanghai is disappearing. Government built high rise buildings are replacing the old neighborhoods. Because of the explosion of population in the cities housing has to go up rather than laterally due to limited space.

We stayed in a private, western style home while in Shanghai so I cannot comment on hotels; however, there is no shortage of accomodations. There is a river that splits the Pudong financial area and the Bund which represents the older Shanghai. You must visit the Bund which is a waterfront viewing area. It provides you with great views of the financial district with the Pearl Tower and the Financial Tower.

While at the Bund stop by the Peace Hotel which is one of Shanghai's most famous hotels. If you are a shopper the street leading to the Bund is a mix of designer shops and local shops. When I was there they were getting ready to open a huge new Apple Store.

There are some interesting shopping areas in Shanghai including the popular Yuyuan Gardens, the fake market and the fabric market. If you are looking for great souveniers and a good cup of tea the Yuyuan Gardens is the place to go. If you can avoid the weekend, o it, as it is a popular spot for locals and tourists on the weekends. The fake market allows you to find your designer labels on just about everything from crocs to rolexes at a fraction of the price. It is all Buyer beware, no refunds here. The fabric market is a great place to go if you want some custom made clothing. In many cases, they will make and deliver your custom order in 1-2 days. If you need a new cashmere winter coat, this is the place to go.

The financial center of Shanghai is in the Pudong area. You will find most multinational companies with offices here. In the middle of this area is one of the tallest building in the world, the Financial Tower. It looks like a bottle openner. To fully appreciate Shanghai I recommend you go up to the observatory on the 102 floor. The view is spectacular and the floor is transarent allowing you to look straight down. A trip at night allows you to see the Las Vegas side of Shanghai with it's electric billboards and lighting. Awesome!!

Shanghai has two airports one international and the other domestic. If you take the bullet train you will arrive Shanghai at the domestic airport.

China trip Part 7 Communicating in China

One of the biggest misconceptions I had when I came to China was that English would be spoken all over China. This was based on my previous visit to Hong Kong and the general global standard of English in business.

Perhaps it was just my itinerary and contacts over the length of my trip; however, I found hardly any Chinese people that understood English. I make a distinction between "speaking English" and "understanding English". I had 3 tour conductors of which 2 could recite english information, but only 1 that actually understood our questions and answered them effectively.

The Chinese language is difficult to learn. They have 4000 characters in their alphabet verses 26 for us. The phonetics of the two language are also much different. I am convinced that you have to learn Chinese almost at birth if you intend to speak it like a local. I found that when I attempted to speak Chinese, some Chinese people would understand and some don't.

As a result of my affliction, I spent most of time communicating by pointing to phrases and negotiating prices by tapping numbers back and forth on a calculator.

Someday I hope somebody finally invents a box that you can speak into in English and have it translate to Chinese and visa versa.

China Trip Part 6 Driving and 2 Wheeling in China

Tourists are not permitted to drive in China. This is a good thing. The traffic is very heavy in China. For instance, Atlanta has one circular road around the city and are thinking of adding another. Beijing currently has 5 circular roads. In certain cities the Chinese have imposed new rules for people thinking of buying a car. Most involve heavy taxes up to 60,000 and a wait of 5 years before you can buy a car.

Maybe you noticed that I described the traffic as "heavy" verses calling it "crazy". Chinese traffic is for the most part orderly. My observations are that there are two general rules. One, 4 wheeled vehicles always have the right of way. Two, whoever is in front can cut in front of the other. They do use their horns to enforce these two rules. Two things you will likely not see on Chinese roads are people on cell phones (or any other distraction) and people driving while intoxicated. People realize that they need their full facilities to survive and if you get caught DUI forget driving again.

China for the most part does not have any motorcycles or scooters over 149cc. This was very strange for me as I expected lots of motorcyles. The Chinese consider bigger bikes dangerous and any that you see were either grandfathered before the law was passed. You will see many scooters under 149cc. They generally have their own road that is shared with bicycles. Unfortunately, cars and scooter frequently meet resulting in many scooter injuries and deaths.

I only saw one Harley Davidson the whole time I was in China and it was in a small town close to the Great Wall.

China Trip Part 5 Toilets in China "the real story" and the "China Shake"

Ok,so this may not be the most glamorous part of the China Trip post, but it is a subject that you should be aware of in an effort to manage your expectations.

The good new is, I have never seen a place where there are as many public bathrooms as there are in China, there are reasons for this. One reason is that some homes in China have no bathrooms. As a result, they use public bathrooms. I think another reason is to keep people from using alleys and improve public health. Whatever the case, we never had trouble finding a bathroom.

Chinese bathroom generally are different from ours. Instead of a regular toilet they use what are termed "squatty potties". These are toilets essentially built at floor level that require you to squat to do your business. These are not limited to China. I have used them in Europe, Japan, and other areas of the world. You will even find them on the high speed Bullet Train. Tip: The handicapped stall always has a regular toilet, so limp when you go in the bathroom.

There are other differences I found in China toilets. First,there is only one toilet paper dispenser as you walk into the bathroom and none in the stalls. You have to gauge your toilet paper usage prior to locking the door. A word of caution, keep toilet paper with you because many times bathrooms will be out of TP. Second, toilet paper should not be flushed. All signs ask you to put used toilet paper in the indicated baskets. (I know what you are thinking, and yes many bathrooms have a challenging bouquet).

What is the "China Shake"? As we traveled around China and used the restrooms we of course always washed our hands (if you don't loose bowels to you). We found about 50% of bathrooms had no paper towels and 48% had towel dispensers but no paper towels. I might say that most had the blowing air machines of which 70% were not effective and the other 30% did not work. As a result, when you came out of the bathroom you would shake your hand vigorously, thus the "China Shake". It is a good idea to raid the Starbucks napkin dispenser for future travel.

Now that know the score, you can stop worrying about bathrooms in China. YEH!!!

China Trip Part 4 What To Take

The following list is what I believe you need to take when going to China. Women and people with special needs will like have to make some additions.
1. Clothing- Take as little as possible and forget about how you look. Nobody in China cares. The point is to be comfortable not stylish. If by chance you forget something, buy it or have it made.
2. Cameras, chargers and batteries. Most cameras, phones, ipods etc use 120-220 current. This means all you will need is an adapter plug not a converter.
3. Converter(s)- Only if you have some electrical device that is just 110volts.
4. Adapter plugs - You may need two as China Mainland and China Hong Kong do not use the same adapter. If you have been to the United Kingdom you used the Hong Kong plug, the other one is similar but with two of the prongs slanted outward.
5. Phone- Most US phones and Iphones cannot be used in China. If you need one buy a throwaway in China.
6 Baggage Locks - If you fly within China the airlines may not check your bag if it is not locked. Buy some TSA approved locks.
7. Alarm Clock - You may need an early wake up call and I would not depend on the Hotel wake up calls.
8. Sunglasses and extra glasses if you wear perscription.
9. Suncreen and Hats for sun protection.
10.A Secure Purse - Make sure ladies that you have a purse that zips close and can be worn around your neck, not just over your shoulder. Check out on the internet http://www.baggallini.com/ for a purse the flight attendants recommend.
11.Language dictionary - preferably one where you can point to the Chinese interpretation.
12.Binoculars - not necessary until you do not have them at "the Wall"
13.Cottonelle Wipes - take a bunch of the small packages. You will find many opportunies to use them or regret you don't have them.
14.Cold tablets,Halls throat lozenges,Afrin,Excedrin, Imodium D, bandaids,antiseptic cream, lip balm, eye drops. Your basic first aid kit.
15.Toothbrush, paste, shaving soap, and razor. Remember brush your teeth using bottled water!!! Did you notice I did not mention deodorant?
16.Individual coffee packs for your coffee hounds. You can get hot water everywhere but not coffee. Starbucks is in the big cities by the way.
17.A small bottle of laundry detergent to wash your clothes. No such thing as do it yourself washer/dryers in most hotels and you are rarely in hotels long enough to get laundry done except the expensive expedited type.

It is sometimes difficult finding items you are used to having in the US. And if you find them they are generally expensive. For instance, artificial sweeteners. The only place I saw these in China was the Starbucks in Beijing.

China Trip - Part 3 Passports and Visas

What documentation do I need to go to China? I will speak only from the standpoint of a U.S. citizen. Any other parties should reference the Chinese Embassy website.

Generally you need a US Passport with at least 6 months if validity left and a Visa from the Chinese Embassy. If you are going to Hong Kong or planning to return to China you will need a multi-entry tourist visa. You might as well get one because it costs the same as a single entry. I live in Florida and recommend you use a visa service. Unless you can drop in on the Chinese Embassy it is the only game in town.

All the applications can be found either on the Chinese Embassy website or on a visa service website. Apply for your visa early, especially around the summer tourist season.

China Trip Part 2 Planning your trip to China

China is very hard for people to get their hands around when they start thinking of visiting. There is a lot of information about China on the internet; however, it can be overwhelming and confusing. I see three avenues that people can generally take when planning a trip to China.

1. Book a complete tour with a national tour company. This to include air, transfers, hotels, tours, and meals. These inclusive tours are generally group tours that bus you from place to place. The good thing about these tours is that everything is taken care of and you just enjoy. You also can meet long term friends on your tour bus during your stay in China.

2. Book your air and ground separately. Maybe you have frequent flyer points you want to get rid of or perhaps you nailed a great promotional fare. If so, you have to shop for an in country tour company. After doing a lot of homework, I decided on China Odessey Tours. They will tailor an individual tour for singles, couples and families based on the dates you are traveling and the cities you want to visit. Their individual city tour conductors meet you at each city airport and take care of all of your needs until they leave you off to fly to your next destination. For me this is the best bang for the buck. Your own tour conductor showing you the sights at your own pace, plus the ability to modify your plans unlike the group tour.

3. Book your flight and hotels yourself and pick up guides when you get to each city. Unless you have been to China before, I would not recommend this method. It is a recipe for disaster. From a financial standpoint, the costs of booking all the elements of trip individually I believe would be more expensive with no recourse if you did not get what you expected.

By all means, have a plan before you start shopping for travel to China. Pick out where you want to go, what you want to see and when you want to travel. In country tour companies work to provide you with what you want and will also make additional recommendations.

China Trip - Part 1 Why I Went and Why You Should Go To China

Having just come back from a 3 week trip to China I decided to provide my experiences to everybody that is planning or has been to China. I am going to do this in a multi-part blog. I hope this both fuels and controls your expectations if you are thinking about a trip to China. This, by the way, does not include Hong Kong and Taiwan which are considered part of China family in the eyes of Mainline China, because I consider separate entities. (please..no comments on the status of these two wonderful areas)

As to my subject of this post, I went to China to spend some time with my fiance's Son's family who have been posted in Shanghai for 2 years with 3M. If you are going to go that far, which for us was about 18 hours by air, you really should tour around some. So we added a individual tour that covered Guilin, Xian and Beijing. All in all we spent about 3 weeks.

For those thinking about travelling to China, I can say it will change your thinking about China and will likely eliminate any stereotypes you have had in the past. You will experience locations like the Great Wall that can only appreciated by actually being there. Pictures and videos are good, but these pale in comparison with the actual sensory experience of being there.

In the following posts I am going go into the details of our experience. I do not think it will spoil the "Christmas Morning" experience of anticipation, but will manage your expectations.

For those that have been to China, please comment on my experiences both for my enjoyment and the readers of my blog.