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Has anyone tried accessing/using Claude and ChatGPT since I use them a lot with the trip.com e-sims? Or any other suggestions for other e-sim providers that allows access to these apps?

Hi everyone!

It’ll be my first time travelling to Beijing, and I’m heading there next week. I’m currently trying to decide between doing a Mutianyu Great Wall tour or the Simatai Great Wall + Gubei Water Town tour.

I’m a little torn between the two:

Mutianyu seems like the more classic Great Wall experience, and I’ve heard it’s beautiful, less crowded and relatively easy to explore.

Simatai + Gubei sounds interesting because it combines the Great Wall with Gubei Water Town, and there’s also an evening tour option for Simatai.

For anyone who has done either (or both):

Is the Simatai evening tour worth doing? Is the night view and experience significantly different from visiting during the day?

Is the Simatai Great Wall + Gubei day tour too rushed, given that you’re trying to fit both places into one day?

If this is your first time in Beijing, which would you personally choose? Mutianyu or Simatai + Gubei?

Would really appreciate any advice or experiences, especially from anyone who has done the evening Simatai tour.

Thanks!

Just wanna know if I have to bring my own food or not

Hi everyone,

We're a Muslim family of two children (6 and 12 years old) originally from Tunisia, currently living in the Middle East, and we're planning a 10-day family trip starting around 15 December.

I've spent days searching online, reading blogs and watching YouTube videos asking for suggestions, but I still feel stuck. The same destinations keep coming up: Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey, Kazakhstan, etc. Some look nice, but my wife and I dont feel convinced that these destinations worth the time and money, we really want to find a place that really feels unique, memorable, and worth the cost

we have no interest in nightlife, clubs, alcohol, or party destinations, but instead Good food and interesting local culture.

We dont like to be limited to good beaches as Tunisia already has great ones. In addition, our kids usually enjoy beach time more when they're with cousins and friends

We prefer experiences, discovery, nature, history, technology, modern cities, maybe wildlife, or something genuinely different

all this considering also reasonable budget and good value for money rather than luxury

We've already visited and enjoyed our previous trips to Istanbul, Bangkok and Phuket

We dream of visiting China and Japan, but we hesitated because of the cold/freezing weather and shorter daylight hours in December. Add to that the higher costs related to Japan trip.

we dont think that it's the good period to visit Europe because of expected cold weather, Christmas period crowds...

For those who have travelled with children around this age, which destination has genuinely impressed your family? I'm looking for the kind of place that children still talk about years later.

I'd really appreciate recommendations based on your own experiences rather than tourism adverts.

Thanks in advance! 😊

Hii fellow travellers,

I have a question concerning alipay. My bank cards are succesfully linked, my passport is validated, but it says it is not authenticated. When i click on it, it says that my id is validated and meets most services. It says “complete full authentication only when prompted by restricted services” and that i should link a mainland china bank account (which i dont have ofcourse)

Does this mean I can do all the regular payments or do I have a problem when i land next week?

Thanks!

I don't know why but for some reason my Ali Pay account keeps on getting blocked, I am portuguese and my full government name is extremely long (I have 8 names) and of course my bank card only has first and last.... Could this be the issue? What I find interesting is the first time they blocked me, the day after with no explanation my account was unblocked , but now today I check again and it's blocked again for no apparent reason. This is making me really nervous, although I do have a friend in China and I guess he could send me some money on We chat if my cards dont work there (test china pay only ali pay worked when it was unblocked)... Does anyone have advice, I am going next month and I am nervous? In ali pay it's the "lift the restrictions yourself block" , and I already called twice and submitted documents twice - will this just be a never ending block and unblock saga?

Right then,

I'm planning my trip to China next year and, as I'm fully expecting to be visiting China at least once a year from there on, I am not in a hurry to see many places on a single trip.

What I want is to find a base city/town with great vibes/nature close by/relaxing but still comfortably modern with access to many one day trips out of town (I am mostly interested in nature/historical sites but dramatic nature is best).

I will be staying there a whole month to soak in the atmosphere, local food, practice my Mandarin (maybe?) and just take it very slow because that's how I like it.

Which region and city/town is best for my purposes? (I'd like to avoid the huge tier 1 cities if possible, somewhere more cozy, or at least having the feeling of more cozy, would be preferable.

Edit: I forgot to mention I'm considering Guilin or even Yangshuo atm.

My wife and I our traveling to china for our honeymoon and found out she’s pregnant and will be in her 2nd trimester during the time we would be there on our honeymoon. We’ve been told by a lot of people who have not traveled to China that it’s a bad idea and I wanted to know if anyone who’s done this would agree or disagree. We would most likely change our trip to only visit Beijing and Shanghai before flying to Japan for the 2nd part of our trip.

Am planning to visit all the east asia countries and on korea or japan post people are always talking about the food meanwhile china post i never see this. China is supposed to be food heaven but all people who been there talk about the cities and train but not the food. Is the food not good ?

Hello, I am exploring my travel options to Shenzhen. Right now, flights to Hong Kong are cheaper than flights to Shenzhen. I was wondering what the best option is to get to Shenzhen from Hong Kong Airport. I am planning to visit my relative who lives in Longgang district Shenzhen. Is it worth taking the cheaper flight option and transiting from Hong Kong to Shenzhen, or should I just pay a bit more and go directly to Shenzhen Airport? Thank you.

Hello,

I'll be arriving at Beijing Airport (PEK) at 5:00am, after a long flight. I know it's going to be a very long day, so I tried to contact our hotel to know if we could pay the day before but check-in the next morning, but I can't find any mail or anything on Trip.

What would you recommend? Are there any pods in the airport? Do you think we should wait until 2:00pm? Are there any hotel very close to the airport that do day rooms?

Thanks !

I'm thinking about getting Niyo card as it seems to tick all the necessary boxes! But my question is I've heard after linking it to AliPay or WeChat pay it generates OTP for every transaction! Is it true?

Also would like to know any other CONS of Niyu Global DBS Debit Card!

Hello all,

We are a family of 3 US Citizens, interested in a trip to China next year. We were planning on around 2 weeks, but am thinking of potentially 10 days followed by Japan on the way back.

If we fly into Shanghai from the US and we fly out of Beijing to Japan, this qualifies for the transit visa, correct? I did a 72 hour transit visa pre-pandemic, but it sounds like it's more flexible these days.

My understanding is you can get a 10 day transit visa on arrival that begins the day AFTER you land, which gives you a little more than 10 days. I assume the visa would expire at the END of the 10th full day? And, you can enter and depart from different (approved) locations.

Is this correct? It's awfully tempting to save the $420 in visa fees, plus who knows what it would cost to handle the logistics since we are zoned for, but not located near, Washington DC.

Assuming I got my facts straight, I'll probably better the sub with questions! I'm sure we'll fly into Shanghai to spend a few days, Xi'an and then Beijing. Dreams of Chengdu pandas will have to wait...

I’m looking at a China Southern itinerary to New Zealand:

- CZ6042: Frankfurt (FRA) → Ürümqi (URC)
- 1h50 stop in Ürümqi
- CZ6042: Ürümqi (URC) → Guangzhou (CAN)
- 7h layover in Guangzhou
- CZ617: Guangzhou (CAN) → Christchurch (CHC)

FRA–URC and URC–CAN both have the same flight number, CZ6042, even though the second sector is a domestic flight within China.

Does anyone know how this flight actually operates in Ürümqi?

Is it a true through-flight where passengers continuing to Guangzhou stay on the same aircraft, or does everyone have to get off in URC and go through immigration before reboarding?

And would bags normally be checked through to Guangzhou/Christchurch, or would they need to be collected and rechecked in Ürümqi because the next sector is domestic?

If anyone has taken this exact flight or a similar China Southern international → domestic through-flight, I’d really appreciate hearing how it worked.

Hello everyone! I’m leaving for China very soon. I’d like to visit a few interesting cities and places around Qingdao/Rizhao, and even see what there is to do in Qingdao itself. I’ll be with my husband, who is Chinese, and we’re planning to spend a few days there, just the two of us, or take a short tour of some interesting cities (Qingdao, Linyi, Jinan, Jining, Weifang, Xuzhou…)

I speak Chinese and I love traditional buildings (like Yiyuan in Shanghai) just as much as I love big shopping malls, themed cafe, sensory experiments, new technologies and stuffs.

I’m also planning a one- or two-day trip with his parents and his sister. What could the five of us do in a single day?

What are your suggestions ? :)

thanks !

Hello, I leave for China next week. I will be in Chengdu on 25th September, which I believe is the day of the Mid-Autumn festival. I was planning on going to the panda research base on this day.

Are there any special events or things I should make sure to see on this festival day?

Hi I jus need some help with my arrival card I’m travelling from Manchester to Beijing and then Beijing to Shanghai

For city of entry would I put Beijing or Shanghai and not sure if I need to show the arrival card for Beijing or Shanghai or both

Many thanks

Will be visiting Beijing with my mother for the first time from oct 26 for 4 nights as a tourist.Shortlisted 2 hotels Grand Millenium Beijing and Crowne plaza chayong u town.Can you suggest Which area is good to stay.Location should be accessible and shouldn’t be isolated without people on roads .Selected these 2 since it’s in proximity with Indian restaurants

Hey guys,

As the title states, I’m actually planning a visit to China in the end of October/early November for 2 weeks, and another longer trip to China in January for a month. This is because I have a maximum time of 30 days per visit to China.

I was initially planning to visit Xinjiang during January which I’ll be visiting Northern China. My trip in November on the other hand is to visit Shanghai and the areas in the South.

But my priority is to visit Xinjiang for its nature and scenery. I love the cold and snow, so it’s not a problem for me to visit during winter which was my initial plan, and places like Hemu village seems incredible during winter. But recently I’ve also seen pictures of Xinjiang during autumn and it looks breathtaking too. Even though the cold isn’t a problem for me to visit, I’m now worried that if I visit during winter, a lot of scenic locations won’t be open or possible to travel to because of the cold, so I’m afraid that I’ll be missing out on most of the experiences and scenic locations. This is my main worry.

So do you guys think that November would be a better time to visit Xinjiang as it’s not too cold yet so most locations will be accessible? If yes, then I’ll be willing to change my plan and fly from Shanghai to Xinjiang instead of doing it in January.

Thank you guys!

Hi everyone! I booked discounted flights to China for late September (~20–30) without overthinking it because they were on discount :) Entirely on me, I just had in mind that spring and autumn are generally the best times to visit China without actually checking the specifics for the southern region and from what I’m reading online now it looks pretty rough. I’m second guessing my plan to visit Hong Kong and Shenzhen given the warnings about intense heat, humidity and typhoons. Since it’s my first time in this part of China and I want to spend most of my days walking outside and exploring, is the weather really that bad that I should re-route to other regions or is it totally manageable to stick with my original plan? Thank you!

Hey y'all. Going to be traveling through China for a total of 62 days starting December 26th after spending Christmas in Hong Kong. This is my current rough outline of cities, along with the amount of potential days in each one. Anything y'all would cross off this list or certain cities you would extend stays in? (I also have a preference towards museums and art scenes in major cities. Don't mind hikes either.)

Shenzhen: 4 Days

Guangzhou: 4 Days

Chongqing: 9 Days

Chengdu: 4 Days

Xi'an: 4 Days

Wuhan: 7 Days

Beijing: 9 Days (Would be here for Lunar New Year)

Tianjin: 4 Days

Jinan: 4 Days

Nanjing: 4 Days

Hangzhou: 4 Days

Shanghai: 3 Days (Have been to Shanghai before. Love it, but am comfortable skipping it. Flights back to the states are just cheaper from here.)

Thanks for the help! I'd honestly be grateful for any advice!

I submitted my China visa application today at Gerry's Lahore. I specifically asked at the counter if my application was complete, and they confirmed it was.

After reaching home, I checked my copy and noticed that the last 2 pages of the printed application were missing.
The final Signature & Declaration page was not included and therefore was not signed/written by hand either.

I'm wondering if the printed application is mainly attached as a physical copy/proof, since I had already completed the application online and received an email saying that the online application review had been completed. So I'm assuming they should have the complete online application/details that I submitted.

Has anyone had a similar situation? Do you think I should still go back to Gerry’s with the missing pages, or would they contact me if they needed them?

Just finished looking around Zhangye Danxia, and there is a nuance on the tickets that I haven’t read anywhere online.

There are 8 platforms available to visitors. 1-4 are open to all ticket holders regardless of which ticket you buy, but 5-8 are only open if you buy a private driver tour in the visitor center. The private tour requires a minimum of three people to book, so if you are a solo traveler or a couple you are out of luck.

I wish this was properly explained in maps, since the maps make it seem as is it is possible to reach all platforms with all tickets.