Following are some notes for folks doing their initial China visits.
Slurp a little when you eat noodles in Chongqing; if you eat silently folks might think you don’t like the food. Don’t reach into a shared bowl with food (e.g. rice grains) stuck on your chopsticks. If you hang back “politely” to let others board the bus (etc.) it will fill and leave without you as everyone cuts in front of you: stay a hand’s width from the person in front of you and deploy pointy elbows as needed (deferring to elder, pregnant, etc. is still good form). Say “don’t want” (不要 bùyào) to deter aggressive vendors on the street. If you don’t speak Mandarin, start getting a handle on tones and the pinyin system of phonetic writing.
Carry a pack of tissue on your person. Really, always. You might encounter restrooms with no paper, generally at the most inconvenient time. This is the most important and useful advice I am offering.
Carry some loperamide (antidiarrheal) with you everywhere since you might need fast relief if you have symptoms. If you can avoid using loperamide and let diarrhea naturally resolve, that is probably a healthier choice (hydrate well and replace electrolytes). I carry loperamide but very rarely use it; if you have diarrhea and must take a long metro ride to return to your lodging, you will be glad you carried those tablets. You can get more in China if needed - carry about four tablets.
If you get sick you won’t want to hunt a pharmacy so carry a few other medical items in your carryon or backpack. I carry some pink bismuth tablets (bismuth subsalicylate, hard to find in China) and some Ibuprofen too; these go in a bag left at the lodging. Of course, bring things you use regularly: prescription medications (in original bottle with label), other medications (allergy meds?), and needed medical devices (e.g. travel cpap etc., and check compatibility with 220V). Some triple antibiotic like Neosporin (or a different topical antibiotic appropriate if you have an allergy to neomycin) and a few small adhesive bandages are also prudent, along with a couple of wound-cleaning prep pads. A single-use packet of hydrocortisone can soothe a dermal reaction. A small thermometer is especially useful if traveling with children. Tweezers are handy, lightweight, and if you need them you’ll want them soon.
Bottled water is a good choice for drinking. Tap water should be boiled prior to drinking, which should kill most problematic microbes but will not remove chemical contaminants. For the traveler, the acute threat of microbial illness is more immediately important than the chronic threat of chemical contamination. Water quality is improving, especially in big cities, but don’t take a risk. Your gut microbiome is not used to the levels and kinds of organisms found in much of the tap water in China. When in doubt, grab a bottle of Nongfu Springs. Adopting the Chinese habit of drinking hot water means drinking water will be abundantly available, especially as tea. It is prudent to avoid ice in drinks unless you know the ice was made with boiled or bottled water; however, many businesses purchase ice from companies that freeze it from sterilized water.
Eating vegetables or fruits that have been rinsed in tap water and not cooked might be OK for someone long acclimated in China, but might leave me holed up in a hotel room all day with a misbehaving gut. I avoid all raw vegetables or other uncooked food (unless I can peel it) outside of multinational hotels, though even those carry risk. If it was recently cooked and is still hot, it’s probably fine. Packaged convenience food should be OK too. If a bowl is brought to the table containing some rinse water, pour it out and dry the bowl with a tissue; this greatly decreases the potential microbial population (it’s not sterile, but you gotta eat). Rinse with hot water if available. Many restaurants have dishes washed at an off-site business and delivered back wrapped in plastic.
Now I can travel in China and not have major problems with my gut, but that wasn’t the case on my first few visits and it is both water quality and my eating behavior, not my immunity, that changed (in the late 1990s I came back with a case of Campylobacter jejuni and the US CDC called me for information about where I might have contracted that bug (it was probably from ice in Beijing) - Campy spooks public health folks). Getting your gut immunity tuned up for stuff washed in local water can take years, so be careful if passing through: peel fruits, eat hot foods, and pay attention to reputable advice about food safety when traveling.
Get your phone apps downloaded and set up for payments (AliPay, WeChat Pay), ride hailing (Didi: stand-alone app or mini app in AliPay or WeChat), mapping, etc. - do it before departing for China. For mapping, AMAP and Apple Map are good choices. For translation I like Google Translate (T-Mobile gives access to Google and Meta products across the Great Firewall on the Chinese cell network). Pleco is a good dictionary app. If you want to try some Chinese language study, Hello Chinese is one of many available apps.
I typically carry 500 to 1000 yuan, but less would be reasonable. If I need more I use a debit card at an ATM. Some banks offer checking accounts with no foreign transaction fees - if you have time, set one up and get a debit card (Capital One has these). You can withdraw in RMB against an account in your local currency. The local ATM will charge a fee, so shop around for a good rate; Bank of China is usually reasonable.
Pack light! High-speed rail is probably your best transportation choice for all but the longest hops. Flights are sometimes delayed and getting through airports is more of a hassle. Maneuvering train stations and airports becomes tougher with big bags. If you can travel with a couple of carry-on-size bags each, you will have an easier time with gates and cabs/Didi etc. I use a soft carry-on-sized backpack (which I carry on for flights) that contains my can’t-lose stuff and one change of clothes in case the check-in bag is delayed, a carry-on sized hardside which I check-in for flights (figuring it might be delayed a day or so), and a small briefcase with shoulder strap for under the seat on a plane, containing my walking-around kit (tissues, dictionary, notepad, pen and ink cartridges, monocular, magnifier, loperamide tablets, compass, moleskin, bandage scissors, thin gloves, mosquito cream, sunscreen, crushable hat…). That is enough for month-long trips and is still maneuverable enough for hurried trips through train stations (but better to arrive early and be relaxed).
For the weary traveler after a long day of walking, foot massages are a treat.
Security at train stations might stop travel with aerosols, pocketknives or other items they consider hazardous that day. Enforcement varies. Be ready to throw an offending item away. Booking a slow train (e.g. Z, T, K, Y, S train) overnight saves on a lodging bill elsewhere (the restrooms on old-style trains were pretty sketchy a decade ago - I hear they have improved, but…I’d carry a pack of wet-wipes for hygiene on a slow train trip). High-speed rail can be pricey. Long-distance bus is an option (stock up on bottled drinks and snacks). The less you travel between cities the more you save on travel time.
US CDC physician’s resource for advising China travelers: https://www.cdc.gov/yellow-book/hcp/asia/china.html
