PAGING RICK LEE- need China travel advice.

[RANDY P]

Taking off on a 10 day tour to China end of month- going to Shanghai, Bejing, down the Yangtze so on and so on, what's the best way to set up a cell phone to call USA, and what's the hot ticket for exchanging for Chinese currency? Exchange at the local bank or when you get there?

At the moment I'm on AT+T and they want $2.50 a minute for airtime in China, I don't know about LD charges, but I expect to use it quite a bit.

Also, we'll be staying in hotels the whole time, for charging the batteries, should I just get a converter here?

Please advise?

rjp

[HardDrive]

We were in Bejing and Hong Kong just last year.

Check your cell phone charger. They all will work on either 110 or 220, so you just need the plug adapter. Not sure what kind of hotels you are staying in, but ours had western outlets in the desk. What do you need a cell phone for? Put the damn thing in your bag and enjoy China.

We exchanged money in China. We have had to many bad experiences with American banks trying to charge outrageous fees or giving us total rip off rates.

[artplumber]

Well I'm not Rick, but...

You can rent an intl phone, there are several phone companies that do it. Plus you can buy more time, if your original purchase doesn't cover the minutes you want to use. The phone cards over there are sometimes difficult to use (although you can buy them anywhere).

You can change to Yuan almost anywhere. Airport, better hotels etc. They want new bills or AMEX travelers cheques. This won't be a prob. Have fun cutting deals/bargaining.

Aren't you from the NW? There's a travel agency named Lotus Travel located in Kirkland, that specializes in China travel....

[Dottore]

Change your money in China. You can do this anywhere. But don't jump at the first shop with a good exchange rate. Always ask whether they also charge a commission for the exchange. Some will try to charge as much as 7 or 8 percent - so that you lose any advantage you think you might have had from a good exchange rate.

[ERH]

I rented a phone from Panda Phone when my wife went last year. http://www.pandaphone.com/

They deliver and pick up at the hotel. There may well be cheaper ways but the service worked and the cost didn't seem out of hand at the time.

Have fun

[Rick Lee]

I rented a phone the first time and they even delivered it to my hotel as I was checking in in Guangzhou. But that was expensive. Last time I took my RAZR GSM phone and just bought SIM cards wherever I went. Trouble with that is that you can only reload SIM cards in the city in which you bought them. When you buy in other cities, your phone number changes. Anyway, you can buy the SIM cards anywhere. They are ubiquitous. The trick is finding someone who can program it into your phone. Any young looking girl can do it for you. Ask me how I know.

[MRM]

For a phone, leave your cell at home, go to a Chinese grocery store and buy a phone card that gives you 5 cent per minute calling. Get a yahoo mail account and have people email you if they need to contact you, or give them your hotel information.

Changing money is no big deal. The places you go will take credit cards. The Chinese Yuan is a hard currency so don't expect to trade dollars on the street for a premium. just go to a bank and exchange your dollars.

[Joeaksa]

Randy,

Do you have a GSM phone here with ATT? If not, want to borrow one? I have a few of them... if so let me know soon as I am heading overseas (opposite direction) very shortly.

ATT will give you a SIM chip if you tell them you are heading overseas and you could plug it into the phone there and stay in touch. Also I have something called "discounted international calling" on my ATT phone that keeps the cost down to something like $1 a minute.

Also are you taking an laptop? Get on Skype and use it to stay in touch.

[alf]

Get an unlocked phone and get a local sim card.

I get cash out of cash machines, there is one just on the other side of passport control in Shanghai and in the baggage claim area in Beijing. Take 1000 RMB out at a time, goes a loooooong way. There are some fees but the rates are controlled.

[Rick Lee]

Oh yeah, I forgot to add that ATM's work there just fine with our cards. Local SIM cards in China are way way cheaper than any kind of plan you get here.

[jluetjen]

Also be aware that when you are dialing out of China, you need to use their access codes and stuff for the US. So none of your address book listings will work. I've found it much easier to get calls there then send them. CDMA phones (ie. Verizon) work fine in the major cities with the updated SW. GSM phones work pretty much everywhere with an updated SIM card.

[nostatic]

GSM phones must be unlocked though.

Shanghai rocks. Beijing is a little more oppressive. Great country though.

Two phrases you'll need:

bu yao (boo yow) - "don't want" (say it to everyone who comes up and tries to sell you Rolexes, etc

fa piao (fah peeyow) - "receipt" (say it to the taxi driver at the end of the ride)

[RANDY P]

Thanks, this is all good info. Feeling confident when I show up I won't look like such an American

I need the phone to keep in touch with the dogsitter and grandpa (not doing so hot) and occasional biz.

I'm looking forward to getting there - I can only imagine what I'm in for.

rjp

[Rick Lee]

Firt thing I saw when I walked across the border from Hong Kong was a cop punch a woman. 10 ft. later I saw legless beggars. 100 ft. later I saw a Carrera GT. There are some contrasts there.

[RANDY P]

Man oh man. That's something else. Been scaring the GF by telling her (making this up of course ) I heard they shoot loud drunk women there

rk[

[The Gaijin]

Let's hear about travel in China.

Where to go, what to see?

How expensive to move around, what to eat and where to stay?

[Rick Lee]

China is dirt, dirt cheap if you know how to do it. Even if you get robbed, it's not that expensive. I have no interest in Shanghai or Beijing. We have big modern cities too. The stuff I want to see is either in the interior or a little off the beaten path. Chongqing is one of the largest cities in the world, bigger than Cairo or Mexico City, around 30 million people. But because it's its own province, it's not really called the biggest city in the world. It's as hilly as San Fran., so the wild thing is that there are no bicycles there. Unlike Americans, Chinese use bikes strictly for transportation, not leisure. Guilin and Lijiang are sort of touristy, but are small, very well preserved towns, just gorgeous. Kunming is on my list next time, near the Vietnamese border. I also spent a few days living in a Tibetan village way out in NW Sichuan Province. Chengdu is by far my favorite city there. A city of 6-7 million is considered a small one in China. Chengdu is the spicy food capital of the world and probably as well known for its drop dead gorgeous women, not to mention the huge Panda zoo there. Guangzhou is the most prosperous city in China and is also a world food capital, though Cantonese is not as spicy as Sichuanese. Cantonese is an impossible language. It makes Mandarin look like Spanish in the difficulty level.

Taxis are super cheap in China. Crossing the street in most cities is very dangerous. I'm not exaggerating. I'd rather hold targets at the rifle range. Two kinds fo countries in the world - those where people stop for cars and those where cars stop for people. China is the former, the US is the latter. Domestic flights are pretty cheap too, but you can almost only buy them for cash, no credit cards. Most are around $100 and you can just show up and buy tickets at the airport. If you take a boat ride down the Yangtze, try very hard to get on a Chinese boat and don't get forced onto one for foreign tourists. Best bet is to go on China Daily's BBS and find some English speaking student to take you around, you pay for their meals and travel and they make sure you don't get screwed everywhere, as you otherwise will. You can consider yourself a very good shopper if you get away only paying what locals pay. I can do that now, but needed help the first time I was there. No price is ever firm.

Go get a foot massage every single night you're in China. Some of them are $5 for 90 min. of pure heaven. Oh, I miss than more than anything else. Most girls who work there are kids from the countryside and are treated worse than blacks ever were before the civil rights movement here. They make maybe $100 a month and are always very happy to have a westerner smile and be nice to them. No tipping in China. They will be refused everywhere except in some hotels and with some taxi drivers (who don't already screw you over.)

[Rick Lee]

You will pay full price if you just walk into a hotel. Find a local student to book them for you ahead of time and it'll be 50-80% below standard rate. Don't stay in anything under 3 stars. They will be filthy. I got stuck in one at the university in Chengu one night and I was afraid to lay down. I was overjoyed to not have to deal with rats. But the roaches were almost as big. A decent 4 star hotel should be $35ish, though probably more in Beijing and Shanghai. Beijing is so touristy, that you almost have the feeling they bus in the Chinese people for decorations. I have guide friends who can take care of you in Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Qingdao. Some will work for food and some charge $30-$40 a day. But it's worth it. China Daily is a great resource. I found that everyone there was 100% honest and reliable. Every place I went, the people I had met online showed up and took care of me. Sure was fun.

[Rick Lee]

Some contrasts:

[The Gaijin]

Thanks Rick. I wish I did it all 20 years ago when I was a student in Japan. The days of everyone in a Mao suit and riding on Flying Pigions must have been something to see. Keep the good stories coming..