Beijing Travel Advice

Tasmaniac on 19/02/2017 - 05:09
Last edited 19/02/2017 - 05:12

Hi guys so I'm off to Beijing in 3 weeks time and I suppose it's about time to start getting organised :).

I'm guessing the trip will all be fairly straightforward however the language barrier means I've got to be a bit more sorted before jetting off.

Anyway there's a few things that I'm not quite sure about and was hoping the travel alumni could help with before I go.

Firstly I hear a vpn is needed in China ?, is that something I should just buy/get from the Google Play Store before leaving ?

Also I hear that the Beijing to Shanghai bullet train can crazily busy during the holidays and festive seasons etc. so I was wondering if I should pre book or would it be ok to buy tickets at the station on the day of arrival ?.

I guess the only other thing is keeping myself busy for 9 days. I plan on visiting the wall at janghangasling (or whatever :) ) and was wondering if anybody had any other travel tips or advice I should know before going. If there were any other must visit places in either Beijing or Shanghai please let me know of those to.

Thanks in advance,
Tas.

Travel

Comments

  • altomic on 19/02/2017 - 09:03
    +1

    previous thread

  • trumptoupee on 19/02/2017 - 09:43
    +1

    i've previously used this when travelling through China https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/

    although i really only used it when i wanted facebook haha

  • Marcsie on 19/02/2017 - 12:17

    What's vpn ?

  • mainstay6161 on 19/02/2017 - 12:40
    +1

    I have been to mainland China a couple of times including a visit to Beijing last year. Yes you do need a vpn if you want to use things like google maps, facebook etc. However a local sim card can be expensive around 50-60 dollars Australian. I didn't bother with the sim card I just used a vpn when using wifi in the htel and used an offline map program.

    Mainland China is very safe but you do need to watch out for scammers. Anyone approaching you speaking English in the touristy areas like Wang Fu Jing Avenue in Beijing or Nanjing Rd in Shanghai will be trying to rip you off (google 'tea house scam' or 'art house scam').

    Can't help you re the bullet train, I flew from Beijing to Shanghai. Generally though if you are not going during a China holiday such as Chinese New Year or the October National day you should be ok. Just check how frequently the trains run. Mostly I just turned up and got a ticket on the day.

    In Beijing the Great Wall, Forbidden Palace and the Summer Palace are all worth seeing.

    • Tasmaniac on 19/02/2017 - 16:10

      Great advice thanks. Offline maps is an awesome idea.

  • spaij on 19/02/2017 - 22:52
    +1

    I used Express VPN when I was recently there and it worked well: https://www.expressvpn.com

  • kogi on 26/02/2017 - 09:51
    +1

    Are you goin via hong kong?

    I have a chinaunicom cross border king sim card.
    This sim card is not affected by the great firewall. It has a hong kong number and a china phone number. From memory it was au$20 for 1gb/30 days

    But new rules just introduced means you have to register with your passport in store to activate the china phone number.

    • Tasmaniac on 26/02/2017 - 11:00

      Hi mate via KL unfortunately, thanks for the tip though, a cross border sim sounds a bit easier than finding a current vpn.

  • kogi on 26/02/2017 - 12:40
    +1

    You can still buy the sims on ebay. You used to be able to activate them in china. But with the rule changes i am afraid you will have to do some research

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