Book review: Travel to China
Are you thinking about travelling to China for the first time? Or maybe you are moving here? Are you worried about things like the visa application or what should you pack that is difficult to find in China? Are you getting confusing or even contradictory information in the internet? Fret not! There is now a guidebook that can help you!
When I first heard about Josh Summers’ new travel guide, Travel to China: Everything You Need to Know Before You Go, I thought it was strange that someone would think about writing a guide that doesn’t tell you what to do or see when you reach your destination, but how to get there and what to expect instead. Then I realised there are already many travel guides about China, but I didn’t know about any guide that explained all the essentials that are useful to know before coming to China. I surely would have liked a guide like this back in 2006, when I first arrived! Someone had told me that it was better to bring period pads from Spain, I don’t remember what was the reason, so I packed several in my luggage and later found literally whole supermarket aisles full of pads here. I was only allowed one piece of luggage (thanks, Air China) and I was moving to Beijing for 6 months, so suitcase space was at a premium and I wasted quite a bit of it with the damned pads! But I digress…
Josh Summers is a very successful blogger and the man behind Far West China and Travel China Cheaper. He has lived in China for over a decade and travelled here extensively, so he has a lot of useful information to share. In this latest guide, he focuses on all the practicalities you need to think about before coming here: getting the visa, buying the tickets, booking accommodation, planning your transportation inside the country… but in a very “friend to friend” way, as if you were having a coffee and chatting with him, as he explains in the introduction.
One of the things he talks about in the guide is Chinese trains. Here’s a pic from my first train trip in China, back in 2007. Most trains now are the super new and fancy high speed ones, at least here in the eastern coast.
As Josh mentions in his guide, if you travel on a hard bed in the sleeper train, DO NOT get the lower bunk unless you want everybody to sit and put their things on it. Here I am at the tender age of 23 in the Beijing-Qingdao night train.
The guide is indeed very useful for people who have never been here (and even for those who were here years ago, as things in China change so incredibly fast) and I found myself nodding in several parts. However, the most useful sections, in my opinion, were the ones in which he talked about expectations. The same journey can feel very different for two travellers, and it will surely be because of the difference in what they were expecting to find in China. If you know in advance that beds in China are usually firm (euphemism for rock-hard) or that breakfast here is nothing like the one you are used to back home, you will be prepared and not feel disappointed or angry when you face the situation.
If you are planning to travel to China and need a bit of help organising everything, have a look at Travel to China: Everything You Need to Know Before You Go! It’s available on Amazon as an eBook and paperback.
Sounds like a great book – though I much prefer reading blogs because IMO, they’re just more current and updated!
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
Hey Charmaine! I understand what you mean – this book was based on many years of blogging myself! That said, one thing I’ve noticed about the publishing world is that it goes through an immense amount of editing and fact-checking…something which blogs don’t have to do. So while blogs may be somewhat “up-to-date”, they’re also one person’s view in one particular situation and I often find that I have to sift through mounds of “blogs” before I feel confident that I have factual information.
Does that make sense?
Thanks for the explanations, Josh! :D
Interesting, thanks for sharing! I may get it for a friend who may move to the mainland… China is always changing, even the laws, would you say it’s updated for the current climate?
Hey Ray! You are correct – there’s a lot that changes about China, but there’s also a lot that stays the same. What I’ve tried to do in this book is provide guidelines that are “standard” and don’t change that much and then link to resources on the website which are easier for me to keep up-to-date.
For example, I have a short section on using a drone in China (the laws of which are constantly changing). I talk about best practices for using a drone in China and what you’ll need to make sure you do before you fly, but then I link to a page on the website that I keep updated with all the new policies as they come out.
Hopefully that answers your question!
How timely. Thanks for this Marta. Have just sent your post onto colleague who is moving to Beijing for four years.
Great! Good luck to your colleague! I love Beijing! (As you do hehe).
Sounds like the book to buy before visiting.
When are you visiting, Autumn? :P
Maybe when the State Department lifts its warning?
I see it’s a level 2… same as Spain xD
Hey Autumn, I completely understand being cautious about the warnings, but as Marta said, you have to keep it in perspective. The State Department has level 2 warnings on both Spain and the United Kingdom, and I don’t know anybody who is really second-guessing a trip to either of those countries.
I find that often those warnings are part political, part cautionary. I think if you’re planning to visit…just do it!
In 1986, I went to China with my husband. He was on business, so Asian Development Bank made all the travel arrangements. For three weeks, we traveled here and there, from Guangdong to Changchun in Jilin Province. While he worked, I was either on my own or one of his counterparts sent someone from their company to show me around. Our train ride to Changchun was memorable. My husband and I slept in the same room with two of his colleagues. The intercom woke us up at 6 am with martial music and a “Good morning, comrades.” The pillows were stuffed with unhusked rice. Still, it was a fun trip. I’m sure things have changed a lot since then.
Yes, China in the 80s was very different! I would love to have the chance to see it back then!
But those rice pillows still exist in some cheap hotels, hahaha.
That’s awesome! I always love hearing stories (and seeing pictures) from those who traveled around China in the 80s. Such a difference a couple decades can make :)
Interesting, I haven’t been born in 1986.
I think most countries need a book like this! I remember when I first arrived in Spain, people said you can pop into any bar, cafe and use the bathroom no questions asked. Now many places say customers only. I noticed that change after coming back from a few years in France. I think things like that need to be in guide books. Luckily I know where the free no questions asked bathrooms are now in the city centre!
You can write the guide for Spain! You have a lot of experience, haha.
You are right about the toilets. Now that I have the baby I was thinking where I can change him when I am back in Spain and out and about. There are no diaper changing facilities anywhere!! Here in Suzhou there are breastfeeding and changing rooms even in public toilets, which are now quite good and clean because the government promoted a “toilet revolution”.
But when I’m in Cáceres… I think the only place will be on the toilet in the ladies room! IF the toilet has a cover!
Nooooo! The shopping centres are improving here so maybe when you’re here this summer there’s some. Maybe they’re more lenient for mamas with babies. Café’s have to be more welcoming for bathroom users! Spain needs a ‘toilet revolution’ too. What I don’t understand is how people can destroy them so quickly. I’m thinking what do their homes look like inside?!
I know, it’s been nearly 12 years I’ve been in Spain. I’m still nowhere near fluent and get all my feminine and masculine nouns mixed up. I try and practise. That’s the main thing!