China

Shanhaiguan and Old Dragon's Head - the start of the Great Wall

2hw — Sun, 22 Dec 2019 14:04:18 +0000

2hw Sun, 12/22/2019 - 16:04

The Great Wall of China is thousands of kilometers in length - many different styles, going through various landscapes, some sections restored and drawing hordes of tourists, while others crumbling out of sight. Of particular interested to us was the Old Dragon's Head - the point where the wall meets the sea, the start of this engineering marvel. It is located in the city of Shanghaiguan - just a 3 hours train ride from Beijing and is easily done in one long day tour.

Even though it is a popular attraction for the locals, there is not much information online in English on how to get to Shanghaiguan and any other attractions in the area. It was a challenge to piece together an itinerary with the limited sources. We mostly relied on odd comments here and there and a single article - https://jonworth.eu/the-great-wall-of-china-at-shanhaiguan/, which was 5 years old at the time.

The places we visited on our day trip were:

Old Dragon's Head ( Laolongtou Great Wall ) | Google Maps link
Jiumenkou Great Wall | Google Maps link
First Pass Under Heaven | Google Maps link

How to get there

To be able to do it all in one day we had to take a train from Beijing to Shanhaiguan. It takes two and a half to three hours and getting on an early train, then leaving in the evening means having a whole day to explore Shanhaiguan.

It is important to buy tickets several days in advance as they sell out quickly. Tickets can be bought online or at any train station in Beijing - more about how to do it in our article here - How to buy train tickets in China (and step-by-step at Beijing Railway station).

The earliest fast train from Beijing was D30, departing Beijing train station at 6:39 am and it got us to Shanghaiguan at around 9:30 am. For the return trip we got the 19:30 fast train and managed to get back to our hotel around 10:30 - 11 pm. It was a long day, but we managed to squeeze everything that we wanted to do in it.

Our day

At the train station at Shanhaiguan we had to make the decision how to go around the attractions:

As we exited the station, just after we crossed the exit there were a couple of touts (probably more on weekend, we visited on a weekday) who were trying to sell transport to the main attractions. As it is usual in China, their level of English was mostly nonexistent, they were holding pictures of the places and writing their price on their phones. We decided do give them a pass as in most places using the middle man is the most expensive option. However, it might be a relatively easy way to organize a tour as they have a set route. If you decide to go with one of them - do not forget to haggle for the price.
Passing the exit of the station, in the big square in front of it, there were parked cars waiting to take passengers around - they were not official taxis and none of the drivers spoke any English, but instead of using a tout one can negotiate a route and a price with them directly.
Across the square official taxis were lined on the stand along the main street - using a meter is always the cheapest option, but again one has to explain where to go to the driver. If you have to do that - best is whether to find the address or the attraction name written in Chinese (Google maps or Wikipedia can be useful for this) or show a picture of it.
We decided to go with Didi (a car sharing app) to get to the farthest place and back first - Jiumenkou Great Wall, then use a bus for the attractions within the city.

Didi is the Uber/Grab alternative in China. The upside of Didi is that it is easy to choose a destination as the interface is in English and then driver gets the exact information of where you want to go on his phone. Plus the driver is forced to use a meter because of the app and you get the honest price.

Didi is just one of 12 useful apps to have on your phone when travelling in China.

There was one downside of using it, however - getting back turned out to be harder than expected, as there were no taxis in Didi near the scenic area of Jiumenkou Great Wall and we had to haggle a bit for the return trip.

Jiumenkou Great Wall

It was 30-40 minutes winding drive to the entrance of the scenic area that cost us 39 yuans, the entrance fee for the Wall was 80 yuans and included the Wall, a zoo and a tunnel under the wall that was used to house the local guards.

An unusual feature of this part of the wall is a bridge over a river - one of the few bridges along the Great Wall, rivers were considered to be harder to attack over. The bridge itself is fully restored, along with short sections east and west of it. The whole length of the restored section can be walked in around one hour with some steep parts to the west, but beautiful views of the area from the top. Past the "new" wall, the original crumbling "wild" wall can be seen curving over the nearby hill tops.

The zoo inside the scenic area was nothing more than a few ponds with ducks, not really an attraction except maybe for little children. The sleepy animals seemed undisturbed by the few visitors passing by their cages to get to the more interesting guard tunnel.

The guard tunnel is a 2 m high and around 1 km long tunnel dug through the mountain under the wall. It was used as garrison for the soldiers guarding the wall. Damp and cold it now features exhibits of weapons and torture devices, quite a few rooms and niches used for living quarters, temples and shrines, kitchens, prison cells, toilets. Story boards and figures in traditional clothing in some of the rooms tell historical tales about the building of the wall and the guards living there, unfortunately the English translations of those are impossible to make sense of, Google translate or more probably some Chinese equivalent had not done a good job.

We spent about 2 hours at Jiumenkou Great Wall. When it was time to go back to Shanhaiguan it turned out that there were no taxis nearby in Didi. We were forced to haggle for a ride back with the taxis waiting near the entrance and as there wasn't any other way to go back we had to settle to pay 100 yuans to get to the Old Dragon's Head. Not too expensive, but unpleasant compared to the metered taxi that brought us there.

Old Dragon's Head

The shiny big ticket office in front of the scenic area even had someone who spoke a little English to help us buy the tickets - Old Dragon's Head only was 50 CNY ticket, with several other options available that include entrance to other sites close by.

The site was crowded, not really something unexpected in China. It has a small park and a training camp, which is either restored or completely new, but would be interesting for children mostly. The part of the wall going into the sea was really impressive.

We spend around 1 hour at Old Dragon's Head and after that we headed to the First Pass Under Heaven. Bus 25 that passes near the scenic area frequently got us there for only 2 yuans per person.

First Pass Under Heaven

We got off the bus and walked about 10 minutes to get to the First Pass Under Heaven. Along the way we were approached by someone who claimed that the First Pass Under Heaven was closed, his English was minimal but he had a photo showing a gate with a barrier in front of it to better convey what he was saying and offered to take us to other places instead. Knowing this scam from other places we just politely said "No" and continued on our way. In situations like this, never believe that an attraction is closed, the scammer most probably wants to get you on an expensive "tour" of local shops.

The entrance for this scenic area was 40 yuans and we felt it was too much for what it had to offer, despite its historical importance. There is one gate with a tower, a short section of the wall, a lake and a small park.

We spent around 30 minutes there.

Drum and Bell tower and "Old" town

Exiting the First Pass Under Heaven we were in Shanhaiguan Ancient city - at least, this is what Google maps said. There was a 5 minutes walk to the Drum and Bell tower and another 5-10 minutes tothe west gate of the city.

The "old" town is at most restored, but more probably, a newly built attraction. It has the less than genuine feel of other such Chinese restored places - a lot of cookie-cutter souvenirs and local snacks stores, touristy, but lacking real atmosphere.

Walking around the old town it seemed that we were the biggest attraction with many of the local tourists taking sneaky-not-so-sneaky pictures of us or with us.

It was a 15-20 minutes walk to the train station from there, along the way we found a busy little restaurant and had an early dinner and some rest.

Caught the train at 19:30 - we could have done it for the one at 18:30 even, there wasn't much to do after sunset. Arrived in our apartment back in Beijing late, after a long day full of new experiences.

Date Visited

September 2019

Destinations

Comments

How to spend your day at Jinshanling Great Wall (金山岭)

2hw — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 08:03:18 +0000

2hw Tue, 11/05/2019 - 10:03

Visiting the Great Wall is probably at the top of most tourists "to-do" list when going to China. This astonishing historical monument stretches over 21000 kilometres and has many sections restored and accessible for tourists. Choosing which part to visit is not easy, each has its unique pros and cons - some are closer to big cities, others are popular because of the great photo opportunities. We made our choice after a lot of research and would like to recommend and share this experience with you.

About 130 km northeast from Beijing in the Jinshan mountains is the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall of China. That's a bit further than the most popular sections of the wall, which means you have to invest more time for travelling, but it is totally worth it.

I will list the great things about going to Jinshanling over other parts of the wall, but first, watch our video to get an idea of what to expect

https://youtu.be/JIRrnKFTSRY

Ok, so why go there?

Tranquillity: Because of the distance to Beijing and limited transport options not many people visit Jinshanling - which is great! During our hike, we walked alone for the most part and even when we encountered other hikers they were small groups, not whole busloads. Believe me, the Great Wall is a place you want to enjoy in peace.
Great variety: It is a relatively short stretch of the wall but it is also packed with watchtowers, beacon towers and passes all this built with different combinations of materials (stone, brick, wood) and in various architectural styles. There are one-, two- and three-storey towers too, some rare decorations and even bricks inscribed by the soldiers who placed them.
More variety: I know this should be part of the previous point, but I decided to list it separately as it is a truly unique feature. Most of the Jinshanling section is well restored, but there are some original parts left and the best feature - easily accessible "wild" section of the wall that hasn't been touched for centuries lies in the east corner.
Snap, snap, snap: Jinshanling has been called "Photographer's heaven" and this title is well deserved. As explained above the wall itself offers a great choice of things you will want to take a picture of, this combined with the beautiful flowing mountains around it will keep your camera busy for hours.

Some quite steep stairs

How to get to Jinshanling?

If you have a car it is an easy 2-hour drive from Beijing. If not - don't worry - there is a daily bus that offers the best value for money transport between downtown Beijing - read Jinshanling Great Wall (金山岭) - How to get there the easy way.

Our hike - a great day covering the best spots

The park is big and offers many routes to suit different levels of fitness and enthusiasm - first I will tell you about our hike and in the next section I have summarized several other ideas. Let's start with a simplified map of the place to put things into perspective.

As we had the whole day and were really excited to cover as much as possible of the wall we headed to Brick Crenel first. This is the westmost entry point from Mid Gate and we did an extended version of the suggested 4 hours "The 3 Must-sees of the Great Wall" route, including sections west of Brick Crenel and east of East Five-Window Tower. I have also included the times when we reached some points for reference, I would rate our fitness level slightly above average and we had many breaks for taking photos, videos and enjoying the views.

We got our tickets at 10:35, prices were 65 CNY per person for the entrance plus 10 CNY for the shuttle bus, note that those are separate tickets, sold at separate windows, you have to ask for both.

At 10:40 the shuttle bus took us for a short 5-minute drive further into the park. This ride saves you only about 20 minutes walking as it gets less than halfway to the wall, but we decided to pay the small fee and have more time for the main attraction. Walking there is easy as the road is paved and empty, but also a bit boring - no views at all, so the 10 yuan were well spent. The stop is before another ticket check/entrance, we kept going south towards the wall. There is a cable car and various paths that can take you to different points on the wall - see the map.

To my surprise during the short walk to the wall, we couldn't see it almost until the end - the greenery hides the Great Wall from view. At 11:10 we reached Brick Crenel and the real adventure began. First, we took a small detour west towards Taochunkou, but didn't reach it - we were still worried about time and decided to go back and continue east. Great views of the West Beacon Tower here, but this section of the wall is really steep and hiking there takes a lot of effort.

Less than an hour later (12:00) we were at Xiaojinshan Tower, this is an entry point for people using the cable car. Here we did some calculations and realized we have plenty of time to do the hike we planned, so we relaxed and slowed down our pace a bit.

Decorations at the Flower Tower

Another hour passed until we reached the Flower Tower at 13:00 - one of the unique features of the wall there - not many towers had decorative elements back in the day, even less were adorned with flowers and animals carved into the door frames. Just before the Flower Tower is a very steep section with smooth stones, a real challenge for the unprepared.

The "wild" wall

At 13:45 we reached the exit point used by most tourists - the East Five Window Tower. There was a large Spanish speaking group of students cheering themselves for reaching the end, but for me, this is where the best part began. East of the East Five Window Tower lays a large unrestored section of the wall. We went three towers further this way, the path there goes on the wall, then trough the shrubs around the towers, then climbs back on the wall, then on the other side and so on. For the whole hour we spent there not a single soul came this way - we had the original part of the wall all to ourselves.

Brick with inscription

It was fun "hunting" for the inscriptions - this section is called Inscription Wall because some of the bricks have texts edged into them by the builders a long time ago. After the last tower, we reached the path disappears, leaving the old wall crumbling alone, almost impossible for tourists to reach. We had a quick lunch there at the last reachable tower admiring the perfect view of the untouched for centuries wall amidst lush greenery - a great end to our hike of the Great Wall.

Nobody goes further

Happy and satisfied we had reached the final goal we went back to East Five Window Tower and took the path to East Gate. It is one kilometre long and took us about 20-25 minutes, plenty of stairs and it is all downhill.

The bus was waiting at East Gate, also there is a nice restroom with water, paper towels, soap and free drinking water, much-appreciated refreshment after the hike and before the bus ride back to Beijing.

Hiking and walking routes at Jinshanling

The park is large and offers many ways to spend your time there. The first four in the list are the recommended itineraries I got from the official map (with our comments), the rest are our suggestions. Please plan your hikes according to your physical abilities and the time you have.

The Essential Great Wall (2 hours): Mid Gate -> Brick Crenel -> Shalingkou Tower -> Mid Gate: This should be a fairly easy walk covering the most popular section of the wall with plenty of good views.
Great Wall for Photographers (2.5 hours): Mid Gate -> Brick Crenel -> Xiaojinshan Tower -(cable car)-> Mid Gate: I kind of agree with this one, sure there are enough photo opportunities along this short walk, but I would recommend doing it in the opposite direction - using the cable car uphill to save more energy.
The 3 Must-sees of the Great Wall (4 hours): Mid Gate -> Brick Crenel -> East Five Window Tower -> East Gate: This is the one we used as a base, follow our route and go at least a little bit west after Brick Crenel, you have to double back, but there are some unique views. More importantly - if you have time and energy go east of East Five Window Tower - the "wild" section of the wall is worth every step.
Great Wall for Fitness Enthusiasts (4 hours): West Gate -> Taochunkou -> Brick Crenel -> Mid Gate: This will be a serious workout as both the path to Taochunkou and the section of the wall there are steep. This is not a very popular area as the bus doesn't go to the West Gate. Ideally, have a car with a driver to drop you off and pick you up.
End-To-End (7 hours): West Gate -> Taochunkou -> East Five Window Tower -> East Gate: If you are in great shape and want a full day serious hike that's the best Jinshanling has to offer. It will require some planning and definitely can't use the bus as the time is not enough, but if you hire a car with a driver and go for an early start they can pick you up at the end of the day from East Gate. Bring plenty of water and some food. If you lose your breath after climbing five flights of stairs this is not for you, but if you decide to go for it and can't finish the hike there are exit points along the route.
Minimal Effort (2 hours): Mid Gate -(cable car)-> Xiaojinshan Tower -> Shalingkou Tower -> Mid Gate: A short stroll along the wall after taking the cable car uphill is a good option for people who can't walk much but still want to see some great views.
Zero Effort (1.5 hours): Mid Gate -(cable car)-> Xiaojinshan Tower -> -(cable car)-> Mid Gate: Just going up the wall is still worth it in my opinion, whatever is preventing you from hiking the wall you can go up and down with the cable car and still have a fulfilling experience.
The Old, The New and The Wild (4 hours): Mid Gate -(cable car)-> Xiaojinshan Tower -> Inscription Wall -> East Five Window Tower -> East Gate: Save time by using the cable car and enjoy the new and restored sections of the wall, then when you get to East Five Window Tower continue east for three more towers into the "wild" area. Almost zero tourists around and the untouched wall make this a truly unique place.

What to bring for a hike of the Great Wall at Jinshanling

Weather-appropriate and comfortable clothes - keep in mind that the temperature may be significantly lower than in Beijing, also up on the wall there is no protection from wind and the sun.
Good hiking shoes - decent trainers as a minimum, hiking boots are a better choice, leave the flip flops and heels at home. I saw a man wearing leather loafers and he was struggling big time, the wall is steep at some places and he was literally crawling on all fours. Good grip and stability are essential for a safe and comfortable hike - even when dry some stones are slippery, others wobble.
Hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, umbrella - depending on the weather, but better to be over-prepared than unprepared.
Water and food - restaurants can be found inside the park, but on the wall, options are very limited. Locals have set up small stands in some of the towers selling drinks and snacks along with souvenirs, but if you are not bringing enough be prepared to pay highly inflated prices. Can't blame them for this though - carrying stuff up the wall is not easy and when you get there you will agree with the high prices too.
Cameras, tripods and all your photographer's gear - this is one of the best spots for taking pictures on the Great Wall, make sure to capture some high-quality memories and don't end up with a dead battery.
Mobile phone and cash - be prepared for everything. This is not a tour bus and it will not wait for you - if you miss it you have to find another way to get back to Beijing.

Date Visited

September 2019

Destinations

Comments

Jinshanling Great Wall (金山岭) - How to get there the easy way

2hw — Mon, 04 Nov 2019 23:52:00 +0000

2hw Tue, 11/05/2019 - 01:52

You have decided to hike the Great Wall at Jinshanling? Congratulations on your choice! Keep reading to learn how to get there the cheap and easy way.

Not sure yet? Read about our hike there and all the great things you can experience in our post here: How to spend your day at Jinshanling Great Wall or just watch this video:

https://youtu.be/JIRrnKFTSRY

There are not many options for transportation to Jinshanling and most of those are on the high end of the price range. Group tours are limited and expensive, hiring a car with a driver is even more expensive, Fortunately there is a bus that offers great value for money - convenient and cheap, it's our recommended way to get to the Great Wall at Jinshanling.

There is only one bus doing the route, it leaves Beijing in the morning and comes back late afternoon, allowing about five hours to explore the wall, which allows for a variety of ways to spend the day.

by GoogleMaps

The bus departs from a depot close to Dongzhimen Station, which is on subway lines 2 and 3 and the Capital Airport Express. Once at Dongzhimen find Exit E or B - depending on which line you used one may be easier to find. Exit E is closer to the destination, but both are on the same side of a street.

Dongzhimen Station, Exit E

When you exit the station walk this way

Exit and go east and after about 200 meters turn left at the traffic lights (without crossing) along Dongzhimen Outer Street (called "Byway" on Google Maps).

Turn left here without crossing

Walk about 400 meters more and after a turn you will see some buses parked on the street, past them is the entrance to the bus terminal, there is signage for the Jinshanling Great Wall express.

Entrance of Dongzhimen bus terminal

Go in, the alley goes behind the bus stop you need, ignore the booths (can't pay there). Wait for the bus - sign says departure at 8:00 (paper taped over the old 7:40). The bus didn't have any signs in English, but the Chinese characters (金山岭) were easily recognizable.

Path to the bus stop

The bus stop

Our bus departed on time (8:05) and made a stop at Wangjing West bus terminal (8:30), but we didn't take any passengers there despite the huge billboards advertising the route. A lady came on the bus to collect the money - 50 CNY per person one way.

Around 9:30 we had a 10 minute break at a service station with a convenience store and a toilet.

Arrived at Jinshanling Main Gate at 10:30. The driver didn't speak English, but a passenger translated for him the most important information - the bus departure was from East Gate at 15:40 and from Main Gate at 16:00.

It is a very short walk from the parking lot to the ticket office, about 5 minutes.

We did a 5 hike along the wall and greatly enjoyed it, there are other options - for shorter or longer visits - read all about it in our article How to spend your day at Jinshanling Great Wall.

After the adventure, the bus was right on schedule departing from East Gate at 15:40, collected more passengers from Main Gate and the only other stop was right after Jinshanling - a lady came on board to collect the 50 yuan fare. We arrived back at the Dongzhimen bus terminal at 18:05.

Jinshanling East Gate parking

Date Visited

September 2019

Destinations

Comments

All you need to know about using Airbnb in China

2hw — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 14:57:30 +0000

2hw Wed, 10/16/2019 - 17:57

Staying at an Airbnb is many peoples favourite "home away from home", but is it a good option when travelling to China? The short answer is "yes". But there are some caveats one should be aware of before making any plans. In this article, we will answer the most important questions about using Airbnb in China and will share some personal experiences that will hopefully make your holiday more enjoyable.

Do you have thoughts, experiences or questions on the topic? - let us know in the comments!

First, sign up for Airbnb and get $50 credit

Also, get the app and read our article about 12 useful apps to have on your phone when travelling in China.

Is Airbnb legal in China?

Yes, but there are some specifics. First, the company has agreed to make adjustments to its process, which were requested by the Chinese government. Most notable is the sharing of personal information (yours) - similar to hotels accommodating foreigners, for every reservation Airbnb discloses to Chinese authorities:

Your name, phone number, and email address
Booking and check-in information including dates and times
Messages between you and the host
The names, nationality(ies), gender, date of birth, passport/national ID details and passport expiry date(s) of all guest(s) staying in the listing, including yourself

In addition to agreeing to the above, you, as a temporary tenant, have other responsibilities, mainly registering with the police - explained below.

The hosts who want to have foreign guests at their properties also have to complete additional steps when getting the required permits, which is why some work with Chinese guests only.

Temporary address registration in China - why?

There is a law in China stating that every foreigner must register with the police in the first 24 hours of any temporary accommodation. Hotels do this for you without any action required from your side, but choosing Airbnb means your host and you have to visit the local police station and fill out some forms. Don't forget to bring your passports, every guest must be registered. This is a formality which takes about 20 minutes and hosts usually do all the paperwork for you. The process and requirements vary from place to place - they may ask you questions about your itinerary and previous accommodations or future plans, for example. When the process is successfully completed you will be issued a "Registration Form of Temporary Residence" - this is a very important document, double-check all details are correct and everything is spelled right - you need this when applying for a visa extension or maybe even when registering at the next city.

Can I ignore the law and not register?

Some hosts may tell you that this step is not necessary or they will do it for you - do not believe them. Whatever their reasons may be - laziness, hiding income or something else - failing to register with the police puts you (and the host) on the wrong side of the law. The consequences vary greatly - from nothing at all to warnings, fines and the rare but not impossible - permanent ban from China. Our advice is to follow the rules and register, do not rely on your luck - many people report that with development of technologies police branches have better visibility over peoples actions and control is getting tighter, not lighter.

#342 of "Things to do in your neighborhood"

Is the trouble worth it? Is Airbnb better value than hotels?

With good hosts the address registration is quick and easy. Police stations are usually close by and if you look at it as a mini-tour of the neighbourhood with your host, the whole thing can be filed under "local experiences". With that said, if you are staying somewhere for just one or two nights a hotel might be a better option - reception staff can register you and you will not lose precious time to visit the police. On the other side, Airbnb offers better value than hotels, especially for long term stays, with weekly and monthly discounts. In my opinion for stays of more than 3 days Airbnb is better value for money, also living like a local can be more fun.

How to choose an Airbnb listing for my stay in China?

Don't leave booking your accommodation for the last minute. China can be crazy busy during holiday seasons and even off-season it's better to book early when there are more options available. Start as usual - enter your dates, number of people, price range, preferences and so on, and then it gets a bit tricky.

First thing to note is that some hosts do not accept foreigners. This may be clearly stated in the listing, but many simply do not include this information. One thing you can easily check is if there are any reviews in English or any language other than Chinese. If people from outside China have left reviews this is a sure sign that the host will be open to working with foreigners. If there are no reviews or all are in Chinese - don't give up, just message the host. Also, most descriptions are in Chinese (you can use the built-in translator) but if you find listing description in English this means it is likely the host welcomes foreign guests.

Second major point is the willingness of the host to assist you in registering with the police. You can't do it without his assistance and I hope by now you understand this step is very important. Best way to organize this is to contact the host before making a reservation and confirm if he/she will help you with this. Ideally - negotiate a time for visiting the police station that works for both of you, don't forget it must be in the first 24 hours after checking in.

Pro tip: After making a reservation ask your host for the full address in both Chinese and English. Different apps have different levels of success using English and Chinese, it's always better to have both. In case you have to show the address to a taxi driver it's practically mandatory to have it in Chinese. Check our article 12 useful apps to have on your phone when travelling in China to find out how to get a taxi the easy way.

Our experience

During our stay in China we encountered a variety of hosts, the majority were friendly and helpful and we had no problems with them. Most people were happy to handle the forms and registration, came with us to the police stations and even help with translation when police officers wanted to ask us questions.

Here are our bad experiences - they were less common, but I think one learns more from them:

On two occasions hosts automatically accepted our reservations and then canceled almost immediately, because they did not want to work with foreigners.
One asked us to cancel for the same reason, promising to compensate us via PayPal for the lost money. Never fall for such traps, communicate and sort out problems via Airbnb. If a host asks you to cancel, contact Airbnb support and they handle it, otherwise you can lose money as most reservations are not refundable.
One tried to make us cancel the reservation by saying we have to go to the police every day. This is simply not true, registration is mandatory, but has to be done once per stay.

Night view from our apartment in Shanghai

Date Visited

September 2019

Destinations

Asia
China

Comments

12 useful apps to have on your phone when travelling in China

2hw — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 13:16:06 +0000

2hw Wed, 10/16/2019 - 16:16

While travelling in China you quickly realize that many things are different. This goes for your phone too - many of your favourite apps are useless and you need to find alternatives. Here are the apps we found to be especially useful during our month and a half journey through the country.

Have you visited China? What is your experience? Tell us in the comments!

VPN

Trying to use the internet can be a real struggle without a VPN in China. A big chunk of the online resources are blocked and the apps and websites that we have used regularly, especially when travelling, were unreachable - Google search and all Google products, like maps, mail, translate, Play store, docs, Dropbox, Facebook, Instagram, all major news outlets, Whatsapp, Skype, Viber, Line... I had underestimated how bad it would be before we landed in China and was surprised how useless my phone became as soon as I connected to the airport WiFi, the only apps I could use were Airbnb and a single game.

If you are Chinese or at least can read Mandarin - there are lots of apps for the local market, that people living in the country can use freely (well, monitored by the government, but at least accessible), however, most are not available in English or have very limited English versions.

See our full article Best free and paid VPN options for China, it has recommendations for apps for your phone and laptop.

Google maps

Google maps on Google Play | App Store

This is the app that we use most often during our travels everywhere else. It has proven to be quite accurate and up to date in most places, but in China, it was a bit of a struggle.

First, you cannot download offline maps for China. This means that your internet connection is down for some reason, your navigation is gone too. And it uses more data every time you run the app.

Second, apart from the major attraction spots, forget about finding anything specific in Google maps. Whether it is that the maps are updated too long ago or never actually had the correct information, to begin with, with specific addresses, ATM locations, hotels, shops - Google maps will confidently lead you to narrow alleys, backyards and closed doors far away from the places you are looking for. Or simply return no results.

Third, the satellite images, that come in handy when double-checking information, are mostly outdated. Buildings and roads are missing, huge neighbourhoods shown as empty fields. The map and satellite images were not even aligned for some places.

And, this should go without saying - no street view or the option to navigate any other way except walking.

Having said all that, we still used mainly Google maps for navigation. Yes, it needs a bit more effort and you know that it can lead you to unexpected places, but it was still the best option and we were thankful to have it. No other map app comes close to in terms of accuracy, except Baidu maps, but more about it next.

Baidu map

Baidu map on Google Play | App Store

This is the Chinese counterpart of Google maps. And it is great - it has the most up to date map data, great navigation options, has street-view-like features, information is accurate. It has just one slight problem - it is all in Mandarin. Everything. Even the search function will only yield proper results when queried in Chinese. If you cannot write/read the language - like us - it has very little use.

Still, we had this one installed too and used it from time to time - to find the numbers and locations of subway exits or to navigate to places that were closer and possible to recognize even in Chinese.

It is particularly useful if you have an address in Chinese.

Didi (greater China)

Didi on Google Play | App Store

This is the equivalent of Uber and Grab and it was a bit of a disappointment and at the same time probably the most useful local app we had.

The app has a fully functional English version which allows you to get cars or taxis to drive you around town, choose a pickup point and destination - the map it used was very accurate and it was possible to enter address information in English, which was great. There is a choice between getting a DiDi car (like an Uber or Grab car, not a taxi) and calling a taxi. The catch is that if you want to get a DiDi car you must pay through the app - but it only accepts WeChat pay or local card. We tried a Visa and a Mastercard, but with no success. So, all the DiDi cars on the map were unreachable for us and we were stuck with taxis. There are more DiDi cars than taxis on the app, which means that when booking a taxi there can be some waiting time before it finds a driver, sometimes one has to initiate the search again and again.

However, even with the limitation of only calling taxis, DiDi was extremely useful - can get a taxi anywhere, anytime (even with a bit of a wait), you can even book in advance, which we did to catch an early flight. Also, the app forces the drivers to use their meter and you get a fair price for the journey. But the most important thing is that there is no need to explain to the driver where you want to go. Not a single driver spoke a word of English, trying to communicate destination would have been quite difficult.

WeChat

WeChat on Google Play | App Store

WeChat is a not only messaging app - it has social media functionalities, a mobile payment app component, plus much more. Probably the most widely used app in China, it has taken over almost all payments - from hotels, attractions, supermarkets to small souvenir shops and food stalls, it is accepted everywhere, and with the exception of few elderly people and some confused foreigners, no one is using cash anymore.

The bad news is that WeChat only accepts Chinese credit cards to be set up as payment options, meaning we could not use it. There are people online who were able to get themselves a Chinese credit card with a local bank, but most banks would not issue one to people on a tourist visa.

To be able to install WeChat you have to be in the country and holding a phone with a local SIM card and number. Once it is installed, in order to create an account you need another WeChat user to scan your code and verify you - this may prove difficult if you have no friends or acquaintances and the only option is to ask a hotel employee or a stranger. We installed the app first thing after activating our new China Unicom SIM card and asked the sales rep who had just sold us the card, they were nice enough to do that for us.

We used WeChat to communicate with our Airbnb hosts when the Airbnb app failed and to arrange some tours.

Translate

Google Translate on Google Play | App Store

The good thing about this app is that languages can be downloaded and the app used offline. It can translate speech, text or even text from a picture (either using a camera directly or import a photo).

The results are dubious at best, as can be expected - it will mostly spit out gibberish and you try and find a word that makes sense in the context of what you are trying to translate, hoping that you can figure out the meaning somehow.

Your best bet is to give it simple words like "meat", "vegetable", if trying to purchase food for example, or simplified sentences at the most. Instead of "I would like to return my metro card and get a refund for the remaining balance", go with "Return card. Take money". Anything slightly more complicated may yield unexpected results.

Locals were using some other translator app, that was surprisingly accurate and worked well even with more complicated sentences, but I am not sure what it was.

XE

XE on Google Play | App Store

This is a good currency converter app which can handle multiple currencies with good accuracy.

Weather Underground

Weather Underground on Google Play | App Store

This is the app for the popular weather forecast site, very accurate in most places we have been to, but unfortunately not so much in China.

Airbnb

Airbnb on Google Play | App Store

For longer stays (more than 3-4 days) Airbnb is a good way to book accommodation - it is cheaper and the apartments are nice. The app is one of the few ones that are allowed through the Chinese firewall, so you don't need a VPN to use it.

The downside of Airbnb is that you have to register with the police for every stay (hotels do that for you), which means a short visit to a police station with your host within 24 hours of you checking in.

You can read more about our experience with Airbnb in our article - All you need to know about using Airbnb in China.

Agoda

Agoda on Google Play | App Store

Of the hotel booking sites we found Agoda to have the most places and best prices.

Klook

Best prices on tours and activities with Klook

Klook on Google Play | App Store

Klook is a tour/transport/ticket booking site. We mostly used them to book tickets - for example, when visiting the Forbidden City you can buy tickets online or in-person at the ticket booths. If buying at the ticket booths - first, you have to queue for the tickets, second, there is a limited number of tickets each day and there is the risk you may not be able to get yours. For the online purchase of tickets for the Forbidden Palace - if using the official site, everything is in Chinese and the payment can only be done if you have a Chinese bank card. Booking with Klook is easy and the price is the same as the regular tickets (it was a bit cheaper even when we booked), you pay with your credit card and get instant confirmation. An added bonus is the lower price on many of the attractions.

They have a variety of tours and can be a good choice if you have limited time or just don't want to bother with the details of organizing things on your own.

Trip.com

Save on Travel with Trip.com

Trip.com on Google Play | App Store

This one can be used to book flights, hotels, tours, but we found that it can be especially useful for buying train tickets in China, and gives the best price compared to other similar booking sites and apps.

As with many other things in China - official online bookings for train journeys are only for people holding Chinese ID cards, so foreigners have two options - buy in person at a train station or book online through resellers. When buying through Trip you buy your tickets online and then go to a train station ticket booth, show the confirmation you got and your passport and collect the physical tickets. The queue at the ticket office cannot be avoided, but tickets can be bought in advance, which is important as many routes sell out days and weeks before the departure date.

In all fairness, we did not use the app to book tickets, only to check schedule and availability. We had enough time in Beijing to be able to spare half a day to go to a train station and buy everything we need in person. This does save money (the booking fees really stack up when buying multiple tickets), but finding the right place and trying to communicate in English can be a bit frustrating - read about our experience in our article - How to buy train tickets in China (and step-by-step at Beijing Railway station).

Date Visited

September 2019

Destinations

Asia
China

Comments

Best free and paid VPN options for China

2hw — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 12:36:41 +0000

2hw Wed, 10/16/2019 - 15:36

China has special laws restricting its people access to resources on the Internet. Those are enforced by The Great Firewall of China - a combination of technologies that gives almost full control and visibility to the authorities over who is accessing what. Reasons behind this are many and complicated - rooted in politics, culture, religion and so on, and the results include censorship, lack of privacy and surprisingly - support of local businesses. A simple example - Whatsapp's encryption mechanisms proved too strong for China's law enforcement to crack, so they banned the app - feel free to use WeChat, a Chinese app with similar functionality, but all communication is monitored by the government.

What this means for tourists heading to China is that, if during your trip you have any intention to:

access things like Google (all services including search, mail, maps, docs), Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Dropbox, Twitter, Wikipedia and many, many more
protect your personal information, including communication, credit card and bank details
update your software (via Google Play for example)

you have some preparation to do.

As the old saying goes - "Where there's a will, there's a way", and the most popular way to use Internet as normal in China is called VPN. The abbreviation stands for Virtual Private Network and basically allows your device to access the Internet from another point on the globe by creating a secure connection to this point.

Luckily, circumventing The Great Firewall is not difficult and here I will list the best ways to do it - including free and paid options for various operating systems. Most of the software in this article is well suited for people with basic computer skills.

Note: Searching the web for a list of good VPNs to use in China yields suspiciously similar results. It's basically the same article over and over, praising the same paid software. We are not sure if the reasons behind this are related to the commission affiliates earn from every subscriber or something else entirely, but here we have listed software we used and can recommend. You can also check our article about 12 useful apps to have on your phone when travelling in China.

Important: Whatever software you decide to use for your holiday in China, make sure to download, install and test it before you go there. Accessing the sites listed below and downloading the software from China will not work.

Betternet

FREE + Paid versions

Available for: Windows, Android, Mac OS, iOS, Chrome browser extension

Download Betternet

Moto: Online privacy and security trusted by millions

If you are after a single-click, free VPN solution - this is the one for you - super easy to install and use. The free version is enough to get things done, if you want better speed, less ads and the option to select which country to connect to - get a paid subscription.

SuperVPN

Free + Paid versions

Available for: Android

SuperVPN on Google Play

Moto: Easy to use, one click to connecting VPN. Unlimited bandwidth and unlimited free trial time.

Great option for Android devices - SuperVPN is free, fast and easy to use. We found it to be very reliable in China. After the first 20 days the app will limit sessions to 60 minutes, which means you have to manually reconnect every hour and see some ads - that's how they can provide the service at no cost for the users. They offer one of the lowest rates for a VPN paid subscription on the market, which is another reason this is many users favorite VPN app.

ExpressVPN

Paid

Available for: Windows, Android, Mac OS, iOS, Linux, Chrome and Firefox browser extensions

Download ExpressVPN

Moto: The VPN that just works

Extremely popular and highly rated solution. If you want to have a smooth experience and are willing to spend some money - this is the one we recommend. Very easy to configure all your devices with one account, fast and reliable connections to servers in 94 countries. The company also guarantees they do not keep connectivity and action logs. If anything goes wrong they offer 24/7 support and every purchase can be made without worrying as they include a "no-hassle 100% money-back guarantee for your first 30 days of service" if you are not satisfied.

Tor Browser

FREE

Available for: Windows, Android, Mac OS, Linux

Download Tor Browser

Moto: Download Tor Browser to experience real private browsing without tracking, surveillance, or censorship

TOR stands for "The Onion Router" - using this technology your communication is relayed through a network of thousands of volunteer-supported nodes across the globe. Very straightforward to install and use, it comes with excellent documentation too. This service is completely free and secure, can be a bit slow sometimes - try reconnecting in those cases. Please note, this is just a browser, so you are not "completely out of China" - you can't sync your Dropbox or use the Microsoft Outlook app for example.

VPN Gate + SoftEther VPN Client

FREE

Available for: Windows, Android, Mac OS, iOS, Linux

Download VPN Gate Client for Windows | How to connect for Android, Mac OS, iOS

Moto: Free Access to World Knowledge Beyond Government's Firewall

One of my favorites - it is actually a research project aimed to expand the knowledge of "Global Distributed Public VPN Relay Servers" managed by University of Tsukuba, Japan. The network consists of thousands of VPN servers across 235 countries and can be used with no restrictions by anybody for free. Connecting to a VPN Gate server requires a little bit of effort and understanding of the technology, but it also supports popular, open-source protocols which means many VPN clients can be used. For Windows there is a plugin for the SoftEther VPN Client which makes using VPN Gate a breeze, the whole process is well explained here. For other operating systems find your guide from this page: How to connect for Android, Mac OS, iOS

The VPN servers are managed by volunteers and some may have slow Internet connections or too many users at the time. If you are experiencing issues - just select another server from the list.

Date Visited

September 2019

Destinations

Asia
China

Comments

How to buy train tickets in China (and step-by-step at Beijing Railway station)

2hw — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 07:54:23 +0000

2hw Wed, 10/16/2019 - 10:54

The train system in China is extensive, reaching every part of the country, very popular and convenient. Train journeys are generally a lot cheaper than flights and the trains are quite modern and clean in most part. The main train stations may be huge and crowded but are also well organized and easy to navigate, with signage in English.

One thing to note is, that because train travel is so popular, many routes sell out quickly and if you want to travel on specific dates (as is usually the case) you need to make sure you buy tickets in advance, especially during the peak summer period and around the major holidays. For most trains booking starts 30 days before departure time for online purchase and 28 days for buying at a ticket window.

The official online purchasing system is really good, but you need to have a Chinese ID card to use if you are a foreigner you can only buy tickets in person at a train station or use resellers.

Buying tickets the easy way

The easiest way to buy a ticket is to use online resellers. There are numerous sites and apps that can sell you train tickets, we found Trip.com to be the best - easy to use interface, best prices, lowest fees and very reliable. You just need to select a route and pay for the tickets using your credit card. The things to be aware when booking online tickets:

The information about schedule and availability you see on those sites is not completely up to date - information is pulled from the China railway system periodically and your choice is not guaranteed until you get the final confirmation for your purchase
Seating preference cannot be guaranteed, there is an option to choose a preference, but it will depend on the availability
There is a fee for booking the tickets
If you want to have the physical tickets delivered to your hotel, there is an additional fee. If you choose to collect your tickets at the train station you will have to go to a ticket window, show your confirmation number and passport in order to do that, queuing will be involved - if collecting before departure, make sure you have enough time to do that.
Double-check the information you enter - passport numbers and names - if you make a mistake and something doesn't match you won't be able to get your tickets

Buying tickets the cheap way (DIY)

Those booking fees can really stack up, especially if buying multiple journeys and going to a train station or local train ticket offices is a good option if you are on a budget and have an hour or two to spare. It can be a little intimidating, as almost no one speaks any English and communication is not easy but is not impossible.

Go to the main train station and find the ticket office.
Find the ticket window where English is spoken (look for the signs) unless you speak Mandarin, you must go to that one.
Even if it is supposed that the person in that ticket window speaks English, do not put too much faith in this - be prepared with what you want to book exactly. Before going to the train station check the schedule online (use Trip.com, for example), write down which train number you want to travel on, date, number of tickets, what class you want and the price you expect to pay. Having everything written down makes the purchase easier.
Make sure you have your passport with you, as well as enough cash, foreign credit cards are not accepted.

Buying train tickets at Beijing Railway station - step by step instructions

If travelling by subway, take the Line 2 to Beijing Railway station stop, go out through exit C.

Go right when you exit and follow the signs to the ticket office - it is on the right side of the main entrance, next to a KFC.

Ticket windows are on the right side of the hall, look for the English speaking window - it was window 14 when we visited.

If the English speaking window is closed, there is an Information counter on the left side of the hall, you can go there and ask which window to use. Even if you have everything written down, unless it is in Mandarin you will not be serviced at a regular ticket window.

* When going back to the metro station you need to use exit/entrance A. A is only an entrance, C is only an exit.

Our experience

We went to the railway station in person. Exiting the subway it was a bit intimidating to see the big station building with different entrances and nothing in English, but after some looking around we found the signs pointing to the ticket office. We entered the ticket hall and many ticket windows lined one side of it, all the same, some closed, some with people queued up, and all had signs in Mandarin only. After some head-scratching, we decided to just choose a queue and line up. When it was our turn it became obvious this was not the correct line - the cashier tried talking to us in Mandarin, unsuccessfully, then just wrote down "14" and waved us off. The ticket windows had numbers, so at least this was easy to figure out, and as we were looking for number 14 we noticed that the message board over the counters would display "English language services in the 14 window" from time to time - good! - we knew where to go.

Window 14, however, was closed and holding the paper with the number 14 we were given by the first cashier we went to the Information desk on the opposite side of the hall. We managed to communicate that number 14 is closed and the lady at this desk contacted three or four different people over the radio, most probably trying to find someone with enough English skills to assist us. After a couple of minutes of back and forth, we were directed to counter 1.

After 10 minutes in yet another line, we got to the cashier at counter 1, but seeing that we were foreigners he started to talk in Chinese and tried to redirect us to counter 14. Having had waited on three separate lines already we did not budge and tried to explain that that window is closed and the Information lady had sent us there. A few minutes of pointing and the cashier got up and another one came back in his place - his English was good enough to get us our tickets, finally.

Overall, looking back it was not that difficult, we had to be a little more persistent than usual and for the 14 tickets (3 return journeys, 1 one-way for two people) we saved around $100 in booking fees we would have paid if booking online, so it was worth it.

Date Visited

September 2019

Destinations

Asia
China

Comments

The Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Center - a red window to the past

2hw — Sun, 29 Sep 2019 03:04:09 +0000

2hw Sun, 09/29/2019 - 06:04

The Propaganda Poster Art Center in Shanghai is a unique opportunity to explore a collection of communist-era art. Depending on your age, political views and where you live seeing the same posters can bring up a wide array of feelings. For the younger generations western people, this might be a fun and colourful illustration of something mentioned in school, for ones who have lived under a communist regime - a sad reminder of difficult times. Maybe, even some people, like the ones who prospered under a red flag (or their descendants), will get a dose of nostalgia for the good old days.

Emotions aside, the facts are clear - this is the only place in the world where some of these posters can be seen, as due to various reasons many posters have been destroyed. It is also the largest collection of such art, holding over 6000 pieces - a small portion of which is displayed, some others are available for purchase at the gift shop.

Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin, Josef Stalin and Mao Zedong

Well advertised in the brochure, but seriously underrepresented is another type of art this museum is dedicated to - the Shanghai Lady Poster, also known as Calendar Poster. Those were more similar to advertisement posters of modern days - featuring beautiful Chinese ladies wearing traditional Shanghai dresses and promoting western goods such as beer, watches and cigarettes. Combining Chinese and Western art styles those posters, produced between 1920 and 1940s (before the communism rule) are a bitter-sweet reminder of a bygone era when Shanghai was described as "the Paris in the Far East". Unfortunately, a very small percentage of the exhibition in the museum is about Lady Posters, I assume the political atmosphere and the long decades are the main causes for destroying most of them.

Shanghai Lady Posters

The museum is not big, 3-4 rooms in a basement, but we spent almost 2 hours there. There is information about each period in English (and most in French too), which makes the visit truly informative and enjoyable, a nice change from many Chinese museums offering texts only in Chinese. A visitor can follow the shifts in the political scene that affected the art by determining what the current issues, visions for the future and enemies are in each period. Drawing styles, materials used and even publishing and distribution techniques are also explained in relation to what was happening at the moment.

Left: Soviet-Chinese friendship - forever!
Right: Protest against US attacks on Vietnam

The displays tell many interesting stories when looking carefully one can spot curious details and nuances. Nothing in those drawings is random, everything has a meaning and this meaning was approved (or enforced) by whatever was the equivalent of "Public Relationships" of the Party back in the days. Here are some of the examples we noticed:

Three different editions of the same poster show identical scenes on the first two, but in the third one person is replaced by his successor. What happened to the original? Nobody knows, but everybody else is still smiling.
The US, UK and rest of the imperialistic enemies are always represented in dark colours, repulsive, small, greedy, rotten, angry, etc.
Chinese people, on the other hand, are always brightly painted, happy, strong, full of energy, often with exaggerated enthusiasm. This applies, of course, to comrades from other countries - the soviet people, Vietnamese, etc.
War-related posters have particularly strong contrasts showing the humongous supremacy of the Chinese army over the enemies. Even Chinese agricultural machinery beats US tanks and bombs.
(Communist) World leaders are a common theme, but position and size of images are important here - posters featuring Mao and Stalin, for example, always have Mao in front.
Feminism - communism may have proved to have faults, but surely it had positive sides like including women in all aspects of life - farming, manual labour, armies, etc.

Left: The mighty H-Bomb (red) will destroy the capitalism
Right: Chinese can fight US tanks and bombs with anything

After exploring the main exhibition head over to the souvenir shop. There you can find some more posters, including ones that are not on display in the museum and everything is for sale - copies of popular posters, pocket-sized books with Mao's teachings, postcards and even framed unique pieces of propaganda art.

Ballet dance: "The Red Detachment of Women" - one of the only 8 performances allowed on stage during the Cultural Revolution

Getting there

The address is 868 Huashan Rd, but finding the PPAC using the maps from their website may be confusing, you can follow our detailed instructions instead. It is actually in the basement of a building inside a residential complex, both entrances of the complex have tiny signs that are very easy to miss.

Catch the metro to Changshu station (Lines 1 and 7) and find exit 8. Go north along Changshu Road, turn left on Changle Road, walk until you get to Huashan Road, the complex (President Mansion) is on the opposite side of the intersection. There is a side entrance there (Google Maps), there might be a barrier, but pedestrians can walk around it, the building is 20 meters ahead, labelled Building B (also Building 4). Follow the signs to the basement level.

There is a main entrance here (Google Maps), which looks bigger, but leads to other buildings and to get to the museum in Building B you have to go through the backyard to find it.

The entrance fee is 25 yuan.

Open Tuesday to Sunday between 10:00 and 17:00 closed on Mondays.

Date Visited

September 2019

Destinations

Gallery

Birth control was promoted to "support the Revolution"

Left: It's clear who wins | Right: an actual photo showing the life in the USA

Left: Proletarian rebels | Right: bright future

Every kid should know who the enemies are

US soldiers defeated by kids

China

Shanhaiguan and Old Dragon's Head - the start of the Great Wall

Shanhaiguan and Old Dragon's Head - the start of the Great Wall

How to get there

Our day

Jiumenkou Great Wall

Old Dragon's Head

First Pass Under Heaven

Drum and Bell tower and "Old" town

Destinations

Tags

Comments

How to spend your day at Jinshanling Great Wall (金山岭)

How to spend your day at Jinshanling Great Wall (金山岭)

How to get to Jinshanling?

Our hike - a great day covering the best spots

Hiking and walking routes at Jinshanling

What to bring for a hike of the Great Wall at Jinshanling

Destinations

Comments

Jinshanling Great Wall (金山岭) - How to get there the easy way

Jinshanling Great Wall (金山岭) - How to get there the easy way

Destinations

Comments

All you need to know about using Airbnb in China

All you need to know about using Airbnb in China

Is Airbnb legal in China?

Temporary address registration in China - why?

Can I ignore the law and not register?

Is the trouble worth it? Is Airbnb better value than hotels?

How to choose an Airbnb listing for my stay in China?

Our experience

Destinations

Tags

Comments

12 useful apps to have on your phone when travelling in China

12 useful apps to have on your phone when travelling in China

VPN

Google maps

Baidu map

Didi (greater China)

WeChat

Translate

XE

Weather Underground

Airbnb

Agoda

Klook

Trip.com

Destinations

Tags

Comments

Best free and paid VPN options for China

Best free and paid VPN options for China

Betternet

SuperVPN

ExpressVPN

Tor Browser

VPN Gate + SoftEther VPN Client

Destinations

Tags

Comments

How to buy train tickets in China (and step-by-step at Beijing Railway station)

How to buy train tickets in China (and step-by-step at Beijing Railway station)

Buying tickets the easy way

Buying tickets the cheap way (DIY)

Buying train tickets at Beijing Railway station - step by step instructions

Our experience

Destinations

Tags

Comments

The Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Center - a red window to the past

The Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Center - a red window to the past

Getting there

Destinations

Tags

Gallery

Comments