Experience

5 preparations for independent travelers to China

TH (according to VnExpress) November 30, 2024 15:13

Independent travel to China is more difficult than other countries because of language barriers and social media restrictions, so visitors need to be better prepared.

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High-speed trains are a means of transport for many tourists.

International tourists often have difficulty traveling to China on their own because English is not widely spoken, except in some major cities such as Shanghai and Beijing. In addition, tourists cannot access popular social networks such as Facebook, YouTube or Google.

Therefore, to have a smooth independent trip to China, in addition to buying plane tickets and planning an itinerary, tourists need to prepare the following 5 things.

Visa

If you travel on a tour, you can apply for a group visa, but if you travel independently, you must apply for a tourist visa for each individual. Vietnamese tourists go to the Chinese embassy or consulate or apply for a visa through designated travel agents.

Chinese tourist visas are valid for a minimum of 15 days, with one entry. For long-term and multiple entries, please contact the visa agency directly for specific information. Visa processing time is from 3 to 5 working days. Visa fees at embassies and consulates range from about two million VND per passport.

Book hotel rooms, buy train tickets, and sightseeing tickets early

Running out of hotel rooms and not being able to enter tourist attractions are all possible when traveling to China, even during off-peak season. You can meet tourists anywhere because the number of both domestic and foreign visitors is huge.

Many museums and entertainment venues only accept online bookings because they limit the number of people per day. In fact, visitors must book several weeks or months in advance. Similarly, high-speed train tickets will be sold out if not booked in advance, leaving only undesirable seats or bad hours because Chinese people travel by high-speed train frequently.

These services can be booked on the Trip.com app.

Buy a phone sim card that can access social networks

Tourists should buy a 5G data SIM card in advance that allows access to popular applications in Vietnam but cannot be accessed in China such as Google, Facebook, Youtube. This is a SIM card for tourists from popular Chinese telecommunications companies such as China Mobile, China Unicom.

The capacity of the SIM card is optional to suit the needs and length of stay in China. Visitors can choose the total capacity for the whole trip (such as 10 GB for 7 days) or by day (2-3 GB per day). There are two types of SIM cards: physical SIM (removable and installed in the phone) and eSIM (can be activated online). SIM card prices range from 100,000 VND to 500,000 VND, corresponding to 1 to 15 days.

Note, if you buy a physical SIM card in China, you can still access the internet and make calls, but you cannot access the above social networking applications.

Install payment apps

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Alipay payment app is now the most popular in China

If you do not install Alipay and Wechat, you can still use cash or credit cards, but these forms are not popular, some places refuse or do not have small change to give. Therefore, installing payment applications for tourists limits the difficulty of shopping in popular markets to high-end restaurants, by scanning QR codes.

Alipay is available in multiple languages, including English and Vietnamese, and is activated using a passport and a credit or debit card, without requiring a Chinese phone number or identification code. Users can transfer money to their Alipay account to spend in China or pay directly from a linked credit card. Meanwhile, WeChat requires users to be invited by an existing account, have a Chinese phone number and identification code, and have a domestic bank payment account when activated.

Language support tools

Not knowing Chinese is a barrier when traveling independently in China. However, there are many software and supporting applications, the most popular of which is Google Translate. Some other options are iTranslate Translate, Translate Chinese, Interpreter. These applications can all translate in the form of photos, handwriting, voice or offline (no need to be online).

At many famous tourist areas, staff often proactively use these applications to communicate with tourists by speaking Chinese to translate into English and vice versa.

TH (according to VnExpress)
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5 preparations for independent travelers to China