Travel Tips for China

China is a diverse country with countless cultural attractions, historic sites and unique travel destinations to explore. Even though it is one of the world’s largest Communist areas, China attracts millions of travelers each year and has become famous for its breathtaking countryside landscapes, high-end restaurant and dining experiences, and colorful nightlife.

The Facts

China is home to over 1.3 billion citizens and hundreds of historic sites, unique tourist attractions and cultural centers. Even though the political climate is still centered on Communism, the country attracts millions of tourists each year with accommodations and tourist facilities located in both urban and rural areas. Non-citizen visitors to China must have a valid passport and visa to enter the country, and may also need to obtain special travel documents from the Chinese Embassy and Consulate prior to arrival.

Significance

China is divided into 23 provinces and 5 distinct regions, each with its own cultural traits, unique characteristics and world-renown attractions. Beijing, the capital of China, serves as the cultural capital for tourists and residents alike, and features several entertainment districts, modern hotels and accommodation facilities, and historic sites. Other points of interest for travelers include Shanghai, an elegant and historic city; Xian, which once served as the capital city of 13 dynasties; Guilin, famous for its beautiful landscapes; and Guangzhou, a historical metropolis in southern China.

Types

Getting around the cities of China can be challenging, since the capital city and other metro areas are densely populated territories. The most common forms of transportation in China include charter planes, inter-city railways, buses and taxis. The most reliable forms of transportation are the metro train and bus system; traveling across China’s waterways on a cruise or a boat are other modes of transportation for those who wish to take a scenic tour of the area.

Considerations

Tibet is just one of several regions of China that requires a special permit for travel; permits can be obtained through an area travel agent, and visitors who do not acquire a permit before travel can be taken into custody. Non-citizen visitors will also need to provide a valid passport as identification when booking hotel rooms and other accommodations; in some cases, guest houses and schools will also need formal identification to conduct a security check.

Benefits

Traveling to China is an exciting, one-of-a-kind experience that offers several opportunities for learning about the cultures, customs and norms of ancient Eastern civilizations. China’s capital alone is home to hundreds of cultural activities, events and traditional parades, making the area a coveted travel destination. The economic climate of China continues to improve, with new construction and renovations taking place throughout the metro areas, offering more opportunities for a comfortable and memorable experience.

Cultural Tips for China

China's cultural differences are part of what make it such a fascinating country to visit on a gap year. To get an idea of what to expect, take a look at our cultural tips for China.

Number 1 of our cultural tips for China - dodge the phlegm
One of our less pleasant cultural tips for China. Unfortunately for travellers, spitting is as common as clearing your throat in China. The result? Unsightly blobs on pavements, in restaurants and bars, on buses and trains and probably in houses, too. Old habits die hard, and delivering lectures on how disgusting it is won't change anything - just accept it as one of the cultural differences in China and get fancy with your footwork.

Number 2 of our cultural tips for China - smoking ban? What's that, then?
The concept of not being allowed to smoke is alien to many Chinese people, even if they don't smoke. Again, there's not much you can do about. Our tip is to head for open spaces when it gets too much - and be glad of smoke-free England. If you do smoke, you'll be in your element. If you don't, be aware that cultural differences in China mean an offer of a cigarette is an offer of friendship. Try to be appreciative and apologetic if you turn it down!

Number 3 of our cultural tips for China - put on your travelling best
This cultural tip will probably get you a better response in hostels, bars, restaurants etc. Scruffy clothes won't go down well - clean, non-ripped items will.

Number 4 of our cultural tips for China - thanks might not be forthcoming
A cultural tip for making a good impression with a host family is to take a gift. (That applies whether you're staying with them, or just going round for dinner.) However, they're not big on saying thank you and don't usually open presents in front of you. It doesn't mean they're not grateful - they just prefer to show it through actions.

Number 5 of our cultural tips for China - bargain away
Market stallholders will expect to be bargained with, so try out your skills. You'll probably get better as you go on, but our cultural tip for China for your first time is to offer around a quarter of what they want, and increase your price slowly.

Number 6 of our cultural tips for China - chopstick rules
As in Japan, cultural differences in China mean that what you do with your chopsticks can cause quite a stir. Standing them upright signifies death, and you shouldn't use them to point at anyone, either. An inoffensive place for them is lying across your bowl or plate, pointing to the left.

Number 7 of our cultural tips of China - don't be alarmed by flapping carrier bags!
Markets in China are colourful places but not for the squeamish or animal-lover. The Chinese like their food fresh, and the downside of that is the live animals that are on show before they're taken round the back and killed. In the case of fish, they might not quite be dead when they're handed to you! Again, these cultural differences in China aren't going to change - they're just part of China's unique blend of beliefs and traditions.

“The Great Wall Of China”

The Great Wall Of China


Third world democracies rise and fall
First class citizens will keep having a ball
Struggle all night, work all day
Just to get the bills all paid
But take a look around, get out of that coma
It’s the poor who really built the Great Wall of China

We live in a word of “give it to me now”
Instant satisfaction, road rage growl
Well, I’ve seen that, it takes a toll
Forever damns your immortal soul
Can’t expect to have it all at the snap of fingers
But what do I know? I’m just a r-r-r-rhymer

Girl, you think sophistication is nice
It’s too rich for my blood, such a high price
It’s easy to say be glad for what you have
But that is easy when you’re not working ‘til you’re mad
Hey - it took a long time for the Great Wall to be made
So I guess it’ll take a long time ‘fore we’ll see the best, babe

Now it’s time wake up for work just to earn more
Get home at night and sleep on the floor
The great wall that man built can’t keep the people in
And it eventually won’t keep them out, friend

Now, let’s take a walk to clear your head
Don’t think on the past, think of the future instead
The lies people tell may make you think
Just don’t let them push you over the brink
And from here to eternity and back to Edinburgh
The truth will outlast the Great Wall of China


© Joe Glasgow

The Great Wall Revisited, From the Jade Gate to Old Dragon's Head

by William Lindesay

Reviewed by Valery Garrett

Like Everest, some want to travel the Great Wall, just because it's there. A source of wonderment for centuries, and the largest of all UNESCO World Heritages, the huge scale of the Wall is so immense that when guards manned watchtowers at its eastern end (Old Dragon's Head), they would have seen sunrise a full 80 minutes before their counterparts at its western end (Jiayuguan). Even its length is in doubt, since it has never been measured specifically. Most settle for 5,000km.

William Lindesay, a British geologist and marathoner, came to China in 1986 and the following year spent nine months running and hiking along the Wall, making headlines at a time when China was just opening up again to the world. Since then others have followed in his footsteps, but few have been as obsessed.

After hearing Lindesay speak on the radio in England about his journey, a listener sent him a copy of the book The Great Wall of China, written American missionary, William Edgar Geil, the first explorer to travel the full extent of the Wall in 1908. Seeing Geil's photographs of the same locations as his own, eighty years apart, inspired Lindesay to retrace Geil's route and search for tracks left by other earlier Wall explorers: "It was this perchance collaborations and the thoughts of change which it provoked that prompted me to source vintage Great Wall photographs with the intentions of embarking upon systematic and broad rephotographic documentation."

Rephotography was one of the main reasons for the book. To do this, Lindesay set out again in 2004 carrying a camera and his collection of vintage photographs taken by those earlier travelers, dating back to 1871. He revisited seven of the regions on the Great Wall, and compares the sights today with those experienced by earlier travelers. "Milestone personalities" include the Jade Gate Pass with Aurel Stein in 1907; Jiayuguan with Geil in 1908; Northern Shaanxi Province with Robert Clark and Arthur de C Sowerby in 1908, and Frederick Clapp in 1914; Laiyuan County, Hebei with Sha Fei in 1937; Beijing with photographer John Thomson in 1871 and Juliet Bredon in 1919; Gubeikou with William Parish in 1793; and Shanhaiguan with artist Mr Smythe in 1850.

For three years Lindesay searched for places he could compare the present with those earlier photos. These pictures are woven into the book, sitting side by side with present day evidence. In many cases, he adopts the same pose, even down to the hat and the horse, as his predecessors. "As author, I have chosen historical extracts, gathered contemporary stories and seized on poignant quotes made by eyewitnesses. I have tried to be objective. While some rephotographic pairings reveal loss, some show gains, in more ways than one.… The book is not only a collection of comparative photographs, but a combination of people's stories, historical and contemporary, and pairs of photographs showing and telling how the Wall has changed."

In many places the Wall has been deliberately dismantled, as for instance with the Sister Towers of the Ming wall at Gubeikou. This section was damaged by the Japanese during the war; used to make shelters by the People's Liberation Army while constructing a railway in the 1970s; and finally used by local farmers to surround the family farm. In another site, Tangzigou, photos taken just one year apart show wanton destruction.

The layout of the book is pleasing and orderly. Lindesay is clearly in love with his subject, and enjoyed collecting illustrations to accompany the text, some never before published. "I have inevitably written a book with feeling, because the subject matter - the future of the Great Wall -- is a passionate concern of mine." Since settling in Beijing, he has published four Wall-related books, and founded the International Friends of the Great Wall, a small organization that also focuses on conservation. It's odd perhaps that there is no mention of other supporters, inveterate researcher David Spindler in Beijing, or Diego Azubel who walked the length of the Wall in 2002.

Today the popularity of the Wall is reflected in the numbers of visitors it attracts, albeit at the nearest points to the capital. In the 1880s, the number of visitors -- mainly foreigners -- was less than 100 a year at Badaling, the closest section to Beijing. The latest figures from 2004 put them at up to 4.5m, mostly domestic tourists. Protection and preservation is thus more important than ever.



--
Valery Garrett has been a regular visitor to China since 1975 from her home in Hong Kong. She is the author of many books on Chinese dress and antiques, her latest being Heaven is High, the Emperor Far Away: Merchants and Mandarins in Old Canton, a history of Guangzhou, published by Oxford University Press.


Source: Asian Review of Books
Available in Asia from Paddyfield.com

China

China is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia.

China has one of the world’s oldest people and continuous civilizations, consisting of states and cultures dating back more than six millennia. China has the world’s longest continuously used written language system, and is the source of many major inventions, such as paper, the compass, gunpowder, and printing.

Historically, China’s cultural sphere has extended across East Asia as a whole, with Chinese religion, customs, and writing systems being adopted to varying degrees by its neighbors Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.

* the People’s Republic of China (PRC), commonly known as China, exercises effective control over mainland China, and has sovereignity over self-governing territories Hong Kong (since 1997) and Macau (since 1999).
* the Republic of China (ROC), commonly known as Taiwan, has effect control over the islands of Taiwan, Pescadores, Kinmen, and Matsu.

The Great Wall Of China

The Great Wall Of China

Welcome to China

Pro-Tibet protesters arrested after clashes at Chinese embassy

Prime minister Wen Jiabao greeted with boos and jeers during London visit
• Mark Tran and agencies
• guardian.co.uk, Sunday 1 February 2009 16.11 GMT
• Article history

Police arrested five pro-Tibet protesters during scuffles with police in London today as Wen Jiabao, the Chinese prime minister, arrived at the Chinese embassy.
The men were detained after trying to push past officers to get to the doors of the building. A spokesman for the group of about 200 demonstrators said a small number of them were trying to take the Free Tibet flag to the doors of the building.
Wen was greeted with boos and jeers when he arrived at the embassy, near Regents Park in London, where members of the Free Tibet group faced pro-Chinese protesters on opposite sides of the road. On the Chinese side there was traditional drumming, dragon dancing and firecrackers to welcome the Chinese leader.
Ugyan Norbu, who has lived in Britain for 30 years but comes from south-west Tibet, said: "For too long the British government have appeased the Chinese government. The British government is in the best position to negotiate with the Chinese on Tibet. I know the British people won't let us down but the British government are still appeasing the Chinese."
The protests passed off largely peacefully and broke up shortly after 2pm, the police said.
Wen is in Britain for three days before visiting Germany, Spain, the EU in Brussels and the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Before visiting the embassy, Wen discussed the economic crisis with David Cameron, the Conservative leader, and William Hague, the shadow foreign secretary. Wen will hold talks with Gordon Brown, the prime minister, at Downing Street tomorrow, where protesters are expected to gather again.
Pro-Tibet groups have said they would hold demonstrations throughout the trip. In March 2008, unrest broke out in Tibet after the 49th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising of 1959. The Chinese crackdown on protesters resulted in the reported deaths of a hundred people. Wen is the first leader to visit Britain since last year's protests in Tibet.
Pro-Tibet protesters want Brown to raise the issue of human rights in Tibet and specifically raise the fate of 1,000 Tibetans whose fate is unknown after last year's unrest in the country.