Off to China, Any Tips

[ausi ski bum]

I am off to China on business in February, Beijing, Qingdao and a few days free to head somewhere else, maybe Xian.

Any tips and suggestions for a first timer to China. must do's must not do's etc

[BrumbyJack]

Yeah, track down Scottski, he does a lot of business there.

Not sure if he posts here or only on SI.

[Podlettte]

Go to the markets in Shanghai and get yourself Polo ralph lauren in everything shirts, tshirts jumpers etc all fro $7 each in every colour.

A female colleague did this and got 4-5 suits made with skirt, pants and jacket for under $150AUD last year. the "ralph lauren" stuff was roughly $4-$8 each depending on what it was.

[ausi ski bum]

I could use a nice new Suit

[Jahoota]

ask the nearest party official where you can sign up for the falun gong club. You may get all expenses paid trip to somewhere not in the travel brochures.

[Snow Yeti]

Watch for the dodgy's that speak 10 languages to lure you into a bar. They can see foreigners a mile away and will nag you more than you ever wanted. They can tell I'm a westerner too, so be very wary!

Watch your wallet, and passport! Dodgy place ;)

Get some tailored suits if you want them, very cheap, can turn around in 3 days, or more if you pay, but seriously 16 hours to make 2 suits for $200 is really really slave labour.

[popshuvit]

Choose very wisely where you decide to go & eat..

[schnee fraulein]

Get up early and go to a park,it is fascinating people-watching from the ladies dancing to Euro trash disco that I saw in Ditan Park (Beijing) to people rubbing their backs up against tree trunks. If you are lucky you will see older guys practicing calligraphy. It might be a bit cold in February for everyone to be out and about but they are used to it.
If you can - get out to the Great Wall, it is worth it! I was working at the Olympics but squeezed it in one morning and it was AMAZING. I hired a private driver for approx $90 for the car and went to Mutianyu (approx 90mins from Beijing). It does have touristy souvenir stalls at the bottom but it isnt as bad as Badaling and Mutianyu has a very cool toboggan to come down on (I chose to do the forest walk down due to dodgy back probs).
Purchasing fakes - if you are gonna buy handbags for any females in your life, go well-researched with pictures of exact styles otherwise the choices are mindboggling. Dont believe the lighter test (where they hold a lighter up to the bag to prove its leather). Always ask if they have better quality etc. If they take you to a back room, you know that this is better stock. And always always ask for waaaaay less than they quote. I started at 10%!! Some were offended but it is a big game...sometimes tiring...
Oh I could go on and on....and I only went to Beijing for work...not real fun!!

[Snow Yeti]

10% is a good bargain trick. They'll hand you their calculator and show you the price, so you just pu in yours, and play the game. It is tiring as schnee says ;)

If you get tired, just walk away, most of the time they'll chase you to finalise the transaction

[Jahoota]

you've got to haggle properly!

http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/4766/film/lob/beardhag.jpg

[schnee fraulein]

I was sort of over the haggling after a while as every transaction took 10minutes plus. Then again I tried to go shopping as much as I could. I heard many a "Come on lady I make no money" etc. If you do walk away and they chase after you, you know that they are close to agreeing.If they dont - they probably dont think it is worth haggling any further cos they really arent gonna make money.

In Beijing - I would definitely make time for seeing the Summer Palace - even though it will be winter! It is fairly do-able in a few hours. Go to the top of the main buildng - lots of steps but great views.

Some of our crew preferred the Summer Palace to the Forbidden City but I loved both. I whipped through the Forbidden City in about 90mins - didnt really have time to see all that much as it was my last day and wish I could have seen more but it was phenomenal in size etc. There is a park at the back of the Forbidden City with a man-made hill, climb it - and you will be rewarded with sensational views of the Forbidden City. It's also not that far from the Hutong district which is a bit touristy with rickshaw rides but worth a wander.
My absolute fave was the Temple Of Heaven - if there was ONLY one place I could only have gotten to - that would have been it. The circular proportions and ornate decoration just did it for me (must have been all those Qantas ads it has been in!!).

will stop raving now but I liked the Big B alot more than I thought I would - although I know that it would be a very different city outside of Olympics - eg more smog, waaaay more cars, possibly not as helpful locals etc. You are in for a fascinating time regardless!

[Vet]

Take a map of Sydney. To throw off pimps, just Rattle off a few koorie suburban names :D

[ausi ski bum]

Will be a great trip, I have about four days on business and four or five for myself

[chunky]

I want to go there one day. On a side note I saw the most disturbing thing I have ever seen on the net about what they do to dogs over there.

[Bear]

Try the dog I've heard it's delicious. ;)

[schnee fraulein]

Or maybe Owl ? How about toad? We saw both of these on a menu - eeek! I didnt really eat out much because after getting sick from the Peking Duck pancakes in the media centre cafeteria on day 3 - I stuck to Western Food ...and shamefully Maccas!! (and i would never touch it here at home). I never really had dinner out as too busy shopping or trying to sleep (dinner was often an icecream!!). There are some great places to eat however and not that many of my colleagues got ill. But do take your own supply of Immodium and Donnatab so yoiu have when you need em!
I did get addicted to green tea drinks..and perusing the local supermarket...ohhh so many snacks ...so much MSG!!

[kort]

go the chickens feet.....

[TB]

My +1 loved Beijing, has some awesome stories. He was there working for about 6 weeks. All of the above attractions. He just hired a bike and cycled the Hutong district alone and had fun.

He has been lots and lots of places but his biggie would be the lack of English, he would have whole weekends of speaking to no one but concierege. Also another one he found tough, get the name of your hotel written in chinese-good in theory but cabbies are not literate and cannot read-get a "photo card". (PS this was pre olympics but only just).

[schnee fraulein]

TB is right - make sure you get your hotel and anywhere else you wanna go by cab wriiten in Chinese script.Most of the cabbies I got were literate as there was a big effort made for the Games but you do get the odd one who either couldnt be bothered or didnt understand - this may have had something to do with the fact that the media village was on the outskirts of the 5th ring road and fairly new. Most cabbies were fine when I wanted to go "downtown" to tourist sights or markets. I had the number of one of our interpreters in my mobile in case a cabbie really had NFI enroute. So maybe have the number of your hotel in your phone just in case.
Or you can always have a go on the subway - which I found very easy as stops and maps are in "English" too. You can catch the subway right to Tiananmen Sq and Forbidden City as well as Temple Of Heaven. Just be wary of block distances on maps - they are bigger than you think. What looks walkable on a Beijing map can sometimes be a 10 min cab ride!! But at least cabs are dirt cheap!!

[ausi ski bum]

We were going to hire a car with English speaking driver to assist us.