Tips for the Foreigner Living in China
I moved to Kunming, Yunnan Province, China in 2010 and lived and worked there off and on for three years. If I had the opportunity I would move back to Kunming because it truly is one of my favorite places in the world. Here are my top tips for anyone moving to, traveling to, or currently living in China. These tips aren't in any particular order.
1) Don't drink the tap water ANYWHERE! Brush your teeth and drink tap water only after boiling. No body drinks water from the tap in China and if you go out to eat make sure you drink only bottled water or 'kai shui' €°.
2) Bring a small amount of the travel diarrhea antibiotics it can be a life-saver and in a pinch.
3) China Mobile and China Eastern are the two main cell phone companies. China Mobile generally has better coverage. If you have a smart phone here in the US that is unlocked you can bring it with you and just get a Chinese sim card and it will work. Get 3G for your phone, which has AMAZING coverage in China. I work in the middle of nowhere and I had 3G almost everywhere. The plans are also way cheaper than here and you don't get a monthly bill. You just pay money upfront and get some number of minutes and data (so many that you will never use all of them). If you do happen to use all of your minutes and data you can go to any little street booth with a China Mobile sign and buy a little card to add more money to your phone. It is really easy. I bought an iPhone when I went on vacation to Hong Kong and was able to transfer my Chinese sim card to that phone and it was perfect for keeping in touch with my family and friends. Just get skype on your phone and put money on your skype. With money on your skype you can make calls to anywhere in the world.
4) You can't get Facebook on mainland (you can use it in Hong Kong though)- so if you are addicted to FB then you should get a VPN. Google can be a bit of a pain in China but you can still use it- same with gmail. You can't use Googleblogger though.
5) Probably every Chinese person you meet will ask you for your QQ number. QQ is basically the same thing as AIM but more widespread.
6) Get the PLECO app for your phone. It is a life-saver if you don't know a character or want to look a word up.
7) Get something on your phone so you can text in Chinese. Texting is really common.
8) Take pictures!
9) Make Chinese friends! The friends I lived with in China are my best friends in the whole world and I miss seeing them every day.
10) Go to KTV! KTV is a popular karaoke chain. In Asia, karyoke is a popular past time and it is a bit different from doing karyoke in the US. In Asia you typically get your own private room with your friends and you can order food and beer.
11) If you avoid the ex-pat scene you will be safer (too many drugs, drinking, sex, and some crazy people there) and have a much more culturally and language enriching experience. Really though. For a while you may have a hard time adjusting because you may be the ONLY white person around and you may get sick of noodles for breakfast. Don't worry-you will get used to it and learn to love it! I certainly have days where I miss my spicy noodle breakfast (though I don't miss the instant coffee to go with it!)
12) taobao.com is the Chinese version of Amazon.com and is amazing! You can order anything you need there.
13) Go to open-air veggie markets. They are great!
14) Don't be afraid of street food! So good!
15) Try shao kao (outdoor bbqs that often open late at night) after a night out at KTV.
16) Do not talk about politics ever.
17) Public bathrooms don't have toilet paper. Carry a little pack of tissues with you. Public bathrooms also charge money to use. Usually 5 jiao to 1 kuai (1 RMB).
18) I didn't get a bank account in China but you could if you wanted. Bank of America has some agreement with China Construction Bank and I think you can use their ATMs for free and maybe do wire transfers. I never got around to opening an account. I have two ATM cards from my bank in the US and just used them in ATMs at China Construction Bank and the Bank of China. There are other banks but some of the smaller ones don't have ATMs compatible with US cards. I don't generally bring much US money with me to China. Usually I just take out a ton of RMB from the ATM at the airport. Usually places only take cash so I tended to carry a bunch of cash with me and keep some back at my apartment.
19) Be careful with your personal belongings- theft is pretty common there. I was lucky to never have a problem- but you just need to be aware. Other than that China is really safe. I traveled by myself a lot of the time and never felt unsafe or had any problems.
20) Cabs are super cheap but often times the cabs don't know how to get places. This would supremely piss me off because after 1.5 years living in Kunming, Yunnan Province I knew how to get to more places than the cab drivers and I would tell them that.
21) You don't need to tip.
22) You will probably take a cab to your apartment from the airport. DO NOT take a black cab (hei che) unless you know the driver. Black cab translates roughly to a fake or non-registered cab. Unless you know the driver and agree on the price before hand they will over charge you by a huge amount. I made this mistake my first time in China and it sucked. To take a registered cab, look for the huge line of cabs at the airport and take one of those. Check that the driver turns on the meter.
23) Eastern-style toilets. What can I say about Eastern-style toilets other than you get used to them?
1) Don't drink the tap water ANYWHERE! Brush your teeth and drink tap water only after boiling. No body drinks water from the tap in China and if you go out to eat make sure you drink only bottled water or 'kai shui' €°.
2) Bring a small amount of the travel diarrhea antibiotics it can be a life-saver and in a pinch.
3) China Mobile and China Eastern are the two main cell phone companies. China Mobile generally has better coverage. If you have a smart phone here in the US that is unlocked you can bring it with you and just get a Chinese sim card and it will work. Get 3G for your phone, which has AMAZING coverage in China. I work in the middle of nowhere and I had 3G almost everywhere. The plans are also way cheaper than here and you don't get a monthly bill. You just pay money upfront and get some number of minutes and data (so many that you will never use all of them). If you do happen to use all of your minutes and data you can go to any little street booth with a China Mobile sign and buy a little card to add more money to your phone. It is really easy. I bought an iPhone when I went on vacation to Hong Kong and was able to transfer my Chinese sim card to that phone and it was perfect for keeping in touch with my family and friends. Just get skype on your phone and put money on your skype. With money on your skype you can make calls to anywhere in the world.
4) You can't get Facebook on mainland (you can use it in Hong Kong though)- so if you are addicted to FB then you should get a VPN. Google can be a bit of a pain in China but you can still use it- same with gmail. You can't use Googleblogger though.
5) Probably every Chinese person you meet will ask you for your QQ number. QQ is basically the same thing as AIM but more widespread.
6) Get the PLECO app for your phone. It is a life-saver if you don't know a character or want to look a word up.
7) Get something on your phone so you can text in Chinese. Texting is really common.
8) Take pictures!
9) Make Chinese friends! The friends I lived with in China are my best friends in the whole world and I miss seeing them every day.
10) Go to KTV! KTV is a popular karaoke chain. In Asia, karyoke is a popular past time and it is a bit different from doing karyoke in the US. In Asia you typically get your own private room with your friends and you can order food and beer.
11) If you avoid the ex-pat scene you will be safer (too many drugs, drinking, sex, and some crazy people there) and have a much more culturally and language enriching experience. Really though. For a while you may have a hard time adjusting because you may be the ONLY white person around and you may get sick of noodles for breakfast. Don't worry-you will get used to it and learn to love it! I certainly have days where I miss my spicy noodle breakfast (though I don't miss the instant coffee to go with it!)
12) taobao.com is the Chinese version of Amazon.com and is amazing! You can order anything you need there.
13) Go to open-air veggie markets. They are great!
14) Don't be afraid of street food! So good!
15) Try shao kao (outdoor bbqs that often open late at night) after a night out at KTV.
16) Do not talk about politics ever.
17) Public bathrooms don't have toilet paper. Carry a little pack of tissues with you. Public bathrooms also charge money to use. Usually 5 jiao to 1 kuai (1 RMB).
18) I didn't get a bank account in China but you could if you wanted. Bank of America has some agreement with China Construction Bank and I think you can use their ATMs for free and maybe do wire transfers. I never got around to opening an account. I have two ATM cards from my bank in the US and just used them in ATMs at China Construction Bank and the Bank of China. There are other banks but some of the smaller ones don't have ATMs compatible with US cards. I don't generally bring much US money with me to China. Usually I just take out a ton of RMB from the ATM at the airport. Usually places only take cash so I tended to carry a bunch of cash with me and keep some back at my apartment.
19) Be careful with your personal belongings- theft is pretty common there. I was lucky to never have a problem- but you just need to be aware. Other than that China is really safe. I traveled by myself a lot of the time and never felt unsafe or had any problems.
20) Cabs are super cheap but often times the cabs don't know how to get places. This would supremely piss me off because after 1.5 years living in Kunming, Yunnan Province I knew how to get to more places than the cab drivers and I would tell them that.
21) You don't need to tip.
22) You will probably take a cab to your apartment from the airport. DO NOT take a black cab (hei che) unless you know the driver. Black cab translates roughly to a fake or non-registered cab. Unless you know the driver and agree on the price before hand they will over charge you by a huge amount. I made this mistake my first time in China and it sucked. To take a registered cab, look for the huge line of cabs at the airport and take one of those. Check that the driver turns on the meter.
23) Eastern-style toilets. What can I say about Eastern-style toilets other than you get used to them?
