While preparing for my first trip to China, I got some good and bad information. I am an American from Omaha, and this post summarizes the info I wish someone "in the know" had told me before I came here. I am currently 5 weeks into a 7 week trip to China.
ATM's- I have a debit card with a VISA logo... moderately easy to find ATMs that work with it. If you can't find an ATM with a VISA logo, just go to an ATM outside of a CHINA national bank (zhong guo yin hang).
TOILETS- ALWAYS!!! carry toilet paper with you. At Chinese supermarkets and stores you can buy packets of napkins/t.p. that come in little packs of 10 packs of 10 sheets. Most bathrooms in China don't have T.P.. If you ever use the toilet and don't have it, better take off your underwear/t-shirt, rip it up as best you can, and use the material for t.p.. Most public bathrooms don't have toilets, instead they have those "squat hole" things, and a basket for you to put your used t.p. in. Also, unless you are staying in a fairly nice hotel, most private residences and public restaurants don't have the "porcelain goddesses" we in the west are used to. They use the straddle trench thing. So, if you can't squat to take a crap, I would not recommend coming to China unless you are only staying in a nice hotel with a toilet.
WATER - you can brush your teeth with tap water, just don't drink it.
LANGUAGE - very few people speak English, although most young people (sub-25) are learning it. If you really want to make the most of your trip, better study a little Chinese before you go. Even better, meet some Chinese friends on the internet, like Skype, and have them help you while you are in China. Also, if you don't speak much Chinese, and plan to buy stuff from street vendors/marketplaces, best to carry a calculator with you so you can punch in the price you want to pay and they can punch in the price they will sell it for.
MONEY - China is relatively inexpensive to Americans. 100RMB = about $13.50... 100 RMB will buy you 10 beers at a restaurant, or 30 beers from a store. 100 RMB will buy one person a very nice meal at a sit-down restaurant... my girlfriend and I ate like royalty at many restaurants in Dalian (which is considered an expensive city) and many times the bill was under 150 RMB including a few beers.
That's a good start I guess. Good luck and contact me if you have any ???s.
Reply to this helo, if you want to learn basic chinese, please contact with me! I am from China. and also for the travel information.
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