First Trip to China

karTER · March 2009

Looking for advice on our first visit to this fascinating country.

We will be travelling from Hong Kong in April, where we aim to arrange visas and wonder what the procedure is- how long can we stay, how much will the visa cost, etc. We will be travelling for about a month, if we can.

Are there any restrictions on what we can bring in? We use a laptop and don't want this to cause difficulty at the border. Is internet connection generaly available and which UK sites are blocked? We write a daily Blog and usually visit some British papers such as the Times & Telegraph- will access be denied? Also we need access to our online UK bank.

We will be going to Guilin. Any tips or recommendations? What kind of temperatures can we expect and will we have language problems? We can only converse in English & German and French at a push.

Any advice will be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks.

Zoechina · March 2009

For application of Chinese visa, this site: www.fmcoprc.gov.hk/eng/zgqz/ may help you.

There are restrictions on how much liquid you can bring on the plane. You can bring your laptop. There are no foreign sites blocked.

Guilin will be turning warm in April and you probably will have language problem since you don't know Chinese. But it's ok. You can ask for the Chinese names of the tourist attractions you want to visit and show them to the cab driver.

May you have a good time in China.

karTER · March 2009

Appreciate your help- great link. Thanks.

Guest · March 2009

I am travelling to Canton Fair in Guangzhou China, I need to visit Nanjing, Santou in Guangdong and also Yangdong.Can you please give experet opinion of best way to do this. I have allowed 7 days for this also for my business visa I have been asked for itinery and invitation lettters from Chinese trading companies, do I have to provide invitaion letter for all companies I intend to visit or will one do. Also for my itinery does it have to be exact showing all hotels booked etc. or is it just a general itinery.

karTER · March 2009

Not familiar with a business visa but we now have our tourist visa, valid for one month.

On the application form we had to give details of our itinerary but it was only rough as we're not sure of our plans yet and we had no problem getting the visa.

It was very expensive though- we applied for ours in Hong Kong and it cost us HK$600 each, about £55. It is half price in Macau apparently.

Hope you enjoy your trip

karTER · April 2009

Sadly we will shortly be coming to the end of our first tour of China and we cannot use you on this occasion. Had we known earlier, we would definitely have considered your offer as this would have made our first stay even more memorable.

Good luck in your venture and perhaps we will meet up another time?

karTER · May 2009

Thanks for the advice. We may use this on our next visit.

karTER · May 2009

Greatly appreciate all the comments but we've now left China having had a marvellous time in Guanzhou, Guilin & Yangshuo (we also had time in Hong Kong & Macau).

What can I say? It's a great country with marvellous people and we're already looking forward to coming back in the years to come.

karTER · June 2009

Thanks for commenting and good luck with your business.

Guest · August 2009

Hopefully going to cHINA IN LESS THAN 3 WEEKS TIME , can't wait!! in process of applying for Visa.

Just checking the Net for cheap flights , i found Air China £563 pounds for a single....no stops ... Do you know if i can find other cheap flights.

Also can you take a 3 month supply of contact soultion with you ???

karTER · August 2009

I'm assuming you're flyin from the UK, which means I have no idea about flights as we've been out of the country for over three years. Air Asia is the best airline we have found in Asia but I'm not sure of how much coverage it has in China- very little I'd imagine. However, AA from Stansted, Essex (UK) to Kuala Lumpur is cheap and you can always fly on from KL to China. Check out their website.

Re the contact solution, you can carry it in your hold luggage, but I wouldn't bring so much as you can buy it there.

Enjoy your trip.

karTER · February 2010

Of course there are many more places to visit in China- it's huge and we'll be back for more, probably next year (2011).

Guest · March 2010

so, flying to HK on the 24th of April and leaving HK on the 5th of May. We want to go to Shang Hai in between there (we have family there). What do I need to do regarding visas? Can I apply in HK? Would you happen to know how much? and how long we will have to wait?

Guest · March 2010

Hi,we would like to visit china - Guangzhou specifically for shopping in April. Any advise as to where to go for bargains? Thanks.MT

MR.1 · April 2010

I suggest you be aware of your money, thieves love you tourists.

karTER · May 2010

We stayed in Guilin and loved it.

China Tours · May 2010

Hi KarTER?Warm greetings from Cindy from Gulin, China :)

It's great to learn that you and yours enjoyed youselves in Guilin. It is indeed a place that is worthy of a second time. (Personally, I like Yangshuo best and never tired of visiting there:) )

If you and yours are planning to take another trip to China and need our help, just feel free to let us know and we will be very willing to be your friend and guide in China.

Have a lovely day!

karTER · May 2010

We spent around 9 days in Yangshuo and it was fun, but we still preferred Guilin. Better accommodation, much bigger and plenty to see and do. Yangshuo was charming but 3 nights would have been enough. Check our Blog if you want to know how we got on: www.ktelontour.blogspot.com - I think we were there April 2009.

We will definitely be back but next time we want to see Shanghai and Beijing- probably next year.

China Tours · May 2010

Nice to meet you again Kar TER

Your last trip to China sounds great! I'm quite interested in what you have experienced in China and I have tried several times to visit your blog but unfortunetely always failed to do it

I'm not sure waht's wrong... Anyway, nice to know that you like touring China. Wish you and yours a wonderful trip in China next time

Guest · March 2011

A trip to China will always be remembered. You do not want to spoil your trip with an overpriced airline ticket that will hang over your head. If you are worried about the price of airline tickets, You might want to check on http://www.asia.com/cheap-flights-country/China to make sure that you get cheap flights to China

Guest · April 2011

please find the travel infomation about China:
http://chinatrip.chinaeu.de/

Guest · April 2011

Hi,

September will be my first trip to beutiful Thailand. I need a contact person to show me around, can anybody assist please?

Regards

chinaeu · May 2011

http://blog.chinaeu.de/index.php/2011/04/how-to-plan-the-first-trip-to-china/

mona88 · October 2011

Well, Guilin is a great travel resort. The weather is medium and comfortable. And don't worry about language problems, as English has become a universal language. I suggest you find a tour guide.

Sophia_China · October 2011

I would highly recommend travelling to yangshuo, Guilin

China.travel.plan · October 2011

I liked Yangshuo in the Guilin area but wouldn't recommend Guilin itself. It is a big city with lots of traffic and not any different to any Chinese city.

Yangshuo however, is beautiful, with limestone Karst Mountains as a backdrop. It is a really peaceful place to head to after visiting the big cities of Beijing, Xi'an etc. I would recommend staying outside of the town, in one of the villages nearby and just head into town when and if you need to.

You can do cookery classes, Kung fu classes etc in Yangshuo - I would highly recommend it!

Guest · November 2011

How do i get to Longjian Shude foshan from Guanghzou airport, whats the distance is it and the best means of transport

aron · August 2012

i dont recomend traveling via hong kong. i say, just fly directly into the mainland. you waste time, and money by going through hong kong. hk hotels are 3 times more than the mainland.

james5 · September 2012

China is very large country and many good places in china to visit.

triper44 · December 2012

Guilin is warm in April, but it rains frequently.

you won't have problems to access most websites, while blogger.com, facebook or twitter are blocked in mainland. The internet link, mainland china don't have free wifi all the time. some cafes, hotels have that

Take a travel guide book like lonely planet, you won't have problems for sightseeing in China

james5 · December 2012

China is very big country in Asia and many best visiting places are in china.

Howdy, Stranger!

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First Trip to China

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