translated from Spanish: Travelling to China: What you need to know so you don’t complicate your stay

China is often considered a destination that is difficult to travel to by a variety of factors. Beyond the language, the cultural differences are several, so maybe it’s good to prepare in advance in some aspects and get to know others for when you’re there. This is a guide to tips for those who want to travel to this country and take a good experience of their visit to a culture so different from ours.
The language barrier
When you travel, communication allows you to understand people, ask and perform all the daily actions. However, what happens when the majority of the population only speaks their local language and there is no common language?
In China, most people do not speak English (although the one who does speak the past few years has increased) so it is very difficult to engage in a fluid conversation with the population. Moreover, almost all instructions and signage are written in Chinese and very few translated into another language so it is also not easy to guide yourself.
The most practical thing is to always carry the cell phone with a translator to be able to ask questions to the people as they usually
respond through this mechanism.
Internet access
There are two problems for easy access. On the one hand, while most places have wifi, it is very difficult to access them because usually the passwords are in Chinese. That’s why it’s recommended to keep a previously purchased roaming plan so you don’t have any problems.
Some people buy a prepaid chip, however, in that case you have to find a suitable one with a compatible phone company.
Although China is a world powerhouse in technology, travelling there has a major connectivity problem, as the most
currently used in the West such as Google, Gmail and Facebook are completely blocked, as are apps like Twitter, Instagram and Whatssap.
What can be done then if you want to visit this country without being completely isolated from social networks or want to make use of these pages? Carry from before installed on your phone the Virtual Private Network (VPN) system either free or paid that allows you to unlock these pages when you connect it. Corresponds to a secure extension of the local area network over a public or uncontrolled network such as the Internet. This system, however, needs to have access to the internet and in many parts of China no longer works because they have it detected or simply operate very slow. An example is Beijing, where this system occasionally works depending on the VPN you have and the area you are in, but nothing can ensure 100% effective operation.

When food is a problem
The food of our country’s Chinese restaurants is very different from the real one. There they eat different things because the culture is very different and if you are not willing to try new things you will probably find yourself in serious trouble. On the other hand, if you’re not lucky enough to find an English menu, you probably won’t know what you’re eating either.
Your situation can get hugely worse if you’re vegetarian or vegan because most meals contain animals and it’s very difficult to find those that don’t contain.
Mostly Chinese food is made up of seafood, different parts of animals and mixtures of steam-boiled vegetables with many hot sauces. There are also many exotic elements that we are not used to and that may seem in bad taste like insects, scorpions and turtles that can be sold alive to be cooked.
There are few fast food places from well-known international chains. Among the most notable are Mc Donald, KFC and Pizza Hutt. However, there are few locals, they concentrate in the big cities and have elements that distinguish them from the other internationals so their taste is not the one we know either.
Watch out for the cars!
With a population of nearly 1390 million, it is not uncommon for a huge number of cars to run daily through the streets of China. The big cities of the Asian giant are overcrowded with cars and public transport that run day and night without rest. The problem is that often these do not respect road signs or pedestrians so you must
be extremely careful when crossing the streets.
Public transport and taxis, however, work perfectly so it is highly recommended that you make use of these services when you are in this country. In the case of the subway you have endless options to get to almost all places because of the number of lines you have and in the case of taxis you can always haggle the price of the trip so that you do not get overcharged.
Public baths
As a country increasingly open to international tourism, one would not think that bathing would be a problem. It is true that in most tourist and non-tourist places the public baths turn out to be extremely uncomfortable for Westerners because they simply constitute a hole in the floor… and many of them without privacy.

Extreme security
Travelling to China is perhaps one of the safest destinations because the crime rate is very low and also because it seeks to promote tourism and all necessary measures are taken to ensure that foreigners have a comfortable and safe stay.
All those tourist sites very popular have a maximum security law, in which each person who enters the area is rigorously reviewed in conjunction with the things he carries with him. There are security guards everywhere and sometimes people must check in before entering the venue.
At airports there is security checks both to enter and to leave, which allows you to have a total record of the number of people entering each of the locations and ensure that they do not carry with them any items that are prohibited.
Security increases during the holiday period so you should be very careful with what you are transporting. For example, try not to have liquids or lighters in your suitcase when you return (even in checked baggage) as they can open your suitcase to take those items out of you.
Despite the above, China is a country full of history and cultural elements that show us that it is worth visiting and knowing. The wonders of China are endless and the willingness of its people to open up to foreigners is breathtaking. The integration of cultures, mutual respect and the teaching of customs is essential to know more about this country.

Original source in Spanish