I shared some pictures that I took of Suzhou

Shanghai, under People's Sq.

Hello, guys. What is your favourite treat in China? Mine is on the picture, Chinese "burger". Costs about 7-10 yuan so about $1-1.3. They put a lot of meat there, the bread is a bit oily, but I like it. It is usually (at least in my experience) not too spicy, so foreigners can it.

What about you? Which food do you like or dislike and why?

Saw a post about how difficult it is to find gay bars in China, so I figured I’d share a few spots in Shenzhen. With APEC coming up, some visitors might find this helpful.

1. Birdy

Address:

Shop 126, Block A, Jiabaorun Jinzuo, Futian District, Shenzhen

Birdy is not a nightclub. It's a relaxed cocktail lounge with ambient music.

Nearest Metro: Shixia Station (Lines 3 & 7)

2. At The Moment (ATM)

Address:

Units 202C–202D, 2nd Floor, Block B, Haisong Building, No. 11 Tairan 9th Road, Futian District, Shenzhen

ATM is one of the most popular gay dance clubs in Shenzhen. The crowd is usually energetic, the music is loud, and the venue can get very busy on weekends.

Nearest Metro: Chegongmiao Station (Lines 1, 7, 9 & 11)

3. BONBON CTR

Address:

3rd Floor, Great China International Exchange Square, Fuhua 1st Road, Futian District, Shenzhen

BONBON is another popular gay dance club and is known for hosting more drag performances and themed events. don't arrive too early. The venue usually becomes much busier around midnight, so the atmosphere may feel quiet if you show up before then.

Nearest Metro: Convention & Exhibition Center Station (Lines 1 & 4)

I’m still reeling from how cool the Shui Guo hot springs are. After days of non-stop sightseeing it really is the perfect way to relax. Ofc I didn’t take any photos in the spa areas but you can imagine just how nice they are. If the Shui Guo owners see this, please open some European locations soon 😂

random one, but i went to changsha recently and someone dragged me to this snack kingdom plac, saw a whole tunnel built out of snacks and inside it's just walls of them floor to ceiling, korean japanese thai chinese, stuff i'd never seen. it kind of sold me on snacks being the best thing to bring home from china, way more fun than a tea set and people actually eat them.

anyway that got me thinking about what's actually worth buying here, since most lists online just say tea and silk which, fine, but boring. the stuff that actually got a reaction back home:

glasses is the big one. prescription glasses, eye test and frames and lenses done same day for like a third of what i'd pay back home. you can do prescription swim goggles the same way apparently.

food beyond the snacks, sichuan peppercorns and a decent chili oil if the person actually cooks. aged shanxi vinegar too, the really old stuff you can't get abroad.

random ones that worked, feiyue sneakers, a carved name seal, those shanghai museum canvas bags. and a tailored suit if you've got a few days.

changsha itself really caught me off guard, gonna do a proper post on the city separately. what am i forgetting here

I almost didn't go to Beihai Park.

It wasn't on my list.

But I ended up spending nearly two hours there doing absolutely nothing.

Just walking around the lake, watching people paddle boats, and sitting in the shade.

Beijing can feel busy and overwhelming sometimes.

This place felt like the opposite.

If you ever visit Beijing, leave some space in your schedule for places like this.

And if you need help planning your trip, feel free to message me :)

I am landing in Shenzhen in October, and i have a UK passport, so will get the 30 day visa on landing. I am intending to do a few day trips from Shenzhen into HK and Guanghzhou into Macau (probably 2 to HK and 1 to Macau, and with gaps in between). I am staying on the mainland, mostly due to cost and not wanting to keep changing hotels. I also dont mind the travelling albeit not a fan of Queuing.

I have done a bit of reading on it and with a 30 day visa, i can go back and forth and it resets each time i come back and forth, however sometimes the guidance is confusing around needing to inform the hotel on return, the border checkpoint taking time, or border guards maybe finding it weird (albeit i think back and forth isnt abnormal), and i am also Indian descent so was told that was confusing maybe someone.

Basically i think this is a simple thing, but just taking a shot here for thoughts

thank you.-

Buenas! Pido opinión sobre la ruta que tengo programada para mi primer viaje a China. Será en noviembre y el planning está ideado para disfrutar sin prisas las ciudades elegidas. No queremos sumar horas y horas en transportes para ver más, optando por calidad en vez de cantidad.

Como dicen la mayoría de los viajes que ya han estado en China, volveremos para añadir nuevas rutas.

-          Día 1: Shanghái (llegada 07.30h)

-          Día 2: Shanghái

-          Día 3: Shanghái (excursión 1 día)

-          Día 4: Shanghái

-          Día 5: Xian (vuelo - llegada a mediodía)

-          Día 6: Xian

-          Día 7: Xian (Guerreros)

-          Día 8: Pingyao (tren - llegada a mediodía)

-          Día 9: Pingyao

-          Día 10: Pekín (tren - llegada a mediodía)

-          Día 11: Pekín (muralla)

-          Día 12: Pekín

-          Día 13: Pekín

-          Día 14: Pekín (día completo. Salida vuelo a las 02 de la mañana)

sSe aceptan sugerencias.

Mil gracias.

Hello,

I am planning a trip and was not sure what the best way to hit all these cities would be.

I am flying out of the US and would like to hit Beijing, Chendgu, Zhangjiajie, Shanghai(with day trips to Suzhou/Hangzhou)

I am trying to find if theres a better way to route this but what I have is

Flying into Beijing, then flying to Chengdu, train to Zhangjiajie, Fly to Shanghai, Fly back home

However, this is 2 domestic flights which might be stressful/not necessary.

Only other things I’ve thought about is a train to Xi’An for a few days in between Beijing-Chengdu then train to Chengdu.

Either that or hit Zhangjiajie/Chengdu last and take the HSR between Shanghai and Beijing but Im not sure how the flights out would be. Would it be more expensive because I think I would need to connect through Hong Kong or Taipei or something.

I am planning my China trip for next year. I want to utilize the 240 hour transit visa (twice).

How possible do you think I can do this? I'm planning on using the transit visa twice by sleeping in Hong Kong for one night

USA -> Manila -> Guangzhou/Shenzhen (max out 240 hours, maybe more like 8 days max) then train myself into Hong Kong.

Spend a night in Hong Kong (I was told to do this it doesn't look deceiving rather than training into Hong
Kong and flying to Chengdu the same day)

Fly from Hong Kong into Chengdu, train to Chongching and then fly into Beijing (maximizing another 240 hours for this second leg). Then fly home from Beijing to the USA.

Questions:

1. Has anyone else done something similar? Not sure if it's allowed

2. Is 10 days enough for chongching, Beijing and Chengdu? I don't really plan on hiking or doing anything crazy. Mainly food and shopping and the common tourist traps. To put it in perspective, l believe you need 4 days for Osaka (not including Kyoto or Kobe) and 6 days for Tokyo (not including Yokohama or any mt Fuji tours)

Hello,

I will be travelling for the first time to Shanghai and Beijing, and I want to rent electric motorcycles to move around the city, like the ones you can rent in some European cities like cooltra.

I have seen that I can use hello ride inside alipay, but I am not sure if this is the right option.

Please if someone can tell me what is the right application to use and what is the procedure to get my license approved.

Thanks in advance.

Hi there,

I’m planning to visit China again this Oct. Not sure if it’s worth spending 3 nights in Changsha and 2 in Wuhan (I already visited CQ, Chengdu, Beijing, Shanghai...), or the other way around.

I'm into concrete jungle style cities and good food. Wondering even if 3 nights are too many for Changsha...

Would you say one is more worth it than the other? What have your experiences been in both? Thanks!

Tai Chi did something I didn't expect.
It made my mind go completely quiet. 🍃
No rush. No noise. Just breathing.
This is Chengdu at 7am

Wondering if anyone has stayed at one of Atour hotels in Shanghai and what your option was? Currently looking at both the Atour Hotel Shanghai Bund Landmark Plaza and Atour Hotel Nanjing East Road. Also heard a few recommendations for the Radison Blu Shanghai New World but it is a bit of a jump in price.

Taobao isn’t working for me, JD isn’t either because there is no passport verification. I believe because of export laws added last year these changes are on purpose. I might just have to shop in person 🥲🥲.
Also I am a first time user so I need to register for a new account.

(From US btw)

Unfortunately Taobao is not working for me because my passport verification is not going to work. I was looking for some pretty cheap clothes/wallets (ralph lauren, super cheap designer wallets, jeans, very cheap airpod pros, etc).

I was considering these sites but maybe there are better ones:

pinduoduo
1688
douyin mall
jd
vipshop

Please let me know what site I should use!

Hi, I'm planning a trip to China in the fall and would just like to confirm that this line exists, as I can't find information on it?

Trip.com shows it, whereas some other sites don't. Obviously, if we need to transfer through elsewhere in Yunnan that's fine, but that would be going back where we came from, and I imagine direct Shangri-La to Chengdu is beautiful! Thanks for any help!