I think the biggest piece of advice anyone out of college would give is to travel while you’re young (and in college). I’ve heard it a number of times. From friends, family, family friends, professors, etc. Having seen my friends study abroad for months at a time and knowing that my elders are wiser than I, I’ve realized that it’s time for me to travel. So, I’m going to China…
I’ve been out of the country a few times. Twice to New Zealand and a number of times to Canada. It had been a while since I’d traveled though so here’s my first lesson before I even left:
Passports take many weeks to be renewed
Mom constantly reminded me and I constantly put if off. I then realized I needed my passport back in less than a month and the processing can take up to 8 weeks. Oops. That mistake cost me a few extra bucks to have it expedited.
You can’t really do your own photo
The guidelines for passport photos are all online and very easy to follow. But, little did I know, this is really just a joke. You can’t take your own passport photos. They laugh at whatever you bring in. I printed the right size, perfect quality, but nope… don’t bother. Pay the extra $15 at the Post Office to get it done.
You have to be invited to China
I knew that you had to have permission (and good reason) to move to India but I didn’t realize you needed an invitation to visit China. I’ll be traveling with a tour group so that was obviously taken care of. In any case, I didn’t realize a Visa was needed to visit China.
Credit cards don’t work in China
I can leave the Visa, MasterCard and AmEx at home. Despite what the commercials say, these guys are not accepted everywhere. Lots of Traveler’s Checks are to be purchased today. As they say, Cash is king.
So, any last minute advice, tips, anything? I get on the plane early tomorrow morning and I plan to return with great pictures, stories and lessons. Of course, I’ll share them all. See you in April…
1. Unless you passport committed a crime in another country, I’m fairly certain that it needed to be expedited, not extradited…
2. People who work at the post office are bureaucratic and inefficient? What?
3. No credit cards… wow.
I didn’t proof-read this one very well. I even misspelled traveling. Sigh..
Sounds like it will be a pretty sweet trip!
Good luck, have fun, and be safe!
I told my friend to leave a comment here, but he hasn’t had a chance to. He’s been to China a few times, but he said it kind of depends where you go that will affect what will be accepted. (In terms of money.)
Have an awesome trip, man!
China is amazing! I’m sure you’ll have a great time! My tip? If you can, get someone in your group who speaks Chinese to barter for things for you, or better yet, just get them to instigate and complete the whole transaction. Everything costs 5x more if you’re American. Also, I don’t remember not being able to use plastic–I’m pretty sure I had my visa with me everywhere I went. Anyway, hope you have an awesome time!
China is one of my favorite places to visit. You will have a great time there. I was able to use my ATM visa card in China, but that was BeiJing. Oh Ya… Always keep your money on you and out of sight. Either in a money waist belt that can be tucked into your pants or one that goes around your neck that you can tuck into your shirt. I have been there every summer for the last 6 summers, and only twice has something happened where a person from our group had money and passport stolen. A female teacher had her wallet & passport stolen and the other time one of our male teachers had his stolen. His money pouch was tied to his belt loop and then stuffed into his front pant’s pocket and somebody cut the rope that it was tied with and took the pouch from his pocket without him knowing.
So just remember to keep it with you and try not to pull out to much money when you are bartering. The more they see the higher the price and more shadows will follow you. Oh ya keep your driver’s license with you. This helped to get a new passport both times that I had to accompany the people to the American Embassy. I don’t want to scare you but just keep all of your bases covered. For the most part most of the Chinese are friendly towards Americans; especially if you are African-American. Sorry for the essay on China Travel Tips… Have a great time and just like in Mexico don’t drink the water!
Thanks everyone. The trip was great and Pete, your suggestions all rang true. Of a group of 50 nobody had any issues with theft (in fact it is statistically very low in Beijing and Shanghai) so we got lucky.
Thank goodness the hotels provided two complimentary bottles of water every day. ;)