Can you travel independently in china

However, for those US travelers who love challenges, China will definitely impress you a lot. Besides, you may have more free time to explore the real China on your own. Why to join a tour group to China from the US? No language barrier. Even though there are English signs in most of places, language barrier will still be a big problem during your China trip.

Convenient transportation. For solo travelers, you might spend plenty of time on how to get to your hotel and each attraction, sometimes you might waste some time on the road. Save money. Usually joining a group tour may save a lot of your money, especially if you choose a group tour.

Our professional travel advisor will suggest the most valuable hotel and transportation based on your budget. Experience more interesting activities. Without researching Chinese history and culture, your guide will tell you about all the information according to your preference. Meanwhile, you can experience more fun cultural activities, like learning Chinese painting and calligraphy, and joining cooking class.

Overall, tour groups in China are a very positive experience for travelers who want that kind of travel. China Highlights : A reliable tour operator that also offers help with China train tickets and flights. China Odyssey Tours : Odyssey offers amazing tour packages that cater to specific interests.

I know there are a few luxury travelers who prefer to experience the most amazing parts of China with unbelievable comfort. Each traveler is different. Many of these we figured out for ourselves while traveling. This is the most important step in planning a trip to China. Without a Visa you will not be allowed to enter the country if you are a US citizen. On the application, you will need to provide your travel dates, travel itinerary, and proof of onward travel.

The application must be typed with no hand written corrections or it will not be accepted. For full details on filling out the application, plus the link to obtain the visa application, visit the China Embassy website.

For travelers planning a layover or a short stop in China, you may qualify for a 72 hour visa. Learn more here. There were periods where I was even blocked from this Earth Trekkers website. It can be incredibly frustrating, especially during long term travel, to lose access to websites used to stay in touch with people back at home.

It worked fairly well but it was not perfect. While in Shanghai I was totally unable to access this website although I could still get onto Facebook. Still, it was worth having this service. Without it I would have spent one month in China without any access to the outside world. Please note, make sure you purchase the VPN before getting to China. China blocks access to the VPN companies so you will be out of luck trying to purchase one if you are already in China.

You can read more about these in the comment section below. If you plan on only visiting the larger cities like Beijing and Shanghai you will be able to get by with English.

The younger generations can speak basic English and many are eager to help out when necessary, from our experience. If you plan on visiting the smaller cities off the main tourist trail, such as Zhangjiajie and Yangshuo, speaking basic Mandarin is invaluable. Plus, a simple ni hao hello or xie xie thank you is much appreciated.

To speak in full sentences and attempt a simple conversation made us many friends in China. This is a country where people really appreciated our efforts to speak their language and these moments are some of our favorite memories from China. There are a lot of language learning apps and computer programs to choose from. Tyler and I used Fluenz to learn basic Mandarin. We started the program one year before our trip to China. I have also used Fluenz to learn Spanish, French, and a little German.

It also helps to have a Chinese translate app on your phone. We used this to communicate many times as well. Countless times we sat down at a restaurant and were handed a menu with only Chinese characters. This led to us randomly picking out dishes, hoping for the best.

This is a gamble in China, since it is very common for all kinds of animal anatomy to make it onto your plate. Once in the bigger cities, menus in English, or at least with pictures, became much more commonplace. This is an update of our 32 tips for solo travel to China that was originally published in It has been extensively revised and expanded.

I hope these tips help you have a fabulous trip to China. But learning this does put one in one's place. We are the outsiders. We are the guests. And we should learn how to behave. Hopefully the tips below, which were gathered with the help of my fellow travelers, will help you navigate and negotiate China with grace as well as greater ease. And though we had the benefit of an expert resident in each city and a local trip leader, we still noticed many things ourselves about traveling China that would be helpful to know before arriving.

So, at one dinner, I got everyone brainstorming for this post.