18-02-2013, 05:55 PM
If you want to visit China the easy way then you cannot go past Hong Kong. That is the easiest for foreigners (i.e non chinese speakers). Second easiest would be Shanghai. The rest is not very welcoming to be honest.
But it depends on the type of traveller you are. Some people love the adventure of being in a foreign place and almost enjoy the language barrier because it adds to the difficulty of the journey and makes the trip more exciting. Others (like myself) absolutely hate the feeling of being "lost" in a foreign land and would only go to such a place with a tour group or with someone who can speak the local language.
In the city where I am living, I have seen on average, 1 westerner per day. And I would see a few thousand chinese each day. So that gives you some sense of the cultural mix. The main form of transport here is public bus. But none of the signs at the bus stop are in english. And the chinese charachters are pretty impossible to interpret for a westerner. Most taxi drivers would not speak english. So for me I find this very big obstacles. On the other hand, my brother visited china once and visited similar cities and seemed to get around ok. Maybe I just don't have the traveling know-how to overcome these obstacles.
It would kind great if I could just hire a car and drive around but the traffic here is crazy (at least in the city) plus they drive on the right side of the road.
Anyway, I hear the baby crying so gotta run!
Cheers, Glen
But it depends on the type of traveller you are. Some people love the adventure of being in a foreign place and almost enjoy the language barrier because it adds to the difficulty of the journey and makes the trip more exciting. Others (like myself) absolutely hate the feeling of being "lost" in a foreign land and would only go to such a place with a tour group or with someone who can speak the local language.
In the city where I am living, I have seen on average, 1 westerner per day. And I would see a few thousand chinese each day. So that gives you some sense of the cultural mix. The main form of transport here is public bus. But none of the signs at the bus stop are in english. And the chinese charachters are pretty impossible to interpret for a westerner. Most taxi drivers would not speak english. So for me I find this very big obstacles. On the other hand, my brother visited china once and visited similar cities and seemed to get around ok. Maybe I just don't have the traveling know-how to overcome these obstacles.
It would kind great if I could just hire a car and drive around but the traffic here is crazy (at least in the city) plus they drive on the right side of the road.
Anyway, I hear the baby crying so gotta run!
Cheers, Glen