Traveling to China from the U.S. FAQs

My brother, Noah, has studied Chinese for nearly a decade since high school. He majored in Chinese Language and Culture at Washington University in St. Louis. He’s traveled to China multiple times including Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Xi’an, and Kunming  — a lot of the major cities on the east coast, and some in other regions — and has lived in China for multiple months at a time. So this is a traveling to China from the U.S. FAQ, which will help you out if you’re vacationing there, going on study abroad, or living there as foreigner.

Q: As an American, what’s the permit/visa process

A: Americans have to get a visa to tour in China. There are five consulates in the United States that issue them: New York, NY; Chicago, IL; San Francisco, CA; Los Angeles, CA; Houston, TX. You don’t have to appear in person; you can complete forms for a travel agency to apply on your behalf with your passport. You can also pay one time for a 10-year tourism visa. It’s very easy to get a visa for tourism or study to China. If you fly through certain airports and transit to a third country or region, you might also qualify for a 144-hour (six day) visa-free travel permit on arrival in the Chinese airport at no cost, which could be a great way to see some major sites if, say, you’re going to Japan and choose to layover for a few days in Beijing. 

Q: As a tourist where should you go to travel?

A: It’s hard to not suggest Beijing and Shanghai. Those are the largest airports, and Beijing is a hub for many flights into Asia  is certainly the most traveled destination since it’s near the Great Wall and is home to Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, etc. 

Shanghai is another great city for tourists, there is amazing architecture—my favorite in China— great food, and shopping. It’s also a great spot along the railway for day trips to other smaller, beautiful cities such as Suzhou, Yangzhou, Hangzhou, and Nanjing—all of which are quick and cheap train rides away from Shanghai. If you like to see many cities when you travel, I’d suggest basing your trip in Shanghai and not Beijing. 

Q: Talk about finding good flights.

A: I use Google Flights, and I just put in “China” in general with my date ranges because I’m usually open to traveling anywhere. There are often incredible discounts for flights to China these days. As low as $300 round-trip is not unheard of, especially if you fly out of LAX or NYC. More common is in the range of $600-$800 round-trip. Summer prices can exceed $1,000. Beijing (PEK) is usually the cheapest airport to fly into (though not always). Cheapest times to fly are often in April and October. Never, ever fly during the Chinese New Year, since prices and airport crowding make the Thanksgiving rush look like child’s play. 

China Air and other Chinese airlines typically offer the cheapest flights. I find the experience of flying an international Chinese airline similar to most major US airlines (except Chinese airlines have bad, bad coffee). Also customer service for Chinese airlines is wonderful—better than most US airlines—if you speak Chinese. It might be slightly more frustrating if you don’t, however, since most Chinese airlines have very few foreign staff. 

Q: What are some of the typical tourist-y things to do?

A: The Great Wall of China is a few hours from Bejing. If you don’t have great command of Chinese, I recommend using a tourism agency to get there. Your options are to find a taxi driver who is willing to take you there, or ride a bus for 2 ⅓ hours which could be confusing if you don’t speak the language. There are groups like China Highlight and C Trip that can take you to the tourist attractions stress-free. 

Q: What’s cost of living like for a tourist?

A: In general, it’s lower than the United States and your dollar will go far. You can easily find a lunch for $3-4 USD. Fancier dining is of course more expensive, but you can definitely find places to stretch your budget far. Also keep in mind that the cheapest food is Chinese food. If you go to a sit-down Italian restaurant for example, you will pay significantly more. 

China is, though, more expensive than southeast Asia, places like Thailand, where backpackers tend to travel for the incredibly low cost. If you’re in Beijing and Shanghai, expect to not have much trouble finding food that is cheaper than the US, but don’t expect to be talking all the time about how inexpensive everything is. 

Q: What do you do for cash/cards when you’re visiting China?

China’s major cities might be some of the only places on Earth where cash is definitely not king. Locals rarely carry cash, and many don’t even use credit cards, preferring instead to pay through apps like Wechat or Alipay (similar to Apple Pay or Venmo).

While all vendors, cab drivers, and business operators are still legally required to accept your little red bills, you might run into trouble with street carts or taxi drivers not being able to find you the right amount of change. I was once late to a meeting because my cab driver had to drive around the block to buy a Coke so he could get me my change!  I’ve also seen an increase in situations like “this subway station only has a machine that lets you add money to your transportation card with Alipay” or “this vending machine does not take cash.”

Until recently, both Wechat and Alipay required Chinese bank accounts to use. But now foreign bank accounts can set up Alipay. The best part is, Alipay allows offline payments, so you shouldn’t even need international data or a Chinese SIM card to make it work. Using this app will definitely save you a lot of hassle.

If you do want to stick with cash, try to carry around small denominations (10s, 20s) for your cab fare or lunch if you want to avoid eye rolls when you whip out your crisp 100 RMB note (approximately USD$20.)

Q: Tell us about your favorite Chinese food?

A: The different regions have really different types of food, on a much more extreme scale than in the United States (where we have Southern food specialties, etc.) China is a very geographically complicated place and there are very diverse cultures in the different parts of the country with different spices that make up the cuisine. 

A lot of my food favorites come from Nanjing. There is a great food chain restaurant all over China  called Nanjing Dapaidang.

It has an amazing salted duck dish, duck blood noodles (which are delicious!), and a sour plum lemonade-type drink (suanmeitang) that is very refreshing. It has soy sauce noodles, soup dumplings (xiaolongbao), and all my classic favorites. When I lived there, I was taken to this restaurant by four separate locals who each claimed this is the most authentic place. 

When I was in Kunming, they have a very famous dish guoqiao mixian which translates to “over the bridge noodles” and it has a ton of different goodies in it. It can very be spicy. 

In Xi’an, you’ll find roujiamo which is sometimes called “Chinese hamburger” — it can be either beef or lamb (I prefer the lamb) with cumin and other spices, in a small bun. You can find this dish and others I had in Xi’an in New York Chinatown.

Of course in Beijing you can get Peking roast duck and amazing dumplings. If you go to Beijing or Shanghai, you can often find decent restaurants in the style of other Chinese regions, like Sichuan, Nanjing, or Xinjiang. The food of far western areas like Xinjiang is often called “qingzhen” food, which is the Chinese word for halal, due to that area’s high population of Muslims. There is usually great lamb fried rice, kabobs, and yogurt at qingzhen restaurants. 

Q: What’s the ordering experience like if you don’t know Chinese?

A: Most restaurants will have big pictures on the menus of the dish. This is something my Chinese friends miss when traveling to the States because names of dishes are so hard to translate, the pictures are way more helpful. Like the example of ‘over the bridge noodles’ — who knows what that is without a picture?

Q: Anything else people should know about dining in China?

A: I’ve never had any food safety issues or food poisoning in China. Do keep in mind that tap water is not safe to drink and you should be careful with fresh fruit. But I have eaten a lot of fresh fruit and street food when I lived there and not had issues. 

In Shanghai, the food safety bureau puts giant signs of a 🙂 or :/ or 🙁 on every restaurant. The funny thing is, nearly every restaurant gets the :/ rating, even the very nice ones. About the only time I saw the 🙂 was at a McDonalds! And a restaurant on the Michelin star recommendation list still had only a :/. So I’m a little dubious about the rating, but I have eaten out loads and never been sick. I have spent most of my time in major cities, though, which is important to note. 

Q: Tell us more about that?

A: The urban – rural divide is huge. I have spent some time in rural areas, but have only lived or spent long periods of time in big cities. My comments about food safety and ordering really apply to the big cities. However, as an American tourist, you’re likely to stick to major cities. 

In rural areas, English can be a challenge. Sometimes even Mandarin can be a challenge, depending on where you are, so even if you are an intermediate Mandarin speaker, rural areas may be more difficult to communicate. They might understand you better than you can understand their accent or dialect. 

Q: You were gluten-free living in China for some time, so can you talk about living there on a restricted diet, such as GF, or vegetarian? 

A: I was eating gluten-free diet, but I don’t have celiac disease. So it wasn’t a medical issue if I ate gluten. That being said, it was a struggle. Cross-contamination is not really a common  concept when eating out in China. Also, soy sauce has wheat in it, so most of the prepared Chinese dishes will have soy sauce, or a similar sauce, or be prepared in the same cookware. A common thing is that half the menu is rice and half the menu is noodles, and you choose your toppings for either. So, even if you’re getting rice, it will be prepared right there with the noodles. If you have a serious gluten allergy, it will be difficult to eat out. You will probably want to stay in an apartment and buy groceries. 

As for other restrictions, if you’re in Shanghai, which is a very international city, vegetarianism will be quite a bit easier. The word for veganism that I know basically just  means “strict vegetarian,” so I’m not sure how easily that concept is communicated. But in general, you’ll find a lot of veggie and tofu dishes. You just need to confirm they are meatless, because some tofu dishes also have ground pork. Additionally, Chinese scrambled eggs are so good! You can get tomatoes and/or spinach in your scrambled eggs and it’s delicious. 

It would be pretty easy if you’re pescatarian. I’ve had a lot of the best seafood and shrimp of my life in China. Know that if you’re ordering fish, it will usually come out with the fish head and the bones — the head is the best part! But you  will need to dig out tiny fish bones. 

Q: Now tell us about the coffee and tea situation! 

A: I know coffee is very important to Emily when she travels. China is obviously very known for its tea, but the funny thing is it’s not “in vogue” for young Chinese people — it’s more of  a grandma and grandpa thing. Bubble tea / boba or milk tea is hip — you’re set there. It’s everywhere. 

I love tea, but my Chinese friends often think I’m a huge dork for going to the tea mart and the tea shops. It’s kind of a funny tourist experience, but I love the tea, so I go!

I also drink coffee on a daily basis. If you’re living in China for an extended time, you need a way to make it at home. If you’re traveling there and you’re on a budget, consider taking an aeropress which packs down really easily. There’s great coffee in China, but it is expensive. 

For example, your average Starbucks to-go coffee could run $3.50 (24 RMB) for an Americano . If you go to a nicer coffee shop, a plain black coffee can run $7-9 USD. I think I’ve even spent up to $10 USD for a really good cup of just plain black coffee at a coffee shop. This is because most of the coffee is expensive to import. 

The last time I was in Shanghai, I drank this amazing coffee grown in Yunnan (Yunnan was one of the first places I went in China!). Yunnan is historically a place that grows tea called pu’er  which is a thick black, earthy tea. But now they’re growing coffee there too. They dry the beans in the same technique they’ve used on the tea for many generations. Even though this is domestically-grown, it’s kind of a specialty and you can only get it in hip coffee shops, so it’s still a bit expensive compared to the U.S., but very good. Shanghai has a pretty big coffee scene, all part of its “xiaozi” petty bourgeois brand, but it’s never cheap. 

Q: What’s it like to use public transit? Cost? Ease? General tips?

A: Public transit is extremely convenient in China. The cities all have a subway system far better than any in the United States. The Shanghai subway system is the longest in the world. The subway systems in every Chinese city I’ve visited, small and large, has been very clean and efficient. So much cleaner than New York, by leaps and bounds. There are also huge arrows that tell you where to go, and the directions are always in both English and Chinese. Plus, your average subway ride will cost you $.75 USD, and that can get you across town. 

There are three main disadvantages. 1) It’s very crowded. People pack on to the train, so if you’re claustrophobic it’s tough! 2) It’s very hot in the summer in China. The public transit has air conditioning, but it’s still very hot. When I’m walking in China, I actually pack a second shirt because I get so hot and sweaty. 3) Part of the reason it is so clean and efficient is it’s not 24-hours — they clean at the end of the day. You’ll find most trains end around 10pm, and buses around 11pm. There are a few “night buses,” but it’s super rare and you might not feel comfortable waiting for a bus at 2am. 

Q: Speaking of, what’s public safety like?

A: In general it’s a very safe country. I’ve spoken to women—both  tourists and locals—who have confirmed that they also feel very safe. People can’t carry guns, even the police don’t carry guns, so that’s not a concern. There’s not concern being out late, it’s just that if you’re in a foreign country and realize the trains aren’t running that could be a stressful situation. 

Q: Could you catch a taxi? 

A: Taxis are more expensive, but in general they are less expensive than in the U.S. for a taxi. A $7 taxi does start to feel like a lot when you’re used to spending $.75 cents on the subway, though. 

Q: What’s something that you think would surprise tourists who visit China? Why do you think this is a valuable experience?

A: I have met some of the nicest, and most welcoming people in China. This is especially true if you speak even just a little Chinese. People will inevitably be very kind and complimentary about your Chinese. 

I’ve befriended random people and they are very open and want to converse with you — so different than European sensibilities, and even American. We think of ourselves as hospitable, but we’re not welcoming to the point of asking strangers to hang out. Multiple times people have invited me out to dinner, or to hang out with them because they want to practice their English. 

Especially right now in the news, there is a lot of negative energy between China and the United States. The language is more than that  of competition, it’s downright antagonism. But this is not how person-to-person interaction is in China. There is hardly any animosity to the United States that you would experience on a daily level. 

I think it’s valuable to go there because it will remind you when you’re reading news headlines to consider the actual people, not governments. It’s easy to think about a place as an economic force, a military, or a political system, and forget that the place is made up of loads of people. Even within its government, China has people who think differently from one another, those who are more liberal or those who are more conservative, those who are more open to the west and those who are more nationalistic. In general, China is made up of very honest and good people, just like the United States, and  I think that’s why international travel is good and important. It helps us recognize that headlines with broad generalizations are just headlines, which is important to remember in tense times. 

That’s all for now! 

Thanks, Noah, for sharing your travel insights! Until next time — let’s chat on Instagram or Twitter, where I’m @brumeanddaisy. For more travel content, here is my FAQ on backpacking Europe, and a whole bunch more posts on budget travel.