Do’s and Don’ts you should know when traveling in China

I moved to China back in the heady days of 2009, when
Twitter and Google had yet to be blocked and the 2010 World Expo had yet
to wreak its havoc of enforced manners on the unsuspecting citizens of
Shanghai.

I was fortunate to have some contacts in place already, but I
nonetheless found myself wishing that there was a sort of quick and
dirty guide to surviving your first week in China. So I’ve cobbled
together some thoughts and experiences from myself and Shanghai hands
both new and old:

Simple Do's and Don'ts

DON'T drink the tap water

Yep, China is one of those countries. Fortunately, the water is okay
to shower or wash things with, although I've heard crazy stories
about households in China asking nannies to pat-dry each string
bean, cabbage leaf, etc.that they've just washed before cooking with it.

Purified drinking water is plentiful. Bottled water is also about
1rmb/bottle ($0.16/bottle) in rural areas, and no more than 2rmb ($0.32)
in cities, so you won't break the bank just to get clean drinking
water.

DO look several dozen times when crossing the street

Drivers are getting better, but almost everyone behind the
wheel in China is a first generation driver, and bikes, scooters and
badass motorcycle grannies will zoom through lights with no warning.
Plus, it doesn't help that pedestrians never have the right of way.

Even if the light is green, quadruple check as you cross, at least
until you get your China street instincts about you and know when cars
will stop and when they won’t. Until then, it's always a good idea to
see how the locals do it, and if possible, to cross in a pack rather
than going it alone. 

DON'T take the weather for granted

Yes, even the weather in China is different. In the east/southeast it’s so humid (I was taken aback and I’m from a city built in a freakin swamp) that the summers are like waking up in a sauna and the winters feel much colder than the thermometer reads because the cold gets all the way into your bones.

More to the point, outside of the far north most Chinese buildings
aren’t well insulated, so make sure you talk to a few people who’ve
lived in the city you’re heading to in addition to reading the weather
reports.

DO bring tissues with you everywhere

Chinese cities aren’t the cleanest places on earth, so it’s worth your while to bring some tissues with you in your bag/purse.

Besides, public restrooms in China don't usually supply toilet paper.
There's nothing worse than standing in a stall with your pants around
your ankles after you're done with your business, then realizing there's
nothing to wipe with. 

Sales people on the streets sometimes hand out small packets of
tissues with advertisements. But I wouldn't count on bumping into one of
them, because they're not as prevalent in China as they are in, say,
Japan or Taiwan.

Most foreigners, myself included, learned the hard way that it's just
safer to always carry one of these packets with you wherever you go.

DON'T accept the first price when buying things

China is indeed the mythical land of Wild West capitalism
you’ve read about, and almost everything is negotiable, outside of
high-end stores or price-labeled convenience stores.

In fact, merchants at open markets expect their customers (both
Chinese and foreign) to drive a hard bargain, and their
asking price reflects that: a good rule is that the real price is about ⅓
of the merchant’s initial asking price, although that varies from
marketplace to maketplace. 

Some techniques I find that work include:

– Acting shocked (maybe even borderline offended) when you hear the
asking price. I'm talking wide eyes and a dropped jaw, followed by
something like "tài guì le (太贵了)!", meaning "too expensive!"

– Walking away when you just can't get the price you want. Most
merchants will shout for you to come back and take your offer. But make
sure your walk-away is decisive and resolute. Don't sneak glances over
your shoulder to see if the merchant is coming after you.

– It’s also key to be nonchalant: when my mom was visiting and I’d
translate for her while buying stuff, she’d get visibly excited at
certain prices and it totally undermined our negotiating stance. Keep it
together mom!

You May Get Sick – But It’s OK

I hate to be the one to tell you this (not really, I’m
relishing in it right now in fact), but getting at least a little bit
sick your first week in China is very possible. But don’t worry! It’s
just your body adjusting to the different food, air and other
environmental factors.

For me it was some mild stomach discomfort and a sinus
infection, but it takes a different form for everyone. You’ll come out
if it much stronger though, and I’ve found that my immune system is more
resilient than those of my friends back home. That’s right – in the
long run, living in China makes you stronger!

Get Your Go-To La Mian (Noodle) Dishes Down

Lā miàn (拉面), literally “pulled noodles” restaurants are
kind of the staple cheap food spots in Chinese cities, and the
tastiness/fullness to price ratio can’t be beat.

These noodles are as fresh as fresh can be, hand-pulled and made to
order by chefs whom, I'm convinced, spend ten years perfecting
techniques that allow them to turn a lump of dough into a billion
strands of thin noodles all under thirty seconds. 

Lā miàn restaurants in Chinese cities are a dime a dozen, but you'll
know you're at a good one when there are taxi drivers slurping down
their bowls right next to you.

That said, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one with an English menu, so
my advice is to learn the 3-4 dishes you like most and get the
pronunciation down pat. Every lā miàn (拉面) place has pretty much the
same menu, so if you know a few things you like, you’ll never go hungry.

Remember that China is Different, Not Worse

This is something I failed to do a lot early on in my China
stay: I’d encounter new things or situations, and just because they
were so different from what I was used to, I’d automatically attribute
that to the “bad side” of the China coin and fail to really engage. I
fancied myself an experienced traveler so I reasoned that if I didn’t
like it, it must be because the thing itself was bad.

So dumb!

This is a small-scale example, but it’s a good illustration
of my point: I noticed that people in China almost never drink cold
water, opting for boiling hot water all year round. At first I thought,
this is ridiculous, I’ve never drank straight-up hot water before, why
would I start now, especially when it’s not even cold outside?

Not to mention, the explanations people gave me were always pseudo-scientific or based on silly ancient Chinese superstitions.

Gradually, though, I started drinking it and by god, it
really does make you feel better, particularly in winter. Just goes to
show you, it’s worth trying something that might seem dumb or weird
initially.

For those of you already in China, or have visited before, we’d love
to hear some of your own survival tips! What kind of advice do you think
will help first time visitors? Let us all know in the comments below.