China Travel Tips

Written by John Mckenna


Survival China Travel Tips and Tricks

These China Travel Tips, Survival Techniques, will help you get around and make your trip to China easier, so you will be able to experiencerepparttar real China with a little less stress. China is an odd beast that needs to be respected;repparttar 141136 major cities, Beijing, Shanghai, and Xian, all have their own personalities.

Some complex situations that you think would be an organizational disaster turn out to be great and you wonder afterward what allrepparttar 141137 fuss and worry was about. Thenrepparttar 141138 simplest of tasks can turn out to be a major calamity.

This is when you have what we call here a “China day”.

These days come and go and are part ofrepparttar 141139 experience of everyday travel in China. One needs to have an open mind when travelling China. It is a place with thousands of years of history and culture that is trying overnight to adapt to Western ways of living.

You need to have a very open mind when you Travel in China. I have listed below a few China Travel Tips that will make life that wee bit more bearable on your Travel China experience.

China Travel Tips – Be Toilet Wise

• Never expect a clean toilet 100% ofrepparttar 141140 time.

• Be prepared; Carry some tissue.

• You may have to use a squat toilet, again if you know this before hand it is not a shock. If you don’t know how to use a squat toilet, tryrepparttar 141141 following experiment at home.

While holding onto something for support with both hands, lower your body down into a low squat position, so thatrepparttar 141142 cheeks of your bottom is almost touching your heels orrepparttar 141143 back of your calf. Now, let go with your hands. See if you stay in this position for at least 1 minute. If you fall backwards or you cannot get up, then a squat toilet could be a problem for you! Practice, you will be happy you did.

• If you see a clean toilet, Go… it may not come again for a while.

• There are many public toilets aroundrepparttar 141144 cities, usuallyrepparttar 141145 ones you pay for are OK, (RMB .5),repparttar 141146 others best to stay away from if you can. You will soon notice them as you walk aroundrepparttar 141147 cities.

• Be warned that public areas like bus and train stations are usually what I class as “tough toilets”, however if gotta go you gotta go. • Outside ofrepparttar 141148 major cities,repparttar 141149 toilet systems are old or have very narrow plumbing /pipes and get blocked easily. In these cases a small basket is usually besiderepparttar 141150 toilet, this is for your used toilet paper.

One ofrepparttar 141151 best China Travel toilet Tips I can give you, is use hotel lobby toilets; these are everywhere and are always clean. Still they may not always have toilet paper. It depends onrepparttar 141152 class of hotel that you are using.

I do not wish to scare you. However, of allrepparttar 141153 China Travel Tips in allrepparttar 141154 other web sites I have read, this is a topic not often mentioned, but it is very important to us all.

So outside ofrepparttar 141155 major cities conditions can be tough. But most ofrepparttar 141156 time everything will be fine, especially if you book a tour; everything will have been checked out before hand. However evenrepparttar 141157 best laid plans can go wrong, so be prepared,repparttar 141158 toilets inrepparttar 141159 smaller cities, towns and villages can be scary.

China Travel Tips – The Food

• The food is great andrepparttar 141160 variety is overwhelming. Most ofrepparttar 141161 time you get to choose what you eat, or you can recognize what you’re eating, however sometimes you do not get a choice. Carry a chocolate bar or something; this will keep you going until some food that you can recognize turns up. Drink bottled or boiled water, asrepparttar 141162 tap water is NOT safe to drink, this is forrepparttar 141163 whole of China. Even boiled water, while sterilised can contain a lot of minerals and iron deposits that you probably do not want in your system. The safest bet is to drink bottle water. Tap water in most big cities is OK for brushing teeth.

• Eating habits - Most Chinese people have a great habit of being very noisy when they eat and lunch and dinner times can be a wonderfully noisy celebration, food tends to go in all directions, its just part of being in China.

• People also smoke atrepparttar 141164 table while everyone is eating, so some restaurants get very loud and smoky.

• If you get stuck what to order as most ofrepparttar 141165 menu’s are in Chinese just look atrepparttar 141166 table next to you and point torepparttar 141167 dish you fancy and ask how much it is, this system works really well and know seems to mind.

• I have a basic menu that will help you order safe food, (no Cats or Dog) this will enable you to visit a larger selection of restaurants, not justrepparttar 141168 tourist ones with high prices. You can carry it with you and use it inrepparttar 141169 local restaurants where most will be able to serve what is on it. This way you will know what you are eating.

These local places are very cheap andrepparttar 141170 food it great. Contact me if you would like me to send it to you.

China Travel Tips – Taxis

• China Travel Tips- Taxis - Taxis are an experience that can have you gripingrepparttar 141171 seat and gasping for breath; however you soon get used to it, afterrepparttar 141172 first few rides, you’re an old hand.

• The taxis in Shanghai are, overall, quite good. Try to getrepparttar 141173 Blue, Blue’ish Turquoise, Gold and White taxis, these arerepparttar 141174 best… these arerepparttar 141175 four major taxi companies and are generally recognised by their single colour paintwork. The others are OK, just older and a rougher ride (the others also may have faulty metres). No drivers will speak English.

• Carry your hotel or accommodation business card with you, written in Chinese, this helps if you get lost walking around town.

• In allrepparttar 141176 taxis aroundrepparttar 141177 country you will seerepparttar 141178 drivers name and taxi registration number in plain sight. If you have any problem, or if you think you have been over charged etc, just take this number down, make a big fuss about it, andrepparttar 141179 driver then should wake up and fix whatever problem you have. Even better is to takerepparttar 141180 receipt. This has allrepparttar 141181 trip details on it and you can ringrepparttar 141182 taxi company if you want to take things further or if you’ve left something inrepparttar 141183 taxi. • The government takes rip-off drivers in all cities, Beijing and Xian especially, very seriously and if you complain they will lose their license. This is their livelihood. So far I have had not one driver in 3 years that has not backed down and we have then agreed a price forrepparttar 141184 trip or solved our problem.

10 Tips for Choosing a Rental Cottage for a Great Waterfront Vacation

Written by Joyce Shannahan


You’ve been looking forward to your waterfront vacation for months. Now it’s time to start planning and rent a vacation cottage for your use. Selectingrepparttar best cottage can berepparttar 141135 difference between a great vacation and one where you feel like you are ‘doing without’.

Surprised?

Many vacationers considerrepparttar 141136 cottage as ‘just somewhere to stay’ since most of your time will be spent onrepparttar 141137 water, or enjoying local attractions. Don’t make that mistake. There is no reason to settle for less when, with a little planning, you can find a great cottage that you’ll enjoy as much asrepparttar 141138 other parts of your vacation.

Remember, your vacation cottage is where you’ll be sleeping, waking up, having many of your meals, and resting.

If it rains or is unseasonably hot outside, you may end up stretched out reading a book to while awayrepparttar 141139 day – assuming there is a comfortable sofa. And when you meet new friends, you’ll want someplace nice for entertaining. Shouldn’t your vacation cottage be a pleasant get-away withrepparttar 141140 amenities that make vacations a real treat?

Here are a few tips to for selectingrepparttar 141141 perfect waterfront vacation cottage rental:

1.The single most important factor is whether or not you can “see” actual recent photos ofrepparttar 141142 interior and exterior ofrepparttar 141143 vacation cottage rental. It’s one thing to read a great description – and some of them are quite ‘complimentary’ (sometimes overly so) - but you need to see what you are getting.

Withrepparttar 141144 Internet, a website isrepparttar 141145 quickest most convenient way for you to get information on prospective cottage rentals. If there are no pictures, you’ll know right away to keep looking. Brochures, books and guides are nice, but may have out-dated information.

2.Listrepparttar 141146 amenities that are important to you,repparttar 141147 ones without which you will feel incomplete. Next, jot down those that are nice to have, but not deal-breakers if not available.

With these lists as a guide, you’ll be able to quickly eliminate those cottages that won’t meet your needs. Your list might include proximity torepparttar 141148 water,repparttar 141149 number of bedrooms and bathrooms, type kitchen (full versus fridge and microwave), outdoor amenities such as decks and BBQ grills, boats or other water toys, and other items important to you.

On your secondary list, you might have things like a hammock for lazing about, or an herb garden for gourmet meals.

3.Listrepparttar 141150 activities that you want to be able to enjoy while on vacation. This will help you in selecting a general location (city, state). You also need to consider how close you want your vacation cottage to be to these attractions.

Some people feel that a great vacation is being able to walk or bicycle everywhere. Others don’t mind a short drive, and still others think nothing of getting on a freeway to enjoy attractions.

If you prefer a vacation withoutrepparttar 141151 hassles of traffic, parking problems, crowds and long lines, select a cottage such as Heartsworth Cottage, located inrepparttar 141152 quaint waterfront town of Onancock, Virginia. Visit http://www.onancockcottage.com to learn more.

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