For sure, it's a unique place in some respects like the firewall, which I stupidly didn't remember about haha. I meant well but yeah, I should leave the advice to people who HAVE been there lol
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I'm having a breakdown, please someone talk to me !
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For sure, it's a unique place in some respects like the firewall, which I stupidly didn't remember about haha. I meant well but yeah, I should leave the advice to people who HAVE been there lol
I can't say I've been to all of the mainland's poor areas, but you can clearly see a huge difference between a super poor area in a place like Canada and one in China.
Those poor people in China wish they could be poor in Canada.
It can be difficult. If you stay at resorts and the like you'll be fine as major locations will have bilingual staff. But if you want to run to the corner store and grab something? Not so much.
It's difficult for a non Chinese person to get a cab simply because they assume you don't speak the language.
Also, many places only accept WePay which is a hassle for non locals.
Depends on where you go. Tier 1? Incredibly modern and metropolis.
Western China? Incredibly poor.
hate to say it, but it doesn't seem like you are made for these types of trips.
Sounds like you are home sick after 5 days of being in a foreign country. Get a ticket home and leave if you can, you'll just feel miserable if you don't. Not everyone is made for this.
What? Take what you want, look at the display on the register and just give them a 100 Yuan note.
I mean, I get it, there is a difference in a place in the east like shanghai and western cities like wulumuqi or Lanzhou, but a tourist won't have an issue in either one and I wouldn't call them incredibly poor. They are still relatively modern cities with good public transport, western restaurants, etc. Now if he heads off to a town or village out in Ningxia, yes, pretty damn poor. But you can find poor as hell places in the east too. It's not lat/long thing it's a city vs town thing mainly.
Not knowing the language won't make it hard to buy some snacks at 7-11. It's really not difficult. And for taxis all you need to do is find the name of the place you wanna go in chinese and show it to the driver. Most websites have the address is both English and chinese, whether it's the website of the business you are going to or an aggregator like Smart Shanghai. All it takes is a little tiny bit of common sense, which I know is difficult for a lot of people on era lol .
You are right though some places don't take cash so much anymore.
You need to take that money and buy yourself a flight home while that credit card is still shitting out cash. I don't know what nonsense you're trying to take on by setting up a bank account in a foreign country but shut that shit down now. You don't have a job and your vague plan of making a YouTube channel to chronicle this debacle doesn't inspire any confidence. Leave while you still have the means to do so.
He needs a bank account to use chinese apps. That's actually probably the best part of his plan. I couldn't imagine surviving a half year in china without a mobile wallet.
Yeah that's a weird comment. Even my dumb ass could handle 7-11
As long as there aren't any Xiaojie there.
You are nuts. I haven't used cash in like a year, besides for gambling at mahjong.
I definitely reccmomend checking your change. I don't want to propagate stereotypes but during my time in China I definitely had people try to shortchange me thinking I wouldn't notice
But it's a problem for foreigners all over the world
I tried to get lanzhou lamian in Shenzhen last year and I had like 15 rmb burning a hole in my pocket for some reason. Dude was not happy I was trying to pawn it off on him. He was pointing me to the qr code and asking why I don't just scan that.
This is basically what I meant. You can throw money at someone and expect them to give you your change back all day. They may or they may not.
If you don't want to deal with that then it will be more difficult.
I don't know what either of these mean
Yeah, always. But when it's really small I just don't care that much.
Took me 2 days to be familiar with China and be independent enough to travel to various cities.
OP went unprepared. You always get extra cash, all the apps, screenshots, photos, written addresses to show taxi drivers, and an entire itinerary prepared.
OP, you a quitter? Then go home. You a fighter and here for your career or general growth? Get your shit together and survive. If you're there to work, then demand assistance while you sort your shit out.
Grow up and come back home by July.
OP went unprepared. You always get extra cash, all the apps, screenshots, photos, written addresses to show taxi drivers, and an entire itinerary prepared.
OP, you a quitter? Then go home. You a fighter and here for your career or general growth? Get your shit together and survive. If you're there to work, then demand assistance while you sort your shit out.
Grow up and come back home by July.
My dude, you should definitely chill. Some of this is culture shock and you're probably on your own in a foreign place for the first time in your life. It seems like you're connected to this school in China through your school back in Canada - make the most of that connection. Try to calm down and look at what you can do to make your situation better. This school is not going to let you just stay on the street and starve. You'll have some place to stay, food to eat, etc. It will be okay.
Welcome to every thread on era about china.
One group of dummies who think Pooh bear will get you thrown in a gulag vs people trying to tell you that no one gives a fuck about you and you can live your life like anywhere else in the world. It's maddening.
Also, my man, did your parents really send you there with no money? You don't have any back-up funds?
I'm sure you could, I've just never ran into any business big or small that only accepts digital currency that was open to haggling.
Every vendor in china has a qr code on their stall. If they haggled before digital currency they still will now.
I'll never understand people that freak out this easily.
I'd fully expect culture shock and some struggles no matter where I go when traveling. No reason to panic unless you got arrested randomly or something, haha.
Get some rest and meet with this woman. There are members here that are in China too, they could probably help out.
I'd fully expect culture shock and some struggles no matter where I go when traveling. No reason to panic unless you got arrested randomly or something, haha.
Get some rest and meet with this woman. There are members here that are in China too, they could probably help out.
All phones can have Google Translate and you can download the translation stuff to use offline. There's very little reason you can't communicate.
It's especially tricky after living in Taiwan and deciding to visit the mainland. Xiaojie in Taiwan is just "Miss," a polite way of speaking to a woman. Xiaojie on the mainland is what you call prostitutes.
Cmon guys be nice,
Not everyone handles these situations the same.
Also anxiety makes everything worse
Not everyone handles these situations the same.
Also anxiety makes everything worse
I guess I must have been unlucky then. I remember haggling for groceries in a wet market in Shenzhen many years ago. No such luck this time.
I'm not saying that I don't believe you though, because frankly even I think my anecdotal experience is an outlier compared to what the norm should be.
Heh, something similiar happened to an old classmate of mine years ago. Ended up in Qingdao with no money or contacts somehow. He wandered around and eventually happened to run into a kungfu teacher he knew from Ohio lol. Got himself re-situated and ended up just studying praying mantis kungfu for awhile :-P
@OP: The moment your VPN works or you get proper access through someone else, please download Astrill. ExpressVPN is shit and will only cause you trouble. In case you still have lodging problems Airbnb should still work in China if I'm not mistaken.
So... exactly like California and NYC with, say, Kansas and Arkansas.
Eh, when you have internet, it will try to do it online. I always had to shut off mobile data, translation, then turn data back on. Maybe it's different now
Looks like OP took the b route....Honestly, the stuff you're facing now is just part of growing up and it's either gonna make or break you, judging from your yt videos you don't seem super confident in yourself, so, either stop and think for a second, or get a ticket home. I've been in situations where I almost ended up on the street in a foreign country with no help from my family, and trust me, panicking is the last thing you want to do. Breathe, listen to advice from the users that visited China, go step by step, you'll get there eventually....or as said, just get a ticket and head home, but that's just giving up.
The best translation app is by Microsoft. It has offline mode, has text to speech features, and has all the common phrases someone will use.
Forget all Google apps that require internet to work.
Forget all Google apps that require internet to work.
OP, relax. Once you get used to it, the 5 months will fly right by, and when it's time to leave, you'll feel like it went by too quickly.
Reach out to other expats and start building your circle of friends. Slowly branch out and maybe try making some local friends that can speak English.
Reach out to other expats and start building your circle of friends. Slowly branch out and maybe try making some local friends that can speak English.
OP, make sure you get a square meal and stay hydrated. You'd be surprised how much it can center you, especially after the ordeal of long-distance travel.
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No, there's a whole tier of poverty below the minimum you could experience in America.
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No, there's a whole tier of poverty below the minimum you could experience in America.
Same as in Beijing then isn't it? Cost of living there isn't exactly peachy.
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