How to Travel in China on a Budget
By Anthony A. Piedra | Published On July 10, 2015cheapie-travel.com presents....
China is an incredibly fascinating country, especially to a Westener. Chinese say that you can measure the growth of a city by the number of cranes they have in the sky erecting skyscrapers. By this measurement, Shanghai is growing at an exponential rate. It's evident in China that there is surely no lack of people, and as the old saying goes, "this city never sleeps!" Take a look at this apartment building below, located in Shanghai, which you can see rows of apartment buildings for miles...
China is the country of juxtaposition. You see the rich mixed with the poor, and both beautiful ancient buildings and old dilapidated tenement style apartment houses all in one eye-shot! It's quite invigorating, knowing that all of these people live within such urban density. Don't let these eye-opening lifestyles deter you from traveling to China. China was a life changing experience for me that was worth every penny. cheapie-travel.com
Budget:
Shanghai is a very large city, and as with any other large city, prices are similar to what you find in the United States. You may find that your travel by taxi, public transit, and some meals are quite a bit cheaper than in the United States. If you decide that you would like to partake in some fine-dining, you will find yourself paying prices to that of the United States ($25 to $100+).
Usually when I travel, I like to budget about $100.00 USD per day (excluding room and board) in order to cover food, travel and entertainment. In China, this of course, could be minimized due to the rate of most things in China being cheaper. The rule of thumb is, the farther away from large internationally known cities, the cheaper everything is. Of course, you can eat any meal for as little as $2.00 to $5.00 USD -- which you may have to eat in a "hole-in-the-wall" restaurant (which I happen to love "hole-in-the-walls" because I have discovered some really tasty food at joints like these). A meal of this caliber would most likely consist of dumplings, wonton soup, and a coca-cola). Below, is a photo of my favorite hole-in-the-wall in China. cheapie-travel.com
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Introduction |
China is an incredibly fascinating country, especially to a Westerner. Chinese say that you can measure the growth of a city by the number of cranes they have in the sky erecting skyscrapers. By this measurement, Shanghai is growing at an exponential rate. It's evident in China that there is surely no lack of people, and as the old saying goes, "this city never sleeps!" Take a look at these apartments in a building below, located in Shanghai, which you can see rows of apartment buildings for miles... cheapie-travel.com
China is a country of juxtaposition. You see the rich mixed with the poor, and both beautiful ancient buildings and old dilapidated tenement style apartment houses all in one eye-shot! It's quite invigorating, knowing that all of these people live within such urban density. Don't let these eye-opening lifestyles deter you from traveling to China. China was a life changing experience for me that was worth every penny. With this guide below, you will find out how to MAXIMIZE your bucks...
Budget |
Shanghai is a very large city, and as with any other large city, prices are similar to what you find in the United States. You may find that your travel by taxi, public transit, and some meals are quite a bit cheaper than in the United States. If you decide that you would like to partake in some fine-dining, you will find yourself paying prices to that of the United States ($25 to $100+) per person per meal. cheapie-travel.com
Usually when I travel, I like to budget about $100.00 USD per day (excluding room and board) in order to cover food, travel and entertainment. Of course, later on, I explain how to accomplish travel for as little as $50.00 per day in Europe and even cheaper in Asia. In China, $50 per day can be reduced due to the rate of most things in China being cheaper. The rule of thumb is, the further away from large internationally known cities, the cheaper everything is. Of course, you can eat any meal for as little as $2.00 to $5.00 USD -- which you may have to eat in a "hole-in-the-wall" restaurant (which I happen to love "hole-in-the-walls" because I have discovered some really tasty food at joints like these). A meal of this caliber might consist of dumplings, wonton soup, and a coca-cola). To the left, is a photo of my favorite lunch from a hole-in-the-wall spot in Zhuji, Zhejiang Province, China.
In later posts, I will explore how I was able to live off of $500.00 USD for 7 weeks of living in China while Teaching TEFL (Teaching English as a Second Language).
Hotels |
Cost:
Hotels in Shanghai and Beijing range from one to five stars. An average hotel cost in Shanghai ranges from $50 USD per night to $100.00 USD per night. In surrounding areas outside of large cities like Shanghai and Beijing, you will find even lower prices, depending on the establishment and time of year that you are travelling. cheapie-travel.com
Standard:
Standard hotels in Shanghai and Beijing are of average cleanliness and size, while many that I visited were somewhat outdated (but still clean). The hotel rooms have standard equipment, including a western style toilet. However, in the lobby of a nice hotel in Beijing, eastern style, squat-toilets were located in the main lobby bathroom. They were very nice and clean squat-style toilets, but they do take some getting used to. The locals use them with no issues of course.
Weather |
The heat in summertime is swelteringly sticky and it's evident as soon as you step one foot off of the tarmac. Like most large cities, Shanghai has lots of airconditioning equipment to combat the humidity, but you will undoubtedly feel the heat. cheapie-travel.com
Foods |
In China, you will not see ice in soft drinks or water when you are at a restaurant. You will be provided with cold bottled water, or canned or bottled soda/cola/pop. Be prepared to purchase a lot of cold water bottles while you are out-and-about exploring China, because it's hot, humid, and you will sweat a lot if you are there during summer. Bottles of water are cheap - ranging in price from about $0.25 USD to $0.75 USD. In Zhejiang province (south of Shanghai), I was able to purchase bottles of water for as little as $0.10 per bottle. If you repeatedly visit an establishment to purchase water or other bottled liquid, the proprietor may offer for you to return the empty bottles to them for a discount on your purchase! Often times, in China, you can trade recyclable water or beer bottles for a discount, or even give them to homeless people on the street in China. It may seem rude, but I had a ton of beggars ask me for my empty water bottles that I was carrying around while looking for a recycling bin. cheapie-travel.com
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Vitals |
Passport:
Before you travel outside of the United States, you will need a Passport. For more information, visit:
The U.S. Department of State
Before you travel outside of the United States, you will need a Passport. For more information, visit:
The U.S. Department of State
Vaccinations: Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional, and you should not take any medical information in this blog as medical advice. Always seek medical advice from a doctor. That being said, there are no required vaccinations to travel to China that I was required to have. However, you may want to seek the advice from a medical professional.
Flights |
The CHEAP-CHEAP time to fly to China is during the summer months: June, July and August -- because it's so swelteringly hot. cheapie-travel.com
Flights range from about $1,200 (including taxes) to $2,250 USD. Research your flights, your layovers, and I couldn't stress this enough -- PURCHASE EARLY.
IntraChina Travel |
Suburban Train Rail:
Train is the main method of transportation inside of China. The trains are a cheap and relatively reliable method of travel from cities. The trains are crowded, and, if you are in the economy class, you will undoubtedly know by the ripe smell of the rail-cars. This is - to me, the beauty of travelling to China - to see how millions of people live their lives daily. To see and smell the sights of Zhongguo. Longer, overnight rail-trips seem to be awarded the nicer, cleaner trains. Short, one or two hour train trips appear to get the much older, smellier rail-cars. A two-hour train trip cost me about $5.00USD from Zhuji to Hangzhou. cheapie-travel.com
Bus:
The second method of transportation, usually for short trips, is by bus. You can catch buses from city-to-city quite easily, if you know how to correctly pronounce your destination city. I found that the better I worked on pronouncing words, names and cities, the better results I received using very limited Chinese. For more information on bus and train trips and tips, SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER. cheapie-travel.com
From Hangzhou to Daqing a bus trip cost me about $5.00 USD. However, a bus ride from Beijing to the Badaling entrance (which is about 1.5 hours) was $60.00 USD. Trust me, it's well worth the cost to see this magnificent landmark. To the left, I had my photo snapped at the Great Wall of China!
Intracity Bus System:
In a large city such as Beijing, using the intracity bus system is probably going to be quite difficult, unless you have a strong grip on the Chinese language, and even then, I wouldn't recommend it because you wouldn't be familiar with any landmarks. Cabs and the subway/metro are much, much easier to use.
Cabs:
Intracity travel is accomplished in a variety of forms, but, usually by cab. You might be surprised about just how far you can get on a cab fare. If you are travelling with a group of friends, you can split the cab fare for additional savings. We traveled all across Shanghai, for seemingly very little cash. You might pay a few dollars to travel across town, where as in, say, San Francisco, a few dollars might get you only down the street! cheapie-travel.com
In smaller cities, such as Hangzhou, intracity buses and other transportation probably isn't worth the time to learn how to navigate. Cabs (including petty cabs) are plentiful, cheap, and easy to use. For tips on how to use cabs, trains, and buses check out CHEAPIE-TRAVEL.COM
Subway/Metro:
In Shanghai, you will find very clean, nice and busy Subway/Metro, especially if you are near the crowded downtown areas such as the Bund. The train is easy to use and you might want to venture to try that out! I did, and it was a great experience to see such a clean metro! cheapie-travel.com
TOP 10 List of Things for Preparing Yourself |
TOP LIST OF ITEMS TO BE PREPARED FOR WHEN YOU VISIT CHINA from cheapie-travel.com
- THE HEAT
- THE HUMIDITY
- THE POLLUTION
- THE BEAUTY
- THE NICENESS OF THE PEOPLE
- THE CHEAP PRICES
- CULTURE SHOCK
- GREAT ART
- GREAT FOOD
- GREAT LANDMARKS
