Year end trip to China

[hipaws]

I’m planning a trip to China from 26 Dec to 4 Jan, and it’ll be my first time visiting, so I’d like to get some advice. I’m hoping to go to places that aren’t too cold (don’t need thick winter coats), so my rough plan is Shenzhen → Guangzhou → Xiamen, then back to SG.

Since it’s the year-end holiday period plus New Year, I’m not very sure what to expect in terms of crowds, and I’m hoping to avoid the super packed places if possible.

Anyone been to these cities around that time?
Is it a good period to visit in terms of crowd levels and weather for these three places?

 

[reddevil0728]

I’m planning a trip to China from 26 Dec to 4 Jan, and it’ll be my first time visiting, so I’d like to get some advice. I’m hoping to go to places that aren’t too cold (don’t need thick winter coats), so my rough plan is Shenzhen → Guangzhou → Xiamen, then back to SG.

Since it’s the year-end holiday period plus New Year, I’m not very sure what to expect in terms of crowds, and I’m hoping to avoid the super packed places if possible.

Anyone been to these cities around that time?
Is it a good period to visit in terms of crowd levels and weather for these three places?

Wah now then plan?

 

[Garlic & Butter]

wont be packed at all. They only have a holiday on 1st Jan.
The hotels wont be expensive/ marked up.

Outbound flight will be pricey for sure

 

[froztheart]

I’m planning a trip to China from 26 Dec to 4 Jan, and it’ll be my first time visiting, so I’d like to get some advice. I’m hoping to go to places that aren’t too cold (don’t need thick winter coats), so my rough plan is Shenzhen → Guangzhou → Xiamen, then back to SG.

Since it’s the year-end holiday period plus New Year, I’m not very sure what to expect in terms of crowds, and I’m hoping to avoid the super packed places if possible.

Anyone been to these cities around that time?
Is it a good period to visit in terms of crowd levels and weather for these three places?

Prepare your pocket for the tickets especially for this year.

Not much crowd till the last week from Christmas till New Year onwards, but will you be in time for hotels (which are still decently priced) and flights?

 

[hipaws]

Wah now then plan?

yeah, looking at alternative countries to explore.

 

[reddevil0728]

yeah, looking at alternative countries to explore.

hmmm? can elaborate cause no context

 

[hipaws]

Prepare your pocket for the tickets especially for this year.

Not much crowd till the last week from Christmas till New Year onwards, but will you be in time for hotels (which are still decently priced) and flights?

hotels wise still alright, the flight back is expensive, so maybe trying luck to redeem miles.

 

[hipaws]

hmmm? can elaborate cause no context

main plan is to visit Taiwan, alternative plan will be China, still monitoring on the ticket prices.

 

[reddevil0728]

main plan is to visit Taiwan, alternative plan will be China, still monitoring on the ticket prices.

hmmm ok. cause my posts was about wah now then plan. so a bit leap in logic how that connects.

 

[froztheart]

hotels wise still alright, the flight back is expensive, so maybe trying luck to redeem miles.

Yes, the flights for this year whether to or fro is definitely not the average.

 

[endlssorrow]

How much to change

 

[matrix05]

I’m planning a trip to China from 26 Dec to 4 Jan, and it’ll be my first time visiting, so I’d like to get some advice. I’m hoping to go to places that aren’t too cold (don’t need thick winter coats), so my rough plan is Shenzhen → Guangzhou → Xiamen, then back to SG.

Since it’s the year-end holiday period plus New Year, I’m not very sure what to expect in terms of crowds, and I’m hoping to avoid the super packed places if possible.

Anyone been to these cities around that time?
Is it a good period to visit in terms of crowd levels and weather for these three places?

Get yr Alipay or and WeChat pay to work first.

 

[d3n]

Get yr Alipay or and WeChat pay to work first.

yes this is important, else u cannot even pay for bus or train ticket at airport. strictly cashless

 

[beanstalk6]

There are workarounds if cash is all you have at the airport. Other foreigners manage to get by with cash alone. For other settings like buying food in town or hailing a ride, you will be an inconvenience to the locals.

 

[loganrunning]

There are workarounds if cash is all you have at the airport. Other foreigners manage to get by with cash alone. For other settings like buying food in town or hailing a ride, you will be an inconvenience to the locals.

Purely as an experiment, i did a 2 week trip around guangdong earlier in the year, trying only cash payment. it works with some caveats:
- big stores usually don't have enough small change. par for course since legally they have to accept cash, just not legislated to return change. same system here.
- small mom&pop stores - they happily accepted cash and had exact change.
- ride hailing, can pay cash, again, may not have exact change, so just treat it as a tip.
- taxi. same, just the inconvenience of street hail (like the good old days here, before "radio taxi booking" was introduced)
- train and internal flights - works, but inconvenient for the traveller.
for flights, have to find an agent to book (like the good old days)
for trains, either agent or go to station (again, good old days)
or get a local to do the booking and give them cash.

so, cash-only works, just a pain in the rear
would i do it again? highly unlikely



edit: i forgot. booking hotels ahead of time, while in China. if using apps designed for foreigners (ie us), ok, can use credit card. but some hotels are only accessible via China-only apps/websites. So for those, no choice...... i got the hotel staff (where is was staying) to book for me and i gave her cash. the people are generally nice and helpful.