China What to Expect

If you are a light-haired westerner, do not be surprised if Chinese locals come up asking to have a photo taken with you! I am blonde and was asked to pose with families, children, infants, and individuals quite often. I found that people wanted the most photos around the Tianamen Square area.

Hangzhou is a great place.... if you go there at the right time. For me it wasn't that awful. The temples and the lake... It is really worth seeing. The Liuhe Pagoda is fantastic, and the Buddist carvings were fascinating (but can be boring for kids....)

Beijing does a very good job at portraying the history of china. Beijing is all old school unlike Shanghi, from the square to great wall to forbiddin palace. Great place for single males as all the restraunts have "entertainers" and because of the exchange rate living expenses there is really low. Watch out for the kid beggers though, they hug on your leg and gets really annoying.

If you respond in Chinese to the tons of little kids who shout "hello hello" when the rare chance comes that they see a foreign face, they get confused and run away :) Changsha is nice, but you better speak Chinese, as there ain't much for you there otherwise. I loved getting the tour of where Mao did his taichi and where Mao went to school from scientists who you would have thought ought to have hated the guy for sending all the academics and educated people to work in farms for "re-education", but brainwashing has its effects even on the educated!

If a street vendor tries to sell you something, ask for 10% of the price they stated. I'm not kidding- 10%. Then they'll go for 60% of what they said, then offer 20%. Don't ever pay more than 40%- that's a safe bet. And walk down the street- they all have the same stuff, and you can find better bargains that way. Don't miss The Great Wall if you miss everything else:)

Be prepared for long border crossings between Hong Kong and Shenzhen! Once you're through, the giant mall near customs is a great place to have clothes custom tailored. Within the mall, you may be approached by various females asking you to eat at "their restaurant". Those are usually pricier than normal, so pick and choose your own instead!

When most Australians go to live abroad for the first time, they usually take the "safe" option and go to the UK. If they are feeling extra adventurous, maybe they'll go to America or Canada. My best friend and I decided to go to Dalian, China, and I have no doubt in my mind that it was the best experience of my life. When Chinese people refer to Dalian, they allude to one catch-phrase - "Dalian is a beautiful city," or "the pearl of the orient." While the beaches don't have the pristine sands of Western Australia, or the magnificent skyline of Melbourne, Dalian is undoubtedly one of the nicer cities of China. Dalian is one of the smaller Chinese cities with only a population of about 6.2 million(yes this is small), but only has and urban population of about 3 million including a developmental zone. Dalian governs the entire Liaodong Peninsula of North-East China, while mountains surround the northern end of the city, which makes for many-a lovely hiking trip through the mountains and surrounding townships. As Dalian is a seaside city, there are also plently of opportunities for strolls along the coast when weather permits. As with most of China, there is also plenty to do and costs were minimal. As an English teacher, I was able to live on about 500RMB per week(about $70US) and this included eatling out every night, and having an active social life. Having travelled in most provicences of China, Dalian definitely had the best food, as unlike the rest of China, it food was niether sweet or laden with MSG. For $1 US, you could enjoy a tasty Chinese BBQ with lamb sticks and Corn bread, before heading out for an evening of drinking and playing Jenga or connect 4 at Noahs Ark or Dave's Bar. In the summer, Dalian comes alive in it's many paks and squares where you can join in with the locals and play Hacky Sack(with a feathered ball thing), or a version of Duck Duck Goose they play where someone walks around everyone who are standing in a circle and drops the hankey behind you before being chased (sadly I got caught and ended up having to stand in the middle with the other losers singing "We Will Rock You". In Zhongshan Square, in the city, they also do dancing. In our mis-guided attempts however to learn the steps, we ended up leading the locals in dancing the "Nutbush" to their music! Don't get me wrong, Dalian had it's drawbacks. Hygiene in retaurants, a hole in the ground for a toilet, the beaches had pebbles instead of sand, and communicating and accepting the beuracracy of their customs was often frustrating -as you would expect, but overall, Dalian was a fabulous experience, and I highly recommend it.

Always carry a card with the name of your destination and name of your hotel written in Chinese to show taxi drivers. Almost none of them will speak English.

You gotta see the Forbidden City and venture out to see the Great Wall. It might be better now, but when I was there 5 years ago nobody spoke any English and everyone wanted to take pictures of us cause we looked so different. It can be a bit off putting at the start but you find out that the locals are really friendly. I recoomend finding an English speaking local tour guide and get them to introduce you to people. After that it's great!

The West Lake came from a shallow bay in ancient times where Qiantang River ran into the sea. It was formerly named as Wulin Water Golden Buffalo Lake, Qiantang Lake and Xizi Lake. As it lies in the west of Hangzhou, it was later named the West Lake. It covers an area of 6.6KM2, the average depth being 2.27M and the deepest being 5M. It has mountain on three sides and the city on the remaining one side.The Lake and mountain are magnificent. Centered on the West Lake Scenic Area is a national scenic area with a total area of 59KM2.

Always barter, unless in a proper shop. A great way to get the price you want is to show them the money you want to pay. Money talks

When most Australians go to live abroad for the first time, they usually take the "safe" option and go to the UK. If they are feeling extra adventurous, maybe they'll go to America or Canada. My best friend and I decided to go to Dalian, China, and I have no doubt in my mind that it was the best experience of my life. When Chinese people refer to Dalian, they allude to one catch-phrase - "Dalian is a beautiful city," or "the pearl of the orient." While the beaches don't have the pristine sands of Western Australia, or the magnificent skyline of Melbourne, Dalian is undoubtedly one of the nicer cities of China. Dalian is one of the smaller Chinese cities with only a population of about 6.2 million(yes this is small), but only has and urban population of about 3 million including a developmental zone. Dalian governs the entire Liaodong Peninsula of North-East China, while mountains surround the northern end of the city, which makes for many-a lovely hiking trip through the mountains and surrounding townships. As Dalian is a seaside city, there are also plently of opportunities for strolls along the coast when weather permits. As with most of China, there is also plenty to do and costs were minimal. As an English teacher, I was able to live on about 500RMB per week(about $70US) and this included eatling out every night, and having an active social life. Having travelled in most provicences of China, Dalian definitely had the best food, as unlike the rest of China, it food was niether sweet or laden with MSG. For $1 US, you could enjoy a tasty Chinese BBQ with lamb sticks and Corn bread, before heading out for an evening of drinking and playing Jenga or connect 4 at Noahs Ark or Dave's Bar. In the summer, Dalian comes alive in it's many paks and squares where you can join in with the locals and play Hacky Sack(with a feathered ball thing), or a version of Duck Duck Goose they play where someone walks around everyone who are standing in a circle and drops the hankey behind you before being chased (sadly I got caught and ended up having to stand in the middle with the other losers singing "We Will Rock You". In Zhongshan Square, in the city, they also do dancing. In our mis-guided attempts however to learn the steps, we ended up leading the locals in dancing the "Nutbush" to their music! Don't get me wrong, Dalian had it's drawbacks. Hygiene in retaurants, a hole in the ground for a toilet, the beaches had pebbles instead of sand, and communicating and accepting the beuracracy of their customs was often frustrating -as you would expect, but overall, Dalian was a fabulous experience, and I highly recommend it.

Always carry a card with the name of your destination and name of your hotel written in Chinese to show taxi drivers. Almost none of them will speak English.

You gotta see the Forbidden City and venture out to see the Great Wall. It might be better now, but when I was there 5 years ago nobody spoke any English and everyone wanted to take pictures of us cause we looked so different. It can be a bit off putting at the start but you find out that the locals are really friendly. I recoomend finding an English speaking local tour guide and get them to introduce you to people. After that it's great!

The West Lake came from a shallow bay in ancient times where Qiantang River ran into the sea. It was formerly named as Wulin Water Golden Buffalo Lake, Qiantang Lake and Xizi Lake. As it lies in the west of Hangzhou, it was later named the West Lake. It covers an area of 6.6KM2, the average depth being 2.27M and the deepest being 5M. It has mountain on three sides and the city on the remaining one side.The Lake and mountain are magnificent. Centered on the West Lake Scenic Area is a national scenic area with a total area of 59KM2.

Always barter, unless in a proper shop. A great way to get the price you want is to show them the money you want to pay. Money talks

Oh my God, you have never seen anything as amazing as the Kunming Stone Forest. Just incredible. Bear in mind that it is a high altitude place, so keep drinking your water and lay off the caffeine and alcohol.

my home..I love Beijing.

One of my verey happy memories visiting Bijing. I live threouh history smell it see how mancan do to change his life. Hope to retern back to this great city

Bring mosquito repellent if you hope to survive here.

German Policlinic - great for foreigner's health needs