Posts Tagged Toilet

Travelling in China by Train

It’s fantastic to travel around in China because there are domestic flights, trains and coach routes all over the place. China itself is a huge place and so you will always be able to find something to suit you, there are so many things to discover and so many places to travel to! The transport system is fairly decent especially between the bigger cities, you can find a train from Shenzhen all the way up to Beijing if need be but I can’t say too much about the standard since I don’t have much experience in that department…

When you travel around by train within China, one of the few main things you have to note is the 4-5day ticket system where you can only purchase tickets 4-5days before you leave. And this is why China train tickets can be a pain to get your hands on unless you are staying in a hotel. Having experiencing for myself personally what a local person has to go through just to get their hands on a crappy 18hr train ride on a “hard seater”, it really makes you appreciate the wonderful staff in the hotels!

Another thing about getting a hold of tickets is that you need to remember that peak periods such as National Day and Chinese New Year is not ideal times because that’s when there is mass movement within China. If you want to see any cultural or historical sites during this time, just remember that millions of Chinese people are thinking the same thing. Attempt to go when there’s less chance of Chinese tourists unless you don’t mind having every photo to be a sea of black heads.

Now, when you are travelling around china on the train, you need to prepare yourself a little bit. First of all, the squat toilets (as pre-mentioned in my other post) are back with vengeance! Just imagine what kind of mess you can find in a squat toilet which is used by both male and females on a moving vehicle… Don’t be surprised to find Mr Hankey (refer to southpark) hanging around the shoddy compartment.

The second thing is the types of seats you get, always try and get the sleeper if you are on a long journey or a night train! The seaters are crowded and you might end up with strange people drooling on your shoulder, it’s just best to avoid this if you can. The thing with the sleepers is that they have 6 bunk beds in the little alcove, three on each side. The bunk beds are only for lying down, there is just not enough room to sit on them except the bottom bunk. But if you don’t like other people sitting on your bed then it’s best not to reserve the bottom bunk as it’s common for people to use it as a communal seat. I personally prefer the top bunk so that I can have as much privacy as I can.

Also be aware that the very narrow bunk bed doesn’t really give you much room to manoeuvre around. I had quite a bit of trouble twisting and turning so that I could settle into a comfortable position, even with my small size! But the good thing is that those train bunk beds are VERY comfy, this is especially true if you compare it to the dorm beds which feels like you’re sleeping on the floor.

The next thing to note is the fact that you share the alcove with 5 other people, less if you’re lucky. And if you’re a light sleeper then don’t forget ear plugs!! I’ve been pretty luck during my few trips on a train… There was one occasion where the person on the other side of the wall next to me couldn’t sleep because of some extremely LOUD snores, and every now and then they became so frustrated that they would bang the bed in an attempt to wake the snorer.

I haven’t experienced it myself but I have been advised that there is very little difference between the “hard and soft sleepers” and the “hard and soft seaters”. Having to be unfortunate enough to experience an 18hr night train on a hard seater and a crap train, I would strongly recommend that you at least try to get the window seat because this way you have something to lean against.

There is very limited leg space and you have very limited movement on a “hard seater” as you’ll be surrounded by people across from you and beside you. If you are thinking of taking the aisle seat to have better access to the toilet or to plan your escape, you can forget about it. It’s not uncommon, especially during peak season, that the local Chinese people will purchase “standing tickets” and they’ll take up your escape route in the aisle. You’ll just have to climb over them if you need to use the toilet.

Overall, I rather quite liked travelling around on the train. I don’t plan on travelling any other way but on the new bullet trains or on a sleeper if I’m travelling long distances though!! The locals are very friendly, especially to foreigners, and they like to offer food or drinks to you frequently (don’t think it strange that they offer at least 3 times). And when you are stuck on a train for such a long period of time, the time passes much more pleasantly when you are having fun practising your broken Mandarin or teaching them some broken English.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Related posts

China Travel Tips

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 experience the real China with a little less stress.

China is an odd beast that needs to be respected; the 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 all the fuss and worry was about. Then the 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 of the 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% of the 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, try the following experiment at home.

While holding onto something for support with both hands, lower your body down into a low squat position, so that the cheeks of your bottom is almost touching your heels or the 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 around the cities, usually the ones you pay for are OK, (RMB .5), the others best to stay away from if you can. You will soon notice them as you walk around the 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 of the major cities, the toilet systems are old or have very narrow plumbing /pipes and get blocked easily. In these cases a small basket is usually beside the toilet, this is for your used toilet paper.
  • One of the 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 on the class of hotel that you are using.
  • I do not wish to scare you. However, of all the China Travel Tips in all the other web sites I have read, this is a topic not often mentioned, but it is very important to us all.
  • So outside of the major cities conditions can be tough. But most of the time everything will be fine, especially if you book a tour; everything will have been checked out before hand. However even the best laid plans can go wrong, so be prepared, the toilets in the smaller cities, towns and villages can be scary.
  • China Travel Tips – The Food
  • The food is great and the variety is overwhelming. Most of the 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, as the tap water is NOT safe to drink, this is for the 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 at the table while everyone is eating, so some restaurants get very loud and smoky.
  • If you get stuck what to order as most of the menu’s are in Chinese just look at the table next to you and point to the 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 just the tourist ones with high prices. You can carry it with you and use it in the 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 and the 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 griping the seat and gasping for breath; however you soon get used to it, after the first few rides, you’re an old hand.
  • The taxis in Shanghai are, overall, quite good. Try to get the Blue, Blue’ish Turquoise, Gold and White taxis, these are the best… these are the 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 all the taxis around the country you will see the 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, and the driver then should wake up and fix whatever problem you have. Even better is to take the receipt. This has all the trip details on it and you can ring the taxi company if you want to take things further or if you’ve left something in the 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 for the trip or solved our problem.
  • In Shanghai, it is common practice for taxi fare increases after 11pm. However, one can usually bargain for a 20% discount, which will get the fare back to the pre-11pm rate.
    Be strong with the taxi drivers, never-the-less, keep your cool, smile and negotiate.

China Travel Tips – Shopping

  • China Travel Tips – Shopping – China is a shopper’s paradise, Markets, Bargains; Top labels… anything and everything if you have the time. With clothes, the larger (Western) sizes can be quite hard to find, however in the major cities where you get a lot of tourist traffic, you can find them.
  • Electrical gear, DVD’s, Cameras, stuff like this is not worth buying in China, Hong Kong is still the best place for this.
  • Store hours in the major cities are from 10am to 10pm, 7 days a week.
  • Visa card is still the best card to carry, with ATM’s in good supply all with PLUS access etc.
    There is usually a surcharge for use of VISA, MasterCard or other forms of credit card.
  • Wait on purchasing if you can, look around to get a feel for the prices. The Chinese are VERY experienced at selling and know that we halve the opening price when bargaining.
    In the markets go for 25% of what they first ask; go so low that they let you walk away. This will give you an idea of the bottom price. The resulting end-price will probably be around 40% to 50% of where they started.

Whatever the market people say, they are used to pushing and haggling for best prices. Do not worry about being too hard, they are used to it and will not sell you an item unless they make a profit. Don’t be concerned with the apparently hurt body language when you go low – it is all part of the game. As soon as they have wrapped up your first purchase, they will try to sell you something more. Remember to keep smiling and having fun while bargaining.

China Travel Tips – Medical Treatment and Records

  • Most hotels will have a doctor that you can see. In the major hotels English will be spoken.
  • Always take a small first aid kit, cold remedy, headache tablets at the very least. WATSONS is a very large chain chemist. Most of the remedies, tablets etc, that you may require should be in these shops. These shops are all over China.
  • There is a great network of pharmacy type shops; these are indicated by a Green Cross. There will always be a 24 hr Green Cross pharmacy in the city you are in. It is handy to carry a Phase book, as no one will speak English, however you will end up with something that will help.
  • INPORTANT POINT – for most of the mass produced packet type medicines, the packaging will be written in Chinese on one side, English on the other. However in the shops you only see the Chinese side. Have a good look, turn the packs over, it gives you a lot more confidence knowing you can read the package.
  • If you have a specific medical issue, take records, most of the Doctors will have OK written / reading English, even though their oral English will be poor.

China Travel Tips – Telephone

  • Using the phone is as easy as at home. However the person picking it up will not speak English or have very broken English… the Major 4- or 5-Star Hotels will all be OK.
  • What is worth doing is buying a Chinese Telecom SIM card, they are about RMB100 and with this you get RMB50 in calls, the other 50 is for the price of the SIM card; this SIM card will go into all major brand phones and work OK.

By doing this, people can reach you within and out of China if there is an emergency. If you have a couple of phones, you can short (txt) message each other (SMS). Also you are able to call your tourist guide, hotel etc if you have any major problems. It is a cheap way to keep in touch.

NB.Before you buy a Chinese SIM card, check that it will work in your Cell / Mobile phone. There are plenty of China Telecom shops that can help.

China Travel Tips on when NOT to move around China.

  • Spring Festival, this would be the Chinese New Year time, around the end of January / Early February
  • Early May; Labour day Holidays
  • Early October; National Day Holidays

Of all the China Travel Tips National Day is the biggest one. Millions of Chinese travel at these holiday times of the year. Most are travelling back to home towns or visiting family. Hotels, trains, planes, cars, buses, and roads are all crowded to the maximum. Major congestion, everywhere.

Also travel fares are at their full price. No discounts are offered!
Stay in one place and enjoy where you are. It’s best and causes fewer hassles.

China Travel Tips – TV

  • If you want to watch TV, most of the major hotels will have cable and if you are in the smaller places, the national channel, CCTV9 is in English. Over the last couple of years it has got a lot better, with some great China Travel Tips programs, news and views on people and places around China.
  • China Travel Tips – Airport Tax
  • There is a “construction fee” at almost all airports.

Domestic flights RMB 50
International flights RMB 90 – which is to be paid in local currency.

Just recently, tickets are being tissued with the Construction Tax included; however make sure you have the Tax money with you just to make sure.

I hope some of these China Travel Tips will come in handy and will make your trip to China that little bit easier.

If you have been to China and wish to share your China Travel Tips, please feel free to contact me anytime.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Related posts

Wild Ride to Wuyishan

“A good traveller has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” This quote by Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu perfectly sums up a recent trip of mine to Mount Wuyi or Wuyishan in Fujian province. Travelling by train, van and boat together with my husband’s Chinese colleagues, we had such an unforgettable adventure.

Departing from Xiamen, we took the late evening train and arrived in Wuyishan on the south-eastern coast of China the next morning. At the train station, I was struck by the sheer number of travellers (multiply the crowd at KL Sentral by five) and how comfortable the Chinese were eating, drinking, sleeping, squatting or breastfeeding there.

Our motley crew of a grandmother, two men, four women, two young children and a toddler were unprepared for the crowds and the jostling. About two hundred of us were caught in a small corridor when incoming passengers pushed their way (or us) through.

Packed like sardines for 15 minutes, with sweat streaming down our faces and people shouting all around, we felt like singing Born Free when we burst into the open space of the waiting area!

Ticket to ride

The train’s arrival had us scurrying along the platform and onto the train, which, although cramped, was clean.

Two triple-decker bunks, each one measuring about 2.5ft (.7m) wide and 6ft (1.8m) long, flanked each other. Each bunk had a pillow and a quilt. A flask of hot water was to be shared among the six passengers, especially as almost every local person carried a glass or plastic tumbler of Chinese tea.

The conductor came around to collect our ticket stubs, which we surrendered for safe-keeping.

Settling down, our travel companions feasted on popular snacks like preserved chicken feet or duck’s tongue, which I declined. Instead, I ate a steaming hot dumpling or man tou, barbecued pork, chicken floss and various nuts.

Soon, shrieks filled the air as card games went into full force. Vendors touted pickled foods or toys loudly, and one selling mini torches convinced a few of us to part with 15 yuan (RM8) each.

Strategically arranging my toddler and myself on the lowest bunk, we slept way before lights were out at 10pm.

Waking up at 7am, I was urged by grandma to quickly wash before the rest of the passengers woke up. I was fascinated by the people’s lack of self-consciousness as they went about their cleansing rituals in full view of others.

Armed with a toothbrush, toothpaste, a cup and a hand towel each, they meticulously brushed, gargled, hocked, spat, washed and wiped their faces, necks and armpits.

Nobody batted an eyelash either when a granny washed her samfoo suit in the sink as if she was in a little stream back in the countryside.

After this peek into the long-distance travel habits of the average Chinese, I’d think twice about travelling on a train again especially after visiting the common squat toilet.

Climb every mountain

We arrived at the Wuyishan Zhan station at 8.30am and disembarked quickly after getting back our train tickets.

Our tour guide (dao yu) hustled us into hiking gear at the hotel as we had to ascend and descend Wuyishan before sunset.

Wuyi mountain covers an area of 70sq km. Its 36 peaks, most under 600m high, are skirted by a meandering river, Nine Bend Stream. With its landscape of water and hills, Wuyishan is known as south-east China’s most scenic wonder.

Cute and colourful “trains” brought us to the foothill, where rows of litters (bamboo chairs hoisted on men’s shoulders) stood. It costs 250 yuan (RM133) for a lift up the mountain, while a ride downhill costs only 20 yuan (RM11).

The trek up was pleasant in the cool mountain air, past thick, green foliage. Passing by a bridge, we caught a glimpse of the bamboo rafts that would take us downstream later. The simple, handcrafted bamboo rafts had 80s-styled rattan armchairs mounted on them.

We broke our trek at the scholar Zhu Xi’s Memorial Hall, where tourists took snapshots of stone figurines depicting classical Chinese classes in session.

Gasping for breath halfway up the steep stone steps, we stopped in a cavern to enjoy the coolness under the rocks.

By 10.30am, we had reached the plateau and disbanded with half of us staying back to babysit while the other half (with grandma in the lead!) continuing the long and narrow climb up Tianyou Peak.

The rest of us, who paled at the idea of scaling the mountain, trooped gladly to the teahouse, where fresh pots of Chinese tea, green olives, tea eggs and baked sweet potatoes soothed our hunger pangs before lunch.

The kids ran wild and free on the giant expanse of green grass and breathed in sweet mountain air.

An hour later, the climbers returned to regale us with awesome descriptions of the view from the top. I truly admired the 60-year-old Sichuan grandmother’s endurance – her cheeks were flushed but she looked none the worse for the wear, unlike the younger members of the group!

Rough ride on the raft

Bracing ourselves for the raft ride, we walked to the edge of the stream where we were told to firmly hold on to the children’s hands – a young child had once drowned while playing in the crystal clear stream water with koi swimming in it.

This was the starting point of our two-hour raft ride along Nine Bend Stream, 9kms long. Six adults to a raft, we were given flimsy life-jackets, which didn’t fit the children, not to mention our toddler!

Sensing my worry, one of the muscular pole-men assured that the raft excursion was a gentle and enjoyable ride and that both of them were able swimmers.

Taking the biggest risk I’d ever taken in my life, I stepped onto the raft, strapped the life-jacket onto my toddler and ordered him to sit quietly between my legs.

I’ve been on canoes, speed boats, military ships and river cruises down the Seine and gondola rides in Venice, but I swear this raft ride down the peaceful waters of Nine Bend Stream was the most relaxing.

The rattan chairs make you feel as if you’re in your grandmother’s house in the kampung. You sit back and play with the stream water as a gentle breeze caresses your face, and you breathe in pure oxygen from the lush green trees you pass by. What bliss.

Of course, our toddler didn’t sit still and soon wanted to play with the bamboo water gun (5 yuan/RM3). It entertained him for a while until it malfunctioned. His favourite snacks occupied him next, but soon he started to get restless again.

In the end, the pole-men suggested that he paddle in the pool of water collected in between the bamboo poles. Peace reigned again and everyone sat back to relax, snapped photos or took turns being the pole-men. Although the pole-men’s strokes seemed effortless, nobody in our group could mimic their graceful efforts!

Land was soon in sight, and I was relieved to be on solid ground again.

The next day, we missed the visit to the Dahongpao tea plantation as our toddler had a slight fever. We spent the day at a jade factory and a red mushroom retailer where we bought red mushrooms (at 180 yuan/RM95 per kg) known for its aromatic and health properties when boiled.

This wild ride to Wuyishan was certainly a memorable sampling of the scenic sights in southern China.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Related posts