Congratulations on deciding to embark on the adventure of a lifetime where you will learn a great deal about yourself and life.
1. Have a passport.
2. Make sure you work out your travel VISA way ahead of time.
3. Book your airline ticket as early as possible. If you are a student, I always recommend traveling with STA travel unless you have airline miles to cash in. Air Canada seems to have the cheapest flights from North America to the PRC. You can upgrade to the Air Canada "Tango Plus" package relatively cheaply and it seems like a good value. Non-USA airlines also operate high-quality flights to and from Asia. Consider these. They can turn out to be a great value. Cathay Pacific, China Southern, Air China, Air India, etc. all offer deals.
4. Be flexible when making your traveling arrangements. You have the potential to save hundreds of U.S. dollars if you fly into one airport and out of another. Domestic travel within China, such as high-speed train, slow train, buses, and domestic flights are all much cheaper than in the USA and Europe. If you will be studying, working, sightseeing in Beijing for a period of time. Flying into Beijing and out of Shanghai is a fun option. But, it is better to fly into the city of destination and out of a different city if you intend on going this route to save money. For instance, if you fly into Shanghai on Thursday and need to be in Beijing on Saturday you run the risk of not being able to purchase a train ticket (high or low speed) from Shanghai to Beijing. The time of this train ride fluctuates and even if you get the ticket on short-notice, you might end up standing in a super packed 2nd-class train car for 10+ hours.
5. Do your homework. I suggest consulting multiple travel guides focusing on your interests and the specifics of your trip. It is highly in your interest to carry a Mandarin - English dictionary which includes written English, written Simplified Mandarin, Pinyin, and picture descriptions of food items, emergency services, etc. For example, if you are planning a 3-week journey throughout the Pearl River Delta before studying at Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou, then you should consider consulting the Frommer's, Lonely Planet, Nat Geo, etc. travel guides to this area prior to your trip. Trust me on this tip. You will not want to carry around a bunch of travel guides and travel guides often contain incorrect and/or out of date information, especially in regards to urban China where exponential growth can occur every 6 months to 1 year. I once wasted an entire day in Beijing trying to find an outdoor store because Frommer's misplaced the location of the store on small scale map. Additionally, you might not be able to find any travel information for the places you want to frequent while surfing the web in China. The information on domestic Chinese travel review websites can be misleading and inadequate. Finally, English-language publications can only be found at specialty stores and often cost much more than you would pay for these publications outside of China. On a final side note, some of information might seem a bit excessive for IPHONE and Smart device users. Well, you run the risk of your IPHONE or Smart device not working when you are traveling in China and you also run the risk of spending an unfortunate amount of money to use these devices and there is also the risk of damage, theft, and loss of these devices.
This is a blog created to assist young people with tips on how to enjoy life, stay safe, have awesome adventures, develop friendships, and get home alive while traveling abroad.
