iPhone in China
For those of you planning a trip to China, the news is yes, your iPhone will work just fine. I signed up for a 125MB data plan with AT&T before we left, then once the plane landed & we were through immigration, I powered up the phone, and it connected straight away to China Unicom. Note, in two weeks I used 180MB of data, even with many of the hotels having wireless access - so sign up for more than you think you'll need. 125MB cost me $49.95, we'll see what the extra 55MB is going to set me back! Apparently it would be prorated for the amount not used, so think big.
There were a few iPhone apps I found particularly helpful - the Explore Metro subway navigation maps were fantastic - I downloaded the Shanghai & Beijing versions, very helpful for route planning, finding the closest metro station, and knowing the fares, especially in Shanghai where fares vary by distance. These apps are $2.99 each but are well worth it.
TripAdvisor's app was also helpful for showing restaurants & attractions based on my current location, and being able to search by type. I used the hotel's wireless connection with the laptop to write reviews on the TripAdvisor web site.
The navigation & GPS capability of the iPhone itself was the most helpful of all. I was able to plug in an address in English (pinyin) & it would find the location just fine, then I'd be able to use the live navigation to make sure we told the taxi driver the right place! On one trip the taxi driver used it to help us find the hotel - the street names were shown in Chinese characters as well as pinyin. Maps worked just fine, had a lot of the points of interest already on the map, so easy to find them.
On the map, tap the location indicator twice and the phone display orientates itself to a relative, compass based setting. So now you know which way to head to get to the nearest Starbucks, is that useful or what!!!
Subway & Train Travel
If you're planning on traveling between cities, the train system was really convenient, reasonably priced, comfortable & on time. There's an app to help understand train schedules, really good. Armed with the "G" train number and time of departure, we were able to purchase tickets knowing the time & price before getting to the counter.
How the subway systems in Beijing & Shanghai work:
- The Beijing subway system has single trip tickets available. Buy then at your departing station for 2 RMB per person. The fine print: you can only use the ticket to depart from the station where you purchased the ticket...so don't be clever like we tried to be by buying the return ticket at the same time, figuring you'd save hassle later. No go.
- Shanghai's train system is a bit more complicated because fares vary by distance. Here you can purchase a 20RMB stored fare ticket, then just make sure you have enough stored up. The station booth can deposit funds onto the ticket, no problem, and the entrance gates show how much fare remains. When you're ready to leave, you can cash in the ticket, again at the station where you purchased them. We were able to cash in the ticket at the Shanghai Railway Station at a convenience store, it was a bit complicated though!
- Use the ticket with the entry gate (slide it in for the day tickets or touch with the stored fare tickets), then use the same ticket to exit. The day tickets will be stored in the reader.
- Get to the station platform & decide which train to use - use your handy iPhone app to determine the previous & next stations, then look to see the directions for the trains indicated & hop on. There's a TV that shows when the next train will be arriving.
- Station announcements are made in Mandarin & English & are very clear.
- The trains in Shanghai & a few in Beijing have LED indicators showing where the train is between stations & which station is next.
- Dig the animation displays in the tunnels in Beijing!
- If a seat opens up - don't think, go for it!! This is a serious you snooze, you lose situation!
Other Impressions
It's been 9 years since we were in China last, and the pace of change in that time was remarkable. In Shanghai, we saw a Bentley dealership, apparently they are completely sold out through next year's production. Saw a lot of Maseratis, Porche Panamera's, 7 Series, you name it. Now the country side from the train still looked about the same, but I kept an eye on the phone the whole 5 hour trip from Beijing to Shanghai & had a solid 5 bars of signal the whole way.
Food prices were higher than we remembered. Going to dinner at a not-so-fancy place, in a somewhat touristy area, dishes ran from $3.50 for my favorite Yang Zhou Fried Rice, $10 for a delish dish of beef and Chinese broccoli, up to $25 for a "gui yu" sweet and sour fish. Mind you it was mighty tasty, but those prices are about what we'd pay here in the States...but our incomes are much higher in proportion. In a not so touristy area, I paid $15 for three bowls of noodles and a plate of veg, so I guess it does depend on where one goes.
Be prepared to reign in your personal space needs! There's a lot of people there, and the American bubble of space is much much larger than that of a typical Chinese! Expect to rub elbows & be gently nudged out of the way without an excuse me. Just the way it is, and it does work.
We bought some baby Mandarin oranges in Beijing & Shanghai, dang they were good! Great strawberries also.
Bargaining...it's all part of the program. Except in department stores, prices are negotiable. If you overhear someone buying the scarf of your dreams for 100RMB, when it's your turn the shop keeper will swear over their entire ancestores they never sold such a scarf for a measly 100RMB. Just be prepared to walk away...they'll come after you, but if the price still isn't what you want, really, walk away. The next vendor will have the exact same scarf at the price you want.
Hotels...the thing now seems to be glassed in bathrooms! Since how to put this delicately, when I'm enthroned I do like my privacy, there are shades to block the view. Goofy! Five star hotels are very nice indeed, but try some of the four star Chinese brands for a slight change of pace. If you can see if you can get breakfast included - at one five star, breakfast was RMB138 per person, so if that's included it'll save you some cash. If not included, go find a "Yong He Da Wang", get a bowl of fresh soy milk & some of those "yo tiao" doughnuts, and you'll have enough calories to keep you til the noon dumpling or noodle soup feed.
Money exchange...ATMs are now everywhere. The five star hotels we stayed in had money conversion machines - feed in your USD bills and get RMB back. This was convenient but expensive...the better bet is to take your greenbacks to a Bank of China office. Took us about 40 minutes at the BoC branch off People's Square in Shanghai, took about 15 minutes at the branch south of Tiananmen on Qianan Street. Same exchange rate for cash or traveler's checks now too, it seems.
Lastly, English...yes, there is plenty of English spoken, and be prepared to see people listening in to your chats on the subway & at restaurants, no worries it's just curiosity! At the same time, be armed with some basic Mandarin (or get the LearnChinese app & let it talk for you) to make things easier. For instance, "yi ge zhe ge" is your friend for pointing to a picture on a menu & asking for that item.
Needless to say yes we did enjoy our trip quite a bit. Our daughter really enjoyed it, she's a big fan of nui rou tang mian, had that for six straight meals & could keep going. Oh, one last thing...kudos to Delta Airlines for the seatback TV entertainment system - 13 hours of TV kept the daughter's attention with no fussing at all. Even some younger kids were parked still staring at Handy Manny for 13 hours. Even some, ah, older kids totally dug watching 2001: A Space Odyssey, Midnight in Paris, Harry Potter IV - 7 (could have seem them all & the LOTR trilogy), Tron:Legacy, and more!!
OK enough for now - next post will be about SharePoint web templates, promise!
Zai jian!
