Traveling to China

lcloo said:

If you take photo close to the site and if they mistaken you for an Indian, you could be in trouble.

If you fly into Shanghai Pudong International airport, you might have a chance to take photo of Changxing island yards, but if your destination is Hong Qiao airport then sorry.

Chcek trip.com for places of interests in the cities you are going to.

Get Alipay or Applepay or Wechatpay apps plus some CNY cash. And get a Baidu map and subway maps of the cities. And 12306 app for HSR,

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Thank you very useful to know I am flying into Pudong International and I have booked a window seat so I hope I can catch the shipyard and see the Type 726 LCAC fleet at the yard especially a sharp eye on the dry dock area where usually 2 of them sit

my friend has already installed WeChat on my phone and added a payment method so I wont need too much local currency

my Chinese colleague will accompany me on my trip so I think she will look after all the train journeys

ha I dont look like a Indian or even Pakistani for that matter most likely Latin American so I think I should be ok from that angle

I really want to take the Maglev train from the airport

my last question is I heard from some colleagues that the Shanghai Customs officers are really strict ? is there any truth to that?

Phead128 said:

I highly recommend installing and setting up your foreign Visa credit card on AliPay and WeChat. It makes it so effortless to pay everything, even train/bus tickets, scan QR code on AliPay, it'll deduct from your foreign Visa credit card.

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yes my friend has already told me that and she will install the payment on my WeChat

siegecrossbow said:

I think as long as you don’t take out a professional looking camera or climb fences you should be okay. Just don’t be too obvious and practice best judgment.

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Yes I have taken many photos of Rosyth dockyard in Scotland when the two Queen Elizabeth Carriers were under build while driving over the forth road bridge and also from airplanes and shared on the sites years ago

so I am quit quick to identify and snap a quick shot from my phone discreetly

Would I be able to walk down the riverfront passed the HDHZ shipyard ? From across the river can we get some good shots of the Type 076?

also is this the location were the Type 071 LPD and Type 075 LHD are based ?

looking forward to sharing my photos here

I am also going to China for the first time. I already have my credit card link to my new wechat payment account. I also intend to open a China bank account as I will be applying for short term residency.

(1) For contingency, I will be bringing my Master and Visa credit card. Will I be able to use these card for contingency in case I run in issues using wechat pay?

(2) How I can I transfer money to my china RMB bank account ? I guess I can transfer fund directly to regular RMB bank account and bank will take care of conversion from Foreign currency to RMB. Asking just because I do not want last minute surprise.

Dolcevita said:

I am also going to China for the first time. I already have my credit card link to my new wechat payment account. I also intend to open a China bank account as I will be applying for short term residency.

(1) For contingency, I will be bringing my Master and Visa credit card. Will I be able to use these card for contingency in case I run in issues using wechat pay?

(2) How I can I transfer money to my china RMB bank account ? I guess I can transfer fund directly to regular RMB bank account and bank will take care of conversion from Foreign currency to RMB. Asking just because I do not want last minute surprise.

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Master card and Visa card are not commonly accepted in China other than international branded outlets (eg Starbucks in big cities) and large international hotels. Some foreign bank (debit) cards should be able to withdraw cash from ATMs, especially at the airports.

Money transfer to China depends on banking regulations from your country, better check with your local bankers. On Chinese side, there should not be much problem.

lcloo said:

Master card and Visa card are not commonly accepted in China other than international branded outlets (eg Starbucks in big cities) and large international hotels. Some foreign bank (debit) cards should be able to withdraw cash from ATMs, especially at the airports.

Money transfer to China depends on banking regulations from your country, better check with your local bankers. On Chinese side, there should not be much problem.

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Thanks. Good to know I have contingency I think I will be OK with the wire transfer for personal RMB bank account. I was worried because BoC staff was telling me some non-personal bank account may not accept non-RMB wire transfer.

Enjoy your stays guys, China is a LOT of fun. There is so much to do. Also, public intoxication is NOT a crime haha. I don't know about you guys but I find the West to be very boring. Asia is the place to be to have a good time.

@asif iqbal how long will you be staying in China?

You will see and convinced that the news western media about China are 95% are wrong

lcloo said:

Master card and Visa card are not commonly accepted in China other than international branded outlets (eg Starbucks in big cities) and large international hotels. Some foreign bank (debit) cards should be able to withdraw cash from ATMs, especially at the airports.

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How about UnionPay? I would hope that would work better?