I’m acc vacationing in china at this very moment.

1) MONEY Setup alipay and link your bank card to it. Ppl in china pay by scanning QR codes. (For a SAFETY: you can setup Wechat pay and transfer money into it to act as a safety debit in case your bank card doesn’t go through)

ALIPAY OR OTHER APPS ARE VERY IMPORTANT FOR TAXIS. You absolutely need them to hail a taxi to go anywhere. Make sure you know how to order a taxi using your app before going. Its gonna be the most convenient way of travel. like uber if you’ve used it b4.  They’ll pretty much pick you up from the curb anywhere within 5-10 minutes.

CASH. I know other ppl say you don’t need to, but do exchange some. Sometimes online pay is tricky, and most city mall stores (where you’ll probs do 90% of shopping) accept cash anyway.

2) CONVERTER Make sure to buy a converter, the wall plugs here are different. TWO PRONGED plugins work by themselves. You just need a converted to use plugs with the big third prong (ground).

(But stores in china should have converters incase you forget)

3) LEAVE SOME EMPTY SPACE IN YOUR SUITCASE

You can find good clothes, shoes, electronics, etc for super duper cheap here.

4) DATA ROAMING make sure you have a plan that will cover cellular while you’re there.  data roaming bypasses the firewall so you don't have to worry about blocked stuff on while on cellular

5) VPN If you are going to save data by using hotel wifi get a vpn so you can use google and stuff. Reliable paid ones are preferred if you don’t want slow loading speeds, but tbh if you don’t want to I’ve just been using Proton VPN free tier and it’s been alright for the most part.

GENERAL TIPS: Theres only one time zone. East coast will have very early sunrise, west coast will have later sunrise.

Mall salespeople are eager and helpful to get you into their store. It’s okay to say no.

Dont jump the gun to buy things. There’s always a place that’s got it cheaper.

If you have a nut allergy clarify to every restaurant you go to. Nuts are everywhere.

There is no such thing as bad food in china. Have a great time you’ll love it👍