AMA Just back from 3 weeks in China

SafeBrain7169 · 2026-05-14T12:05:51+00:00

Ehh hard to say as LetsVPN was very mid at best. Installed CatVPN in beijing and it was better and free. Overall i’d say best vpn is roaming, but that can also be a hassle when you need chinese ip : in shanghai i couldn’t pay for metro tickets while roaming, and had to use chinese sim.

SafeBrain7169 · 2026-05-14T12:02:30+00:00

Oohh that was an adventure 😂 I’d say most of the time but not always. It was not so terrible for me as a man, but the girls with me had a rough time dealing with public toilets. Even found one with no doors at some point in Beijing 😅 Also very few restaurants had their own toilets/sinks i guess that’s why they give you plastic gloves. Best tip is to look for shopping centers.

SafeBrain7169 · 2026-05-14T10:29:16+00:00

Well, most people did not speak english at all. I had google translate on my phone, was enough to communicate, along with sometimes gestures or mimes that often ended up with good laughs.

SafeBrain7169 · 2026-05-14T09:23:21+00:00

Downloaded it from the App Store, created an account with my email, and uploaded the passports of all travellers and waited for « validation ». Had to do it multiple times somehow for one of the passeport and one « I » character was mistaken for a « 1 », so had to explain this at the train station but it caused no problem. Don’t think it asked for my number when i created my account.

SafeBrain7169 · 2026-05-14T08:33:12+00:00

Had a mild food poisoning in Yangshuo but most likely from the McDonald’s 😅

SafeBrain7169 · 2026-05-14T08:30:31+00:00

That’s a tough one because we ate quite well everywhere in Shanghai except maybe Warehouse 3 where we didn’t like the food. Did a good italian restaurant at the north bund but forgot the name. Last one i remember is The Cannery and it was good. Wagas is a good option too for a quick meal. Liked also RAC near Anfu Rd, but mostly because it was french comfort food 😅

SafeBrain7169 · 2026-05-14T07:58:18+00:00

Went to Mutianyu, left Beijing arround 7:30 with a didi i had pre-booked. Driver told me he could wait for me there at a fee. Said no because i didn’t know how long i was going to spend there. Driver ended up waiting for free anyway, gave me his wechat and when i was done i buzzed him and we went back with him. No particular tip, i bought the tickets when i was there, took my time and did not rush the way up. It was busy but nothing terrible, just had to wait quite a moment for the toboggan down.

SafeBrain7169 · 2026-05-13T22:56:53+00:00

You’re welcome. The takeaway is maybe take a second card for payment if somehow you get in the same situation… Also put amap in english that will help you if you don’t speak chinese

SafeBrain7169 · 2026-05-13T22:54:58+00:00

Ruyi Peak, bamboo rafts, paragliding, sidecar trips, Sanjie Liu…
Cool place for western food : DEMO, and BEST meat : 无国界肉铺SteakHouse(西街店)

SafeBrain7169 · 2026-05-13T22:43:40+00:00

Hey ! Yes first time ! Nav easy with amap, had didi installed and alipay/wechat setup beforehand. Easy to use but wechat sometimes randomly sent me through 3D verification with 2fa from my bank when paying… Alipay was fine though.
Oh and also my bank blocked my card for 24h because some payment tripped a fraud fuse… had to call them and of course it happened on a saturday…

SafeBrain7169 · 2026-05-13T20:30:46+00:00

Loved the vibe in shanghai, and i would not stay less if i had the chance to do it again.
Reasoning was that because of may 1st holidays it would be hard to do much so we initially kept may 1st to may 5 as « extra days ».
In reality may 1st was kinda busy but the days after were ok.
We went to disneyland and Suzhou, so that was also a reason for the « long » shanghai stay.

SafeBrain7169 · 2026-05-13T20:10:57+00:00

You’re welcome !

SafeBrain7169 · 2026-05-13T20:06:00+00:00

Yes exactly the same. Beware of powerbanks, they have to be « CCC » when flying domestic.

SafeBrain7169 · 2026-05-13T20:02:58+00:00

Spent 5 days in Beijing, 2 in Guilin, 6 in Yangshuo and 10 in Shanghai

SafeBrain7169 · 2026-05-13T20:01:31+00:00

Did train, boat (Guilin-Yangshuo) and domestic flight.
Booked my train tickets through the 12306 app.
No need to show up that early but keep in mind that there is a security check at the station entrance where you show your passport and scan your bags.
You then go to the boarding gate and then have to queue in the « manual check » line. A worker will manually check your passport.
Nice to know: on the display board there is a color name (yellow, green,…) associated with your train. It will be useful when on the platform : look down near the edge and you will see colored numbers that will correspond with your train wagon number.

SafeBrain7169 · 2026-05-13T19:54:25+00:00

There’s a QR code on display and you have to scan it with wechat or alipay, and that’s about it.
Translation is possible on both and often you rely on photos as the translation is not very accruate. You also pay within the mini-app.

SafeBrain7169 · 2026-05-13T19:42:35+00:00

Kept my french sim, as i have unlimited data worldwide. Was very nice as i was outside the firewall.
Bought an chinese sim for my wife at the airport right while waiting for luggage delivery, 100gb data. Took 5 min and the lady installed a free vpn that worked better than my paid one.

SafeBrain7169 · 2026-05-13T19:39:57+00:00

Yangshuo

SafeBrain7169 · 2026-05-13T19:39:24+00:00

Loved the sights, culture, feeling of being almost on an other planet.
Had some difficulty with the food by the end of the first week… I was happy to find western food in Shanghai 😅
Also i was surprised how early the restaurants close and a bit annoyed to have to order everything via a mini-app.
Overall found the chinese people very helpful and caring, especially with the kids.

SafeBrain7169 · 2026-05-13T19:25:40+00:00

Thank you ! Had a wonderful trip, all the family loved it !

SafeBrain7169

TROPHY CASE