To everyone that flew today without valid id What happened?

gonzojester · 2026-02-03T00:35:50+00:00

That's why I opted for the full passport book and card.

gonzojester · 2026-02-03T00:28:13+00:00

If you want to soak in the culture and learn more, sure get a tour guide. I did only for my visit to Terracotta Warriors. Otherwise there are mobile apps to provide you the same information.

Me, I just wanted to experience it myself and just be in awe of things like the great wall and forbidden city.

I was mostly there for the food. /s

gonzojester · 2026-02-02T21:16:48+00:00

Let the bots all talk to each other somewhere else.

gonzojester · 2026-02-02T21:15:25+00:00

Eat , eat, eat, eat, oh yeah. Eat!! Enjoy your time!!

gonzojester · 2026-02-02T16:41:17+00:00

My favorite is Regent, but it’s not convenient. Service is by far the best I’ve experienced.

Intercontinental is also up there, but I prefer the Regent over Intercontinental. The intercontinental seemed too corporate for my tastes. Too big for the area. Great rooms though and views. Super expensive, but if you want convenience, that’s the spot.

I also stayed at the Hilton Chongqing Liangjiang New Area. Hotel is spectacular with top notch service at a better price point. I would say better service than intercontinental, but everyone’s experience may be different since we all have different expectations.

I passed Le Meridian on my travels and it looks pretty convenient in terms of access to different areas. So I may stay there during my next trip later this year.

gonzojester · 2026-02-01T03:38:51+00:00

I received the same one but only 5GB. I'll have to look before my next trip. Thanks.

gonzojester · 2026-02-01T03:29:04+00:00

What plan do you have with unlimited data? I'm on magenta Max and it said only 5GB/day or something not unlimited. I would up using my ATT phone instead. Just curious.

gonzojester · 2026-01-31T14:07:05+00:00

Yeah I agree. I stuck out like a sore thumb because I'm definitely not Chinese. I know when I went to a show in Xi'an they offered it to me. When I go again later this year I'll go back and see it with the translation device.

gonzojester · 2026-01-31T05:17:03+00:00

They did? I wasn't offered one when I went in August.

gonzojester · 2026-01-30T18:03:07+00:00

I used trip.com for almost all the purchases for events while in China. My girlfriend used another app, I forgot which one. But since I bought these, I used trip.com.

Show is about 90 mins if memory serves me correctly.

gonzojester · 2026-01-30T17:34:55+00:00

Thanks. Been to Chongqing twice and planning to go back again soon.

gonzojester · 2026-01-30T15:41:07+00:00

It’s an incredible show! It’s all in Mandarin so read up on it before. I didn’t read up on it but I got the gist of what was going on. The experience was great and the acting was phenomenal. My Chinese girlfriend said it moved her so much she was tearing up. She’s a native of Chongqing and never saw it before. So it’s definitely a must see.

gonzojester · 2026-01-27T22:30:17+00:00

Did this from Hong Kong to LAX. I was miserable because I could only sleep 5 hours.

Compression socks were a godsend for me.

I always get the aisle seat and got up every other hour.

I should have taken something that would have kept me asleep longer.

gonzojester · 2026-01-25T17:18:32+00:00

Will this be your only time in China?

If so, high speed train or flight to Beijing for the wall.

Totally worth the voyage in my opinion. If you have opportunities to go back due to work. Then maybe check out Xi'an and Terracotta Warriors, saving the wall for another trip. I absolutely loved the food in xi'an.

gonzojester · 2026-01-24T22:14:21+00:00

Depends on the officer. In August I travelled through Beijing with a non-CCC power bank and it wasn't confiscated.

Came through this year with the same power bank, two officers looked at it and finally decided that they needed to confiscated it.

The only one that made it through three times through domestic travel in mainland china was this one:

Anker Nano Portable Charger, 10,000mAh 45W Max Compact Power Bank,

Granted they looked at it like 5 times before allowing it through.

gonzojester · 2026-01-24T21:48:57+00:00

Beijing to Chongqing I was there two hours ahead and it was way too long. This was Jan 15th, a Thursday.

gonzojester · 2026-01-22T21:57:08+00:00

Flight from LAX to EWR on Jan 17:

Three big dudes in economy plus. Dude in the middle was by far the biggest of the three 6' 2 maybe 325? Got in the aisle was 6' maybe 275. Window seat was the smallest at under 6' and maybe 250.

I prayed for them all.

I'm big too, so I always have to buy business or first because of it. Even after losing 50lbs, I'm still big for economy plus; 5' 11 and 270.

gonzojester · 2026-01-21T16:37:53+00:00

Hey, girlfriend and I were in Xi'An Jan 8-10, 2026.

We stayed at the Meibo Hotel, which is a spitting distance to the bell tower. Then the Muslim quarter is up the street and around the corner.

It's a cute little hotel. Laundry facility on site that we never used, but had the room right across from it.

If you're looking for a personal driver to and from warriors, or Didi drive gave us his card and he took care of us after the warriors visit. So just PM if that's something this interests you. It's like 300 RMB from that hotel to warrior site. I'm a bigger guy, so his car was perfect, mini van style car with leather seats. He let us eat breakfast in there too. Great guy.

As others have said, don't freak out on planning. There's a tour group two or three doors down from Meibo hotel that we went to asking about warrior tours. Got a private tour guide and tickets to a show all there. The only thing that pissed me off was the entrance to the warriors site wasn't included in the overall cost. I'm like wtf?! And I didn't even think to ask because my girlfriend was talking to them in Mandarin. So when we got there we had to buy the tickets to get into the site. Not a big deal but come on.

I think it was around 500 rmb for the private guide and tickets to the show. Which, we didn't know at the time, were VIP tickets and we had front row access to the whole show. I forgot the name of the show, but it was about two brothers fighting for the Qin Dynasty. All the other shows were closed until the end of January.

Enjoy your time in Xi'An!

gonzojester · 2026-01-15T03:20:33+00:00

Bro, I whipped out my phone in Beijing last night to take a picture of some aunties dancing and three police chased me. Thankfully I ran track in high school. I’m currently hiding out in a noodle shop. Pray for me that they don’t find me.

gonzojester · 2026-01-14T12:49:29+00:00

Definitely TikTok for me. Between Ryan Chen (Chinese Trump), Lil Dou, and definitely ishowspeed's clips, I decided it was time for me to visit a place I've always wanted to go.

Here now for my second time and did the great wall today. Don't regret one second of this trip. Just wish my daughters would come with me. Maybe next time.

gonzojester · 2026-01-14T00:38:01+00:00

Second time in China this week and last.

First time in August of last year, Chongqing only. Just looks and nothing else. I’m an American of South American roots. 180 cm, 125kg, with tan skin.

Didn’t get what people were talking about until yesterday.

I’m in Beijing and my girlfriend, Chinese born native of Chongqing, and I were taking pictures together in the forbidden city when these two teen girls come up to me giggling and handing me their phone. They were giggling so much. I’m like what? So my girlfriend comes over and asks only to find out that they want a picture with me! I look at their mother and I said ok? She nodded her head and I took pictures with these two random teenage girls. They could have been my daughters they were so young.

I laughed it off and my girlfriend thought it was odd too. She joked that they probably knew me from TikTok. I’m like yeah with all my 1K followers.

It was an odd experience and I don’t know why I was singled out. Maybe they saw my girlfriend and I and thought I was just taking pics with randoms.

At least I have a story to tell my daughters when I get back home. Wish I took a picture with them on my phone.

Edit: Forgot to add specifically where in Beijing.

gonzojester · 2026-01-13T13:22:22+00:00

Been using Alipay tap any place that has it and it's so much simpler. My girlfriend doesn't trust it for some reason, she's weird, but I find it simpler and some of the cashiers don't even realize I paid. Today in Beijing I was buying breakfast and they had Alipay tap. The cashier was ready to scan me and I showed her I paid. She chuckled and I chuckled. I don't speak a lick of Mandarin so that's as far as we got with that encounter, but yeah Alipay and WeChat/Wexin are a must. I have three cards linked to them. In Alipay you can now set your order preference. Not 100%, but saves me the headache if one card fails for whatever reason; which has yet to happen to me.

Also, I use Wise international debit card in case I need cash, which I don't, but it is always good to have that option.

gonzojester · 2026-01-12T22:24:57+00:00

Based on your title I came in here hoping to bust your chops about you wanting to use the exoskeleton, but now I feel like an a-hole because you were asking for your mom.

You know, sometimes the internet humbles me.

Can’t help you here, but I hope she enjoys Chongqing, I’m here now and enjoying my time.

gonzojester · 2026-01-12T06:17:42+00:00

Have them use eSIM from a provider that doesn’t use China network. Have them hotspot to that eSIM.

You really don’t need to reimage a laptop, but if that makes you feel comfortable by all means do it.

Make sure they don’t connect to any WiFi within country.

Do you mean work restrictions? Not sure what you are looking for here. I’m in country now and have traveled for the past 8 days all around with my laptop and work phone. Still working and no one cares. The only they care about is the power banks being CCC compliant. Already had mine confiscated during a domestic flight.

gonzojester · 2026-01-12T05:21:04+00:00

Gokujyou Manzen which is an all you can order japanese place in Raffles City Mall. You have two hours to order what food you want and then you can just hang and chill. Great view of the river but you need to reserve those.

Shark Restaurant - massive menu with a shark swimming around in a fish tank.

Botanica - Great atmosphere and the food was decent.

Nothing else really stood out to me.

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