Need Information for Summer in China!

Irishinglasgow

Hey everyone,

Was just wondering if anybody could help me out? I'm thinking about travelling somewhere like China or Japan for the summer and was looking for some advice. I'm currently a student in Glasgow and would just be looking to visit for three or four months.

Could anyone tell me what the visa requirements are. Also I plan on going lone ranger on this trip, has anyone done this before? Lastly if anyone had any info on where to find a job? Ideally i'd love an internship in something to do with sales/marketing but overall i'm not fussy!!

I'd really appreciate any help!

Thanks a million

ChristopherUno

Hey there,

The visa requirements aren't as stringent as you'd think, not 100% sure about the L (travel) visa as I went there on an X (study) visa, but I dropped mine in one day, picked it up the next day and was on a plane to China within 24 hours. If I remember correctly a travel visa will only do for 3 months, after that if you still wanna stay you'll have to leave the country to renew it. Luckily you can just pop down to Hong Kong and spend some time there, or maybe over to Japan/South Korea. I can recommend Hong Kong, it should be on your itinerary anyway and you can kill two birds with one stone then. Plan to spend a few days there, get out of the city a little too if you can, to the Outlying Islands and maybe Macau, which has a certain South American feel to it.

I travelled solo a lot when I was there, most of the time in fact, but I speak decent enough Chinese and I'm assuming you're not in that situation? I do know people who've travelled around without Chinese, but it requires a lot more effort (don't expect to meet many people with a decent level of English outside the larger citites) and getting off the beaten track can be quite tough I'd imagine. In the main cities (Shanghai, Hong Kong, Beijing) or major tourist destinations (Guilin, Xian, Dunhuang etc.) you'll find hostels and meet other foreigners who might be going your way for a while, or even just to join on a tour with them to save on costs and maybe share a hotpot with and hit up a bar at night. And if you learn a little Chinese, or come across someone who speaks English, the Chinese are in general delighted to feed foreigners to bursting point, fill them full of booze and ask ceaseless questions about England no matter how often you tell them "no, no, I-RE-LAND!!!!"

As for jobs, cos I was there a good while I landed a few jobs teaching English, taught some high school students a bit on Irish culture and was even offered a full-time job, but was in full-time education and couldn't take it. I think your best bet for finding a job would be a big city like Shanghai or Beijing (for the record I prefer Beijing, has an older, more authentic Chinese feel, as opposed to the hyper-cosmopolitan atmosphere of Shanghai, which is attractive in its own way but not so suited for me). I never looked for a job, just got offered lots by dint of being a foreigner with some Chinese. I'm not sure if that exactly counts as job hunting advice but it's the only experience I have from China! If you're in Beijing check out Paddy O'Shea's bar for Irish folk living there and looking for a pint of the black stuff, hit them up for possible leads. Also check out the expat magazines wherever you go, to the best of my knowledge they had job listings somewhere in them. Ask the Irish Embassy in Beijing or the Consulate in Shanghai if they know any Irish business people stationed over there who are looking for work. It shouldn't be too hard to find teaching positions over there but not sure about internships, everyone I knew on them had secured them prior to arrival. Which I suppose is ok, you're not there yet!

Anyway that's a lot of rambling for not much advice! Enjoy your time over there and if you have any more questions shoot!

caoty

http://www.thebeijinger.com/

Have a look on Dave's Esl Cafe for info about teaching and related visa requirements. There isn't much demand in China for non-teaching related work unless you have Mandarin or if you can sing/dance/act well. There is a major advertising industry here for foreigners but not in the background. You would need to be marketable.

TBH, I'd recommend getting the max length tourist visa and teaching illegally. There's plenty of work, and its a great way to meet women.

Now.. I work in Xi'an, so if you need any info about that city let me know. As for Shanghai and Beijing, I've been there for a few weeks at a time, and I far prefer Beijing. Shanghai is just too western for me. But honestly, I much prefer further south as the food is much better, and there's less of the focus on scorpions, snakes, bugs, slugs, etc.

kuangkuang

hey, i'm a student, living in guangzhou.
any help needed, contact me shiwaitaoyuanrita@hotmail.com
maybe i can help you to translate for a while~~haha~

Funglegunk

I'd edit out that email address and send it via PM instead. Not wise to post it on a public forum.

bill_lehane

I would recommend checking out a book called 'This Is China: A Guidebook for Teachers, Backpackers and Other Lunatics.' The title says it all :-)

tunnels

Try Couch surfing !! its fun and interesting and theres lots a places in any where listed jst look for the cities you want to go lots locals will help you !! I live Suzhou !! been here 2 years and working here .Travel off the beaten track is really great i been lots places including in the mountains and small villages

Brokentime

tunnels wrote: »

Try Couch surfing !! its fun and interesting and theres lots a places in any where listed jst look for the cities you want to go lots locals will help you !! I live Suzhou !! been here 2 years and working here .Travel off the beaten track is really great i been lots places including in the mountains and small villages

Couchsurfing... my girlfriend is into this thing, but the sort of people I've had to suffer staying in my apartment take the biscuit. Creeps and freeloaders, mainly, who are more trouble that they're worth.

Irishinglasgow - hostels here are very cheap; you could hole up in one for relatively little. Regarding where to go - I'm in Shanghai and I wouldn't really recommend it. It's expensive and,for such a big city, kinda limited in what you can really do. ChristopherUno is probably right; hit up Beijing instead, but bring an oxygen mask ;-)

Failing that, if your'e wearing your brave pants, you could just try to venture off into the sticks somewhere and see how it goes. My first 3 months in China were in a tiny village outside Shanghai. It was an eye-opening experience.

Mr. Loverman

Lots of good advice here.

You can get a 6 month holiday visa for China. You must leave the country and re-enter once. Weird, I know.

Japan is visa on arrival.

My experience with couchsurfing has been very positive.

Regarding travelling on your own, you don't mention if you're male or female. In general China is very safe for men but not so safe for women. My female friends (foreign and Chinese) are constantly sexually assaulted here (strangers grabbing their tits, ass, etc.)