8 Things To Note: 8 Days In Xi'an, China
I was very determined to document my trip to Xi'an so that you guys can have a better picture of how it'd be like. Undoubtedly, I had my fair share of fun, but several hiccups almost left me stranded on this piece of foreign land and had rendered me downright speechless. Do take note of the following if you're planning a trip to Xi'an!
1. Expensive admission tickets
Look, we're talking about a tourism hotspot with a history dating back to 3000 years ago, so I was the person not in the right state of mind to have underestimated this cost. Amazingly, the tourism line has everything seamlessly planned for you, but be prepared to empty a good half of your money pouch for these exorbitant tourism packages in Xi'an.
2. Debit/Atm cards with UnionPay
They don't care how many functions (Cirrus or Plus) your Debit/Atm cards have. Apparently, they only recognise UnionPay. Unless you're prepared to pay the relatively higher price of credit cards charges, Visa is gladly accepted.
3. No money changer
Maybe they have lesser Indians in China? Anyway, banks are the only place for people to change their currency, and in case if you want to (for whatever reason) change RMB to other currency, you have to drop by the bank a few days in advance.
4. Sim Card
Either get it at a higher price at the airport, or never get it anywhere else. Foreigners are not expected to own a mobile line in China, for whatever crazy reason again, so don't even attempt to sneak into a shady shop expecting some under table methods to work. No citizenship ID, no mobile line and data for you.
5. Download VPN beforehand
The Great Firewall of China definitely doesn't sound unfamiliar. For a hardcore social media near millennium like me, VPN is a must to cross this hurdle. Recommending Astrill (7 days free trial) and TunnelBear (limited to 500mb) for Android users (tested with Samsung 8). Can't vouch for Apple users hahaha, cos' it doesn't work for my friend.
6. Baidu maps
We're just too used to Google maps. In case VPN doesn't work for you in anyway, please back up your phone with Baidu maps. Their offline maps (download in advance) can greatly ease your navigation pain.
7. Train tickets
China is brilliantly interconnected with their WE-system, where citizens pay almost anything (from online/offline retail shops to night market cart vendors) with their wechat wallet. Well, again, I need to emphasise the citizen word. If you don't have a citizen ID, you can't register for a wallet, you need to manually pay by cash, WHICH MEANS, you can't book train tickets in advance. We almost couldn't make it to Luoyang (thanks to one tour guide who positively assured us that tickets are in abundance), so you see, the importance of purchasing earlier.
8. Be specific when you say you're a foreigner
I don't blame them. To me, angmohs are just angmohs, so since we share the same yellow skin, everyone will presume you are a Chinese Chinese in China (no matter how your accent/slang speaks otherwise). At the later part of our trip I finally learnt to declare flatly that I'm from SINGAPORE, so that they can stop bugging me to scan wechat qr code for payment.
Common sense doesn't seem so common in China after all. Seriously, take things with three pinches of salt and be vigilant. The constant thing in China, or I'd say Xi'an or Luoyang, is their ever-changing gate number, platform, food, price, people.... With all these at the fingertips, you're good to go!
1. Expensive admission tickets
Look, we're talking about a tourism hotspot with a history dating back to 3000 years ago, so I was the person not in the right state of mind to have underestimated this cost. Amazingly, the tourism line has everything seamlessly planned for you, but be prepared to empty a good half of your money pouch for these exorbitant tourism packages in Xi'an.
2. Debit/Atm cards with UnionPay
They don't care how many functions (Cirrus or Plus) your Debit/Atm cards have. Apparently, they only recognise UnionPay. Unless you're prepared to pay the relatively higher price of credit cards charges, Visa is gladly accepted.
3. No money changer
Maybe they have lesser Indians in China? Anyway, banks are the only place for people to change their currency, and in case if you want to (for whatever reason) change RMB to other currency, you have to drop by the bank a few days in advance.
4. Sim Card
Either get it at a higher price at the airport, or never get it anywhere else. Foreigners are not expected to own a mobile line in China, for whatever crazy reason again, so don't even attempt to sneak into a shady shop expecting some under table methods to work. No citizenship ID, no mobile line and data for you.
5. Download VPN beforehand
The Great Firewall of China definitely doesn't sound unfamiliar. For a hardcore social media near millennium like me, VPN is a must to cross this hurdle. Recommending Astrill (7 days free trial) and TunnelBear (limited to 500mb) for Android users (tested with Samsung 8). Can't vouch for Apple users hahaha, cos' it doesn't work for my friend.
6. Baidu maps
We're just too used to Google maps. In case VPN doesn't work for you in anyway, please back up your phone with Baidu maps. Their offline maps (download in advance) can greatly ease your navigation pain.
7. Train tickets
China is brilliantly interconnected with their WE-system, where citizens pay almost anything (from online/offline retail shops to night market cart vendors) with their wechat wallet. Well, again, I need to emphasise the citizen word. If you don't have a citizen ID, you can't register for a wallet, you need to manually pay by cash, WHICH MEANS, you can't book train tickets in advance. We almost couldn't make it to Luoyang (thanks to one tour guide who positively assured us that tickets are in abundance), so you see, the importance of purchasing earlier.
8. Be specific when you say you're a foreigner
I don't blame them. To me, angmohs are just angmohs, so since we share the same yellow skin, everyone will presume you are a Chinese Chinese in China (no matter how your accent/slang speaks otherwise). At the later part of our trip I finally learnt to declare flatly that I'm from SINGAPORE, so that they can stop bugging me to scan wechat qr code for payment.
Common sense doesn't seem so common in China after all. Seriously, take things with three pinches of salt and be vigilant. The constant thing in China, or I'd say Xi'an or Luoyang, is their ever-changing gate number, platform, food, price, people.... With all these at the fingertips, you're good to go!
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