China Survival Guide: How to Avoid Travel Troubles and Mortifying Mishaps, 3rd Edition

At first I wasn't sure about buying this as it wasn't a "typical" travel guide. I'm so glad I read the reviews and went ahead and bought it. It was PERFECT to use on our trip to Beijing. It gave us all the practical knowledge that we needed to navigate what is an entirely different culture than here in the US. We had an amazing time there most likely because we knew what to expect about a lot of things ahead of time. If you are traveling to China this is a must buy. You can get a lot of travel info on the internet but this was "real life" information.

I was hoping for a great deal more useful information - this book is mostly long-winded personal (negative) experiences about the author's 4-5 star hotel rooms not having running water and how he almost missed his plane. If you are planning a trip to China and hoping to come away with some knowledge that might actually help you on the road (especially if you're not planning on having an agency get all of your tickets and have a driver at your door to take you to the airport), you're better off with a Lonely Planet or real guide.

Awfully insensitive. Avoid.

If you are headed to China and have never been, this book is indispensable. It is very informative on the important cultural differences you will encounter and how to handle them and how to avoid common pitfalls. It tells you exactly what you need to bring and where you can find in country: travel supplies, medicine, money, food, medical care and much more. It goes WAY beyond the typical travel books and I used this book as a supplement to my other travel guides. It is a small book, about half the size of the lonely planet book in all dimensions so is easy to carry with you.

The book is well written with a sense of humor. The husband and wife authors tell many anecdotes and share their travel mishaps to show that it can happen to anyone and to illustrate what to do in many different situations you may encounter. It is so well written that my 12 year old son, who was not travelling with me, read the whole thing and loved it. I highly recommend this book.

I was somewhat enjoying this book until I reached page 154 and the writer described the local DAI women as Minorites. Are you fn kidding me? Local women in China a minority I think he meant his American girls were the minority. I just cant deal with privalaged racists. Embarrassing

Great book. I am preparing for my first trip to China and found that this book contains very useful information that you can't find in other guide books. The chapter about foreigners seeking medical attention could literally be a life-saver.

MOBILE PHONE TIPS
A suggestion for the next edition: Include mobile phone tips/benefits. The authors admit they they don't travel with phones, much to the shock of the everyone (Americans and Chinese). Their solution is to purchase international calling cards and use internet cafes to stay in touch with people back home. This IS a solution and probably the most cost-effective one.

However, I am a solo traveler who takes an international vacation every year. I believe a cell phone (and a small portable charger) is essential. I would update the book with the following advice:

SAFETY
- The obvious is being able to call for help
- Use Facebook to "check-in" periodically so that friends/family know you're where you're supposed to be (or not). See info below about facebook

NAVIGATION
- Critical if you are driving
- I love wandering down side streets, so a phone is great to find your way through (or out of) a labyrinth of side streets (even if the side streets aren't represented on your map, it will point you in the right direction to a main location
- I find it fun to use the map during high-speed train rides to keep track of the cities and towns that are roaring by the window.

TOUR GUIDE
- I don't know about China, but major museums in Europe will rent headsets and a receiver to serve as audio guides. You can often use your phone to do the same thing. Some places will charge you for the app, while others will give you free access to the recordings. In some cases, you can access the audio guide in advance and learn about the art in preparation for your visit (great way to kill some time on your flight).
- Obviously, you can access all sorts of information about tourist sites - from hours to operation to historical information - via the likes of Wikipedia, official webpages, etc...
- E-books are prevalent, including this book. Though it can be a pain to navigate through a book on phone, at least you'll have the info with you. When reading the e-books in advance, I highlight the passages that I believe will be valuable, which creates a customized "table of contents" that allows me to quickly get to the info I need. (Just a note: I personally don't believe that e-book travel guide is a substitute for a hard copy. Like many travelers I tear the relevant pages out of my guidebook and carry them with me.)
- Helps you find tourist information booths/offices

TRANSLATOR
These apps are constantly improving, but I have found that Google translate has continually delivered. I have used it for:
- trying to find a baseball cap of the home team in a department store in Tokyo
- finding a Japanese woodblock print of autumn foliage in Kyoto
- practicing key phrases/words

EATING
- As I head to Southeastern China, I found a great app for Dim Sum/Cantonese cuisine. It has pictures, descriptions in English, and the Chinese characters for the item. Since dim sum is usually tiny little packages of concealed fillings, I plan to use the app to "ask" for particular items that may be on one of the dim sum carts. Also, the server pushing the cart can "tell" me what they are offering by pointing at the items on my phone.
- FYI, the Korean Government has an excellent free app describing hundreds of traditional Korean dishes and ingredients. It has info in English and provides the Korean characters for the item, the Romanized word, and Romanized pronunciation

OTHER
- Keep important info such as a copy of your passport, driver's license, credits cards, etc.. in a secure cloud drive app like Dropbox. If your phone is lost/damages/stolen, doing this has the added benefit of being able to access this information from any computer with Internet access.

FACEBOOK AND OTHER BLOCKED SITES
- The authors mention they were disappointed that they couldn't access Facebook in China. This is because the Chinese Government's "Great Firewall" won't let you. However, there is a work-around: a VPN app. The VPN app makes it appear as if you are accessing Facebook from another country (e.g. the US, Japan, etc..), so there is no issue with Facebook being blocked (or so I've been told). I use ExpressVPN, You pay an annual subscription fee which allows you to use the program on a certain number of devices. I also have it on my laptop, so this may benefit you as well. Just be sure to set everything up before leaving home - The Great Firewall will prevent you from downloading VPN software when you are over there. Like I said, I have been told that this will work - I will update after my return from China.

SETTING UP AN INTERNATIONAL PLAN FOR YOUR PHONE
You'll need to set up an international plan with your provider in advance. First, check with your provider to confirm that offer a plan and that your phone is capable of international calls. Service providers are beginning to provide more options, which is good. You'll set up the days for which your plan is active (I always extend my coverage for a couple of days after the scheduled end of trip just in case my return flight is delayed). After that, it works like a regular plan: you pay for a certain amount of phone call time and a certain amount of data. Once you've used up that data, the phone company will automatically "renew" your plan and charge you again for the same amount of data. The plans are more expensive that what you'll find at home, and if you're using your phone on a daily basis, you'll burn through data like crazy. Last year, my service provider introduced a package that allows me to use my current US plan overseas. The fee is $25 dollars for 24 hours of use. Again, check with your providers.

I hope this helps.

"China Survival Guide" is a must-read for anyone contemplating a trip to China. Larry and Qin Herzberg have created an entertaining, concise, and extremely useful guide based on decades of travel experience. The advice on toilets, taxis, ear plugs, and etiquette when meeting people for business and pleasure, can make a huge difference in the success and enjoyment of your visit. The travel stories are wonderful and often hilarious.

This book was full of so much good advice. Did I mention it is hilarious? I ended up sharing it with all of my traveling companions and we laughed and laughed. My favorite parts were the advice on crossing the street and also the part about buying medicine. It's pocket sized too!

Very Generic - I would never have bought this book after reading the contents. You can cut and paste any travel book and come up with this. Don't waste your time or money.

Tons of helpful tips in this one. I think it would be more geared toward the traveler going to rural China or traveling the cities by themselves. I don't think it was 'must have' for someone going with at tour group, but it would still be useful.