/trv/ — /ChG/ - China General

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>>2876355 (OP)
idk why but photos of china from 2000 to 2017 are incredibly comfy

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>>2876358
What's your guys' favorite media to watch and read to practice chinese?

This woman's yt channel is quite good, although a lil sleepy. She always includes Chinese, PinYin and English subs.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=VC9ADwNHwVE

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Can anyone recommend a good 天安門一九八九年 tour?

>>2876359
So cute how Chinese always put emphasis on the wrong syllable in the name Nicole

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>>2876363
Are you also learning chinese? If so, what level are you at?

I know most of the words Nicole uses, but need to slow the video down to 0.65x to process it.
Words like wu and anything starting with y are spoken very briefly and softly, making them difficult to notice.

>>2876484
I am fluent after 8 years of living in China. I haven't sought out learning-specific content in ages so can't help with your original question but maybe can be helpful with general Chinese/China questions if you have them

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>>2876530
Sure, I have some random questions. You can answer what you want.

>What's your favorite thing about living there?
>Do you have a favorite year in China? What made it the best?
>What's your favorite spot?
>Have foreign losers in China made life more difficult for you? I've heard stories about English teachers "napping" with kindergarten children, criminals fleeing convictions in their countries of origin, temperamental alcoholics, spineless dorks, wall street and ex-military larpers - many sordid characters. Perhaps these crude travelers and expats have made their way into the Chinese subconscious, making them more skeptical of your character? Or are people largely impartial to you?
>Do you have many expat friends? If so, what do ya'll do together?

Thank you

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this is what 200+ AQI looks like from the air

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Tekes 八卦 city in Ili, taken on a flight between Yarkent and Ili, July 2025
sadly northern XJ is boring unless you can drive

How much better would traveling china be with a chill friend vs solo?

>>2876559
>Affordable first world modern living without any of the downsides experienced by locals
>Pre covid was more fun but I was also younger
>Chengdu or Dongbei, generally
>People are mostly indifferent to you. Of the weird variety of characters you invented/listed, only temperamental alcoholics are actually common. It depends on city but eg Shanghai expats are mostly high functioning professional Europeans/Americans or college age slavs so the usual stereotypes dont really apply
>Yes. We play cards and drink. Some guys more active than I play in pickup sports leagues

>>2876723
Its pretty trippy going alone as I felt the most foreign in China compared to any other country I have been.
At least go alone once unless you got a really good friend that doesn't complain at all.

>>2876747
That would be trippy... Were locals nice to you even though you were alone?

Shenzhen, and then it's time to gorge on hotpot

>>2876757
Fuckin rights

I kind of want to visit China but seeing how the internet is censored and having to use alipay or whatever it is to pay for everything kind of puts me off of it.

>>2876755
I am considered handsome so I've had nothing but positive experiences with locals.
So it varies on each person on skin color, attractiveness, and race.
Always try to looksmaxx before traveling though, makes travel much more fun when you look clean and presentable.
>>2876760
You can get a VPN on your phone to avoid this problem. Just don't watch porn, you'll get in trouble.

>>2876766
porn ban is only enforced if you distribute, they don't care about consumption

>>2876723
it is better to go with a friend because you get to try more food

>>2876766
i watched porn in china lol you're fine you think the goon squad is gonna raid your hotel room because you're trying to spank one out ?

>>2876760
it's a bit difficult at first to understand how it works, but once you get it it's so useful, wish we had alipay here

Comfy thread so far

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>>2876917
China thread has always been comfy

Province tier list (only ones I've visited)
S: Xinjiang, Yunnan, Beijing
A: Henan, Shandong, Sichuan
B: Shanghai, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Shanxi, Shaanxi
C: Ningxia, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia
D: Tianjin

>>2876958
What did the S tiers have that B tiers and below did not?

>>2876958
Think you probably fucked up Liaoning for it to be below Hebei. But otherwise good list and dead-on for Tianjin which is bottom tier always imo

>>2876964
NTA but I'd guess
>Nature, nature, history

>>2876965
Hebei is overhated imo, Zhangjiakou and Chengde are really fun and the south has the Taihang mountains and lots of historical stuff. Shijiazhuang is inoffensive and the capital of Chinese rock music.
I did only spend a few days in Shenyang, but it was the only place in China I ever got food poisoning and the city was boring anyway.

>>2876964
S tiers are the provinces that I really want to go back to (instead of going somewhere new)
>Xinjiang
personal autistic interest, amazing nature unlike anything else in China, great food, unique culture
I would want to go back for a roadtrip along the desert in the south, visit Aqsu and Korla, maybe go around the mountains near the Kyrgyz border
>Yunnan
massive and super diverse, also good food, great weather in winter when the north becomes a depressing smoghole, SEA-adjacent relaxed way of life and general good atmosphere
I would like to visit Lincang and Zhaotong plus go hiking in the mountains (didnt last time because gf didnt want to)
>Beijing
best city in China, I lived there for an entire year and was discovering new things every single month
everything you could ever want

>>2876970
Agreed Shenyang sucks. But I am a big fan of Dalian and Dandong

>>2876972
My Korean friends liked Dalian and I have a friend there, maybe I should visit when I go back in May... but flights are 600 yuan

Anyone in Lijiang? I've run out of things to do. And I'm not doing another long day trip

>>2876359
I like her very much. Obviously lazychinese and xiaogua are GOATED for the quality of their content. And sometimes I have weird fantasies about Shuoshuo Chinese cheating on her boyfriend with me, although I don't find her attractive.
Jovane PJY is hard to understand, but it's also hard to stop watching her vids so it's good exposure.

>>2876970
>Beijing
I'm gonna have to ask for some more elaboration on this one, because I didn't quite enjoy it myself. Are you thinking about attractions or the city itself? It was so spread out, and maximum security to rate it higher than the other cities I visited during my stay there.

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What's with the sudden uptick of lonely workaholic/unemployed age 30+ Chinese losers uploading their daily lives to YouTube?

>>2877263
>attractions or city itself
attractions are obviously top tier, and the inner city is very interesting and relaxing. Obviously once you get outside the 3rd ring road it gets a bit more boring but as a tourist you have little reason to go to a residential area there.
>spread out
but there is so much to do in each place that you can spend an entire day there
you can't rush Beijing, I see people leaving only 2 or 3 days for it in itineraries, and that is not enough
if you want to do/see the main things you need at least 4 days, or just accept you will barely see anything
>security
only in the area around Tiananmen square

>>2877495
they are all copying the guy in your screenshot who made it big
I think this is a reaction to the "fake socialites/strivers" on the Chinese internet who just make shit up and boast about how amazing they are all the time

Going for a 2 week trip at the beginning of june - what should i expect weather wise?

Current plans:
Shanghai 4 nights Hotel is booked in Hongkou
Qingdao 3 nights
Beijing 6 nights

Is Qingdao worth it? Its pretty convenient as its right between shanghai and beijing. Are there a lot of indians? Do all the non smoker rooms really smell like somebody smoked a 20 pack right before we enter?

>>2877555
>are there a lot of indians
3 words. bullbar. darkness. accident.

>>2877555
You should expect hot. Qingdao will be the most pleasant weather of the three. It's not really meaningfully in between Shanghai and Beijing at all because its off to the side, doesn't run on the train line that connects the two, and doesn't have great ticket supply on short notice. Of course if you're flying they're all 50 minute flights so who cares. It is worth the trip, one of the best 2nd tier cities in China. Hongkou is not a great spot for hotel but not the worst either. Not a lot of Indians at all. Smoke smell is very hotel dependent.

>>2877555
Qingdao you might find boring because it's not very "Chinese". It's got nice scenery but all the cultural stuff is western. You might enjoy Luoyang more if you want something that is very Chinese
Otherwise looks good
>Non smoker rooms
Only in the cheapest hotels. Most good hotels don't smell of smoke. And if they do you can always ask to switch the room.
>Indians
China is probably the last country in East Asia, barring North Korea, that is free from the Indian tourist invasion. I stayed there for a year and saw less than 30 Indians, and probably less than 10 Indian tourists (most of them were working in restaurants or were businessmen).
You will see the occasional Arab, Brazilian, or Israeli, but they are not frequent enough to cause annoyance.

>>2877563
I don't know how you could say all the cultural stuff in Qingdao is western, it is a solidly, solidly Chinese city unless you just mean there is a "historic city center" which was German colony and has preserved buildings

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>>2877567
the top 10 cultural attractions in Qingdao:
>Badaguan area (western style houses)
>Qingdao aquarium (nature)
>Xiaoyu mountain (nature)
>the pier (western style)
>May 4th plaza (western style skyscrapers)
>PLA navy museum (western technology)
>Tsingtao beer museum (western)
>Olympic park (western)
>Telegraph hill (where the western telegraph station and protestant church is)
>that big Catholic church (western)

none of those are Chinese culture, there are no big temples, old city, no buildings from before the German colonial period
When I look at my photos from Qingdao it does not look like a Chinese city lol
it's a nice city and this is not a put-down, I loved going somewhere that didn't feel like a generic Chinese city, but as a western tourist not an expat it is not worth visiting when you have cities such as Luoyang and Xi'an which are actually Chinese

>>2877574
>May 4th plaza (western style skyscrapers)
that a little silly. but anyway. yes if you are a tourist specifically seeking Chinese historical tourist sites it would rank lower, sure, although even then arguable because of the strong natural tourist sites. But if you are a lindy walker, casually enjoying atmosphere + food etc, it is very pretty, walkable, great weather and food, so for me it ranks very highly

>>2877502
I'll admit that Beijing was the last place on our three week itinerary, and we only stayed for three nights. We were just really tired. Luckily, PEK is only a 10 hours flight away, so I'll get to give it another chance.

I haven't been to China since 2018 and we only really stayed in Beijing for family. Japan fever went hard and it was our go-to during the 2020s. How have things changed?

>>2877950
speaking from my experiences visiting in 2017 then living in Beijing 2024-25
>cash is almost never seen if not useless. all QR code payments now
>much less pollution but still some bad days
>messy piles of rideshare bikes now actually organised in rows
>no more street food or stalls in Shanghai and Beijing city centres
>QR code ordering in all restaurants, no more talking to waiters
>tourist sites seem more crowded, despite there being less foreigners
>less construction sites

>>2877495
It's been a thing with Japanese "salarymen" for a long time. Now that AI can translate your script and dub it for you, literally anyone can do it.
I actually enjoy watching that guy's videos, I wish there was a chinese audio track so I could practice listening.

>>2877969
>QR code ordering in all restaurants, no more talking to waiters
God I hope you're right, because I still see videos of people ordering food through a real waiter. I am just barely autistic enough to bungle a conversation in real life, but not nearly autistic enough to properly learn Mandarin. Every China video of Hugh Abroad is just him going "Nihao, duo shao chen, igga" and it's painful to watch.

>>2877996
maybe not every single restaurant, but most good ones that aren't just a hole in the wall will have QR ordering
every restaurant in malls will have it at least

>>2878064
I lived in guiyang and chengdu for three months and literally never ate at a single qr code restaurant. one fast food place i walked into was like that but i noped the fuck out

>>2876745
>>Chengdu or Dongbei, generally
are u a faggot?

>>2878077
Chengdu for when he wants to top and Dongbei for when he wants to get topped

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Am likely visiting China sometime in the next few months. What's the international roaming or VPN situation looking like now?

>>2878511
hong kong/macau esim is simplest and most reliable

>>2878077
Dongbei doesn't have a reputation for homos does it? Anyway no I like Chengdu for food and WOMEN

>>2878537
Anon, it literally has "Dong" in its name.

>>2878511
if you have an iphone or are only staying for a few days then esim is best
if you have android or are planning to be there for longer then Chinese sim + vpn with split tunnelling is cheaper, will give you more data, and let you use wifi
most western VPNs do not work in China, despite saying they will. the three ones I know are reliable from personal use/friends using them are:
>mullvad (best)
>astrill (very expensive)
>letsVPN (unreliable)
I used mullvad for a year and never had any problems
if you have an iphone using a VPN is much more aids because you don't have split tunnelling so you have to turn it on and off like 50 times a day to use Chinese apps (wechat and alipay will block your account if they think you are using a vpn, because they think you are a scammer)

>>2878597
Foreign android works in China? I was on graphene os and it was a complete shitshow. I had to buy a chinese iphone

>>2878613
meme OSes naturally will have problems but most major ones like google and samsung work fine

>>2878539
Fuuuck....

>>2878537
>I like San Francisco for food and WOMEN
What you sound like rn

>>2878597
I'm gonna be gone for about 3 whole weeks, and am most likely gonna bring a burner phone - probably Android? - with all the Chinese apps on it. Also I saw something online posted literally TODAY saying "rip to all the people studying abroad in China" etc. because LetsVPN no longer works/operates in China now.

I already know the 2010s classics of Express and Nord no longer work and haven't since like 2022, but I'm pretty sure this is common knowledge in these circles by now.

Should I bring 2 phones? My regular with VPN and my burner without?

>>2878614
(On my regular phone,) I just use regular Android, and I do have some "meme" stuff like Revanced cracks. But not an entire OS or anything.