Travel in China between earthquake and Olympics

[propedor]

Hi all,

I think I'd love a good trip travelling around in China, and I have the summer off, but we're in a pretty unique time period between the recent earthquake and the Olympics coming up in August (which is a little later than I can go).

Here are my 3 biggest concerns:

- Is the attitude toward foreigners souring at all (due to quantity of tourists, earthquake being more important than tourism, or Olympics nationalism)?

- Should I avoid Chengdu so as not to get in the way? I'm guessing there's no room to stay. If so, how broad of a region is in such an emergency condition--would Chongqing be OK?

- I just read the apparent new visa requirements (from another thread here) and it looks like I have to a) buy a round-trip plane ticket before applying for the visa and B) somehow argue I couldn't get hotel reservations beforehand to all the places I'll go. Could I be rejected and end up staying home having thrown away air ticket money?

Any impression would help me a lot. Basically I want to know if it's a good idea to fly to China by myself (a white guy from the US) and spend around a month touring at will, staying in hostels, interacting, and improving my Chinese. Hopefully I'm just worrying too much!

[Lu]

My two cents (I haven't been in China very recently though):

Get a hotel reservation, or something that could pass for it. You might very well not get a visa otherwise.

I'd stay clear of the Sichuan region right now, because I wouldn't want to get in the way and I'd think people there have other things on their mind right now. Not going to Sichuan still leaves plenty of China for you to travel.

Attitudes towards foreigners seem to have recovered from the flame-controversies, so you shouldn't have a problem. But keep an eye on the news anyway.

For the rest, your idea of touring, staying in hostels and interacting sounds great. Your timing could be better (Olympic mafan), but I'm quite sure you'll have a great time nonetheless.

[flameproof]

1. You read lots of hate speech in the press against foreigners in China and coming out of China, however, in China you will feel nothing about it. I presume it's a small but noisy group that gets widely reported. I would keep a low profile though (but I do that anyway everywhere)

2. I would probably avoid Chengdu. But depends. Check if the main parks (those Panda reservation's) or open. If so then they want tourists.

3. The visa issue is really very difficult, specially around the Olympics. Good luck, you need it!

[Rincewind]

Is the attitude toward foreigners souring at all (due to quantity of tourists, earthquake being more important than tourism, or Olympics nationalism)?

No significant change recently (unless your French). There's probably less tourists just now due to the various factors you mentioned.

Should I avoid Chengdu so as not to get in the way? I'm guessing there's no room to stay. If so, how broad of a region is in such an emergency condition--would Chongqing be OK?

I think it would be best to avoid Sichuan at the moment. There are still strong aftershocks occurring throughout the province. Plus, you're not going to really enjoy the area. China's so huge that there are so many other places to go to, so why go to the one place that's having problems. Go to Yunnan, Guanxi, Xi'an, Shanghai, Beijing, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia or the North East instead.

I just read the apparent new visa requirements (from another thread here) and it looks like I have to a) buy a round-trip plane ticket before applying for the visa and B) somehow argue I couldn't get hotel reservations beforehand to all the places I'll go. Could I be rejected and end up staying home having thrown away air ticket money?

Allot of hu ha over nothing. Lots of hot air and scare mongering. These requirements have been on the notice boards in the Embassies for years. The only change is that the rules are more tightly enforced - which they should be. Just do it by the book and you'll have no problem. Do your visa early. If they do knock it back because of some hotel reservation, then you will have time to go book the hotel and resubmit.

[liuzhou]

Check if the main parks (those Panda reservation's) or open

The main panda reservation at Wolong has been almost totally destroyed. Five workers died and a few pandas "escaped". The remaining pandas have been shipped out. It is unlikely that it will be rebuilt.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jHECOopOoaE71Npu3I4p-5P-IApA

The habitat of China's wild panda population has also been ravaged by the earthquake and no one knows how many died. Survivors are probably having great problems finding food.

[hello_chris]

Is the attitude toward foreigners souring at all (due to quantity of tourists, earthquake being more important than tourism, or Olympics nationalism)?

The attitude didn't changed, even though you were a Frenchman. It's always kind and helpful, but maybe you will have some problem with communication coz most chinese don't speak English.

Should I avoid Chengdu so as not to get in the way? I'm guessing there's no room to stay. If so, how broad of a region is in such an emergency condition--would Chongqing be OK?

Well, Sichuan is an amazing place to travel, but it is not a good time to do so.

Suggest you go to Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou... Chongqing is city with feature, with mountains and rivers and spicy food.

I just read the apparent new visa requirements (from another thread here) and it looks like I have to a) buy a round-trip plane ticket before applying for the visa and B) somehow argue I couldn't get hotel reservations beforehand to all the places I'll go. Could I be rejected and end up staying home having thrown away air ticket money?

For this point, I agree with Rincewind:)

[roddy]

Well, Sichuan is an amazing place to travel, but it is not a good time to do so.

I'd stay clear of the Sichuan region right now

I think it would be best to avoid Sichuan at the moment.

Surely Sichuan is big enough that there's no need to avoid the whole province - obviously heading into the area badly affected by the quake would be daft, but Chengdu, Leshan, Kangding - hotels and attractions must be open there, no? I know it might seem a bit crass to say 'ah, just go anyway', but there's no point in hammering the tourism industry any more than it has been anyway.

[self-taught-mba]

Just had a customer return. Some disruptions during the travel, but he said it was fine.

[hello_chris]

I'm in chongqing, so I kinda know the situations in Sichuan. It is really not a good time to travel there. I love Sichuan very much, it is so great in terms of nature and culture. I just planed to go to JiuZhaiGou this late summer but it seems hard to get there(to get there needs to cross the epicenter area by car) and not safe to stay there coz it is said there will be stong aftershock. Chengdu people are still living in aftershock shadows and many buildings are not suitable to live because of damage of the quake.

[propedor]

All of you,

Sounds wonderful Thanks for your detailed responses.

I just realized one option for the hotel reservations: maybe I could book 30 days at some $3 hostel (I'm pretty sure I saw them online!) and thus have a smoother visa application for $90. I think it would satisfy the requirement legitimately, then my plans would change from that point to go all over China. Alternatively, I may just go to the embassy before booking anything to see what they might suggest--it's just I have no idea how helpful they are.

Just had a customer return. Some disruptions during the travel, but he said it was fine.

Now we have a vote or two for "it's OK", versus the previous ones affirming my guess that it's a bad idea, so the situation for foreign travel in Sichuan is unclear. Which probably still means I shouldn't do it Another idea would be to start travelling elsewhere and see what Chinese people think of going to Sichuan as the month goes on.

hello_chris, is Chongqing relatively calm? Is it possible to travel there?

As for the Chinese attitude towards foreigners, I'm glad to hear it's fine. I was also thinking it might be influenced by apparent foreign stinginess relative to the domestic earthquake aid, but hopefully that's not inflaming much sentiment Plus their attitude couldn't sour that quickly, especially toward we who (try to) speak Chinese, since so many Chinese people enjoy hearing foreigners give it a go.

[Lugubert]

It seems that my local consulate handles visa applications in a more relaxed way than many rumours and official websites. Present any return ticket and hotel bookings for a couple of days at your initial destination, and you're A-OK.

No confirmation, but I hope that there will be no restrictions on for example Shanghai-Tibet by train that couldn't be resolved by money. I still would very much like to see Chengdu and from there travel on to Lhasa.

[hello_chris]

hello_chris, is Chongqing relatively calm? Is it possible to travel there?

It's ok, everything is going right. Airplane, train, tourism...

I was also thinking it might be influenced by apparent foreign stinginess relative to the domestic earthquake aid, but hopefully that's not inflaming much sentiment

For me every cent of help from other people is appreciated!! Charity and compassion can't be measured by volume of money.

[flameproof]

I was also thinking it might be influenced by apparent foreign stinginess relative to the domestic earthquake aid

Sounds like silly thinking. People should just check how much Chinese companies donated to Burma. I guess for most it's 0.00

Here's my logic:

The region needs money

Tourism brings money

Tourists will be very welcome by the locals, specially now

With your visit you give automatically some support

Buildings etc. might be gone

Parks will still be parks

I would check with some travel agents or guides in that region and ask them, and only them, what's still possible, and what not.

Just as a reminder: Phuket was also back in business in no time after the Tsunami.

[roddy]

No confirmation, but I hope that there will be no restrictions on for example Shanghai-Tibet by train that couldn't be resolved by money. I still would very much like to see Chengdu and from there travel on to Lhasa.

Last I heard Tibet is still closed to foreigners, with rumors that it will reopen on any date you care to mention. Wait and see, but I'd have an alternative plan.