Study and travel in April

[bumblelion]

Hi! I'm planning on studying mandarin in April for 4 weeks at the University of International Relations. After the program, I'm hoping to travel around China in addition to a weekend trip or two in April. I've been told not to travel alone, but at the moment I have no travel buddies.

So I was wondering if it's possible to meet potential travel buddies through the program. My concern, however is that most of the short term courses start in March, so there may be considerably less short term students around April. What's the environment like in sessions around the 'off-season'? Would I be able to meet people and is it common for people to study, then travel?

[gougou]

I've been told not to travel alone

For what reasons? China is one of the safest countries you could be in, and traveling without understanding the people is quite an adventure, too.

[Xiwang]

Most of my friends have traveled with people whom they met in school. If you're a halfway normal person, I'm sure that you won't have any trouble finding travel buddies.

[jbradfor]

What gougou said.

It is true that most Chinese people don't travel alone. They prefer tour groups. But that has nothing to do with anything specific to traveling in China, and only about upbringing.

[skylee]

I've been told not to travel alone

Why not? If you are old enough to study in a university you should be able to travel to most any places alone. I can understand why people want travel partners, but if you don't want them it is all right to just go on your own.

I have met people who told me that I was just lucky not having encountered bad things (theft, robbery, etc) travelling alone in China. I don't really understand their views.

@jbradfor, AFAIK tour groups are almost always cheaper than travelling alone (because of discounts on air tickets/accommodation etc). And if you have very little time and want to do a lot of travelling, joining a tour group is not unwise.

[chrix]

I agree that tour groups are the cheapest method of travelling, and yet I wouldn't wanna be caught dead on a tour bus

Edited February 5, 2010 at 11:03 PM by chrix
typo

[jbradfor]

@skylee, this is often[1] true. However, even in spite of that, many to most Europeans and Americans do not join tours, while most Chinese, I believe, do join tours. So my point is that while tours and not tours both have advantages, the fact that Chinese join tours in higher percent is a cultural thing, not due to it being more difficult to travel without a tour in China.

[1] In my limited experience, I've found tours in China to not be much of a cost savings, unlike Europe. Touring in China does seem to be rather different.

[bumblelion]

Thanks for the replies. I figured China is a pretty safe place to travel, but my parents don't want me traveling alone; as some of you mentioned it's usually a cultural thing for Chinese people to travel in groups.

What are the tours that you're thinking of like? I went on a Chinese tour from HK to Beijing and really don't like traveling that way at all. Plus we spent so much time at the jade, silk, chinese medicine places. But those of you who have gone on tours, did you enjoy them? I really like exploring a place at my own pace and time and not being in a tour bus the entire time. Though one of my own concerns for traveling alone is that since I am Chinese I'm expected to know the language. My sister told me people in China aren't too helpful and it may be difficult to try to find my way around alone. It's one of the reasons why I want to take some classes prior to my travels. So, does anyone else have any information on studying short-term at UIR is like?

[skylee]

But those of you who have gone on tours, did you enjoy them? I really like exploring a place at my own pace and time and not being in a tour bus the entire time. Though one of my own concerns for traveling alone is that since I am Chinese I'm expected to know the language. My sister told me people in China aren't too helpful and it may be difficult to try to find my way around alone.

I am Chinese too. I join tour groups from time to time but usually I travel alone. For China, I took group tours to Xinjiang, Jiuzhaigou, the three Gorges and some other places. The reason that I took those tours were usually that 1) I didn't bother to organise the trip, and/or 2) it was peak season and I couldn't get a plane ticket and even if I could the price would be crazy, and/or 3) I only had two weeks and I wanted to travel to many places, like in Xinjiang.

I would choose the tour carefully for one with minimum shopping in the itinerary. And because I would tend to join more luxurious tours the people in the groups were usually quite well educated and easy to get along (it would be very difficult to travel with strangers that you don't like). Those people took group tour usually because of points 1 and 3 above. The tours I joined were quite enjoyable.

Depending on the itinerary, sometimes it might be difficult not to spend a lot of time in a tour bus. My Xinjiang trip involved long bus trips mainly because those places were very far apart (of course if you travel alone you can schedule some stops in between so as to cut short the bus rides).

I can understand your plan to learn the language before your travel. I did the exact same thing before my first trip alone to Korea. It was very helpful. As to what your sister said about people in China being unhelpful, well you will have to find out yourself if such generalisation is true or not. This is one of the reasons of travelling, right? And I always think that as a traveller it is my responsibility to be prepared to find my way around alone. It would be bad if the local people are not helpful, but then I would not rely on their help.

PS - I have just looked at the quoted text again. And it appears that you think that "since I am Chinese I'm expected to know the language" is not that reasonable. But it also appears that you think that it is reasonable to expect people in China to be helpful. It does not seem very fair. But anyways if you are well prepared and take good care of yourself I think it is ok to travel alone.

Edited February 6, 2010 at 02:07 AM by skylee

[bumblelion]

PS - I have just looked at the quoted text again. And it appears that you think that "since I am Chinese I'm expected to know the language" is not that reasonable. But it also appears that you think that it is reasonable to expect people in China to be helpful. It does not seem very fair. But anyways if you are well prepared and take good care of yourself I think it is ok to travel alone.

I know these are base generalizations, though from my experience the first time I visited Beijing, people's reactions and attitude towards me changed when they realized I don't speak mandarin. I'm sure there are people with varying degrees of helpfulness and I don't expect to depend on others for assistance all the time, just in those instances where the unexpected arise. Thanks for the info. I will do my research.

[roddy]

What's your actual itinerary? That'll make a lot of difference to how easy it will be to get around without Chinese, how used people will be to Chinese-looking people who can't speak Chinese, and you chances of meeting other travellers en route.

[chrix]

Hm, I've heard of negative reactions Japanese-Americans encountered in Japan, along the lines of "why can't you speak Japanese even though you're of Japanese ancestry", I wonder if something similar would happen in China as well..

[bumblelion]

I don't have an itinerary yet and I've learned some mandarin since the last time I was there, which I hope to improve from classes. But it's not like I don't know Chinese - I'm conversational in Cantonese, but I won't be understood in most of China.

I was mistaken for Japanese while in Japan and sometimes I felt a little looked down upon too for not speaking Japanese. I heard it's worse in Korea or Japan... but I wouldn't know for sure.

[jbradfor]

@bumblelion

Though one of my own concerns for traveling alone is that since I am Chinese I'm expected to know the language.

That is probably true. But why should that in any way affect your travel plans? So people might look down on you a bit. So what. At least they are not going to ask to take your picture. [Or don't ask and just do it.]

But it's not like I don't know Chinese - I'm conversational in Cantonese, but I won't be understood in most of China.

You could try speaking it. Although they might not understand you, at least they will recognize that you know Cantonese, and hence will give you more respect.

@chrix

Hm, I've heard of negative reactions Japanese-Americans encountered in Japan, along the lines of "why can't you speak Japanese even though you're of Japanese ancestry", I wonder if something similar would happen in China as well..

ABSOLUTELY.