I NEED advices, travelling for firstime in my life out of my country to the RED CHINA? Please Help!

[Xiaoxiongwv]

Harbin is an excellent city with a lot of culture. I prefer the people of the north as they are very hospitable. If you are a small guy don't worry about packing too much, you can buy some cheap clothes for winter when it comes. When it comes to learning English, There is not much of an environment in Harbin, but you can always make friends with expat friends. There is also a service called lang-8.com on the internet where you can language exchange with a person. They will correct your written work and you correct theirs.

[sujeto]

Xiaoxiongwv welcome the forum, regarding my size, that's exactly my problem I'm a big guy, If I don't find clothing and shoes in Harbin I will ask my family to send it trough Fedex or something. And about the English, certainly I hope to increase my knowledege with the solely effort to listen the classes, reading the Engineering books and presenting my homework to the Proffesors. I hope they have a good english.

 

By the way guys, may I know how easy would be to buy Pc parts in Harbin to build my own Pc? Is that too expensive there or suitable?

[sujeto]

.i.

[tysond]

I would advise carrying everything you need with you into China.  I would advise against relying on Fedex for things you actually need.

 

I used them once on something not too important (a piece of a halloween costume).  I bought it from Amazon in the USA, so it had all required paperwork and customs information + invoices included.

 

Fedex in China operates like a Chinese company.  They called me and we had to discuss (in Chinese) the customs duty and how to clear customs.

They advise that I should use my employers name on the forms so they could bring the goods in faster (3 days instead of 3 weeks) as they have some kind of import license and I do not (never mind that it's a personal item).  When they got the item into China, they tried to deliver but got confused, and then didn't call me.  Then I had to call them and they put me through to the driver of the delivery vehicle.  I had to describe my address to him, propose a meeting place, and meet the guy out on the street and pay customs duty in cash to him at the back of his 3-wheeler.

 

This stuff is all OK when it's just a fancy dress outfit worth $50, you pay like 35RMB in customs duty, and I had already been in China for a full year so could handle the discussions.  But there's a bit too much risk and variability for stuff I actually need - e.g. my winter clothing.

 

Once you are in China you'll either be on a train, a plane or in a taxi, you can wheel your luggage around pretty easily.  

[Lu]

You can usually bring 20 kg of check-in luggage, I think it's best to use that. Most suitcases have wheels these days, they're not that hard to haul around. Anyway you're not going sightseeing with all your luggage on you, you just need to bring it from plane to taxi to train (or similar).

And another travel tip: make sure you have the things you'll need immediately (paperwork for your admission to the university, phone charger, things like that) in your hand luggage, as well as a few sets of underwear and a clean t-shirt or something. Sometimes airlines lose luggage, almost always they find it again and bring it over after a few days, but that means you may have to get through a few days without your main luggage.

[Mohsin]

Hello Everyone,

I also got admission in HIT in PhD Studies in Electrical and Automation department. I got admission here on CSC scholarship they are offering 2000 yuan/month. Registration date is 4th to 6th sep. But my visa is a little bit late so i will join HIT near about 20th september 2014. I need some help in following maters please help me. 

Either 2000 yuan would be sufficient for my stay in Harbin.

HIT is offering free on campus dormitory.As I will be a little late HIT will still give me dormitory?

 What kind of room I will get? any cooking facility will be available?

Any of HIT official person will came to pick me from Harbin airport??

how many days after my arrival, HIT will give me settlement allowance?

[James3]

@Mohsin welcome to the forum. You'll find everyone is very helpful in here.

 

But say, you might find more info related to HIT here. It's a thread dedicated to HIT.

 

All the best to you!

[Remigio_De_Abaragine]

Hola sujeto_1, me llamo Ramiro, soy un estudiante de Chino en la HIT, hay poca gente con la que poder hablar castellano por aqui (creo que soy el único español del campus) así que si algun día te apetece hablar un poco  en tu lengua materna estaré encantado. Un abrazo y suerte

[XuanWu]

 

Hey guys, since its my first time going abroad, I was thinking into leaving my big bagage and only carry with my backpack then, send everything else by Fedex to my adress in Harbin. Is that ok? This will give me enough agility to deal with the problems with out the weigth of a big bagage.

 

Make sure you have written the address in Chinese or you might send it to oblivion...

Although fedex will contact you(as it did with me) and try to work this out.

 

When you arrive in the airport you can take the bus for the railway station. You can buy ticket from inside the airport.Dont take taxi in Beijing.

keep away from people saying "pssst... taxi" Its black taxi drivers(not legal).Dont get into a car which doesnt look like a taxi and if it does make sure the meter is working.

[sujeto]

.i.

[sujeto]

.i.

[imron]

Sup guys, I'm Sujeto_1, for some reason, I couldn't link to my other account so I created a new one,

Probably because your other account was linked to your Facebook account and Facebook is banned in China.  I've now merged your old account with your new one.

[ChTTay]

Sujeto, I can't be doing with your posts anymore. There's just too much going on in there!!

Good luck. I would say go explore the city a bit more.

[sujeto]

.i.

[imron]

@sujeto, I can appreciate that you are going through some pretty strong culture-shock at the moment, but please try to be a little less offensive.  Also, I'm not sure how familiar you are with the whole China/Japan situation but be careful about making those sorts of statements even as a joke or to vent, because say it to the wrong person and you're likely to get beaten up 'just to teach you some lessons'.  It's still a very sensitive topic in China.

 

My advice, get in touch with some other foreigners who have been here a little longer (MoTzu has a standing offer), and maybe Remigo also and get them to show you around and get you accustomed to the place.  Arriving in China, and especially a smaller city, can be a shock to many people, but once the shock wears off you'll find it's not so bad.  Having a network of friends who can show you around and show you what to look out for can make a big difference.

[abcdefg]

I can't afford to be scammed with 300 Yuan from the Airport to University by taxi man

 

Then use your brain. Why didn't you take the shuttle? It costs 20 Yuan.

 

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/45927-once-in-beijing-how-can-i-travel-to-harbin/ (Post # 20.)

 

From the airport the best way would be to take the shuttle bus. There are 3 shuttle buses that go to different parts in Harbin, I'm not sure which one takes Sujeto closest to his campus (because HIT has 2 campuses) but it would be best to ask the receptionist of the school if they can help tell him which shuttle bus, and which stop to get off on. The tickets are sold outside in a booth. It should be easy to find because at the airport the signs all have English. When I first got here I was told that taking a taxi from the airport would be a bit expensive because its a bit far. The tickets are 20 kuai.

[XuanWu]

dear sujeto, the air pollution, the scams and lack of some western choices are all over in mainland china.This is not only in Harbin. If you come

for the first time in China, its better going in Beijing or Shanghai, unless you are  chinese junkie and you dont mind about that but you love it.

 

I have been scamed ofcourse too but also i had some experiences that made me say, this would never happen in my western country. Like,

when i was eating in a reustaurant and a guy was passing by next to me, holding 2 beers and he left one in my table without saying anything,

or when i was trying to buy train tickets for the first time in a ATM and 2 girls came to me and told me that it works only with chinese IDs and

took me to the tickets office and helped me with the translation and when i saw in my wallet that i didnt had enough money they wanted to pay

for me!!!(i didnt let them ofcourse, i went to the ATM).

I could tell you a lot of stories, but my point is that, there is another China that you havent yet seen because you are in the university, when you get around

you will see what i mean.

I see a lot of tourist full of fear or rage about China, either because they cannot communicate or people stare at them. I belonged to the first category,

but what helped me a lot is a phrase that one chinese guy told me once in a train."remember, every chinese is your friend". If you change the way you

look at the people, believe it will be like living in a another world.

Yes , bad people exists, so do beautiful people. Its just that we tend to remember always the bad things that happens to us and not the good moments.

Also it would be boring if everything was like a happyland...

and the most important, you can always, always get something good from a "bad" situation.

[Zander]

Sujeto, you are in a city with a population higher than many European countries, claiming that there is "not any stores of anything else" is ridiculous to be honest, go and have a look around, this city is massive!

 

As for it being the 21st century and no one speaking English; it's the 21st century, why does no one speak Mandarin in my home country? It's their country they can speak whatever language they wish, the onus is on you to learn theirs, not the other way around.

 

Perhaps you should also visit Unit 731 (located in Harbin) to realize just how insensitive your comment about Japan is.

 

Harbin is a great city, just give it a chance.

[tysond]

Dude calm down.  Right now you are acting like it's your first time out of your country and you've never seen a different culture.

You are struggling due to culture shock of being unable to communicate. 

You aren't Marco Polo, there are literally millions of people who've done this before and survived just fine.

 

Many people here warned you that nobody speaks English in Harbin.  Most of China is the same.  

You started talking about how it's the 21st century and everyone speaks English!

I guess now you know that in the 21st century most of the planet doesn't speak English.    You'll need to learn survival Chinese and fast.

 

The scamming is largely related to being unable to speak Chinese and I guess you don't know how to negotiate yet.

As a foreigner, the Chinese view you as rich and able to afford high prices.  Since you don't speak Chinese you must be a rich tourist, probably staying in the Hilton.

 

The most important thing is to know the price you want to pay.   Water should be like 1 yuan maybe 2 on a street-side.  Better still buy from a shop in big bottles.  I get them to deliver 20L at once.

The taxis are metered, politely but firmly tell them to use it or refuse to go.  Or use train/bus as it's fixed price.

Don't pay 300RMB.  You can get a bus to Russia for that price.   You can't get ripped off in a negotiation, as you have to agree to the price. Don't agree.

 

I guess you are staying in some student accommodation in an out-of-the way suburb, hence the lack of shopping malls and the random environment around you.

If there are no clothing stores, then this is not a shopping area, it's just a bunch of people who setup some shops near the housing.  Find the real shops.  

I was in Beijing for 2 months before I found a clothing store that was suitable for me (large/wide sizes of shoes and winter jackets).  My wife found out about it from other students at her Chinese school.   You want every thing at your doorstep on day 1?  

 

Go into town.  Zhongyang dajie is the "main street" and had plenty of shops around it from memory.  I didn't think it was that special but it was bloody freezing at the time.

There is probably a complex near you as well that has shopping.    Ask around at the university and you'll find it.   Explore a few shopping places to see what different ones have.

 

As for the food... I guess you see now why US tourists are sometimes relieved to see McDonalds :-)

Everyone has challenges with food that looks different.

You can buy dog meat in Harbin, but I doubt that's what they are selling, usually dog meat is sold in restaurants that specialize in it.

 

I guess you are talking about BBQ kebab places as it's the most likely way you will actually see meat on the street.  

Please note this is like judging the cuisine of New York based on the street hotdog vendor.

 

Anyway, it's probably lamb, pork, chicken maybe some beef.  They will have regular meat but probably also kidney, hearts, liver etc.  Nothing about chicken hearts or lamb kidney will kill you (tastes ok) but you don't have to eat it.  I doubt they have any real exotic meat.  However, personally, I would not eat street BBQ off the corner of a housing block used by students. I prefer my restaurants to have an actual street number.  

 

Finally, you will find the architecture and style of the city takes time to get used to.  I first thought Beijing was very very ugly, dusty, dirty.  There's a lot of chaos.  But I started to see past the ugly bits and see there were lots of very interesting parts.  There's green among the concrete.  New architecture replacing old.  Temples hidden behind housing blocks.  Flowers bloom.  People plant gardens in tiny places.  Now the wife and I often wander around abandoned areas looking for half built walls, crumbling doorways, electrical wires climbing like snakes and do photoshoots.

 

Finally, shut up about Japan.  I know from these boards you speak your mind and wear your heart on your sleeve.  But what you said is not acceptable.

Particularly in Harbin.  The evil that was done here was horrific.  You cannot tie literal torture to your inability to speak enough Chinese to buy water.

It's not a joking topic.

[sujeto]

.i.