Hope your China trip prep is going well! Jake and I have arrived in China and are excited to host you all in my beautiful homeland. See below for final tips and information to help with your trip!
📲 Communication
If you have trouble finding information or have any questions, please contact us through WeChat (Joyce: ml5403941; Jake: jhtbmed)! We're already in China, so we may not receive your texts and will be slower responding to emails compared to WeChat. Please add us on WeChat before your trip to receive announcements about the trip/wedding and allow us to call you using WeChat (via Wi-Fi or cellular data) when needed.
🧳 Pack for trip
Local Temperature - Currently, Shanghai, Wuxi, and Guilin are all humid and warm (over 30°C or 86°F). Beijing, however, is getting cooler, with temperatures dropping to around 20°C (68°F) at night. We recommend packing primarily for summer weather and bringing a light jacket if traveling to Beijing!
Save Some Room - Get ready for warm Chinese hospitality from my family in Wuxi! My parents have prepared welcome gifts for every guest, which will be waiting for you at the Wuxi hotel. The gifts come in nice boxes and will take up some space. Don't worry if you can't take any gifts or boxes home—we won't be offended! If you need to leave anything behind, please kindly leave it in your Wuxi hotel room, and we'll take care of it.
Weight Allowance - The weight allowance for international flights is typically 23kg, while for domestic flights within China, it's usually 20kg. Consider bringing a small bag to use as a carry-on bag in case your checked luggage exceeds the weight limit.
No illegal substances, please - You're likely familiar with items commonly prohibited on international trips already (such as illegal drugs, meat, fruits, seeds, etc.). A friendly reminder: even CBD products are illegal in China. If you're traveling with prescription medication, please check with the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States of America to ensure it's legal in the PRC. Always carry prescription medication in its original packaging, along with the prescription.
🧳 Pack for trip
When filling out the immigration form, you'll need to provide the address where you'll be staying. We recommend saving this information for easy offline access. Here are the addresses of all the hotels if you're staying with us throughout the trip:
- Maxx by Steigenberger on the Bund Shanghai (上海东方美仑美奂酒店) – 1 Jinling East Road, Huangpu, 200002 Shanghai, China
- Song Hotel Wuxi (无锡雪浪宋品酒店; formerly known as Wanda Vista Wuxi) – No.1 Sunac Cultural Tourism City, Binhu District, Wuxi, Jiangsu, China
- For your stay in Yangshuo, please check your personalized Notion doc to see which hotel you’re assigned:
- Geemu Resort (阳朔GEEMU积木民宿) – No.28 Yangjia Village, Yangshuo, Guangxi, China
- Yangshuo Vision Cloud Hotel (阳朔万相·牧云酒店) – 100 meters southeast of Yangjiacun Centennial House Food Bar, Xingping Town, Yangshuo, Guangxi, China
- Grand Hyatt Beijing (北京东方君悦）- 1 East Chang An Beijing, China, 100738
💡General Tips
As a Chinese, I have some "expert blindspots" when it comes to offering tips. Fortunately, my amazing bridesmaid Marine has generously shared her tips after traveling solo in China for the past week! Here are some tips from both of us.
Payments
Alipay doesn’t always work with foreign credit cards in small shops, so we recommend setting up both Alipay and WeChat Pay (in WeChat).
Learn these Chinese hand gestures for numbers—some small shops use them to indicate prices. For example, if someone does this 🤙, they’re not saying “cool”; they’re actually telling you it costs 6 yuan!
Carry tissues/toilet paper
Not all toilets provide toilet paper, especially in small towns. Some places offer it for purchase through an app, which might be challenging for visitors to set up. We recommend buying and carrying tissues with you. You can purchase portable tissues from convenience stores—or perhaps get a roll from your hotel! Also, toilet paper is usually located at the entrance of restrooms, not in individual stalls.
Be prepared for “squat” toilets
Hotels and airports typically offer Western-style sit-down toilets (though it’s wise to bring sanitizer, as paper seat covers may not be available). However, many public restrooms, especially in towns like Yangshuo, only have “squat” toilets. While some restaurants, coffee shops, and malls may provide nicer facilities with sit-down toilets, this isn’t guaranteed. We recommend familiarizing yourself with squat toilets and learning how to use them before your trip.
Chinese hand gestures for numbers
FAQ
You have questions, we have the answers!
Travel
We highly recommend using a carrier that provides cellular data in China or getting an e-sim card.
Google Fi works great for us during our trips to Asia, as it offers unlimited data and free texts. For e-sim card, we had good experience with Nomad e-sim. They offer different plans (30-day or data package) that cover China or multiple Asian countries. A 20-GB package should be sufficient for a 2-week trip, considering the availability of wifi everywhere. If needed, you can always purchase additional data.
While certain services like Google and Facebook are blocked in China, you can still access them using your cellular data from Google Fi or Nomad. However, you won’t be able to access these services using local Wifi, so remember to disconnect from Wifi when you need to use Google.
Yes! We would highly recommend you downloading WeChat for communication and payment purposes.
Please find Joyce and Jake on WeChat and send us a friend request 🙂
Joyce: ml5403941
Jake: jhtbmed
Map app: Apple Map
Payment app: Alipay
Translation app: Google Translate
Taxi: Didi – Greater China (see this video on how to use Didi)
As you may have heard, China has embraced mobile payments for quite some time now. Cash is rarely used, even by street vendors. We highly recommend downloading Alipay and setting it up before your trip. It should be fairly straightforward to set it up. There are quite a few Youtube videos available as well that explain the process pretty well.
Alipay doesn’t always work with foreign credit cards in small shops, so we recommend setting up both Alipay and WeChat Pay (in WeChat).
Visa and Mastercard credit cards are widely accepted in China, and you can also use cash. Although some vendors may initially reject cash, it is actually illegal for them to do so. If you insist, they will have to accept cash.
You should be able to obtain Chinese Yuan from your local bank or through a foreign exchange when you arrive in China. If you need any assistance with exchanging Chinese Yuan, please reach out to Joyce.
Lastly, learn these Chinese hand gestures for numbers—some small shops use them to indicate prices. For example, if someone does this 🤙, they’re not saying “cool”; they’re actually telling you it costs 6 yuan!
Wedding
Garden cocktail.
Avoid red and white. While the color red is auspicious in Chinese culture, it is typically reserved for brides.
It is common for guests to bring red envelopes with cash as gifts. There will be a registry table where guests can leave their gifts.
However, we are already deeply grateful for you joining us on this special occasion. Your presence is more than enough. If you still wish to give a gift, we would prefer cash to fund our home improvement projects and future adventures. You can send the gift via Venmo to @joyful_he (phone number: 6193867426).
If you prefer to follow the Chinese tradition, you can purchase red envelopes from Chinese supermarkets like Ranch 99, insert the cash you would like to give, and present it to us on the day of the event.
No worries at all. Just let us know by emailing us or texting us!
Of course! Feel free to take as many pictures as you’d like to capture great memories. 🥰