Before you board that plane to China!

I recently went to China on a business trip. After a week of whirlwind factory visits, more than 2000 KM of being on the trains and on roads, a hectic schedule lasting more than a week, I feel enthused and exhausted at the same time. I feel excited about the opportunities and immense possibilities of doing business, while at the same time visiting a country as vast and densely populated as China, on a tight business schedule can be extremely challenging and exhausting to say the least. Based on my recent experience of visiting China, I have compiled a list of things that you must do before visiting China.

First and foremost, it is difficult to fathom, for most of us, about the vastness of the country and how it has so many major urban centres and regions. Due to government’s policy of promoting certain industrial clusters in certain regions of the country, you can find one type of industry mostly concentrated in one city or a region while for going to another type of industrial suppliers you may have to travel by air or by train to a considerable distance. So be prepared to travel, budget ample amount of time for travel and keep your bags as light as possible. It is not at all a pleasant experience dragging a 30 kg bag through stairs, walkways and across elevators. Aerosol bottles above 150 ml such as large perfume bottles, shaving foams etc. are not allowed even on the trains.

Language barrier is still an issue, especially in the smaller cities. You will be best served by having a local representative available facilitating your visit or you can at least install Baidu translate application for translation from English to Chinese. Some dedicated translator devices are also available in the market and you want to check some of those as you may not have internet access available at all different places that you will be visiting.

Before leaving the airport, in China, you should get some currency exchanged for incidental expenses and also buy a sim card. I forgot to do both these so I had to enlist the help of a local person to get these done. Otherwise, you can change the currency outside the airport at banks only, which is a bit inconvenient, but it will be next to impossible buying a sim in the city, on your own.

Now coming to the most critical issue; the limitation on internet in China. Most of the apps that we are all used to are not available in China. Most importantly, google and all its different apps are non-existent in China, due to some government regulations. You cannot use the search engine, maps, google translate or even google qibla finder. The country has its own alternative apps to cater to all such needs. For example, they have their own search engine called Baidu, for navigation they use Baidu maps, for translation there is Baidu translate available. Even google play does not work in China so it will be much easier to install these apps while still being in your home country and convert the setting to English or any other convenient language. These applications come with Chinese language in default setting. Similarly, Whatsapp is replaced by Wechat.

Another important thing is that physical currency notes are not that common anymore in China. Almost all locals use apps such as Wechat pay or Alipay for payments. You can link your credit or debit card with the application. This will not only make payments more convenient but you can also avail discounts in hotel booking, fares etc.

Finally, planning your trip ahead of time, making train ticket bookings, hotel bookings, setting appointments for meetings, goes a long way in ensuring your trip goes to the plan. Despite all the challenges, visiting China can be a very exciting and inspirational experience for any business traveler.