Difference between revisions of "China"
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| − | '''China''' is the most populated country in the world | + | '''China''' is the most populated country in the world and tourism is blooming with its rapidly expanding economy, but hitchhiking is only practiced sporadically and don't expect English can solve your problems. Despite relatively low crime rate compared to many western countries, local people tend to believe that picking a stranger on the road is unsafe especially on the highway and local Chinese also feel hesitated to get aboard on strangers' cars. |
| − | + | ''Thumb'' gesture is perceived as "good" and taken as a greeting, Chinese drivers will probably "thumb" you back and say "Hello" without thinking of stopping. The most common signal for hitching is to outstretch your arm and gently wave it. Drivers will try to drop you at a bus or train station. | |
| − | + | Traffic regulation is practiced half-heartedly. Expect people to honk, drive while holding a phone, overtaking while going uphill, or combinations of these. Buckle up if you can. But when talking about 1.3 billion people, you can expect a big difference from one to another. Some hitchhikers reported that the driving style in China is a way safer than in Russia and neighboring countries. Chinese usually don't exceed speed limit much and they do buckle up. | |
| − | + | ==How-to== | |
| + | Western concept of hitchhiking, as expected, doesn't exist in China. When many drivers feel unsafe to pick up a stranger, the willing one is likely a driver of commercial vehicles (especially small vans) and they expect a charge. Even if you successfully hitchhike, it is painfully slow and generally won't get you to your destination, if its more than 100km. Hitchhiking being an unusual phenomenon, for travelling a long way, the bus and rail system is efficient and relatively cheap. | ||
| − | + | To increase your success, try to hitchhike in a gas station, traffic stop and car parks where cars stop. Avoid doing it at nights because many Chinese drivers feel unsafe to pick you. | |
| + | |||
| + | Second on your agenda is appearance. Stinky and hairy foreigners with sunglasses and ripped jeans look scary. Dress decently, better wear glasses, have a shave (good-student look). However, Chinese tend to be tolerate of all weird foreigners because they think they are. Just don't avoid looking like a hippie or beggar. | ||
==Regions == | ==Regions == | ||
| Line 50: | Line 53: | ||
== Language == | == Language == | ||
| − | + | English in rural areas are rarely used. Get yourself a phrasebook (beforehand) and a pocket dictionary. Here are some helpful phrases. | |
| − | Here | + | ==Basic Vocab=== |
| + | 搭便车 '''da bian-che": Hitchhhike. That's probably what you want to write on a big card board. | ||
| + | 公路 ''gong-lu'': literally public roads, which means either highway or national road<br /> | ||
| + | 高速公路 ''gao su gong lu'': means expressway (expway) <br /> | ||
| + | 国道 "guo-dao" : national road | ||
| + | 謝謝 "Xie xie" : Thank you | ||
| + | 这裡 "Zhe-li": Here | ||
| + | 那里/哪里 "Na-li" : There / Where? | ||
| − | + | ===Conversations=== | |
| − | + | 我要去..."wo yao qu ...." ( I/want/go to) means "I need/want to go to . . ."<br /> | |
| − | + | 你要去那里？ "ni qu nali?" (you/ go to / where) means "Where are you going?"<br /> | |
| − | + | 在这里停就行 "zai zheli ting jiu xing" (at/here/stop/okay) means "please stop here"<br /> | |
| − | + | Chinese, like many Asian languages, is a tonal language which means a change in a pitch will drive to different meanings. Without basic training, most westerners will find it hard to pronounce Chinese well at an decipherable level. But if you print the Chinese characters out and show them to the driver, things will work pretty smooth. | |
== Police == | == Police == | ||
[[File:Hitchhikers with Chinese police man.jpg|thumb|250px|left]] | [[File:Hitchhikers with Chinese police man.jpg|thumb|250px|left]] | ||
| − | In the South the police was unaware, or friendly but very confused, to [[User:Guaka|Guaka]] and [[amylin]]. Most of the time the police didn't do anything while walking along the highway or trying to hitch. Once, at the highway entry of [[Kaili]] in [[Guizhou]], they started talking, found someone who spoke English, and brought the hitchers to a bus station, where the police paid for a bus ticket! Another time the highway police was very confused again, and it took 2 | + | In the South the police was unaware, or friendly but very confused, to [[User:Guaka|Guaka]] and [[amylin]]. Most of the time the police didn't do anything while walking along the highway or trying to hitch. Once, at the highway entry of [[Kaili]] in [[Guizhou]], they started talking, found someone who spoke English, and brought the hitchers to a bus station, where the police paid for a bus ticket! Another time the highway police was very confused again, and it took 2 1/2 hours to find a translator and be left alone at a highway entrance again. |
[[User:Fijau|Fijau]] hitchhiked through Xinjiang, Gansu, Shaanxi, Henan without being bothered by police. In Xinjiang police even helped him to get a ride. Problems started to occur in Zhejiang (Eastern China, near Shanghai). Several times police didn't let him onto the expressway through the toll gate and took him off the expressway while passing by. | [[User:Fijau|Fijau]] hitchhiked through Xinjiang, Gansu, Shaanxi, Henan without being bothered by police. In Xinjiang police even helped him to get a ride. Problems started to occur in Zhejiang (Eastern China, near Shanghai). Several times police didn't let him onto the expressway through the toll gate and took him off the expressway while passing by. | ||
Revision as of 20:23, 28 November 2010
 China | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Language: | Mandarin |
| Capital: | Beijing |
| Population: | 1,321,851,888 |
| Currency: | Yuan (¥) |
| Hitchability: |  (good)
|
| Meet fellow hitchhikers on Trustroots | |
| <map lat='35' lng='105' zoom='3' view='0' country='China' /> | |
China is the most populated country in the world and tourism is blooming with its rapidly expanding economy, but hitchhiking is only practiced sporadically and don't expect English can solve your problems. Despite relatively low crime rate compared to many western countries, local people tend to believe that picking a stranger on the road is unsafe especially on the highway and local Chinese also feel hesitated to get aboard on strangers' cars.
Thumb gesture is perceived as "good" and taken as a greeting, Chinese drivers will probably "thumb" you back and say "Hello" without thinking of stopping. The most common signal for hitching is to outstretch your arm and gently wave it. Drivers will try to drop you at a bus or train station.
Traffic regulation is practiced half-heartedly. Expect people to honk, drive while holding a phone, overtaking while going uphill, or combinations of these. Buckle up if you can. But when talking about 1.3 billion people, you can expect a big difference from one to another. Some hitchhikers reported that the driving style in China is a way safer than in Russia and neighboring countries. Chinese usually don't exceed speed limit much and they do buckle up.
How-to
Western concept of hitchhiking, as expected, doesn't exist in China. When many drivers feel unsafe to pick up a stranger, the willing one is likely a driver of commercial vehicles (especially small vans) and they expect a charge. Even if you successfully hitchhike, it is painfully slow and generally won't get you to your destination, if its more than 100km. Hitchhiking being an unusual phenomenon, for travelling a long way, the bus and rail system is efficient and relatively cheap.
To increase your success, try to hitchhike in a gas station, traffic stop and car parks where cars stop. Avoid doing it at nights because many Chinese drivers feel unsafe to pick you.
Second on your agenda is appearance. Stinky and hairy foreigners with sunglasses and ripped jeans look scary. Dress decently, better wear glasses, have a shave (good-student look). However, Chinese tend to be tolerate of all weird foreigners because they think they are. Just don't avoid looking like a hippie or beggar.
Regions
There are probably big differences between the different regions in China.
- please add more info if you've hitched in many parts of China
Inner Mongolia:
I hitchhiked around several villages in the western Gobi, using Erenhot as a base. Truck drivers do not expect tips--at least, they did not when I offered money to them. However, private drivers will often request inordinate amounts of money for short distances, so it's best to ask "Doh Shao Chian?", which means "how much?" before getting in.
Chinese is the majority language, especially in the cities. As a Mongolian speaker who only knew a few words of Chinese, people were surprised at me, but pretty accommodating--outside of cities, there is usually at least one person in the room who speaks Mongolian.
You should know that, if you leave the cities, the police WILL detain you here at least once, and you should make according time allowances. In such a case, do not panic--they will actually be very helpful and friendly when they realize you're not a criminal. They will take you to the station, ask you questions, and when satisfied, release you. The whole process takes between one and three hours. Be prepared for this situation, as it happened to me three times in as many days. Consequently, anyone considering hitchhiking here MUST be able to speak enough Mongolian or Chinese to get through this situation.
Cities
Expressways
“Highway” doesn't mean the same as in occidental countries but express ways are great for going long distances. As of 2007 a lot of expressways are still under construction, and most traffic consists of trucks that don't go too fast. When you can, try to hitch with normal cars. There are quite a few cops on the expressway, but it doesn't seem to be a problem to walk along them.
Cops help you rather than being a problem, they even stop buses for you for free
Language
English in rural areas are rarely used. Get yourself a phrasebook (beforehand) and a pocket dictionary. Here are some helpful phrases.
Basic Vocab=
搭便车 da bian-che": Hitchhhike. That's probably what you want to write on a big card board.
公路 gong-lu: literally public roads, which means either highway or national road
高速公路 gao su gong lu: means expressway (expway)
国道 "guo-dao" : national road
謝謝 "Xie xie" : Thank you
这裡 "Zhe-li": Here
那里/哪里 "Na-li" : There / Where?
Conversations
我要去..."wo yao qu ...." ( I/want/go to) means "I need/want to go to . . ."
你要去那里？ "ni qu nali?" (you/ go to / where) means "Where are you going?"
在这里停就行 "zai zheli ting jiu xing" (at/here/stop/okay) means "please stop here"
Chinese, like many Asian languages, is a tonal language which means a change in a pitch will drive to different meanings. Without basic training, most westerners will find it hard to pronounce Chinese well at an decipherable level. But if you print the Chinese characters out and show them to the driver, things will work pretty smooth.
Police
In the South the police was unaware, or friendly but very confused, to Guaka and amylin. Most of the time the police didn't do anything while walking along the highway or trying to hitch. Once, at the highway entry of Kaili in Guizhou, they started talking, found someone who spoke English, and brought the hitchers to a bus station, where the police paid for a bus ticket! Another time the highway police was very confused again, and it took 2 1/2 hours to find a translator and be left alone at a highway entrance again. Fijau hitchhiked through Xinjiang, Gansu, Shaanxi, Henan without being bothered by police. In Xinjiang police even helped him to get a ride. Problems started to occur in Zhejiang (Eastern China, near Shanghai). Several times police didn't let him onto the expressway through the toll gate and took him off the expressway while passing by.
Maps
There are not so many online or offline maps in English. Do buy a map though, even if it's in Chinese, maps of provinces are cheap (10 yuan) and very useful, you can point to it and people might sometimes understand what you mean. You can buy a map of China with names in English and Chinese, but because of the scale it's not very useful while hitching.
Sometimes the indication used for roads aren't very accurate, so you might be thinking you'll be on a nice highway for a while, when it suddenly becomes a 1 lane road going through villages. This is also goes while hitching, on a highway, sometimes a sign might be indicated for a big city, but if you pursuit this, you can find yourself on a dirt road in no time.
Very good is the Tourist Atlas of China. It is in English and Chinese, a small book with all the provinces. But it's hard to find though, Worldhitch got it in Beijing at one of the biggest bookstores. The province maps in Chinese are pretty good, if you have the tourist atlas, you also have the bigger cities in English as a reference point, and hitch on the small roads with the province map.
Note: Be aware of Chinese maps - sometimes they are developed for the (often quickly changing) future! They show highways which are not yet existing, or they having wrong distances between cities. Its always good to have two or three maps (the province maps as well) and then search for the truth in the middle.
Border Crossing
To Kyrgyzstan
Provinces
Links
- Some very useful info in CS group thread.
- More info in CS hitchhikers group
- Jojo Z's experiences with hitchhiking in China (Jojo is a Chinese girl)
- Hitching in China, a Russian Website with tons of information. Some of them available in English.
- Website with photocopies of maps of all provinces and some cities as well.
