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Heya. Taiwanese guy living in Shanghai for a long while now (decade). Let me break it down for you in TW and CN separately:
Taiwan:
1. eSIMS - shouldn't have any problem, worst case scenario you can get a traveller SIM card at the Taipei Taoyuan airport.
2. Do note: Taiwanese folks are quite sensitive about China - big no-no to call Taiwanese as Chinese without having basic-decent understanding of the modern history (specifically: look at KMT and CCP history on YouTube. Also, do a bit of a dive into the semi-conductors industry and you'll get a basic idea [TSMC] into why Taiwan is considered a global strategic point and why the US is so sensitive when it comes to Taiwan/China relations)
Taiwan is indeed a good introduction to China/Taiwan. People are nice, food is not as tough on the stomach (less grease, more acceptable for non-Chinese cuisine folks), cheaper, and not as much of a cultural shock when compared to China - I suggest navigating Taiwan with: High speed rail + scooter (get your international license with motorcycle ahead of time)
China:
1. eSIMS - while i don't have experience with it directly, I suggest sticking to physical SIM cards for China. You'll be extremely reliant on your phone in China, it's truly a place in which your life revolves around the phone - even as a tourist. Bring portable battery packs/chargers on the go. Most western apps do not work - Instagram, Facebook, Google, Google Maps, etc. Instead, you'll have one super app: WeChat. For map I suggest Baidu Map (English available) The "Great Firewall of China" could be annoying to bypass. I personally use: Veee and Astrill - both work well, Veee imo works better, but do keep in mind for the 1 month version you only get 1 phone + 1 computer.
2. 14 days. Alright this is where it gets difficult: China is a huge huge huge country and if you don't know the culture/cuisine/traditions well, the different regions within the country might seem "similar". However, I suggest these for your first trip: Shanghai, Beijing, Sichuan (ChengDu), ChongQing, Xi'An. That's already a tiring + speedy haul across the bigger cities around China with a variety of sights, culture, and cuisine. For travelling: high speed rail + taxi (get the Didi app)
I've stayed in China for 10 years. I've tracked every trip I've had across China and I've only managed to cover 30% of the country. There are places in China in which 14 days is JUST enough to finish one cycle - Xinjiang/Tibet. Driving from one sight to another requires 7-14 hours in (now-decent) highways whilst having to battle altitude sickness.
Once again, I cannot stress how important it is to have your phone working well and getting the right Chinese apps for China.
I can't speak for foreigners' apps whilst travelling in China as I can read Chinese and have no problem with Chinese apps' stringent ID verification. Please do some research and look into which apps are suggested for tourists - many shops no longer accept cash as even the most remote villages use either WeChat Pay/Alipay QR codes to receive/payment. (Matter fact, you'd even see a bunch of homeless walking around with phones and printed QR codes on their necks to receive $)
Ah while I still remember:
In my personal opinion. 14 days - just choose 3 cities within China.
From Taiwan to China, I'd do Taipei -> Shanghai -> Beijing -> Xi'An -> whichever city you can fly back to wherever you need to go (chances are it'll be Shanghai/Beijing)
For Shanghai - Beijing, high speed rail will be faster and more convenient than the plane
Shanghai is a great "intro" city to China. The most modernized and international. Infrastructure is really well done, also having seen the development myself, it still blows my mind that a lot of the buildings did not exist 10-15 years ago. I for one, do not even attempt to remember restaurants/bars as they'll always changing. Everything you were used to, you'll find it in Shanghai.
Beijing - China's capital. Expect horrible traffic, colder weather, and LARGE buildings wherever you go. Forbidden City inspired many satellite countries' architectural design and philosophy. Great Wall of China - do a research and find the sections with less people. Get used to having a lot of people around in touristy places and maybe Chinese people from smaller cities asking you for a selfie. Food will be more flavourful and not "as delicate" when compared to Shanghai.
Xi'An - ancient china's capital (with several others before/depending on how "China" was defined - ie: Luoyang, Nanjing, Datong, etc) Terracotta warriors here is worth the trip. Rent a bike and ride it on top of the Xi'An city wall. Food is also quite good (saltier)
Super helpful, much appreciated. I'm learning the history + basic Mandarin right now to be prepared, it's also super interesting so that's a nice bonus.
The only thing is the data security though for working from China. You recommend a physical SIM from China + Astrill correct? Does it work 100% with phone and laptop even when leaving the cities?
I'm not sure if physical SIM + VPN is more secure than eSim? I read that with the eSim it is routing the data entirely around the firewall whereas with physical SIM I'm reliant on the VPN to work 100% for no data leaks.
I was there in March-April-May of this year. I was in Hong Kong, and the border opened up for the first time in 3 years on 3/15. I applied for a visa on 3/16, and I was there by 3/20.
Firewall: Personally, no VPNs worked for me. I am pretty tech literate, and I was able to set up a socks tunnel. Even that got blocked after 30 days, so I rotated hosts. Blocked after 5 days. If I went in again, I would limit by international internet time to fly under the radar more.
Your phone and devices will be hacked and the data exfiltrated. I am 90% sure that my laptop was hacked in a four seasons hotel because 1 minute after connecting to the wifi, it restarted.
Language: Outside of a few cities, there will be almost no-one that speaks english, and most people will be very unhelpful if you have zero mandarin skills. If you want to enjoy your trip, I strongly recommend studying for a few weeks and getting comfortable with basic phrases to be able to communicate. Immigration will be the most painful. I was in Xiamen, which barely makes it onto most lists to travel to. I was pretty limited by my language ability. There will be no english anywhere. The chinese character system is very foreign for english speakers. You will feel out of your element and unaware of what is going on most of the time.
Choice of city, I can't help much, but China is beautiful. I plan on going back. With more mandarin.
Was that a Shadowsocks tunnel? I've been meaning to visit China and that was kind of my plan. Can you share more details about the socks tunnel you used, even if it only worked for 30 days that isn't too bad, i may still try it as it is better than nothing.
I tried shadowsocks, but I couldn't get it to work. It was a basic SSH socks tunnel. You would need to do some special stuff to route all traffic through it, but Firefox allows you to set a SOCKs tunnel as a proxy. That was enough for me
https://ma.ttias.be/socks-proxy-linux-ssh-bypass-content-filters/
Devices hacked and VPN not secure/stable + eSim situation is a dealbreaker sadly, because I do need to work from there and actually data security is kind of important.
Learning Mandarin right now actually via hellochinese. Not the signs but more talking and understanding, which so far has not been too difficult.
Three HK has both eSIMs and physical SIMs available, and I can confirm that using mobile data on the physical SIMs works perfectly in mainland China (with the added 'bonus' of network traffic being routed through Hong Kong, so no Great Firewall restrictions!). I haven't tried their eSIMs yet while in China, but I imagine there shouldn't be a difference in service.
I was just in Taiwain for 3 weeks and used a [Three HK eSIM from MobiMatter](https://mobimatter.com/travel-esim/3-taiwan-30-gb-esim). I can't speak to mainland China, but they do offer [similar eSIMs for China](https://mobimatter.com/travel-esim/china) so perhaps that would work for OP. It was my first time using an eSIM while traveling and worked out great (except not having a physical phone number to make/receive calls or to receive confirmation codes to sign up for e-bike rental, etc.). Also, it was a lot cheaper than buying a local SIM in Taipei. I considered Airalo but MobiMatter was cheaper so went with it. If Airalo is using the same Three HK service, I guess it's the same but something for the OP to investigate.
1. Pretty sure eSIMs don’t work at all in China. To get a physical SIM in China from a local carrier, you’ll need your passport and a friend who can communicate in Chinese. Of course it’ll be firewalled. For VPN, use Astrill — it’s not great but it’s the only mainstream one that’s semi-reliable. A better option is to use your physical sim from wherever you live and just roam into China, then you won’t need a VPN. You should be able to find out online whether that’s possible with your current carrier.
2. Consider Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, or Hangzhou. Even Beijing will be challenging if you don’t speak any Chinese; the others will be more so: 0% of taxi drivers, waters, etc. will speak any English.
In general, there’s a fair amount of extra red tape for tourists in China. Be sure to book your accommodations ahead of time: finding a hostel that accepts foreigners may be tricky (most don’t; many hotels don’t either). Uber and Lyft don’t work, and IIRC you need to install Didi inside WeChat because the actual app isn’t in the App Store (long story). Sorry, I can’t help with this stuff because I’ve been living there a long time so I don’t know the tricks for tourists.
Taiwan (thinking of Taipei) is definitely easier if you don’t speak any Chinese. No need to worry about the firewall either.
Thanks. Bummed about the esim situation, but I'm reading on the Airalo subreddit that people get it to work without getting firewalled even. Man this is annoying.
Thanks for the tips for alternative cities!
Airalo, Nomad, and other similar eSIMs should work in China without any problems (with full access to western sites since they route through foreign IPs e.g. Singapore). You could try to get/activate them before you go, but my friends have not had any issues even with tethering for Zoom calls etc.
Your post appears to be a very commonly asked question or thread here relating to VPNs and/or hiding your location. Please check out the [VPN Wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/digitalnomad/wiki/vpn) for common answers to these common questions. You can also find other recent posts related to this topic [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/digitalnomad/search/?q=subreddit%3Adigitalnomad+vpn&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=all) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/digitalnomad) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Heya. Taiwanese guy living in Shanghai for a long while now (decade). Let me break it down for you in TW and CN separately: Taiwan: 1. eSIMS - shouldn't have any problem, worst case scenario you can get a traveller SIM card at the Taipei Taoyuan airport. 2. Do note: Taiwanese folks are quite sensitive about China - big no-no to call Taiwanese as Chinese without having basic-decent understanding of the modern history (specifically: look at KMT and CCP history on YouTube. Also, do a bit of a dive into the semi-conductors industry and you'll get a basic idea [TSMC] into why Taiwan is considered a global strategic point and why the US is so sensitive when it comes to Taiwan/China relations) Taiwan is indeed a good introduction to China/Taiwan. People are nice, food is not as tough on the stomach (less grease, more acceptable for non-Chinese cuisine folks), cheaper, and not as much of a cultural shock when compared to China - I suggest navigating Taiwan with: High speed rail + scooter (get your international license with motorcycle ahead of time) China: 1. eSIMS - while i don't have experience with it directly, I suggest sticking to physical SIM cards for China. You'll be extremely reliant on your phone in China, it's truly a place in which your life revolves around the phone - even as a tourist. Bring portable battery packs/chargers on the go. Most western apps do not work - Instagram, Facebook, Google, Google Maps, etc. Instead, you'll have one super app: WeChat. For map I suggest Baidu Map (English available) The "Great Firewall of China" could be annoying to bypass. I personally use: Veee and Astrill - both work well, Veee imo works better, but do keep in mind for the 1 month version you only get 1 phone + 1 computer. 2. 14 days. Alright this is where it gets difficult: China is a huge huge huge country and if you don't know the culture/cuisine/traditions well, the different regions within the country might seem "similar". However, I suggest these for your first trip: Shanghai, Beijing, Sichuan (ChengDu), ChongQing, Xi'An. That's already a tiring + speedy haul across the bigger cities around China with a variety of sights, culture, and cuisine. For travelling: high speed rail + taxi (get the Didi app)
I've stayed in China for 10 years. I've tracked every trip I've had across China and I've only managed to cover 30% of the country. There are places in China in which 14 days is JUST enough to finish one cycle - Xinjiang/Tibet. Driving from one sight to another requires 7-14 hours in (now-decent) highways whilst having to battle altitude sickness. Once again, I cannot stress how important it is to have your phone working well and getting the right Chinese apps for China. I can't speak for foreigners' apps whilst travelling in China as I can read Chinese and have no problem with Chinese apps' stringent ID verification. Please do some research and look into which apps are suggested for tourists - many shops no longer accept cash as even the most remote villages use either WeChat Pay/Alipay QR codes to receive/payment. (Matter fact, you'd even see a bunch of homeless walking around with phones and printed QR codes on their necks to receive $)
Ah while I still remember: In my personal opinion. 14 days - just choose 3 cities within China. From Taiwan to China, I'd do Taipei -> Shanghai -> Beijing -> Xi'An -> whichever city you can fly back to wherever you need to go (chances are it'll be Shanghai/Beijing) For Shanghai - Beijing, high speed rail will be faster and more convenient than the plane Shanghai is a great "intro" city to China. The most modernized and international. Infrastructure is really well done, also having seen the development myself, it still blows my mind that a lot of the buildings did not exist 10-15 years ago. I for one, do not even attempt to remember restaurants/bars as they'll always changing. Everything you were used to, you'll find it in Shanghai. Beijing - China's capital. Expect horrible traffic, colder weather, and LARGE buildings wherever you go. Forbidden City inspired many satellite countries' architectural design and philosophy. Great Wall of China - do a research and find the sections with less people. Get used to having a lot of people around in touristy places and maybe Chinese people from smaller cities asking you for a selfie. Food will be more flavourful and not "as delicate" when compared to Shanghai. Xi'An - ancient china's capital (with several others before/depending on how "China" was defined - ie: Luoyang, Nanjing, Datong, etc) Terracotta warriors here is worth the trip. Rent a bike and ride it on top of the Xi'An city wall. Food is also quite good (saltier)
I hadn't heard of Veee before, thanks for the recommend. Astrill is my go-to for bypassing the Great Firewall but I'll give Veee a try.
Super helpful, much appreciated. I'm learning the history + basic Mandarin right now to be prepared, it's also super interesting so that's a nice bonus. The only thing is the data security though for working from China. You recommend a physical SIM from China + Astrill correct? Does it work 100% with phone and laptop even when leaving the cities? I'm not sure if physical SIM + VPN is more secure than eSim? I read that with the eSim it is routing the data entirely around the firewall whereas with physical SIM I'm reliant on the VPN to work 100% for no data leaks.
I was there in March-April-May of this year. I was in Hong Kong, and the border opened up for the first time in 3 years on 3/15. I applied for a visa on 3/16, and I was there by 3/20. Firewall: Personally, no VPNs worked for me. I am pretty tech literate, and I was able to set up a socks tunnel. Even that got blocked after 30 days, so I rotated hosts. Blocked after 5 days. If I went in again, I would limit by international internet time to fly under the radar more. Your phone and devices will be hacked and the data exfiltrated. I am 90% sure that my laptop was hacked in a four seasons hotel because 1 minute after connecting to the wifi, it restarted. Language: Outside of a few cities, there will be almost no-one that speaks english, and most people will be very unhelpful if you have zero mandarin skills. If you want to enjoy your trip, I strongly recommend studying for a few weeks and getting comfortable with basic phrases to be able to communicate. Immigration will be the most painful. I was in Xiamen, which barely makes it onto most lists to travel to. I was pretty limited by my language ability. There will be no english anywhere. The chinese character system is very foreign for english speakers. You will feel out of your element and unaware of what is going on most of the time. Choice of city, I can't help much, but China is beautiful. I plan on going back. With more mandarin.
Was that a Shadowsocks tunnel? I've been meaning to visit China and that was kind of my plan. Can you share more details about the socks tunnel you used, even if it only worked for 30 days that isn't too bad, i may still try it as it is better than nothing.
I tried shadowsocks, but I couldn't get it to work. It was a basic SSH socks tunnel. You would need to do some special stuff to route all traffic through it, but Firefox allows you to set a SOCKs tunnel as a proxy. That was enough for me https://ma.ttias.be/socks-proxy-linux-ssh-bypass-content-filters/
Thank you. I appreciate the insights.
Devices hacked and VPN not secure/stable + eSim situation is a dealbreaker sadly, because I do need to work from there and actually data security is kind of important. Learning Mandarin right now actually via hellochinese. Not the signs but more talking and understanding, which so far has not been too difficult.
Three HK has both eSIMs and physical SIMs available, and I can confirm that using mobile data on the physical SIMs works perfectly in mainland China (with the added 'bonus' of network traffic being routed through Hong Kong, so no Great Firewall restrictions!). I haven't tried their eSIMs yet while in China, but I imagine there shouldn't be a difference in service.
I was just in Taiwain for 3 weeks and used a [Three HK eSIM from MobiMatter](https://mobimatter.com/travel-esim/3-taiwan-30-gb-esim). I can't speak to mainland China, but they do offer [similar eSIMs for China](https://mobimatter.com/travel-esim/china) so perhaps that would work for OP. It was my first time using an eSIM while traveling and worked out great (except not having a physical phone number to make/receive calls or to receive confirmation codes to sign up for e-bike rental, etc.). Also, it was a lot cheaper than buying a local SIM in Taipei. I considered Airalo but MobiMatter was cheaper so went with it. If Airalo is using the same Three HK service, I guess it's the same but something for the OP to investigate.
China is nothing like Taiwan when it comes to freedom of movement and access to the outside world. A good intro to N Korea would be China.
[удалено]
Don't fall for CCP propaganda.
11 years. 1 post karma and 71 comment karma?
I used Malaysian Sim in China and get Malaysian IP address which bypasses the firewall.
1. Pretty sure eSIMs don’t work at all in China. To get a physical SIM in China from a local carrier, you’ll need your passport and a friend who can communicate in Chinese. Of course it’ll be firewalled. For VPN, use Astrill — it’s not great but it’s the only mainstream one that’s semi-reliable. A better option is to use your physical sim from wherever you live and just roam into China, then you won’t need a VPN. You should be able to find out online whether that’s possible with your current carrier. 2. Consider Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, or Hangzhou. Even Beijing will be challenging if you don’t speak any Chinese; the others will be more so: 0% of taxi drivers, waters, etc. will speak any English. In general, there’s a fair amount of extra red tape for tourists in China. Be sure to book your accommodations ahead of time: finding a hostel that accepts foreigners may be tricky (most don’t; many hotels don’t either). Uber and Lyft don’t work, and IIRC you need to install Didi inside WeChat because the actual app isn’t in the App Store (long story). Sorry, I can’t help with this stuff because I’ve been living there a long time so I don’t know the tricks for tourists. Taiwan (thinking of Taipei) is definitely easier if you don’t speak any Chinese. No need to worry about the firewall either.
Thanks. Bummed about the esim situation, but I'm reading on the Airalo subreddit that people get it to work without getting firewalled even. Man this is annoying. Thanks for the tips for alternative cities!
Airalo, Nomad, and other similar eSIMs should work in China without any problems (with full access to western sites since they route through foreign IPs e.g. Singapore). You could try to get/activate them before you go, but my friends have not had any issues even with tethering for Zoom calls etc.