Anyone on here go to trade shows and factories in China?

[RSD]

I've never been to China before but am probably going to be doing a trip there in August to visit some factories to suss out some products to import and also visit a tradeshow. Just wondering if anyone has any tips etc? Will be the Shanghai / Hebai area

 

[Scr77]

Have you tried @Cruiser Elite ?

 

[RSD]

Have you tried @Cruiser Elite ?

no - but will contact him/her now - many thanks for the recommendation!

 

[moa999]

You'll likely need a few new apps for your phone.
Didi China (Uber equivalent)
Baidu Maps (Google maps doesn't work)

And these days ideally one of the payment apps.
WeChat (for WeChat Money) or AliPay.
I believe you can now register a foreign credit card with these.

But my last trip was five years ago, so others better.

 

[elanshin]

I've never been to China before but am probably going to be doing a trip there in August to visit some factories to suss out some products to import and also visit a tradeshow. Just wondering if anyone has any tips etc? Will be the Shanghai / Hebai area

Will need a few things prepared beforehand. In no particular order:

WeChat. If you're dealing with Chinese, you'll need it for communication. In some sense, I just exchange WeChat now instead of business cards.

WeChatPay. App inside of WeChat for payment. You'll need to verify your account and set it up with a bankcard. This will make your life a lot easier.

If possible get a Chinese number once there and setup your Alipay with it. Reason i suggest doing wechat with your normal number and Alipay with a Chinese number is that way you keep your communication chat number for wechat after your trip but then also have a Chinese number as all sorts of miniapps currently don't work properly with a foreign number.

If you see a QR code, scan that with WeChat/Alipay.

Setup a decent VPN before entering the country (or use roaming). Roaming gets around the firewall. I personally used LetsVPN for short travel but if you're there regular or long term there are other options.

Google is useless in China (apple however works reasonably ok). So you'll even get things where you connect to a wifi and if you have a pixel phone say it thinks you have no network connection (because it's trying to ping the google server to test and getting blocked). Default non Applemaps option is BaiduMaps.

Food delivery is everywhere and so is the ability to order ahead of time to pick up. It also helps to use app ordering in restaurant too as they usually have pictures to go with the food.

Food is cheap, goods (imported) are not. Taxi /didi are also relatively cheap. If you're in Shanghai it may legitimately be a consideration to take the subway over a taxi for time purposes as one is guaranteed to run regularly, the other may hit ridiculous traffic.

If you've been to one major mall, you'll probably notice all the others have similar big brands in then. Shopping malls are everywhere too. My cousin mentioned theres 6000+ decent sized Malls in Shanghai

EV and scooters everywhere. Makes it a lot quieter on the roads which is nice until a scooter or EV creeps up right past you.

 

[moa999]

Makes it a lot quieter on the roads which is nice until a scooter or EV creeps up right past you.

The scooters are particularly dangerous as they will often drive very quickly on sidewalks. You need to ensure you walk straight and be careful if you want to move sideways to look at anything.

 

[RSD]

You'll likely need a few new apps for your phone.
Didi China (Uber equivalent)
Baidu Maps (Google maps doesn't work)

And these days ideally one of the payment apps.
WeChat (for WeChat Money) or AliPay.
I believe you can now register a foreign credit card with these.

But my last trip was five years ago, so others better.

Many thanks - I had forgotten that many of the things we take for granted like Google maps are blocked in China!

Do they accept normal use of credit cards over there? I haven't gotten into payment apps here in Australia yet

 

[DAC1]

Do they accept normal use of credit cards over there? I haven't gotten into payment apps here in Australia yet

I haven’t been since before COVID but acceptance of MasterCard/Visa was very spotty back then. AMEX was even more unreliable (with the exception of hotels). WeChat Pay and AliPay were most commonly used wherever I went.

 

[RSD]

Will need a few things prepared beforehand. In no particular order:

WeChat. If you're dealing with Chinese, you'll need it for communication. In some sense, I just exchange WeChat now instead of business cards.

WeChatPay. App inside of WeChat for payment. You'll need to verify your account and set it up with a bankcard. This will make your life a lot easier.

If possible get a Chinese number once there and setup your Alipay with it. Reason i suggest doing wechat with your normal number and Alipay with a Chinese number is that way you keep your communication chat number for wechat after your trip but then also have a Chinese number as all sorts of miniapps currently don't work properly with a foreign number.

If you see a QR code, scan that with WeChat/Alipay.

Setup a decent VPN before entering the country (or use roaming). Roaming gets around the firewall. I personally used LetsVPN for short travel but if you're there regular or long term there are other options.

Google is useless in China (apple however works reasonably ok). So you'll even get things where you connect to a wifi and if you have a pixel phone say it thinks you have no network connection (because it's trying to ping the google server to test and getting blocked). Default non Applemaps option is BaiduMaps.

Food delivery is everywhere and so is the ability to order ahead of time to pick up. It also helps to use app ordering in restaurant too as they usually have pictures to go with the food.

Food is cheap, goods (imported) are not. Taxi /didi are also relatively cheap. If you're in Shanghai it may legitimately be a consideration to take the subway over a taxi for time purposes as one is guaranteed to run regularly, the other may hit ridiculous traffic.

If you've been to one major mall, you'll probably notice all the others have similar big brands in then. Shopping malls are everywhere too. My cousin mentioned theres 6000+ decent sized Malls in Shanghai

EV and scooters everywhere. Makes it a lot quieter on the roads which is nice until a scooter or EV creeps up right past you.

WeChat is new to me - I just assumed they used WhatsApp! Does WeChat have an interpreting aspect to it?

Can you access Gmail in China? That's going to be a PITA if I can't!

Noted about the Taxi/Didi and subway - cheers.

Those scooters sounds like a right menace!

 

[elanshin]

WeChat is new to me - I just assumed they used WhatsApp! Does WeChat have an interpreting aspect to it?

Many suppliers do - but for the express purpose of communicating with foreigners. Wechat does also have auto interpret and I find it to be a tad better generally. Note that most of the other messengers are blocked and from time to time whatsapp can be blocked too (when they do some special event sort of thing in China and tighten everything - but generally they'd relax it after).

For one off type things, Whatsapp is fine, but if you're going to be doing medium to long term business with Chinese companies then I would recommend having wechat. Do note plenty of people talk about phone security etc so if you're working in government you might need to consider that too.

Can you access Gmail in China? That's going to be a PITA if I can't!

Nope - zilch Google services. You'll need either roaming (check mail on phone) or a VPN. Also while Chinese companies can send you emails, they generally prefer not to. I get 500mb files over wechat for new offer sheets and such which often annoy me =/

 

[aaa99]

Just returned from a week a Shanghai.
Agree to the above point about roaming sims bypassing the VPN.
I had purchased and downloaded a NomadSIM for China prior to my trip. It also worked instantly and I was able to bypass the firewall. Just remember, if you connect to the hotel wifi, the apps will stop working again

 

[RSD]

I haven’t been since before COVID but acceptance of MasterCard/Visa was very spotty back then. AMEX was even more unreliable (with the exception of hotels). WeChat Pay and AliPay were most commonly used wherever I went.

OK cheers - do they accept cash in most places?

 

[kamchatsky]

OK cheers - do they accept cash in most places?

They may, but either they will look very upset if you give them cash, or they do not have change for you.

Unfortunately most people use Wechat or AliPay over there. International credit card usage is almost non existent unless it is major chain hotels or high end international restaurants

Another thing about WechatPay, to use it you will need to register your card and then upload your IDs to verify that you are the credit card owner. You may or may not be comfortable with this. I did not have to do this for AliPay but AliPay is not as widely used as Wechat Pay. This is based on my experience over Christmas 2023 - New Year 2024.

 

[RSD]

Many suppliers do - but for the express purpose of communicating with foreigners. Wechat does also have auto interpret and I find it to be a tad better generally. Note that most of the other messengers are blocked and from time to time whatsapp can be blocked too (when they do some special event sort of thing in China and tighten everything - but generally they'd relax it after).

For one off type things, Whatsapp is fine, but if you're going to be doing medium to long term business with Chinese companies then I would recommend having wechat. Do note plenty of people talk about phone security etc so if you're working in government you might need to consider that too.



Nope - zilch Google services. You'll need either roaming (check mail on phone) or a VPN. Also while Chinese companies can send you emails, they generally prefer not to. I get 500mb files over wechat for new offer sheets and such which often annoy me =/

One of these days I will figure out how to separate a message that I am quoting out into separate parts, but in the meantime you will just have to be extra understanding!

OK will definitely be getting WeChat, will use international roaming rather than add a VPN to the mix. Fortunately not working for the government, and the Chinese would probably find my phone pretty boring!

I've noticed that the Chinese seem to like to use anything but email...

I was planning to fly into Shanghai - but I've just discovered that the Hebai that I need to visit is another Hebai that is 180km south of Beijing instead of the Hebai that I had found west of Shanghai.

 

[elanshin]

One of these days I will figure out how to separate a message that I am quoting out into separate parts, but in the meantime you will just have to be extra understanding!

OK will definitely be getting WeChat, will use international roaming rather than add a VPN to the mix. Fortunately not working for the government, and the Chinese would probably find my phone pretty boring!

I've noticed that the Chinese seem to like to use anything but email...

I was planning to fly into Shanghai - but I've just discovered that the Hebai that I need to visit is another Hebai that is 180km south of Beijing instead of the Hebai that I had found west of Shanghai.

Just make sure to check correctly. Hebei is the province area near Beijing while HUbei is west of Shanghai. Depending on where in Hebei, it may be more efficient and economical to take the HSR than it is to fly domestically. Chinese domestic airspace can get clogged real bad so delays are fairly common which is the opposite for HSR.

 

[RSD]

Just returned from a week a Shanghai.
Agree to the above point about roaming sims bypassing the VPN.
I had purchased and downloaded a NomadSIM for China prior to my trip. It also worked instantly and I was able to bypass the firewall. Just remember, if you connect to the hotel wifi, the apps will stop working again

Cheers - mental note - don't connect to wifi! China starting to sound like a more sophisticated version of Egypt - in Egypt stuff just doesn't work due to poor implementation etc, in China things don't work because the government doesn't want them to!

 

[RSD]

They may, but either they will look very upset if you give them cash, or they do not have change for you.

Unfortunately most people use Wechat or AliPay over there. International credit card usage is almost non existent unless it is major chain hotels or high end international restaurants

Another thing about WechatPay, to use it you will need to register your card and then upload your IDs to verify that you are the credit card owner. You may or may not be comfortable with this. I did not have to do this for AliPay but AliPay is not as widely used as Wechat Pay. This is based on my experience over Christmas 2023 - New Year 2024.

OK cheers - has to be electronic via the mobile phone then - no other reliable options by the sound of it.

 

[elanshin]

Cheers - mental note - don't connect to wifi! China starting to sound like a more sophisticated version of Egypt - in Egypt stuff just doesn't work due to poor implementation etc, in China things don't work because the government doesn't want them to!

Here's the thing about China. If you're a chinese citizen living in China and don't care about politics or any of that stuff in a major city, your general ease and convenience is I'd say among the best in the world in how easy everything is.

If you're a foreigner however that's when thing's go a bit sideways since that's usually an afterthought.

 

[RSD]

Just make sure to check correctly. Hebei is the province area near Beijing while HUbei is west of Shanghai. Depending on where in Hebei, it may be more efficient and economical to take the HSR than it is to fly domestically. Chinese domestic airspace can get clogged real bad so delays are fairly common which is the opposite for HSR.

Cheers for that tip - the factories seem to be in the general area of Cangzhou from what I have seen so far and there is a HSR station at Cangzhou West so I might fly into Beijing and overnight there then head down to Cangzhou and base myself there for a few days to check out the factories before heading down to the trade show in Shanghai and then home from there.

 

[RSD]

Here's the thing about China. If you're a chinese citizen living in China and don't care about politics or any of that stuff in a major city, your general ease and convenience is I'd say among the best in the world in how easy everything is.

If you're a foreigner however that's when thing's go a bit sideways since that's usually an afterthought.

Ah OK - I'm sure that I will get used to it all. I'm going to need a driver for a few days in the Cangzhou area - best just to find one through the hotel? Any idea what a driver should roughly charge per day?