Top Ten: Tips for traveling to China

Friends, family, and colleages,

In an effort to make a few shorter posts for those who don't have all day to read my ramblings on China, I have a series of top-ten lists.

1. Be patient-The flights over here totaled about 26 hours from Gainesville, Florida. Make sure to bring a book (or 2 or 3) and a podcast or two.
2. Try new food- This is not the time to be a picky eater. In addition to lots of rice, there's a lot of meat and fish dishes to try. I was never a big fan of fish, but I got over that very quickly, mainly out of necessity. 
3. Don't be a germaphobe- Your chopsticks will likely pick food out of the same bowl as everyone else. Just make sure you're up to date on your Hepatitis B vaccinations and you'll be fine.
4. Have an English-speaking friend-This makes traveling and going to the market easier.
5. Bring plenty of deodorant- In the summer, you will sweat a lot and deodorant isn't very common in markets.
6. Bring cash to exchange-Even if your credit card is cleared for international travel, it doesn't necessarily mean that banks will accept it. Cash is still king in China.
7. Make sure you're vaccinated-Check the CDC website before you go and make sure you have all the vaccinations. One preventable disease is enough to side-line your entire trip and put you in real danger.
8. Learn a few phrases in Chinese-Even though a lot of Chinese people speak a little English, a few phrases will be helpful (and at the very least, make the locals chuckle).
9. Set up a VPN-This will allow you to connect to a virtual private network in the US. The great firewall is a thing, and it blocks a lot of sites including this blog and Facebook. The VPN allows you to tunnel though the firewall and connect to "blocked" sites.
10. Have Fun-Take lots of photos and explore a lot. There's a lot of amazing things just in the city where I am staying. 

I found some English-speaking friends quickly at JAAS. They are very welcoming.

I hope these tips will be interesting and useful to anyone planning on traveling abroad. Generally, speaking, I think these tips could be applied to any country for any trip. 

Mason