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Your guide to visit the Everest Base Camp

May 23, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Everest Base Camp

This article, a complete guide to visit the Everest North Base Camp, was written by Harley Greenberg, who arrived in China in 2008 as a Peace Corps Volunteer. When not teaching he would always crisscross the country and his first visit to Tibet was in 2009. Today Harley is a manager at Wind Horse Tour.

The guide will cover the following topics:

  • Can you visit Tibet on your own?
  • When to visit the Everest.
  • How many days do you need to visit Everest Base Camp?
  • Should you join a private or a group tour?
  • The most popular route: Lhasa to Kathmandu via Everest Base Camp.
  • Food and Guest Houses at Base Camp.
  • What to do at Everest Base Camp?

[Read more...]

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Travel to China: Tips and Resources

May 20, 2013 by 4 Comments

Travel to China

This guide contains pretty much all the info that you’ll need to prepare your trip to China: VISA requirements, travel insurances, vaccinations, guidebooks, planes and trains, hotels, internet and phone cards.

Also, you’ll find tips on where to eat, what to bring to China, when to travel to China, how to avoid the most common scams and how to bargain.

p.s. At the bottom of this post you can download a Travel Phrase Book Chinese/English in PDF format. You’ll find the most common greetings, the most common food and drinks, numbers, how to ask for help or directions, as well as some useful sentences for taking a taxi and shopping. You can print the PDF e-book and use it during your trip to China ; )

[Read more...]

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How to rent a room or an apartment in Shanghai

May 6, 2013 by 8 Comments

rent an apartment in Shanghai

This is a complete guide to rent an apartment, or just a room in a shared flat, in Shanghai. You will learn:

  • The best websites to rent an apartment in Shanghai (both in English and Chinese language).
  • The pros and cons of looking for a room or an apartment on the internet.
  • A nice trick to get a better price if you are looking for a room in a shared flat.
  • The pros and cons of using an agency, how to spot an honest agency.
  • What are the expenses beside the monthly rent (security deposit, agency fee, electricity and so on).
  • Why you must ask for a regular contract.
  • The most common scams while renting an apartment in China.
  • Which is the best zone to live in Shanghai if you want to have a social life without spending hours in a cab.

[Read more...]

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Hotel and hostel booking in China

April 29, 2013 by 3 Comments

hotel in china

The purpose of this guide is to show you how and where to book an hotel (or an hostel) in China, especially if you are traveling on a budget.

If you can afford it then just book at the Hilton or at the Marriot and you will find everything you need : P

First at all, keep in mind that Chinese hotels must register all the customers at the police station. Thus you will always need to show your passport when you arrive at the hotel.

Which type of hotel should you choose?

[Read more...]

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Chinese VISA application: a complete guide

April 15, 2013 by 9 Comments

Chinese VISA

This article is a complete guide for getting a Chinese VISA. You will discover:

  • The requirements and how long it takes for obtaining any type of Chinese VISA.
  • Where to get a Chinese VISA (either in your country or abroad).
  • The different kind of Chinese VISAs (Tourist, Business, Student and Work VISA).
  • How much it costs to obtain a Chinese VISA.
  • How to convert a Student or Work VISA in a Resident Permit (it’s compulsory).

[Read more...]

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Tips for moving to China to work or study

March 18, 2013 by 2 Comments

moving to China

In this article I’ll explain what kind of VISA you need to work or study in China, how to spot an honest employment agency and which are the most common ways to find a job in the Middle Kingdom.

What kind of VISA do you need to work in China?

The only way to legally work in China is to get a Z VISA (working VISA) that must be transformed in a resident permit within fifteen days from the day you arrived in China.

In order to obtain a Z VISA you need to pass several medical examinations and have a Foreign Expert Certificate released by the local government. You can’t ask the certificate by yourself;the firm that is going to hire you should get it and send it to you. [Read more...]

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On celebrating Chinese New Year with a Chinese family

March 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Capodanno cinese

This article was written by Marta Lovisolo, who studies in an high-school at Nanjing since September 2012. She lives with a Chinese family so, when she refers to her dad, mom, sister and so on she’s actually referring to the family that is hosting her.

Click here to read my interview to Marta, an insider point of view on the life of Chinese high-school students.

But I stop here. Let’s Marta do the talk!

Getting to the village

[Read more...]

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What there is on my backpack when I travel around Asia?

January 21, 2013 by 3 Comments

my backpackMy luggage during my three weeks in Xinjang.

One of the questions that I receive from the readers that are coming to China is:

“What the hell should I put on my backpack?”

My answer usually is:

“Unless you are planning to climb the Everest, the same things that you would bring to any other place. Just remember that the Chinese winter is cold, so bring a couple of warm clothes.”

Today I want to share what I bring when I travel around China or South East Asia and how I organize my stuff.

p.s. This is also what I would bring to America, Africa or Oceania.

How do I travel?

I always travel with a 70 liters Ferrino backpack ( the grand-parent of this one) that I bought in 2000 (yes, it’s indestructible!) and a smaller backpack North Face that I bought in 2011.

In the sequel I will call [Read more...]

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Interview to Pinuccio Melis, who started to import from China in 1982

January 14, 2013 by 4 Comments

Import from ChinaA Comochi’s production line.

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to talk with Pinuccio Melis, who started to import from China in 1982, the year I was born.

Pinuccio is the founder of Comochi, a chemical factory based in Sardinia, Italy.

He’ll tell us why he started to import from China and will uncover some import/export mechanism (common to all the world) and a couple of behind-the-scene activities concerning the Canton Fair and the “war” among the importers to get the monopoly of the strategical products.

Importing from China during the 80′s

Pinuccio, thanks for accepting this interview. You have been one of the first Italian businessmen to import from China. What pushed you to start?

There were many reasons. Let’s say that the most important was the feeling to rebel against the big importers from mainland Italy (for who doesn’t know it, Sardinia is an island). I understood that the difference of price between buying from a middle man and a Chinese suppliers wasn’t the 10%. It was the 50 or even the 60%.

What kind of difficulties you had when you began to import from China? [Read more...]

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Interview to Marta, who is 16 years old and is studying in a Chinese high-school (Part 2)

December 13, 2012 by 1 Comment

Study in ChinaMarta and her classmates.

Today we continue with the interview to Marta. If you lost the first part you can read it here.

Studying in a Chinese high-school

Even if you were already studying Chinese in Italy, moving to a Chinese high-school has probably presented some difficult to you. Which are your biggest challenges?

I don’t know whether is a good or a bad thing. However here it works like that:

“You are a foreigner so you don’t have to follow all our rules.”

This is a good news as if I had to respect all the rules I would have already been punished or even expelled. In the same time it’s a bad news because [Read more...]

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