China

China has exceptionally complicated visa requirements. If you are planning to use visa-free entry or transit without a visa, read up carefully and make sure you fulfill all the requirements, or risk being denied entry. If you're applying for a visa, make sure all your documentation is in order before applying for your visa, or risk being denied if even one required document is missing. That said, the Chinese government has been rapidly liberalizing its visa requirements. Hong Kong and Macau have their own visa requirements; see those articles for details.

The official currency of the People's Republic of China is the Chinese yuan, known as the renminbi (人民币 rénmínbì, "People's Money"), denoted by the symbol ¥, international currency code CNY. All prices in China are given in yuan; the Chinese character is 元 (yuán), or in financial contexts (e.g. cheques and banknotes) 圆. A price may be shown as, for example, 20 元, 20 rmb, RMB 20, 20 yuan or ¥20; we use the latter form here. In informal spoken Chinese and sometimes in spoken English, 块 (kuài) may be used instead, much as "buck" can be used in the U.S. or "quid" in the UK. Some Chinese software w…

Google Maps does not work in China, and tends to have patchy coverage and data quality even if accessed via VPN. Moreover, China uses its own coordinate system for security reasons, which sometimes causes problems when using foreign map apps. The most common direction-finding app used by the Chinese themselves is Baidu Maps, though it is only available in Chinese. Amap (高德地图 gaode ditu) is a very convenient app available for both, Android and Apple devices. It is useful for navigating on foot or by car and also lists available public transportation options (bus and subway), including the price…

The official language of China is Standard Mandarin, known in Chinese as Pǔtōnghuà (普通话, "common speech"), which is based on the Beijing dialect; Chinese in general is known as Zhōngwén (中文). Standard Mandarin is the main language for government and media, as well as the national lingua franca. While the official language is standardized, local pronunciation of Mandarin does vary by region. Unless otherwise noted, all terms, spellings and pronunciations in this guide are in Standard Mandarin. Wh…

While China is generally safe for visitors, the government has some authoritarian aspects, and the topic of human rights in China is highly contested. Despite what's written in the Chinese constitution, in practice some freedoms are strongly curtailed, such as free speech, privacy, freedom of information and the press, freedom of religion, and the right to a fair trial. As long as you're not deliberately provocative, most of these are unlikely to affect you during your visit — especially since enforcement is somewhat arbitrary anyway — but if they do, punishments can be heavy. China is known t…

Outside major cities, public washrooms range from mildly unpleasant to utterly repulsive. In cities, it varies from place to place. High-quality bathrooms can be found inside major tourist attractions, at international hotels, office buildings, and upper-class department stores. Washrooms in foreign restaurant chains, or any of the coffee chains listed in the drink section are usually more or less clean. While those in common restaurants and hotels are barely acceptable, those in hotel rooms are generally clean. Public toilets are free. Separate facilities are always provided for men (男 nán) a…

===Internet=== Most public venues in China, such as libraries, restaurants and malls, offer free Wi-Fi access. Internet cafés remain popular in China, and the term usually refers specifically to gaming cafés.

Foreigners are still a rare breed in most parts of China, which means that how you interact with people there may well shape their impression of your country or even of foreigners in general. Follow the law, be polite, and try to leave a good impression as it affects the general reputation of foreigners in China.

China observes two week-long holidays during the year, called Golden Weeks. During these weeks, around Chinese New Year (late January to mid-February) and National Day (1 October), hundreds of millions of migrant workers return home and millions of other Chinese travel within the country (but many in the service sector stay behind, enjoying extra pay). Try to avoid being on the road, on the rails, or in the air during the major holidays. If you do have to travel then, plan well in advance, espec…