My parents wanted to go on a family trip to China for years and 2025 finally brought it to fruition. In total, there were 8 of us (Mom, Dad, Kevin, Andrew, Jessica, Tammy, Gayaanan & myself). We booked a tour with TripOppo – 15 Days Panorama of China with Yangtze River. Within this tour, we went through: Beijing, Xi’an, Chongqing, Yangtze River, Hangzhou, Suzhou & Shanghai.
To make the most of our trip to Asia as a family, we (my parents & my brother Andrew) started off in Macau and Hong Kong before taking the train to Zhangjiajie in the Hunan province of China. Gayaanan joined us there. We were then joined by the rest of the group (Kevin, Tammy & Jessica) in Beijing to begin our 15-day tour of China. After the tour, my travels were not done as I continued onto Mongolia with my brother Andrew. I also made a stop in Taiwan before finishing my 42-day adventure back to Toronto.
Below I list some helpful little tips and info for each of the countries I visited. My actual itinerary is posted in the photos.
I used Airalo esim (use my promo code for $4.50CAD off your first purchase) for my travels. It worked really well in majority of the countries however in Mongolia (outside of Ulaanbaatar) it didn’t work well as the network Airalo uses in Mongolia isn’t Unitel or Mobicom but Skytel. Highly recommend getting a local prepaid sim for Mongolia.
For my hotel bookings in Asia, I used Trip.com and Agoda. Trip.com is also built into the Alipay app but you will need an account to use.
I used Klook (use my promo code for $5CAD off your first booking) to book some train tickets & entrance tickets to tourist attractions.
Macau – MOP$ (Pataca)
-If you plan on going directly to Macau after landing in Hong Kong – You can bypass going through 2 immigrations (Hong Kong then Macau) on arrival. To do so, DO NOT go through departures or customs and head straight to the E2 desk where you can purchase Coach Bus tickets to Macau. You can purchase your ticket there and they will put you on the next available bus. They will gather your bags from your flight, and you will then only have to go through Macau immigration. This isn’t the cheapest bus option but the most convenient.
-You can use tap water to brush your teeth but recommended to boil first if drinking
-Bring a thermos or a waterbottle that can also contain hot water – Our hotel had a water refill station on every floor and even in Airports & trains there were water refill stations that offer hot water (maybe cold).
-Temperature in April/May – High of 25°C; low of 20°C with 84% humidity
-Languages spoken in Macau – Cantonese, English, Macanese Patois & Portuguese
-Hello in Cantonese – Nay Ho – nei5 hou2 – How are you? nei5 hou2 maa1
-Cheers – yum bui
-Macau has its own currency (MOP – Pataca) however you can pay in HKD/RMB but will get MOP change (unless you are in real touristy areas where they might give you back HKG/RMB) – It is a 1:1:1 exchange rate.
-I found Macau to be on par with pricing in Toronto. It’s not cheap but not too expensive.
-Carry your own napkins/tissues.
-Plug Outlets – Type D (3 round pins in a triangular pattern), Type M (3 larger round pins in triangular pattern), Type G (3 rectangular pins in a triangular pattern) & Type F (2 round pins). Some hotels might have the standard 2 prong outlets that Western countries use. More modern ones will also have USB port charging available.
-Highly recommend purchasing the adaptor for USB 3.0 to Type-C for USB charging.
-There aren’t any car sharing options so buses and free shuttles to/from casinos are your best bet besides walking. In certain areas (more touristy), we saw taxi cabs appearing more and they are EV cars from what I’ve seen. The island is rather small so it is very easy to get from place to place.
-Steering wheel is on the right side of car but also drive on the right side of the road
-Credit Cards can be used & cash is accepted in majority of places
-Alipay can be used but you need to download the Alipay HK and not the generic Alipay which is made for China use.
-Tipping is not common as a 10% service tax is already added to your bill. You will have to go up to the counter and pay.
Hong Kong – HK$ or HKD
-You can use tap water but recommended to boil first
-Temperature in April/May – High of 25°C; low of 20°C with 84% humidity
-Languages spoken in Hong Kong – Cantonese, English (Don’t expect everyone to know English but signs will be in English & MTR announcements will also be in english)
– Hello in Cantonese – Nay Ho – nei5 hou2 – How are you? nei5 hou2 maa1
-Cheers – yum bui
-Plug Outlets – Type D (3 round pins in a triangular pattern) & Type G (3 rectangular pins in a triangular pattern) – the 2 prong was also available
-no tax for shopping
-Octopus Card – a card that can be used to pay for transportation as well as Convenience store purchases and other things – you can top up with cash or via ApplePay. If it is an older card, you will need to reactivate at the station before using.
-Transportation – Visa credit cards work on metro, bus and tram via tap. Octopus is even more widely used. Taxis take cash only (98%). Uber works.
-If using credit card to tap on and off, you need to use the blue ticket turnstiles at each train station location to go through.
-Tipping is not common as a 10% service tax is already added to your bill.
-You get your bill relatively quickly and they leave it on your table but you need to go up to the counter to pay.
-Bring your own napkins/tissues
-Bus – we found some of the buses could take our foreign credit card but some couldn’t so carry some emergency cash
-There are some public toilets W/C – the cleanest will be in the malls. There should be toilet paper but they also might be squat toilets.
-Drive on the left, look both ways when crossing a street.
-Technically walking on stairs, walk on the left but the reality is wherever there is space.
-It’s a lot of head down into their phones type of people everywhere so people do bump into others. They are referred to as dai tau juk (低頭族), which translates to the “head-down generation”
China – CNY/RMB – ¥/ CN¥ (Yuan/Renminbi)
-Great video to help you survive in China
– DO NOT DRINK THE TAP WATER IN CHINA
-We ended up using tap water to brush our teeth and felt fine. Some hotels will provide water bottles in the Bathroom to use for brushing your teeth.
-You will require a Visa to enter into China (depending on your country). You can apply for a 10 year Visa (if you have a brand new passport or else it will be to the amount left on your passport minus 6 months from expiry). Must apply for the Visa prior to going. You will need to provide proof of Flight tickets and accommodations.
-You need to carry your passport everywhere as you will need it to get onto trains, buses and entrances for attractions.
-We were told if you have a Chinese name, going through immigration they might ask you to write your Chinese name out so if you aren’t familiar with writing it out, have a pin yin version on your phone or a copy of your Chinese name written out somewhere. (Didn’t happen to us)
-Powerbanks – China is super strict on the max power of these powerbanks. Max limit of 100Wh (approx. 20,000mAh) and 100-160Wh needing airline approval. It also needs to display 3C Certification mark or else it can be confiscated.
-Airport security is high – they will pat you down
-Temperature in April/May – High of 28°C and low of 8°C. A bit rainy
-Languages spoken – Mandarin, English (not everyone can speak it but more common in touristy areas)
-Hello – Ni Hao
-Cheers – Gam bai
-Plug Outlets – Have Type A (2 flat prong) Type C (2 round pins) & Type I (3 flat prings arranged in a V-shape)
-Busiest holidays in China – Chinese New Years – late January to mid-February (National holiday where people get 2 weeks off), Labour Day – first week of May (similar to Golden week in Japan), National Day – first week of October
-Alipay app – Within the Alipay app, you can use it to pay for things in China but also you can use the mini apps within such as Didi, Trip.com (book trains & hotels).
– Alipay & Wechat over cash. Technically no place can refuse cash payments but many could potentially be lacking change to give back. They may even ask businesses nearby to get enough change if needed.
-Mobile payments are key in China – Alipay (Visa & Mastercard) & WeChat Pay (AMEX users) – Alipay is recommended for Foreign visitors over Wechat because it runs into less issues while setting up and using it. Alipay also has an English translator option.
-Highly recommend installing and attaching your bank cards to the Alipay and Wechat apps in your home country before arriving in China.
-You should keep your local sim on to receive MMS/Text Message (Turn off data roaming) as certain purchases will trigger your bank to provide a pin to allow the purchase to go through for security measures.
-You will have to input your special 6 digit pin every time you make a purchase
-We found that some vendors told us to scan one QR code but it wasn’t Alipay so our payments failed however as long as you show the vendor the Alipay app, majority of them also were able to pull out a Alipay QR code to scan. We found in some restaurants even if it was Alipay QR on the tables, foreigners could not pay via that QR code and we had to manually go to the vendor to get a QR that worked.
-At restaurants, you will have to go up and pay your bill.
-It is suggested to carry some cash in case of emergencies or if you are purchasing from smaller vendors and the price is low such as 20CNY.
-As of Apr 2025, ¥25 divide by 5 for CAD price
-Didi is the car sharing app in China. You can use the Didi app in Alipay instead of installing a separate app. The separate app requires you to have a China number attached to it. Unlike Uber or Lyft, you will need to confirm payment after the trip as it isn’t automatically paid after the ride. Be warned that some drivers might try to overcharge you after your ride by adding in parking and tolls but you can easily submit a dispute to fight it. What should cost ¥11 for a ride, our driver tried to get ¥65.
-Booking Train tickets – only 2-2.5 weeks before selected date
-You can use trip.com to do a lot of your bookings that are attached to your foreign credit card or you can use 12306.cn which is not user friendly if you don’t know Chinese.
I tried to book a train during Labour Day (May 1st) and since Trip.com is a 3rd party website, they were unable to secure tickets for me as 12306.cn gets first priority on tickets. You can put in a reservation request (pay in full) and if they cannot fulfill or you cancel the request, you will get a full refund before the date of the scheduled train.
-Tipping is not common and could be seen as rude
-People SMOKE EVERYWHERE. The moment we departed the train, people lit up their cigarettes on the platform. On our overnight train, there is a little corner on the carriage where people can smoke and that air gets recycled in the train. They try their best to take away lighters at national tourist attractions as many are made of wood to prevent damages.
-Majority of China that I saw was very clean as they literally have someone sweeping up leaves, washing signs, sweeping, using tongs and picking up litter on the ground on the normal streets to different areas in the national parks.
-Google and Facebook do not work in China (Unless you use a VPN or an esim with a foreign network. I used Airalo and was able to stay connected the entire trip.
-Popular search engine for web browsing is Bing
-Get more data than you think you will need if using an esim as you will not be able to use Wifi connection if you would like to use your normal Western apps or websites such as Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, Google etc.
-Maps – I used Amap to navigate through China. As of Jan 2025, it now features English translations. Apple Maps works but not accurate. Baidu is the most accurate however it is only in Chinese. Google Maps does not work in China (unless using a VPN or foreign esim.
-I used Klook to book many train tickets, entrance tickets to tourist attractions and shuttles which some come with discounts.
-I used Trip.com and Agoda to book accommodations in China
-You should have the Chinese characters for the locations you would like to go on hand as not everyone understands English in China.
-Majority of the public toilets will be squat toilets (there may be pedestal toilets) where you place your used tissue into the bin beside instead of flushing. Get those hip flexors & mobility working before you go. Remember to empty your back pockets before you go to avoid things falling into the toilet.
-Carry toilet paper & hand sanitizer with you as majority of public toilets will not have.
-Toilets can be found relatively easy but the status of them could be unknown.
-Everyone is pushy so don’t except orderly lines to be followed. We found in particular the pushy people were mainly locals from the country side (older generation). Don’t be afraid to push back.
-Majority of tourists in China are actual Chinese Nationals as they think it’s safer to travel within China, it’s harder to leave the country and much cheaper to travel within.
-It can be cheaper to book tours once you arrive in China however if it is high season and there is a chance of not getting tickets, you should book in advanced.
Mongolia – MNT – ₮ (Tughrik)
– DO NOT DRINK THE TAP WATER IN MONGOLIA – Use bottled water for brushing your teeth
-There are only 3.2 million people in Mongolia. 25% of the population still lives the nomadic way.
-the writing is in Cyrillic
-They use Tughrik for currency but many of the payments for tours will be in USD if not MNT
-Official language spoken – Mongolian
-formal – hello (formal) – ‘sain baina uu’ (pronounced Saan Ban Oo) – Сайн байна уу
-casual – hello (casual) – sain oo? (saan ooo) – “Cайн уу?”
-bayarllaa (pronounced Bayarl-laa – think viral but with a b) – thank you
-zugeer (pronounced zoo gear) – it’s ok / no problem
-us (pronounced wuss) – water
-hed we? (pronounced hid way) – how much?
-noil haan we? (pronounced nole haan way) – where is the bathroom?
-Temperature in April/May – High of 18°C and low of -8°C. 5-20°C in the Gobi Desert and -10°C-15°C in Altai (Western side by the mountains) – dry air
-If you are sensitive to dust, bring a buff to protect your breathing from dust particles when the wind picks up.
-The sun shines on average 257 days a year
-Mongolia is nicknamed the “Country of the Blue Sky”
-No visa required as a Canadian (if you are visiting for under 30 days)
-Plug Outlets – Have both US & Euro outlets (Type B – 2 flat prong with a grounding pin & Type C – 2 round pins)
-Cash over card (card widely accepted in Ulaanbaatar and bigger chain hotels but outside of Ulaanbaatar not so common – make sure to take care of exchanging cash before you leave UB) – we used the ATM at the airport.
-Cash will always be needed if you hail a taxi off the street and be sure to carry smaller bills on you at all times. Expecting exact change isn’t always possible. I recommend carrying at least ten 1,000 MNT bills, four 5,000 MNT bills, and two 10,000 MNT bills with you at all times. This is still a country where cash is king.
-Mongolia only uses banknotes and does not use coins. Banknotes start as small as 5 tugrik and the most commonly used banknotes are 1,000, 5,000, 10,000, and 20,000 tugrik. The largest banknote available is 20,000 tugrik.
-Tipping is common – drivers & tour guides are underpaid and count on tips to supplement income. Euro or USD is acceptable if not MNT (especially with the fluctuating MNT). 10% is a good tip average to both tour guides and drivers
-Tipping in restaurants is also customary – 10%. For taxis, it is not customary but rounding up the fare is a good gesture.
-To show respect when accepting something, use your right hand and hold right elbow with your left hand or use both hands together. Even if you are offered something, you don’t want you are expected to accept it and, at the very least, pretend to try it. Refusal or pushing something away is a severe breach of etiquette
-Mongolian hospitality is second to none. If you are spending time in the countryside or entering a family home, consider bringing a small gift (candies (jellybeans, tootsie roll, reese’s pieces, chocolates, drinks of coke, bread, noodles, flour, meat, solar lights etc – can bring something from your homeland). It is a simple gesture to show how thankful you are as they are welcoming you into their home.
-UBcab (Apple / Android) is their car sharing app
-when you enter a taxi, you can ask “kilometer hed we?” (how much per KM) should be 1KM = 1500₮
-There are also Scooter & bikes available in Ulaanbaatar via the Jet app (Apple, Android) & Hi Sainuu (Apple, Android) – use both with caution.
-Buses are available – often crowded. No physical money is used for the bus so you will have to purchase a U Money Smart Card (3,600 MNT to purchase) to take the bus. The price per ride is 500 MNT
-Renting a car is expensive. Hiring a driver for the day and renting their car is cheaper in many instances. Perks – you get a driver who knows where they are going. The cost per day to hire a driver with a car in Mongolia is currently 200,000 MNT per day. You are responsible for the driver’s meals, making sure they have a place to sleep, and you’ll pay for your own gas along the way. Your gas costs will depend on your route, and the type of car you’re in, but expect to fill up at least three to four times during your trip at 300,000 to 400,000 MNT per tank. You will need to pay the Driver with cash but gas can be paid by credit card at the gas stations.
-esim usage is available. You can get a physical sim in the airport. WIFI connection isn’t available everywhere. We used Airalo which worked well in UB however, the network Airalo chooses (Skytel) isn’t the best one for outside of the city. Unitel & Mobicom network has the best coverage.
-squat toilets – BRING your own toilet paper
-Do not expect 4-5 star hotel accommodations.
-laundry is few and far especially outside of the main city – if you can, bring merino wool clothing
-electricity isn’t abundant especially outside of the main city. Wherever there is an electrical outlets, top up your power for phones and batteries. Solar power and battery power is used a lot.
-weather can be extreme cold or hot
-if you have breathing issues, bring extra medication/puffers – they use a lot of solar power but also coal to power and warm their homes
-Mongolia is massive and the best way to see the country and get around are by long car rides. Bring things to do to keep you occupied and comfortable for those rides.
-Mallorca is the travel destination for Germans as Bali is to Australians. Mongolia is South Koreans travel destination as it is visit free and rather close and cheaper flights to a country that is drastically different cultures. Mainly UB or the Gobi desert tours (they come to party and will be the loudest of the tourists).
-Korea is the largest Mongolian diaspora outside of Mongolia. You will find many Korean convenience stores in UB.
-Bring little gifts/offerings to give to your hosts if staying in their gers – count how many! It is a simple sign of respect. Gifts typically consist of grocery items such as rice, noodles, toothpaste & soap – alcohol and candy aren’t great ideas. Practical gifts are always recommended, including pocketknives and solar lights.
-Tipping – 10% should suffice in restaurants. Tip for your local Tour Guides, Chefs & Drivers: 5 USD/day/person. We suggest tipping drivers as much as the guides since with the distances and terrain involved in Mongolia they often work as hard, if not harder than the guides – Tip is entirely voluntary.
Taiwan – TWD
-You can use tap water to brush your teeth but recommended to boil first if drinking
-Official Languages – Taiwanese, Mandarin, Hakka, Hokkien
-Cheers! 乾杯! (kan poe/pe!) 呼乾啦! (ho͘ ta là!)
-Temperature in Apr/May – High of 30°C and low of 21°C – has humidity. In Alishan, High of 22°C and low of 15°C
-3 prong outlets
-Mix of squat and western toilets
-toilet paper goes into bins not the toilet
-Cars drive on the Right side of the road
-EasyCard – Can top up with cash at any convenience store – recommend topping up 500TWD to start. You can use the card for transportation but also to purchase things at convenient stores and other places. If you are solely using it for transportation, 500TWD is suffice for a long time
-Taiwan Tourist Lottery – you can enter the Taiwan Tourist lottery (you must register 1-7 days prior to arrival – cannot be on the day of arrival). You will get a QR and can scan it at in the arrivals area in the Lucky Land Draw. You could win 5000NT via a specific form of payment method you chose (easycard or icard are the best and easiest options to use)
-Uber is available
-Getting from the airport into the city – cheapest option is Bus ( child/senior 66TWD and adult 133TWD for an hour ride). Uber would be about 1500TWD ($70ish CAD) for a 45min ride
-Bring cash – especially for many of the food establishments or LINE Pay or wechat -Cash is still pretty necessary especially buying smaller items at stalls/ shops. -Easy to withdraw money from ATM’s – we found we didn’t get charged foreign exchange fees. Take out money from local banks rather than international banks like the companies you have back home for a cheaper rate.
-Remember to keep your receipts while travelling through Taiwan as there is also a nationwide lottery and you can win TWD cash. You can also put your receipts into the donation boxes or give it to a local resident.
-Other apps used for payment – Line Pay, JKOpay, Union Pay
-There is no tax – the price you see is the price you pay
-There are mosquitoes
My Itinerary is included in the photos below. I did not organize the Beijing-Shanghai portion as that was a tour with TripOppo.
