For Shanghai

For Shanghai

Ahh, so have been to some of those places yourself as well? They are great, and I alternate between wanting to sing their virtues to the masses, and hoping that people keep thinking Japan and Bali are the only places in Asia they can go so we don’t have to share (think its obvious from the initial comment which half…

I’ve only had one time re-entering the US that wasn’t LAX, but it has been several months, will be going soon and see how it goes. For the record, over 15 years of frequent international travel, only had to do secondary in Tokyo(late night arrival, and I looked like a young punk), and Toronto (only one full time, but…

Snickers bars for similar reasons to your cliff bars, but they can be found just about ANYWHERE. I have literally bought them in mountain villages in the Himalayas. Barring that, nuts and dried fruits, as they cover sweet and savory and are energy dense as well. You can always find some type of them just about…

I would recommend adding Maps.Me to the list, as it has offline maps available in countries where google doesn’t (China, for one example), and has much better marking of hiking trails as well.

Lived in China for years, passport full of chinese visas and stamps, never had this happen. Ditto friends who constantly travel on the 10 year tourist visa.

One thing that can help is knowing what the actual drug names are, not the brand names. This helps a lot when using translate apps. For example, the main ingredient in Imodium(or genaric gut-paralyzing anti-diarrheal drugs) is loperamide HCL, and translating that will get you a lot further with a pharmacist. It…

Be careful with cipro- should be a drug of last resort as it has some nasty side effects(increase risk of tendon rupture) and kills of a lot of good gut bacteria as well

Having lived in multiple countries in east asia over the last 10+ years, most of that is pretty standard in big cities across the region. The guides for the blind is pretty much everywhere in the cities you mention, as well as in Shanghai, Seoul, etc. Can’t remember the last place I was, even small podunk towns, where…

For China- the speaking actually works reasonably well, several locals I’ve had to use it with (most recently my new dentist who speaks decent English) have asked what app it is and downloaded it to use themselves(it is one of the only google apps that works in China sans VPN). Also highly suggest turning on the tap…

Have lived overseas for years, but rarely head back to the states, so no point in paying and taking the time for Global Entry. Mobile passport has gotten me through customs in LA and SF in a matter of minutes each time, costs nothing, and is super easy to use. I love it.

Shanghai- East Nanjing road is a waste of time. Also, People’s Square down East Nanjing to the Bund is the highest concentration of scammers in the city(if anyone invites you to tea or a gallery, walk away unless you like being ripped off). The Bund can be pretty, but it is way overcrowded most of the time. Avoid the…

It is a trade off. One place it is worth it: traveling with kids. Personal experience- flying Toronto-LA with a 5 year old. Just gotten through security/customs with plenty of time to spare, planning to eat at the airport. All of a sudden announcement comes on that a flight leaving immediately had seats available to…

Yeah, have had a lot of similar experiences(lived over here since 2011). Once school starts back up, tourist sites start to empty out. For the terracotta warriors, best advice I have is do things in reverse order, saving the main pit for last. Doing the big pit first, the rest seems like a bit of a let down.

Most of China is lovely this time of year, as generally the worst of the summer heat and humidity is over, but it doesn’t get that cold in most places til November. Big caveat is t0 skip around the first week of October(National week holiday, biggest holiday period here after Chinese New Year), and relatively cheap if…

Set up a small NAS(Network Attached Storage) device on your home network. There are tons out there, and usually include software for syncing files with other computers on the network. Or, simply create a folder on your laptop and desktop where all your synced files will be. Map the laptop folder as a network drive on…

Some of this sounds decent, but in 10+ years of flying trans pacific flights in economy on multiple airlines, I can never remember NOT getting a blanket and pillow. Usually, they are sitting in the seat when you board, the couple times they weren’t all I had to do was ask. And bringing a winter jacket is ridiculous…

Look at maps.me for the navigation, Hiking Project for guide/trail research.

So, basically its maps.me but they make you pay unless you want a limited feature set? Maps.me uses openstreetmap as its source(which includes tons of trails), lets you download offline maps, and has the whole world. Have used it for hiking in several different countries (Thailand, China, Japan, South Korea, USA...).…