Planning a Trip to China?

Practical Tips on Traveling To China for Business - as of April 2025

Regardless of how the looming trade war evolves, China will remain a primary manufacturing center for anyone seeking to make and sell products to the world. I just returned from a one week trip to meet manufacturers and business partners. I was in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Jiande, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. I made my own plans and did not use a travel agent (which would surely have made things easier). Here are some things I learned.

Visa
A visa is required to enter China. You must travel to a Chinese embassy IN PERSON to get one. The visa takes a few days to issue and must be picked up at the embassy as well. That means you’ll either have to return in person or give your receipt to someone who will go and pick it up for you. The closest Chinese embassy to Boston is New York. If you are travelling on business you need a letter of invitation from at least one of the companies you are meeting. That letter should have an official company seal. It can be a pdf print-out, but the official seal is important.You’ll also need a valid passport, a completed online China Visa Application Form, a recent passport-style photo, and proof of residence, along with other supporting documents.

Flight
There are many direct flights from major US airports to Hong Kong. There are also some direct flights to mainland cities. Interestingly, because of the polar route, the flight times from BOS to HKG and LAX to HKG are the same, approximately 15 hours and 30 minutes. Premium Economy is worth the extra money. On Cathay Pacific I slept for 10 hours in my window seat.

Hong Kong
Hong Kong is treated like a foreign country. Flying into HKG and transferring to flights to mainland cities is easy. But entering Hong Kong from next door Shenzhen by bus or train is a hassle. If your trip ends in Shenzhen and you’re departing HKG, a cool option is to take a water taxi from Shenzhen Airport to HKG - but you can only do that if you have a flight the same day. It’s a scenic 45 minute boat trip, faster than a bus or even a taxi or town car.

Hotels
China has many western brand hotels that can be booked directly through Orbitz and Expedia. They serve western style breakfasts and first rate baked goods. I ate cut fruit and brushed my teeth with tap water (never drank it) and never got sick. All of the hotels I stayed at had USB charging options and Internet (more on that below).

Getting Around
Ideally you’ll have a Chinese associate meet you when you arrive at your destination. If not, taxis are easy to find. Use a translation app to give them the address you’re going to. Be prepared to pay with Alipay or cash.

Chinese trains are fantastic. The road network is new, extensive and crowded with traffic. One business partner drove me in a Porsche Cayenne, the other in the Chinese equivalent of a Toyota Sequoia. Things have changed a lot since I was last there in 1990!


Trains
Long train trips, like the 900 mile bullet train I took from Hangzhou to Shenzhen, should be booked at least a week in advance to get a seat. You can book them on Trip.com. First class seats are 2X2 and well worth the extra cost. Business class was overkill for me. You have to go through security to get into the station and then again to get on a train. They record your face at security points and, in fact, your face and passport are your tickets to get on the train. The stations are busy but well organized and intuitive. The departure boards I saw in Shanghai, Hangzhou and Jiande all showed train destinations in both Chinese and English. I was stressed about getting on and arrived over an hour in advance for each trip. That wasn’t necessary. 30 minutes would have been more than enough (your experience may vary!)

Credit Cards and Alipay

Major US credit cards are accepted at most hotels. But for taxis and some hotels, Alipay is preferred (maybe necessary). I signed up for Alipay in advance. When there it worked for me sometimes and failed other times. Having cash was helpful when Alipay didn’t pay.

Phone
Verizon’s international plan is $12 a day with unlimited data (it slows down after 5 gigs or something like that). You keep your phone number and can call anywhere in the world. The connection quality is incredible, even better than at home. I used my phone as a hotspot for Internet access everywhere I went, including on the train. Only in Hong Kong did I opt for the hotel’s Internet.

Internet
The Chinese government maintains a firewall that blocks Internet access to Google and Google products (like gmail and drive), Facebook, Youtube, and major news sites like WSJ, NYTimes etc. If you want those things, you need a VPN (virtual private network) and you need to install it in advance of arrival. VPNs are unofficially tolerated but also harassed by the Chinese government. VPNs are not all created equal and the best one for a given moment in time may vary. Reddit provides the most up to date info on effective VPNs. Based on what I read, I installed Mullvad and Lets VPN on both my phone and laptop. Lets VPN was useless, but Mullvad worked most of the time, connecting me to the world by way of Stockholm.

Plug Adapter
The plug adapter that works with Chinese outlets does not work with outlets in Hong Kong.

Chinese People
The random Chinese people I encountered were friendly in a New York City kind of way. They generally ignored me, but were helpful if I asked for directions. Translation apps are fantastic! As for being American, no one cared. I sensed that just being there was quietly taken as a sign of respect. I never discussed politics but a couple of times the subject of Taiwan came up. The attitude was simple and clear, Taiwan is part of China. Full stop.

Chinese Partners and Gifts
If you are going to China on business you will be meeting to tour factories and discuss plans. The meetings will invariably include drinking tea. The tea is tasty and it’s rude to not drink it. In some cases you may be offered a cigarette. If you can, for the sake of being polite, smoke it (like Bill Clinton in years gone by, I didn’t inhale). Depending on the time of your meeting and closeness to the partner you are meeting, you will likely also have a meal and almost surely be given gifts. You should plan on bringing some simple, nicely wrapped gifts, to give in return. American chocolate (like Sees) is a fine option. Plan on having a bit of extra room in your baggage for what you receive (things like knick knacks, scarves, tea).

Food
It helps to like Chinese food! The western hotel brands offer full and filling western and Chinese breakfasts that can keep you full all day long. Menus in low to mid-tier restaurants have pictures you can point to.

Helpful Phrase
Any effort you make to speak Chinese is appreciated. One simple thing that’s easy to say and works for both Mandarin and Cantonese:

"sheh sheh" means "thank you."

If You Can’t Make It to China
If you want to do business in China, but can’t make it there yourself, we may be able to help you with our established network of Chinese partners. Contact us here to begin a conversation.


- Mike Marks