There's a long cultural history to China. Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, Terra Cotta Army, Hutongs, Yangtze River, Three Gorges, authentic Chinese cuisine that will probably make you sick to your stomach, Guilin, Pearl River, Hong Kong, and many other places.

I'm really glad I went back in 2006 before national governments started getting snippy with each other and their citizens. I wouldn't go now because I don't really like the idea of being imprisoned without trial, but if you ignore the politics there's a lot to experience in China.

Among the developed country tourist spots China has always been down on the list. The top spots are Japan, Thailand, South Korea, and Taiwan.

But probably the biggest hurdle to China tourism is that you have to apply for a Visa whereas all those places offer Visa-waivers to most developed countries.

Speak for yourself some of the landscape in China is truly one of a kind

I believe chrischen was referring to actual visitor counts, not personal opinions: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericrosen/2019/09/04/the-worlds...

By definition all landscapes are one of a kind

If I were speaking for myself then I would be talking about how I've visited China more than all those other countries I've listed combined ;). But having been to all those countries, China is still the one place where a foreigner still gets ogled at whereas in those other countries no one bats an eye.

This is exactly my experience too. I lived and worked there back in 2005-2006 when it was the wild west (east?), but given the state of things now, I would not go back. I just hope the rest of the world wisens up and works to contain the PRC and its influence beyond its own borders.

>There's a long cultural history to China. Great Wall, Tiananmen Square,

Congrats, mentioning that last bit got you arrested and the consulate can't help since you technically broke PRC law.

Tiananmen Square is a major tourist destination in China. It’s on the subway signs. No one is pretending the square doesn’t exist.

>Tiananmen Square is a major tourist destination in China. It’s on the subway signs. No one is pretending the square doesn’t exist.

Parent mentioned the "cultural history" of the square, which is edging to the no go zone.

FWIW, the massacre isn't referred to as "Tiananmen Square" within China, it's called the "6-4 incident" (after June 4th, the day it occurred). I remember this always surprising us when working on google.cn (from the U.S. offices): [tiananmen square] is not blocked within China because no Chinese person ever searches for that (it's an English phrase anyway), but random numbers that contain "6" and "4" are, including Javascript code.

What do you mean? Tiananmen Square is a place in Beijing, right next to the Forbidden City. You can visit it all you want, there are so many tourists there.

You can get arrested if you want, shouting about the massacre, but there are much easier ways to do that.

China is such a vast place and there are a lot of places worth visiting. Don't let internet mentality stop you from exploring the world, no one is after you.

Sucks that China's govt is such an authoritarian hell but it's mostly transparent to you as a tourist.

I am extremely critical of their government but China has beautiful nature and culture. I would love to visit if it wasn't so Orwellian.

It is a shame. I've done China, Cambodia and Vietnam. Highly recommend Vietnam, especially trekking in Sapa.

The Chinese government loves offering students here in Australia free brainwashing trips, all expenses paid. It's was actually a good trip minus the sermons about why Huawei should have built the national broadband network.

> The Chinese government loves offering students here in Australia free brainwashing trips

I'm curious about this. Can you elaborate a little? How does this work?

They call it seeds of the future: https://www.huawei.com/au/press-events/news/au/2019/huawei-a...

Are you serious about the Huawei talks?

Yep

I've been. Sure, its Orwellian, I'm in their "system" now. But it was absolutely fascinating, I'd say go while you still can.

I would not go in their current state. It's only one rung above visiting N. Korea in my opinion.

I'm sorry, but that second sentence is just ridiculous. Conflating NK and PRC does no one any good. Sure, the space for civil society has tightened a lot since 2011, you've got the trade war and a ton of other simmering conflicts, but on the whole (with the exception of Xinjiang) it's fine.

Is XJ really that bad now? When I visited in 2006, it was pretty tame with the exception of the area immediately near the border. It doesn’t even require a travel permit/full time tour guide like Tibet does.

Afaik it is now well on its way towards a full-on techno-police state dystopia aimed at the uyghurs (ai, big data, facial recognition, ideological reeducation camps, politically reliable Han Chinese as forced live-ins in uyghur families tempting them to drink alcohol and reporting on them, forced installation of surveillance apps....)

I don't mean that as a matter of fact but a matter of personal opinion. I am as likely to go there as N. Korea.

If only! No, China hasn’t been like that since the early/mid 90s (and even that was a regression from the late 80s). Nope, if you want to see a heavy level of oppression, you’ll have to book a trip to Pyongyang. China will feel chaotic in comparison (and for many things even more free than the west).

I actually have friends who have visited the DPRK to get a feel for how China used to be.

That is reverse propaganda if you believe it. And you probably have no idea about both countries mentioned here.

I'm a Chinese citizen now living in Shanghai,China. It is interesting to see some of the threads, and there are so many expats now living in china, althrouth these is the good, the bad, and the ugly. And lots of expats have described this on youtube, books and podcast, etc. Anyway, the best way to know is to come here yourself, you might experience something different. Cause it's so huge with so many people, before you go , get an paid VPN.

It's not the people's fault the government sucks. And the Chinese culture is very interesting.

China has done a very good job of destroying its own culture since the cultural revolution. Hong Kong and Taiwan have preserved more of the traditional culture while continuing to move forward.

I vacationed in China! I was so curious to see the country whose GPD will overtake the USA. Also I was politically curious. The food is amazing and the culture is very different. It was a great - and mind opening trip. That said it made me very proud to be an American!

> GDP will overtake

Will?

by ppp, have.

Ppp measures are incredibly inaccurate, especially if you want to compare similar lifestyles. Having a western-leave middle class lifestyle is just as expensive (for many things more so) than many places in the west.

Really? I was able to eat lunch in Shanghai for $1.44 and a dinner for 3 with enough to fill us to the brim for $24. Can you do that in San Francisco?

You can easily do that in Shanghai if you want. Yes, the low end is lower, especially if you don’t mind gutter oil, but menu items start ranging from 50-80 kuai in middle class restaurants (probably more in SH), and it only goes up from there.

Eating is cheaper overall I. China (50 kuai isn’t that much for an entree), but other things like cars and computers are more expensive, as can rent or housing prices. A pair of Levi’s jeans costs 800RMB, which is why many Chinese come to the states to shop.

my Nike Shirt was 80 RMB, though I'm not sure its real :; feels real.

Your example shows that you fail to understand how it's inaccurate to compare.

PPP for comparing standards of living

Nominal GDP for comparing global economic influence

Use the right tool for the right job

$16,800 for China and $59,000 for the US. Not by a country mile. Even Hong Kong is in the high 50s. It’s only Macau in with a clear win at $112,000 thanks to the high number of casinos per capita.

It may well overtake in the future but it has yet to.

You are talking about per capita. Yes, it will take a long time. But if the Chinese are half as productive as you and I their economy will be double our size.

Remember there are at least 4 Chinese people per 1 person in the USA. That changes the math a lot.

It’s right up there with Russia and authoritarian destinations in the Middle East for me in terms of places I’m not gonna go to to vacation.

Just go to Taiwan: it’s Chinese culture without the Chinese government (or the air pollution, or the visa process, etc.)

I thought about spending 1-3 months studying Bajiquan (a kinda-rare martial art) near Beijing.[1] It would be a great immersive Chinese cultural experience.

When all the Huawei stuff kicked into high gear, and they ramped up detaining Canadians and Americans for BS reasons, I completely canx'd the idea. And I'm an ex-military officer, too? Easy to paint me as a spy. Not worth the risk.

[1]https://www.studymartialarts.org/school/an-wushu-internation...

China is a huge country with lots to see. Not just old stuff, but natural scenery as well. It is also quite affordable.

Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Nepal...all have their own appeal, but even together don’t cover completely what you can do in China. (They all have better internet, however)

There's tons of gorgeous places on the mainland, and Hainan, and the Hong Kong and Macau SARs (although they've gotta do some more leg-work to exfil you from one of the latter two).

I've been to about 20 national parks each in US and China. I'd say on the whole China has better natural scenes. The problem with China is the crowd. Every where you go, there's huge crowd, which ruin the experience.