There is no doubt that visiting China is a subject that attracts a large segment of buyers, to return with unforgettable memories, and successful business.
However, if you do not know anything about China or what should you prepare before visiting China? your business trip will cost you much.
In this article, we have listed the most useful suggestions to help you make a successful business trip when buying from China, here are the points:
1) Make your plan before visiting China
After thinking clearly about your purpose of travel, planning the trip remains one of the most important stages in knowing when and where to go.
Business travel is a very special type of travel, so appropriate travel plans must be created that include costs, transportation, accommodation levels, standards, rules, and related procedures. Additionally, if there are business meetings during the business trip, you should also consider which documents and product samples to bring.
a- When visiting China?
The best time to plan visiting China is during spring and autumn. The weather tends to be warm and favorable during these periods, the average temperature is 10—23℃(50–73℉), In contrast to the summer weather, it is hot and the average temperature is 25-33 ° C (77-91 ° C). It can also be very rainy, especially in southern and eastern China.
In addition, if you are traveling for business, it is good to attend the national exhibitions and exhibitions held in the spring and autumn, such as Guangzhou Fair, Yiwu Fairs, Shenzhen Fairs..etc. If you are traveling for tourism, there are different landscapes in China throughout the year. You can schedule an appointment to visit China according to your free time.
b- Where to visit in China?
After planing visiting China, many places are recommended to visit, and here below some places we advise you to visit:
1- Canton fair
-Dates: The Spring Session: Usually April 15–19 (Phase 1), April 23–27 (Phase 2), May 1–5 (Phase 3).
-Climate: The fair is usually held in the months of April and October and the weather in April is wet, rainy, warm, and sunny in October.
2-Yiwu commodities fair
Dates: The Yiwu Fair is usually held on October 21-25.
-Climate: Usually, the minimum temperature is in Yiwu in October is 16.0°C (60.8°F).and the average maximum temperature is around 24.0°C (75.2°F).
3-CHTF China Hi-tech fair Shenzhen
Date: The fair usually held from 14. November to 18. , about 3356 exhibitors from 41 countries and 563000 visitors from 103 countries at the CHTF China Hi-Tech Fair in Shenzhen.
Climate: the weather in November is warm. The average maximum temperature is around 25 °C (77°F) and the average minimum temperature is 17 °C (63°F), generally its mild, but the wind occasionally kicks up.
4-China international import expo(CIIE)
Dates: From November 05 each year 09:30 until November 10, 17:30
Climate: During the month of November, the weather gradually turns into winter, with windy and dryness. There is a significant drop in temperature between day and night. The average low and high temperatures are 8 ° C (46 ° F) and 17 °
C (63 ° F).
5-The CIFE China Beijing international foundry exhibition
Date: The CIFE China Beijing International Foundry Exhibition takes place for the 14th time on 3 days from Thur.,
27.05.2021 to Sat., 29.05.2021 in Beijing.
Climate: Like March, April sees a very high temperature, with average daily temperatures rising from 12 ° C (54 ° F) to a warm 35 ° C (95 ° F).
Night temperatures are 1 ° C (34 ° F) at the beginning of April, but higher than 32 ° C (90 ° F) at the end.
2) Visa preparation for your visit to China
When it comes to visiting China, foreigners must apply for Chinese visas. Before entering China. Therefore, the first thing is to check whether you need a visa, even if you have a visa, you must check whether your visa is valid or not. If the visa has expired or the number of entries is insufficient, you must apply for a new visa in your country again.
Date: The CIFE China Beijing International Foundry Exhibition takes place for the 14th time on 3 days from Thur., 27.05.2021 to Sat., 29.05.2021 in Beijing.
Climate: Like March, April sees a very high temperature, with average daily temperatures rising from 12 ° C (54 ° F) to a warm 35 ° C (95 ° F).
Night temperatures are 1 ° C (34 ° F) at the beginning of April, but higher than 32 ° C (90 ° F) at the end.
Also read on: Top 5 Chinese Apps You Must Have When Visiting China
3) Prepare for the flight tickets and hotels
a-Flight tickets
After setting an appointment for visiting China and requesting TA, you can start booking tickets and find your flight Now, we will give you some advice about it.
So far, there are more than 35 international airports in China and five in Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. Therefore, it is the best choice for you to travel to China.
If you want the most cost-effective ticket, you need to book in advance one month before or more to get the best prices
and discounts.
these websites will offer special rates on some routes from time to time also you can compare the different prices and choose the best for you.
To help you more, we can provide you with an airline ticket reservation service, you only need to send us your passport number and flight information, so that we can arrange the reservation for you.
b- Hotels reservation
At present, with the rapid improvement of the tourism service industry in China, it has become very convenient to book hotels online just as easily as hotels provide their services online through the official hotel website or comprehensive booking sites such as Ctrip and Booking which are considered the bets useful application online.
Depending on your budget, you can filter the hotels that suit you, location, room type, amenities, dining, payment methods, and other specific needs you may need, and so on.
If you are looking for a safer, faster, and cheaper way to book tickets, we will help you, after booking on Ctrip or booking, we will send you your online booking.
4)The best apps to use in China
There are tons of apps that you can use while traveling or living in China that make your business trip easy for you to communicate, travel, book flights, order online, pay for food, and so on.
If you do not use some of these applications, you will miss many of the most interesting experiences that you can get and also facilitate your journey during your stay in China, and among the best applications to use in China, we have listed here the top ten:
a- VPN App
It is absolutely necessary that you have a VPN app on your phone in order for you to use many foreign applications. It is absolutely necessary that you have a VPN app on your phone in order for you to use many foreign applications.
If you do not, you will not be able to access all the sites you are used to in your country, such as Google, Gmail, YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram…
There are tons of different VPN apps available, and some are better than others, and you can search and find the best one before arriving in China.
b- WeChat
This is probably the number one and most useful application that you can get when you are planning to travel to China.
WeChat is the most used chat software in China. It is much more than that too, all the processes are executed by it when it comes to paying online.
By linking your Chinese bank card to the app, you can use it to pay in stores, buy tickets, or transfer money to other people who have the same app.
c-Ctrip
If you want to book flights and accommodations all over China, you need to download an application that will facilitate this and the best application is Ctrip that provides you with many options that you will not find in other travel applications.
Ctrip provides professional hotels, air tickets, vacations, group purchases, all kinds of ticket booking with competitive prices and inquiry services, which are convenient and fast for everyone who wants to make his trip successful in China.
d- Alipay
If we talk about WeChat as an essential app in Chinese daily life, we must also talk about another very necessary but different app, which is Alipay.
Alipay is the most used online payment service in China, it ranks second after WeChat with more than 150 million daily transactions and more than one billion active users, it is the leading company in the field of online and mobile payment, for users to pay online, easy and secure.
Alipay Wallet (Alipay Wallet), which also includes a mobile app to allow users to directly transact with mobile phones in their daily payments using the most advanced encryption technology for secure transactions.
Alipay is a primary payment method for any company seeking to reach a very large number of customers in China and other countries.
e- Taobao
Taobao is the largest online shopping site in China. Like Amazon and the rest of the sites, it has everything you want, and it delivers your purchases to your doorstep with excellent delivery service.
If you find yourself craving some products that you can’t find in physical stores, this is the app to use.
The application is a Chinese application and in the Chinese language, which remains an obstacle affront of foreigners who want to order from this app.
f- Baidu Maps
In China, as we said before, you’ll need a VPN to use your favorite apps via Google, and Google Maps is one of those apps that can’t be used, but don’t panic, there is a similar app better, which is BaiduMaps.
Maybe everyone knows and uses Google Maps, but did you know that China has its own maps app, maybe not, Baidumaps is really important in China and necessary so you can easily navigate.
With Baidu Maps, you can browse maps for every city you search, find locations, exact address, bus driving routes, view real-time traffic conditions, and it can be your travel guide when you visit anywhere in China.
j- Mobike
Mobike is a Chinese company offering self-service bikes in all cities around China. MoBike offers a free month use, however, it doesn’t get too expensive, rides start at 1 CNY each time.
Just via your phone, you can go wherever you want to go, all you have to do is to scan the bike Qr to unlock the bike automatically then start enjoying, make sure you park the bike in the right place and safely when you finish and end the journey, back to the app and choose lock bike then the bike will be locked automatically.
h- Meituan
It is a Chinese app to order food in China online, using only a mobile phone, the app named mate Wan. You don’t have to go out, you can start and order food from the app, and the food can come straight to your door or wherever you are.
The app has more than 290 million monthly active users and 600 million registered users as of April 2018 with over 130 million annual active buyers.
After installing the app and setting up your address, you can start ordering food, and use your location if you want to order food to your home or hotel, you can always change the address and your location every time you change your place of living.
The app can also offer you food near you and show you all the stores that you can check and see the food you want, you can order from different stores and make it in one order at the end and then pay only once using your Alipay, WeChat or other credit cards.
i- Baidu Translate
Baidu Translator provides instant free 200+ language translation services, with webpages and APP products, Baidu Translator APP also supports features such as photo translation, voice translation, etc., to communicate with the world anytime, anywhere.
g- DiDi App
During your trip to China, Moving around is a must and to help you navigate, we recommend this app you may need, the Didi app which is the equivalent of Uber in China.
DiDi is a passenger service app that makes traveling in China fast and easy, Using the app is one of the most popular ways to get a taxi in China. It is incredibly comfortable.
Subscribe with your phone number and payment option (international credit card accepted), also you can connect it to your Alipay account.
Your fare will be automatically deducted from your Didi balance at the end of your trip.
However, if you selected “Taxi” as the vehicle option, then you need to click on “Pay” and enter the fare amount according to the counter.
You can also read our article about the best Chinese apps.
Conclusion
Traveling to China is always a challenge, and if you don’t know when, where, and what to plan before you travel, it will cost you a lot and make your business travel more complicated.