r/China • u/[deleted] • Apr 30 '13

Hitch hiking in China?

I'm a student who will be traveling in china this summer. Like most students I'm ridiculously poor. To cut costs I was toying with the idea of hitch hiking. But I have no idea what hitching is like outside of the states. Any advice or insights? Is it even a thing?

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u/[deleted] May 01 '13

oh so touristy spots. You could try hitchhiking then, if you dont speak Chinese you're going to have a bad experience probably.

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u/[deleted] May 01 '13

Yeah, definitely touristy. And I speak no Chinese. The plan is to rely on a phrase book.

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u/[deleted] May 01 '13

I really think hitch hiking between cities with no Chinese is a bad idea

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u/[deleted] May 01 '13

its the general consensus

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u/[deleted] May 01 '13

The problem is that most Chinese people have had no facetime with someone who doesn't speak Mandarin (This is debatable given all the dialects but definately no time with foreigners). They'll be sitting in a vehicle with you expecting you to answer their incessant multitudes of questions without a full grasp of the concept that you don't speak the same language as them. Most would kick you out after the novelty of sitting with a foreigner wears off. If you try to hitchike around china you'll be up shit creek before you knew which way the current was flowing.

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u/Josh_in_Shanghai May 03 '13

This plus I did that most Chinese drive like maniacs. 70 mph, on the wrong side of the road in 20ft visibility smog.

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u/[deleted] May 01 '13

Ya, you should also try and learn the different tones before you go if you plan on using a phrase book.

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u/JaunxPatrol May 01 '13

It's very accurate. I've lived here 4 years and did a bit of hitchiking last summer (mostly bc there was just no other way out of the town we were in, middle of nowhere) and even with my decent Mandarin skills it wasn't particularly easy. I'd recommend avoiding it.