By Mario Cavolo

Would you like to travel China by overnight train and enjoy an unlimited hot jacuzzi, sauna, steam, massage every night, then relax in a big soft recliner chair under a warm blanket until morning for about 100 RMB? If so, read on. If you want to travel China by plane and stay at 4-5 star hotels, this article won't be very helpful. If you want to experience authentic local China, it will. It's a pleasure to share with you my diary of how to travel China, how to experience the real culture, and how to do so as conveniently and cheaply as possible.

Last 2004 New Year holiday, I travelled five days to Wenzhou, nearby Dong Tou Island, Rui An, Hangzhou and then finally back to Shanghai. Let's focus here on how to travel, how to enjoy the culture and how to get a good night's sleep. Your total budget will be 100 to 300 RMB per day depending on your particular interests, including travel costs by train or bus. Any planning in advance, including your travel guidebooks, is recommended but not necessary. Obviously, the more Chinese you know the easier it will be to identify where you want to go and what you want to do.

Step One: Throw a basic backpack over your shoulder. Go the supermarket and buy:
1. A couple of small packages of wet wipes to keep your hands clean
2. Those convenient 5 packs of disposable cotton underwear for 10 RMB
3. An extra set of of pants. The fewer the better. If you do find yourself needing clothes, they can be bought cheap.
4. Supplies - antibiotics, anti-nausea/diarrhea medication, toothpaste, knife to cut fruit, nail clipper, small packs of tissues, small packs of your favorite dried fruits and meats, anything else you can think of. Don't forget your favorite books.

Step Two: Travel Overnight by Train.
1. Get a map and decide where you want to go, dividing your trip so that each city is 9 to 15 hours from the next. Then buy overnight hard sleeper tickets. Ask for the lower bunk - Xia Pu. It has plenty of room sit, relax or lay down. A comfortable blanket and pillow are included. The middle or upper sleepers don't have enough height to sit up. A typical 10-12 hour hard sleeper ticket costs 160-200 RMB. On the train, if you're feeling picky, you can ask to upgrade to a soft sleeper for about 100 RMB which is a small private cabin with four bunks, softer and cleaner. If you're lucky, no one else will be in the cabin with you. You are are asleep around midnight and awake by 8 am. That's a good night's sleep -- your hotel and travel costs from city to city are included.

Arrival at the Train Station
Buy a local map for about 5 RMB at one of the small local stores that sell snacks and drinks. Find the train station information desk and ask around about where to see any local sites. Your attitude needs to be that your destinations don't really matter that much -- it's the adventure of the unknown you should be comfortable with.


Local Bus Travel
You arrived at the train station but you also should also immediately find out where the local bus station is. Local buses are very cheap, usually 5 to 20 RMB for a one to three hour bus ride to a nearby destination. Find out when the last bus returns. Alternatively, if you stay past that time, then find out how much it may cost to hire a taxi to bring you back, which is obviously going to be more expensive, 80-120 RMB or more -- still cheap by Western standards. Also, find out about any local boats.

Step Three: How To Eat Well and Cheap
I marvel that in America, ravioli home-made daily from scratch cost about US $10 per plate, while in China dumplings home-made daily from scratch cost about US 30 cents.
The safest, tastiest and cheapest foods in China are boiled or steamed at the local small restaurants. Steamed buns (baozi) are filled with vegetables, pork, pork and crab, or sweet red bean. Noodles are noodles, hot and tasty, right? Hundun are dumplings in broth. On a plate, they are called shuijiao or jiaozi, which are bigger. All cost 3 to 5 RMB. Ask for suanrong xinnanhua, which is steamed broccoli, or perhaps ask for spinach, buocai, with garlic, for about 10 RMB. Ask for it made tao dan , which means mixed with eggs. kugua, which is bitter melon, mixed with scrambled eggs is my personal favorite. A drink at these local restaurants is also typically around 5 RMB for a bottle of cola or beer. Ask for a glass or boiling water and rinse every plate and bowl and cup you use with boiling water or tea. Ask for disposable one-time chopsticks. Step outside to throw the water. Look for pots of boiling water with corn on the cob. This is cheap. This is local. This is China.


Step Four: Where To Sleep Well
This is the best part. Chinese culture includes what are called yuchang or bathhouses, almost like a fitness center without the gym equipment, but you can sleep overnight. You must know to ask! You can go to a local hotel and ask at the front desk. You can ask a taxi driver, who typically knows where they are. They include a health center with jacuzzi, hot showers and a sauna. Then you can choose from a variety of massages available. You put your things in a locker, strip down, get a towel and take your time. When you're done soaking, you can ask for a cabei, a skin rubdown with a wet towel. Very nice for about 20 RMB. Next, you go the xiuxiting, the relaxation room.

Typically, this is a very large room filled with very comfortable full sized recliners and foot rests. You can order tea -- chrysanthemum tea is perfect with no caffeine, usually included, and there is a big screen TV in front of the room. If you're lucky, the movie playing may have English subtitles. Usually, they are playing funny romantic comedies or action movies. Lying there, you can have a foot massage, or you can go to a nearby room for a full body massage, both around 50 RMB for one hour. As you will see from all the Chinese men who are doing so, you can spend the night sleeping in the recliner, for which they will charge you an extra 10 to 20 RMB. So for around 100 RMB, you have secured an evening of soaking, massaging and sleeping. Regarding your backpack, normally bathhouse customers don't leave a bag behind, but if you tell them you want to go out for the day and return in the evening, they will usually put your bag behind the reception counter and certainly don't leave your money or passport in it.


Is there a downside? Of course! If noise bothers you, this travel style won't work for you. By 2 am the TV volume is lowered, but not shut off. If you are bothered being around men who smoke and spit a lot, and can be chatting noisily in front of a loud TV, but who are otherwise nice, this style of travel and resting is not for you. Last point, as expected, some bathhouses are nicer and cleaner than others. When you arrive, ask first to take a tour..."kan yixia" means take a look around. If you don't like it, just smile politely while saying thank you and leave to find a better one.


The next morning off you go to spend the day sight seeing until the evening when you either return to the bath house for another evening or head to the train station for your overnight ride to the next city. That's travelling the China way, with not a tourist or lifeless three-star hotel anywhere in sight. Zhu ni haoyun, anquan, shenti hao!


Mario Cavolo is the founder of Vision To Victory, a international professional speaker and corporate trainer based in Shanghai. Email: visiontovictory@yahoo.com