At 10:23 AM 27/09/2013, you wrote:
>Have just booked a trip to Shenzen in November.
>
>I was looking forward to just arriving and finding my way about.  However,
>it seems that I must account for my stay before visa is issued.
>
>I tend to shy away from typically tourist activites, and would enjoy tours
>of any electronic manufacturing factories or any manufacturing visits for
>that mater.
>
>I failed an attempted to visit a telephone exchange when previously
>overseas and would like to try again.
>
>I dont know a word of Chinese but hope to learn a few before i arrive.
>
>Any recommendations on where to stay on a budget, suggestions or hints
>warmly welcome.

Shenzhen is a big (10M+) city, there are a wide range of possibilities
for accommodation.

All the hotels will meet some kind of budget ;-) , for a small budget
there are quite inexpensive hotels for a city that size, but keep in
mind that there is a major benefit in having staff that speak your language
available. Sometimes even with an appointment and an address written
legibly in hanzi, and confirmed with online maps, it can be difficult to
navigate, particularly in the suburban light-industrial wastelands of=20
Bao'an etc.
Even in a midrange hotel, don't expect a high degree of English proficiency=
,
and you won't be disappointed. Expect none at all from taxi drivers and tra=
nsit
workers. If you only learn a few characters, the ones for cardinal directio=
ns
(and middle), entrance, exit, and male/female (for washrooms) will be most
useful.

I normally book through a Chinese online travel agency
such as elong or ctrip, though more recently you can book easily
through the more usual agencies used in the rest of the world.

You'll find it most productive to arrange factory visits through your
business or personal connections. Novelty aside, a strange (and
functionally illiterate) foreigner showing up at the door unannounced
would not receive the warmest of welcomes in most cases.

Access to Wi-Fi outside the cocoon of a hotel is a bit more problematic
than in most places- for example, Starbucks has free Wi-Fi, but due to
regulations (I think) they require authentication using a cellphone=20
on a Chinese
account. Many of us use paid proxy services to avoid certain limitations
in Internet access- they don't seem serious enough about the
Firewall to block us (or perhaps they like us funneling through
a few pipes so they can keep a better eye on us)-- either way it's not
a problem unless you're really up to no good*- in which case, good luck in =
your
dealings with the PSB etc.

They have recently (in the last couple years) greatly increased their=20
information
gathering in the visa application process. It used to be a simple=20
one-side-of-one
page affair, but now it's considerable more involved. They may still=20
be using the
old-style simple forms at the LoWu border crossing (Americans need=20
not apply, BTW)
for the limited SEZ-only visa.

--sp

*Alleged Chinese curse:
"May you come to the attention of important people".




--=20
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