Post: #1

Hi! I am going to travel to Europe in the end of May. I am going to start in Spain and then I will travel to France. I am from latinamerica and my flight to return is in the begin of September in Korea. In 110 days which countries recommend me to visit? I am more interested in Asia than in Europe because of the cost of living and the game.

Post: #2

If you're coming through Asia, you definitely have to hit China on the way through. I recommend Beijing in particular, not because I live here, but because there's an unusually high concentration of top tier things to see here, such as the Great Wall, Forbidden City, etc. It's also a fun city to party in and not a hard place to get laid.

You'll have to decide if you want to hit South-east Asia. If you want to hit a lot of countries in Europe, you might not have time to do SE Asia properly and still have enough time left over for China/Korea. If you do hit SE Asia, there's a lot of choices, but I would recommend concentrating on a few rather than trying to do it all in one go.

The core four are Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. If you want to get laid a lot, Indonesia is recommended. I also think Malaysia and Singapore are worth checking out. Laos is as boring as hell, but both Vietnam and Cambodia are interesting in their own way. You can take a bus through Laos on your way to Vietnam just to say that you've been there, but unless you have a special interest in the country, I wouldn't waste time there that could be better spent in other countries. Once you are in Vietnam, you can fly or even take trains up to Shenzhen, Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, etc. It would be cool to go from Nanning to Shenzhen, Shenzhen to Hong Kong, then head north to Shanghai and then take the high speed train up to Beijing before flying to Korea.

I can't make recommendations for Europe. I'll leave that in the hands of the infinitely more qualified.

Post: #3

It's a good idea! I am interesting in go to Japan, China, Taiwan and South Korea in Asia. In South East of Asia only I am interested in Vietnam. I am not sure about how much time I must stay in this countries. So any recommendations are really good for me.

Post: #4

If it's Vietnam, China, Taiwan, Japan and SK that you are interested in seeing in Asia, I'd recommend completing your travel in Europe, then flying to Vietnam (HCM is more interesting, but Hanoi would offer more convenient travel options for going directly to China).

Then take a bus up from Hanoi to Nanning on the southern border of China. Nanning isn't much of a destination, but from there you can catch a train north. You could of course fly, but I think you'll have a more interesting journey by train. Go from Nanning to Hong Kong, then from Hong Kong to Shanghai (flying or by train) and then take the 5 hour high speed up to Beijing. Other options are hitting Nanjing and/or Xi'an, which are close enough to Shanghai.

Once in Beijing, there's a lot to see and do, both historic and modern. You can actually take a ferry to Japan from Tianjin, which is just a 30 minute bullet train ride from Beijing. That's one option. Once you're done in Beijing, I'd recommend going to either Japan or Taiwan from there, then flying to the other island nation, before finally heading to SK.

What's your budget like for this trip?

Post: #5

I supposed that 3000USD per month. And how much time do you think I can stay in the places?

Post: #6

If price isn't a big issue, I think flying into Hong Kong is better than HCMC as HKG has way more flights and destinations than SGN. This is the best place to get your feet wet in Asia. Its Asia's premier city and has a lot of competent and cool single expats from all over the world. Half the population, and almost all the young bangable local Chinese girls, are able to speak at least conversational English yet Cantonese is the main language, so you get an authentic yet familiar first experience in Asia.

3,000 USD a month will give you baller status in Vietnam but in Hong Kong or Tokyo, its a middle class wage. Suits might be a better person to ask for budgeting and how much time to spend in each city.

A potential itinerary can look something like this, if you are more of a novice traveler.

Hong Kong --> Taipei --> HCMC --> Shanghai --> Beijing --> Tokyo --> Osaka --> Seoul

If you are an experienced traveler, definitely go via bus/train from Vietnam to China for the cheaper price and experience. For the novice, I recommend going via plane.

The itinerary I sketched above isn't the cheapest but in my opinion the best from a travel perspective. For cheaper air tickets, I'd follow Suits' itinerary. Low cost carriers are becoming popular in Asia but not as popular as in Europe or North America. For cheap flights in Asia, look for these airlines:

Jetstar, VietJet Air, Tigerair Taiwan, Scoot, Spring Airlines, Peach, Vanilla

I don't think Air Asia will get you where you wanna go, but they are a good low cost carrier operating mostly in Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, and Indonesia.

Post: #7

(03-02-2018 10:13 PM)Aquarius Wrote:  If price isn't a big issue, I think flying into Hong Kong is better than HCMC as HKG has way more flights and destinations than SGN. This is the best place to get your feet wet in Asia. Its Asia's premier city and has a lot of competent and cool single expats from all over the world. Half the population, and almost all the young bangable local Chinese girls, are able to speak at least conversational English yet Cantonese is the main language, so you get an authentic yet familiar first experience in Asia.

3,000 USD a month will give you baller status in Vietnam but in Hong Kong or Tokyo, its a middle class wage. Suits might be a better person to ask for budgeting and how much time to spend in each city.

A potential itinerary can look something like this, if you are more of a novice traveler.

Hong Kong --> Taipei --> HCMC --> Shanghai --> Beijing --> Tokyo --> Osaka --> Seoul

If you are an experienced traveler, definitely go via bus/train from Vietnam to China for the cheaper price and experience. For the novice, I recommend going via plane.

The itinerary I sketched above isn't the cheapest but in my opinion the best from a travel perspective. For cheaper air tickets, I'd follow Suits' itinerary. Low cost carriers are becoming popular in Asia but not as popular as in Europe or North America. For cheap flights in Asia, look for these airlines:

Jetstar, VietJet Air, Tigerair Taiwan, Scoot, Spring Airlines, Peach, Vanilla

I don't think Air Asia will get you where you wanna go, but they are a good low cost carrier operating mostly in Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, and Indonesia.

That's a lot of giant cities in only three months. The OP is going to Spain and France first, so some of that 100 days is already going to get cut down.

Post: #8

Thank you! I can find low cost flight's in skycanner, so my only problem is the time. Before Asia, in Europe what is the best country for find a good flight to Hong Kong?

Post: #9

Sirc, I'd suggest that you skip Vietnam this trip. That's one more visa to worry about in advance (you can't get a Vietnamese visa on arrival) and just with China, Japan, Taiwan and Korea, you'll have a lot to do already.

Assuming that you leave 50 days for Asia, that's 12 days per country, which is not a lot. Your budget works out to $100 per day, but airfare from Europe to Asia is going to take a big chunk out of your budget. The cheapest flights will generally be to Beijing. I suggest you come Europe to Beijing, the head south to Shanghai, then Shenzhen and across the border to Hong Kong.

Once you're in Hong Kong, there should be reasonably affordable flight options to Taiwan or Japan. Hong Kong's airport is a major hub, so you should have a lot of options.

Then you can hit Taiwan and Japan in whatever order you prefer before moving onto Korea.

You'll need a visa in advance for mainland China, but not Hong Kong, assuming that you are from a more developed Latin American country. If you're not, double check to makes sure that you can get a visa on arrival in Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, etc. But you'll definitely need one for mainland China, 100%.

Japan and Korea are expensive. Taiwan offers good bang for your buck and Hong Kong is pricy as hell. Hotel in Beijing and Shanghai will be expensive, unless you stay in a backpacker dorm room, but Shenzhen will have reasonably priced private rooms. On the downside, the more expensive Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong are the most interesting cities, whereas Shenzhen is a little boring. We do have a good number of forum members in Shenzhen, one in Beijing (me) and a few in Shanghai. Many, if not most, will be hesitant to meet a forum member with a low post count and no rep, so you might want to try to build both by contributing here on the forum before your trip if you're interested in meeting some forum members along the way.

Tokyo will be pricy as hell, but I've heard good reports about Kyoto and that should be a less expensive place to spend some time. China has a ton of cities more off the beaten track that will be much cheaper to stay in, but they would be very challenging to navigate if you don't speak Chinese. Even Beijing and Shanghai can be challenging for a visitor who doesn't speak the language. You can rule out taking buses, but the subway systems are easy to use, go pretty much everywhere and have maps writing in both Chinese and pinyin, so at least you'll know where to get off. Not so for the buses, which you'll have to be able to read Chinese characters to use comfortably.

You'll definitely want to check out Taipei in Taiwan. There are smaller cities that could provide a nice contrast, but since your time per city is limited, you might want to limit your visit to Taiwan to just Taipei. I haven't been to Taiwan myself, so perhaps others can give you some better recommendations on that front.

Post: #10

Thanks, It was really useful.I am thinking find an apartments in airbnb when I am going to Asia.It's my first time travel to Asia and Europe so I think I will use flight for move in this countries. So the best place for the game in China is Beijing right? Or do you recommend me other places there?

Post: #11

If you want to daygame, Shanghai girls have a reputation for being uptight and unfriendly to approaches, Shenzhen girls are often too shy to be open to being approached (although some certainly don't mind), but in the right part of Beijing, the girls are very open. San Li Tun Village, a partially outdoor shopping area, is definitely the best place to daygame in Beijing. Possibly the best in China.

For online dating, most guys with decent game and appearance seem to do well, but game is definitely different in China and some guys take months to make the adjustment. No guarantees on whether you will get laid.

AirBNB is ideal for getting a bang (hotels are not), but China's draconian laws make that a challenge. If not staying in a hotel, you're require by law to register at the local police station within 24 hrs of moving into a private residence, even if it is only for one night.

This isn't enforced with extreme strictness, but you could get into some trouble if discovered without the registration completed, although at worse it would involve a small fine. But if you want to follow the letter of the law, staying anywhere other than a hotel could be complicated.

Post: #12

Wow that I did not expect it. Even so, I think the best option is to use Airbnb. How is pollution in Beijing? Shenzhen is the cleanest city?