How to Teach English As a Foreign Language and Travel the World

After some planning, you can teach English as a foreigner in a distant and exciting country.

Steps

1. Decide where you want to live and what your goals are. Different rates and costs of living are different in each country.
   
2. Do your homework and decide if the country is right for you. What degrees do you need, if any, Certifications, immunizations, etc.
   
3. Search the web for job listings and openings. But keep in mind that many listings are still located in English newspapers within each country. You may also find the best jobs are not well advertised but posted at Foreign Language schools, but do not rely exclusively on the possibility of a "walk in" job -- line something up before you leave home.
   
4. Speak to as many people as you can who have had experience teaching abroad. If you don't know anyone, find forums online and join in the discussions.
   
5. it's possible to be a private tutor of english. You will need to comply with local self-employment laws. you can advertise your services on a website, in free internet classifieds, local newspapers, and social networking sites. be sure to have your advertising professionally translated into the local language if you aren't confident of your own second language skills.
   
6. If you become a private tutor you should have a ready supply of teaching materials. At the very least, have an English Only dictionary, a picture dictionary, an MP3 recorder, and a quality grammar book. Having internet access, a lap top, and access to free media helps even more.
   

Tips

• You should actually like to teach and like helping people, and not look at teaching English as a easy way to pay for travel.
  
• The needs of English as a second language learners are very different than the needs of native language learners. Take time to find out what your students need to learn. One-size-fits-all instruction doesn't work.
  
• Adult learners have different needs than children. Some adults are learning for travel and pleasure, and others are learning so they can get a much needed promotion at their job. Some need to communicate only by email, and others will need to conduct complex negotiations. The type of vocabulary they want depends on individual needs.
  
• Students from different countries have different challenges in learning the language. In some cases, English shares both the alphabet and an approximate root vocabulary with other Germanic and Romance languages. In other cases, such as Korean, there is little relationship between the languages.
  
• Each country has different pronunciation difficulties, because their language doesn't use the same sounds as English.
  
• Be sure you really know English grammar well. Can you quickly explain the formation and application of the present perfect? Can you quickly identify and explain idioms and phrasal verbs in a random article from a newspaper? If not, brush up on those topics now.
  
• Teach your students to think in English, not just translate.
  
• You will most likely need to go above and beyond the resources of your school to really help your students.
  
• Use inexpensive technology to teach. For example, use the internet ot try listening to free radio broadcasts, watching videos, and reading the newspaper. No cost, copyright-free books are available on the web. Use diverse reading to challenge: popular journalism, humor, poetry, science texts, advertising, recipes, short fiction, and drama.
  
• Practice dialogues using excerpts from plays and screenplays.
  
• Use real-life examples, not just school text books. Magazines, radio broadcasts, and videos are great tools.
  
• Practice one-on-one conversation with each of your students, even if it's only for a few minutes per week. Record the conversation with an mp3 recorder, play it back, and correct the students mistakes.
  
• Encourage the use of English-only dictionaries, not translation dictionaries. Show the students how to study vocabulary. When they find a word or idiom they don't know during reading or listening practice, ask the student to highlight the word in the dictionary, copy the word and definition into their personal notebook, and copy the example sentences. Then ask them to practice and study their personal vocabulary notebook.
  
• Notice how infants learn English. Babies listen for about a year before they begin talking. Then they learn speaking and pronunciation by imitation. They don't even begin reading and writing until age 4 or later. Thus, The foundation of learning a language is LISTENING. Although it's easier just to be a robot and slavishly follow reading and grammar texts, focusing on building listening skills will actually help your students more.
  
• It's possible to be a private tutor and teach one-on-one classes without the aid of a school.
  
• Many schools are looking for specific accents. The "fashionable" accents vary over time, and from region to region. Schools may also want all their foreign teachers to have a common accent.
  
• It may seem obvious, but being a foreigner is not a free pass to contravene local customs and/or dress codes. This basic rule applies doubly for people in "authority roles" like that of teacher. Be prepared to conform to local norms.
  
• Do you need to speak the local language? In most cases, it can be helpful but is rarely a requirement.
  
• Each city in each country has different rates and costs of living. Schools in large cities typically offer higher wages, but the cost of living must be taken into account. In most developing countries, the cost of living in a rural area is substantially less than the cost of living in a big city.
  
• Private schools offer more money, but also may require a lot more "out of hours" interaction with students.
  
• Having a tertiary degree is useful but not imperative.
  
• Having a basic "Teaching English as a Second Language" certification will, in most cases, substantially increase your chances and/or wages.
  
• Investigate the company you are about to work for thoroughly! There have been incidents of people going overseas to teach only to find the company or school bankrupt when they get there!
  

Warnings

• Have at least a small amount of emergency savings.
  
• Scan images of your work permits, identification, and passport. Save copies of the images in your webmail account just in case anything gets lost or stolen.
  
• Inform your closest consulate where you are.
  
• Some schools require you to sign a contract. The benefits of doing so may include a once-a-year fly-home airfare, medical benefits, etc. If you break the contract, however, don't expect the school to fly you home!
  
• Although the policy might seem somewhat racist, many schools in Asia will only recruit "western looking" teachers. This generally means white. This is, unfortunately, a result of stereotypes reinforced through popular culture.
  
• Do not, under any circumstances, allow yourself to fall into an intimate relationship with any of your students, despite what you may be told about the relative acceptability of such relationships in your host culture.
  
• Don't expect your school to have the best materials or the best method. Some schools give the teachers more freedom to contruct their own learning plan or syllabus.
  
• In private schools where learning English is extra curricular, happy students are happy customers. Happy customers take more classes, and you make more money by ensuring a steady stream of customers. Do what you can to increase customer satisfaction. This doesn't mean being an "easy" teacher who doesn't challenge students; but rather, one who tries to understand students needs and serves them.
  
• Many schools will hire teachers without a work visa, even if they say its PREFERABLE to have one in your initial interview. Don't let this scare you off, but if you want to get a work visa before you begin working for them, indicate this to them early on. Otherwise, you may end up working "under the table" the entire time you're there.
  
• Don't be surprised to receive a last-minute notices, like filling in for a delinquent teacher's shift.
  

Things You'll Need

• Passport
  
• Plane ticket home
  
• Positive attitude
  
• Commitment
  
• English-only dictionary
  
• Picture dictionary
  
• Voice recorder
  
• Internet access and free media
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Communicate in a Foreign Country When You Don't Speak the Language
  
• How to Protect Yourself when Traveling Abroad
  
• How to Pack for a Trip
  
• How to Communicate With a Non Native English Speaker
  
• How to Track a Flight in Progress
  
• How to Help Your Child Progress in Hockey
  

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How to Make a Travel Log

When you travel you may want to tell everyone where and when you did stuff, but you might forget so let's learn how to make a travel log.

Steps

Blog Method

1. Make sure you'll have access to the Internet throughout the trip. This is possible if you stay at hotels every night that have a computer, or free wi-fi. It is also possible if you use your phone's data capabilities.
   
2. Start a blog specifically for this trip. Alternatively, you can start a microblogging account like Twitter or Identi.ca.
   
3. Document what you did every day.
   
4. Add pictures. You can do this with your phone, or with a digital camera and then upload the pictures.
   

Book Method

1. Find a blank notebook or sketchbook you can use.
   
2. Write in it every day, explaining what you did and saw.
   
3. If you want, tape in pictures, receipts, brochures, etc. Make it like a scrapbook!
   

Related wikiHows

• How to Make a Travel Brochure
  

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How to Travel Light With Scuba Gear

With lightweight scuba equipment for sure you have to make some compromises on what you normally prefer. You might consider it though, to avoid paying for luggage overweight on top of your plane ticket. Besides that, you travel more comfortable. Lets go through the different pieces of equipment to see where and how we can reduce weight.

Steps

1. "Tank and weights". For sure they make up the biggest weight, but you definitely don’t take them on the plane. Most diving centers offer this included in the price of the organized dives. If you go diving on your own, you rent it. You can consider also renting the other equipment, just taking a mask and snorkel. There can be a big difference though in the quality of the rental equipment between one diving center and another. Inform yourself in advance. Most divers prefer their own stuff.
   
2. Mask and snorkel. If you don’t go snorkeling, you can even leave the snorkel home; though know that it is recommended equipment. There are also soft foldable snorkels that even fit in the pocket of the jacket. Take a low-volume mask that fits in the foot pocket of you fins. It protects the mask without having to bring a box and you don’t lose it on the boat. Replace the silicon strap with a neoprene Velcro adjustable strap, which is lighter and more comfortable.
   
3. Fins. Use full foot fins without booties if you go mostly boat diving in warm water. If you need foot protection, take neoprene socks but still with full foot fins, of course now a few sizes bigger. Carbon fins are an option, but most of them are the long type that free divers use. If you can’t do without your open heel fins, don’t use the metal spring straps. Normally those are preferable, but the conventional ones are lighter. Just don’t pull them too tight.
   
4. Regulator. Plastic rules, although small light weighted metal second stages do exist. The first stage is always metal. Inform what valve system they use where you go diving, DIN or yoke. It avoids having to bring an adapter. The pressure gauge can be plastic. Use the modern braided hoses. They are half the weight of the normal type and more flexible.
   
5. BCD. Take the simplest jacket you can get, not with the integrated weight system. The back plate has to be small. Again, plastic D-rings and buckles instead of metal. Take also the buckle of the weight belt in plastic.
   
6. Suit. This depends on the water temperature. If below 18°C, consider a lightweight trilaminate drysuit. Take under-protection that you can also use as “normal” clothing.Consider that you can use a full wetsuit about 2 mm thinner if you use a sleeveless 3 mm vest with hood under it.
   
7. Dive computer. Integrated with your wrist watch. Make sure the batteries are not running empty before you leave. Sometimes it can be expensive or impossible to change them on your destination.
   
8. Bag. For sure no hard case, but the trolley type is handy.
   
9. Logbook. Some models are bigger than a day-to-day office agenda. Just take your license and a few empty logbook sheets.
   

Tips

• Be clever. Tell your travel agent in advance you are a diver and that you need a bigger luggage allowance. They are more likely to accept, before you pay. If they don't, ask the price for overweight. The moment you step up to the check-in desk on the airport, is too late.
  

Warnings

• Don't leave the safety sausage home if you go drift diving. There is a cheap orally inflatable model of two meters long, that is light and doesn't take up much space in the pocket of your jacket. This model is not intended for safe surfacing, but for being spotted easier by the boat crew to pick you up. It can safe your life.
  
• Scuba diving is a safe sport, but only after adequate training, using the right equipment and following the rules you learned, all related to the conditions you dive in. The vast majority of accidents happen for not respecting these basics.
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Create Circular Bubbles While Diving
  
• How to Maximize Your Scuba Dive
  
• How to Repair a Broken Scuba Mask Buckle
  

Sources and Citations

• DearDiveBuddy.com - Original source of article, shared by author.
  

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How to Make Travel Bearable when You Are Older

These tips may make travel easier when you are older. The first part covers plane travel, followed by hotel and taxi suggestions.

Steps

1. Plan for plenty of time between connecting flights. If you have connecting flights, make sure you have at least one hour (preferably 90 minutes) between arrival and departure. You do not want to be panicked by having to find a new terminal and have to catch buses, climb stairs, or walk a long way on travelators etc. If you can't get flights that have a long connecting time, and if you walk slowly, request a wheelchair or ask for some other form of fast assistance.
   
2. Try to make your reservations far enough in advance so you can get an aisle seat. Be aware, however, that on some flights the aisle seats have much less underseat room to stow your luggage than the other seats. This means that there may not be enough room for a laptop.
   
3. Use easy-to-wheel, compact luggage. Use one small wheeled bag (about 9" x 13" x 17") plus another soft bag about the same size that can fit on top of the wheeled bag. Put a maximum of 20 pounds in each bag so that you won't strain your back getting your luggage off the carousel at baggage claim. Also, with two bags you may be able to carry your bags, one in each hand, up a few stairs. If you check one heavy bag, ask a porter or another passenger to lift the bag off the baggage carousel.
   
4. Place these essentials in your checked luggage: Rubber or plastic shower mat (so you don't slip in the shower); hot water bottle (so you can get warm quickly if the heat in your room in inadequate); tea bags, nuts, crackers; water heater (immersible "watta heater") and cup; collapsible cane with reflective tape around it (use it if you need to cross streets without a signal; drivers will expect you to walk slowly if they see you have a cane ); pillowslip (to use if the hotel pillowslip smells so strongly of bleach or cigarette smoke that it irritates your eyes); flashlight (to put beside your bed to use if you wake up at night and to carry if you are going to be walking in unlit or poorly lit areas at night).
   
5. Check as much as possible to avoid having to carry items. On some full flights, there may be no room in the overhead compartments by the time you board, and the flight attendant will take any luggage or laptop and check it. If this happens, be bold; speak up and make sure the flight attendent checks it to your final destination. Take either one small shoulder bag or (on very long trips) one small backpack and one small shoulder bag. Two bags are better than one large heavy bag because then you will be able to put at least one small bag under the seat in front of you. With a shoulder bag and a backpack you will have your hands free for navigating stairs.
   
6. Assume that you will get no edible food on the plane and that you will not have time to buy any food in a connecting city. Take some carbohydrates and some protein--crackers, nuts, beef jerky, etc. If you want to take foods that should be kept cold (e.g., hardboiled eggs, cheese, frozen cooked sliced chicken), put this food in an insulated cloth bag. Keep the bag in the freezer the night before you leave. If you're travelling more than eight hours, also take a small watertight container (Witz Keep-It Clear Dry Case) in which you can put ice (after you go through security) and put this ice-filled container in the insulated bag.
   
7. Take a cotton handkerchief. On long flights, every hour wet the handkerchief with water and put it up to your face and breathe the moist air through it. Take a case for your glasses so you can sleep with your glasses off. Take something to keep yourself distracted--paperback mysteries or novels; knitting (circular or short needles); etc. Take at least three days supply of any prescription medicines.
   
8. Use luggage carts and elevators whenever possible.
   
9. Wear shoes that have a zipper or Velcro fastener so you can easily remove them at Security Checkpoints. If you carry metal items in your pockets, put them all in a clear bag before you get to security. Do not put your wallet in plain view--put it in a carry-on before you go through security.
   
10. Be wise to when to use the restroom on the plane. The best times (shortest lines) to use the restroom are just before the movie ends or after any food service ends. If you are on an international flight that boards 45 minutes or more before departure, use the plane restroom while you're still on the ground and the plane is still boarding. If you are on a small plane with one restroom, assume that you will not be able to use the restroom because it is too small.
    
11. Plan ahead if you arrive after 10:00 p.m. in your destination city. Call your hotel beforehand and ask if they have room service, or if they can keep sandwiches from the hotel kitchen cold for you and give them to you when you arrive, or if any local restaurants deliver food late at night.
    
12. Prepare the address for the taxi. Before you get in the taxi, give the taxi driver a card on which you have printed the address of your destination, plus the name of the nearest cross street, if possible. Ask how much the ride from the airport to your hotel should cost. Have a city map with you in case your taxi driver gets lost. If you find a good taxi driver with a clean cab, ask if you can request him or her again. If you are staying in a downtown location, find out where the taxi ranks are--where taxis line up waiting for passengers. If you need a taxi from your hotel, ask the concierge to call for you. Taxi companies often give priority to calls from hotels.
    
13. Try to find a hotel that has an elevator and no steps up to the front desk. If the hotel does have stairs, ask for a room on the lowest level and find out if an employee will be available to help with luggage when you arrive. If the hotel has an elevator to the upper floor rooms, but has steps from the street to the main floor reception, ask if help will be available when you arrive. As a last resort, pay a taxi driver to bring your luggage up the steps to the main floor. When you get to your room and before you unpack, check to see that the toilet is flushing, there is hot water, and the heat or air conditioning is working. If there are any serious problems, request another room.
    

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• How to Attract an Older Boy
  
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How to Get Paid to Travel

In a perfect world, your job would consist of traveling to exotic destinations with just a backpack and a laptop, experiencing new things daily and meeting dynamic people from around the world. Your work would require only a few hours a week and could be done from anywhere with an Internet connection. Getting up in the morning would be easy, your daily commute would be non-existent, and the salary would be enough for you to travel forever. In the real world, jobs that pay you to travel are nearly impossible to get and the money you save up for your endless vacation will only last you for so long.
When you travel, even on a budget, you need a good amount of money to spend on transportation, lodging, insurance, food, fun, and other ‘once in a lifetime’ experiences that seem to pop up daily. The good news is there are ways of getting paid to travel that are literally available to anyone who is observant, adventurous, and independent. Your new job is to record how to information about the places you go and the adventures you have so that others can be inspired and recreate their own travel experiences.

Steps

1. Don’t forget to pack. Some essential components you will need to get paid to travel are a passport, a backpack, a laptop (optional), a pad to scribble and preferably a digital camera, which will be an added advantage.
   
2. Get in Adventures. You need to gain some independent travel experiences. This could include touring around Europe, safaris in Africa, trekking the Himalayas or sunbathing in Goa and so on.
   
3. Experience Everything. To appeal to a wide audience, you need to cover all types of subject matter and content. This includes sites, food, culture, festivals, historical monuments, modern places worth visiting, history, natural beauties, nature, nightlife, places to stay or any other travel related topic that you want.
   
4. Take Good Notes. You gotta take copious notes on the details that others will want and need to know for their trip. Think about if you were going to send your grandmother on your same trip, what would she need to know in order to have a good, safe time? Your audience will reward you with readership, and that readership will help you get paid to travel.
   
5. Write Articles. You get paid to travel by writing stories, articles, and reports about the places you visit. The more articles you write, the more money you can make. So many things will inspire you to put a pen to paper or put your fingers to a keyboard. As you go through your daily routine, put yourself in the shoes of a guidebook author. Your job is to report about the places you visit so that others can rely on your words in planning their travels.
   
6. Distribute your Content. Once your ideas are organized into well written and informative articles, your next job is to find a home for your writing. There are many places online and in print that are looking for unique, well thought through travel content like what you have created. For instance you can write for BackpackForever.com and get paid to travel. Many newspapers want travel articles for their Sunday and human interest sections. Other places to shop your content include travel agencies, travel guides, book publishers, magazines. You could even start your own website or blog to house all your travel writing and get paid to travel.
   
7. Gain a Following. As you write you will gain a following of readers who are interested in your content and interested in your adventures. It is this following that will allow you to truly get paid while traveling. Gaining a following involves optimizing your content for search engines such as Google.com and Bing.com. It also involves promoting your content throughout social media outlets such as Facebook.com and Twitter.com.
   
8. Get Paid to Travel. In order to get paid to travel you must now monetize your writing. This involves placing advertising on your website or blog (such as Google Adsense or Avantlink Affiliate Network), selling your content to content aggregators, or accepting freelance writing work based on your portfolio of work and your knowledge of the world.
   

Tips

• Being a travel writer offers the freedom to live wherever you want and to get paid to travel. As you learn the ropes, stay on budget, and learn tips and tricks along the way, you will find the freedom most only sit and their office and dream about.
  

Things You'll Need

• a passport
  
• a backpack
  
• a laptop (optional)
  
• a pad to scribble
  
• a digital camera
  

Sources and Citations

• BackpackForever.com - The Backpack Forever Travel Community provides opportunities for budget travelers to earn extra income while traveling around the world.
  
• Elance.com - A resource for freelancers to connect with buyers and business owners.
  

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Get Paid to Travel. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.


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How to Travel by Rail in Europe on a Budget

It's not easy to travel by train in Europe on a budget but there are lots of loopholes, if you know how to find them.

Steps

1. Get a Eurail/Interail pass. It is inexpensive and you can visit 17 countries. But, If you're not traveling everyday,consider buying your tickets at points of sale within the train station. It will probably be much cheaper.
   
2. Plan ahead. Most countries require a train reservation even if you are using a Eurail/Interail pass. It's about 7 euros per reservation and you must have one, especially in France.
   
3. Keep a map of Europe with you and a train schedule. It can be downloaded from Eurail.com. The Thomas Cook European timetable has train & ferry times for every country in Europe plus currency & climate information. Published since 1873, it's essential for any serious traveller and an inspiration for armchair travellers.
   
4. Sleep on trains. You paid for the pass, take advantage!
   
5. Lots of things cost money in Europe. It can be up to 1 euro to use the restroom, and up to 7 euros to shower at rail stations.
   
6. Stay in a hostel! Book them in advance and you can get a great deal. www.hostelworld.com.
   

Tips

• Really think about how much time you have and where you want to see. Some countries don't take a Eurail pass (like Poland), but can be much cheaper to travel in. Other countries, like Italy, require a lot of local train trips to see the sights, so your pass wouldn't be economical.
  

Warnings

• Lots of (younger) Europeans know some English, but most people would prefer to use their native language. Consider that they may understand English, but be bad at speaking. In any case, it's always best to lead off with the local "hello" or "excuse me." Try to use the language by carrying a traveler's phrase book from your local library, if you can't invest in your own copy.
  
• Try to be very nice and respectful. Don't go to a foreign country and act like a fool. The nicer you are, the nicer they are.
  

Things You'll Need

• Sheets, soap, shampoo, and seasonal clothing.
  
• Don't forget to lock up your bag, and never keep your money or passport anywhere except on your person.
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Survive While Touring Europe (on a Student Budget)
  
• How to Travel on a Budget
  
• How to Become Independent
  
• How to Become Enlightened
  
• How to Become a Hobo
  
• How to Be a Happy Bicycling Hobo With an Income
  

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How to Travel in China by Train Safely

You have always wanted to adventure in fabulous China, but don't have the money to fly to every destination. Maybe you could take the train! Yes, it's possible, but difficult. Read on for some basic points to travel by train relatively easily and safely.

Steps

1. Be prepared for difficulty. Travel in China is never easy, especially if you don't speak much or any Chinese, or have a translator.
   
   • Little public information is available in English. It's often hard to find signs, brochures, guidebooks, schedules, etc.
     
   • Most people speak little to no English. Most can't read a map with you, or look at your phrasebook successfully.
     
   • Public officials (police) generally aren't very helpful; many can be rude. Don't look to them for help.
     
   • Most people don't offer to help. You can stand there looking desperate, but you may not get much attention.
     
   • Foreigners are usually received politely but are sometimes preyed on, looked to for handouts, and expect to be the object of great curiosity, especially in smaller cities and remote locations. (Following the tips in How to Avoid Looking Like an American Tourist might help.)
     
2. Buy tickets. This can also be difficult. Many hotels offer ticket buying services, but you will be charged more than the window price. That can be worth it, though, to avoid the hassle of buying your own tickets. Travel agencies can also buy tickets, but are liable to charge you a lot more than the window price, and there are many stories of agencies cheating foreigners outright, so be careful.
   
3. 
   
4. It's nearly impossible to find specialized ticket booths outside the train station. You must go to the train station itself.
   
   • Most people buy tickets the day of travel. This works if the route isn't the most popular one. If it is a very popular route, you'll want to buy ahead.
     
   • You can buy tickets at the station up to 5 days in advance of travel for most of the year. Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) is special. Don't try to buy tickets then.
     
   • Most city central stations are huge, crowded, noisy and dangerous places. Find the ticket hall, and see if you can spot one window on the far edge that might cater to foreign buyers. Go to this window, as they may speak English.
     
   • Otherwise, stand in the long lines, get to the front, try to state (or have written) your destination and desired time of departure. Being flexible is the best. Take what you can get.
     
   • Buy the best class ticket you can. Most Chinese trains have three classes. ( A few have four; they include "soft seat", but only run on short hops between major cities, such as Shanghai and Nanjing.) At best, buy "soft sleep" tickets. Otherwise buy "hard sleep" tickets.
     
5. Prepare for train travel. You should have enough to eat and drink for the whole journey (usually 18-36 hours). While food and drink are sold on board and at each major station stop, it's expensive and not that good. Bring some of your own.
   
   • On board you can buy beer (not cold), liquor, packaged snacks, instant noodles, crackers, and prepared meals (three per day). The train food is generally bad, though not usually dangerous, and is best avoided. Try it once, but don't depend on it.
     
   • At major station stops of 15 minutes or more, except during the middle of the night, people push carts with many foods. Again avoid anything hot or prepared, but look for fresh local fruits, snacks, beer.
     
6. Wait to board a train. For all ticket classes except "soft sleep", you will wait in the general hall. This is huge, noisy, dirty, crowded, but not dangerous except for pickpockets.
   
   • Sit on the benches. Notice your train number and look for the aisle and overhead sign at the end where that train will board. At the proper time, the gate will open and people will surge forward. Follow but don't worry, you have a reserved seat/bunk.
     
   • For "soft sleep" ticket holders, find the separate waiting room. Follow signs or show attendants your ticket and they can direct you. This waiting room is quiet, relatively clean and sane. Use the boiling water dispenser against the wall for hot tea or instant noodles. You will board first. Wait for your train number to be called or look confused and show your ticket. An attendant will guide you here.
     
7. Treat small town stations differently. Here there are few ticket windows, only a single waiting room, few amenities, and few trains. Be prepared to wait a long time, and bring your own food and water.
   
   • For the smallest places, take any train, any ticket, and pay on board to an attendant to upgrade your seat out of "hard seat". Pay any price and insist you must sit somewhere else. You may have to wait until a bunk is vacated ahead, but then watch for it and move your stuff quickly. Plop down and show your money. It will probably work.
     
8. Board the train. From any waiting room, pick up your gear, watch for other people grabbing it, and move forward. Show your ticket to the attendant to get it clipped (as used), then find the right car. Look at your ticket or ask a car attendant standing outside each car.
   
   • Board your car and look for the right bunk/compartment number. Many people are doing the same. Step carefully around luggage. When you find your bunk, put your stuff on the bunk first, then stow it on the overhead racks or spaces provided. Get out of the way first.
     
   • Place your food and water supplies on the bunk or the little center table. Smile at your bunk neighbors.
     
9. Wait for the attendant to come around and collect your ticket. They give you a chit to show you paid, and exchange it for your ticket again just before you de-train. Keep that chit. Without it, you are sunk. As a foreigner, security will also come to inspect your passport, carefully, and write the details on their log. Be silent and polite. Smile.
   
10. Enjoy the ride. The train is actually fun. People mostly sleep, play cards, handle the kids. It's fairly quiet except for crying babies. You may sleep, read, practice your Chinese where people are a captive audience and will be curious, look out the window.
    
    • Bedding is always provided and is clean unless you upgrade on the train and take over a used bunk. You will get a pillow and quilt with clean cotton covers.
      
    • In "hard sleep" compartments, there are three levels. The top level is hard to climb to, and those people usually sit down below or at the window stools in the aisle. If you have a bottom bunk, and don't want it used as a couch, spread your stuff out and frown if people try to sit with you. This is why the middle bunk is best.
      
    • Each compartment has a little table, a garbage bin, and a hot water thermos. Fill it from the hot water dispenser at the end of the car and share it with everyone in the compartment.
      
    • Find hot water at the end of each car, and use it to fill your tea thermos, eat instant noodles, or wet a cloth for a face wipe. This water is clean.
      
    • Find a toilet at the end of each car. It isn't nice but it works. It is locked at stations and you may have to ask the car attendant to unlock it again. It's best in the middle of the night. If critical, take a thermos of boiling water and wash it down. No one else will.
      
    • Find a sink near each toilet. It will be dirty and will run out of water after 18 hours.
      
    • "Soft sleep" cars have better facilities, and they restrict other class passengers from using them.
      
11. Be ready to get off. Listen to the destination or ask someone or the attendant. Get your gear packed and down off the rack. Exchange your chit for your ticket. There will be time, so don't rush.
    
12. Exit the train and station. Get off the train, follow the crowd to the exit, probably below or over other tracks to the station outlet. Here watch your possessions carefully. Ignore touts of all sorts, get to the gate, show your ticket and exit. Likely you will be in another large square full of people. In small stations, you will be alone. Find a taxi.
    
    • In a large station, move across the square to a taxi or your destination. All stations have a post office, police station, bank, and railroad hotel(s) next to them. Those hotels are usually satisfactory and relatively cheap. Use them as a base if you don't know the city at all, if you wish.
      

Tips

• Find someone to help you if possible. This is critical for buying tickets (in advance). No one has time to help you through a phrasebook at the ticket window.
  
• Learn the different types of train service. Train numbers refer to the speed or number of stops. There are limited and local trains. Find one that arrives at your destination during the day if possible.
  
• BE ON TIME. Nothing else in China works on time except the rail service. They carry the equivalent of the entire U.S. population at any one time and operate efficiently.
  
• Pack lightly. Be able to carry everything at once. You CANNOT go back and pick up the second bag from a waiting room or train car.
  
• Bring your own maps. Do your research ahead of time. You won't find helpful travel desks or brochures.
  
• Trains generally are smooth; you won't get carsick from them. However, bring sleeping aids if you have a long ride. Mostly trains are quiet and the motion often is conducive to sleep.
  
• Trains are quiet at night. The lights are turned off, aisle window curtains drawn. This is not the place to have a beer party with your friends, or make out with your girlfriend. You may get security to pay you a visit if you do. If you run into security, remain quiet, polite, eyes down, and passive.
  
• If you end in a strange city in the middle of the night, find the closest railroad hotel and stay there until morning, if you can. Don't sleep in the square (it's very dangerous). If necessary, sit in the hall of the police station and smile as a pathetic foreigner (especially for solo women).
  

Warnings

• Some large city train stations are notoriously dangerous, such as Guangzhou. Be extremely careful outside the station in the square, near the entrance, in the ticket hall, and in the general waiting rooms. Watch your stuff, and your wallet. This is especially true at night.
  
• Be careful of food in and around the trains and stations. Cooked, prepared, warm food can be bad. Buy and eat packaged, sealed food, food you make yourself, canned food, fruit, canned or boxed liquids.
  
• DO NOT ride in the "hard seat" general cars unless you are DESPERATE. People have been known to arrive with pneumonia and other serious illnesses from them. These are unreserved seats for the peasant class, and are filthy, crowded, and dangerous.
  
• Use of illegal drugs will get you an instant talk with security and eviction, at best, and a trip to the station at worst.
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Travel to Hangzhou from Shanghai
  
• How to Travel from Moscow to Beijing by Train
  
• How to Pack for a Trip to China
  
• How to Travel in Hong Kong
  

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