[SHANGHAI] Visa, Social Media Use & Rent Bicycles Tips

As requested, here it is! Spesial di postingan ini, aku akan berbagi Traveling Tips to China, mulai dari pengajuan Visa ke China, cara membeli Tiket Subway di China, cara menggunakan atau menyiasati penggunaan sosial media di China, dan How to rent and use bicycles like a local in Shanghai. Memang, semua orang seperti terheran-heran melihat betapa bagus dan bersihnya kota Shanghai via Insta-story aku saat kita sedang traveling ke Shanghai kemarin. Aku pun sebetulnya sudah merasa skeptis, dan sempat mem-blacklist negara China sebagai destinasi berlibur. I thought it’s impossible for me to choose China as my travel destination. But that’s what I figured a few months ago. Yeah, you probably already know, the toilets in China smell so bad (that’s what we heard too). I even told my mom in law; I will never go to China! But you know what? Ini sudah seperti kualat deh! Ha-ha.. We ended up going there for a holiday, spent a fun seven-days without the land tour, and finally fell in love with Shanghai.

What we like about Shanghai:
1. the local Shanghai food, especially the steamed Xiao Long Bao at Jia Jia Tang Bao, Sheng Jian Bao at Yang’s Dumpling, and Shandong Jian Bing. The food in Shanghai is relatively cheap, yet very delicious when compared to Jakarta.
2. their Naicha (iced milk tea); it’s very cheap here, and even the famous tea brand like Yi Dian Dian, gives you FREE Topping as well.
3. all the public transportation, such as the Shanghai METRO Subway, including the bike-sharing transportation which makes us easier and very convenient to get around Shanghai.
4. the air pollution in Shanghai is very little because most of them use electric motors, electric cars, and electric scooters! Amazing!

What we dislike about Shanghai:
1. people in China is well known for their bad manners and rudeness, not only among locals but also tourists
2. they talk VERY LOUD to each other as if no one else on this planet
3. Shanghai is a big and modern city, but the outsiders make the toilet becomes so dirty, and smelly, especially public toilets on the street. Luckily, most of the toilets in big shopping malls are mostly clean, and not that smelly.

1. Tips Cara Membuat Visa China (for tourist – Indonesian people)

Membuat Visa China ternyata tidak sesulit apa yang kita bayangkan. Cukup melengkapi dokumen yang diminta pada website pengajuan Visa China, but the only problem is, dokumen kita sempat ditolak karena form pengajuan Visa yang kita serahkan, kita isi secara manual (dengan tulisan tangan). Untung saja di dekat gedung The East ini tersedia warnet, sehingga kami berdua pun secara kilat melengkapi form aplikasi pengajuan visa yang diketik langsung secara online, print out PDF form yang telah dilengkapi tersebut, dan kembali menyerahkan form aplikasi ke petugas loket.

1. Syarat tentang mengurus Visa China dapat dicek langsung pada Website Chinese Visa Application Service Center.
2. Siapkan dokumen persyaratan sesuai dengan link berikut (link Persyaratan Dokumen) dan pilih Visa categories (as a Tourist).

IMPORTANT!!
1. Paspor asli masih memiliki masa berlaku 6 bulan setelah tanggal kepulangan
2. kalian sudah memiliki Bukti Pemesanan Tiket Pesawat, dan Bukti Pemesanan Tempat Tinggal di China
3. Ukuran foto harus sama persis dengan yang diminta, selain daripada itu akan ditolak oleh petugas
4. Peraturan baru per Agustus 2017, Form aplikasi pengajuan visa harus dilengkapi secara ketik online (tulisan tangan akan ditolak) pada websitenya langsung, kemudian diprint out dan diserahkan kepada petugas.

Pendaftaran dan Pengambilan Visa China

Lokasi Chinese Visa Application Service Center: Gedung The East (Kuningan, Jakarta Selatan), Lantai 8, Unit 7–12
Hari Kerja: Senin – Jumat (kecuali pada hari libur nasional dan libur Kedutaan).
Waktu Pengajuan Aplikasi Visa: 09:00 – 15:00
Waktu Pengambilan Visa: 09:00 – 16:00
Lama Proses Pembuatan Visa: 4 Hari Kerja

Biaya Pembuatan Visa jenis Reguler
Single Entry: Rp. 600.000,-

Untuk detail lengkap biaya pembuatan Visa jenis lainnya, bisa dilihat pada link berikut Biaya Visa China

2. How to use Social Media for Travelers when traveling to China?

When I heard that social media is banned in China, it was like a nightmare to me! Oh, NOOOO! What I’m gonna do then with my Instagram, Facebook, Gmail, Whatsapp, etc. if I travel to China? But as you can see from my Instastory, we’re able to use all those social media when we travel to China, and everyone wants to know, how we do it? Some people say it’s fine to take a break for a while from social media while in China, but I guess that won’t work for us. Ha-ha.. For us, it’s important to be able to share our experiences on FB and Instagram in real-time. This way is somewhat illegal, but everyone uses it, even some offices as well.

What social media is banned in China?
– Whatsapp, Twitter, Google, Facebook, Youtube
What do people use in mainland China?
– WeChat, Weibo, Baidu (search engine), Youku (youtube version for China)

How to use social media when travelers travel to China:
1. find the best VPN that’s available on the App Store or Google Play, and make sure you Install the VPN before you leave your country.
2. we recommend you to install at least 2-3 different VPNs on your phone. From our experience, the VPN Monster app works better and is more stable than the Turbo VPN.
3. Since both VPNs are FREE, they come with ads, and they use lots of bandwidth (internet quota) from my WIFI Router, although we don’t use them. That’s why I suggest you to stop the VPN when you’re not using it. Then you can activate the VPN again if you want to connect with your social media.

3. How To Buy Shanghai Metro Tickets

Tutorial Video available now on our YouTube channel

4. How To Rent & Use Bike-Sharing in China

I never thought that riding a bike in Shanghai would be so much fun and a lot easier than what we’ve experienced in Japan. The bicycle sharing has become the “new Uber of bike rentals” in this big city, and we chose Ofo rather than Mobike, because we found an abundance of yellow bikes everywhere, so it’s easy to find Ofo bike, when compared to the Orange bikes which provided by another bike-sharing provider, Mobike.

Both of us didn’t understand why we only pay 1RMB for the first trip, and they never charge again until the last trip on the last day before we return to Jakarta. That means, we only pay IDR 2K to use this bicycle from day 3 to day 7. That’s amazing! Woohoo!! I think maybe this is a promotion for new users, maybe.
PS: Don’t forget to claim a refund for the deposit after you finished using the bicycle.

From what we experienced in Shanghai, OFO bike really makes our short city trips more convenient than walking from one point to another. I can save more time, and save unnecessary train costs. So far, Ofo bike is the most comfortable to ride around in Shanghai.

How to rent & use OFO Bike in Shanghai (China)?
1. install OFO Bike sharing apps from the App Store or Google Play on your phone.
2. sign up with your phone number, and fill in the verification code sent to your phone
(TIPS: If you don’t buy a sim card in Shanghai, then you can use your own mobile number. Usually, both of us left our main mobile phone number to my Mom in Law. When the verification code sent to those phone, we simply asked Mom to text us the code verification via Whatsapp).
3. Make a deposit, but don’t worry, the deposit is fully refundable at any time, and it is only 99 RMB (equal to IDR 198K) and you will have to pay RMB 1 for every 1km. However, the App gives many coupons for new users so basically you can use it for free at the beginning.
4. find a yellow bike near you, just scan the QR code using the OFO app, and it will unlock within seconds.
5. if the QR Code scan doesn’t work, you got to enter the bike number stated at the back of the bike on your app. From there, the app will give you a combination code to unlock it and voila, you have yourself an Ofo.
6. you can park the bike anywhere, as long as it doesn’t block any pathways and it’s not in the middle of the road.
7. make sure to turn the lock at the back of the wheel down to end your session.

5. For Internet Use, should I buy SIM CARD or just use WIFI in Shanghai?

For this part, it actually depends on your budget. But when I was browsing the Internet, the Sim Card in Shanghai costs a lot! I heard that if you’re looking for high-speed data on your smartphone, you can go with China Unicom, and choose to get the data package rather than pay as you go. But as usual, buying Sim Card at the Shanghai airport can be much more expensive, and we both chose to avoid the hassles and save the cost! That’s why we’re ready with WIFI Router, rented in Jakarta, and we brought the modem WIFI by ourselves to Shanghai. Yay!

Saat kemarin menyewa modem Wifi dari Java Mifi sebetulnya cukup mepet, karena kami baru menemukan website mereka siang hari tepat sebelum keberangkatan esok harinya. Dari perbandingan harga dari beberapa penyedia wifi untuk para travelers yang ingin keluar negeri, harga yang ditawarkan oleh Java Mifi termasuk bagus dan bersaing, dan kebetulan mereka sedang menyediakan harga promo. Dengan berbekal kontak Whatsapp yang tersedia di website, aku langsung menghubungi customer service-nya via Whatsapp, dan setelah mengisi data pemesanan, transfer pembayaran, pihak Java Mifi pun langsung mengirimkan modem Wifi ke alamat kami sore harinya. Fiuuuh! Aman deh.. Ha-ha..

Total pocket MIFi China 15-21 Sept 2017::
(7 hari x 59.000/hari promo) + 500.000 deposit= Rp. 913.000,-

Dalam perhitungan ini, berarti aku hanya membayar data internet sebesar Rp. 59.000,- per hari!

Pihak Java Mifi sangat responsif 24 jam di Whatsapp, bahkan saat WIFI kami mengalami kendala tidak bisa online ke internet ketika tiba di Bandara Shanghai. Kami hanya menunggu sekitar 5-10 menit dan wifi pun sudah aktif bisa digunakan. Usai pemakaian, modem Wifi pun dijemput oleh petugas yang sudah standby menunggu kami di arrival gate dan 2 hari kemudian, depositnya sudah dikembalikan ke rekening kami. Pola kerjanya rapi, thanks Java Mifi!

Akan tetapi, jangan heran bila kalian melakukan browsing dengan menggunakan VPN untuk mengakses situs sosial media, koneksi internet akan terasa lambat sekali dikarenakan kebijakan pemerintah China terhadap beberapa website yang sebetulnya diblokir tersebut. Namun, bila kalian mengakses website regular di China, seperti Baidu, Weibo, dan lain-lain, koneksi internetnya malah sangat cepat sekali.

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Author: myfunfoodiary

Myfunfoodiary as Indonesian Food and Travel Blog was born in July 2012 and has become one of the valuable online source for locals, tourists, food enthusiasts and industry professionals. It is a Jakarta based Food and Travel Blog managed by Mullie Marlina, a young, lovely, cheerful and blessed wife who loves to share her culinary and travel experiences through her writing. You’ll find her honest reviews, valuable suggestions, objective ratings and recommendation of eateries in Jakarta and selected cities in Indonesia and abroad. Her curated restaurant reviews are based on her meticulous inquiries and her rich dining experience in various restaurants in Jakarta. She has also traveled to different cities and countries where she finds interesting and inspiring dishes, cuisines and excellent dining ambience which she also included in the list. From recommendations, restaurant experiences, events, travel destinations, and recipes, readers will find anything food related in this website. She would really appreciate your feedback, and would love to hear about any suggestions, events regarding food, or just to drop in to say "Hi". Again, thank you so much for dropping by, and she hopes you enjoy reading her journal. Thank you so much for all your supports! God bless you! ^_^

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