China strives to lure foreign tourists, but it's a hard sell for some

It's not only the payment problems but it is the chance of being arbitrarily arrested and accused of espionage or getting caught there in the next pandemic that scares people. And then there is the issue of whether the air is safe to breathe and the food safe to eat, will the safety features actually work in case of, say, fire and so on. And then on top of that, is the beer watered down? Can we really be sure we are getting what we think we are getting? China advertises its duplicity and untrustworthiness everyday when its spokesminions get up to pontificate and patronise.

Been there many times. One of the most interesting places to visit. It has a lot of history (more than most countries), great food and friendly people.

Add in the diversities of climate, landscape, culture, cuisine, etc. China is much cheaper to travel in than Japan, much cheaper.

Paying for anything in China if you are a foreign visitor is truly difficult. Unlike every other Asian nation I have visited, you cannot exchange dollars for Yuen at any bank. In Shanghai the one and only bank that would exchange our US Dollars was the Bank of China on the Bund. The only place I found that took our US Visa cards were Starbucks. Every place else we had to either have cash or a Chinese bank card. We could not get money from Chinese ATMs either. Those also required a Chinese bank card.

Another PITA was China doesn't or at least didn't allow foreigners to rent and drive a car. To drive anything, even an electric scooter, you had to have a Chinese drivers license and to get that you had to prove residence with some official documentation from where you live. That forces you to use public transportation, which if you are not a resident and know which bus runs where can be a challenge.

The last thing that we didn't do but were supposed to was to register with the police wherever we stayed. Our relatives looked at me with big wide eyes asking "you want to go into a police station? Are you crazy?". As far as they were concerned all the police wanted was your money. Pay the "red envelope" ( bribe ) and we leave you alone. We never registered as we were supposed to but the whole time I was there my gut was churning with worry. We hired a driver for some trips and he was very nice but it cost a lot. Still, no way to do a big shopping trip using a bus. Being prohibited from renting a car really limited us. So China isn't the easiest place to visit.

Right DT, because China has ditched cash and has adopted digital transactions. Set up your AliPay with your non Chinese credit card before you enter China and enjoy ultimate convenience. 

Use public transportation or cheap Didi ride share. If you want to complain about something I guess you will find a way. Ebikes for getting around a city works fine with AliPay although if you are traveling in Shanghai as you suggested it has a subway system which matched the subway system in Tokyo.

We have reached fan fiction. What an imagination!

 Our relatives looked at me with big wide eyes asking "you want to go into a police station? Are you crazy?". As far as they were concerned all the police wanted was your money. Pay the "red envelope"

Anyone who wants to visit a communist dictatorship needs to have their head examined.

So China isn't the easiest place to visit.

China does have subways, trains, planes, ferries. Sidewalks.

My parents visited China, twice, in the 1970's.

They were not Marxist cadres either, just Mum and Dad going on a holiday.

And I guess, using /exchanging Chinese Yuan would be problematic in the USA {see comment above }

China is something of a "newbie " in the mass travel, single traveler going where they want , space.

Give it time.

I havent been, not for any of the scaremongering reasons listed by posters here.

But I have meet many Chinese people at a personal level...good people.

My Kung Fu teacher is probably the wisest, most significant man I have ever met.

"I didn't expect to feel so safe," said Carvalho, who visited Shanghai. "Everyone is so kind."

Shanghai particularly is safe and the people are overall polite and friendly.

Anything Tokyo, Singapore, or Seoul have can basically be found in Shanghai.

{getting up from floor after reading Zibala's comment }

Well said Zibala.

So not everywhere foreign is actually foreign to you.

China strives to lure foreign tourists, but it's a hard sell for some

Particularly for those who have no interest in visiting a horrific totalitarian dystopia where they may be arrested, hit with an exit ban, and subjected to "residential surveillance at a designated location" (= torture) for completely arbitrary reasons, all at the whim of the Emperor.

Strange that, isn't it?

deanzaZZRToday 11:00 am JST

Set up your AliPay with your non Chinese credit card before you enter China and enjoy ultimate convenience.

Ultimate totalitarian surveillance. Where do I sign up?

MoonrakerToday 07:56 am JST

And then on top of that, is the beer watered down?

It's far worse than that, I'm afraid:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-67191242

Tsingtao: Video shows Chinese beer worker urinating into tank

Never been to China, but would love to have had the experience. I regret not having traveled in East Asia. Had a chance with Uncle Sam, but turned him down.

Of course, one can't help but be afraid of arbitrary arrest and harassment, but I have traveled in dictatorships before. Makes for some exciting stories, if one is lucky enough to survive. Getting yelled at by East German border guards at Checkpoint Charlie certainly got my pulse raised. The folly of youth, that it thinks it is indestructible. I traveled hundreds of miles in the old East Germany on trains. Not exactly fun, but certainly educational. Seeing life in a dictatorship first hand is different from reading about it, or watching a film about it. The only people who would talk with me, the whole time, were official guards. I think China is probably better than the old East Germany, for tourists.

Go to China if you wish, plenty to visit and sure an amazing history and culture.

But it is like Cuba, I prefer to put my money to change the world to a better one.