Social Life

Night Life
With the growth of the Chinese middle class along with the booming economy, the nightlife in China's cities is vibrant and exciting. The bigger urban centres such as Beijing Shanghai and Hong Kong have bars and clubs that would rival most European cities. This is in part thanks to their large expat communities and years for foreign influence.

It has to be said that even the smaller cities (small by Chinese standards) have sizeable expat communities that have regular activities and organised events, usually centred around their most popular local watering holes.
There is no shortage of Chinese bars but the variety of tipples available can be quite small as the Chinese don’t usually drink mixed drinks and wines. On the plus side China’s most popular beer Tsingtao is arguably one of the best beers in Asia, one to even rival the much loved Beer Lao, and another pull factor for foreigners to China is that Tsingtao can be bought from street sellers for a price often lower than that of bottled water…!

Live entertainment comes in the form of karaoke, which is hugely popular in the eastern parts of Asia. Karaoke rooms being available for private groups, live entertainment is usually a female singer who will sing everything from Chinese songs to Chinese versions of original western hits, you may even get English versions if you are lucky…

Activities

Other Activities for the less active there are pastimes such as Chinese language study, Chinese medicine, acupuncture, brush painting and music, all of which have training outlets in every major city in China.

Shopping
Friendship Stores were originally set up by the government to provide services to foreign visitors. Now, most are like any modern department store. Government stores have a reputation for honesty. Bargaining is acceptable. Most department stores are run by the state with some being run by an individual or a joint venture. The merchandise available in Chinese department stores is similar what you would expect to find in department stores anywhere in the world. Bargaining is seldom acceptable. Look for sales.

Every arts and crafts factory has a showroom where visitors can buy what is made there. Marked prices may be more expensive than similar items elsewhere but deep discounts of 40 to 50% are common. Markets are an ideal place to search for inexpensive items. You will need to be extremely careful as those name brand items just might not be genuine. They could be seconds or factory overruns. Check everything carefully. The prices are flexible and you should practise your bargaining skill there.

Antique stores run by the government are the most reliable but you can forget bargains for genuine antiques. The Chinese are very knowledgeable about their cultural heritage and it's value. Do not buy any antiques that date before 1795 as they cannot be legally exported. Make sure that the antiques you bought carry a red wax seal indicating that it is authentic and is able to be exported from China. Keep all purchase receipts, especially that of Chinese medicine herbs, antiques, gold and silver articles, jade ware and etc. You may be asked to produce these by customs when leaving China.

Bargaining is normally acceptable in most shops. Sometimes, bargaining is more enjoyable than the purchase itself.