Internet Access and VPN in China

For citizens of the following countries, the visa is not requested for short term stays : - 90 days: Bosnia and Herzegovina, San Marino - 60 days: Mauritius - 30 days: Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Ecuador, Fiji, Grenada, Qatar, Serbia, Seychelles, Tonga, United Arab Emirates. - 15 days: Brunei, Japan, Singapore. Holders of passports issued by the following 49 countries do not require a visa for a 144-hour stay if they are transiting through Qingdao Airport. However, passengers need to provide ticket showing their first destination, which should be outside China, nor could it be in the same country as the inbound flight. - All European Union citizens, Albania, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Iceland, Japan, Macedonia, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, Qatar, Russia, South Korea, Switzerland, Ukraine, United States. - Messengers who enter China by Qingdao Airport cannot leave Shandong province during the transiting period. .

Due to the Internet policy of China, certain websites and applications are not accessible from the mainland, which includes those very commonly used in the west (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google, Skype and more). Some travellers have been able to gain access to those via a VPN service (installed prior to arrival in China). Make sure you comply with local laws and regulations when deciding on whether or not to employ a VPN, and which one to choose (if you do, only use those explicitly allowed by the Chinese government, and only use them for authorised purposes to avoid any trouble). There have been reports of foreigners in China getting their cell service cut off in response to unauthorised use of VPN being detected; restoring cell service required a trip to the local police station where contents of the device were investigated and certain apps removed. Giving that Google is banned in China, Google Maps might not be the most accurate and reliable source of information. Some local apps such as Baidu Maps and AutoNavi tend to work better than Google Maps.

Qingdao is a coastal city, which makes the best months to visit Qingdao July and August. A latitude of around 37° means means summers never get too hot. In June, the temperature starts to rise but the sea might still be a little cold for swimming.

Qingdao Railway Station is located in the western part of Qingdao, near the Zhanqiao Pier. The rail ticket office is in service from 04:30 to 22:30. Tickets can be booked five days in advance. Qingdao is accessible with the bus network, maintained by 187 routes and 3,700 buses which run on the roads. Most of the buses are ticket-seller free and accept IC cards. The fare is generally 2RMB. Qingdao subway system has 4 lines in running. Passengers are recommended to buy a one day ticket for 15 RMB or a three days pass for 35 RMB.

Country code: +86 Area code: 532

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