Decent hotel - could mean different things for different people. But my best stab at that would be the Sheraton in taipa. Newish and relatively inexpensive. Lots of kids though.

Stable Internet in Macau doesn't exist in my opinion. Maybe someone else thinks otherwise and can make a recommendation.

PLO only at Wynn at this time. Good luck!

- PLO @ Wynn has been kicking it pretty good
- 2/5 at Venetian/City of Dreams has been somewhat ok
- Hotel wise Toro had a good suggestion, otherwise holiday Inn Macau Central is $150ish a night, not great but works well for proximity, if money no object COD/Wynn have sweet rooms.

Let me know if anyone wants to grab a beer, normally chilling at OTT/After 5 in tapia

How has the Chinese stock market plunge and the devaluation of the yuan, impacted everyday life there and the esl market, from what you guys on the ground there have seen?

A bit quiet but not sure how correlated it is to the market plunge. I'd say will be more clear after more time

I'll be in Macau September 29-October 3rd.... staying at the sheraton macau. If you got time i'll buy a couple rounds.. I usually play 10/20 @ Commerce in Los Angeles, looking to find similar or slightly bigger NL games.

Hey guys,

have couple of question.


1)If I want to come to China, what the best Visa I should get if I look to stay a couple of month?

2)I can fly to Guangzhou the easiest, would you recommend staying in that city? How are the living expenses there?

3)How easy can i get something like utility bill to set up pokeraccounts?


Thanks!

4) Is it easy to get a bankaccount in China?

1) start with tourist visa and contact a visa agency to arrange a 3 month Business visa for you, you should expect to be paying ~2500RMB for the latter

2) no idea

3) you can use the bank statement you receive when you open an account, or the Alien Registration Form you get at the police station

4) very easy if you find a clerk that speaks English, all you need is your passport and your Chinese home address. China Merchants Bank is good

Keep in mind you probably can't use your bank account to deposit/withdrawal funds for poker sites and Skrill/Neteller won't work if you register Stars to your CHinese address

Thanks a lot !!

How are living expenses general in China? I guess this might be a stupid question given its such a huge country. But if someone could compare somewhat to Thailand would be nice!

Definitely more expensive than Thailand, even Tier2 cities. Especially if you enjoy going out to "foreigner bars" to drink and eating foreign food a lot. If you pay ~100THB for a Singha in a random bar, you likely pay around 200THB for a Tsingdao in China in a similar bar. 7/11's and its beer are very cheap though. A 90-120THB plate of foreign food costs around 280-450THB in China. Rent is probably ~double. Taxis and local food are still cheap and about the same. Gyms can be insanely overpriced.

Prices went up dramatically over the past ~5 years or so. Partially because the exchange rate got way worse, but also just because everything got more expensive and more international/foreigner things popped up everywhere.

Fwiw I'm comparing Chiang Mai with Chengdu, so the difference might not be as bad if you lived somewhere considerably more expensive in Thailand. China is definitely not cheap anymore though unless you are okay with becoming a local and don't go out a lot.

Thanks a lot for the detailed answers!

If you're gonna stay for a couple of months, I'd recommend Zhuhai over Guangzhou. It's cheaper, less polluted, has a good vibe and its right next to Macau. In terms of Thailand, it's like the poor man's Phuket.

I don't think you can legally rent a place with a Z or business visa so don't plan on getting any utility bills to prove your residence. To deposit on Stars, I used a Chinese bank account ----> Astropay Card ------> Pokerstars. It took awhile but it worked nicely. No utility bills required. Good luck!

I'd choose zhuhai over Guangzhou as well.

Mh but Syndrom said I can use stuff I get from the bankaccount for proof of residence?
Also he said I need Chinese home adress for the bankaccount, feel like hotel is not working for that?

You don't need proof, just an address at hand in Chinese.

And yeah I've registered at several networks with my bank statement + alien registration form.

I did all this 5 years ago so maybe some things changed, but I highly doubt it.

A friend of mine just opened a China Merchants account a few weeks back with his passport and an address on his phone.

my friend said as a foreigner you will always get invited to nightclubs and dont have to pay a single $ for drinks. is that true? or only if you know the right people/promoter? but i heard this from different sources already..

This isn't the case anymore in cities like Beijing/Shanghai and it's also starting to get less and less frequent in Tier2 cities like Chengdu ime. Unless maybe you are far out of the city centre. 4-5 years ago it was still incredibly standard to just walk into a club and get invited left and right by Chinese guys to drink with them. Or clubs would just offer you free booze as soon as you walk through the door. Nowadays it's not happening as much anymore and if you get a bottle it's fake formaldehyde crap anyway. But you get the same poison if you pay for it, so no biggie. Some clubs even go as far to actually promote free alcohol for all foreigners to get them over there and get a more "prestige" image. But the Chinese are slowly starting to learn that foreigners in China are actually just bums.

I presume what you heard is still very much the case in more urban cities though. Because there are so little foreigners and it's still special.

Are you a hot girl? If not no. Sometimes it happens, earlier this week a guy gave me 6 shots of tequila. But it's certainly not something you should count on. Moreover, going out to bars in China is about as expensive or more expensive than going out in the US. The cheapest beer I've found in a bar is Tiger for 25rmb ($4~).

Any suggestions where to find apartments in Zhunai?

Dont want to sign a 6 month+ contract....

You can also just sign a 1yr contract and accept losing the 1month deposit fee when you move out too soon. Your monthly rent will be a lot cheaper than when/if you find some sort of short term deal.

Possible to find like 40-50m² with kitchen for 500$ there in Zhuhai?

Really depends on the city re alcohol. Xiamen is free alcohol for foreigners at just about every club. Alcohol is obviously fake. A few places in Guangdong are still free alcohol as well, but it's getting more rare.

I'm not familiar with prices in Zhuhai but I think you should be able to find a place that small for <$300

Awesome, thanks for all the infos !