Headworx

You have the passport and a phone with the internet on it. What is next? Translate. Unless you speak Mandarin, a language translator app in the next on the list. Language has been a barrier, but translator apps break through that barrier. Use the one you like. I use Google translate. It is prudent to download the languages for offline use. Once done you can either type or dictate (or have someone else dictate) or use camera for instant translation of signage or restaurant menus. The apps are not perfect (yet), but they do a really good job. On one of the past trips, for example, we were able to negotiate a set of medicines in a pharmacy. The pharmacist was asking many questions in Chinese, us answering in English, and ultimately the medicine worked very well. Payments. As I mentioned, China has its own preferred payment systems. Credit cards would not work in most cases. Maybe in higher end hotels. But the default means of payment is by presenting or scanning a QR code. The app I use m...