If you plan on going to Chongqing and you can’t speak Chinese, the Hilton Hotel is a great place to stay.  You will be greeted by a friendly staff that can speak English and served by many pleasant employees.  The hotel is clean and the service is great.  The rooms are also pretty good for the price.  It’s a 5 star hotel.  I was there a number of times so I got to know the staff including the managers.  I even knew a number of bands that played in their lounge that came from the Philippines as well. 

Some of the things you might not know about the Hilton Hotel in Chongqing is that they have a KTV bar downstairs that is also a brothel.  You go there, you sing, and there are girls that come to your room to entertain.  I was with my girlfriend there, so we didn’t stay long.  So, if you are interested in that type of thing, you know that it’s available at the Hilton Hotel in Chongqing. 

Another thing that was disturbing was the windows could actually open enough so that someone could fit through them at any level of the building.  Well, one night, someone actually jumped out of their window and landed just outside my friend’s window.  He was hurt, but was able to make it to the hospital to fully recover.  This is just a warning to be careful if you plan on staying overnight at the Hilton Hotel in Chongqing. 

Nightlife in Chongqing is something that is definitely fun and exciting when you first arrive.  Everything is new, all of the neon lights perform their own light shows, and you don’t know what to expect.  The bar scene in Chongqing is fun because there are a variety of bars you can try that have their own unique look and feel.  Foreigners are welcome to all of the bars.  There are even nights where foreigners can drink all they want for free.  The best part of going to the clubs is watching live bands play.  It’s nice to see the Chinese bands play, but they are no where as good as the bands from the Philippines.  They have the experience and talent to give a good performance.  You will find bands from the Philippines in hotels, bars, and even jazz clubs.  You don’t really know they are around until you go in and see.  Most of the hotels you can stay in that are international have a band from the Philippines.  These bands usually consist of a sequencer and two singers.  Sometimes the singers can play their own instruments, but there usually isn’t enough room for them to do that.  I’ve seen Filipino bands as big as six playing in a salsa bar.  The songs they sing are catchy, so it makes for an enjoyable night. 

The Lady’s Market in Hong Kong is also known as Tung Choi Street. If you want to shop for souvenirs or any kind of fakes, then this is a good place to start looking. The fakes can include watches, clothes, hand bags, and any other kind of items you may find there. Each stall is open for everyone. Just about everyone who tries to sell you products can speak English, so bargaining for a price is easy. The prices are high for the items that are being sold, probably due to having so many foreigners shopping there. If you want to compare prices, you can buy a hand bag in Chongqing for 50 RMB and a similar hang bag at the Lady’s Markey for about HK$150. That’s three times the price. The shop owners don’t really like to sell their products for low prices, so you have to really work hard to get the prices you want. You will find similar items in different shops throughout the Lady’s Market. Keep bargaining for the lowest price and then move onto the next shop to see if you can get it lower. There should be a common minimum price if you keep bargaining at a few different places. If you haven’t shopped in China before, be prepared to be over charged if you don’t bargain for a reasonable price. The shop owners are trying to make as much money as they can. Try to enjoy bargaining for the price because you can’t do that everywhere in the world.

When traveling abroad, you still have to worry about paying your bills from your home country. One of the safest things you can do in case someone needs to access your account while you are away is sign a family member to power of attorney. With this, they can access your bank accounts to pay bills or your money if it is needed while you are away. I had a different bank account with Royal Bank of Canada and TD Canada Trust. I had to sign the papers with my family member before the papers could be processed.

While overseas, I haven’t had to ask my family member to access my account. I made sure that I set up my online banking before I left so I could pay all of my bills while overseas. It is a good idea to figure out the options available before you leave the country so you can get immediate assistance and help with any problems you may encounter.

Another important thing to figure out is how you will take money out of the bank while you are abroad. My debit cards allow me to withdraw money from the ATM’s at certain banks across China. I have to look for the Plus or Visa sign before I can take out my money. You can have a look at your own bank card to see if you have the Plus sign. Before I withdraw money, I calculate the exchange rate because that affects the amount of money I can put in my pocket. It costs $5 to take out money, so I try to withdraw as much as I can to save on the banking fees.