Tourism, 16 nights in China, how much money?

[Silent]

I suspect Shanghai summer is similar to Australia with it's horrible moisture.

I always thought Australia is horribly dry.....

[imron]

Australia, like China, is a big country. Saying Australia is horribly dry is like saying Europe is horribly dry (actually Australia has a land mass approximately double the size of Europe).

The reality is, some parts are dry, some parts are humid. You can't really have a one-size fits all description to describe it.

[Igor Antunov]

Out of curiosity, what's the difference between 38 degrees celcius in Europe vs 38 degrees celcius in Australia?

Huge difference. Just add another 20 european degrees to that australian 38. It's got somethign to do with the awful moisture infused outback air.

So where does the not being a typical tourist come in?

Everything in-between. No guides, no cameras, no itinerary, no private transport, no staying in posh hotels, no eating in posh restaurants.

But it's good to know that if I ever go to Australia, I'll have to do that if I want to be considered "upper class"

You'll have to do it to avoid being stinky. A night out on the town in sydney during summer = perspiration out the ass.

[icebear]

The last thing I want to be is a typical tourist

No guides, no cameras, no itinerary, no private transport, no staying in posh hotels, no eating in posh restaurants.

In that case, I have no idea how you plan to legitimately spend 15,000 RMB in two weeks (after housing and transport).

[Silent]

Australia, like China, is a big country.

My remark was more meant as sarcasm towards the lack of nuance from Igor. Australia is mostly known for it's deserts (though much of it is more like savanne) and to my knowledge it is the driest continent. So claiming that Australian summer is horribly moisture sounds a bit silly to me.

[jkhsu]

Everything in-between. No guides, no cameras, no itinerary, no private transport, no staying in posh hotels, no eating in posh restaurants.

In that case, I have no idea how you plan to legitimately spend 15,000 RMB in two weeks (after housing and transport).

A few places that I can think of where that amount of money can be spent legitimately... but you'd still have to do this excessively if you only have 16 days to spend it.

1. KTVs with hostesses (but only the legit part)

2. Spa treatments at posh hotels

3. Golf (non-member walk on, championship level course)

4. Getting sick and going to an International hospital for treatment without insurance

[jbradfor]

5. Going to tea houses with pretty girls that ask you to join them for tea

6. Buying art from "art students"

[Igor Antunov]

and to my knowledge it is the driest continent. So claiming that Australian summer is horribly moisture sounds a bit silly to me.

90% of the Australian population live in cities on the coast.

5. Going to tea houses with pretty girls that ask you to join them for tea

6. Buying art from "art students"

How do people fall for this? One would have to willingly avoid any research on the country they're visiting. Quite a feat in my opinion. But more importantly, once suckered in, why do they pay? To save face? I didn't think westerners cared much for face. Or maybe most tourists are just scared crybabies.

In Xi'an, we went into a cafe, and the owner charged us 'special' foreigner rates on his coffee, up to 90 yuan/cup. And it was clearly the worst coffee ever. We just gave ourselves a discount, 5 yuan for each coffee, and walked out all the while accusing him of having insulted us greatly. The man's face was so red in shame he couldn't even look at us. There was a pathetic forced smile on his expression and he kept kowtowing. Maybe he was afraid I was going to pay the police outside 5,000 to arrest his arse and close his illegitimate business down.