Tilmann

Building software. Working in tech. Learning Mandarin.

[Tilmann @tilmannschatz]

Going to China? 🇨🇳

Just spent a month there. Travel learnings + tips from the last month.

I know y’all are lazy so here’s the whole guide in one post. Copy it into your AI with your cities + dates let it do it's thing.

1/ 💳 Payments & maps
Alipay + WeChat. Bind a real card to both before you fly. Some merchant QRs are Alipay-only, some WeChat-only. Have both ready.

Use Amap Global. Maps, navigation and finding food places. Ride-hailing is the tricky part and stopped working for me (asks for chinese number). Use Didi inside Alipay. Pickup code = last 4 digits of the number shown in the app. Learn them or show the screen.

2/ 🍜 Food delivery
淘宝闪购 worked with my German number. Taobao Flash / Shangou / Flash Shopping are the same product, formerly https://t.co/ZWc1zn4nfh. Other food apps failed on my GER number.

Text the driver that you can’t speak Chinese. They usually won’t call if you already told them. At hotels, ask for robot delivery. Drivers often hand food to the robot or reception and it comes to your room 🤖

3/ 🛂 Arrival
Use the official China Immigration / NIA 12367 arrival card. Fill it about 72h before landing, not weeks early. Free. Save the QR.

At immigration they take your passport, fingerprints and may ask a few questions. Have your first mainland hotel booked, a rough plan and departure date. I had 2 of 4 cities booked. Forgot it? You can still complete it at immigration.

4/ 🏨 Hotels
Your passport gets checked/copied at check-in. Normal. For smaller hotels, confirm they accept international guests before booking.

Staff were incredibly helpful. They helped with WeChat/Alipay attraction bookings, delivery drivers, robot deliveries and Didi calls. Hospitality was 10/10.

5/ 🚇 Metro
Alipay → Transport → city → metro QR. Scan in and out. Skip the local Apple Wallet card for a short trip.

Bags go through scanners. Security varies by city. Hangzhou sometimes made me taste/scan water bottles. Shanghai was quick and easy.

6/ 🥢 Restaurants
Table mini apps can be janky. Sit down and actually give them a minute to load. Ask for WiFi. Password is surprisingly often 88888888. Eight is lucky.

No translate button? Use your own AI on cellular. Chinese WiFi can break Google/ChatGPT. No menu, only photos? Photograph the dish and ask your AI what it probably is. Cutlery is sometimes in a drawer under the table.

7/ 🚶 Queues
Elevators, escalators, tourist lines, hotel reception: take your spot. If you leave a gap, someone may take it. Stand a little closer than you’re used to in Europe. You’ll adapt.

8/ 📱 Data / WiFi
NordVPN failed for me, so I refunded it. Airalo eSIM via Singapore ran WhatsApp, FaceTime, ChatGPT, Claude, YouTube and X.

Still use hotel WiFi for Chinese apps/downloads. Remember:
Hotel WiFi = usually behind the firewall
International travel eSIM = Western apps still work

9/ 🏯 Attractions, breakfast & crowds
Be early for gardens, temples and major attractions. Less heat, fewer people.

Crowds are thickest at entrances, first shops and obvious photo spots. Walk further in and it often thins out a lot.

If you’re alone at breakfast, make it obvious you’re coming back. Staff are FAST and may clear your food ����

Carry your passport for museums and ticketed attractions.

10/ ☀️ Weather & clothes
AUGUST advice: even cloudy = serious UV. Sunscreen, UV umbrella, cap, sunglasses and water.

I basically lived in shorts, T-shirts, short socks and running shoes. Wide linen pants if you want long trousers. Skip a normal jacket. Real rain jacket only if needed.

11/ 🚽 Toilets
After the toilet revolution, fewer squat toilets than I expected, especially in big-city malls and international hotels. Many places have both. Carry tissues.

In Amap search:
厕所 = cèsuǒ
洗手间 = xǐshǒujiān

Rural areas and some parks can still be different.

12/ 💧 Most important fact
Water bottles are filled to the LAST drop.

Open carefully or get wet lol.

Amazing country, great people, and insane hospitality! 🇨🇳

[Tilmann @tilmannschatz]

@wholemars Yea but the question is when and what does it mean for future business models

[Tilmann @tilmannschatz]

> Bought more cryptos over the last 2 years
> Gamble on it being in GTA 6 somehow
> No cryptos in GTA 6
> Prices rise before release anyways
> Profit

[Tilmann @tilmannschatz]

I will test this out and report back

[Liam @liam_fallen]

I made a Grok Bot that makes you invisible online.

It hunts down your personal info and removes it.

→ Finds where it’s exposed
→ Submits removal requests
→ Confirms your data was removed
→ Escalates requests that were ignored

I built it for myself.

You can use it too.

Link below 👇

[Grok Bot @bot]

Three SpaceXAI employees are building a company in 3 days with Grok Bot. This is Day 1.

Matt Palmer (@mattyp), Lauren Tan (@poteto), and Roshan Sadanani (@roshan_s) start with research, a plan, and a product.

Live now, plus sessions for engineering, product, and founders.

https://t.co/eV3Tfd5Bf2

[Tilmann @tilmannschatz]

We really got Edit Open Orders before Widgets bruhh who asked for this

[Trade Republic @traderepublic]

New feature. Edit Open Orders.

-- Change price, quantity or validity without canceling and re-placing the order. 

-- Keep your order history clean. 

-- Try it in mobile app or in the Web Terminal.

Update your app. Visit https://t.co/8v43T0avc7

[Tilmann @tilmannschatz]

You cannot be serious, @ZEISS_Group.

To keep using their camera I have to manually agree to some Europoor regulation BS or they’ll revoke access to the app lmaoo

Stop wasting my time and improve your app UI first. It looks like it’s from the 2010s!

[Tilmann @tilmannschatz]

It also means 10 cold-gas nozzles fed by 1 large composite tank!

[Tesla @Tesla]

Go for launch

[Tilmann @tilmannschatz]

@WrittenChinese

Your dictionary is down! ☹️

[Tilmann @tilmannschatz]

Yes I use my LLM Wiki for that

[Akshay Kothari @akothari]

Own your context. Rent the intelligence.

You (and your team) likely use multiple agents to get work done. The key is to keep building and owning the shared context between them. It makes every agent you use sharper, and you can carry it with you to whatever agent you try next.

Agents will come and go. Your context should compound!

[Tilmann @tilmannschatz]

@Tesla is u ok? 🥲

[Tilmann @tilmannschatz]

Honestly the iPhone Duo price isn't too bad

[Tilmann @tilmannschatz]

@larsencc @bot Since this morning and doesn't go away.

And yes I restarted everything.

[Tilmann @tilmannschatz]

Astra is actually unusable on the Chat GPT Plus plan. I'm still on the prompt from yesterday morning and hit the 5 hour limit for the 6th time (yes the math is mathing because I used 2 resets!)
Anyways I'll report back soon and will upgrade to the Pro Plan to test more.

[Tilmann @tilmannschatz]

Really enjoying Yuanni Wan’s Mandarin channel. His speak and type first approach as well as the reminder not to obsess over perfect tones or handwriting from day one has made learning Chinese feel much less overwhelming for me. Absolute legend!

If you’re learning Mandarin, check him out:
https://t.co/CtmXWx8cbe

[Tilmann @tilmannschatz]

Grok experiencing issues rn

Ok so I switch to Codex -> error 404

Ok Claude Code -> overloaded we are trying again 3/10...

What's happening

[Tilmann @tilmannschatz]

@jilyannori Thanks!

[Tilmann @tilmannschatz]

Going to China? 🇨🇳

Just spent a month there. Travel learnings + tips from the last month.

I know y’all are lazy so here’s the whole guide in one post. Copy it into your AI with your cities + dates let it do it's thing.

1/ 💳 Payments & maps
Alipay + WeChat. Bind a real card to both before you fly. Some merchant QRs are Alipay-only, some WeChat-only. Have both ready.

Use Amap Global. Maps, navigation and finding food places. Ride-hailing is the tricky part and stopped working for me (asks for chinese number). Use Didi inside Alipay. Pickup code = last 4 digits of the number shown in the app. Learn them or show the screen.

2/ 🍜 Food delivery
淘宝闪购 worked with my German number. Taobao Flash / Shangou / Flash Shopping are the same product, formerly https://t.co/ZWc1zn4nfh. Other food apps failed on my GER number.

Text the driver that you can’t speak Chinese. They usually won’t call if you already told them. At hotels, ask for robot delivery. Drivers often hand food to the robot or reception and it comes to your room 🤖

3/ 🛂 Arrival
Use the official China Immigration / NIA 12367 arrival card. Fill it about 72h before landing, not weeks early. Free. Save the QR.

At immigration they take your passport, fingerprints and may ask a few questions. Have your first mainland hotel booked, a rough plan and departure date. I had 2 of 4 cities booked. Forgot it? You can still complete it at immigration.

4/ 🏨 Hotels
Your passport gets checked/copied at check-in. Normal. For smaller hotels, confirm they accept international guests before booking.

Staff were incredibly helpful. They helped with WeChat/Alipay attraction bookings, delivery drivers, robot deliveries and Didi calls. Hospitality was 10/10.

5/ 🚇 Metro
Alipay → Transport → city → metro QR. Scan in and out. Skip the local Apple Wallet card for a short trip.

Bags go through scanners. Security varies by city. Hangzhou sometimes made me taste/scan water bottles. Shanghai was quick and easy.

6/ 🥢 Restaurants
Table mini apps can be janky. Sit down and actually give them a minute to load. Ask for WiFi. Password is surprisingly often 88888888. Eight is lucky.

No translate button? Use your own AI on cellular. Chinese WiFi can break Google/ChatGPT. No menu, only photos? Photograph the dish and ask your AI what it probably is. Cutlery is sometimes in a drawer under the table.

7/ 🚶 Queues
Elevators, escalators, tourist lines, hotel reception: take your spot. If you leave a gap, someone may take it. Stand a little closer than you’re used to in Europe. You’ll adapt.

8/ 📱 Data / WiFi
NordVPN failed for me, so I refunded it. Airalo eSIM via Singapore ran WhatsApp, FaceTime, ChatGPT, Claude, YouTube and X.

Still use hotel WiFi for Chinese apps/downloads. Remember:
Hotel WiFi = usually behind the firewall
International travel eSIM = Western apps still work

9/ 🏯 Attractions, breakfast & crowds
Be early for gardens, temples and major attractions. Less heat, fewer people.

Crowds are thickest at entrances, first shops and obvious photo spots. Walk further in and it often thins out a lot.

If you’re alone at breakfast, make it obvious you’re coming back. Staff are FAST and may clear your food 😭

Carry your passport for museums and ticketed attractions.

10/ ☀️ Weather & clothes
AUGUST advice: even cloudy = serious UV. Sunscreen, UV umbrella, cap, sunglasses and water.

I basically lived in shorts, T-shirts, short socks and running shoes. Wide linen pants if you want long trousers. Skip a normal jacket. Real rain jacket only if needed.

11/ 🚽 Toilets
After the toilet revolution, fewer squat toilets than I expected, especially in big-city malls and international hotels. Many places have both. Carry tissues.

In Amap search:
厕所 = cèsuǒ
洗手间 = xǐshǒujiān

Rural areas and some parks can still be different.

12/ 💧 Most important fact
Water bottles are filled to the LAST drop.

Open carefully or get wet lol.

Amazing country, great people, and insane hospitality! 🇨🇳

[Tilmann @tilmannschatz]

Comes in handy!

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

We’re giving all @Grok @Bot users another free reset on token usage