China -- Shang Simla

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China -- Shang Simla

Your first trip to China is a short three-day adventure, and after you get used to your surroundings at the hostel, you should head to the Phoenix Martial Arts Academy (Sim-Fu Academy) where you can begin your journey into Sim-Fu by practicing the art on the Practice Dummies there. After you have your basic skills drop by the General Store before you leave for home and purchase a Training Dummy or two and some Board Bricks to take home with you for further training.

After you return from your first trip to China your best next step is to set up your home dojo and work on maxing your levels in Martial Arts first. Bear in mind that using the Training Dummy is fast but causes you to be fatigued, and the Bricks also are fairly fast... You can use Meditation though, which is a lot slower, but also contributes to an achievement, and finally if you have two Sims and they both known Martial Arts, they can spar with each other to gain pretty good skill speed.

Once you have those capped, you can safely begin exploring and adventuring with at least better-than-average chance of being able to defend yourself!

Arriving in China

-- The Tombs of Shang Simla --

The Tombs are basically the dungeons ala dungeon crawls for The Sims series, and each presents a number of basic puzzles, hidden doors, traps, and potential death by Mummy attack, but also treasure, Relics, Ancient Coins, and other goodies. The first Tomb you will explore is the Halls of the Lost Army, and to help you get acclimated to this process we describe the various steps that are required to complete its exploration and obtain the goals that are associated with it and its related quest... For the remaining Tombs we are not going into that sort of detail, as figuring out the puzzles is half the fun! But if there is specific information that will help you or save you time, we will include that...

-- Halls of the Lost Army --

This Tomb is accessed by accepting the first few quests that you are offered the first few times you visit the country -- the Treasure Hunter quest specifically -- which will allow you to obtain the special item Keystone of the Neophyte. This is the only way to obtain the Symbol of the Halls of the Lost Army, which is part of the Chinese Tombs Collection -- so you are going to want to do it.

The symbol is easily found at the end of the Tomb, which is entered by stepping on the stone to reveal the stairs. As you explore the areas ahead and solve very simple puzzles to open the path you will loot some containers but fail to find the Relic you are looking for... It seems that all that blocks the way is a locked door for which you do not have the key -- but if you have one of your Sims examine the round portal in the wall you can get the door open and reach the next Keystone Lock!

Ah, but you do not have the Star-shaped Keystone... Nearby is a well that, when you dive to the bottom reveals a tunnel -- swim through that and you will find a chest with the Keystone in it. Simply return and use it -- and that leads to the end chamber with the Relic and two other chests, one of which contains the Chinese Symbol of the Halls of the Lost Army -- which you should be sure to grab!

Use the floor switch to open the secret door and exit the treasure chamber, take the stairs up and then turn in the Relic to complete the Treasure Hunter Quest!

Looking for a Floor Switch to Open the Stairs

-- Resolute Fist Retreat --

This Tomb is part of several quest lines, but you are most likely to encounter it while doing the quest for The Writings of Qin Shan Hu, but there are other quests that it factors into... Regardless of what quest line you end up flagging to bring you here, your Sim will need to have learned Martial Arts in order to be sent there.

This Tomb is one of the Tombs that is included in the Relic Collection, so if you are planning on completing that it is one that should be on your list. Among the many Relics and treasure items to be had here is the Symbol of the Resolute Fist Retreat, which you find in a hidden room inside the Tomb very near the final treasure chamber. Some care should be taken to be sure that you clear EVERY room in the Tomb because there are some good items to be had here!

The cool thing about this particular Tomb is that there is food and bathroom facilities as well as beds in the Retreat above, which makes that very useful if you happen to need rest and recovery... Now as for finding the secret stairs, after you step on the floor plate and unlock the door, it is easier to just change the view to the lowest level to reveal the hidden chamber and then select Use the Stairs to gain access.

In the Tomb entrance chamber there are some piles of rubble for you to clear, which reveal a treasure and a secret latch opening -- and there is the Keystone Lock to be used. First though use the latch to open the hidden door, which scores you a chest with some money and a Relic.

Making your way through the Tomb means using the secret latches to open the secret doors and collecting the different rewards and Relics, and being sure that you cleared each area fully. Simpatico!

-- Market Caverns --

You will be directed to this Tomb when you flag the quest A Curious Note, during which you will be able to obtain the Dong Huo Keystone -- and you gain access to the Tomb by using the hidden lever inside the small hole behind the store that sells adventuring kit in the main plaza.

There is good treasure here, some Relics, the Keystone, and the Symbol of the Market Caverns so you will want to carefully clear each chamber and room.

-- Dong Huo's Treasure Trove --

This Tomb is also accessed during A Curious Note, and you will arrive here following your exploration of the Market Caverns Tomb (which is where you obtain the Keystone for this Tomb). This is one of the treasure-rich Tombs and has a lot of collection items in it, as well as the Symbol of Dong Huo's Treasure Trove. Note that to reach the treasure room part of the puzzle requires you to obtain the four Keystones to open the locks guarding it -- but they are all in this Tomb (hence the advice to take care in clearing all chambers and rooms, natch!). When you reach the Treasure Room and you are done looting look for the hidden switch to open the secret exit.

-- Temple of Heaven --

This Tomb is part of the Pangu's Axe quests (that is how you will be introduced to it) and in fact is where the Axe is obtained! Its entrance is in one of the small outbuildings and it consists of a maze of different paths so you will need to take care to keep track of where you have gone and where you CAN go... That was a hint by the way.

In addition to some interesting Relics and treasure you will obtain The Symbol of Pangu's Haven here -- but be aware that this is an easily bugged Tomb, and if it does bug, you are basically screwed. You will know if it is bugged because your Sims will not be able to negotiate the narrower passages... As far as I know there is no fix for that and if you end up with a bugged save you will need to revert to an earlier save.

After you complete the Pangu's Axe series you will return to the Tomb as part of the In the Aid of Monks series -- that quest line was bugged for me and I could not progress it, so I will have to updare this later after a new play-through... You must complete the second part of the Tomb in order to obtain the Symbol of the Annex of the Resolute Fist.

Pangu's Axe is the trick to handling Boulders

-- Hot Springs Cave --

This is one of the Tombs that you will not access until after you have completed the quests to obtain Pangu's Axe, since its entrance is blocked by a boulder you need to break, and you cannot do that without the Axe (this is actually part of the Pangu's Axe quest line). At the end of the puzzle path after you clear away the rubble be sure you loot all three chests in the treasure room, and before you go into this Tomb be sure that your Sim is fully rested, is fed, and happy, because there is no place convenient inside for you to deploy your tent if you get tired (the hall outside of the treasure room is big enough but if you are too tired to smash the rubble you cannot deploy the tent there as it is in the way!).

Note that if you leave via the pool at the end past the treasure room that is a one-way trip, and you will have to make your way through the entire Tomb again to get back to the treasure room again.

-- Tomb of the First Emperor and the Terracotta Army --

This is one of the more cool Tombs and likely to be your favorite of the game so far! After you locate the entrance at the base of the hill and enter you will very likely have your first interaction with a Mummy (or three) so I hope you leveled your Athletic and Martial Arts Skills as suggested mates!

You obtain the Symbol of the Tomb of the First Emperor here, as well as the Dragon Spear that you are seeking, and along the way you get to experience some clever puzzles, and a wide variety of traps (remember you can disarm traps mates), and you should really try to enjoy and savor this experience, since it is clear that this is the Tomb that they gave the most Tomb Love to.

-- The Dragon's Maw --

After you acquire the Keystone of the Dragon (which is part of a long quest chain) that includes the quest Knowledge of the Past you will find yourself here, in the tomb of Dong Huo -- which is also another place you will encounter a mummy -- while you clear each chamber (be sure you search for secret doors) you will eventually obtain the Symbol of the Temple of the Dragon along with some very desirable Relics and treasure.

Searching for Excavation Sites is a good route to Relics

-- Area Quests --

Most of these quests are easy to do and offer you easy money and Visa Points -- and they are mostly fun! Bear in mind that the quest system in the game makes your objectives perfectly clear by displaying your primary goal above the status box on the dashboard, so you cannot get lost of confused.

An important aspect that you should be aware of with respect to the quest system is that while you will every so often be offered quests either by phone (you will be called by the quest giver and offered a quest) or by coming close to a quest giver causing the quest to "pop" on you, you can also flag quests at will by seeking out the bulletin board. Bulletin boards are placed strategically near your base camp/hotel/hostel, so they are not hard to find.

Something else that you should bear in mind, some quests are not very reasonable in that they ask you to do things that no rational person would do... For example one quest requires you to obtain 8 smelted Copper Ingots -- something you can only do by first traveling home, then to Egypt, hunting down the ore, then returning home, having it smelted, and then flying back to China! Another quest has you travel home and then to France to get Nectar (presuming you do not already have some at home in your wine cellar that is)... So these are not all beer and skittles I am afraid -- some require you to put in a lot of effort and money, and they only really pay off in small amounts of Ancient Coins and Visa Points...

Still, having noted that, all of the quests are worth doing, and make this a very intensely interesting and fun expansion for The Sims 3 series. You will quickly gain Visa levels by doing these quests, which makes it easier for you to stay longer and enjoy what China has to offer!

The quests that I flagged are organized below by series -- there may actually be quests that I did not get offered, so take the list that follows to be as complete as I could make it but there may be one or two I never was offered, just saying:

-- Constructing the First Emperor Mini (1 of 4) --

For this fetch quest you need to obtain two Lapis Lazuli and deliver them to Liang Yat Sen. You can either hunt for the Lapis Lazuli, or you can buy it in the shop in the market.

-- A Mini Mercurial Desire (2 of 4) --

Another mission for Liang Yat Sen, this time he needs you to obtain two raw Mercury for him -- you can hunt them down or you can buy them from his shop and give them back to him for an easy complete.

-- The Mini Emperor's Honor Guard (3 of 4) --

Another quest for Liang Yat Sen, this time he has you delivering a pair of Red Assassin Bugs to him... You will find them at specially-marked locations using the Collection Finder -- but be aware that if you have the NoMosaic file in your Mods/Packages folder it can make the bugs invisible! You will want to temporarily remove that before trying to capture them in that case.

Special locks require Keystones to open them.

-- Maintenance on the Miniature Tomb (4 of 4) --

This quest opens with a request that you deliver 8 smelted Copper Bars OR 5 pieces of Raw Mercury to Liang Yat Sen -- of course you have to actually obtain them first and that means a trip to Egypt mates, because that is where that particular metal is found! Now, as you are working a quest in China, you may just want to do a quick 2-Day trip to Egypt just to grab the metal, and then head home and have it smelted, then return to China -- yeah, I know that is a hassle, but what is the alternative?

For the Copper Bars the reward is $306, 10 Ancient Coins, and 15 Visa Points, while the reward for 5 Raw Mercury is $2,025, 10 Ancient Coins, and 15 Visa Points.

-- Learning from the Master's Palm (1 of 4) --

You are instructed to spar with Sim-Fu Master Lee Yao twice, and then return to tell of what you have learned. You will find the Master at his home in the hills (use the filter to reveal opportunities and then look for the star) -- spar with him twice to complete the required quest objective, and you will flag the follow-up quest, The Sparring Report.

-- The Sparring Report (2 of 4) --

Return to Ai Pei and report on what you learned while completing the requirements for the first part of this quest series, Learning from the Master's Palm. After you report in you flag the next quest in the series, Meditation is the Key.

-- Meditation is the Key (3 of 4) --

After reporting in you are instructed to attain Level 5 of the Martial Arts Skill (you already should have it capped actually) and then Meditate in the Scholar's Garden for two hours. As before you receive a small amount of Visa Points for completing this stage in the quest. And naturally you flag the next part of the quest series, The Writings of Qin Shan Hu!

-- The Writings of Qin Shan Hu (4 of 4) --

This quest pays off in both Visa Points and in Ancient Coins -- you have obtained the Keystone of the Ancient Monks -- and you need to do another Tomb Exploration! Fully exploring the Tomb gains you some great Relics and treasure and the Writings, and delivering those earns your Sim 200 Ancient Coins and 20 Visa Points, nice one! Bear in mind that you use the Ancient Coins for buying goods from the special dealers in each destination, so do not waste them!

-- Treasure Hunter (1 of 1) --

You receive a request from Zhan Su to meet with him at his home where he tells you that he has learned of a treasure in a nearby Tomb -- for which he supplies the key -- and the promise of a handsome reward for your aid in its recovery. Your destination for this quest is the Halls of the Lost Army Tomb. Your task is to obtain the written book.

-- A Demand for Jade (1 of 1) --

Your challenge for this quest, which is a second series for Ai Pei, is to bring him 3 pieces of Jade, which you can either obtain by collecting them, or purchase them from the Market, the cut into gems for this quest. Once you have the three Jade gems head back to turn in the quest and receive your reward of $1,092, 10 Ancient Coins, and 15 Visa Points.

A wise adventurer searches every treasure chest they encounter

-- A Quality Bottle of Nectar (1 of 1) --

You are asked by the local Liu Pei to obtain for them something that they simply cannot purchase locally -- a bottle of fine wine... Err... Nectar! Not just fine Nectar mind you, but fine FRENCH Nectar! Now personally I happen to believe that with the exception of Champagne and a handful of wines made in Bordeaux, the wines of California and Australia are every bit as desirable and tasty as those of France, but in the world of The Sims 3: World Adventures the region of the world that is France is the sole source for quality Nectar and, perhaps more significant, is the birthing point for spreading the art and magic of Nectar making to the rest of the Sim World.

Having said that, this is one of those awkward quests in that it virtually guarantees that you will have to return home and then travel on to France (unless you have some Nectar at home already -- I did not, since even though I had built a wine cellar on my starter home, I had yet to journey to France) where you can easily obtain that which is being sought. The quest served as a great excuse to make an earlier-than-anticipated visit to France, and to quickly complete the Nectar-related quest, experiment with the art of making Nectar, and bring home the kit that is required, so hey, win-win!

Once you have obtained the required bottles all that remains is to return to China and deliver them, whereupon you will receive as your reward of $718, and 15 Visa Points.

-- Telescopic Metal (1 of 4) --

You receive a phone call from Xi Yuan who is asking for you to collect 5 metals for his Telescope Project. Once you have five metal ingots (it does not matter what type they are and they do not have to be the same type) you just deliver them to receive $319 and 15 Visa Points! Oh, and you flag the next quest in the series, Pottery of Peculiar Properties.

-- Pottery of Peculiar Properties (2 of 4) --

Xi Yuan wants you to collect 2 Old Common Relics and return them. You can either use some of the Relics of that type you have already found, or just go to the Relic Dealer in the Market and buy two common ones and use those. Once you have them take them back and turn them in to obtain your reward of $1070 and 15 Visa Points, and flag the next quest in the series, Busted Parts.

-- Busted Parts (3 of 4) --

This next quest is simple enough -- you just need to deliver the Telescope parts to Ai Pei -- picking up an additional 15 Visa Points and the repaired Telescope. You also flag the next quest in the series, Repair Retrieval.

-- Repair Retrieval (4 of 4) --

Now that you have taken the parts to the shop and the Telescope has been repaired, return it to Xi Yuan and you will be rewarded with 25 Ancient Coins, $500, and an additional 15 Visa Points. You also flag the next quest in the series, Lights Out!

-- Lights Out! (1 of 1) --

Your task is to convince three locals to keep their lights off at night, for which you will be using your Charisma Skills! Simply visit three households on the map and introduce yourself, build friendship with them, and then convince them to keep their lights off. Your reward for this last quest in the series is $800, 80 Ancient Coins, and 20 Visa Points -- so well done!

-- You There! Stranger! (1 of 4) --

The objective of this quest is to explore the Dragon Cave Tomb until you are able to locate the object that Ai Pei wants -- but the item is not revealed to you, instead you are told that you need to fully explore the Tomb.

When you arrive at the Tomb you must inspect the wall to get it to lower, and then use the stairs to get in. Fully exploring the Tomb will yield all sorts of rewards, so be thorough! Bear in mind that you will not receive the Keystone of the Dragon until you flag the quest Knowledge of the Past so once that door is the only one left you should consider the Tomb explored until then...

Reporting in flags the next quest in the series, Constructing the Vision Statue.

Objects like statues are used to push on switch plates

-- Constructing the Vision Statue (2 of 4) --

This is a fairly simple fetch-quest that requires you to deliver two pieces of un-smelted Platinum to Ai Pei -- you can obtain Platinum and Mercury in China -- so just tune your Collection Helper to Rocks and hit the trail! After you deliver the two Platinum you receive $844, 25 Ancient Coins, and 15 Visa Points -- well done! You also flag the next quest in the series, Statue Construction Continues.

-- Statue Construction Continues (3 of 4) --

For this one Ai Pei needs three pieces of Lapis Lazuli, which you can either hunt down or buy in the shop, and for delivering those you receive $94, 25 Ancient Coins, and 15 Visa Points, flagging the next quest in the series, Final Touches on the Statue.

-- Final Touches on the Statue (4 of 4) --

The only task you need to perform is to deliver a Relic to Ai Pei -- if you already have one in your inventory you can deliver it straight away, which earns you the final reward and ends the quest line! So collect your $54, 25 Ancient Coins, and 15 Visa Points!

-- Confounded Boulder! (1 of 6) --

While it is not likely that this will be among the first half-dozen quests that you flag, once you do flag it you will feel a sense of joy (and relief) because this is an important quest! Completing it takes you to Pangu's Axe, a very important -- no -- critical -- tool for your Sim to possess!

The description is simple: Offer Help with Boulder to Lee Yao to lend a hand.

Once you Report In to Lee Yao, you will flag the next quest in the series, Sign My Petition?

-- Sign My Petition? (2 of 6) --

The objective is to request Boulder Smashing Approval from 3 Shang Simla locals -- basically this means making friends with them and then using your Charisma Skill to get them to approve your request. Once you have all three approvals, return to report in and incre4ase your relationship with Lee Yao, earn 25 Ancient Coins, and 15 Visa Points. You also flag the next quest, A Friendly Interview.

Rubble often conceals a secret

-- A Friendly Interview (3 of 6) --

Your next objective is to Answer Questions of Ai Pei to learn about the magic item... When you arrive you will need to make friends with Ai Pei before you can Answer Questions -- but once you are mates it is just a click of the button and you get an increase in your relationship with him and 20 Visa Points, and flag the next quest in the series, Village Valuables.

-- Village Valuables (4 of 6) --

For this quest you need to deliver 3 pieces of Lapis Lazuli to Ai Pei -- you can either hunt them down or buy them from the shop and turn them in -- either way you get $98, 25 Ancient Coins, and 15 Visa Points. You also flag the next quest in the series, Pangu's Axe!

-- Pangu's Axe (5 of 6) --

You have reached the important bit here -- it is time to head to the Temple of Heaven and begin your search for Pangu's Axe! The entrance to the Tomb is in the outbuilding -- and making your way through the Tomb is pretty straight forward, just be sure you clear every room, right? Once you have the Axe you need to leave the Tomb and deliver the Axe, whereupon you will receive your reward and flag the final quest in the series, Boulder Smash!

-- Boulder Smash! (6 of 6) --

Your task is to destroy the boulder that blocks the Temple of the Hot Springs and find the Relic within. After you break the rock you head down, dowse the flames by stepping on the switch and then once the flames are out, proceed into the Tomb and grab the Star Key Stone from the side room before continuing on through the puzzles and pools until you reach the treasure room, empty the chests and turn the quest in for $2,000, 200 Ancient Coins, and 35 Visa Points plus you now have the Axe. Good on ya!