Qī (China)

Travelling to China can be a real culture shock for ‘Western’ people like myself. It is so different to the likes of Europe and North America – which is what makes it such a big adventure – and it is useful to have some idea of what to expect before you go to make the transition easier.

There is a Confucius Institute at my work and I was able to take Mandarin and business etiquette lessons there as I was travelling for work. I became friends with my Chinese teacher and a few other people who work at the Confucius Institute and was lucky that they gave me lots of hints and tips. A couple of the girls even started a WeChat (Chinese social media) group called ‘Help Carole in China!’ and were on hand during my trip (time different allowing) to answer questions and translate things I took a photo of, if I was really stuck!

So, for my final China blog post, I have decided to help other ‘foreigners’ travelling to China to know what to expect. I’m passing on some of the knowledge from my lovely Chinese friends and also adding some things that I discovered during my time in China.

• Be prepared to be stared at

If you don’t look Chinese, you will get a lot of attention! When I first arrived in Shanghai and was completely wiped from jet lag, I went out for a walk and got fed up with people staring at me. People were literally slowing down their cars and staring out the window! However, once I’d caught up with my sleep, I didn’t mind it.

At the big tourist attractions, such as at Tiananmen Square and the Great Wall, people asked us to pose for photos with them. I found this hilarious to be a celeb and asked for them to take photos on my phone too.

The people who are most curious are likely to be Chinese tourists who have travelled to the big cities from rural area so you may be one of the first westerners you have seen. So don’t be offended or take it personally and enjoy your five minutes of fame!

We also spotted people slyly taking selfies with us and a woman sitting beside me on a train asked if she could take a selfie of the three of us and sent it to all her friends on WeChat!

When we visited Pingyao (popular with Chinese tourists), we sat out on the terrace of a bar and a guy from Holland happened to sit at the other table. It was funny watching people go past and stare wondering why the foreigners were all at this bar!

 

 

 

• The Great Firewall of China

The majority of social media platforms that we use in the Western world are blocked in China. You won’t be able to access Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Netflix or even use Google to search.

If you want to access these from China, you need a VPN which lets you change your virtual location to elsewhere in the world. I did some research and got Express VPN before leaving the UK which costs about $10 a month (but also has a one month cash money back guarantee if you cancel). The app is downloaded to my phone and iPad and I just turned it on when I was using the internet. With Express VPN, you can connect up to three devices at a time.

China have their own social media platforms such as WeChat which everyone uses to do everything from chat (like Whatsapp) to pay for things (like Apple Pay).

• Censorship

While we’re on the topic…access to some information in China is restricted.  For example, if you use Baidu (Chinese’s version of Google) to search for the Tiananmen Square massacre, results will show that it was an event made up by Western media.  Please be aware of what you are saying in China. For example, avoid topics like the massacre or human rights when chatting to people you meet.

• Register when you arrive

As a foreigner, when you arrive in China, you have certain amount of time (I think 24 hours) to register with each place you stay.  Hotels will do this for you when you check in, which is the easiest way.  We decided against Airbnbs as we’d have to find a way to register ourselves.  If you don’t register, you will be fined when you leave the country.  We almost forgot to register David as he arrived in Beijing and joined me at a hotel I’d checked into a few days earlier.  Luckily (!) his luggage had been lost in transit and we were reminded to register him with the hotel when we went to the reception to tell them his case would be delivered.  Phew!

• Taxis are hard to get

As I’ve mentioned a few times in my other blog posts, I found it very difficult to get taxis in China. This was even when I had my hotel or location written down in Chinese, often with a small map to where I was going. Once when we were in Beijing trying to get back to our hotel, the fourth taxi we flagged took us after the first three shook their head and drove away. I’ve heard that drivers don’t like short trips but in general, I think they don’t like taking foreigners. Maybe they think it is too much hassle taking someone who doesn’t speak Chinese.

Whatever the reason, it is something to be aware of. If you plan to get a taxi, allow yourself plenty of time. I had a very stressful trip to the train station in Shanghai as it took so long to get a taxi. Whenever possible, I went by metro instead as I felt I had some control over my trip.

 

• Avoid getting run over

Be careful when crossing roads in China! The green man means nothing, the roads are SO busy and there’s cars, buses, scooters and bikes coming from all directions. My tactic was waiting for the green man and manically looking in all directions while crossing! I thought I had it sussed and then a scooter went by me on the pavement!

• Expect the size of everything to be HUGE

It will probably take you a while to get your head around the scale and size of everything in China. Until you are there, you can’t appreciate just how MASSIVE the country and cities are! When I arrived, I got the metro from the airport in Shanghai to my hotel. Firstly, I couldn’t believe how long the metro took. When I arrived at the metro station, I expected my hotel to be right beside it but I’d misjudged the scale of the map and it was a 10 minute walk.

• It’s busy!

I live in Edinburgh where the population is about half a million and population of Scotland is just over five million. In contrast, the population of Shanghai is a whopping 24 million! A lot of people live in China so it is generally much busier than what I am used to. The only place that I really felt it was in Xi’an where, although the size of the city is much smaller, the population density is four times that of Beijing! If you are also from Edinburgh you’ll understand when I say it felt like the Royal Mile in August!

 

• Don’t expect bargains in malls

Unless you’ve shopping in markets and haggling, the prices in chain stores in malls are surprisingly high. Strange considering most things we buy in the UK are made in China! The only clothing store I bought stuff from was Uniqlo but when I checked the website when I got home, it would have been cheaper to buy in the UK. One shop that had lots of little bargains though was Miniso which is kind of like Tiger in Europe. They sell everything from hats to phone charging packs and prices were very reasonable.

 

• Animals

I expected to experience slightly poor animal treatment in China and was shocked a few times.  For example, live scorpions on sticks being sold as food in markets.  Instead of photos of that, here’s a photo of a very pampered pooch we spotted in Beijing!

 

• Watch some Square Dancing

I’d heard about Square dancing before I went to China – older ladies dancing together in the streets in the evenings. I was delighted to discover it was really common and spotted lots of groups of Square Dancers in Beijing and Shanghai. I loved watching them do their routines in their matching outfits! If you are in Shanghai, try to go to Fu Xing Park where lots of retired people hang out together, dancing, playing instruments, playing cards, etc. It’s a great insight into the life of retirees in China!

 

 

• Ask for student discount

If you are a student, be sure to check if attractions offer student discount. Most places seemed to offer discount for undergraduate students. David is a mature undergraduate student and got a few questioning looks but got a good discount at most places we visited.

• Watch out for scams

When I was waiting for David at the airport in Beijing, there were a few guys standing at arrivals offering people taxis for an inflated price. I couldn’t believe how many people were falling for this and paying extra instead of just going to the taxi rank, where there wasn’t even a queue. The guys seemed helpful but it was definitely a scam as they literally ran away when they saw the police walking through the airport.

I also read warnings on TripAdvisor forums about a scam where girls would approach you on the street to ask if you spoke English and invite you to join them at a tea ceremony. This will end up being really expensive and you will end up being forced to pay. We did have a couple of girls in Beijing ask us if we spoke English and we just ignored them and continued walking.

There’s also lots of people around Tiananmen Square offering to sell you a picture of yourself. Just spend a few CNY at Miniso and buy a selfie stick instead!

• Be careful with street food

As I don’t eat meat, this didn’t really bother me but if you are planning to try street food, be careful. A few people I’ve spoken to have had terrible food poisoning from street food in China and that would really ruin your trip. I was speaking to a Canadian guy who has lived in Beijing about the pollution and said that there must be a lot of lung cancer in China. He told me that stomach cancer was more common and that some places use ‘gutter oil’. Google ‘gutter oil’ – urgh. He also said he’s been hospitalised and put on a drip because of food poisoning.

There are malls all over the cities with loads of restaurants in them, which is where we mainly ate. Also, if you are getting trains, take food with you as the train food is awful! There’s hot water taps so you can take instant noodles.

 

• Toilets

I was worried about the toilets before visiting and they were pretty bad. Squat toilets are really common so get practicing! I managed to avoid them for about two weeks of my trip but eventually had no choice at The Great Wall and it wasn’t at all as traumatic as I’d expected! Chinese people don’t seem to be too concerned about privacy when peeing – at Xi’an train station the toilet doors were waist height and slatted so you could see through them.

• Translation app

If you don’t speak Chinese, you’ll need the help of a translation app. I’d recommend Youdao Translate which I used a few times. It didn’t cause any confusion so I figure it’s good! You can make your Chinese translation full screen so you can hold up your phone to show to the person you’re trying to communicate with.

• Street cleaners

There are people cleaning the streets everywhere – I’ve never seen such clean streets!

• Pollution

China has an awful pollution problem and I really can’t get my head around why they aren’t taking serious action. I’ve heard that roads get closed because visibility is so poor and often the elderly and young people are advised to stay indoors. We were lucky as when we went, there was a big summit of world leaders in Beijing meaning the factories had been shut down resulting in blue skies. I think that the best months for low pollution are May and October – I guess a time when there’s not much air con or heating on. The only place it really bothered was in Pingyao and I felt like I would with allergies like hayfever.

• Baby clothing

Don’t be alarmed if you spot a baby or toddler with their bums visible from their trousers. In China, babies often wear traditional open-crotch pants which allow kids to just squat to do the toilet and not need nappies. Apparently they help to toilet train children a lot quicker, which makes sense. However, when I saw a parent sitting with a bare bummed baby on their knee I thought there surely must be a lot of accidents!

 

Have you visited China? Please write in the comments what took you by surprise when you first arrived!

 

Check out my other Chinese blog posts on arriving in China, Shanghai, Tianjin, Beijing, Xi’an and Pingyao.