Takeaways From China So Far

I have been in China for a little less than a week so far but have already made some observations. These are based on what I have seen in both Shanghai and Xiamen, but by no means represents all of China.

1. The firewall sucks. It is ridiculously annoying to have to turn on the VPN in order to access things like Facebook or even my email, since it is backed by google and google is blocked. It also makes it very hard to search for things to do without using google.
2.  People here are more obsessed with their phones than Americans. I feel like when I go out to eat in DC or at home in PA, people are sitting and talking to each other. Every once in a while, you will see someone on their phone, but it’s not all that common. In China, everyone is on their phone, all the time. On the subway, at a meal, walking, you name it, people are on their phone (although I’m not sure what they’re doing since the good social media is block).
3.  Wi-Fi is everywhere. I was at a restaurant on my first day here and asked the server which the Wi-Fi network name was. He told me, and I opened my settings to connect. I was amazed by what I saw. There were over 70 different networks I could connect to. The one similarity is that the password 88888888 (eight 8’s) is used very commonly.
4. The sharing economy is real. Didn’t remember an umbrella? Not a problem. You can grab one at the train station for a small fee, and then return it to the stand when you return to the station. Don’t have a bike? Not a problem. There are over 1 million dock-less bikes around the city that you can rent. They are EVERYWHERE and can be rented for 1 Yuan per half hour ($0.15)
5. It is completely acceptable to spit anywhere and at any time. People here love to spit. You will see motorcyclists spit while driving, people spit in the middle of huge crowds, and bus drivers onto the floor of their bus. It is just something that’s acceptable.
6. The streets are incredibly clean. Despite all of the spitting, the streets are all very, very clean. This is because they get cleaned daily. A large truck will come around the scrub the street, while spraying water on the street, and playing lullabies. Yes, it’s a rather odd soundtrack that follows the truck, but it’s also just kind of fun.
7.  Fake designer clothing is ridiculously more common than the real thing. Don’t get me wrong, people here are pretty well dressed. However, I have seen way too many Cavlin Klein T-shirts and Guccy sweaters to not wonder if anyone even owns the real thing here.
8. The fruit here is amazing. This is probably one of the last things that I would have expected, but the fruit here is better than anything I have had in the U.S. I have had strawberries, oranges, mango and pineapple. None of it has even looked super ripe, but it has been incredibly rich and tasty. This is a huge perk.
9. Rice is king. It doesn’t matter what meal you eat, rice will be incorporated somehow. For breakfast, they eat a porridge called congee, which is essentially just rice in a thick watery liquid. For lunch, you will often get it as a side. For dinner, it may be fried and served as an entrée, or it will simply be given on the side again. Regardless, your meal will include rice.
10. English is not very common. I came here with absolutely no knowledge of the Chinese language. I have been in a similar position before (in Thailand, for example) and did not have any problems. Here, however, it is very difficult to find someone who speaks any English. Most conversations will involve pictures, pointing, and a lot of body movement. Hopefully this will get easier as I begin Chinese language lessons.

While these are by no means representative of all people in China, or even all people in Shanghai and Xiamen, they are simply things that I have seen so far.  

Chinese New Year

     I have only been in China for 5 days now, but it has certainly been an experience. I spent the first four days in Shanghai before flying to Xiamen, a city in southwest China. I arrived on Tuesday and Chinese New Year (CNY) took place on Friday. I could never have expected the influence that that would have on our trip.

     Chinese New Year is based on the lunar calendar, and usually occurs in late January, February, or early March. It is one of the few national holidays and as a result, the largest human migration happens. It is tradition to go and visit your family during this time. It is said that if a girl brings her boyfriend home with her over CNY, then he must marry her (marriage is incredibly important here). Since everyone travels home, cities like Shanghai end up being very empty and closed down. While this is probably a welcome relief for Shanghai residents, it makes its very hard to gain an understanding of the city if it’s your first time there.

     Our first encounter with the effects of CNY was two days before, when our food tour that we had scheduled two months ago, was cancelled unexpectedly. In a hurry, we booked another one. That evening, when we showed up for the tour, we were the only ones there. We asked our guide about this and he said that it is very hard for tour companies to show off the local food since most restaurants are closed. As such, our food tour was missing some major elements of Shanghai cuisine, such as xiaolongbao, or soup dumplings. Regardless, it was still a good way to see parts of the city. These closures became even more apparent the next day, New Year’s Eve, when we spent over an hour trying to simply find an open restaurant.

     On New Year’s Eve, we spent the evening making dumplings at our hostel. Dumplings are an important part of the New Year’s Eve feast, and so we made both pork and cabbage variations. They were good, and it was cool to learn how to fold them properly. We sat around eating dumplings and watching the Olympics. My aunt and I were planning to go down to the Bund (walkway along the river in Shanghai) to watch fireworks at midnight. Unfortunately, I accidentally passed out at 8:30 PM and did not awaken until 4:00 AM. I couldn’t find any pictures online of the fireworks so I’m not even sure if they actually happened, but I’m going to tell myself they didn’t, so I don’t feel bad about passing out.

The next day was New Year’s Day and so everyone wears red and cleans their property. The streets were pretty empty and the only restaurants open were chains (we ate breakfast at a place called Mr. Pancake and I drank coffee out of a Dallas Cowboys mug). Despite this, it was neat to see the city without the millions upon millions of people who usually inhabit its streets.

    Chinese New Year is a big family time and that has been very apparent here in Xiamen. Xiamen is a major destination for domestic tourism, and it is currently crowded to the brim with tourists (public buses literally have passengers pressed up against the windows). I have not seen many foreigners here, which is unusual after spending time in Shanghai. However, as we move further from the beginning of Chinese New Year (celebrations last for fifteen days), shops and restaurants have begun to reopen, and the country is coming back to life. While it was cool to see how different people celebrate CNY, I’m also very excited to see Shanghai in all its hustling, bustling glory.

On my way!

31.5 Hours. This is the amount of time that I will spend traveling to get from my house in small town Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania to Shanghai China. I am currently sitting on a train, two hours into my travels as I write this. I had to drive thirty minutes to the train station in Harrisburg, then take a four-and-a-half-hour train to JFK airport, then fly sixteen and a half hours to Taipei, Taiwan, and then fly another two hours to Shanghai China, where I will land two days ahead of when I left. That doesn’t even include my time spent waiting at airports or in layovers. This will not be my longest travel period (getting back from Kenya took forty-two hours), but I am sure not looking to it. Regardless, I am starting to truly get excited. For the last nine months I have been telling people that I am going to Shanghai, and now it is finally here. It still hasn’t hit me.

My program doesn’t start until February 24^th, but I am going eleven days early to travel with my Aunt. My Aunt is currently living in Zhengzhou, China, a provincial capital city about three and a half hours from Shanghai by high speed train. She has been there since last February, teaching English at an elementary school. She is going to meet me in Shanghai, where we will spend four days. Chinese New Year is on February 16^th, and we will be celebrating that in Shanghai. We will also be exploring the typical tourist attractions as well as taking a food tour. We will spend three hours walking around with a guide who will take us to different street vendors to taste Chinese and Shanghainese delicacies.

After our time in Shanghai, we will fly south to Xiamen, a coastal city which is a two-hour flight from Shanghai. It is the most popular destination for domestic tourism. Here we will adventure around national parks and explore the colonial influences on history and culture. From here, we will take a train up to Longyan, a small city with a unique architecture style where all of the houses and buildings are circular. We will only be here for two days, before taking another train to Wuyi Shan, a beautiful, mountainous city. It is said that the mountain range here inspired the setting for Avatar. We will spend three days here before parting and heading home. For my aunt, this will be a two-hour flight. For me, this will mean a three-and-a-half-hour train ride back to Shanghai. I will then meet up with the Global Bachelor’s Cohort and begin orientation.

I have had a lot of people tell me what to expect and give me ideas of what I will encounter, but I am going into this experience with a completely open mind. This will be one of the few times where I am able to uproot my entire life to go and live in a new country, and I intend to take full advantage of that.

If you’re interested in following my journey through pictures, then give me a follow on Instagram at @max_leo43.