Survivor's Guide to China - a Somewhat *Young*'un's Perspective
Written: Aug 26 '01 (Updated Aug 27 '01)
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Pros: FOOD, inexpensive everything
Cons: crossing the street, perhaps too much sightseeing, lower standard of living
The Bottom Line: Your enjoyment of the trips mainly depends on who you go w/. An overall good life experience, especially if you're Asian.
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| mattyd5's Full Review: China |
The last summer before college seems to be the most popular time for many people my age to visit (perhaps for the 1st time) their home country. Being Chinese myself, my parents decided that it would be a good idea for me to experience The Motherland this summer before I head off to college.
I was really excited at the prospect of going to another country. The only other country I’ve been to was Canada back in the day, but that doesn’t really count… :p. Anyway, we had some family there – my mother hadn’t seen her older sister in about 20 yrs, so it was a small reunion of sorts as well.
Our flight to China left June 29th w/ United Airlines. I was naively excited about flying, for the last time I flew was about 10yrs ago to Florida. The 1st 2 hrs were quite stimulating; a mini TV screen was built into the backs of all the seats, radio w/ headphones within an arm’s reach, and being served on was quite lovely. HOWEVER, after watching "Pretty Woman" and "Miss Congeniality" for the 2nd time, and developing a butt and neck cramp, I began to lose it. Be forewarned prospective China travelers – the flight is painfully long – 17+ hrs!!
Eventually, sanity was restored as I, for the 1st time, stepped onto Chinese soil. We arrived at the Beijing Airport, which I found to be eerily clean and empty. My mother soon informed my inquiring mind that traveling is much more a rare luxury than it is a commonplace activity here in the states. Ah, I not so much as walked 15 minutes in the airport, and already I began to feel like a damn spoiled American! *sigh*
Beijing
My parents and I stayed at the Crowne Plaza, a 4-star hotel located in the most “touristy” part of Beijing. The hotel had a restaurant in the lobby, which I believed also served American food. As far as the rooms were, they were quite nice…comparable to a very solid Holiday Inn room. The hotel also had a small pool, hot tub, gym, and masseuse.
OK, enough about the hotel. Wang Fu Jing Road was the road my parents and I frequented the most. This road is different from any road I’ve ever seen or been on. Bicyclists and automobiles are prohibited from using it (though at times I saw a mini police van drive through). It’s also approximately 3 streets wide, immaculately clean, and not paved as you might expect. It’s instead designed w/ a geometrical stone pattern – quite nice if you ask me. You can find all sorts of stores on this body-filled street. There are tons of food markets – NOTHING like the supermarkets here. These markets instead sell an enormous variety of SNACKS, tea leaves, fruit, medicine, pastries, and flavored meats. It’s very overwhelming to discover a store dedicated only to such items. There was also an extensive bookstore that would put any Barnes & Noble TO SHAME! Clothing stores, souvenir shops, and a mall also dotted the edges of Wang Fu Jing…most notably restaurants.
A historic must-see in Beijing would have to be the Forbidden City. It’s pretty huge – it occupies an area of over 720,000 sq meters w/ 9,000 bays of halls and rooms. A lot of the separate rooms were decorated w/ large amounts of pure gold. The ceilings, furniture, etc. seemed to be painstakingly elaborate. The view in general when I was out on the terraces/balconies were nice too.
Aside from that, the city is generally very clean, minus the poor areas/literal ghettos. The main streets are much wider than those say in NY too. However, there was the ghetto which made me realize how lucky I am to be in the US. I mean, it was a ghetto’s ghetto…how could these people call this a home??? It was so destitute…I felt like I was in that Sally Struthers infomercial.
At any rate, we just basically spend the rest of our 3-day stay having a taxi driver drive us around (we hired him at the airport). We even ate w/ him a few times at some small eats. Haha, I can’t believe my parents and I chilled w/ a taxi driver! :)
The Great Wall and Huang Di’s Garden
The Great Wall, as we all know, is one of the 7 Wonders of the World, so it’s a good idea to climb it if you’re in Beijing. The air is cooler while on the wall because you’re so high up, and the view is breathtaking. Be careful when climbing up the wall though – it’s not as easy as you’d think it’d be! Once you reach “the top” (for tourists), you can commemorate your achievement by buying a T-shirt saying, “I climbed the Great Wall.” Haha.
You should definitely go to Huang Di’s Garden. The stories/history behind it are really interesting, and the garden is quite scenic.
Shanghai
Our next destination was Shanghai, my mother’s hometown, er, city. According to my parents, it’s the place to be if you live on the mainland. As we drove into the city, the 1st cool thing I noticed was the “glowing” highway/streets. They were winding, some were above us, to the side of us, etc…and the edges were lit up w/ cool blue-purple-ish lights. That was only that one section of streets though. This block of streets was located very closely to a South Street Seaport-like area w/ beautiful, French and English-influenced (I think those are the countries) buildings.
We planned to stay in Shanghai for the rest of our trip – a little less than 3 weeks. We stayed at a modest hotel, walked and rode the buses and taxis a lot. It’s a city in every meaning of the word, but distinct from NY or LA. For starters, everyone’s Chinese (DUH :) ) and EVERYONE IS SKINNY BEYOND IMAGINATION. Here in the states I am considered thin, but in Shanghai, I felt like a middle-aged Incredible Hulk!! I felt so fat!!! It was nearly depressing LOL! So be prepared to feel huge and over-nourished. :)
The streets are still very clean, but smaller in Shanghai, probably because it’s like the NY/LA of China (Beijing may be the capital, but Shanghai is ITS CITY :) ) and there are tons of buses, taxis, and bicyclists, but rarely any average-joe drivers like in the US. Most people use public transportation, their feet, or bikes. All automobiles are stick shifts, by the way (saves gas). Side note: All taxis are Volkswagon Santana 2000’s and buses are smaller and less luxurious than American buses.
There are so many restaurants in Shanghai that it seemed like that’s all I saw every time I turned my head! But don’t get me wrong – THE FOOD IS FANTASTIC!!! The Chinese food in America is crap gone bad (if that’s even possible) compared to Shanghainese food. I thought I was in heaven! Each dish has its own distinct flavor and style…AND a meal at even an upscale restaurant is so inexpensive! I’ll give you an example: we went to a large restaurant, got our own personal room, a waitress who stayed there and served us, and about 15 hardcore dishes for around $65 (US). There are also food markets like what I mentioned before…even bigger actually. The food in those markets is also ALWAYS FRESH AND DELICIOUS. It is said that Shanghai has the best food in China.
There are also pharmacies, malls, McDonald’s, KFC, etc. – stuff you’d find in a typical city. The Shanghai public library is the biggest in Shanghai (4 levels). Oh yes, before I forget, there is a street resembling Beijing’s Wang Fu Jing in Shanghai. It’s much bigger, older, and more crowded than WFJ. The Hard Rock Café is located near there too. (I went there in the afternoon and there was NO ONE! Honestly, I don’t know how it hasn’t gone under because it’s apparently not very popular and didn’t seem like it ever was!)
Culture & Lifestyle
I had the biggest culture shock while staying in Shanghai. The females ALL wore high-heels all the time, would usually use sun umbrellas because the in thing is to be pale. They don’t use much makeup, and 99% of the women there are toothpicks -- VERY SKINNY, weak-looking, and on the small side. They even had nonexistent chests like me LOL! It was truly a touching moment, for my boobs are but mere mosquito bites compared to the women here! LOL (I think I’ve revealed too much! :p) … The men are quite thin and lean as well, and of course, small. They too wear shoes, not sneakers. In fact, NO ONE in China wears sneakers. Most – all of the men wear pants and modest, cotton, button-down shirts. No white cotton socks like here either. Only stockings the length of socks. Not exactly, er, "pioneers in dentistry" either, but then again their living standard is still lower than the living standard of the US. *shrug*
Crossing the street is tempting fate, especially jaywalking which is all too common. The cars don’t yield to pedestrians. They really don’t – TRUST ME. My mom joked that we should have bought insurance for crossing the street haha. By the way, buses are just as aggressive as taxi drivers. There is no slow/passing lane. It’s every automobile for itself and the taxi drivers are the experts! They’re so skilled that they’d school any NY cab driver any day! :)
Inside Advice!
BRING TOILET PAPER. LOTS OF IT. It’s highly likely that even department store bathrooms won’t have toilet paper, so bring and steal as much as you can and ALWAYS carry a roll w/ you. The more rural historic places are GUARANTEED to have NO TOILET PAPER. In fact, my parents and I considered the standard sit-down toilet a luxury since most bathrooms have the infamous “squat-downs”…that don’t flush. In general, there is a deficiency in paper products…even napkins are hard to come by, so bring a lot of those too. Do not take this advice lightly. I’ve experienced the “Toilet Paper Famine”, and it’s not good. Please save yourself the trouble and pack tissues, toilet paper, napkins, etc. In general, China sells everything is small quantities - there is no such thing as Costco there! :)
It’s also a good idea to bring BIG bottles of water if possible. They do sell water, but the bottles are a bit small and almost never refrigerated…and let me tell you, it really sucks drinking a small amount of hot water in 100-degree heat.
Essentials to Pack
Sunblock, TOILET PAPER, water, a lot of reading material for the never-ending airplane ride, a journal (to document your experience), MONEY. Oh yeah, and clothes, lots of clothes, depending on how long you’re going to stay there (there are no Laundromats…they don’t even know what they are). A Mandarin-speaking tour guide if you don’t speak the language (my parents were mine, so I just played the complacent, mute child LOL) is an excellent investment. You don’t want to be scammed because they will try and many times succeed. Many knew I was an American without me saying or doing a damn thing, and I’m pure Chinese!
Touring China is fairly easy. My parents hired a taxi driver to take us around Beijing since we didn’t join a tour. If you want to join a tour at the spur of the moment in a little town, though, there are always one-day tours you can sign up for and join on the spot.
Guilin
I believe Guilin is south of Shanghai, a 3-4 hr plane ride from Shanghai. Only my dad and I went here because my mom wouldn’t have been able to hack the heat (hotter than Shanghai). Significantly poorer, though the Guilin people are known to be very honest. We signed up for a 3-day tour when we arrived at its airport, and stayed at the Gui Shan Hotel, also a 4-star hotel. It had a pianist in the lobby, need I say more? :)
Anyway, the town is under huge construction and has been for a few yrs mainly because the materials can only be transported in small amounts, so be prepared for some detours if you go in the near future.
The main attraction of Guilin is the Li River. You take a ferry for the entire day where they serve you Chinese dishes. The river is very peaceful and clean, though I did see some garbage floating by. You can also see the people doing their chores on the banks of the river, as well as the natural stone formation of a mother holding her baby. However, I must warn you of the extremely zealous nature of the Asian continent-born passengers. The scramble for a good spot on the top deck is crazy. LOL. It’s pretty wild and funny if you ask me. I personally didn’t see what all the hoopla was about, but maybe it’s because I was DYING from the heat and humidity.
When you go to Guilin, EAT THE NOODLES! Guilin is famous for its noodles. I’ve tasted, and it’s very good, though some of the other stuff they put in there is kinda shady. Go to one of the doorless sit-downs and order a bowl! :)
Food/Dining
A general rule of thumb is to avoid the restaurants w/ the pretty girls dressed in the Chinese style dresses out in front, trying to convince you to eat there. The majority (but not all) of them are expensive w/ only so-so food. It's best to go to the small, more discreet restaurants - they usually serve great food and are quite cheap.
Final Thoughts
1st off, I’d like to say that if you’ve read this far, congrats! :) Sorry if this may have been too long, but I just wanted to give you as much inside info as possible.
I would recommend taking a trip to China. Personally, I didn’t enjoy it (I mean COME ON, 3 WEEKS in a foreign country, hanging out w/ your PARENTS 24/7? I think that speaks for itself! :p), BUT it was definitely a very good experience to see life in another country. There’s nothing like China, but man, it was the greatest feeling ever to step back on American soil! You really learn to appreciate the high American living standard. So if you’re planning a vacation to the Orient, good luck and remember: you can haggle down the price of anything! :)
Notes/Tips
- 17+hrs flying from NY to Shanghai
- $1 US = 8 RMB (Chinese money)
- Suggested stay time = 2 weeks max
- Try to go w/ someone you can stand, someone you can really talk to. It'll make the trip A LOT more fun.
- It'd be a huge loss if you won't be able to enjoy the food. They don’t have Slim Fast or those “heart friendly” dishes at restaurants or food markets, so choose your food wisely.
- If you’re an Asian female, think about getting glamour pictures done – VERY INEXPENSIVE, and there are loads of them along the streets.
- Try to be in decent shape – it’s a lot of walking
- The 2008 Olympics will be in Beijing. Plan accordingly.
- PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go during the fall or early spring!!! The weather's the best then. China's summers will melt you to the core!!
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Students
Best Time to Travel Here: Mar - May
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mattyd5
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