High rise galore and a huge amount of ongoing construction
Traffic was way over the top between the cars, scooters and cyclist
The traffic was even more chaotic when you add pedestrians crossing the streets
Where do these people park their cars?
Some of the boulevards in Beijing can stretch for upwards to 25 miles
Using a phone while operating a scooter or bike is normal and never came across an accident
Smoking is off the charts – mainly men and to hell with no smoking signs
Streets were super clean and felt safe no matter where I was
Chinese can build, just not so well in the quality or detail department
All public bathrooms whether western or squatting stink to high heaven
Thank goodness the scooters are electric to help lessen the smog, but could you please not drive on the sidewalk
Only cars are obligated to following traffic laws it seems
Soap to wash your hands after the using the stinky bathroom is nonexistent
Hard to find any other ethnic food unless you count McDonalds or Starbucks
The land of knockoff clothing and accessories
Everyone has a phone and electronic payment seems to be in full swing
Water isn’t a thing in restaurants, Coke and Sprite has that monopoly
The Muslim quarter in Beijing is a must
Muslim’s are the largest religious group in China
Pandas are just too cute
Beijing is overrated, preferred Xi’an
Chinese men are chauvinistic arrogant pricks – at least the ones with some money
Wine…too expensive to buy
Terracotta soldiers exhibit was impressive as well as the Great Wall
The northerners love their red chili peppers
The size of Beijing is enormous, to the point it being kind of disconnected
Where are the gas stations? Only saw one!
Not a lot of police presence which surprised me
Car horns are in constant use
Not handicapped friendly in any of the cities
Silk worm larvae have a gritty texture
Taxis are inexpensive
Not a lot of smiling
Capitalism and materialism have a strong foothold in place
Durian is everywhere – I kind of got used to the smell
Face mask of all sorts are worn – I don’t understand the reasoning
Lots of scooter accessories I’ve never seen before
Men like to walk around with their shirt pulled up over their bellies
I hope to come back someday soon. So much more to see and experience.
First time? A great set of impressions reflective of the chaos that is urban China, but I love that. Although you can find French and Italian food fairly easily, why bother with all of the variants that Chinese cuisines offer?
I sometimes wear one as protection against the filth in the air. I assume that is a pretty common reason…
Was recently in Xi’an for the first time. Favorite big city in China I’ve been to, out of Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang, Chengdu, Kunming, Guilin, and Hong Kong.
Yes my first time I guess other ethnic food naturally would be around, but I found it difficult if I only wanted to walk from my hotel. I did do a map search and not many if any showed up. To break up the northern food monotony I ended up going to a western hotel and sure enough it resulted in me having a crappy steak and expensive n. rhone. As for other Chinese cuisines, kind of the same in searching for Cantonese style which I would have no problem eating everyday.
If alone not really, but with the group I was with…The other part being that I am currently pretty tanned so I probably look to them like some peasant farmer. The blatant staring some of them did was bothersome to me. Hello, yes I’m a foreigner, but damn it I’m effin Chinese.
A friend told me that I could expect to be asked to have my picture taken. Well sure enough, when we were in the Forbidden City, I was approached. I’m a 5’11" (180cm) middle aged (handsome) white guy. Well, once you take one picture…
I saw others looking on, so in typical New York fashion, I waved over those that were looking. It made them very happy!!
Not all Chinese in the city live there. Most are visiting from the provences.
During my first tour of duty in Beijing 25 years ago, I got some attention (6’3") (handsome), but when my wife came over to visit, she got swamped as a redhead with fair skin. Kids were particularly attracted to her, but she often found herself being leaned into for pictures by adult strangers while sitting on a bench looking at her map.
Oh WOW!!! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences with us!!!
So many things you have written are either confirmation of the books/articles I have read about the explosion of capitalism in China, or are completely new - and terrifying - to this reader!!!
I’m 6’ 5” and got lots of stares, my daughter is 6’ 1” and they loved her, everyone wanted a picture with her. She’s 16 and felt like a model/movie star!
There’s a place for this, it’s the “thread drift” thread
Honestly, I don’t think I’ve been in a country where there are more scams and outright dishonesty (not counting actually dangerous places like Bogota, where I had to fend of pickpockets numerous times). The scam I did fall for was in the Forbidden City, where they have a large “art” studio/shop set up, lure you in and sell you on the idea that they are art students selling their work. If you’re a big fish you get sent up to the pros, who try to sell you much more expensive “original art”. I just fell for a $30 painting that I liked, which turned out to be just a lithograph I could have bought in the airport. No real harm. But it was shocking to see a scam operation in the heart of the country’s most important national monument, obviously sanctioned by the authorities.
I have blonde hair, blue eyes and more than my fair share of body hair, not quite Robin Williams, and I get stopped in the smaller towns and asked many questions. Most people will go out of their way to just say ‘Hello’ and ‘Are you American?’
Durian fruit, smells like ass, tastes like feet.
Silk Worm larvae I can tolerate.
Eating chicken feet makes no sense to me, nothing but cartilage and skin. Then you need to spit out the nails.
Was served frogs once, they eat the whole frog, not just the legs. Take a bite and spit out the bones.
When a whole fish is served, nothing goes to waster, everything is eaten to the bone.
The noise from car horns is obnoxious.
Do to the lack of a working shower or tub, I was forced to use the public shower in town. Take your essentials, pay your fee and a large area of showers shared by all of the men. Think high school only bigger shower room. I walk in, glowing white, blue eyes and a lot of body hair, about 20 other gentleman using the showers and all sorts of talk, laughing and then dead silence. Not a word was spoken while I showered and shaved. Once I left the talking resumed.
Take your own coffee and coffee maker is you want coffee.
Ice costs extra in some areas.
The beer I had was lower in alcohol at most places.
Imagine walking around in, say, the Louvre. Then imagine A pretty french girl starts talking to you, shows you what looks like a big art studio, with art all over the walls. Not some little stand, like 2000 square feet, art covering the walls, not something you could put up and tear down in a few hours. Tells you a story about this being an exhibit for students at a major art school in the city. Can you imagine the administration of the Louvre allowing that? I can’t. But the Chinese that administer the Forbidden City allow it, no doubt taking a nice cut of the profits.
Walking around any major public space, particularly Tiananmen Square, was approached probably a couple dozen times by small groups, usually a couple of attractive young women, presumably just wanting to practice their english. I had read enough about their scams, so, while being polite, didn’t engage them to any degree.
You have the one advantage that you look like you belong there, even though they can probably tell from your dress and mannerisms than you aren’t a native.
The number of scams they tried to run on me is mind boggling.
I guess other ethnic food naturally would be around, but I found it difficult if I only wanted to walk from my hotel. I did do a map search and not many if any showed up. To break up the northern food monotony I ended up going to a western hotel and sure enough it resulted in me having a crappy steak and expensive n. rhone. As for other Chinese cuisines, kind of the same in searching for Cantonese style which I would have no problem eating everyday.![[whistle.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/87d24eb81ec6dc01d84f3d6c19fa9a357e90218e.gif "whistle"){kind=small}
