Well, it’s now been nearly 6 weeks since we started our adventure in China, and one thing’s for sure: we’re absolutely loving it! We’ve been able to see several facets of this culture that still seemed so distant just a few weeks ago. China is truly an incredible country, whether it’s due to its vast territory, the variety of its landscapes and cuisine, or its people.
We won’t lie to you, the beginning was pretty rough. Or should we say surprising… Chinese habits and customs are sometimes worlds apart from what we’re used to in Europe. But over the weeks, we’ve learned to discover this culture a bit more to understand better and accept it. Whether through our couchsurfing hosts or encounters on trains, buses, or in restaurants, we’ve also learned a lot about the people and their perspectives.
Here’s a little rundown of our initial observations…
When the crowds press in
When you arrive from Switzerland, knowing that our largest city has barely 1 million inhabitants, being suddenly thrown into Beijing is quite a shock! Throughout this journey, we’ve really come to understand what a flood of people means, whether in the Beijing metro, at the Forbidden City, or at the Giant Buddha of Leshan. At first, we were often overwhelmed and frequently got pushed aside in queues. But over the weeks, we’ve gotten the hang of it, as they say!
Now we’re warriors, real ones! The technique? Don’t be afraid to offend someone by jostling them. And when you’re in a line or in a sea of humanity, stick your elbows out slightly and lock them in place… Then all you have to do is move forward! Promise, no one will take offense!
Sit up straight and eat properly
There’s a phrase I heard more than once in my childhood! Well, one thing’s for sure: my grandmother never went through China to repeat this phrase automatically with every bite! Here, eating habits and table manners are different! No shame in eating loudly, burping, shouting, lying on the table between courses, putting your head in your bowl, spitting on the floor, or even licking your plate once you’re done! At first, it’s surprising, but in the end, you get used to it pretty quickly!
And honestly, the concept of putting your head in the bowl saved me more than once when my chopstick skills weren’t yet in ninja mode and those darn noodles simply refused to come to my mouth…
In short, a new Chinese proverb says, “If the noodles won’t come to your mouth, your mouth will go to them!”
Eco-tourism… or not
State of play
We already mentioned this in our article about Hua Shan, but it remains something that shocks us tremendously in China. The Chinese don’t yet seem fully aware that with certain reflexes, they’re slowly destroying the beauty of their landscapes. But what can you do? We can’t change things, and that pretension is far from us… It’s more of a simple observation that saddens us a bit. Even when we try, we realize it’s not exactly crowned with success.
Example
A small example of this lack of ecological awareness? On buses in China, there’s a kind of microcosm… The Chinese shout, sing, and eat. What exactly? Well, chicken feet, beef intestines, dried pig ears, and a whole bunch of other local delicacies we haven’t really dared to try yet… Anyway, all these good things are vacuum-packed. It’s very common to see a Chinese person unwrap their snack or finish their water bottle, then open the bus window and simply throw the empty bottle or wrapper out the window! This really surprised us. Especially since on all buses, drivers make an effort to place bins that serve as trash cans, spittoons, and ashtrays along the center aisle.
Anyway, we told ourselves we weren’t going to try to educate the Chinese who were throwing their stuff out the window, but that NO, we wouldn’t do the same… We scrupulously put all our trash in the bin! Well, yeah, that was without counting on the driver who took the bins during the bathroom break and emptied them all at once into a small stream… In short, a big FAIL for our recycling efforts… At least we tried! 😉
It’s amazing what the human body can spit out
Does this little paragraph really need me to draw you a picture? No, I don’t think so! I’ll simply say that the Chinese are probably the world champions in all categories of throat (and lung) clearing. And if, by chance, a new Olympic discipline were to emerge like colored spitting, then the race for the gold medal shouldn’t be too close! In restaurants, on the street, in a park, on the bus, on the train, at home, at the supermarket, no place is safe! For the sake of preserving your appetite, but also to maintain nice images on our blog, we’ve chosen not to illustrate this little paragraph. Hoping you’ll understand… 😉
Patience is a virtue
We left our respective jobs almost 3 months ago. So let’s say we no longer know stress, and it’s crazy how we don’t miss it! On the other hand, we realized that compared to the Chinese, we tended to be poorly trained when it comes to patience!
Here, waiting isn’t a problem! For example, you need to go buy a bus ticket. The office opens at 9 a.m. (in theory). So we arrive among the first around 8:50 a.m. to be sure to get a seat.
How things unfolded
9 a.m.: Automatically, we take out our wallet because IT’S TIME. Oddly, we’re the only ones… Not the only ones waiting, mind you! There were at least 30 of us, but we were the only ones naively believing that the shutter would magically roll up in the coming seconds…
9:30 a.m.: We poor little Swiss start to worry and wonder if the counter will actually open today.
9:35 a.m.: A lady who seems to work here enters the room, we’re full of hope…
9:37 a.m.: This same lady settles into a couch behind us and starts eating noodles. Well, she must not be the one selling tickets after all!
9:38 a.m.: She lets out a good little burp.
9:50 a.m.: She finishes her meal and gets up.
9:57 a.m.: She nonchalantly does a symbolic sweep of the hall…
10:06 a.m.: An elderly gentleman approaches her to ask something. Of course, we don’t understand anything. But we suspect it’s a conversation about the opening time of the counter. She nods and continues her little sweep. The gentleman calmly returns to the line.
10:08 a.m.: She puts down her broom and settles on the couch to rest.
10:20 a.m.: After her well-deserved break, she comes to sit behind the ticket counter! Ah, so it was her after all! She simply took the time to have lunch, do some cleaning, rest before putting the tickets on sale…
Everyone stays zen
Anyway, since we’re on vacation, it didn’t bother us that much. But what floored us is that no one seemed irritated, stressed, annoyed, or even the slightest bit bothered in that hall.
I’ll let you imagine what the same type of scenario would look like back home! I think at 9:01 a.m., the first outrage would have erupted among the travelers :).
An unwavering smile
You’ll have understood, certain Chinese habits threw us off a bit, especially at first… In the end, the main thing we’ll remember about this country is the unwavering smile of its inhabitants!
Whether it’s the Han, Tibetans, Bai, Miao, or any other ethnic group, everyone welcomed us with smiles from ear to ear! If you have a question in China, rest assured that almost everyone will try to help you. Even if you don’t speak a word of Mandarin and they don’t speak a word of English!
In short, although the explanations in Chinese often didn’t move things forward, this reinforced our belief that the Chinese truly have hearts of gold.
These 8 weeks that mark the beginning of our round-the-world trip are just the beginning! We’ll come back to China, that’s for sure!
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