We made it back home safely from our 9 day trip to China, having visited 3 different cities and traversed close to 2,000 miles via planes, trains and automobiles. China was a great experience though and well worth the trip, but I'm extremely happy to be teaching and living in Korea instead. Here are 10 takeaways from China that I thought I'd share, for better or for worse.
10.) Don't drink the water...but feel free to buy up all the cheap ($0.40) bottled water you can. You don't have to feel bad for wasting all that plastic because one of the many old ladies/men will dig through the trash and collect the bottles to recycle.
9. ) Chinese "hotungs" (old streets) are pretty cool, just watch out for the dog crap, trash and random street vendors you'll inevitably run into.8.) No Facebook in China
7.) China has public restrooms everywhere (probably because not every house/restaurant has its own plumbing). The only thing is that these public restrooms are completely disgusting and can be smell as bad as they look.
6.) I was surprised by this, but I felt exceptionally safe in China. Even in the dark alleys/hotungs we wandered around in, very rarely did I feel unsafe.
5.) Everything is negotiable...everything! Taxis, anything from a street vendor, food, etc. If you don't like the price, you can usually walk away and they'll usually drop the price significantly.
4.) Need a Rolex, Coach/Louis Vuitton/Gucci purse, Oakley Sunglasses or NorthFace jacket? Buy a knockoff for a fraction of the price in China! Same haggling rules apply. Low ball your price, walk away, and they'll typically give it to you for your price to make the sale.
3.) Want to save money on diapers? Move to China. During the entire trip, I think I saw one baby wearing a diaper. Every other child (infants to about 9 years old) had a slit cut in their pants so whenever/wherever they need to go, they just squat and do their business...Same went for anyone really. If you need to go, find a corner and go...2.) The Great Wall certainly is a great wall!
1.) China is one of the dirtiest places I've ever been to. I'm not that well traveled, but this country will be a hard one to beat. The overall cleanliness (or lack of) and foul odor around every corner made me wonder if people wore those face masks to protect them from the smog or the smells of China.
All things aside, it was a great trip and I hope to visit again soon!
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