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Published: August 4th 2009
I'm sitting in the airport at Hong Kong, in transit and with little to do. This is when I realise that I've left out a few cool things I've discovered about China since I arrived here two weeks ago. Here goes some rambling…
1. The Chinese character for "Internet" is a box with two crosses inside it (see photo). Why? Because it look like a net.
2. Coolest coincidence in the universe: "Coca-Cola" in Chinese is actually a literal translation of "Delicious Happiness". It's pronounced slightly differently but the Chinese words in it are:
Ke-kou meaning "delicious" AND
Ke-le which is literally "approval happiness". They, therefore, didn't actually need to change the name for it here.
3. There's a Chinese fast food chain here called Mr. Lee. What's funny is that Mr. Lee appears to be the KFC Colonel's Chinese cousin. You decide (see photo).
4. Chop Suey is not a legit Chinese dish, was invented in San Francisco.
5. If you want to be treated like you're a celebrity, come to China. I don't mean you're given special treatment or anything, I mean everyone here wants to have their photo taken with a foreigner and they even try to
Mr. Lee and Colonel Sanders
Definitely could pass as cousins.take sneaky pics without being noticed. It's weird as heck and you wouldn't believe it unless you saw it. We could often tell nearby people were recording video on their mobile whilst pretending to type a text message as they would be holding their phone at a 90 degree angle to their arm and following us around! I've thrown in a few pics of times we experienced Chinese paparazzi syndrome.
One intense example was in Tiananmen Square. I was hanging with my new pom mates Gem and Louise and after we saw some more randoms trying to take sneaky pics of us, we basically called out and offered them to join in for a proper photograph. The next thing we knew we are BOMBARDED by other Chinese people who are like "Please, can I also have!!" It was nuts, truly felt like a rock star or something. People handed us their babies and I don't think any of us have ever made so many "peace signs" in our lives. We actually ended up having to say "sorry, we have to go" to a few people and quickly bolted out of there. Rock star styles.
So what do Chinese
Chinese can of Coke
"Kouke Ke-leh" --- Delicious happiness people find so special about foreign visitors to their country? I'm told a lot of the people who get really excited are probably just visiting a big city themselves and actually live in more regional parts of China that are rarely visited by foreigners. It's also because westerners are often quite tall and they kind of observe us in a freak-like awe because of this and other "strange" aspects to our appearance.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON CHINA:
China is difficult but very rewarding. First impressions of Chinese people may lead you to believe they are a bit blunt/ somewhat unwelcoming but this changes after more time is spent interacting with locals. There are some brilliant people in this country. The Chinese peoples' relationship with their government is far more complicated than is understood in the western world. There is almost a culture of censorship and control in this country that people have adjusted to and seem to like (Stockholm syndrome?). I do believe there are human rights issues which need to be addressed but there is a real sense of optimism for the future of this country that I think (hope) will result in changes for the better. The
Surrounded by our Chinese fan club
They appeared out of nowhere and observed us like we were an animal exhibit, hahaha. food here is amazing but is nothing like Chinese food back home. I've tried more new foods in the last two weeks than I ever have. That said, I did pass on the opportunity to eat dog.
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