The Things I WILL Miss About Living in China

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After I posted the blog "Things We Will NOT MISS About Living in China" I got a very rude and racially hurtful comment from a Chinese man living in Harbin, China. I won't use the explicits that he told me but I decided to change the blog to private. It then triggered me to go through our blog to change any blog from public to private that had negative feelings or emotions toward China. Out of 240+ blogs only 5 were changed to private.



As a blogger I have tried to keep a journal of my experiences of living in China and our travels as real as possible so others can see that life here isn't just peaches and roses. But I guess I touched a nerve with a fellow reader as the tensions in China are rising with the upcoming political change and current situations here on the mainland. I have never meant to hurt feelings, be close minded or make generalizations as I feel this isn't a responsible way of living in another culture.



I will say at least the commenter was brave enough to leave his email address so I sent him a "Very Kind" response 😊))



This blog is a tribute to China and I hope the same reader reads this entry.



As our time is coming to an end in China here is a list of things I WILL miss about living in China. I started to compile this list on February 27th and they are in no specific order...just whatever came to mind at the time.


• Living so close to destinations that would otherwise add an additional 12 hours to our flight(literally the otherside of the world)
• Amazing street food anytime after dark
• Si ji dou (spicy green beans...YUM)
• Light workload as an Oral English Teacher (max 20 hr workweeks)
• Long Holidays (ie. 8 weeks off for Spring Festival/Chinese New Year this year)
• Playing the foreign card when it is in our favor (ie. don't understand so I will do what I want, within means of course)
• Chinese banquets: men getting wasted on baijou and lots of gong bei's (toasts)
• Everyday being an adventure (will try to bring this back to the USA, in small doses)
• Cheap massages (head, foot and body)
• Cheap hair cuts, washes and styling
• Cheap Doctor/Dentist visits (even if we have to have a translator with us)
• Eating at a Hot Pot restaurant (must find in Portland)
• Countdown on traffic lights so you know when the light will change from green or red
• The kind hearted people who wanted to share their culture and history with us
• Students & Trainees
• Friends we have met in China

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Comments

[Mom]

will miss
I'm glad that you will have some things you will miss...or your experience would not have been worth it! I am sure you may return and I know you will keep in contact with your friends!

[The Great China Roadtrip]

Hey
I must say I was a little saddened when I read your "Things We Will Not Miss" blog. There are many things that anyone will not miss about any country, but sometimes they are better off not said. What makes travelling and living abroad so compelling is that every country is different. I like this blog.... Not sure I'd agree with the amazing street food. The thing I will miss most about China, and for that matter any Asian country I have spent time in, is the feeling of safety. No guns, gangs with knives, drug dealers on the streets, burglaries, car thefts. (that said, I have had bicycles stolen in Shanghai, and my car keyed in Hongcun). I'll be in Hangzhou next weekend with my dog. I know you might be busy but if you do have time.....

[ElyseandPete]

Hey
I understand your feeling or see your point on somethings are better left unsaid. I have always lived by the philosophy that people need to hear the bad and good and always trying to end on a good note, that is why the things we won't miss blog was first. Safety is an illusion I believe in this country, there are plenty of people out there doing wrong scamming, trafficking, doing drugs, etc it may not be in your face on the streets but it doesn't mean it doesn't happen. The party does a great job of keeping it out of our faces but pushing it out. I had 2 bikes stolen in Shenzhen and my husband was robbed at knife point in Vietnam..neither of these had happened to us in the US (not to say it doesn't happen there because it does). Plenty of petty theft goes on everyday no matter where you live in the world, some people just like to take the naive approach to what is going on around them.