Zaijian, China! (At sea, between China and Japan)

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(Day 144 on the road)After two and a half wonderful months spent in China and zig-zagging almost the entire country in that time, the two days spent on the ferry to Japan gave me a good chance to reflect. I am fascinated by this beautiful country, so I have compiled a short list about what makes this country special for me.

Also, on one of my last days in China I had received a few nasty and threatening comments on my blog from Chinese people who had read my blog and apparently were not happy about some of the entries I had made. I was careful all the while to not turn my blog into a political journal. Of course there are quite a few quarrels one must have with China - things like the totalitarian government, press freedom, human rights, censorship, freedom of speech, environment issues or the 15.000 death penalties carried out secretively every year (that is 40 per day!) to name just a few.

So even though I had not posted too critical I obviously angered some Chinese, some of which appear to confuse honest observations whilst travelling in China with slandering their country. One threat I received from a guy called Zhuang Yun read: "We will find you kraut - if we find you you obnoxious yid kraut we will lock you up.... your comments are offensive to chinese people and so you better watch out!". I hope that if China is ever to lift its strict censorship and allows its people to actually criticise themselves and the issues in their country that need to be addressed, they will also become better at taking critical voices.

Anyway, on to my random personal list of the goods and bads about China that make this country different from many other places and most of the time thoroughly enjoyable:


• Food: This has to be first I guess, and will be one of the things I will miss the most about China. Some of my favourites include dumplings, BBQ, fruits, and just street food in general.
• Silence: Or rather, the absence of it. Everywhere you go in China, there is always noise and people, and it is very difficult to get away from it all.
• Books: Very few people in China seem to be reading books I found, at least in public. Even on 50h train journeys, people would just sit there for the entire journey doing nothing. Strange.
• Toilets: When it comes to Chinese toilets, seeing and smelling is believing - they are simply disgusting. Everybody seems to hate them, but no one does anything about it, and no one takes any care when using them as nobody else does. So it never improves.
• Availability: In China, everything seems available at all times - it is just great. You can wake up at 3 in the morning and walk out onto the streets, and there will be people selling food. Awesome.
• Spitting: One word: Uncivilised and disgusting. It is better in the south and in the west I felt, but in northern China it is just everywhere, and you need to watch where you step all the time (even in buses or Internet cafes).
• Groups: Chinese are very communal people, and going out by yourself is pretty uncommon. So they stick together. What is nice in everyday life becomes somewhat annoying at other times, mostly on the top of mountains where hordes of tourists destroy any solitude you might seek.
• Nature: The nature of China and its diversity is fantastic, especially in the numerous National Parks.
• Entrance fees: Nothing is free in China. Even public parks in the city require an entrance fee, and prices at the more famous places like Huang Shan are just outrageous.
• Common sense: A lot of Chinese show an amazing lack of common sense. Lots of times I was thinking "they wouldn't now, would they?". Of course they would, and after a while I just learnt that in China you can never take much for granted. Never assume anything, even if it seems the most obvious thing in the world to you.
• Consideration: Chinese seem to be some of the least considerate people in this world. It is almost always "Me first". Examples: 1) No matter how many people are queueing for a train ticket, there are always loads of people that would simply walk to front of the queue and cut right in. 2) Getting onto buses or trains: There is no concept of letting people off first or waiting your turn to get on, everybody pushes in as soon as the doors open, and if you are not in there fighting with your elbows, you will be the last one to enter or exit. 3) Traffic: The bigger your vehicle, the more rights you have on the road. Big buses simply always have the right of way, even if they have a red light or drive straight into the oncoming traffic. Motorbikes, cycles and pedestrians on the other hand have no right at all: If you are not careful as a pedestrians, you will get hit by a car or bus, as they will not stop for you. Even in pouring rain, not a single car will let you cross the road. All the time I was in China, no car has ever stopped for me to let me cross the road.
• Nosiness: Chinese are extremely nosy, which is actually very funny. You sit on a train writing your diary or whatever, and people passing by will stop right behind you and stare over your shoulder until you turn around and look at them. Then they will smile at you and just wander off as if nothing had happened.
• Prices: China is cheap. As I am travelling on quite a tight budget, it is a very nice country to spend some time in.
• English: Even though all children learn English at school, almost nobody seems to speak any English at all. I am not talking limited English, I am talking absolutely no English - not even very simple phrases like train station, what time is it, what is your name etc are understood by the majority of young people. It is puzzling, what do they do in their years of English lessons at school?
• Helpfulness: Chinese are extremely helpful. When you have a problem and approach a Chinese person, they will take your problem and make it their own problem until it is solved. They will often go out of their way so much that I felt embarrassed - they are that helpful.
• Foreigner-Bonus: As a foreigner in China, you still enjoy a significant amount of special treatment in many situations. It makes travelling easier than it would otherwise be and is quite nice actually.
• Diversity: As China is so huge and developing at such a speed, the diversity is simply enormous. The west of China for instance seems worlds apart from the rich, slick western coast. It is really is so different that you will not believe that you are still in the same country at times.
• Place names: This is one of the funniest things about China: Almost everything seems to have a deep and meaningful name. No mountain peak or scenic spot that is not named after or for something. Some of my favourites include "Mother Splitting Rock", "Eight Beauties Collecting Flowers", "Heavenly Steps", and of course my all-time favourite "Monkey King Commanding Troops". Also, the naming of these places is never consistent, so one one sign it would read"Monkey King Commanding Troops", and five minutes down the path you read "Monkey Chief Inspecting Soldiers", or "Heavenly Steps" becomes "Stairway to heaven" You get the idea, and with a bit of common sense this can be very entertaining.
• Personal names: Just as funny are some of the Western names the Chinese give themselves. Some of the better ones are August, Beauty, Superman, Cookie, or Sunshine. I think it is not too much to ask of the Western world to learn the real names of their Chinese counterparts (after all, they learn and pronounce the Western names as well), so why don't we do away with all this in the first place? Family names like Li, Chang or Chen are not difficult at all, and first names are not much more complicated!
• Signs: English signs are almost always a great source of entertainment in China. You have got to give them credit for trying, but it always makes you wonder why they don't do simple spell-checks. There are countless variations ("Women Kingdom" at the toilet entrance, "The rabbit fucks the pot" on the restaurant menu, "No watching while walking" on the mountain, "Beware of safety" at a ridge, "Save wather" in the hotel bathroom, "No occupation while stabilizing" on train toilets, "No Somking" on the bus, a "Don't bother" button in the hotel instead of "Do not disturb", "Take care of your slip" on a steep road, "Wash after relief" in another bathroom). I have also seen huge official Olympic posters that are all over China that read "Torch Rely" instead of "Torch Relay". Why all this? I don't know. But it sure is funny as hell to read! There is a very good collection of these at
• BYO: I just love to bring my own stuff to restaurants. Say I have my main meal there, and I then just pop out to the fruit stall around the corner to get half a watermelon and take it back to the restaurant, where they will cut it for you, give you a plate etc etc.



I think I have probably forgotten quite a few things on this list and might add more items later, but for now I feel that this gives a fair summary of my general experiences and observations in China. Now, I am curious about Japan and am looking forward to move on.

Next stop: Kyoto (Japan).



To view my photos, have a look at pictures.beiske.com. And to read the full account of my journey, have a look at the complete book about my trip at Amazon (and most other online book shops).

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Comments

[NYT]

It must feel GREAT
It must feel great to pass your judgment, doesn't it? You received hospitality from ppl living in that country. And when you are done traveling, there you start bitching...how ironic. Well, feel free to keep up your 'civilized' white ppl attitude and 'enjoy' the rest of your bitching 'adventure'

[Jim]

Reflections
Very observant of you. I agree with what you said and don't take offence with some of the extreme comments by the pinheads. Enjoyed reading your blogs. Have a good adventure in Japan.

[anonymous]

Diversity: The west of China seems worlds apart from the rich, slick western coast. It is really is so different that you will not believe that you are still in the same country at times. -------------------------------- Have you ever been to Xinjiang province? It is a anther good place. Deserve to visit it. About 47 ethnic people live there. China is not perfect. Some bad habits need time to be resolved. Thank you! Have a nice trip.

[Mandy]

some thing i'd like to say
maybe facing the straightforward criticism of oneself is brutal and hard to take, especially when the criticised group consisting of 1.3 billion people and one couldn't see the critised points on himself or herself at all. so it's not an easy thing to judge 1.3 billion people, isn't it? ;-) Said by foreign colleagues that i'm not a regular Chinese, i am only saying here a few points from my perspecitive without representing 1.3 billion people. - Friendliness. maybe in Chinese culture, being friendly is very important. it is even more important when it comes to the friends from afar. therefore, i guess maybe Chinese is the most friendly people for foreigners. and this kind of friendliness is all from the bottom of the heart. (that's why "Fuwa" used to be called "Friendliness" and the first performance of OGB 2008 was acient Chinese's way of welcoming friends). maybe there are times that Chinese can't say a word of English when you try to get help from them, but very often you can see the extreme sorry look on their face and their eager to help you out. also, in Chinese culture, if you are treated well and nicely by others, you should show them the same friendliness in return. it is sth we've been told by our parents since we were very little. therefore, it might explains that Chinese people tend to feel hurt, disappointed or even insulted when we hear some criticism from the foreigners we have given friendliness. - about consideration: this is something i really want to speak loud to the outside world. for thousands of years, Chinese have been born in a vast country yet with limited resourse for each. so deep down, we know that we have to fight for more resources for ourselves, otherwise you will be left at the very bottom of the society. e.g., i still remember when i was studying in the university, which is about only 10 years ago, it would be extremely lucky even to GET ON the train during the spring festival season. "getting on the train" here means crawling in the aisle, lying under the seats, or sitting in the sink. because of the huge demand for travelling during peak times, the tickets of twice the seat number were sold for regular trains. so half of them are actually standing tickets. The trains were so crowded that it took at least 30 mins to walk though the whole car. so, i always hold myself not to use the toilet when i was traveling with these trains. at that time, the flights were totally the luxury for really rich people or business person. only few trains travelling over 100km/h on limited number of lines. therefore, i guess it might explain a bit that you can see Chinese often cutting in the queue, or Chinese/asian workers are the most dilligent in the office. meanwhile, i wouldn't say Chinese are not considerate at all. we value "harmony", we always try to save each other's "face" - it is considered a big virtue in Chinese culture. - about all these strange behaviors in foreigners' eyes. like i mentioned earlier, being in nowaday's China, especially the big cities, you couldn't be able to imagine what it was like ten or twenty years ago in China. China has experienced remarkable developments in the last decades and probably it's hard to tell the big difference of Beijing/shanghai with other mega cities around the world. so it would not be surprising that foriegners tend to judge China with the standards of advanced countries. but Ben, as you can see from your trip to western China, esp. rural places, China still belongs to the third country categary and we haven't reached that high. the poor average education level, the big regional differences, the inadequate social welfare system....etc... there are so many things we need and have to do better. However, like i said, China has only been open to the outside world for merely 30 years, and probably the first half of the 30 years was spent dealing with the mess left from the history and figuring out the way ahead. so it is not surprising or us Chinese at all that most Chinese don't speak English and hardly understand the common etiquette. I am not here defending Chinese. instead, I know very well that there are so many things most Chinese need to improve. I can openly discuss these problems with foriegn friends. and in fact, Chinese, at least some Chinese, knows how to improve our country by learning from other advanced countries( we learned the "Fetchism" of LuXun, a famous Chinese litterateur, as early as in elementary school. it is the wisdom that when opening up to the outside world, a country/person need to fetch and learn the good/compatible part while leaving the bad/not compatible part aside.) As i said, China is like a fast growing teenager. there are so many problems and pains at the moment. on one hand, it's a good thing China gets many criticism coz it helps it being on the right track and China really need to learn how to better deal with them; while on the other hand, for advanced western countries, maybe giving China a little bit more time and patience would be even more helping. so i'd like to say to my Chinese fellowmen, it's okay for foreigner to point out our shortcomings, as long as it is true. we also have another idiom, right? " you ze gai zhi, wu ze jia mian" (correct mistakes if you have made any and guard against them if you have not).

[LivingTheDream]

Bitching...?
Hey NYT, funny that you consider my honest comments about my experiences in China as "bitching"...I am not judging as you put it but observing - there is a fine difference!

[good man!]

You are a good man and a good friend friend of Chinese.