Transportation
-People ride on the back of bikes.
-Cars don't know what brakes and turn signals are. If you don't look both ways at least 10 times before you cross the street (even if you have a green light at a cross-walk), there is a good chance you may die. And I'm not exaggerating, although I haven't yet seen an accident.
-The metro system is a God-sent. You can go anywhere in the city for 2 RMB (30 cents)
-Almost every restaurant delivers. Including McDonald's and KFC. And people say Americans are lazy!
-I've seen almost everything being transported on the back of a bike, including water, fruit, flowers, entire families (I saw one bike with the two parents, two kids, and a dog), and more.
Eating
-Fancier restaurants all serve food in a family style manner. All the food is placed on a rotating glass stand on top of the table and then you just take whatever you want with your chopsticks.
-Pig's ear is disgusting. Don't try it. (and for the record, I thought it was gross before I was told what it was)
-Almost all snacks/cookies come in a wide variety of flavors. Take oreos for example: forget vanilla filling. Try mango&orange, green tea ice cream, blueberry& raspberry, and more! The same goes for Chips Ahoy. Orange Chips Ahoy cookies are my favorite so far!
-There are a ton of different types of juices here, including coconut juice, watermelon juice (yum!), plum juice, and more!
Entertainment
-Movies can be bought for $2, and books for $1 to $2, depending on the length of the book.
-Clubs here play a lot of Spanish and European music, which I was not expecting!
-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 doesn't come out in China until August!!! Oh the horror! Because it comes out in Hong Kong on July 14th (like the rest of the world...), we think it has to do with some Chinese law.
Clothing and Shopping
-I've seen almost everything being transported on the back of a bike, including water, fruit, flowers, entire families (I saw one bike with the two parents, two kids, and a dog), and more.
Eating
-Fancier restaurants all serve food in a family style manner. All the food is placed on a rotating glass stand on top of the table and then you just take whatever you want with your chopsticks.
-Pig's ear is disgusting. Don't try it. (and for the record, I thought it was gross before I was told what it was)
-Almost all snacks/cookies come in a wide variety of flavors. Take oreos for example: forget vanilla filling. Try mango&orange, green tea ice cream, blueberry& raspberry, and more! The same goes for Chips Ahoy. Orange Chips Ahoy cookies are my favorite so far!
-There are a ton of different types of juices here, including coconut juice, watermelon juice (yum!), plum juice, and more!
Entertainment
-Movies can be bought for $2, and books for $1 to $2, depending on the length of the book.
-Clubs here play a lot of Spanish and European music, which I was not expecting!
-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 doesn't come out in China until August!!! Oh the horror! Because it comes out in Hong Kong on July 14th (like the rest of the world...), we think it has to do with some Chinese law.
Clothing and Shopping
-The women here in China will go to any length to ensure that they are pale because tan skin is a sign of a poor farmer. This includes: wearing socks with sandals, always carrying a parasol (even if it's cloudy out), wearing what look like leg warmers, but for the arms, and (in some extra cases) wearing face visors to prevent the face from becoming tan. On of the graduate students in my lab couldn't understand why Americans like to tan, and trying to explain it to her was nearly impossible!
-Chinese clothes are tiny! I went to a clothing store the other day and all the pants were skinny and size 4 or less.
-The knock off brands here are hilarious! For example: AmericEagle (instead of American Eagle). I have also seen advertisements for the new "zPad" (Forget iPad!)
Miscellaneous
-I have yet to find a public bathroom that has toilet paper and hand soap.
-Chinese will just randomly come up to us to take a picture with us. It's actually quite hilarious to see which one of us can get the most pictures/the most bizarre pictures in a day.
-Store owners always hand things to customers with two hands (include change). Supposedly, as a sign of respect, you should take things with both hands....hopefully I haven't insulted too many people by just grabbing my change with one hand...
-Bargaining is a most in China (except at places like grocery stores and department stores). More often than not, you can get things for 10% to 20% of what the seller originally asks for.
And finally, here's an update on our travel arrangements:
Our flight are officially booked for Malaysia and Thailand! We will be in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from July 23rd till the morning of July 27, and then Bangkok, Thailand from July 27 till August 1! Then it will be back to Beijing for a week before I head back to the US...It's amazing to think how little time we have left, but I can't wait for our trip!
We tried to book train tickets to go to Shanghai for a weekend, but we couldn't get tickets! In case you haven't heard, a new, high-speed train was just opened on July 1st that can travel between Beijing and Shanghai in a little less than 5 hours (compared to the 13 hour ride the old train would take). Well, since the train ride is as short as a flight (if not shorter, and there's no risk of a delayed flight) and about half the price, it seems everyone is just taking the train. In addition, the over-night, slow trains are being phased out. So, the overall story is: it was impossible for us to get tickets to go to Shanghai this weekend and now we're not sure if we'll be able to go!
-Chinese clothes are tiny! I went to a clothing store the other day and all the pants were skinny and size 4 or less.
-The knock off brands here are hilarious! For example: AmericEagle (instead of American Eagle). I have also seen advertisements for the new "zPad" (Forget iPad!)
Miscellaneous
-I have yet to find a public bathroom that has toilet paper and hand soap.
-Chinese will just randomly come up to us to take a picture with us. It's actually quite hilarious to see which one of us can get the most pictures/the most bizarre pictures in a day.
-Store owners always hand things to customers with two hands (include change). Supposedly, as a sign of respect, you should take things with both hands....hopefully I haven't insulted too many people by just grabbing my change with one hand...
-Bargaining is a most in China (except at places like grocery stores and department stores). More often than not, you can get things for 10% to 20% of what the seller originally asks for.
And finally, here's an update on our travel arrangements:
Our flight are officially booked for Malaysia and Thailand! We will be in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from July 23rd till the morning of July 27, and then Bangkok, Thailand from July 27 till August 1! Then it will be back to Beijing for a week before I head back to the US...It's amazing to think how little time we have left, but I can't wait for our trip!
We tried to book train tickets to go to Shanghai for a weekend, but we couldn't get tickets! In case you haven't heard, a new, high-speed train was just opened on July 1st that can travel between Beijing and Shanghai in a little less than 5 hours (compared to the 13 hour ride the old train would take). Well, since the train ride is as short as a flight (if not shorter, and there's no risk of a delayed flight) and about half the price, it seems everyone is just taking the train. In addition, the over-night, slow trains are being phased out. So, the overall story is: it was impossible for us to get tickets to go to Shanghai this weekend and now we're not sure if we'll be able to go!
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