Things I Wish I Knew Before I Came to China
1. In terms of China's gift-giving culture, candy is for kids but cigarettes and alcohol are more appropriate gifts for adults. (I was thinking, what a nice way to say: I hope you live a very short life and have a very painful death with blackened lungs and a malfunctioning liver.)
2. Pedestrians are mere roadkill waiting to happen.
3. There is no such thing as waiting in line in China. When you do attempt to beat the crowd, be sure to have a team of football players behind you to block off all potential cutters. Some Chinese may seem relatively small, but do not allow outward appearances deceive you into predicting shoving abilities.
4. Don't bother apologizing when you accidentally push someone or step on someone's foot. They'll just look at you weird and there is no word for excuse me in Chinese either.
5. The Beijing accent, rich in RRRR and SSHHRRR sounds, is very difficult to understand for the newcomer. To illustrate an authentic Beijing accent, imagine a very angry Beijinger screaming: BERRRR MERRR FERRRR! (Translation: Bitch Mother Fucker) Anna from CIEE thought up of that one, funny gal.
6. Many Chinese have spent years learning written English from books in school. However, their opportunities to practice conversational English are extremely limited since their teachers usually can barely speak English themselves. Consequently, it helps to write out on a piece of paper what you're saying in English and have them read it instead of just saying it since their reading abilities tend to be far superior to their listening abilities.
Ironically, the salespeople that work at the dirt markets are the ones who speak English most fluently since they often interact with foreign bargain hunters.
7. If you are of non-Asian ethnicity and you are anywhere in China other than Shanghai or Hong Kong, be prepared to have many Chinese come ask to take pictures with you, chase you down to practice English conversation, shamelessly stare at you in crowds, and even ask to rub you for good luck.
8. ALWAYS try to bargain because if it is obvious that you are a foreigner from your accent, appearance, or dress, you WILL be charged anywhere from 3-20x more for products. You would be a considered a fool not to bargain.
9. Antiperspirant is not an easy thing to come by here in China so bring your own.
10. You can't really "purchase" a bike here in China; you can only really consider it "renting" because sooner or later, it will be stolen.
11. Many Chinese don't quite understand the concept of being Chinese in ethnicity, and another country by nationality. For example, if you are Asian-American and a Chinese person asks you where you are from, when you respond that you are American, be prepared for the shocked reply: "But you look Chinese!"
12. Bring nose plugs. You can smell most Chinese public bathrooms from about a mile away and it doesn't get any better when you actually have to go inside of them.
The Chinese don't like to use Western toilets because they don't consider it very sanitary so they usually only have squatting toilets instead. The very strange thing I noticed when I got here was that many don't bother closing the bathroom door when using the toilet. They just squat there relieving themselves while others waiting in line to use the toilets stand directly in front of them, not even bothering to look away.
13. Practicality and expediency are not top priorities in Chinese culture, so be patient and expect the unexpected.
14. The rules written on paper are hardly ever the way things really work in China. Therefore, you almost always have to "go through the back door," even for buying train tickets, reserving hotel rooms, and changing classes in college.
15. Many people smoke like they breathe in China. You can't politely ask people to stop smoking here like you can in the US; they'll literally look at you as if you just asked them to stop breathing.
16. One of the odd ironies that could only happen in China:
There are roughly 2.3 million cars in Beijing
And only 0.6 million parking spaces
and yet, parking lots in Beijing are still losing money.
17. Although the exchange rate of RMB for $$ is 8:1, the two currencies have the same buying power in their respective countries. Therefore, things are about eight times cheaper in China than they are in the US. However, despite this fact, you will most likely overspend to compensate for this difference so it's best to think of RMB like $$ when in China because if you're always converting, everything seems cheap.
18. If China has anything, it has people. You will be squashed and shoved wherever you go.
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